Poke Back

Happy 6th Birthday Nathan!

2011-07-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

Well, yet another successful birthday party! It is so hard to believe that Nathan turned 6 and that he wanted a Star Wars party!! What fun for us all. We've been debating what age to show him the film and this weekend we found that 6 is just perfect. He had a lot of fun watching the film and didn't ask too many questions. Evan on the other hand is a little too young at 3 yrs. He would run into the room for select scenes but then back to his computer to play Pixar Cars online! He said what he saw was fine but he was a little scared when Ben Kenobi disappeared while fighting Darth Vader.

Nathan woke on Saturday morning to a table full of Star Wars toys and decorations! It doesn't get much better than that.

He loved having his very own Millenium Falcon - which of course makes noises and lights up!

Evan picked out his favorite characters from the table - Darth Vader, R2D2 and C3PO
(or CPEO as he says it)

Before family arrived, I let the boys put the candles on the cake - 6 star candles.

The finished cake! Per Nathan's request we have the Death Star chasing the Millenium Falcon past Saturn with an X-Wing Fighter. Took me all day and a big batch of royal icing but the end result looked pretty good and tasted better!

We sang Happy Birthday to one happy little boy!

And he enjoyed blowing out all the candles!

He was also proud of his biggest birthday gift - his very own aquarium! After an expensive trip to Pet Smart, he started arranging all the items he chose for his tank. We buy fish next week!

Over all we had a very fun family party. Had to get a few shots here before I am woefully behind again. If I get some free time, I will try to post more photos from the party.

An Amazing Weekend of Comic Porportions

2011-05-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

Not our typical weekend, but just had to get it posted here - still feeling the excitement buzz!

For James's birthday, I surprised him with tickets to the Dallas Comic Convention. He's been reading comics and specifically Spider Man since a young age. I have always loved movies but got into comic books when we started dating. It's been many, many years since we have been to a convention... but despite my hesitation about taking the kids (more because I thought they would be bored than anything else) we just couldn't miss this! Stan Lee was going to be there!!!

For readers not aware of comic books or comic history - Stan Lee is IT! We watched a dvd the night before the convention and I learned a bit more about how IT he really is, but I ways knew he was big. He started writing comics when he was very young and worked for a small publishing company that would one day become Marvel. He created most of the big characters - Spider Man, The Hulk, The Fantastic 4, many of the X-Men characters - pretty much anyone that has a Marvel movie out in the last ten years! He really shaped how comics were done and who the big characters were as well as what Marvel became. So to meet Stan Lee, who is probably close to 90 yrs old, this was huge! This could quite possibly be our only chance.

Also, being kids of parents who love movies and comics, both Nathan and Evan have developed a love of super heros - specifically Spider Man and all things Marvel. :-) Many nights Evan pulls out a big Encyclopedia of Marvel Characters that we have on the shelf (it's as big as he is!) and asks James to "teach me about super heroes." It is very sweet to hear.

So, when James mentioned the convention was coming to Irving and Stan Lee would be there, I went to work. A bit of research and I decided we needed Priority Passes (getting us ahead of General Admission in most lines but not ahead of the more expensive VIP passes) at least 2 tickets for autographs and a ticket for a photo with Stan Lee. Luckily the kids were free!

Finally the weekend arrived - everyone was excited. I packed like a champ for any need that might arrive, plenty of snacks, pb&j sandwiches all around and surprise superhero coloring books to entertain the boys in line! Soon we were on our way:

Evan, me and Nathan outside the Exhibit Hall. We spent most of Sunday in there looking for cool toys while James enjoyed the Q&A with Stan Lee (more on that later). We saw some fun costumes, but not as many as I had hoped. That's Harley Quinn (from DC Batman comics) behind me in the red and black.

The line for autographs was fast and furious! I had no idea. They did a great job grouping and lining up VIP's first and then Priority (us) by numbers. We were in line and done so quick my head was spinning! Kudo's to them for moving the line fast - the boys didn't get restless at all. But I had hoped to get a chance to say something to Stan Lee. I even had the delusion that each boy might get to say high, maybe sing the Spider Man song... I did good to snap some photos while they shuffled us by. James did get to tell Stan Lee how much the comics meant to him which was cool. The above photo Stan Lee is about to sign our two comics, we hadn't even turned around to see him almost. And the next photo...

Stan Lee is signing the comic of the guy behind us! That's how fast we moved.

Snapped this cool shot as we walked away - that's Nathan's head at the bottom.

We stepped away from the crowd to admire our signatures and get a few photos of our own.

Next we were off to find the line for our photo! Stan Lee was on a crazy schedule - signing for an hour and then upstairs for photos for an hour, then back down to sign more! So crazy! I didn't know how long the boys would last in the photo line and there was no priority access for this one, just first come first served. So we settled into the line about 8 people back and had some snacks. I broke out the new coloring books which helped the boys and we stood our ground until they were ready to shoot the photos.

I got a great spot across from the door Stan Lee would enter so I snapped a few shots of him coming in. The photographer was kind of a jerk about not wanting anyone to take any photos and he really yelled at me and about 6 other geek boys who started snapping away when Stan Lee entered the room. I had my flash off, but I planned to get as much as I could before they actually started taking pictures. Most of them came out pretty good.

Again, the line moved super fast, but Stan Lee was so nice. He put his arms around me and James and as I walked away, I leaned close to him and said "Thank you for creating characters that my boys could love." He gracously said thank you back to me. We waited a couple of hours to get our photo and it just says it all!

Look at those smiles! I think we've never gotten a better family photo as far as smiling faces - and this was our one and only shot!

While we waited to get our photo, we found a quiet corner to eat lunch and let the boys run and play. Then we went back to the Exhibit hall to look around. Nathan found a Star Wars Episode 1 toy that was only $9 - a real deal! And Evan even found some Pixar Cars toys so he got the new Lightening McQueen and the race car Nitroade.

On our way out Saturday, we spotted a really great Darth Vader - just what I had hoped for! Nathan wants to have a Star Wars birthday party and this photo will be perfect for his invitation!!

Since our Priority passes were good for both days, we packed it all up again Sunday morning and headed back to for more! They were having an hour long Q&A session with Stan Lee and John Ramita Jr (an very big artist for Marvel who worked with Stan Lee on a lot of comics). I told James he just had to go to that but I knew the boys couldn't handle it, much too boring for their age. So we left him first in the Priority line and spent the morning wandering the exhibit hall in search of toys!

James got a great seat - front and center - and took lots of really great photos during the Q&A. He had a great time and I was so glad!

The boys and I survived the crowds, scoured every corner of the exhibit hall and they came out like champs - Nathan got a Human Torch (from the Fantastic 4) figure and 3Pixar Cars cars from the Monster's Inc clip at the end of the film. Evan picked 2 small My Little Pony characters (don't know why but he loves those ponies!) and 4 Pixar Cars cars that we didn't have yet. I got the joy of watching them and playing with them while we ate our lunch and waited for James to finish.

It was such a great day for us all and so worth every penny and moment. It was pretty close to a perfect weekend! Wish we had seen you there.

Falling Behind...

2011-04-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

So I came to the blog this morning to email someone the link and ... well, I’m embarased! January - you mean I haven’t posted since January? Surely I’ve posted since then - it’s the end of April! Oh, wait, that must have been one of my many productive dreams that just doesn’t get beyond my brain.

So, let me take a break from trying to catch up on photo editing to do a quick catch up here! Easter is this Sunday (that’s another 1,000+ photos) and Nathan’s birthday parties will be on me before I know it. If I don’t get caught up quickly, I’ll have to pretend this blog doesn’t exist and start wearing a disguise when I surf the web! We wouldn’t want that!!

Here are a collection of photos from our trip to Colorado LAST July!! Yes, I am almost a full year behind on my photos - no pressure. James, Nathan, Evan, Mom, Dad and I met Melissa and her family in Colorado Springs before heading off to spend almost a week in Winter Park. This was the 70th Birthday Trip for my Mom and it turned out really fun with an awesome cabin to relax and enjoy! Here are just a few photos of our activities and the scenery!

Preparing to leave for Colorado!

Enjoying the beauty of my sister's home and the beauty of being with my sister!

Dad - trying to catch up on his nap time!

It's so great to have cousins!

Cousins Molly and Andy playing with Nathan and Evan.

Cousin Maddie coloring with Evan

James' sister Christina comes for the evening with her kids Tyler and Haley.

Say hi to cousin Tyler!

Evan - ready to join the band!

Nathan gives a big hug to Aunt Christina and cousin Haley.

S'mores for everyone!

On the road! After a couple of days at Melissa's house we are off to Winter Park and a beautiful Cabin! I snapped these shots of the beautiful mountians - just can't resist.

The view from the back porch of our cabin!

Sleeping area for the kids! So clever and each has a real mattress to sleep on!

Our room to share with Evan in a pack-n-play.

Inside the cabin.

Exploring!

Back porch of the cabin.

After a good nights sleep, it's always good to start your morning with a puzzle!

or Donuts!

or a friendly game of Scrabble letters!

Our Cabin
(yes, this photo should have been earlier but it's nearly impossible to move them around once they are in this program, so much for planning!)

Nathan, Molly & Maddie enjoy a game!

Cute Evan!

Me and Evan, exploring outside the cabin

Our activity for the first day is to ride a train into the mountains and tour a silver mine!

Off the train and on our way to the mines!
(Dad is hoping for samples)

Everyone get your hard hat on!

Evan had so much fun he gave our guide a High-5! (and a cash tip)

Back down the mountain on a crowded train.

Tickets please.

Sadly, the wind blew Maddie's hair just as I took this photo - but still a good shot.

Hopefully I will post more photos from the trip here soon!

What A Day

2011-01-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

A year or so ago, I signed up to get email newsletters from Goop.com “done” by Gwyneth Paltrow. Yeah, I know, she’s got people who have people that probably do most of the stuff. But, I think it’s fun sometimes to see how the other half live, when it’s someone I like. I have always enjoyed watching Gwyneth Paltrow act, so I thought it could be interesting what she might have to say. The email newsletters come once a week or so and talk about places she goes, foods she likes, things to do, etc. Mostly just a “oooh, how interesting” moment for me but once in a while I get an idea or info that is helpful (and a recipe I might try one day).

This morning’s email was a day in the life of a working mom from two of her friends and herself. As a working mom, I thought maybe they would offer a helpful hint or idea of something I could do different. Well, I came away feeling - that’s not reality or at least not for the average mom who can’t afford a nanny, personal trainer or get home before 6 pm. Which is often my complaint when I look at my life now and wish I could do better - yeah, if only I had a nanny, personal trainer and could get home before 6 pm!

So, as I tried to put it out of my mind and work. I was annoyed and wanted to email them a real day in the life of an average mom but then I figured who would really care... Since I couldn’t get it out of my head I decided to put it on my ever neglected blog that I figure no one reads that often anyway. Once out of my head, maybe I will get on with my day.

So, a typical day starts up and in the shower at 6 am! Then washed, dressed, hair dried and out of the bathroom by 6:30 to send James in and give Daphne (the cat) her insulin shot and feed her. Then listen to the monitors and gather last minute items together to start our day while James gets dressed. Pull out a frozen meal (thank you so much Mom!) to defrost for dinner, grab my bag, granola bar and drink and hit the road by 6:50 am!

If I don’t need to stop for gas, it’s a 45+ minute drive through traffic, side streets, and highway to my office downtown. Along the way, I eat my granola bar, make note of the gas prices and pray! Once parked at the office I rush in to start my computer, check emails, ebay and facebook (just to see what Melissa is up to) and then start work! A normal day is spent juggling the various print jobs that need revisions, proofs and to be sent off to press while taking phone calls, answering emails and photo request and sometimes running a proof across campus. The past few months have been working on the 2011 catalog (text changes, fixing hyphens and word flow, placing photos etc) and sifting in changes to a lunch invite and program, starting a new issue of the alumni newsletter, working on a conference booklet and changes to other items to finish up that project.

Lunch break consists of putting together a sandwich (I found it too hard to do every night so I just take the fixings for the week and deal with it at the office), checking email, doing some surveys to try to get extra cash, internet shopping, working on the boy’s books (so behind on that) or color correcting photos to go in the books (even more behind on that one). Or, if there is shopping to do, I make a speed shopping trip to Target, Ross, Big Lots, Toys R Us or some other store close to the office. Once back at the office I have usually used up all my hour so I make the quick sandwich and eat while I work.

Then it’s an afternoon of more of the above until I leave at 4:30. Thank goodness I get a little jump on traffic and it’s a 30 minute drive to Mom’s house through the back roads to get the boys. Arriving at 5ish, I am attacked at the door most days and dragged off to play or paint or work on the computer with Evan and Nathan at the same time, while I try to find out how their day was and any news from Mom. (at least once a week I have to stop for milk at Braums on the way or once a month or so I stop for cat litter at the specialty cat store or get her prescription food from the vet - and still I get to Mom’s soon after 5). I take 30 minutes to recover from the drive and then it’s potty/diaper time, gather the toys/stuff that needs to go home and get everyone loaded in the car! By 6 we are on the road and heading to the HOV lane to survive a 20 minute bumper-to-bumper ride home. On the drive the boys and I pretend to be Star Wars or now Wild Kratts while I dodge traffic and if we are lucky Evan stays awake.

The mad dash begins when we open the garage door. Get the kids inside (Evan upstairs to bed for an hour nap if he’s asleep), unload all the stuff in the car (bags, food, etc) start the defrosted meal warming in the toaster oven. Then feed the cat and give her an insulin shot by 6:30. Get various vegetable/side dishes going, unload and reload (as I cook) the dishwasher, put together various items for Evan to eat, fix a fruit and see if Nathan wants to make his chocolate milk. If a load of laundry needs to be done (most nights it does) then I get that started too. All this while getting interrupted several times by either or both boys needing something and the cat howling at me (probably because her pan stinks). Hopefully there isn’t any cat barf to avoid and clean later. My goal is everything on the table and eating by 7 which does not always happen. Go through the great debate of what to watch and then poking both boys to remind them to eat while I gobble down my food. (somewhere in there James comes home and eats and laundry gets into the dryer)

By 7:30/7:45 we have finished eating and one of us playes with the boys while the other finishes getting dishes in and washing. Then it’s play time until 8:15 when one of us gets the bath water run, pjs out and possibly clean the now stinking litter pan. Quickly bathe, dress and teeth brush both boys. Then James and I alternate who puts which boy to bed (can’t wait until Evan’s eating enough to not have bottles and we can change this process a bit). Nathan gets three stories, the floppy cd and off to sleep. Evan gets rocked with a bottle and sometimes we lay on the spare bed together until he is asleep. On a great night, we are both down by 9:30 to fix Evan’s juice and Nathan’s lunch, fold clothes, pick up a few items, clean the litter pan, clean up any cat barf and collapse on the bed to maybe watch the weather or an old sitcom rerun. If all is well I am asleep by 10:30 or 11 pm and if we are truly blessed everyone (including the noisy cat) are able to sleep through the night!

That is my life Mon-Fri and through it all I pray a lot and try to remember Jill Briscoe’s wise words “There is an art to leaving some things undone, so that the greater things can be done.” I am always open to suggestions on ways to improve the process or find more free time.

So, if I look a little frazzled, can’t complete a sentence of conversation, don’t know the latest sports score or who’s dancing with the stars or my pants are starting to look a little tighter, it’s probably because I don’t have a nanny, personal trainer and couldn’t get home before 6 pm!

But aside from that I’m fine.

Still Amazed By What Children Will Say

2010-11-18T09:59:00.000-08:00

With a 2 and 5 year old, there are plenty of moments in my day where I get a good laugh or am amazed by what they will say. And what they will want when it comes to toys.

We luckily found a station showing Magic School Bus once a week and I am now taping the episodes. I was surprised to find that the station does a commercial break. I guess I have been spoiled lately by the young kid shows and channels that don't advertise. Caught off guard, we watched the commercials with the show. One in particular caught all of our attention.

Pillow Pets.

Have you seen these? I noticed last weekend that they are EVEYWHERE. It must be the hot new Christmas item (or so they hope). I watched the commercial and thought to myself CHEEEEESE!!!! Oh my goodness, these things look really silly and the series of children popping off the velcro attachment that converts your lovely Pillow Pet into an actual pillow was almost more than I could take. The boys had a totally different reaction.

The rest of the evening was filled with echoing choruses of "Pillow Pets!" "I want a pillow pet!"I was not yet convinced.

A week later and they were still asking about Pillow Pets!! Nathan - "can I get one for Christmas, I really want the Ladybug and the Dolphin." Amazed that they were so interested in these silly things, I asked Evan if he would want a pillow pet - you should have seen his little eyes light up and face break into the biggest smile. "I want the penguin."

Sigh. Now I had to find a way to get them into the Christmas gift program which is pretty much finished. I was beginning to think that Santa just might have to take on this dream come true. I searched the internet, found their website, realized there are knock-offs and a variety of prices.

Then, this past Saturday we needed to go to Best Buy. We had been told that ours would take broken TV's and recycle it if we would give them $10 in return for a $10 gift card... Yeah, weird deal but we get a TV out of the garage so I figured we could find a $10 dvd some time in the near future. So, with Evan on my hip, and Nathan helping Daddy carry in the TV, we marched up to the service desk, that is until we passed by a huge display of... you got it, Pillow Pets! We dragged the boys away, finished our TV deal and then went to check out the pet that is also a pillow. They went wild. Evan was all over the purple unicorn and after grabbing the ladybug and dolphin, Nathan decided it was all about the ladybug.

Well, if there was any doubt in my mind, it was now clear that Pillow Pets are in our future.

Nathan quickly made the definite decision that although he wanted both, if he only got one it would be the Ladybug. I showed Evan the penguin he had originally said he wanted and there was no changing his mind. He wanted the Unicorn and he wanted it now. I thought we were in for a big 2 year old fit when I said they are too expensive here, maybe you can get one for Christmas or maybe Santa will bring you one.
I looked at Evan, the lip quivered, those little arms clutched the purple unicorn, eyes started to water ... and then he said "Okay, but I want the purple Unicorn!"

Sigh of relief, and after avoiding that part of the store as we checked the dvd racks we made a quick escape. (Only to spot another huge display in the Kroger store while shopping on Sunday!) Sunday night I did some searches, found Amazon had the best deal for official Pillow Pets and ordered the items my boys will not be able to live without.

Now, here comes the good part. Tuesday night we are driving home, as usual, listening to music and talking. Suddenly from the back seat I hear little Evan say "Is it almost Christmas?" I smile, "well yes, we have to have Thanksgiving next week and then soon after that will be Christmas." A moment of silence and then Evan says with confidence "Good because Christmas is when I get my Pillow Pet!"

Kentucky Vacation pt 4

2010-10-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we were off again for more site-seeing. First we went to a monastery known for it's fruitcake. We thought there would be a tour but when we got there we found out there was a gift shop! Most of the area was blocked off with signs for Monks only but we did get to look into their chapel and walk around a bit. I got a fruitcake for my Dad. (He said they went a little too heavy on the bourbon.) We also got some flavored whipped honey that was very tasty at dinner that night! I found a wonderful book for the boys that will become something I start giving in baby shower gifts. It's called What is God Like by Marie-Agnes Gaudrat (not to be confused by a book by the same title and different author) and I really love it!

This is the gift shop and room with a video about the monks.

This is the chapel area that is mostly open to the public.

A rare shot of me, the self-appointed photographer. Yes, proof that I was there. I stepped outside to get some photos while everyone else watched the video. I met a man there for the conference who was also taking photos so I offered to take his photo for him and he returned the favor!

I later snapped this shot of him heading off to pray.

This sign made me wonder if we were in the right place for my boys!
Can Nathan and Evan be silent?

After the monastery, we went to Maker's Mark to see how bourbon was made.

The grounds were very pretty!

Since I know so much about alcohol, I would say this is a photo of something shiny! :-)

Very cool barrel I photographed while the guide was describing the shiny thing above...must be why I don't remember what that did. (The free bourbon was AFTER the tour and no I did not have any!)

Once the bourbon is bottled, they hand-dip each bottle in red wax as a signature of the Maker's Mark brand. Random bottles are over dipped and sent out with regular shipments as a special collector's item.

Very cool room where the bourbon is stored for aging before bottled.

Back home we relaxed for a little while...

And then we hit the pool!

Nathan did really well in the water and enjoyed floating around.
Evan took to water right away! I was reminded how much I don't like water.

Maybe a little too adventurous?
Evan loved "jumping" off the side into Daddy's arms and did it over and over.

A great dive by Andrew!

A friendly game of water frisbee.

Even Nathan got involved!

Back at the house, a tired hug for Grandma Great!

Nathan and Andrew were still pretty inseparable.

James spent the evening showing Shelby and Michael card tricks, while Nathan and Andrew played together and Evan loved on the balloons.

This was his favorite orange one.

Vacationing in Kentucky Pt 3

2010-10-06T10:52:00.001-07:00

So, on Monday we went to Shaker Village for the day. Last year when my sister and I were trying to think of a good place to go for my Mom's 70th birthday trip, James came up with the idea of the Shaker Village in Kentucky. It seemed the perfect place to take my Mom - something she could really enjoy. What we did not count on was the rising airline tickets. So, we changed our plans and spent the vacation in Winter Park, Colorado. (That's a blog posting for another day when I finally get through this trip!)

Everyone was disappointed and curious about the Shaker Village, so when we decided we would make the trip to Kentucky, I asked if we could spend a day at Shaker Village to see if it would have been a worthy trip. It is only an hour drive from Jim's house so off we went on Monday!

Now, I didn't know much of anything about the Shakers - I mean who can keep them all straight when you have Shakers, Quakers and Amish. Sounds more like an illness than a way of life. So, not only did we enjoy walking around the Village, but we learned a lot. Shakers were a group of people who got together and agreed that they all believed the same things religiously and they felt they could have a better life if they all pooled their resources and lived and worked together for the good of the community. So I guess you could say they were kind of Hippies of the 1800's.

The end result was is a beautiful area that has been preserved on lots of acres with lots of buildings. Walking through out the area we got a real feel for the simpler life, a time before technology and a place of community. So, here's a brief view of what we saw...

This is the building we purchased our tickets for the walking tour. It is also the gift shop that has a real country store feel to it. Wished I'd had more money to spend - so many wonderful handmade items to see.

The boys found a basket of hats and could not resist trying them on. I love this photo - they look like little Amish boys! :-)

Another favorite photo of mine from the day. This was a little window/display area in the shop. I caught the kitty napping and just loved the scene it created.

Shakers were known for their rock fences - wonder if they were Irish?!? These fences were really lovely and covered the whole area.

This is the building we spent the most time in. It was the Centre Family building and offered scenes of everyday life for a Shaker. The rooms recreated the places Shakers would spend their time.

A typical bedroom. Rooms were set up for women and men to be separate. Even married couples kind of gave up their own space to live more as a community.

Schooling was done by the Shakers themselves. This was a typical classroom.

In the basement we considered where to go next...

Their kitchen!

Grandma Palmer helps the boys try their hand at stitching.

Being a detail person, I loved these kinds of things I found all over the Village. Check out their nifty gadget to keep the windows open! There were lots of clever things like this to see.

The Infirmary

A group shot! Unfortunately Shelby had a dentist appointment that day and could not join us.

I loved their stairways! There were several buildings that had the most beautiful stairways that lended themselves to wonderful photos.

Not only did the Shakers make and do everything their community needed, but they also had a farm and animals to use for their food. This is still a working farm and provides the food served in the restaurants available in the Village.

Evan wanted to share his snack!

Some of the buildings offered demonstrations of daily events.

Not sure I'm ready to give up my modern life, but it sure was a beautiful place to visit!

Vacationing In Kentucky Pt 2

2010-09-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

Well, at long last I have a few minutes to load more photos and put captions on them! These are from Sunday, July 4th when we had a Birthday/4th of July party planned for Nathan.

Jim put this up the night before!

They went all out on this great cake from a local bakery!

We sent the boys off to the store so Matthew, Shelby and I could decorate the house!

Nathan was very surprised when he walked in and saw the decorations and Uncle Dan!

Checking out the cake! I think he approves.

Playing Dinos while watching Dinosaur Train and waiting for everyone to arrive!

A kiss for Grandma Great!

And kind-of a hug from Evan!

Matthew, Aunt Barb and Grandma Great as the presents got started.

Grandma Great gave Nathan a very cool sippy cup with his name on it!

The first (of many future) Star Wars toys from Mom & Dad!

Evan visiting with Uncle Jim and Grandpa Palmer.

A Dinosaur book from Grandma Great!

and a dino dig from Grandma Great!

Evan got a new Thomas train from us and he asked Uncle Jim to open it for him!

Yeah Uncle Jim! Now we can play!!

Shelby, Grandma Palmer and Uncle Dan watching.

Money from Grandma and Grandpa Palmer! We took Nathan to Toys R Us after we got home and he found great Spiderman and Green Goblin action figures to buy!

A very cool Teradayctle (yeah, I can't say those dino names let alone spell them right!) night light that Nathan LOVES and uses every night! It gives his room a fun red glow.

Being a silly boy!

More cool dinosaurs from his cousins!

And more cool dinos...I think they know what this boy likes!

And lastly from Aunt Arlinda, Uncle Dan, Matthew, Shelby and Andrew - the most awesome bug catching kit ever! This awesome basket had a net, bug catching tools, a bug carnival to keep the bugs in and a cool bucket!

Everyone moves outside for lunch! Burgers, hot dogs and brats on the grill!

Aunt Barb attempts to break up a water fight with the ice bucket - Okay, now who started it?

No one's saying and no one is stopping! Watch out for the water!!

Wait a minute, Grandma Great is having much too much fun at this! I think she may have started it, or at least she's keeping it going! Better keep an eye on her!!

Meanwhile, the bug catchers are hard at work. "Too Cool!" says Mom.

Alright, everyone spread out and meet back here with your bugs!

Evan's got that one! Look at him go...

Aunt Arlinda checking out the catch!

And Nathan explaining everything they caught!

Two proud hunters!

Taking a break for Birthday cake!

Happy Birthday dear Nathan!

Now that's one happy 5 yr old!

And then Uncle Dan attacks!

Okay, back to some serious bug catching!

Check out the praying mantis!

And a fire fly! I haven't seen those in years! I love them so.

We decided to let the mantis go free but he enjoyed hanging around us!

Kentucky has some great bugs!

Evan says good night after a busy day! It's about 9 pm and you can see out the windows how light it still is! We couldn't believe how long it stays bright there!!

We let Nathan stay up late to catch fireflies for the first time!
It was challenging but we caught a few.

Two tired boys take a break on the lawn to watch some fireworks over head!

It was another great day at Grandpa & Grandma Palmer's house!!

Vacationing in Kentucky pt 1

2010-08-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

July was our official vacation month. Starting with 5 days in Kentucky to visit with James's Dad and ending with 7 days in cool Colorado with my sister! If only we could afford to travel more often! But now I am left with more photos than ever to get through...

Since I took so many and hope that someone out there is interested, I will break up the trips in to smaller segments of photos. So, keep checking back. I'll post as I get free time or just make a moment in the day to get back here.

At DFW waiting for our plane to board - anxious and ready to go!

When we arrived there were gift bags for the boys from their cousins

Matthew, Shelby & Andrew...

It wasn't long before the boys had everyone on the floor playing!

(Donna, Nathan, Andrew, Shelby, Matthew, Jim and Evan)

Shelby and Evan playing cars.

James got a chance to catch up with his Grandma Caroline - we call her Grandma Great!

Nathan and Andrew were best buddies right away.

Matthew helped them build a cave and they spent most of their time there!

Grandpa shows Evan the view.

Our first excursion was on Saturday when we went to the Kentucky Railway Museum for a ride on a Steam engine!

Silly Grandma Great!

Everyone enjoyed the museum before our ride, except for Evan who was getting in a nap where he could! (Actually, we kept tricking him with hour long car rides - just enough to put him to sleep!)

Not sure if they are listening to the educational train video or contemplating the scary burger place we just ate at!

Getting ready to board the train!

Tickets please!

Enjoying the lovely Kentucky country side out the window!

Lots of people liked to take photos of the train while we went by!

Nathan in Andrew's hat - looking good!

We saw a dear running through the field, and I was lucky enough to catch him with super zoom on my camera!

Our train, back at the station!

Gifts from Grandma Great, Andrew and Nathan got matching sea turtles at the train shop!

Check back soon to see what we did for the rest of the week!

Are you going to Scarborough Faire?

2010-06-08T10:19:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I am going to try to catch up a little on our recent events. We went to Scarborough Faire this year on one of the cooler weekends and really enjoyed it! Nathan loved the idea of wearing his cape and really had fun running around! Evan had a good time, but he's still just a little young to get into it all. Of course, James and I dressed up (it wouldn't be right for us not too!) and it was fun to be back after skipping a few years. The food was good as always, the entertainment was punny (no that is not a type-o) and the weather was good - what more could you ask. We did set a record for us for staying from 10 am until 6pm! The boys were exhausted but they had such a good time! I'll let the photos below tell the rest of the story:

Our first stop inside the gates was the Maze. It was a lot of fun and Evan really loved it. I had to take him back later and he kept asking to go back to it over and over!

We stopped to watch a little of the jousting games. Nathan really enjoyed it, but I gave in and took Evan back to the maze when he got bored with watching.

Nathan got to meet "our" knight and bought a piece of the lance
for a souvenir for himself and one for Evan!

Nathan wanted to ride the "pony ride" and chose the white Lama!

Evan loved these flowers and made me take him over to them so he could stop and smell!

Daniel Duke of Danger always puts on a good show!
It was one of the shows Nathan got to see during the day.

I wonder if they are plotting to take over the kingdom?

We got a good spot to watch the parade go by!

One day at Scarborough Faire and they are ready for battle!

How long ago was Easter?

2010-06-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know, I am way, way behind on, well, everything!

If I was independently wealthy, had a live-in maid, night nanny (yes these exist!), playmate/sitter for the boys (that I trusted) for the weekends, chef, gardener, pool boy (wait, we don't have pool!), pet sitter...then maybe, just maybe I could keep up with the 1,000's of photos I take of the boys almost daily. That would entail reviewing, cropping, color correcting, loading to Winkflash (yeah, right), ordering copies from Winkflash (independent wealth would come in handy) oh, and creating the annual photo books for the boys. Then, I would have everything in order to be able to blog too! Well, one could dream, if she got to sleep through the night! But enough about me, you're all here to see the boys. So, here are some fun shots from Easter!

Lots of goodies in our baskets!

Nathan found the 1st egg!

But Evan does a good job keeping up!

Working together!

Look what I found!

Nathan does the "Happy Dance"!

"Waaa, my basket is too heavy to carry!!"

Now for the best part...opening the eggs!

Breaking with tradition, we decided to color our hard boiled eggs AFTER the hunt! Really, what kid wants to waste good basket space on real eggs when there are goodie filled ones to be found! (And what adult wants to peel and eat a real egg that has been dropped throughout the yard a dozen times!)

My two boys are so different! Nathan carefully uses the provided wire egg holder to get his eggs in and out of the dye. Evan, tries the spoon and decides that hands work best!

Nathan's finished eggs

and Evan's eggs!

Turning 2 At Last!

2010-03-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

Well, we continued the Thomas theme for Evan's birthday which was actually on Sunday but we celebrated with the grandparents on Saturday.

It was a party like we are known to throw with decorations and toys on the dining table for first thing in the morning and an over the top cake! This year's Thomas theme for Evan was pretty easy since there is a ton of Thomas stuff to be had. I think both boys had a great time and as always, I had a lot of fun creating just the right cake and a fun day!

Here's the decorated dining room, all ready for the boys on Saturday morning. We had balloons, Thomas photos hanging, a Thomas table cloth and new train/construction crew toys on the table for the morning

I also found really cute wall decals to decorate the room with. Evan loves stickers but wants to peel and stick them over and over so I thought these would be perfect for him to play with even after the party.

They were both pretty anxious to get downstairs in the morning and see all the surprises!

Evan loved the big Thomas balloon!

And he now has lots of new friends to play with!

Nathan was pretty excited too and they started playing right away!

Dad even found a small Thomas ball that Evan loved to drop over and over!

And Nathan was very excited to find out that the Madge train he had wanted was on the table for him!

Then it was hugs for Mama and a chorus of "she's mine!" until I carried them off to the front room to play.

Dressed for the day in Thomas shirts, they just couldn't wait for the Grandparents to get there so the presents could begin!

Evan got homemade cards from his Colorado cousins, Maddie, Molly and Andy and some great Handy Manny toys!

Then a wooden Spencer train from Grandma and Grandpa Beebe...

... and a cool wooden name puzzle that he loves to work!

Evan loved that Nathan got a Wonder Pets toy! (Brothers get a few small presents too!)

After each present was opened, Evan ran to each person in the room and showed them what he got! It was very cute.

Grandma & Grandpa Vandever gave him a box set of Thomas books (which he is showing here to Grandpa Beebe) ...

... and a very cool art easel that both boys will love to use!

Of course, with such a great gift comes some assembly required! So Grandma and Grandpa Vandever had fun putting it together.

And Evan was ready to use it right away.

Grandma Great sent a cute card and money - which is always good!

And Grandma and Grandpa Palmer sent a card and Walmart gift card which will make for some exciting shopping in the near future!

With presents unwrapped and tummies grumbling, James cooked out burgers and we enjoyed lunch. Soon after it was time for the great cake unveiling!

Everyone got their own train cake and Evan chose the James engine (the red one) and Nathan was very happy to get to have the Thomas (blue one). Everything was edible, even the Chocolate rocks which were very tasty!

Evan must have remembered candles from his first birthday, because he started blowing almost before we could get them lit!

And he had a great time using a fork and spoon on the cakes but I don't think he ate a bite!

He did talk Dad into helping him touch Harold the Helicopter while everyone finished their cake!

Happy Birthday my sweet little boy! I'm so glad you enjoyed your day!

A Day Out With Thomas

2010-03-08T10:02:00.000-08:00

We had such a wonderful time on Friday at Day Out With Thomas! We are planning to have a Thomas theme party for Evan's 2nd birthday and it was almost perfect timing that Thomas would be in town this weekend.

I just have to say it was a perfect day! The boys loved it and we had fun watching them love it! Nathan didn't remember doing the event when he was 2, so it was great fun for everyone!

Don't take my word for it...pictures are worth a thousand (and that's about how many I took)!

Happy 50th Anniversary

2010-01-05T11:00:00.000-08:00

It doesn't happen every day. Some families never see it happen at all. But this year my parents celebrated their 50th Anniversary. And my sister and I tried to make it a celebration worthy of the 50 years of love and family that they have given us.

Being photographer's daughters and a family who loves photos Melissa and I thought it only appropriate to begin the celebrations with a photo shoot with my very favorite photographer Lauren.

Here's just a sneak peak at her magic and how she can make us all look way more beautiful than we would ever see ourselves!

Thanks Lauren!

Me, Dad, Mom and Melissa

Molly, Maddie, Melissa, Mom, Dad, Nathan, Me, Evan and James!

Just for fun:

My lovely sister!

2009-12-11T10:42:00.000-08:00

Well, I got a sneak peak at a photo that Lauren Larsen took over Thanksgiving weekend. It was my parents 50th wedding anniversary this year so we planned a big party for them. Part of the celebration was my sister and her kids coming for the week and a fun photoshoot of all of us with Lauren! I can't wait to get all the photos but just had to show off my beautiful sister and her lovely family. We had such a great time and everyone had so much fun together!

Thank you Lauren - you're still the best!

No more shots? Really?

2009-11-20T10:14:00.000-08:00

Well, Daphne spent a stressful day at the vet's this week to have her glucose levels checked throughout the day so we could see what was happening to her. I've had her on the new food (no more treats!) and she's had a week of shots twice a day and her antibiotic each night.

I was so thrilled when I picked her up to hear that we will not be giving her any insuline shots for a while and we might be able to regulate this through only the food! That would be so awesome for her and me!!

The vet said when we first came in to be diagnosed her glucose level was at 450 and normal for a cat is 100! Throughout the day on Tuesday she never even reached 100 so he never gave her the insulin shot and said that we would not be giving any shots. Instead, we will continue the food and watch her water intake/urine to see if it stays low. He said we really caught this early because she had not lost any weight at all and he thinks maybe she has turned around!

We will go back in 3 weeks for one blood test to check and be sure she's still doing good.

Way to go Daphne!!

It's just one more thing...

2009-11-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

Well, we found out on Friday that Daphne has diabetes! Can you believe that! I now have to give my crazy cat shots twice a day. It’s a lot of information to process and I also have to track her water intake and peeing to see what progress we are making. Then in about 10 day she will have to spend a day at the vet’s so we can chart her blood levels. Boy she’s gonna love that!

I’m counting on the possibility that she will eventually come out of this and level off to a place where I might not have to give her shots. But in the mean time, I’ve given her 4 shots so far and she’s taking it pretty well. If that’s not enough, her white blood count was high,so the vet is guessing a bladder infection so I also have to give her a pretty large, for a cat, pill once a day.

On the positive side, she seems to be feeling better and although I didn’t so much notice that she felt bad, she just seems happier and not so meowy as she had been. I am hoping all this will help her. Hard to know exactly what to do. Especially when I spent so far $400 between the vet on Friday and insulin!

A great night for trick-or-treating!

2009-11-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

Well, this Halloween proved to be another fun night for all. We took advantage of it falling on Saturday by James cooking out ribs and steaks - yummy! Mom & Dad joined us for dinner and had fun helping us chase down the kids. Nathan's already a pro at trick-or-treating but Evan needed a lot of guidance ...

Nathan dressed as a lemur!

Evan was James from the Thomas the tank engine show. He has always preferred James so we thought it would fit is independent personality to go with the lesser known train!

Evan cared a lot more about rocks and leaves in neighbors yards than about the candy! He left behind candy at almost every house and took off with more than a few rocks!

They had lots of fun and although most of the neighbors weren't home, they loved the houses they stopped at and ended up with more candy than any of us will eat!

A few people were giving out Halloween toys which was a nice change and Nathan loved the purple vampire teeth!

Of course, the best part of any Halloween is eating as much chocolate as possible before bedtime!

The highlight of his evening was coming upon another family who's son was dressed as Thomas! Both boys had a great time discovering each other! It was just too cute.

Surprised by how much fun we had!

2009-10-12T10:49:00.001-07:00

The Fire Department had their annual open house this weekend and we decided to take the boys. We’ve missed it the last two years because we didn’t know about it in advance so this was our first time to go. Wow, what an event! I had no idea it would be so big and so cool!

Evan was a handful because he wanted to run around but won’t hold my hand. So that doesn’t work well in a crowd! He did have a good time and loved the rescue dogs. Next year will be a lot more fun for him.

Nathan had a blast! He got to see a helicopter land, look all around vehicles and a boat, shoot water from a fire hose and try on a real fireman’s helmet. He had so much fun and loved the goodie bags with coloring books, pencils and other goodies.

Careflight flew over and landed in the parking lot for us to see!

I was thoroughly impressed with the firemen, volunteers, clowns and band all very friendly and so nice. It was a great day! And the boys enjoyed it even more when we got home...

Rainy Days

2009-10-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

Wow, I knew I hadn't posted in a while, but well time just got away from me. Little project here, nothing to say there, sick, tired, overwhelm under motiviated...

So, I wonder if anyone is out there, if anyone is still checking on me. Well, if so here's a surprise. I'm back!

Here's a look at my mornings lately on the way to work. How I love the rain and our nice cool weather lately!

Finally almost at my office!

What a Great Grandma!

2009-07-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

Nathan got a special surprise in the mail today! A birthday present from his great grandmother on James’s Dad’s side.

We had gone to see Caroline in Florida with Jim and Donna (James’s Dad and Stepmom) in 2007 when Nathan was about a year and a half old.

She decided she wanted to be called Grandma Great - and I love that! She is such a fun lady and so young at heart and healthy. She swims and has always eaten healthy. James says all the Schaklee products have well preserved her! :-) But she’s just really fun, has a great Milwakee accent and lots of spunk! I wish she and Jim lived closer because they are just fun people to be around.

We were surprised on Saturday to receive a call from Grandma Great to wish Nathan Happy Birthday during his party! That she remembered and called impressed me a lot but she also told Nathan that a package was in the mail for him! Wow.

Well we got home yesterday to find a large box and as soon as Nathan saw it, he was all about opening it.

At a very early age he realized that boxes in the mail bring fun things so they should be opened immediately!

The first thing we found was a really great card with a recorded message from Grandma Great to Nathan and then it played the “Itsy Bitsy Spider”! Very cool. Nathan loved the card and laughed when he heard Grandma Great’s voice. Then he got really excited when the song started and he said “that’s my favorite song” (I’m sure because it is about a spider).

Then he dug into the box to find Dinosaur Eggs that he can open and find dino bones. Each egg comes with a tool to break it apart and a little brush to clear away the dust - just like a real paleontologist!

It was all we could do to get him to wait until after dinner to dig into one of the eggs!

He was so excited and she sent all 6! So he will get to have one of each of the dinos and best of all, one was his very favorite dinosaur - the Parasaurolophus. That’s the one he decided to do first!

What a cool gift! And Nathan was really into it too.

He was a very serious digger and although James held the egg to keep it steady, Nathan really did most of the work.

I didn’t expect the egg to be so hard, but it was pretty solid. I was so proud of Nathan because he worked hard and got all the bones out.

Daddy had to assemble them and we will need to glue them together so we don’t lose any small parts but it was a really fun experience and Nathan loved it!

Unfortunately we only had time to do one last night, but he will have lots of fun working at finding more bones.

Way to go Grandma Great!

Nathan’s Erupting Volcano Cake!

2009-07-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

Well, the party was a great success and so much fun! Wish you could have been there!!

I know everyone is wondering how the cake turned out, so here’s a description with photos of what we did (in case you want to try it too) and a video clip of the eruption!

When Nathan first decided he wanted a dino party with a volcano cake, I thought it would be pretty easy to make a cake look like a volcano, use chocolate and red icing and maybe put a little dry ice in a glass in the center for smoke. Sounds good! Well, a five minute search on the internet had me considering not just smoke but a marshmellow creamy erupting cake! It was too intriguing to not try out at least.

So we started with the cake - chocolate of course. Nathan helped with the mixing and tasting:

We baked the cake in a bunt pan with about 2 cups of the batter baked in a small round metal bowl. I froze it to make cutting the cake easier. Then I decided to go off on my own a little and add a “lava” center. Who wants just plain chocolate cake? So I mixed whipped cream with cherry pie filling and we used that to hold the cake together until I could freeze it again!

I split the bunt cake portion to add filling, then split and cut in half the smaller round cake. I had a tall narrow glass that perfectly fit the bunt hole so I used that to cut the smaller pieces to fit around the top of the cake to make it more mountain-like. I could have made it a little less rounded and more mountain-like if I’d had some extra cake to work with, but this was looking pretty good.

After the cake was really frozen, Nathan and I iced it and stuck it back in the freezer.

Then the night before the party James and I added icing to the bottom of the pan and made grass from coconut and green food dye. I found a place online selling small dino candies that we added to the cake for color.

The recipe for the lava was really simple - mix 2 jars of 7 oz marshmellow cream and 1/4 cup of water in a pan over low heat and add red food coloring. Then you just pour it into your glass, add several pieces of dry ice and about 1/4 - 1/2 cup hot water to get it bubbling!

I made and tested the lava on Friday afternoon and it worked great! I also found that I love dry ice. It is very fun to play with but be careful not to touch it. Also, buy it the day you want to use it! By Saturday morning the bag I bought was gone and James had to go get more. (It disappeared in the freezer over night but luckily our local Kroger sells it!) Trying to make Saturday a little easier, I refrigerated the extra lava and just reheated it in the microwave when we were ready to serve the cake. Next time I would just make it fresh because I didn’t save myself any time. I also ended up having a few glitches with the lava during the actual event, so things were not perfect but after a bit of running around and adding hot water, we finally had lava oozing and bubbling all over the cake!

Nathan was thrilled, everyone was impressed and we had enough dry ice left over to have billowing smoke the whole time we ate cake! Here’s the video clip - listen for Evan who says “bubbles” several times, I think he was impressed with the cake too!

Let me know if the video doesn’t play right - I’ve never done video on the web before so I am hoping it will look good!

Here’s some photos of the decorations and Nathan’s gifts.

Here's the party table all decorated for Nathan's big day:

Nathan loved his giant T-Rex balloon!

And even Evan got a fun dino balloon:

Grandma & Grandpa Beebe arrive for the party:

Nathan couldn't wait to open presents! He got a cool batting game from Grandma and Grandpa Vandever:

Lego Dinos from Mom, Dad and Evan:

A cool transformer from Grandma & Grandpa Beebe:

And a Pixar Cars truck from Grandma and Grandpa Beebe:

Evan was very excited about the Cars truck and we all helped Nathan change his transformer jet plane to a robot and back again!

Grandma Beebe played Legos with Nathan and Evan:

And we all had a great time with Nathan!

While I put Evan down for a nap, Nathan, Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa Vandever went outside for batting practice:

It felt pretty good at the end of the day to hear that this was the “Best Birthday Ever!”

So what do you do on a Sunday afternoon?

2009-07-08T10:24:00.001-07:00

James makes a tug boat for Nathan!

Everyone loves a good cardboard box, and Nathan was playing with a couple of them when James got inspired - or maybe he was just bored.

Two years ago James’s Dad gave Nathan a really cool Christmas present - the old classic Golden Book Scuffy The Tugboat which came with a fun plastic tugboat that can go in the bath. It’s really neat and Nathan loves to play with the boat - in and out of the water.

So all it took was a simple suggestion from James and soon he was cutting taping and creating a tugboat.

But not just any tugboat. As he got started, Nathan decided it needed a tall smoke stack.

And a window for his frog flashlight to sit and look out.

And a sun roof.

And a working steering wheel.

Oh, and while your at it, can we air condition it?

Yes, that’s right Nathan decided to splurge on the upgrade to include a hole on the side that would hold a small personal fan. The fan was actually the perfect touch to the tugboat experience as it added a motor sound!

No small feat, this little project took up the better part of the afternoon, a good amount of ducktape and all the ingenuity that James could muster! And when it was all complete - Nathan and Evan loved it.

They also loved riding in it which meant James got to push them around the kitchen/dining area!

This is the BEST Day EVER!

2009-07-07T10:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Nathan’s 4th birthday! Hard to believe he is now a big 4 year old. But he told me before his birthday that he did not want to be big, he wants to stay little. He likes being little. Yeah, I’ll remind him of that when he’s a teenager, trying to borrow the car, or going off to college! :-)

Over the weekend, James asked Nathan what he wanted to do when he turned 4. In very Nathan style, without looking up from his dinosaurs and in a very serious voice he gave us the one-word answer “Retire!”

Sounds great to me!

All year we have had many discussions about what kind of birthday Nathan wanted to have this year. It started as a Dino birthday. Then he changed his mind to snakes, aliens, daddy long legs spider, back to dinos etc. I told him each time that we would do what he wanted and to think about it and I would let him know when he had to decide for sure. We finally had to decide and Nathan chose Dinosaurs with a volcano cake! I was a little relieved because that is much easier than some of his earlier suggestions!

So, being the overachiever that I am, I went into full party planning mode and with the help of the internet and Ross (my favorite discount store), we have a party planned to top all parties! The first hurdle was the date. His birthday fell on a Monday but we needed the party to be when James’s Mom and Stepdad would be in town. So we planned the party for the Saturday after his birthday (unfortunately Maddie will have to leave before the party!). So I am finalizing all the planning and preparations for the Saturday event. I was very pleased to find instructions on making a volcano cake with erupting edible lava! So that should be pretty exciting. There are also a few fun surprises for the day.

But we wanted something special for Nathan’s actual birthday. Then it hit me, Dinosaur Valley State Park is not too far from us in Glen Rose and I haven’t been since I was very very young - about Nathan’s age. It is this beautiful river where a man found dinosaur tracks fossilized and perfectly preserved all along the river. When the water is low you can really see them and there are 4 main areas that are the best for viewing. How’s that for a dino birthday - actually stepping where dinosaurs walked. Doing a search on the internet for directions and details I found out there is also a place down the road called Dino World that boasts 100 statues of dinosaurs and a dino dig. James added the idea of eating lunch at Fossil Rim Park - a drive through safari place that we didn’t have time to tour but could eat and see some of the animals from the restaurant.

So we made a plan, invited Maddie, and didn’t tell Nathan where he was going until we arrived at the park! I loved that he wanted to keep it a surprise until we arrived. That’s my boy! So, 852 photos later, Nathan enjoyed “the BEST day EVER” seeing dinosaur tracks, dinosaur statues, buying dinosaur sourvenirs, and then having dinner, presents and cake at Grandma Beebe’s house. All that before collapsing into bed last night completely exhausted.

Sorry Evan, but we had to leave you with Grandma and Grandpa Beebe for the day. But that made a special day for him to get all their attention. The day started out in the 80’s and warmed to around 95 degrees so I knew it wouldn’t be good for Evan. Plus he wants to walk and go everywhere so I could never keep up with him. I had no idea that the river area would be some serious hiking and we found ourselves climbing some pretty slippery steep rocks to get through the “path” along the river. So, it was a good decision to leave Evan at Grandma’s for this trip, but we will definitely go back some time. It was all a lot of fun. And Evan enjoyed presents and cake in the evening (he got a couple of new toys too!).

So, here are a few photos, I will only make you look at all 852 if you come over to dinner some time, but I have to make them into a slide show first! :-)

Starting out at Dinosaur Valley Park:

These are the tracks we can expect to see:

New wading boots for Nathan! They are supposed to be dinosaurs, but Nathan thought they looked like Liz from The Magic School Bus so he called them Liz Boots! They kept him dry for most of the day but did take in a little water when we got into a deep spot in the river.

Our first Dino track:

The beautiful river

Stepping where the dinosaurs walked:

Maddie in the river

A really clear track:

Say cheese:

Maddie did a great job breaking trail for us and finding a way through all the rocks. That's right, the trail stops where the rocks begin and we were climbing over and around them!

Maddie - very hip and cool even in dino infested rivers!

Nathan and Daddy keeping up:

Stopping to view the tracks:

Posing outside the gift shop:

Ahhhhhhhh!

Touching a real dino bone!

The dinos were biting at Dino World!

Nathan loved the dino statues and talked to each one! He told them it was his birthday and asked if they were friends with the other dinos we had seen!

Nathan was just a little anxious to see more:

At the dino dig:

Wow, look at everything Nathan found! Shells, shark's teeth, amber, and other fossils:

Back at Grandma Beebe's house it was presents and cake! Who could ask for more?

Nathan got cool dinos from Aunt Melissa, Uncle Scott and his Colorado cousins:

Evan enjoyed a horseyback ride from Daddy:

and Evan got cool Thomas squirters from Grandma & Grandpa:

More cool presents:

A quick hug for Maddie before Evan wiggled away to play:

"I've been wanting this my WHOLE life!"

Evan loved playing with all the paper:

Evan has a late dinner:

And we all sing Happy Birthday to Nathan:

Everyone loved the cake:

Even Evan decided to taste a bite

Right before bed, Nathan got to take his annual photos with his bear:

Happy Birthday my big little boy! What a great day we had!

Family Fun is Priceless!

2009-07-02T10:11:00.000-07:00

My niece Maddie is in town from Colorado to spend 2 weeks at Grandma’s house. We are so thrilled to have her here and the boys are loving having someone new to play with! Especially Nathan. Mom’s trying to be sure that Maddie has a good time and isn’t too bored so they decided to go to the World Aquarium yesterday.

Since it is literally just down the road from my office, I planned to meet them there and take a long (and early) lunch that day. I was so glad I did! Not only did I have a great time with family and enjoying the museum, but I was able to help them enjoy it and not miss anything.

James and I went to the World Aquarium not too long after it opened when we were still in college. It was so much smaller then and only had a few tanks of exotic fish from around the world. We don’t get to go often, but it is so fun now to see how much it has grown and expanded over the years. It is an amazing place and really beautiful. It’s pretty expensive to get in but when I see everything they are doing, expansions since the beginning and that they continue to renovate and expand the place, I feel much better about supporting them!

It is truly amazing when you walk in because you start at the top (3rd floor) and walk your way down, winding around and through a rainforest, from the top of a waterfall to under the ocean! They have an amazing range of animals and fish. We saw strange birds, monkeys, otters, sloths, turtles, rays, fish of every kind and color, crocodiles, sharks, manatees snakes, frogs, penguins and even flamingos! You even get to walk through two glass tunnels where sharks and fish swim over and around you! An unusual experience and unique perspective!

Everyone had a great time. Evan had the best seat in the house, on my hip in the sling and he really enjoyed seeing so many wonderful things.

It was a great break from work too!

Just a Reminder—It's great to be a kid!

2009-06-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

I love these photos that my Mom got last week. I remember wheel barrel rides with my sister. Those were the days!

Recent Family Photo Shoot

2009-06-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

We got some great new family photos taken a couple of months ago. Just wanted to share a few here and show off the talents of my favorite photographer - Lauren Larsen! She makes us look so good!!

Thank you Winkflash!

2009-06-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

Once in a while I find a company that stands out in quality and customer service. It’s rare, but this one just screams to be bragged on, especially recently.

Back in 2005, with the coming of our first son Nathan, I made the switch to digital photography. I know, I’m a graphic designer, so I should be all over those high-teck advancements, but I also grew up the daughter of a professional photographer. There are film processing chemicals in my blood (really)! Film is the only way and Kodak is the only brand! Photography was our life!

But I was finding out that film photography was getting very expensive and I knew I would want to take dozens, hundred, well - okay thousands of photos of our new little boy! So right before our last vacation as a couple - to my favorite place, New York - I settled on a camera. I guess since I was leaving the comfort of my film photography roots I decided to go all the way and after a lot of research I bought a Pentax! And I still love that little camera - now passed onto my parents. It takes the best photos ever but is just slow on shutter speed and you cannot take a photo without the blinding flash!

All that to say, with a new digital camera, I needed to find a new printer for those photos I would be taking. I did my usual www.dogpile.com searches, read a lot, decided against the more popular sites with the cutesie fish/bug/shutter names and landed on a site that was almost as new as I was! www.winkflash.com

I’ve been a loyal customer and it’s been my only photography home since the beginning. I was attracted to them for the price - at that time 8 cents for 4x6 - cheaper than anyone else. Now they have a permanent coupon for 6 cents a 4x6. Beat that! They used to offer 99 cent shipping no matter how much you ordered - and I really miss that. But usps just keeps raising their rates so who can blame them for charging more too! So their price got my attention but the production made me stop. All digital images are printed with real film processing and chemicals and printed on Fuji paper! They had addressed my biggest fear - I didn’t want to order from someone and get crappy printing off a laser printer or something that would fade over time. Sure enough, with my first order came real photographs that look just like what I used to get with my film camera! I was thrilled.

Over the years I have branched out to create their books, purchase photo Christmas cards from them and I LOVE their canvas transfers! I’ve seen stuff from other digital places and Winflash beats their quality every time (and usually their price)!

Now that’s enough to keep me happy and make me stay. But what has me here bragging is their customer service! No foreigners you can’t understand, no attitude, no problems. You call, they help and you will be amazed!

I think the first time I called was when I ordered one of Nathan’s annual photobooks. This is a little project I took on after Nathan’s first year and it has become a Christmas tradition for the Grandparents and Great Grandma’s. When I finally finish creating the book (of course I have to put my designer’s touch to it - can’t use their templates) I order 10 copies - not cheap. Luckily each year they offer a great coupon at the time I need to order and that saves me a bundle. The second year my big box of 10 books arrived and as I anxiously flipped through one I saw a blank page. I almost passed out - surely I didn’t cause that mistake! I ran to the computer and was relieved to see that the page I intended was on the saved version on their site and should have printed. I called them up after 6 pm not sure what to expect. What I got was a really nice guy who apologized up and down, said quality control should have caught that and to just throw away the books - they would be printing all new ones and sending them out the next day! Wow. From that moment, any time I had a question or concern I called. Always nice, always helpful and I even got a $5 credit once because I told the lady how much I love them.

Well, that’s not the reason for the brag here! This happened a couple of weeks ago. I’ve gotten woefully behind on my photos and needed to order a ton of them. So I finally got it together and ordered over 500 photos - $50+ for that order. I didn’t think much of it and went on about my business, fully expecting to see a big box in 3 or 4 days. Instead, the next day I got an email from the manager. Because of an error on their part, some of my photos were not printing so they were refunding the whole order and sending them all to me. The blank photos would be the ones that did not print and I could reorder them later when they fixed their problem. WHAT! I just got a $50 order for free? I couldn’t believe it and wondered just how many was a few blank photos? Turns out there was about 50 photos that didn’t print - that’s $3 plus shipping. But no, they refunded the whole price! Can you believe that! I called them later and was told that they were updating some of their servers which meant that some of the photos were not available at print time, but everything was safe and would be available again soon. Since we were being inconvenienced, they were refunding the cost of everyone’s photos during a certain time period! I was floored. Refunding the images that didn’t print would have been plenty and completely acceptable in the situation. But instead, they contacted me before the package shipped, refunded the full order cost and sent me all the photos! Unbelievable - but very true.

So, Winkflash, you have my business for life (although you already did)! And even though I brag and recommend you to everyone that mentions photos to me - I will be bragging about you even more now!

Truly Beautiful - The Grand Hotel

2009-06-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

My Dad got back from a vacation at the Grand Hotel in Michigan a couple of weeks ago. I have been working through his photos (cropping and color correcting) for about a week now and each photo reminds me of just how beautiful the Grand Hotel is.

We all got a special treat two years ago when we took a big family vacation for my Dad’s 70th birthday. I was so taken with the place that I long to go back and love to see photos of it.

My sister and I first sent my parents to the Grand Hotel for a vacation when we found out how stressed my Mom had become after years of caring for our grandmother who suffered from alzheimer’s. James thought of the place because he had been there once on a vacation with his Dad and he knows how much my family enjoys movies. The hotel was the setting of an old 1980’s film called Somewhere In Time. If you haven’t seen it, check it out - it’s a GOOD film. Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour - very fun and the hotel is gorgeous! After that one trip, my Dad was hooked and this vacation makes 5 trips to the Grand Hotel for him!

The Grand Hotel was built in the 1800’s on Mackinac Island, Mi. The island is very beautiful and has been well preserved because they do not allow any cars! It feels like a step back in time and I think that adds to it’s charm. The island is not too large and has one main shopping area so most things you would want to see or do are easily reached by walking - and a beautiful walk it is! Some people ride horses and there are horse drawn carriages that you can catch like a taxi.

Of course the hotel offers beautiful carriages that can become very fancy.

Many locals ride bicycles which can also be rented for the day.

It creates an amazing atmosphere of quiet and rhythmic clip-clopping of hooves, fresh air (except for the occasional horse smell) and a relaxed environment. Perfect for a simple vacation. To add to the fresh air, Mackinac is known for their fudge and lilacs!

I love lilacs!

They are not very common in Texas, but I did grow up with the most beautiful purple lilac bush in our backyard. It would bloom once a year and I would go to that bush and just stand over it and inhale! It is by far the sweetest most wonderful flower smell there is! I was amazed at the lilacs on Mackinac Island when we visited. They were just starting to bloom and the island smelled like heaven! But what amazed me was to find they were lilac TREES, not bushes!

These beautiful trees (that might remind you of our Crepe Myrtles in size and color) were so heavily laidened with blooms that they almost drooped. I could not smell them enough!

So, I guess you could say the Island is a memorable experience for the senses - sweet smells of chocolate and lilacs, clip-clop of horse hooves, the beautiful sites of a tree and flower covered island with a very old-world feel and the feel of cool breezes from the lake. And taste - well, if you don’t get full on the fudge, the Grand Hotel offers a menu to die for at breakfast and dinner!

To me there is so much to enjoy about the hotel. All my growing up, we stayed at the occasional Best Western or Holiday Inn on family vacations. I’ve always felt that a hotel is where you sleep and that’s all. Simple rooms and no reason to stay there a moment more than necessary. Anyway - the point of most vacations is to go and see, not sit in a stuffy old hotel room watching bad tv. Not so with the Grand Hotel!

To start, you have to take a ferry or private plane to the island. It is a beautiful ride with much to see and as the island comes into view you instantly notice the large Grand Hotel.

As the island grows closer, you can sense just how large the hotel is. Once on the island, as a guest of the Hotel, you climb into a beautiful horse drawn carriage that slowly winds through the town, house lined streets and up to the road leading to the hotel.

Everything about it is Grand!

The road is wide and lined with trees as you come around the curve and get the first glimpse of the Hotel, it should take your breath away!

I am a detail person - I love little touches and things that could be left out but when present make something all the better. The Grand Hotel is full of those things. There is just an air about the place.

Flowers are colorful and routinely changed, employees are uniformed to the 9’s and everyone is polite and professional. The Hotel is exclusive - if you are not staying you can’t visit unless you have dinner reservations or come for a paid tour. So, from the moment you step off the carriage, you know you are special. The logo of the hotel is a carriage and that or their “G” can be seen everywhere. Even the outdoor ashtrays have the G stamped in the sand! Once in the room, the logo is stamped into the first piece of toilet paper, folded neatly, their towels say the Grand Hotel, there are soaps and toiletries, chocolates on your pillow and the covers are turned down, a satin cloth for your shoes, peppermint sticks by the bed...it just goes on and on. The hotel also has a signature flower - the Geranium. You will see them on the grand porch, in flowerpots, in the custom carpet pattern and other various places - and everything smells of Geraniums, even the soap!

Walk every floor of the hotel and you will feel like you are in a museum. There are photos and artwork that range from old and foreign movie posters to historical photos and letters about the island and the hotel.

And because of the fame it gained from the movie, there are some items and photos from Somewhere In Time. Including the hat Christopher Reeve wore.

The artwork and paintings are lovely and just the size of the place is impressive. The lobby area goes on and on with plenty of chairs and couches to relax.

The front porch was in the Guiness book of world records for it’s size and it is lined with white rocking chairs and American Flags. As if that is not enough, there is a beautiful garden/lawn that you can look down on from the porch and a wonderful view of the lake and a light house. Each step is a picture postcard waiting to be made!

Dining there is an experience. Breakfast is a generous buffet or you can order off the menu - several styles of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes and french bread, fruit, cereals and pastries. Dinner is a 5 course meal and you have 4-5 options to choose for each course. All very fancy and very delicious served by mostly Jamacian wait staff that comes to the island each year for training and experience. And on your way out the door, a doorman presents a serving platter stacked high with gold wrapped chocolates (with the carriage printed on the wrapper).

All this to say...as the weather grows hotter and you get an itch to travel or go on a unique vacation, consider the Grand Hotel. There is no place else quite like it and everyone should go at least once! Maybe one day we’ll get back there ourselves.

Check us out!

2009-06-16T06:11:00.001-07:00

You can go to my friend Lauren Larsen's blog to check out two great photos of us! http://laurenlarsenblog.com/

We had a family photo shoot with her a few weeks ago and I am anxiously awaiting all the pictures. She does such great work!

Soon we will have new photos for our fireplace and great family pics for family Christmas gifts!

Thank you Lauren for your beautiful work!!!

The Grace of God

2009-06-16T05:43:00.000-07:00

We had a whopper of a storm here on June 11th, last Thursday. It’s probably one of the worst I have been in and brought with it lots of problems and complications. Just a simple reminder that we are not in control (of even the simple things like dinner time) and we tend to value “things” too much. Yet when we see how easy it is to lose much, we are grateful when we only lose a little.

If you’ve ever talked weather with me, you will soon learn that I have little respect for the TV weathermen or expect too much from their forecasts. They are just too wrong too often. Don’t even get me started on their false ice storm predictions just to get more air-time! So when I heard 30% chance of rain to severe storms for Thursday night, I thought we’d be lucky to get a drop. James was surprisingly home early (before 6:30 pm is early to us) that night and Nathan was convinced he had seen the neighbor boy out front. I was doubtful because of the rain and it being dinner time, but since our dinner was almost ready I thought a little walk might be nice. At least easier than arguing with an almost 4-year-old.

So we left Evan inside with Dad and went down the street. The sky ahead looked grim, black with mounting clouds and I quickly convinced Nathan that everyone was inside eating dinner. We were going to step up to our neighbor’s yard to say hello to their puppies on our way back when the city emergency sirens went off. Nathan and I ran back to the house and I grabbed a bag of toys, box of books and a few flashlights as we scooted into the powder bath with Dad and Evan. (Sorry Daphne - you’re on your own. She’d never let me catch her anyway.)

The storm came up fast and the electricity went off immediately. I entertained the boys with stories and Nathan determined that this was very exciting and he liked storms even better than rain! James checked outside a few times to see if it was safe to come out and finally the storm passed over. Being inside, we didn’t have a real sense of how bad it was but James looked concerned and said the wind was really bad.

The one thing I hate about our city’s emergency sirens is that after they sound for a few minutes, they go off. Then you are left to wonder if it is safe to come out or not. In some storms they have sounded and turned off several times within 10 minutes. So then I wonder did the first sound mean take cover, the silence mean wait and the next sound mean all clear? Or did the first sound mean take cover, the silence mean all clear, then the second sound mean take cover again? So many things in life should come with a manual!

When the winds had died down and we finally came out, we decided to have a candle lit dinner. Luckily I had gotten home early enough to have dinner ready and it was still hot when the storm past. We ate dinner in the flickering light, listening to the rain and thunder without any TV to distract. Funny how dependent we become on electricity! We waited about an hour and when the power didn’t come back on I called my mom. She lives 20 minutes away and she said the storm there was not as bad and she had power. So we decided it was time for a sleep over! Even more fun for Nathan.

James and I took turns gathering clothes and items we would need to sleep over at Grandma’s house and still go to work the next day. On a plus side, the kids would already be at Grandma’s so James could get right off to work. When we were ready to go, James had to figure out how to open the electric garage door manually! We took both cars so we could get to work and I chatted with one of the neighbor’s sons while I waited for James to close the garage and lock everything down.

We were grateful to see that our fence was still standing since it is the original fence that came with the house - paper thin and leaning in places. In fact, as we drove out of the housing development, we only noticed one large tree was down on the street below ours (more on that later).

As the evening developed and I thought through things, I realized what a good idea it was to go to Grandma’s for the evening. Without electricity and no idea when it would come on, we would have a hard time not having monitors to hear the boys at night. They would not have night lights to make their rooms less scary if they woke. Our bedroom is down stairs so we can’t hear them without a monitor. To add to that, my Dad had taken a vacation alone to the Grand Hotel and was due back that night. Mom had planned to just drive by the airport to pick him up. When we got to her house, she had called and found out that the flight from Detroit was diverted to Kansas and would be coming in later but not sure when. James quickly decided that he was going to the airport to wait for my Dad.

Evan fell asleep on the way over, so I slipped him into bed. Anticipating that the drive would put a sleepy guy out, I already had him in his pj’s. But he woke for a bottle while I was getting Nathan in bed. Mom was so great to get Evan back to sleep. I had forgotten how bright my Mom’s house is and how loud the old ceiling fans are, so I had a hard time falling asleep. Plus the storm was still raging outside with constant rain and thunder. Nathan slept like a log and I was up and down calling James to check on him and listening to Evan's baby monitor giving feedback.

James said the airport was one of the worst he had seen. Lots of people looking lost, canceled flights because all the planes were grounded and the boards were not updated so no one knew when or were things were coming in. There was also no one to ask at any of the desks - I figured they were hiding in the back somewhere. When Dad finally landed and they arrived home after 2 am, I found out that he left Kansas around 9 pm, circled the airport until they ran out of fuel, went to Oklahoma for more gas and came back to circle again until they landed. Dad looked a little worse for the trip, but he was holding up well. He had a great time at the Hotel so that helped a lot. We all crawled back into beds to try to get some sleep.

If I fell asleep at all, it was quickly ended by Evan waking - not crying but more of a quisical “ohhh? Ooooh, Uhhhh?” I grabbed a bottle and was up with him until he finally fell back to sleep after 6 am. He wouldn’t let me sit at all, so I walked the whole time expect for when I gave him the 3 bottles I hoped would make him sleep.

I maybe got 2 or 3 hours of sleep so I decided to take the day off, go back home to see if we had electricity and get some sleep. Good thing I did! After hearing a lot about the trip from Dad and looking a the photos in the digital camera, I returned home about 9:30 am.

Street lights were working, which was a good sign, and as I drove into the development I thought how nice that the city had picked up that big tree already (yeah, more on that).

I noticed a street sign leaning, a speed sign flattened and the community mailbox on the ground instead of it’s pedistol. It was when I rounded the corner that I realized things were not as we had left them the night before. People’s fences were down!

Not just a few panels or in one direction, but all over. I got to our house to find 3 sections of fence on each side down, wooden fence posts snapped off at the ground or bent until uprooted and our backyard stuff everywhere.

I found the grill cover, lid and sandbox lid at the side of our house. Nathan’s slide was halfway across the neighbor’s yard! I was glad to see the back fence was still up although leaning a bit more than before. Over all, we fared better than most!

I talked to the neighbors on both sides and found out that electricity came back around midnight and the second and worst storm came through at 6 am. Both families hid in interior rooms and said their walls were shaking. They heard 75-90 mile an hour winds! I was so grateful the boys where not there to experience that! Oh, and that tree we saw down on the right side of the street when we left at 9 pm was the tree from across the street (normally on the left side) it had been uprooted and dropped across the street with the first storm, then blown down the road and across a major intersection with the morning storm! When I left that afternoon, I saw it laying across the intersection in a different person’s yard!

You can see the round bricks where the tree used to be...

Now it is outside our housing development, across a major street!

What a wild storm! I spent the morning taking photos for the insurance, moving and putting things away in case a new storm came that night and talking with the neighbors. By the time I called insurance and ate lunch, I got about a 2 hour nap before I had to go pick up the kids! Oh well, sleep is overrated.

James got to spend 7am-4pm Sunday mending the fence on one side by himself. Our really nice neighbors on the other said they would take care of it since they have older boys and they kind of owed us for the fence extension we had done several years before. So, at least we only had to do work on half the fence. I was frustrated that I couldn’t help James, but someone had to watch Evan (Nathan could run around on his own and be fine) and it was just too hot to be out.

We did find out today from the insurance adjustor that our roof is in great shape and because our deductible is $1,000 they wouldn’t give us anything for the fence. But we did learn that trees are covered without any deductible and one of our pear trees lost a limb. He said they give $250 a tree for damage, so that will cover our fence costs! Had we lost a whole tree, that wouldn’t be much, but since we just lost a small limb, we are feeling more than blessed!

My, how they change your prespective!

2009-05-27T10:16:00.000-07:00

So, for the second time since Evan was born, James and I went to the movie theater! We took off Friday before Memorial Day for family photos with my favorite photographer Lauren Larsen. Then dropped the boys off at Grandma's house so we could see a movie.

And we played our cards right and saw 2 movies! Wolverine and Star Trek - both excellent. Every entertaining, fun to watch, suspenseful and good scripts. We had a great time!

But I now find that I watch movies through mommy eyes even when the boys are not there. (I had a few moments in both films when I thought the action/camera movements were a little too fast.) When the credits rolled on Wolverine I thought - what a good movie but how old would I want the boys to be before they go to something like that. Then the rating came up on the screen (which I still ignore when choosing a film) and it was PG-13. PG-13! Really? So I thought of my niece Maddie who is almost 13 years old and I don't think I really want her watching Wolverine stabbing people multiple times with his claws. It wasn't bloody or gory and it could have been but still...

After a quick burger we settled into the theater for Star Trek munching popcorn and feeling a little guilty about being off work and without the boys! The previews started and I was less than impressed. In fact, as the previews continued I began to wonder if there was anything I would want to take the boys to when they are older. Then the preview for Transformers 2 started and I had a reality check. Is this the kind of film the boys will be seeing as teens? Everything is so C.G. it just doesn't look real anymore. The action is fast and furious, violence is in your face and explosive. Just over the top and bigger than life. Don't get me wrong. I still love movies and will take the boys to see them. But as the previews continued I began to wonder if this was how my parents felt when we went to films and I realized just how far movies have come over the years. How much further will they go?

My parents watched John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Hepburn & Tracy, Debbie Reynolds when my sister and I were young. I loved all those old films and now to think we went from that in our living room on a Sunday afternoon to dragging my parents to Die Hard and Beverly Hills Cop films when I was in high school! What was I thinking?!?

Now I'm looking at things like Transformers 2 and wondering where we will be in 10 years!

But in the mean time, we are anticipating the Cars 2 release. That will be Nathan's first movie in the theater - and by the time it comes out, we may bring Evan along too. Maybe we can ease them into modern movies and still enjoy the old war films and westerns I grew up on. Where films were driven more by the actors and the plot than the explosions and the monsters.

It's a challenge for a movie loving mom!

Family Vacations are the Best!

2009-05-26T10:47:00.000-07:00

Well, as I continue to be behind, I will try to get my blog caught up a little. It’s been about a month since Evan’s first vacation! We went on a really great vacation to visit my sister in Colorado Springs. It was so fun to see her and spend time with her family! We also brought my parents with us which was a lot of fun - and we so appreciate their help with the boys!

Nathan did great on the flight - he enjoyed a Maze book I got for him and sipped Ginger Ale while eating snacks.

Evan fell asleep early on in the flight and slept most of the trip which was a real blessing! And if I’ve never mentioned it, I LOVE my sling! I slipped Evan into it when we got ready to leave the plane and it was so great to just run through the airport hands free - well, pushing Nathan in the stroller anyway. We also got a neat surprise that my brother-in-law Scott was flying home on our same plane. Although he was several rows ahead of us, it was nice to see him at the airport and all get off the plane together.

Nothing is better than spending some time with my sister! She’s a great mom - juggling 3 kids with all their activities, a cat and dog, traveling husband, beautiful home and part-time kindergarten teaching. We enjoyed just relaxing at their house and watching the boys play with their cousins!

Maddie (the oldest) is into the movie Twilight - finally, being a huge movie fan I can relate to her and had fun talking with her. She was great with the boys and so sweet and helpful!

We got to see Molly baptized while we were there, which was so exciting! We also got to see a couple of her Soccer games and she is really great!

Andy was a little less quiet this time didn't seem quite as shy. But he's a master at DS and enjoyed a few sword fights while we were there.

I must admit, being around a dog was a new experience for me. I haven't lived with a dog since I was little, and although Tootsie was very well behaved, I don't think I'll want a dog of my own anytime soon! Evan seemed fascinated with the dog, but really hated to be licked, so he alternated between chasing after the dog and running from her! Evan was also drawn to the wood floors and we had to keep him in shoes to keep him from slipping and plopping on his bottom!

Nathan of course delighted in all things toys and enjoyed raiding Andy's room - we really appreciated Andy's kindness to share all of his toys!

While we were there we got a short visit with James's half sister Christina and cousins Tyler and Haley. It was great to see them but such a surprise how much they had grown and changed since we saw them last!

It was a great visit and so hard to return home to our daily routine!! Thanks for the hospitality Melissa!

Easter was when?

2009-05-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, so busy is an understatement! Sleep has taken over as a priority at night and the distance I am behind on my photos continues to grow.

So, feeling overwhelmed and in need of a small break on a busy day, here are just a few photos from Easter of the boys.

We had to move the Easter Egg hunt inside since it was cold and rainy, but that didn't slow down the Easter bunny. Nathan was too excited and Evan jumped right in like a pro. We had fun finding candy alternates like toy snakes, bugs and cars.

In general, though I have found that Easter is just one big choking hazard! Anything that will fit in those small eggs would chock a child and don't even think about the jelly beans! But thanks to Big Lots for selling very large eggs that would accommodate most of my toys!

Big Thank You to Jenny!

2009-04-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

I just got this photo from the Andrew Peterson concert. Thanks to Jenny for taking the photo, I hope to get some more from her if they turned out.

Still on an Andrew Peterson High!

2009-04-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

At the concert yesterday, Andrew Peterson told the story of many of his songs, but one in particular was really incredible. I was familiar with the gist of the background on his song Queen of Iowa but to hear him tell it, to get the details first hand and hear his voice break with emotion was just impactful.

He got a call one day from a church asking if he would come and sing at the bedside of a woman who was dying. He was her favorite musician and they wanted to bring him there. He had never done anything like that before and agreed to do it but had no idea of the full story until he arrived. As he was going from the airport to her house someone filled him in on her situation.

Unfortunately, I don’t remember all the details, but when he arrived she had been in a coma for 3 days. In college she had been brutally attacked and contracted HIV. She had suffered from that and tumors throughout her body, especially her brain. She also always runs a temperature of 104 degrees. She had become paralyzed and was on pain medications and medicine to help her sleep. Those medicines caused her to have nightmares where she relived the attack over and over. The only thing she could do all day was to lay in bed and listen to her ipod. Her husband had loaded it with Christian music and mostly Andrew Peterson’s because he was her favorite. Her husband had fallen in love with her in elementary school and married her knowing about the attack and her health. He was her caregiver.

When they moved to the town a small local church heard about their situation and started to minister to them. They both accepted Christ as their savior and were believers because of that church, who was bringing Andrew to her that day. He had come with another musician friend and he said that they sat next to her bed as she laid in a coma and sang to her. Suddenly while they were playing she opened her eyes and was mouthing the words of his songs! They continued to play and sing with her and visited with her.

He said that experience had such an impact on him that he wrote this song for her. (Don't just read through the words. Let them soak in. Catch the double meanings and the depth of what he is saying. It's amazing)

I met the queen of Iowa
She was dying on a couch in the suburbs
And with all of the things she was dying of
She was more alive than the others

She was pretty as a flower in a crystal vase
It lights up the room as it withers away
And she opened her eyes
When she heard the music play

We sang a hymn to the rhythm of the river that flows
Down from the mountain of the Holy Ghost
And into the souls
Of those who know His name
Like the Queen of Iowa
She was the Queen of Iowa

Her majesty was all ablaze
She was burning hot but not consumed
Our shoes removed in that holy place
In the hallowed ground of the living room
I bowed down low and I kissed her hand
And we raised a toast to the Promised Land
And I saw the tears of joy
Run down her face

We sang a hymn to the rhythm of the river that flows
Down from the mountain of the Holy Ghost
And into the souls
Of those who know His name
Like the Queen of Iowa

Peace like a river in a valley of bones
It fills the valley up and it carries them home
She was the Queen of Iowa
(Bridge)

I could see my illusions scatter
Every time she drew a breath
I could see the heart of the matter:
The heart is a matter of life and death
I’ll never be the same

We sang about oceans of love again
As she stared past the ceiling and the sky above
Two court musicians, it was me and Ben
We were singing for the Queen of Iowa

We sang a hymn to the rhythm of the river that flows
Down from the mountain of the Holy Ghost
And into the souls
Of those who know His name
There was peace like a river in a valley of bones
It fills the valley up and it carries them home
To come alive again
In the river of Grace
Like the Queen of Iowa
She was the Queen of Iowa
Long live the Queen of Iowa

Then Andrew told us that every time he is in Iowa for a concert he is able to go and visit her. Many of the songs on his newest album are in someway inspired by her too.

He said that as soon as he finished the newest album he sent a copy to her so her husband could load the new songs on her ipod but she was in a coma that lasted for 3 months. Her husband said that her brain was so full of tumors that the doctors said she was brain dead even though he feels her tap her pinky in his hand. The doctors said she is brain dead and it is only a muscle twitch that he feels. Still everyday she listens to the music. Andrew arrived some time after the album, to play for her again and as he was playing the new songs, she opened her eyes! The first time in 3 months and she was mouthing the songs on the new album! Did you catch that? The new album that she had only heard while she was in a coma and she knew the words! Also she moved her hand that she wanted to write and although her hands are twisted and paralyzed, they put a pen in her hand and held paper for her. She wrote “I believe in the invisible God” (a song title from his new album).

Andrew said he has that paper on his bedroom wall so he will see it everyday. He said that she is still alive today and inspiring him. It is an amazing story!

An hour with Andrew Peterson!

2009-04-23T06:04:00.000-07:00

(I wrote this yesterday but didn't have time to post it!)

My heart is full, my soul is soaring. Today I got a true gift from above. Tailor made for me and just a reminder that God loves me. Andrew Peterson did a free concert on campus (where I work) for the students and James and I went. It was so perfect for us because it was during the day, at my office, James’s big deadline was over and it was free. Any other time I hear about concerts they are on the weekends or evenings when I don’t want to impose on my parents to watch the boys more than they already have. So we have passed on several great concerts over the years.

So today I rushed over at 11:30 to get a good seat and wait for James who arrived just in time! I chose second row center because I didn’t want to sit too close. :-) I wondered if the room would be packed since it was free. It was a nice crowd but not too full so the front row remained mostly empty.

My friend and co-worker Jim was on the sound board and I talked with him for a while. He didn’t know about Andrew Peterson so I had the pleasure of bragging on just how good he is! Jim said that Andrew flew in on Southwest airlines with just a carryon that morning and they borrowed guitars for him to play! He would fly back home after the concert. I love that.

I don’t know exactly why, but I LOVE music. I always have. It does amazing things to me. A good song can change my mood, energize me and make my heart soar. A song I don’t like can make me crazy. (I shop better in stores with good music!) For me live music is just the very best. There is something about music performed live, surrounding me and seeping into my pores. And I particularly like Christian concerts because you get the best stories.

I absolutely love Andrew Peterson from the first note I heard when Tim and Marilyn introduced us to his music. His music style is so much like Rich Mullins and his lyrics are just amazing. The words he puts together and the way he does it is just magical. You can see the mountains in the ocean and feel the wind in the trees. It ministers to my heart in a way nothing else can.

I wish I could remember all my thoughts during that hour, all his stories and could share here how and why I laughed and held back tears. It’s just such an experience and I soaked it up to last me another life time until we can get out to a concert again.

This was my all time favorite kind of concert - one I wonder if most people ever experience. Laid back and casual, just Andrew Peterson on a small “stage” in jeans a t-shirt and dusty old boots that you know he loves. Just him and a guitar. What amazes me is how a song I have heard millions of time on CD, mixeds with other instruments and vocals can sound so sweet and and crisp and clean and just fill the room when it’s one voice and a guitar standing in front of me. The sound surrounds me and I feel my heart swell - I feel my soul pushing to soar out of my body but my ribs hold it back. Does anyone else feel that? The song almost takes on life and lyrics like his resound in the truth and love of God.

Early on he did one of my all time favorite songs that I loved when I first heard it but particularly love to listen to with Nathan in the car. It’s called the Chasing Song and has wonderful lyrics like:
‘Cause Job, he chased and answer
The wise men chased the Child
Jacob chased her 14 years and he
Captured Rachel’s smile
Moses chased the Promised Land
Joseph chased a dream
David, he chased God’s own heart
All I ever seem to chase is me

He started the second verse and stumbled a little on the words, started to stop, glanced around and down at me — I was enthusisatically nodding, “yes, yes that’s it, keep going!” and sang the rest of the song with him. He had been right on track and I knew it because I was singing along in my head. Well, when the song was done I got a smile and a nod from Andrew Peterson! Too fun.

After the concert was over I got to speak to him and get his signature on the kids cd that the boys enjoy. When I walked up he said “hey thanks for the assist on that song!” I told him it has been an all time favorite song for me since I first heard it, but now I drive home with my boys and that song is an opportunity to tell them Bible stories because Nathan is always asking me to tell him about the people. I also got to tell him James’s comment that hearing Andrew’s music makes us miss Rich Mullins less. And that is so true.

Thank you Andrew Peterson for spending a few hours with us, for sharing your stories and music and for just filling that room with the love, truth and grace of God.

If you don’t know Andrew Peterson’s music, get it! It is truly amazing, uplifting and just plain fun.

Check out his website for more info: http://andrew-peterson.com/

Go under promote and videos to see fun videos of him. I also just found this blog that has videos of him in concert! http://andrew-peterson.blogspot.com/
(photos to come I hope! I didn’t take my camera but a friend was sitting next to us and she said she would send me her photos. She snapped one of me with Andrew Peterson too! He was kind enough to stay for photos and signatures until they were dragging him away for his plane.)

Goodbye Dear Friend

2009-04-17T05:54:00.001-07:00

Wednesday was a very sad day. We had to say goodbye to Niles.

Niles died Wednesday afternoon. I noticed he wasn’t feeling well last week. He started sleeping in the closet which isn’t like him and he was eating less and less. That wasn’t terribly unusual for him. He has had some pretty monster sized hairballs that took a few days to come up. So I had passed it off as a big hairball and we watched and waited for it to pass. Thursday and Friday he didn’t eat or poop at all so I started worrying it might be an intestinal blockage. Saturday morning when he hadn’t changed, I called our vet who usually has Saturday hours. They were closed for Easter. We waited out the day, hoping he would throw up a hairball and feel better. But after the boys went to bed, James and I knew this was more serious. We decided to take him to an emergency vet to find out what we were dealing with.

I’ve always taken care of the cats and taken them to the vet. I felt lost staying home with Daphne and our sleeping boys as James took my sick buddy to the vet. I didn’t hear anything until about 1 am when James called to say Niles was in kidney failure. They didn’t know how bad it was and there was a chance he could come out of it with enough kidney function to have 10 more good years. But he would have to stay the night (which ended up being the weekend) with an IV. They took really good care of him but we had to take him to our vet on Monday morning because they are only open when normal vets are closed.

There are three numbers that show kidney function and his were very high, one of them even higher than the machines would read. We waited through Wednesday hoping the numbers would go down. Niles still would not eat. Wednesday around 1:15 I got the call that Niles was having trouble breathing and wouldn’t be able to make it much longer. I rushed to be with him and was so grateful to get to hold his head (they were giving him oxygen to keep him comfortable), pet and kiss him, scratch him and tell him how dearly I loved him. Our vet said Niles’s kidneys had stopped functioning - he knew this because that morning he had given Niles a shot that should have made him pee a lot and he had not peed at all. Soon after James arrived, we knew we should put Niles to sleep so he would not have to continue to struggle to breath or suffer. With the IV port in his arm, he didn’t have to get poked with any needles and he passed quietly and quickly.

I am sad, I miss my friend, and I was really caught off guard. I fully expected him to live 20+ years like the other cats I have had. In July Niles would have turned 10.

His sister Daphne is doing alright, but we will have to watch and wait. She meowed a lot the first few days Niles was at the vet. She still seems a bit lost and I think she might know he isn’t going to be around. Niles was such a good cat for Nathan and Evan - very tolerant and nice to them. We will miss that. I’m not sure yet if we will try to find another cat that would be good with the boys and Daphne. Or if we will just wait a while to see if Daphne mellows out. I just doubt she will ever let the boys come near her.

We will never know what happened to cause Niles to die so soon. Our vet said it could have been genetic, something he ate or some toxin that damaged his kidneys recently or years ago. So, who knows if it will happen to Daphne too. He said it was just like people who have heart attacks and die at 30. It shouldn’t happen and doesn’t make sense, but maybe that’s just all the time he had here. A hard reminder to love well and generously in the moment you are with your friends and loved ones because you never know if you will have that chance tomorrow.

So, we are left with a void in our home. We got Niles and Daphne about 6 months after they were born, from a PetSmart adoption day in 1999, a little over two years after we were married. They have been such a part of our lives it seems strange to not have him around.

Niles was a crazy, high maintenance cat who could be annoying and sweet. He did stupid things like pulling a string from a throw blanket and swollowing it, only to have to go to the vet when he couldn’t pass the string! A long haired cat who hated to be combed, he would shed puffs of hair that he often ate! He was so fat. With all that hair, he looked huge and had so much beautiful puffy hair. He would scarf down his food and chase Daphne from her bowl so he could eat her’s too. Then when she meowed and cried because she was hungry, he was always near by to eat up any food I would put down for Daphne. One year we bought feeders that would rotate and open with a timer when we were going on vacation - Niles figured out how to pry the lid off and eat all the food!

He would often leave the room we were in or go downstairs if we were watching a movie upstairs and meow his loud and moanful meow until one of us would come find him. Then he would either sit there and stare at you or run to the perch and lay down. He kept my feet warm at night and weighed down the covers. His purr could shake the walls and he would headbutt me in the back when I cleaned the pan. When he was younger he could jump as high as my head! He loved catnip and treats. He loved lunch meat even more and would be meowing at my feet if I just thought of making a turkey sandwich. He didn’t have to hear the package to know there was meat around. He would run in front of my feet and almost trip me when I was going to feed him.

He would sleep on his back with his legs all to the side, like a person, big belly up and begging to be rubbed! He looked so funny, like a big slipper. Head upside down he would turn to look at you with this expression that just said “WHAT?!?” He was funny!

James did something hilarious with him called the Niles Gun. He would hold Niles like a rifle but down at his side - Niles paws draping down, bored look on his face. Then with sound effects, James would “cock” Niles and pretend to shoot him, little paws dangling, eyes rolling in annoyance. We would laugh and laugh.

But Niles could stink up a litter pan and he would come out howling at us about it too. He would scratch the wall or door frame when he was bored or mad at us. He got hairballs often and his hair matted up so I would have to cut off clumps of it.

He could drive you crazy meowing at you and Nathan came up with a game called Meowin’ Fight. If Niles kept meowing, Nathan would run after him yelling “meowin’ fight” until Niles jumped on a chair or the perch. Then Nathan would go back to his playing, satisfied that Niles would be quiet for a while. Nathan also loved to pile every cat toy we had on Niles’s back and head while Niles laid still and let him - annoyed look on his face.

We love you buddy and will always miss you. I wish we had be given more time to love on you. But I am so glad you were ours!

Party time with Evan

2009-03-31T10:35:00.000-07:00

Here are the photos of Evan's presents. I am not on the computer as much as I need to be at home now, so I am months behind in my photos. But because I need to keep up with something! Here are a few to show how much fun we had on Saturday.

While Evan napped, Nathan got a few small gifts:

Grandma Vandever gave him three fun Pezz holders and lots of refills!

Grandma & Grandpa Beebe gave Nathan a set of dinosaurs!

and a cool convertible car!

We gave him a Mac Truck from the movie Cars that Lightening will fit inside.

When Evan woke from his nap, we started the presents but he wasn't too interested. Mostly he was just thrilled to get a hold of a piece of paper and he kept running away with it! When it was all done, he got:

A birthday candle from Grandma & Grandpa Beebe. A family tradition of mine, you light the candle each year on your birthday until you turn 21!

Grandma & Grandpa Beebe also gave him a Little Einsteins bath toy that he loves:

Grandma & Grandpa Vandever gave him some new books:

And a Baby Einsteins electronic book reader:

And a hobby horse that plays music and the head moves:

And Texas Rangers pjs!

James's sister Kim couldn't come but sent a great gift! It's an airplane that Evan can pull behind him but also has balls that you can put inside and it plays music and talks.

My sister Melissa also couldn't make it but she sent a great baseball game! You hit the ball with the bat and it swings around, cheers and says fun stuff like "You got a single" or "Home run!"

And James, Nathan and I got him:

A soft, stuffed Rocket from Little Einsteins. The top unzips and all 4 characters can fit inside.

A really cool space rocket that came with 2 astronauts, an astropup, moon rover and an alien.

And finally, a ride-on train like Nathan's. We wanted to get him a different ride-on but found that this one really is the best made and most fun. When Evan is a little older, he and Nathan can race each other though the house, it should be loads of fun and lots of noise!

It was a great first birthday for Evan and now both boys are enjoying lots of fun new toys! Thanks to everyone!!

FREEDOM!

2009-03-31T10:14:00.000-07:00

Well, life without pumping is nice, relaxing, and well, what the world takes for granted every day!

Here are the things I DON'T miss (in no specific order because they all would be first):

The Pump - both the rental and my portable one

Carrying the pumps with me where ever I went, including to work

Pumping every 3 hours for 45 minutes!

Sitting up straight until my back screamed

Getting milk on me from the pumps either leaking or when cleaning them

Cleaning and drying pump parts

Telling people I had to pump

Driving, eating, talking on the phone etc while pumping

Thinking about it, drinking enough and eating enough every moment of the day

Making everyone and everything wait while I pumped

All the details that I won't go in to because, well, that just crosses into Over Sharing! Let's just say...It Sucked!

It does feel good to go to the freezer and see a shelf full of frozen milk, defrosting a bag and mixing it with whole milk to give to Evan. Finally the feeling of plenty. Although it is kind of nice to be reminded every 3 hours of everyday that God provides. And usually it was exactly what I needed at that moment or exactly what Evan had just consumed. But, I guess because I am human and always wanting more and God is generous and always giving much more than we could ever expect, there were also those times when I got more than an 8 oz bottle would hold. Then I got the thrill of freezing a bag for another day. Each bag bringing me closer to the day I could stop. And now, by the grace and provision of God, who alone could get me through this I have more than I ever needed. There is plenty of milk to slowly transition Evan to cow's milk so that he might not even notice the change!

God is good, all the time! Especially in the details.

Happy Birthday Evan!

2009-03-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

Ahhh!

It's 10:30 pm, both boys are finally asleep, I am relaxing with a large cup of Stash Tea (one of about 50 flavors I got for my birthday in anticipation of no longer pumping) and the house is quiet at last!

Yep, you heard me right - I am no longer pumping. In fact, Monday night will make a week. It is so wonderful to be back to normal. And all my concern and freezing milk has left us with plenty to start transitioning Evan to Whole Cow's milk. Life is good!

Even better, our little man has turned one year old today. With it comes all those memories of how a year ago today we arrived at the hospital for our scheduled c-section, my sister and her kids were in town and we were all looking forward to meeting the little baby that would join our family. A lot has happened since that day and Evan is growing up fast. He's almost running now!

We had a super fun day today! It was a Little Einstein's Rocket themed party. Grandma and Grandpa Beebe, Grandma and Grandpa Vandever, Nathan, James and I had so much fun celebrating with Evan!

Our decorations for the party

With my Mom's help, I made a Rocket cake for Evan!

Good enough to eat!

He woke at 7 am, and although he didn't really understand what today was all about, he was anxious to get it started. We had fun playing with Nathan and getting the last minute things in place for a party. The grandparents arrived and James started grilling burgers, brats and Nathan's Famous hotdogs! Just as all the food was getting ready, I slipped upstairs with Evan to see if he just might take a much needed nap. I was surprised and pleased that he relaxed into my arms, slurped down his milk and fell quickly asleep! His 2 and 1/2 hour nap gave us a chance to eat lunch, socialize, give Nathan some special attention and let Evan wake up ready for presents!

Grandma Beebe and my new Rocket!

Considering some long distance calls with Grandpa Beebe!

Stories with Grandma and Grandpa Vandever!

A surprise phone call from Grandpa Palmer!

He had a ton to open and almost didn't make it through them all, but he enjoyed it. There were gifts from all of us and my sister Melissa and James's sister Kim sent great gifts. James's Dad sent a savings bond and sweet card and James's Aunt Barbara also sent a very thoughtful bond! There were plenty of new toys for Evan and Nathan to share and a few surprises for Nathan too. All in all a very busy, exciting and fun day.

I'm going to load as many photos as I can here, but then it's off to bed! I'm exhausted after taking Friday off to clean the house and all the excitement of today. And since I'm not pumping any more I am anxious to get to that good nights sleep. So I will finish my tea, choose some photos from today and get them loaded here!

Sweet dreams to my two little boys who are growing up so fast!

Getting ready to sing to Evan:

"Happy Birthday to you!"

Make a wish...

Dig in!

Evan wasn't interested in eating cake or icing, but he had lots of fun playing with it!

All done!

Sorry everyone, but I'm pooped out! Time for bed. I'll post photos of presents soon!

Our Rockin' Weekend

2009-03-09T02:58:00.000-07:00

Nathan got to go to his first concert on Saturday. Yes, that's right, our 3 1/2 year old is already going to concerts! Hard to believe, they grow up so fast.

Not to worry, it wasn't anything too grown up! In fact, going to a kid's concert was really nice. It was the most pleasant concert experience I think I've ever had. I've been to a lot of big concerts - Elton John, Billy Joel, Phil Collins, U2 - and Christian concerts - Rich Mullins, Big Daddy Weave, Charlie Peacock... And at all concerts up until this Saturday I have always experiences frustrating to dangerous parking experiences, people pushing and shoving to get in, rude people and a sense of anxiety even though we all had tickets and most of the time reserved seats. I thought it was just part of the event.

I don't know if all kids concerts are like this one, but what a difference!

We went to see the Imagination Movers at the Bass Hall. This was our first experience at Bass Hall, and what a gorgeous venue! The building is lovely, the staff was very nice, helpful and friendly. James's boss gave us a great tip on a parking garage across the street that had free parking and we got one of the closest spots. We arrived about 45 minutes early and the building was pretty empty. They said we could look all around but not enter the concert because they were still setting up. There was one merchandise table and we were the second ones in line to get Nathan a t-shirt. Then we found out that for this event they were allowing cameras in and we could even take photos during the concert! I had brought ours just in case I could get some photos of Nathan in the lobby for the scrap book, I had no idea they would allow photos during the show!

Everyone was laid back, polite and just all about letting their kids have fun. No one was rude or pushy!

The Imagination Movers are a really cool band we found out about on the Disney Channel. It's 4 guys who do 80's style rock with kid lyrics that are really good and clever. (it's nice to have some music for Nathan that doesn't make me want to scream) They just finished their first season of a really cute TV show too. The premise is that they have a business to help people solve problems. They work in a big warehouse and each episode someone comes to them with a problem and they brainstorm and test ideas until they solve the problem. There are always 3-4 songs, their neighbors (a cute girl and her super boring uncle) always come over at some point to help and it's pretty funny. I would say its a modern day version of The Monkey's for kids. (www.imaginationmovers.com)

We bought one of their CDs and really enjoy listening to it with Nathan. And their concert was awesome! We had excellent box seats which was really nice.

We had one other family with us who was very nice, we were up where we could see everything and didn't have to interact with the crowd much. But next time I will get us isle seats on the floor because all of the movers came out into the audience at different times and were great with the kids!

It was a super fun time and Nathan had a blast!

I highly recommend the Imagination Movers if you have kids, their music is great and don't miss their concert!!

Here are the Movers:

Mover Rich

Mover Scott

Mover Dave

and Mover Smitty

Walking Tall

2009-03-02T02:26:00.001-08:00

Evan is now 11 months old and really on his way to walking. He does a really cute stumbling, sidways walk that will take him halfway across a room. He's so excited about it that he often pulls up to a stand on various objects in a room and takes off, feet going every which way, until he plops down on his bottom.

He's getting a little bit better about eating some days and seems to be chewing on less toys. So we are making some progress. We will be glad when he is not crawling as much because every little spec on the floor goes into his tight little fist and eventually into his mouth if we don't catch him. His favorite snacks are carpet, cat litter (we use a recycled newspaper pellet kind)and paper. But an occasional old dropped cheerio isn't bad either.

We will be going to the doctor's on Monday afternoon to check his iron levels again and see what the next step in that will be.

Nathan is having lots of fun and enjoying all his toys.

Grandma Beebe moved an old computer downstairs so he can play computer games now which has been a big hit. Nathan is very good at moving the mouse around and he is enjoying being in the computer more. His favorite games are mazes and matching photo puzzles.

This coming weekend should be pretty exciting. We have Nathan's first concert to see The Imagination Movers on Saturday at Bass Hall. We are all pretty excited and got good box seat tickets (Evan will spend the morning with Grandma). Then on Sunday we will be doing Evan's baby dedication at church! This is our way of saying Thank You to God for giving us our son and giving him back to God since He is really in control of our lives and everything around us. It's a time to commit to raising him in a Christian home and ask the church to partner with us in teaching our children about God. This has nothing to do with his personal salvation, as we believe he will have to make that choice for himself when he is old enough to understand about God and why Jesus died to save us. We are looking forward to a special day of praising God!

Well, time to march into a new week and see what kind of adventures it will provide.

Oscar Who?

2009-02-23T01:41:00.000-08:00

Well, tonight is a first. I had absolutely no idea that the Academy Awards were even on tonight!

It was a typical crazy, frustrating Sunday. Evan had gone to bed exhausted by 6:30 - who knows how or if he will sleep tonight. Nathan was in bed by 9:30 and I had all the bags, lunches and everything ready to go for Monday by 10 pm. Whew, time to pump...when Evan wakes up.

We had not expected him to fall asleep before dinner so he wasn't in his pj's, number 4 diaper or anything. So we were expecting him to wake some time - sure enough he had peed out. Once he and Daddy where settled into the big rocking chair upstairs, I changed his sheets and went downstairs to pump.

I thought about just reading a book but decided I really should watch the news, get a little informed of the world outside and at least see what the weather would be like. I was just about to turn the tv off after the weather and they said, We'll discuss the oscars right after this. WHAT?!?!?!?!

I flipped over to channel 8 and there it was, about to announce best actress. I have watched the Academy Awards every year since high school. Cheering and complaining about the winners each year. And just enjoying all the crazy moments that come from the excitement of winning. Yes, I even remember when they used to say "And the winner is..." instead of "and the oscar goes to." In fact, I remember the year they changed it and about half the presenters got it wrong. There was the year I almost stayed in my dorm room during a fire drill because it was during the oscars! I only left because they rarely did fire drills and it was a really old building. From the time James and I started dating we made a point to see every Best Picture nominee so we could at least be informed about who should win that category and we sure saw some stinkers! The first year when Nathan was born I was frustrated because we didn't make it out to see all the best pictures, I didn't even want to watch. Last year I was mad because I hadn't even heard of half the best picture nominees. This year I didn't even know it was on...

Sigh.

Oh well. Life changes and changes us. I have two happy boys and a tired husband sleeping while I pump. Daphne is waiting next to me to get back in bed and Niles will come around meowing soon. Maybe one day our boys will drag us to all the latest movies and help keep us informed on who the new and upcoming stars are while we make them sit through the classics on TV.

My Favorite Valentines

2009-02-15T01:59:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day - no matter what you think about it, it's a day when you consider those you love. And I have a lot to love!

My two sweet boys keep me so busy I almost can't think - with a swirl of self induced projects revolving around them, games to be played, meals, shopping and pumping (6 weeks to go!) it's no wonder I don't get any sleep. But today of all days, I am reminded that I have much to love! ... and that I am much loved! I am truly blessed by a family who loves me lots (that includes my parents, sister and James!).

And I can't forget Niles and Daphne who meow at me constantly, sleep almost on top of me at night and sit next to me as I pump at the computer at 4 am. I'm pretty sure that their attempts to trip me as I am walking to the kitchen must mean something!

Since I haven't been here in a while, there is a little to update. Evan is still anemic! When we went to the doctor, they retested his levels and found that after 21 days of iron supplements, Evan's numbers actually went down. I am hopeful that it is just a hereditary thing (I often test anemic as does my Mom and great Aunt and my great Grandma on Mom's side did too) and nothing more serious. But we are on another 21 days of supplement at a higher dose. We will see what that does.

In the mean time, Evan has taken his first steps, and second, and thirds. He isn't walking yet, but often pulls up, turns and takes two steps before plopping back down on his bottom. We think he said his first words - Grandma said he turned to her and clearly said "No No!" last week. He is also developing his own little sense of humor.

He loves to crawl over to a pillow and flop down on it. Then he will look up at us and smile before he quickly crawls away, only to come back several more times to do it again - too cute!

Nathan is doing well and getting big. He is struggling to find time to potty since he is just too interested in playing. But he is enjoying trips to the library and is getting good at computer games at Grandma's house. He's still our little comedian with his funny faces and cute sayings. He now likes to repeat the funny things that James will say, just to get a laugh.

Yes, today I am again reminded that I am very blessed and have a lot to love!

Hope your day was filled with just as much love and chocolate...maybe more!