Life with the Depews

Hibernating for the Winter

2012-02-04T06:09:00.001-06:00

I haven't even begun to tell half the story of how busy the month of December was around here. And I am beginning to wonder if I will ever find the time... Not to mention the gaping hole that was the month of October for much the same reason...
However, at this point I have simply given up and am hibernating for the winter. That's my story and I am sticking to it. Despite the fact that's it's 75 degrees outside and doesn't at all resemble winter at this very moment. And in theory while hibernating one should stay home. And maybe clean up the disaster which has befallen ones house... Or at least take down Christmas which is long over due, though no where near as long, yet, as last year. And hopefully in the cleaning discover where I have misplaced my camera for the longest spell yet. And maybe I will... someday... once the round of a dozen or so 4 year old birthday parties that span from the first weekend in January through early March have finally passed. Assuming that is, of course, that I actually survive the boys' 4th party which seems very much in question at the moment and is entirely of my own doing... remind me, again, why I didn't, and still haven't simply booked a bounce place like every other sane parent around!?!?

With that said, it is my optimistic hope that I should return to blog land sometime in March in case you were wondering...

School Christmas Treats

2011-12-16T00:08:00.003-06:00

I swore after Halloween I was done with treats for the year. That lasted about, oh, a week? And then I saw this...

A Lightening McQueen Stocking. Red embossed felt with a silk topper with a picture of Lightening from Mater Saves Christmas. It practically leaped off the shelf into my cart. But I was going to be good. Just 2. For the boys. And I actually walked away. I think I even got two aisles over before the little voice talked me into going back. And even then I counted them out, and then put them back. And then grabbed them again... Along with princess stockings for the girls. But I was good - just as many as I thought I needed. Not half a dozen extras, just in case.... [yeah... so totally kicking myself for that later. When will I learn?]

So then there had to be something to go in them.... And just to show how destined I was to get the stockings in the first place at the very next stop I found Christmas character cups. And then red and white striped crazy straws. Perfect.

It was coming together so nicely. All I needed then was one more "big" thing and a treat and I would be done. And I knew just what I wanted to get - a puzzle. So I headed to the store and picked up the puzzles. Easy, right? All done. Until I came home so execited to assemble a sample and see what it looked like and realized that the puzzle box would not fit in the stocking... Ack. I still really wanted to include a puzzle, but since I was going to have to disassemble the thing anyway.... I decided I would rather get the wood puzzles. So back to the store I went. And that's when the insanity really started. Between the disassmebling, packing, rolling, gluing, stuffing, packaging, taping, tying, touching my nose and jumping on one foot hoopla it was quite an adventure.

So then all that was left was the treat. And I could have done some nice candy canes, or chocolate santas, but oh no... that would be far too easy... Instead, the second I thought about treats holiday popcorn came to mind and my mouth started watering and I knew that was what I wanted to do. On the bright side it is really easy to make - just takes a little time and drying space. But of course it also meant more packaging, and stuffing... And making toppers. And gift tags... And I may have gotten a little carried away...

Just a smidge. But they were oh so cute.

And the popcorn? Really tasty...

Then it was just a matter of tying tags.

Getting everything together.

And then stuffing.

And stuffing en masse...

Needless to say I think they turned out really cute. And if my kids are any indication the kiddos are going to love them.

Elfie and Santa Cow

2011-12-13T21:57:00.000-06:00

You just can't sneak anything past that elf. Before I even told the kids we were headed to Chick-fil-a for dinner tonight Elfie and Santa Cow were conspiring in the tree. The Chick-fil-a near our house always has some sort of event going on - like the Home Depot building thing that the kids did back in September where they built wooden heart baskets and a personal charging valet station from a kit (they were already out of birdhouse kits by the time we got there... :)) using hammer, nails, and glue. Yes, real hammers and nails. And no I don't know what we were thinking either. :) Today they had a Marionette show of the Night Before Christmas.

We got there just in time to get the last booth, say hello to Santa Cow, and eat our dinner before the show started. The boys were entranced during the show. They had to stand up to watch it and they didn't move a millimeter the entire 30 minutes. Santa Cow on the other hand?? Ryan thought he was awesome. Connor, not so much... Kid LOVES the Chick-fil-a cow. I mean L.O.V.E.S. But he wanted NO part of Santa Cow. At least the show was a hit.

A Message from Santa

2011-12-12T23:37:00.002-06:00

The boys found special messages from Santa waiting for them this morning. All the way from North Pole. Or the Portable North Pole as the case may be. :)

Santa pulled out his book and checked their files.

He even reminded them of some of the things they did this past year.

And told them that he knew they had been asked to be nice to one another.

And then he told them that he had heard what was on their wish list this year (probably from their letters!)

Then he told them that he would have his elves check to see if they were on the Nice list.

So the elves pulled their cards and put them into the machine...

And then waited...

and waited...

And waited anxiously to see what it would say...

And look at that - the machine said they were on the NICE list!

Everyone cheered and was so proud of them.

Then Santa wished them a Merry Christmas and told them that he would be seeing them soon...

Needless to say the boys were thrilled to hear from Santa and find out that they were on the Nice list and that Santa was coming to see them soon. :)y

Kemah Boat Parade

2011-12-11T13:08:00.001-06:00

We headed down to the Kemah/Clearlake area to catch the Boat Parade for the first time. On the way we made a stop by Tookies. Or at least to begin with the Tookies overflow parking lot (which was packed by the way!)

As we wandered around the relatively small place looking for the main entrance we realized the only entrance was this one...

We headed up the steps and found the inside door mysteriously locked. Then as we turned around to head back out we saw the actual restaurant down the block. And some folks out on the patio having a good laugh at the lost "newbies." And as it turned out it wouldn't be the last laugh at my expense before the day was over. :)

Despite the fact that it was late afternoon the place was absolutely packed and still had a 20 minute wait. The wait however, was well worth it.

Lisa had recommended the Bean Burger (beans, fritos, and picante) which sounded intriguing so we had to give it a try. We decided we would halve it and a regular cheese burger just to be on the safe side. I went ahead and made the cheesebuger a double expecting the typical quarter inch burgers served by most places. When the waitress came out with the burgers she automatically started to hand me the bean burger and Kevin the double cheese burger when we told her it was just the opposite. By the time our actual waiter came back to see if everything came out okay Kevin had halved the bean burger and put it on my plate while I was checking on the kids' food (the plates and the mac were pretty hot). So not only did I have my gigantic double cheese burger, I also had half of Kevin's burger and a blob of pilfered mac and cheese from Connor plate as well. Talk about gluttony. We did eventually sort out the food and devoured practically everything on our plates. That bean burger? To.die.for. Both burgers in fact were absolutely delicious. We will definitely be stopping back by Tookies again next time we are in the area for a bean burger. Next time though we will skip the tour of the storage shed, and make it a single not a double. :)

After dinner we made a quick stop by the Christmas store on the way into Kemah and then headed on to Mike & Lisa's. They were super sweet and had some Christmas presents for the boys which the boys thoroughly enjoyed and kept them entertained for the short while before we headed to the marina.

Mike had been busy that afternoon decking the sailboat out in multicolored Christmas lights. The boat was gorgeous and even more so with the glow of the lights and the reflections off the water.

Our view of the parade anchored out in Clearlake couldn't have been more spectacular. Though getting there proved to be a bit more challenging than anticipated. Clearlake is much more shallow that you would ever suspect. Even with the tide coming up the depth finder read just under 5 feet and at one point was somewhere in the 2-3 foot range - just a little too shallow for our boat and we dragged along the bottom and got thoroughly stuck. :) The kind of stuck where the police boat comes out, lights flashing, to see what is going on and a requires a tow boat to get you out. It was all just a part of the adventure, a part Mike probably would have preferred to live without.... :)

But in no time at all we were to our destination and anchored along side the parade route.

The parade boats started coasting by shortly thereafter.

There were probably somewhere around 100 boats from tiny fishing boats, to sailboats, all the way up to multimillion dollar yachts and everything in between.

We enjoyed our hot chocolate and watched them float by, oohing and awwing appropriately.

And by we, I mostly mean Kevin and I - in between trying to corral the kids of course.

The boys on the other hand seemed a little less impressed with the parade and much more interested in the snacks below decks. Though where they put it all I cannot even begin to imagine. They should have been stuffed after our early dinner at Tookies. Though that didn't stop them from eating enough for 4 people on board in between watching spurts of the parade. :)

After the parade we headed back to the Marina enjoying the smooth ride and beautiful reflections on the smooth as glass lake. Though of course that wouldn't be the end of our adventures...

Disembarking turned out to be a whole other adventure all its own. It's a good thing the boys were wearing life jackets, but it is their mother who probably needed one most... :) The boys were helped off and safely down the narrow walkway as I started off myself. In a comedy of clutzishness that I can't even begin to explain I ended up with both feet on the walkway, hanging on to a rope strung along the walkway with one hand, bag of stuff in the other, arched backwards out over the water and the boat. It's a wonder that I didn't fall in. With a helpful push from the boat side I made it safely back on the dock. And after I stopped laughing so hard that I could finally put one foot in front of the other again made it to dry land without any further incident.

Elfie decorates the tree... again.

2011-12-10T23:59:00.003-06:00

Okay... It's time to get that tree decorated before Elfie decides to do any more decorating of his own...

Every time I turn around that elf has hung something else on the tree. Today? Well, today it was life jackets and life preservers.

Apparently he wanted to be the one to tell the boys that today was the day for the Kemah Boat Parade. And since we were so incredibly lucky to be heading out to watch the parade on the water (thanks, Lisa!!) we needed those lifejackets.

And for the record I did start decorating the tree. I pulled out this years' new ornaments by Claudia and got our family ornament and my ornament on the tree.

I picked up a few new ornaments for the boys as well. They will be thrilled to get to help us hang their ornaments on the tree tomorrow.

Reindeer Ornaments

2011-12-10T00:08:00.000-06:00

Turns out those Fingerprint Reindeer made adorable ornaments, too...

I know what the boys and I will be doing tomorrow morning! :)

North Pole Breakfast (for Dinner!) - Rudolph Pancakes

2011-12-09T21:03:00.001-06:00

Our Advent Calendar surprise for today was a special North Pole Breakfast for dinner. Specifically pancake reindeer with dipping syrup & eggs.

I saw the reindeer idea over at Jenni Price's blog a couple of months ago. She even has a tutorial on her blog on how to make them. Not that I actually followed it, or should I say any more than by memory from several months ago. What? Read Directions?? When I can just get in there and get started and figure it out as I go??

I was still pretty impressed with how they turned out.

Though I have to confess - I think I like Kevin's assembly better than mine (he had to transfer them to microwave safe plate to reheat them all after I opened the egg container all ready to get the eggs cooked and on the table so we could eat while everything was still hot and found that there was only 1 egg left. Oops. So he had to go to the store - and the pancakes got cold. On a side note - they reheat really well...)

Needless to say the boys were excited to see the reindeer pancakes - Ryan said "Oh, WOW! It's Rudolph! Can I eat his nose, now??"

"Please!?!"

Connor wasn't far behind and plucked the candies off as soon as he sat down, too.

Instead of cutting up the pieces and then pouring syrup over the top we gave each of them their very own syrup dipping cup and let them go to town. Pancakes by them self, great. Being able to dip pancakes in syrup? AWESOME.

Connor devoured every last bite of pancake, and polished off at least 3 eggs. I am not sure where exactly he put it all, but needless to say, he was a big fan.

Fingerprint Reindeer

2011-12-08T22:59:00.000-06:00

Oh.my.word.

The boys and I made fingerprint reindeer today. And I just can't get over how cute they turned out!

It was a bit of an iterative process. First I drew antlers and gave them googly eyes. And then I decided that maybe they needed ears (or maybe not - the verdict's still out on this one. Which one do you like better?)

And then before I knew it there were bows. There are always bows. :) And glitter for Rudolph's nose!

And a cute saying for the inside of the cards.

And then they multiplied like bunnies.

And turned into coordinating envelopes.

But I think the best one of all is when I just let the kiddos go wild with the ink pad and a piece of paper.

Connor dotted the whole page with little reindeer while Ryan used all 10 fingers (at once) to create a veritable flood of bubbles or so he says.

Connor was so proud of his artwork.

And though we still can't name all 8 reindeer Connor remembered just where he put Donner and Blitzen and Rudolph!

Reindeer Cookies

2011-12-07T00:35:00.002-06:00

One of the great things about being a Mom is that I can tell the boys that we are going to make Reindeer cookies and they don't bat an eye - their faces light up in sheer excitement. They have no doubt what-so-ever that there will be edible cookies that look like reindeer. And whether they turn out picture perfect, or nothing at all like they were supposed to (see below... :)) they still think they are absolutely perfect and awesome. And even more so because *we* made them. It just melts my heart.

Connor was over the moon to be able to "help" me make the cookies. Even if that meant pulling pre-made store bought cookie dough right out of the package. The dough was a bit sticky so I pulled out pieces, rolled them into balls, shaped them a little, and then let Connor help me smush them. He also helped me match up potential eyes and count out enough for all our cookies.

Once we had them all rolled out and our face making supplies ready to go we popped them into the oven and cooked them.

Ryan came over to help me finish counting out antlers and to keep an eye on the cookies in the oven. Cookies that were puffing up, rising and then spreading like crazy. By the time they were done cooking they had pretty much mushed into one giant clump.

We went ahead and popped the eyes, noses and antlers in. You really have to work fast. I had started trying to separate the cookies and move them off to another sheet to dry, but no sooner had I moved one than I realized that I had waited too long and that it was already pretty much set. So I worked fast instead popping the eyes, noses, and antlers on.

After dinner the boys took great delight in maiming the cookies by plucking out the eyes and noses before even considering eating the cookie.

While they turned out nothing at all like they were supposed to (umm... smaller balls much more spread out on a cookie sheet!?!?) we still really enjoyed devouring them.

A visit from Panta Claus

2011-12-06T22:47:00.001-06:00

We definitely need to keep an eye on that elf.

I woke just before the crack of dawn this morning for no apparent reason. As I stumbled into the kitchen for a glass of milk I happened to glance at the tree. And what to my wondering eyes should appear? But an odd shape atop the tree. As I got closer and flipped on the light it was apparent what Elfie had been up to this night. He topped our tree with the Panta Claus book.

And underpants?

A whole tree full in fact...

When the boys got up this morning they made quick work of finding Elfie in his new spot. And stared suspiciously at the tree. "He put our underwear on the tree! That's so silly, isn't it Mom?"

But they were definitely excited to get to pick new underwear off the tree to wear today. :)

Guess it is a good thing Elfie and Panta Claus came because I am not sure we had anymore clean underwear!

They had so much fun with this in fact that since we probably won't get around to decorating the tree until Friday that we will probably leave them on the tree and let them pick a new pair each day.

Letters to Santa

2011-12-05T02:02:00.002-06:00

Elfie reminded us that it is time to get those letters to Santa written and off to the North Pole.

So this morning we sat down before breakfast and wrote our letters to Santa. It was a BIG hit with the boys. And I loved some of their answers.

Connor truthfully said he had been “A little nice, and a little naughty”, and he wanted a purple fish “and nothing else.” And when I asked him where we lived for the return address he looked at me like I was from Mars and said “right here, at the last house on the “court-de-sack.””

Ryan insisted we need a new box to say “VERY GOOD” instead of just “Nice.” And he had a whole list for Santa. He wanted to make sure I got it all in his letter. And when it was time for him to sign his letter he started with the "R" on the right hand side, and then the proceeded to write his name from right to left (not that you could read it if you hadn’t seen him write it and tell you the letters, but it really cracked me up.)

After we got our letters all written and stuffed in their envelopes we headed out to the mailbox to mail them.

Now we will just have to wait anxiously to see what Santa says...

Moody Gardens Festival of Lights

2011-12-05T00:06:00.000-06:00

On Saturday we took the boys on the scenic route to Galveston headed for Moody Garden's Festival of Lights. Our first stop was in Bellaire at Santa's favorite DIM SUM restaurant for lunch. Which as it turns out was decked out in red and gold even more so than usual for a private party later in the afternoon. And after eating their weight in Chinese food the boys were given balloons and Santa hats as they headed out the door giving credence to the fact that it must indeed be Santa's favorite.

The boys napped in the car as we made our way down to Galveston and drove down the Seawall looking for a section of beach that wasn't underwater with the higher than usual tide. The boys woke up as we pulled into a parking space.

We hopped out and set off on a leisurely stroll down the beach.

The boys of course couldn't resist picking up a few [million] shells along the way.

So many in fact that we had to go back to the car and get a bucket to put their collection in less they stuff the still wet, muddy shells in their pockets when they ran out of room in their hands.

They investigated crab holes, and drew pictures in the sand.

And Connor couldn't resist chasing a few seagulls shouting "RAWR!!!"

With sunset approaching we headed back to the car to make our way over to Moody Gardens. We picked up aquarium tickets in the thankfully short line and headed inside to enjoy the Aquarium before the Light Show.

The boys were fascinated by the frisky penguins who were putting on quite a show.

Several plopped into the water, and raced around jumping high out of the water and leaving mini vornado's of bubbles in their wake before rocketing back up onto solid ground and dancing around excitedly. Others splashed around on their sides spraying the glass of the tank with water.

As we visited each tank the boys excitedly called out the different types of fish they recognized from the lion fish, and stingrays to sharks, starfish, Sheldons! (sea horses), Dorey! and Nemos! and barracudas.

They also enjoyed stamping their Shark passports along the way running from station to station.

Ryan excitedly pointed out the Sea Lion skeletons calling it a T-Rex like the one in the museum in the Dinosuars Night Before Christmas book that has become one of their favorities.

Though the coolest thing I thought were the sharks. They were on the prowl and swimming close to the glass vs. hiding in the depths of the tank.

Several made multiple passes over our heads in the tunnel.

Giving us an up close and personal view of their sharp, pointy teeth! Ryan was particularly convinced that this one was going to eat me. :)

With it well after dark we said goodbye to the fish and made our way to the entrance to the festival of lights.

The boys had new favorites this year, including the dinosaurs (or decepticons! as Ryan called them).

And of course the man fishing...

And Ryan of course loved just about anything yellow. :)

I am not sure if I could pick just one favorite. I loved the giant nutcrackers, and the mountain of butterflies. I also really like the elf forest.

Ryan liked the elphants.

And, no surprise, Connor was excited to see the fish.

They made it a little more than half way (about the elf forest) before they decided the long walk on the beach, the running around in the aquarium and the first half of the Festival of Lights was an awful lot of walking for their short little legs and didn't we want to carry them??? Kevin took turns carrying them on his shoulders for the rest of the tour.

Afterwards we made our way over to The Original for me to get my Mexican fix in. The queso was heavenly, and the boys were perfect little angels. Connor devoured his uber cheesy quesedillas practically in one gulp and I am pretty sure Kevin licked his plate clean.

Stuffed to the gills the boys and I crashed in the car on the way home and made Kevin drive. We woke up long enough to make it into the house and then passed out in bed, again. :)

New Favorite Pastime

2011-12-04T22:37:00.000-06:00

The boys' new favorite pastime - "fishing."

Though I am not sure how much fishing actually gets done....

Don't get me wrong - I know they have been catching fish. I have seen the pictures, and have even stopped by a couple of times to "help." And by "help" I mean casting and setting hooks. I let Kevin do all the hard work - like baiting hooks and taking fishing off. And let the kids - mostly Ryan - reel them in.

Connor is generally good for a reel or two, then "been there done that, how about those worms??" The boys have decided that the worms need all manner of things from "blueberries" to eat and leaves to keep them warm.

Ryan's not immune to the lure of worms, either, but he's incredibly excited to reel the fish in. "LOOK!! I caught another one!!"

And I have to admit they have found a pretty great spot - the water's crystal clear so you can watch the fish go after your hook and it generally takes all of 5 seconds after it's plopped into the water before one of the little sun perch hits the hook. Over, and over again. It isn't the lack of fish that finally sends them in. It's generally the pitch black that finally makes them call it quits. It's probably a good thing for the fish that there isn't a lighted pier as I don't think they would ever stop while the fishing is that good. :)

Santa's Workshop

2011-12-03T08:51:00.000-06:00

Speaking of Jolly Olde St. Nick...

We visited Santa's workshop at school last night. The boys enjoyed some cookies and punch, and made a Christmas wreath ornament to hang on our tree by threading buttons onto a pipe cleaner.

I was really impressed that the boys could do it by themselves. They were itty bitty button holes - much like threading thread into the eye of a needle. Ryan in particular just whipped right through it.

The boys also had a moment to visit with Santa. Connor hopped right up in his lap and told Santa that he wanted toy fish for Christmas. Ryan was a bit more hesitant, and had to be pried away from daddy. But even he eventually had a seat on Santa's lap and even managed a smile at the camera while visions of the giant race car he told Santa he wanted this Christmas raced in his head.

Winter Wonderland

2011-12-03T08:24:00.001-06:00

I am fairly certain when I awoke to the whisper of Christmas songs in the wee hours of the morning and went in search of the source that Elfie was sitting right here...

And the faint but lively version of Frosty the Snowman was coming from his general direction.

But when we woke up this morning, and by we I mean Ryan... at the CRACK OF DAWN... Elfie had either been prowling the house and got caught in the act of getting back to his perch, or he decided compliments of the snowman on the other side of the door that he wouldn't be able to keep an eye on us as we worked on our outdoor Christmas lights so he moved to get a better view.

And I don't blame him, blink around here and those elves sprinkle a little Christmas Magic and before you know it there's even more Christmas to be found.

A whole host of snowman appeared, though I am a bit worried about how long they might stay. With the weather outside hovering around a balmy 75 they just might melt.

A family of gingerbread men also arrived, bringing their stockings in tow.

And before we knew it, the Nutcrackers appeared along with giant snowflakes.

The flakes latched onto and clung to the live oak tree creating a shimmery wonderland that these pictures just don't do justice to.

The only thing missing of course, other than chilly weather, a cup of hot chocolate, my Compact Flash card for my nice camera, and enough snow to build a snowman was the the twinkling of Christmas lights. Something I had hoped we might give the elves a hand with today...

Jolly Olde Saint Nick

2011-12-02T14:53:00.000-06:00

Elfie made himself at home on Jolly Olde Saint Nick's shoulder last night. And I would have sworn I heard him whispering into Santa's ear...

The boys are getting pretty good at finding Elfie's new perch each morning. Even when he thinks he has blended into the scenery...

Gingerbread Countdown to Christmas

2011-12-01T00:19:00.000-06:00

When Elfie returned today he picked out a prime spot to keep an eye on the 1st day of Advent this year.

Christmas Songs… The New Waterboarding.

2011-11-30T13:01:00.000-06:00

From the Peanut Gallery yesterday:

"No, Mommy!! Not another Christmas Song!! Not EVERY WEEK!!! TURN IT OFF!!!!"

I am not sure what’s up with Connor, but he apparently has quite the dislike of Christmas songs. It’s the end.of.the.world. NO MORE CHRISTMAS. MAKE IT STOP!!! He is quite adamant that he does NOT want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.

Lights, Camera, Action!

2011-11-30T01:42:00.001-06:00

Today we found Elfie swinging around the top of the newly put up and lighted Christmas tree. Wonder if we could convince him to stay because I have no idea where the actual tree topper is...

And I am sure Elfie had quite a story to tell Santa about the Christmas Tree assembly. How often do you think it is that someone puts together a tree and has extra pieces? In particular extra branches without any obvious graping holes. Unless you know where to look that is... Note to tree makers: my husband cannot "count" letters. Particularly when the lowest branches begin with the letter "K" It took me 2 minutes to convince him that F was indeed the letter before G...

As it turns out he managed to skip the bottom ring of the tree (uh... more room for presents right!?!). And as you go up the higher branches require less pieces. So somewhere around F we ended up with more branches than spots to put them. A theme that would continue on throughout each subsequent row. And then to top it off he also tried to putt the "B" branches on top of the "G" branches. Thankfully I noticed as I was fluffing the first one so we didn't have to pull a bazillion branches back off the tree.

Once the tree was up Kevin suggested that I pick up new LED lights for the tree vs. trying to figure out and fix the variety of old lights in various states of disrepair. Luckily Walmart was open and had some LEDs to try out. I actually thought they turned out pretty nice.. Now if only there was a way to make them flash...

Ready, Set, Mail!

2011-11-29T00:46:00.019-06:00

Elfie apparently thinks it is about time to get the Christmas cards out the door. They have been designed, printed, and even stuffed, sealed, addressed and stamped for a while now. The boys and I will have to run by the postoffice to drop them in the mail later this week.

Deck the Halls

2011-11-28T00:40:00.000-06:00

Elfie apparently decided that the Christmas dishes needed to be at our fingertips vs. stashed in an obscure cabinet somewhere.

So he did a little dish re-arranging after the boys went to bed last night. He replaced my white Italian dishes with my favorite blue snowman and the boys' IKEA dishes with the new snowman and Santa dishes that he brought for our North Pole Breakfast.

I think he is trying to tell us something...

Thirst Quenched

2011-11-27T23:59:00.003-06:00

Apparently spreading all this Christmas Magic really makes an elf thirsty... Elfie must have helped himself to Kevin's Dr. Pepper last night!

Advent Books - Countdown to Christmas

2011-11-26T09:25:00.000-06:00

Uh, huh... We definitely need to keep an eye on that elf.

Apparently while the boys were sleeping Elfie made his report to Santa and then came back, drug out and relocated one of the Christmas trees to the boys' room and wrapped up a whole pile of books to help the boys countdown to Christmas.

He then took up a new position in the branches of the tree to keep an eye on things today.

He left a note for the boys telling them that they could unwrap one book every night from now until Christmas. And he already knows them well enough to know they could NEVER wait until tonight to open one so he left one unwrapped for them to read this morning.

And I was right, that elf definitely had plans for the new bookshelves. He relocated all the books that were upstairs and replaced them with Christmas books.

After we read the Little Elf book Elfie left for us we read 3 others from the book shelf.

I don't know how he managed to get it all done in just one night - it must be the Christmas magic! Because if I had to do it all myself I would have been up until 1:30 in the morning just wrapping all those books! :) Not to mention finding the tree, and hauling it all the way to the boys room.

And I am sooo surprised that he didn't wake the boys up as he banged around crashing into all kinds of things as he dragged the stand, the tree, and all those books in. Not to mention moving the dresser to plug the tree in. He even broke an ornament getting the tree in through the bathroom door. It crashed on to the floor just inches away from Ryan and both of the boys slept right through all the commotion. Daddy kept right on snoring, too. Apparently mommy was the only one who heard a thing... :)

Gutter Bookshelves

2011-11-26T02:19:00.001-06:00

I spent a couple of hours today and installed some gutter bookshelves in the boys' room. I measured, measured again, checked the level, checked the level again, drilled, crossed my fingers, held my breath and let it out with a sigh of relief when it was all said and done. I think everyone thought I was crazy - gutters?!? But I think they turned out really well. And the boys were really excited about the new addition. They both called out their favorites and quickly picked out books for us to read.

The challenge I suspect will be getting them to pick just one, and getting them to put them back when they are done.... And not playing with the books when they are supposed to be sleeping... And.. And... And... And whose bright idea was this?? :)

Not to mention the fact that I think we had better keep an eye on that Elf. I could have sworn he had a gleam in his eye at the mention of the bookshelves...

North Pole Breakfast - Elf on the Shelf Arrives!

2011-11-25T10:30:00.000-06:00

While the boys were snuggled in their beds, the elves were busy downstairs.

Elfie our Elf on the shelf arrived bringing with him a note just for us, his book, cuddly elves for the boys, and snowman donuts all the way from the North Pole.

He decked out our table for a very special North Pole Snowman Breakfast.

He made special snowman donuts just for the boys...

Unfortunately he didn't think about how much warmer it is here in Texas, and the snowmen started to melt!

When the boys woke up this morning and headed downstairs they found Elfie and his special North Pole Breakfast.

They were excited to see what all Elfie had brought.

They listened to Elfie's note, and we read the Elf on the Shelf book to hear what Elfie was doing here.

Afterwards we dug into the snowman donuts.

Elfie's breakfast got a full 4 thumbs up!

Thanksgiving Treats

2011-11-24T00:01:00.000-06:00

Gobble, Gobble! Happy Thanksgiving!

I had planned to make a sweet potatoe dish for Thanksgivig similiar to the one I made last year. But someone else called dibbs on it so I turned to plan B - turkey making.

And I have to admit, I think they turned out pertty cute!

A fish story...

2011-11-22T17:22:00.001-06:00

Ryan caught a fish.

And Kevin told Ryan that they would keep it, clean it, and eat it.

And then Kevin fed Ryan's fish to this fish. As bait...

Demented Turkeys?

2011-11-20T21:27:00.000-06:00

Remember the turkey pancakes? And how ecstatically happy I was that they came out actually looking like... well... turkeys? That's because of times like these. Times when I envision the cutest little turkeys. And end up with... well... these...

For the record I decided this second one looked like one of the house elves in Harry Potter.

Making a List... Checking it Twice...

2011-11-15T00:39:00.000-06:00

I can check making Christmas cards off my list of things to do. And they are so stinkin' cute! Not only that... I even have Chstimas stamps already. Wrong, so wrong... I know.

Now if only the laundry pile wasn't taller than I am and I had little magic elves that would wash the heaping pile of dishes that have over flowed the dishwasher or are waiting to be hand washed... and... and... and....

Turkey Pancakes

2011-11-13T23:23:00.003-06:00

I have been admiring Jenni's pancake art for a while now and keep saying I am going to have to give it a try some day... and I finally did. :)

And I have to admit, I don't think they turned out half bad! Though there was definitely some trial and error along the way.... First the pancake mix I picked up was not exactly what I intended to get. I intended to get plain every day pancake mix, just add water. I ended up with some whole grain wheat, add milk and an egg (which I didn't have because while I was at the store Kevin was visiting Uncle Randy and the last two times he has been over there he has come home with fresh eggs from Randy's chickens. So I specifically put the eggs I had picked up at the store back. So I had to run to the store.) And then the "whole grain" part stopped up the bottle instantly. I cut the tip off the bottle to make it a bit bigger to see if I could get it to work that way and just succeeded in making a mess. After a few minutes I came to my senses and opted to toss the whole batch as it was unlikely that I would ever get it to work, and I sincerely doubted the boys would be thrilled to find "seeds!" in their pancakes. So I scoured the pantry and grabbed the only other choice that didn't require a return trip to the store - an all purpose baking mix.

After locating my bottles, and whipping up the batter I started looking for food coloring. I had bought some recently, but couldn't find it for the life of me. So single color pancakes it was (in theory..).

Unlike Jenni's carefully planned out pancakes, which often include cute sketches, I hadn't thought about what I was going to do at all until I started "drawing on the pan" - improvising on the fly. Or at least the best I could given every second or two the bottle was jammed once again (note to self: forget hand whisking - pull out the mixer next time - NO LUMPS!!) So I drew the outlines and then fired up both burners on my stove to start them cooking.

And when the outside puffed out and started bubbling I quickly filled in the outlines and then watched them cook. At this point I was fairly certain that it would be a miracle if they came out resembling anything like the turkeys I had envisioned...

After having taken a couple of pictures, and deciding that based on the amount of bubbling they must be done, I flipped them over.

And discovered just how unevenly my two burner griddle pan works... None the less I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the blobs I had created did actually resemble a turkey.

Though I realized as I began assembling that I had completely forgotten feet. And the little hangy thing-a-majig.

So I headed back to the griddle to make some.

I had also planned to add a piece of candy for an eye, but I was so ecstatic with the results thus far that I totally forgot and called everyone in the house to COME.AND.ADMIRE.NOW! :)

At which time the boys proceeded to disassemble and devour them.

"Can I eat it now???"

Needless to say I will be making art pancakes again. Maybe a snowman or reindeer for a special Christmas breakfast??

Cars Lunch

2011-11-12T23:59:00.000-06:00

While Ryan was glued to the tv watching Cars 2 for the upteenth million time since it came out on DVD two weeks ago I started making lunch.

Nothing special... Just sandwiches. "Baby sandwiches" as the boys would call them. I began making them as Lightening McQueen and Francesco Bernoilli raced across the finish line in the background. And I remembered that somewhere in the heap of stuff yet to be put up that there were checkered flag picks that I picked up some time ago for something another.

So I found them. And embellished the mini sandwiches. Which then began multiplying.

And inviting friends to come along... Reminding them to get gussied up, too....

And before I knew it I had a whole plate full. Complete with french onion dip for dipping, too.

And another satisfied customer chomping at the bit to dig in...

Pumpkins for Christmas?

2011-11-11T23:11:00.000-06:00

Would it be wrong to consider using a picture of the kids with pumpkins as my Christmas card photo?

Yeah... I figured...

And, yes, I am already thinking about Christmas. I am also well aware that it's not even Thanksgiving yet. But there are simply not enough hours in the day or days in the week. And normally I whine and complain about how early the stores put out Christmas, but come on Walmart! It's November!! Where are the Christmas books?!?!

I have been thinking about what I might want to do for a Christmas advent this year. The boys are old enough to be really excited about it so I have been stocking up on books, movies, and thinking about fun activities, food (snowman pancakes!?!), and even some awesome road trips (festival of lights, polar express train). Not to mention breaking out the elf on shelf and having him get up to some hijinks (I see that elf microphone in our future!)

It's still a few more weeks! It's ONLY a few more weeks! :) Are you ready yet?

PS. I don't know how I missed Prep and Landing on t.v., but I am so excited about the movie! And just a tad bit miffed that I have to wait until November 22nd to see it!! I am also excited to see the new Arthur Christmas release coming out in a few weeks, too.

Lightening McQueen and TOW Mater

2011-11-04T18:54:00.004-05:00

The boys had been looking forward to Halloween for weeks. Ryan said from the start that he wanted to be Lightening McQueen. Connor vacillated from Nemo, to Mater, to Sheldon (Nemo), to Mater and even Holley (Cars2). As it has been so long since the Nemo movie came out the stores have all but stopped carrying anything Nemo - even Disney. So I was relieved when we went into the store and he picked out Mater not once, but twice in a row.

Needless to say they were super excited when Halloween finally rolled around. They donned their costumes and headed off to school for the costume parade. That afternoon they had their Halloween party. I came by the for the party and then took the boys with me when it was over. We stopped by work, wished folks a Happy Halloween, and shared some of our Halloween treats. After an early dinner and some play time at their favorite Chick-a-lay we headed home to put our costumes on once again and get the trick or treating started.

They were both so excited to get started. They dashed up to the door, with Ryan in the lead, and Connor following behind already shouting “TRICK OR TREAT!!” After a little scuffle over who was going to ring the doorbell (both of them, twice.) it was finally time. As soon as Connor saw someone at the door he resumed his former shouts of Trick or Treat while Ryan stayed silent, but quickly offered up his bag for treats. And that’s pretty much how it went for the rest of the night.

After they got candy we reminded the boys to say “Thank You! Happy Halloween.” In all the trick or treating excitement Connor began saying “Happy Trick or Treat” as he walked up to the door. Connor also tried some sly candy snagging tricks – for the people who wanted to put something in his basket directly he started pulling the basket away and as they would bend over to try to get it into his basket he would reach into the candy dish instead. I don’t think it was intentional, but we got quite a laugh out of it. And for the people without the bowl when they would try to put something in his basket he would tell them which 1 he wanted. At one house the guy tried to give Connor a purple pixie stick and 2 or 3 other pieces of candy, but Connor was quite adamant “Just the purple one!” and wouldn’t let him put anything except the pixie stick in his bucket. He didn’t seem to quite grasp the concept that it was okay if they handed him more than one, but if they let him pick that he should just get one. Connor enforced the 1 candy rule either way. Ryan had no such qualms. If they told him to take a handful they didn’t have to tell him twice. :)

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T12:45:00.000-05:00

It has been a CRAZY couple of weeks around here getting ready for Halloween.

First, there were activity books to design, print, and bind. And YES, dear, I *NEEDED* that new binding machine! :) And no, I still don't know where I am going to put it. Remind me again, why it can't stay in the kitchen floor?

Then there were the pumpkin oranges for soccer snacks...

And then a few million mummy oreos to make. It's been such a whirlwind I couldn't even tell you exactly how many I made, but I think it's probably just under 100. I DO know that I used roughly 3 bags of oroes, 3 packages of almond bark, and 3 packages of eyes. And they were shared with 25 preschoolers, a soccer team of 10, teachers at school, the children of my mom's club, all of our neighbors, the children of some of my coworkers, and Kevin and the boys who seem to like them rather alot...

After the mummy oreo's I turned to the second half of the treats - caramel apples. In which I discovered that caramel + humidity don't go terribly well together. But thankfully there are few real problems that can't be solved with a bit of chocolate. I think they turned out both gorgeous, and delicious.

And then the gift packaging...

And then began the rounds of sharing... First to the boys' teachers, and soccer coach, and a couple of friends.

Though with all the rushing trying to get out the door I didn't manage to take a single picture with all the gift bowls lined up. There were Draculas, Witches, and Black Cats, too. I loved the hand painted bowls.

There were also cauldrons for the neighbors.

And then treats for the kids' favor bags to be found, and then assembled, and reproduced in mass quantity...

A few extra treats for little friends..

Another bucket of 24 jack-o-lantern oranges...

And one, last, final tray of apples for the class party...

And now?? Now I am THANKFUL for a WHOLE MONTH of Thanksgiving before the madness of Christmas. :)

Caramel Apples

2011-10-21T23:14:00.000-05:00

Heaven on Earth....

There is nothing that says Fall more than caramel apples. Especially homemade caramel apples dipped in peanut butter chips and drizzled with white chocolate. And yes, it was absolutely sinfully good.

For round 2 I am considering dipping them in white chocolate (to keep them from sticking to everything, and because it's chocolate - need I say more??) and then drizzling with milk chocolate just to be gluttonous. My mouth is already watering just thinking about it...

Halloween Gifts

2011-10-20T12:48:00.002-05:00

I thought I might package up some Mummy Oreos as a little appreciation gift for the boys' soccer coach, and their teachers. So what do you think? Cute? Or back to the drawing board? :)

[Nearly] Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-20T12:42:00.000-05:00

We got a new blowup pumpkin patch for the yard this year. The boys love it, and "helped" me set it up. They have also "helped" me [repeatedly] unstake and restake the thing as they must go touch it every time we come home and despite tripping 9 times out of 10 still don't remember to watch out for the stakes... :)

EEK!! Mummy Oreos

2011-10-19T12:40:00.001-05:00

I saw a really cute idea a while back to make some mummy oreos and when I was in Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago I saw the candy eyes which reminded me. I thought they might make a nice Halloween treat so I did a trial run last night. Despite my pathetic dipping and drizzling abilities I LOVED how they turned out! Tell me these aren't ADOREABLE!?!

Halloween Goodies - Sneak Peek!

2011-10-19T12:31:00.001-05:00

I have been bitten by the Halloween bug... :) I blame school. And Kristin Aagard. School because they gave me homework, again. This time to make number flash cards for the boys. And Kristin Aagard because she released the cutest Halloween kit ever called Jeepers Creepers. And I didn't think she could top her kit from last year which I had started out using called Trick or Treat (along with odds and ends from Flergs and Lleila as well) But the googly eyes totally suckered me in. :)

So what started out as flash cards (which I haven't finished beyond number 8 yet...) turned into a full blown activity kit. And it is AWESOME!! Aside from a few minor binding issues that is - 2:1 pitch, 3:1 pitch.. details, details...

These mix and match pages are among my favorites! The boys have already been enjoying making different characters by flipping the heads, bodies and feet in the sample book I was playing with.

I was also surprised by just how well they did with the pattern section. Ryan in particular really caught on "Big, Little, Big, Little!" and has been applying it to all kinds of other things (like the pumpkins by our front door!)

We have also had some fun with the "Shadows" section. It's amazing to see how their little minds work as they puzzle out which one is which especially the first time they came to realize that not only did they have to figure out that it was an owl, but which owl!

Ironically enough it took me far longer to work out the printing and binding details than it did to make the pages. :)

Drawing on Fruit

2011-10-17T00:24:00.000-05:00

For the record, oranges aren't the only fruit that I have been drawing on... :)

The boys enjoyed their "place card bananas" at our breakfast picnic on Saturday, too. I had taken over the kitchen table with some crafting supplies so I enthusically procliamed it a special picnic breakfast day on the patio! :)

Pumpkin Oranges

2011-10-17T00:10:00.000-05:00

There were a billion things I should have been doing... but I had an epiphany. :)

I had this great idea to take oranges as snacks for the boys' soccer team game this weekend. I thought I might try my hand with a sharpie and see if I could turn them into little pumpkins since it is officially fall, and Halloween is just right around the corner. That is until I remembered that I can't draw. At all. Seriously - I am banned from pictionary. :)

So I picked up some oranges and drew 4 really pitiful jack-o-lantern faces on one I took to work for lunch as practice. I then proceeded to peel the orange to eat it and was immediately covered in sharpie. Apparently if you need to get sharpie stains out of anything you should try juice from fresh oranges. :)

I had all but given up on the idea when it hit me that I should try some sort of sticker. Luckily I found a whole package of address label stickers and started drawing, cutting, and coloring with a sharpie. The first one I made looked a little evil (right middle on the back row). But as I tried different eyes, mouths, teeth, moustaches, etc. they all took on their own personalities. I had a blast, and it became a challenge to create a whole collection of different characters. Kevin stopped by a time or two to mock the fact that it was almost midnight and I was sitting in the kitchen making pumpkin oranges instead of being like any other "normal" person and just throwing the plain oranges in a bag and calling it done.

Since Kevin and the boys had helped themselves to some of the oranges I had to run by the store early and pick up a few more oranges to make sure I would have enough for everyone. I had planned to just scatter the extras in with the decorated ones - the early bird get the worm or you get what you get, but I couldn't help myself. I had to decorate the baby ones, too.

As soon as the boys saw them they began picking out their favorites and calling dibbs.

I decided I had better put them up before they decided to help themselves to any more before the game. I started looking for a bowl to put them all in when I saw one of my big tupperware bowls that would be perfect to show them off. So I arranged the the oranges around the outside facing out and then stuffed the fruit by the foot (or paper chewies as the boys like to call them) packages in the middle. That's what the slivers of metallic green that you can see are.

When it was all said and done I was exceedingly proud of my little creations. So much so that I feel fairly certain that some similar ones may be making an appearance at the school Halloween party, too. Shhhh! Don't tell!

And speaking of the soccer game, Connor enthusiastically chased the ball around and even managed to send it in the right direction and Ryan scored his first ever goal - our only one of the game! He did a great job several times on some fast breaks down the field. He's really turning out to be a pretty good little soccer player. He's pretty agressive. He locks on the ball, kicks it and runs as fast as his little feet will take him. Over, and over, and over again. He's like the energizer bunny. He's not even worn out after running up and down the field all game long. He still wants to play with us "just a little more" after the game is over.

SeaWorld Halloween

2011-10-10T06:38:00.000-05:00

The other big surprise was just how much Halloween theming and special events they had planned for their Halloween celebration.

There were plenty of kid friendly events like trick or treating -

Thoughout the park there were also a number of skeleton vignettes and skeletons worked into the typical attractions like the wetsuit the divers wore, and the skull and crossbones sitting in the aquarium tanks.

There was also an interesting section of the park filled with a variety of acts from witch doctors, to snake charmers.

We stopped by the Count's Un-Haunted Castle -

The boys were particularly intersted in the talking television. The pumpkin head asked their name and talked to them for several minutes.

We manged to get the boys to "pose" by the Count at each phase by telling them that we had to measure them to see if they were tall enough to go on. They were eager to see if they passed the height requirement. Luckily they were tall enough for every part though they weren't so lucky on the bigger roller coasters, and the biggest disappointment the river ride Rio Loco.

Some of the scarier attractions offered a family friendly hour - like Jack's Frighmare Forest.

It was definately not for the faint of heart. Or the clausterphobic as the first building you had to squeeze your way through two air pillows to pop out the other side. You then wandered from one black building to the next past all manner of creatures along the way.

Connor wasn't the least bit scared by creepy critters. He even reached out and touched several of them.

Ryan on the other hand was NOT a fan of any of the darker places.

While I would have loved to have come back at night to see the grove of glow in the dark pumpkins I am not sure I would have enjoyed seeing what else lurked in Jack's forest in the middle of the night.

Because the darker it got the more the creepy creatures ventured out.

Though some were scarier than others.

The boys particularly enjoyed the signing skeletons and their rendition of a song similiar to the 12 Days of Christmas.

The skeleton vignettes were well lit at night really making them stand out.

The other thing that really stood out was the Monster Stomp show. We sat towards the back at the edge in the event that we needed to sneak out as I wasn't sure how appropriate it would be for 3 year olds.

Luckily the boys didn't pay terribly much attention to the plot and simply enjoyed the music, dancing, and brightly colored costumes.

I asked the boys several times if they wanted to leave, and they adamantly insisted on staying.

The drum part was one of their favorites.

Though without a doubt my favorite was the glow in the dark skeletons.

After the Monster Stop show we caught a small part of the Grave Diggers Funeral Procession before heading back to the hotel to put the boys to bed after a long day spent enjoying all the Halloween activities the park had to offer.

SeaWorld - Part 4: The Bay of Play

2011-10-09T11:19:00.001-05:00

One of the boy's favorite places to play at SeaWorld was the Bay of Play.

It was a huge, brightly colored play structure with netting and tunnels to climb and explore.

If it weren't for the Count's story time I am not sure we could have lured them out.

But the second the characters took the stage and started singing and dancing the boys came running to listen.

Though the bay of play wasn't the only play area. There was another more typical playground nearby.

I am not sure the boys would have tired of playing here either if it weren't for the mulch that kept getting in the holes of their shoes.

We had heard that water park part of SeaWorld was closed for the season. So imagine our surprise when saw the splash pad running. Unfortunately we hadn't brought our swimsuits the first day so we had to wait until we were better prepared before heading in.

It was well worth the wait.

Though we didn't get to stay too terribly long as the sun began to set and the splash pad area was covered in shade. With the cool breeze blowing despite the almost 100 degree temperatures of earlier in the day the boys started turning into little popsicles.

Sea World - Part 3: The Rides

2011-10-09T10:20:00.001-05:00

The part that I didn't remember, however, were the rides.

From the Shamu roller coaster -

To the carousel -

The Big Bird Ferris wheel -

And the monster drop -

We rode them all. By day and by night. Multiple times. :)

But the ride that we rode the absolute most was Journey to Atlantis. Connor rode twice before declaring that there was no way we were getting him back on the ride. In fact his eyes got huge every time the roller coaster dropped and he looked terrified. It was such a surprise. Ryan on the other hand was already asking to go again before the ride even made a complete stop. So we rode in the front row, the back row, and every row in between. We sat on the inside the outside. We zoomed back over the bridge to get back in line when we weren't lucky enough to simply stay in our seats. We got splashed, sprayed, and even downright soaked. It didn't matter - we had a blast.

SeaWorld One Ocean

2011-10-08T11:01:00.000-05:00

Of course no visit to SeaWorld would be complete without a visit with Shamu at the One Ocean show.

SeaWorld Azul

2011-10-08T10:50:00.003-05:00

In addition to the Cannery Row Caper we also saw the Azul show.

Including some pre-show entertainment and splashing from this character.

Some amazing white whales -

Acrobatic diving and stunts -

As well as several frisky high jumping dolphins -

And some circus-esque performances -

SeaWorld Cannery Row Caper

2011-10-08T09:22:00.001-05:00

The other thing I remembered about SeaWorld were the shows.

The first show we saw was the Cannery Row Caper. And while all the shows were good, it was by far my favorite. The plot involved two sea lions investigating the disappearance of fish at the cannery.

After the show we made our way around to the back of the stage and visited with the sea lions.

We picked up a basket of fish and the boys eagerly tossed the fish to the waiting sealions in the water below.

SeaWorld - Part I: Under the Sea

2011-10-08T06:59:00.001-05:00

We recently took the boys on their first trip to SeaWorld. 3 days and 1400 pictures later we made our way home. Our feet thankful for the respite, our new baby Shamu lovies tucked under our arms, and so many memories to remember it by.

I haven't been to SeaWorld since I was a kid. And mostly what I remembered was Shamu, the dolphins, and a whole world of undersea creatures.

Though what I don't remember was being so close to it all. Actually being able to touch and feed all kinds of animals. One of the boys' favorite things to do each day as we came in was to visit the stingray tank and pet the baby stingrays.

Though the stingrays weren't the only animals the boys had the opportunity to pet. I was amazed by the dolphin feeding and petting tank.

Though the boys didn't actually get to touch a dolphin they did get to see the dolphins up close.

And even got to feed them two small baskets of fish.

The boys also got to see the aquariums - always one of our favorites anywhere we go.

We were also lucky enough to stop by the stingray tank in time for their 1pm feeding.

It was incredibly cool! Two divers dropped into the tank with small buckets of fish. As we watched they hand fed the stingrays and other fish in the aquarium.

When they were done, they let all the kids give them high 5s.

Though of course it would be hard to top the divers feeding the stingrays the boys also enjoyed the shark tank.

And a variety of smaller tanks with beautifully colored coral as well.

And reminiscent of their birthday party we also stopped by the Penguin encounter and watched the penguins by way of the people mover.

Scenes from Dewberry Farm 2011

2011-10-05T23:44:00.000-05:00

There were slides to zip down -

A fort to explore -

Cornball -

Oversize tubes to crawl through and tumble in -

Corn dogs to devour -

Swings to swing on -

Photo ops galore.

Bales of hay to scale and swing off like Tarzan -

And of course all manor or farm vehicle to drive -

Height to be checked -

And singing chickens to entrance -

There was also pig calling - SUUUEEEEYYY!!!!

And pig racing -

And a barn full of animals -

Statues of pigs -

And ducks to race -

Busses and tractors to drive -

To help cool off there were make your own snow cones in colors of yellow and blue -

And a corn maze to explore -

Corn sticks to lead the way -

And pumpkins to pose with -

And at last, a long, long walk back to the car.

In spite of the unseasonably warm temperatures we enjoyed our afternoon traipsing around the farm going from one adventure to the next. It was a wonderful way to welcome in the fall.

Celebrating Saroj's 2nd Birthday

2011-10-04T23:41:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we helped our friend Saroj celebrate his 2nd birthday at Monkey Bizness.

The boys of course had a blast playing on all the jumpers and racing down the slides.

Ryan and Saroj's brother Rohan also particularly enjoyed the party blowers.

True Colors - A House Divided

2011-10-03T21:11:00.001-05:00

Of course the second Kevin got home from his trip he couldn't wait to get Ryan in his "true colors."

The punch line of the joke of course is that they will probably both end up going to Southwest Texas. At least they have good outlet malls there! :)

Scenes from the boys' First Aggie Game Day

2011-09-27T23:31:00.001-05:00

After our soccer game and a quick lunch we changed and headed for Aggieland. Thankfully we got to campus long before the game and found a parking spot next to the shuttle and the porta potties. After checking out the coolest handicapped porta potty I have ever seen we waited a short while for the bus. The boys were super excited to get to ride the bus. So excited in fact that Ryan got to stay on the bus past the stadium drop off because we left the tickets in the car. :)

Connor and I went on to pick up some Maroon Out Shirts and find a spot to watch the band and corps march in.

We even got to see Miss Reveille.

After watching the corps march in we grabbed a quick dinner and head up the 10 million ramps to our seats.

We found our seats on the 33rd row of 3rd deck (out of 38 rows... :)) in the Zone. Somewhere around 25ish I began mumbling under my breath about how insanely far up we were and silently thinking that that was going to be an awful long way down for potty breaks...

Because with ginormous drinks in hand I knew it would't be long before someone started shouting. :)

No, really, I can't imagine why he had to go potty. 4 times. Especially not when I quite clearly said "That's enough! Don't give him anymore, only to turn around and find him right back at it again. :)

But before the game began the entire stadium stood up for the National Anthem and then the signing of the Spirit of Aggieland. The boys stood looking around at all the crazy people just taking it all in.

And when it was time to "hump it!" they quickly assumed the same position as everyone else - Connor in particular caught on quick and didn't want to miss out on what everyone was doing.

After a short wait while we all got settled the football team raced out onto the field.

And the game was on.

The Aggies marched the ball down the field.

And scored to go up 7-0 much to the excitement of the Aggie fans.

During the game the boys were particularly excited to see the B-52 flyover. We had seen the large plane(s) circling over the stadium earlier in the day wondering what they were.

We also discovered the best use for 12th man towels.

And the best way to appease the natives - feeding them.

As it was an evening game we also got to enjoy (between plays of course) the beautiful sunset.

And watch the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band.

WHOOP!!

We finally called it quits, up 37-0 at the end of the 3rd quarter around 10 pm with two tired little hooligans.

On the million mile walk on the way back to the car Connor managed to trip over his own two feet landing face first on cobblestones. He got a nose bleed, two spit lips, and a slightly crooked tooth that luckily doesn't seem to be too much worse for the wear for his troubles. Poor kiddo...

So other than the fact that the stadium now serves Pepsi (seriously!?!?!), and they now charge for parking (even in the boonies) Game Day was just as special as I remembered. While the boys will probably be too young to remember their first game day in Aggieland I am really glad we got the opportunity to experience it with them and am looking forward to many more.

Kicking off Fall with our 1st Aggie Game Day

2011-09-26T18:34:00.002-05:00

What's more synonomous with Fall than Football? We were lucky enough to catch a great deal on football tickets to last weekends A&M football game against Idaho. In prepartion for the big day and the first "Show your School Spirt Day" at school I picked up some jerseys for the boys to wear.

And yes, Ryan is really that much taller than Connor. :) I keep telling him he better drink his milk and eat his spinach...

It's that time, again.

2011-09-22T23:51:00.000-05:00

It's officially fall, again. Though you probably wouldn't know it if you stepped outside just yet. We hope cooler temperatures will be just around the corner because we can't wait to get started on all those fun fall activities.

Because it wouldn't be fall without a visit to the pumpkin patch...

Or a visit to the signing chickens...

Or a chance to find out just how much we've grown...

And to see if our feet will finally reach the pedals and stirrups...

Yep... There is a lot to look forward to this fall.

My next project

2011-09-20T06:44:00.002-05:00

I decided I wanted to make an advent calendar for Halloween this year. A couple of weeks ago I visited my local dollar store and found a cute chipboard tree that I thought might work for what I had in mind.

Looking though my stash of odds and ends I found some small white tags that I thought I might work for the numbers. Either just written on with a marker, or maybe some black glitter. Since the tree wasn't too big I thought I might tie on small rolled up pieces of paper with the various "treats" written on them with a variety of ribbon. I have a handful of [random] ideas for what the treats may be from classic candy, to wrapped Halloween themed bedtime book or movies (mostly things we already have, but a few new ones mixed in, too), along with outings like picking a pumpkin, visiting the corn maze, stuffing a scarecrow, etc.

Since the boys aren't terribly patient, and I would like to be able to use the tree again sometime I decided I would use some tiny colored clothespins I found while riffling through my desk to secure the tags to the tree. Though I am a few short so I picked up some slightly larger plain wood ones that I will paint (or color with a sharpie maybe?)

I think it will be super cute. Hopefully by the end of this week I will have ideas for all the days of the month, and I will have remebered where I put the rest of the ribbon... :) I can't wait to see what it looks like when it is finished!

Speaking of Halloween... I can't believe it is almost that time again. Costumes are already out in our neck of the woods. When I asked the boys what they wanted to be Ryan immediately piped up that he wants to be Lightening McQueen and Connor declared he wanted to be Nemo, but opted for Mater when we were in the store. I am not crazy about the costumes we found and have some ideas for some home-made cardboard creations that might not be too bad... Famous last words... :)

The boys' 1st Soccer Game

2011-09-19T06:33:00.001-05:00

We have never once at soccer practice practiced 5 on 5 play. We have also never played with just one ball. So we knew our first game would be... interesting.

The kids weren't sure where to line up or what to do.

Though the second they put the ball in play the one kid on our team who has played before and who knows what he is doing took the ball and scored.

The boys meanwhile waited on the sidelines for their turn.

When it was their turn, Ryan stepped out on the field and then promptly announced that he had to go potty. Again. So Kevin took Ryan and went in search of the restrooms a mile away and Connor and some of the other kids went into the game.

Connor only touched the ball once. With his hands. When one of the other kids on his team was kicking it the wrong way and he was trying to turn it back around to go the right way. Poor guy.

Our ref was a hoot. He really got a workout. The kids didn't really respond when he blew his whistle so he spent alot of his time trying to race ahead of the kids 20 feet off the field or 20 feet into the other game's field to steal the ball away.

And when that didn't work once or twice he picked up the kids kicking the ball and ran with them to catch the ball and stop it. It was a good thing he was really, really fast, and energetic.

At one point when 3/4 of the kids from our game were standing on the other teams field as one of the other teams were driving to their goal one the the kids from the other team in our game leaned down and caught their ball and then used his hands to roll into their opponets goal. I just about died laughing.

Getting the kids out onto the field was quite an adventure as well. The coach wasn't very organized and didn't seem to have a plan about who would go in when. He would go up and down the sidelines asking who hadn't been into the game and would get 6 or 7 kids out on the field and then send some back.

The first time he asked both the boys popped up ready to go and were then told to go back to their seats and wait for next time. The next time he came by neither of them wanted to go. I bribed Connor with treats and finally wrestled Ryan's yellow ball out of his hands and practically booted him out on to the field amid threats to just go home if he wasn't going to get out there and play. It was not my finest mom moment.

Thanfully, after his 15 minute restroom break with just a few minutes left in the game he actually did get out onto the field to play.

And kicked the ball. And kicked it, and kicked it, and kicked it way off the field missing the goal by a good 5 feet and continuing to kick the ball until almost at the edge of the forest where the ref finally caught up with him and scooped the ball away.

On a bright note, the other team wasn't terribly well prepared either. They only managed to get the ball on our half of the field once, and never scored.

Final Score: Portland - 2, Houston - 0.

Random Thoughts

2011-09-18T22:16:00.001-05:00

I love my tivo.
My Season Pass Manager is the "who's who" of cancelled programs.
I am so beyond ready for some new shows on television.
So ready in fact that I have been updating my season pass manager with new programs the last few days.
I am pretty sure that's the kiss of death for those shows.
We still don't have cable. We must be the only people in the free world.
It's probably a good thing. HGTV would be a giant time suck for me. :)
The kids would be little zombies - so many shows to watch so little time.
The only thing I miss is football. College Football. Pro Football. ESPN is creating a monopoly.
I don't even want to know what the Longhorn network is.
If A&M leaves the Big 12 will we still play Texas on Thanksgiving?
We went to our first Aggie football game. ($10 kids tickets - vs. Idaho)
Idaho is the "Vandals." I wonder if their mascot is a raccoon or prison pin stripes.
We also left at the end of the 3rd quarter. (37-0 Aggies)
Like a million other people. 2 percenters!!
And sat in traffic on 2818 FOREVER. There must have been a massive accident. We saw a cop escorting a tow truck. Never a good sign.
We ended up back at George Bush and Welborn. There was absolutely no traffic.
I got a maroon out shirt (after waiting in line for 30 minutes).
They went up from $5 to $8. And the smallest size they have is a Youth Medium. Which is HUGE. The boys didn't get one.
I thought the 66 stairs on the way to our seats in the 33rd row would get us. They didn't. But the cobble stones did. Connor got a bloody nose, 2 split lips, bleeding gums. And the list goes on...
There are 38 rows in the upper deck nose bleed section. It's still not a bad view of the game.
3 year old soccer is AWESOME.
3 year old soccer sucks.
There are no restrooms anywhere near the soccer fields.
Who thought this was a good idea? It must be a man.
No matter how long you spend cleaning it will take the kids precisely 3.2 seconds to undo it all.
I don't remember buying the kids that many clothes. They must be multiplying like bunnies in the hamper. Or the baskets. Or the couch, or the bed, or anywhere else that I have dumped all the clothes that need to be folded, paired, and put up.
The good thing about dressing your children the same is that you don't have to come up with 2 matching outfits.
The bad thing about dressing your children the same is that you have come up with 2 MATCHING OUTFITS.
I haven't decided yet if I am going to sort soccer pictures or fold clothes.
If I don't fold clothes I am not sure where I am going to sleep.

Kyle's 4th Birthday at the Fire Station

2011-09-16T22:28:00.001-05:00

I didn't even know you could have a birthday at the fire station until we got the invitation for Kyle's 4th birthday. How cool is that?

The party started off with one of the firefighters talking about fire safety. Telling the kids they should sleep with their doors closed and reminders to crawl on the ground, not touch hot door knobs, and of course to stop, drop, and roll.

One of the kids asked several funny questions, and kept his hand up most of the time until the fireman had to tell him that they would have to hold questions to the end. :)

Then one of the fireman donned their fire suit as they told us what each piece was and why they needed it.

The fireman then went around and gave each of the kids a high five and talked about how if there was ever a fire in their house that this is what the fireman would look like and to not be afraid. The boys didn't mind at all, but some of the other kids even after seeing just a normal man get dressed up into a "costume" still weren't so sure about the whole creepy darth vadar sounding man right in front of them.

Afterwards we went out to see the fire trucks.

They opened up all the doors and talked to the kids about what the various tools were for. Tools for putting holes in the wall, and pulling walls down. Landon's Dad Wade joked that by the end of the day someone would have a hole in their wall as the kids played fireman at home.

After the tour they let the boys sit in the fire trucks.

Ryan and Kyle even got to drive it.

Connor was one of the first kids in and one of the absolute last to get out despite my repeated attempts to get him out short of going in after him.

Needless to say - he really enjoyed getting to sit in the fire truck.

And how many firefighters does it take to get 15 preschoolers lined up to take a picture? At least half of the department. :)

When we got back inside, Kyle's mom Lisa tried to set the fire station on fire with her lighter. When she first clicked it over the cake it shot out an almost foot long flame. They immediately took it away from the kids and were trying to turn the flame down to a more manageable level. This was as low as it would go.

And how many fire fighters, and parents does it take to figure out how to light candles with a flaming blow torch. Once again, far more than you would think... One of the mom's finally stepped up, pulled a candle out, lit it, and then used it to light the other candles on the cake. Doh.

With the candles finally lit everyone sang Happy Birthday to Kyle and we all enjoyed cake and ice cream.

Afterwards, they pulled out one of the fire trucks and hosed the kids down with it for a few minutes.

It was actually pretty funny because they had blocked off the side entrance to the fire station so the kids had plenty of room to run and play. All of the parents stood safely to the side near the fire station to avoid being sprayed and left the kids out in the field by themselves. The second they turned on the fire hose the kids ran away screaming and made a beeline for the road.

I was the closest to the kids taking cover behind an SUV hoping not to be sprayed and once we realized where the kids were headed we realized that at least some of us should stand out there to keep the kids from running into the thankfully pretty distant road.

The kids really enjoyed being sprayed by the hose. They particularly liked the game when the fireman would turn the water off, the kids would edge closer, and closer until the sprayed them all as they ran screaming away.

Ryan's Big Day

2011-09-15T22:01:00.001-05:00

I don't know how parents manage to keep up with half a dozen kids and even more activities. The boys are just doing swim lessons and playing soccer (same time, same place) and just 4 days a week and I am exhausted! I long to see my house in daylight. And I am getting really tired of fast food.

But then there are days like today where I am reminded, again, that it's all worth it. Ryan swam for the first time today. Just a few feet, but he did it. As he was swimming back towards me in class I pantomimed putting his head and the water and he did it. After that something just clicked and he just started putting his head underwater and swimming. I was so proud of him! I couldn't have been more excited.

Though he was funny - as he swam towards his teacher he would keep his head up and as he swam back towards me he would put his face in the water.

He must be part blond, too. He might be able to walk, talk, and chew gum (if we ever gave him any), but he had quite a time trying to remember to put his face in the water, blow bubbles, move his arms, and his legs all at the same time. Several times he put his hands out as far as he could reach in front of him and just left them there while he kicked his feet and put his head under. Other times his arms would move slowly, but his feet would stop all together. I couldn't help but laugh while I coached, clapped, and cheered from the sidelines. Way to go RY!!!

And no, thanks to the Y's silly no photo policy I don't have a single photo to share of the momentus occasion so you will just have to take my word for it. It was AWESOME!

The Boys at Soccer

2011-09-15T00:02:00.001-05:00

For the record this was completely unposed. They were jockeying for space trying to sit on the soccer balls and cones in the bag and when I yelled at them they looked up grinning.

And then went right back to their fighting while completely ignoring everything I said.

Though I am pretty sure they still knew I was talking...

Not that they cared of course...

I am still amazed by the fact that seem to listen to their coach when he asks them all to come here and huddle up, and stand in line, and do this or do that.

A line. No cutting, no pushing, no fighting. For the first few minutes anyway...

And I have no idea what Ryan was asking the coach here. Probably why Connor got to go first. :)

And speaking of Ry... you will just have to wait until this weekend to see amazing new soccer pics of him as he's either the flash - too fast to be captured on film, a giant blur flashing though the frame, or one of probably two dozen or more pictures accidentally shot in the wrong mode where the ISO was set to 1600 and the vast majority of the pics came out looking like this... or worse...

In fact, this was the only even remotely good picture I managed of him today.

Unless you count this one...

Sorry, Ry. Promise I will do better next time, k? Well, if you promise to slow down a little that is... :)

[Nearly] Wordless Wednesday: Connor's soccer practice

2011-09-14T23:29:00.000-05:00

I actually have lots of new favorite pictures. And even more still to sort through... :) All despite the fact that I stopped taking pictures about 15 minutes into to practice when it became impractical to try to take pictures while also attempting to corral the boys.

Here are my favorites of Connor this evening:

The little bugger stole my chair!

My new favorite picture

2011-09-14T22:55:00.001-05:00

Leaving Lost Pines - Wildfires Part II

2011-09-13T22:02:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned yesterday when we first got to the high ground of the parking lot we could see two separate fires. The first was the Union Chapel fire East of Bastrop just off 71. The other was the tail end of the Bastrop Complex fire. As we turned further to the left following the tail end of fire back to it's source it was quite a sight to see.

Though the fire was at least 10 miles away it looked like it was just across the Colorodo River from the hotel.

As we made our way out on 71 we weren't sure how far out the fire was and if our normal route home would be accessible.

We decided we would head that direction for a short ways, and if it looked too bad we would turn around and head back and find an alternate route.

We hadn't gone more than a couple of miles when it was obvious that we would need to find another way home. The smoke from the fire spread across the entire horizon almost as far as the eye could see.

It was like a wall - rising untold stories into the air.

As we exited to turn around some 8 or more miles from the fire we practically had to crane our necks out the front window to even find more than a glimmer of blue sky left.

Luckily we had no problem heading back towards Austin, cutting over to 290, and making our way back home. On our drive we repeatedly searched the radio stations for updates on the fire, and road closures. Despite the late hour we didn't want to stop to eat until we were well on the other side of the line of the fires. As the road twisted and turned we more than once wondered if we would be able to make it through as it appeared as if the road was headed straight for the leading edge, if not behind the furious pace of the fire. Luckily as the road wound it's way closer to home the fires were still well off to the South and we had no problem getting home.

15 or so miles from our house we did see several police cars blocking a road north bound, and had assumed there was some sort of accident. Imagine our surprise when we got home, got the kids to bed, and then turned on the tivo'd news wondering if they would even have a snippet of the Bastrop fires to see that the news did indeed lead off with a segment on wildfires - only the fires they mentioned were less than a dozen miles away up straight up 249 in the Magnolia area. And the roadblock we had seen was likely traffic being blocked from heading North into the line of the fires.

Ironically when we got home after we got the kids in bed I turned on the tivo'd news and immediately saw the fire. Thinking it was the Bastrop fire I called Kevin to come watch. But as soon as we turned the show on we noticed that the fire being

Leaving Lost Pines - Wildfires

2011-09-11T22:55:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned last week our first real comprehension of the wildfires surrounding us came as we walked to our car in the parking lot high ground and glanced back towards the hotel. At ground level all we could see were the very tops of the smoke clouds peeking through the tree tops indistinguishable from the puffy white clouds that often pop up just before a storm.

From the parking lot the view was much different. Off to the left we could see the tail end of the Bastrop Complex Fire. And to the right the much closer Union Chapel fire as it advanced towards Highway 71 just across from the exit of our hotel.

As we neared the end of the winding 2-3 mile resort drive onto Highway 71 we could both see and hear numerous planes and helicopters providing air support for both fires.

Closest to us we could see a Chinook helicopter carrying a bucket of water to dump over the blaze.

We could also see a CH 47 making repeated drops and return trips.

It was back practically as soon as it left.

As we stopped just down the road to fill up with gas there were a number of evacuees and onlookers parked along the edges of the parking lot silently keeping watch over the scene off in the distance. As we stood filling up with gas we noticed that the helicopter we been had watching making water drops earlier was filling up from a nearby pond.

He would drop down to where all we could see of the helicopter was the top of the rotors. He would hover there for what seemed like no more than a minute or two before starting his ascent again loaded up with water to dump on the fire.

Lost Pines in Pics Labor Day Weekend: Day 3

2011-09-11T10:29:00.000-05:00

After sleeping as late as the kids would let us we got up, packed, had breakfast, and then made our way over for a wagon ride.

Several other folks had the same idea, but thankfully we didn't have to wait too terribly long for our turn.

Afterwards we wandered over to the playground and let the boys play for a while.

Of course they had to try out everything the bigger kids were doing like the monkey bars.

Connor didn't think he needed any help. :)

After the boys had played for a while we stopped by the bike check-out area and picked up some tricycles.

The boys are still working on their pedaling skills, but did actually manage to ride them on the downhill. :)

They discovered that pedaling uphill was much harder.

And that going downhill you really don't even have to pedal, just steer.

We went back to the room, changed into our swimsuits and headed for the pool one last time.

The boys enjoyed the last of the popsicles before heading in.

As it was around lunchtime and after typical check-out time (to say nothing of the fires that we would have been more concerned about had we actually watched the news at any point in the last 24 hours) we practically had the pool to ourselves.

After making several laps around the mildly freezing (!?! in Texas, with almost 100 degree temps??) water we decided it was time for lunch. We ordered burgers, parmesan fries, and turkey legs from Buck's poolside and lounged in the chairs drying out and waiting for our food to arrive.

Ryan helped himself to the fries and even shared his loot with Connor while we sorted out the rest of the food. After we finished eating Kevin and the boys headed for the big slide.

They plunged unsuspectingly off the end of the slide to the shockingly rude reminder of just how cold the water was.

One by one.

After half a dozen more trips down the slide and as many laps around the lazy river we decided it was time to head back and change clothes and head out.

As we took the scenic route back looking out over the river towards Bastrop we saw the tip of the almost cloud like smoke rising from the fires East of Bastrop. It was our first inkling of just how close, and large the fires were.

Lost Pines in Pictures Labor Day Weekend: Day 2

2011-09-10T13:19:00.000-05:00

We started Day 2 off with a picnic breakfast on the patio as we watched people playing in the courtyard below and a squirrel scampering around on the roof across the way.

Afterwards we set out to explore more of the resort.

We searched for butterflies in the butterfly meadow. But alas we didn't find any.

While some of us were looking for butterflies some other rather guilty looking short person plucked a pretty flower off a bush.

As we rounded the corner towards the hummingbird garden the boys immediately spied the donkeys.

The boys were excited to pet them gently.

And even more excited when they discovered the "LLAMA, LLAMAS!!!" (from the book series - "Llama, Llama Misses Momma", "Llama, Llama's Red Pajamas", "Llama, Llama Mad at Momma.")

"Look! It's a cactus!!" "It has sharp points so we don't touch [shakes head no]."

Then we headed down the path towards the river past the disc golf course that we played last time.

Connor found the tether ball and was excited to throw it and then run before it hit him in the back, again. :)

We also spent a few minutes shooting some hoops. Though I firmly believe there is something wrong with this goal because neither Connor or I made a single shot. :)

And it was not for lack of trying.

After all that hard playing we stopped in the shade for a few minutes to rest before heading on.

We were surprised at the level of the Colorado River. Given the drought we have been having here in Texas we wouldn't have been surprised to see it as little more than a trickle, but it didn't really even look all that low.

The boys climbed down to the dock and searched for imaginary fish in the water. :)

As we raced up the stairs back to resort level we spotted a longhorn and one of the horses.

The boys of course couldn't wait to sit in the saddle and pet them.

We also made a stop by the activity room for the popsicle taste test. I gave Connor a popsicle and was surprised when he didn't really seem to want it after one lick. I picked up another one and gave it Ryan who also promptly gave it back to me. I told the boys fine if they didn't want to eat their popsicles I would. And took a BIG lick of the popsicle only to gag at the taste of a tea flavored popsicle. YUCK!!

Thankfully the other surprises in the activity room were much more pleasant.

The boys of course had to try out the bounce house.

And roll around in the tunnel.

And after a bit of a wait a fast paced game of air hockey.

They also watched as some of the other kids learned some new dance moves.

And then stopped to color pictures of a fish, and a skunk (so appropriate given our late night smores guests of the night before!)

Ryan also found the giant feet and practiced marching around in them.

After a nice lunch at Jalisco's just down 71 (AWESOME Mexican food, BTW - highly recommend!), we went back to the room for a nap.

When the boys got up we changed into our swim suits and headed towards the pool.

Along the way we saw the giant human gerbil balls on the main lawn and waited in line for our turn.

The boys took turns running inside and pushing each other around.

We finally made it back to the pool and spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, floating, and racing down the slide.

As we headed back to the main hotel we stopped and sat down and listened to some live music about monkeys who were eaten by a crocodile and some silly song about a rattling snake in which all the kids got to provide musical accompaniment. Some better than others... :)

When we got back to our room to change for smores and the movie we found a note saying that they wouldn't be having smores and the movie was being moved into the Baron's ballroom as they were short staffed due to the wildfires in nearby Bastrop. It was the first we had heard of the fires.

The boys enjoyed the movie Rango - except for the scary snake part - and of course the popcorn, too. :)