Category Archives: Family & Friends

Brazos Bend State Park (The Alligator Park)

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I think I’m going to love the new church schedule. Ahhh….Sunday afternoons spent the way they should be – with family, friends and in the outdoors! We had a nice time yesterday with the Carrs (friends from church) and their kiddos. We only saw one alligator and he was in the water which was different from our last visit when they were along the paths so you had to double back instead of crossing over them! It was a nice, sunny day. I am thankful for this beautiful world. It is good to be outside.

Cole Turns 15

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Sigh. He’s 15. We should be getting a learner’s permit, right? He’s got some catching up to do in scouts for that to happen. He’ll do it – he’s a self-motivated kid and we don’t push like some scout parents. I wish we could have given him a bigger celebration this year because he means the world to us but finances are tight and the poor kid didn’t get anything at all present-wise from us though his grandparents on both sides came through. He does know we love him and I offered to make him his favorite dinner but he couldn’t commit to one so we had Taco Bell. He did get the traditional family chocolate cake. He is the best kid we could have ever asked for! I wouldn’t even trade him for a girl. He’s always been a good kid and here’s to hoping it lasts at least through the rest of the teenage years (one can hope, right?). So anyway, here’s a very public birthday note for Cole: We love you, Cole! You make us proud in every single thing you do. You are a great big brother. You are a smart, capable, responsible young man and you surprise us almost every day with your intelligence and witty humor. We will forgive you the antics on early morning seminary drives (that would be your antics, not ours). Love, Mom & Dad

Christmas Dinosaurs & Homemade Kool-Aid Play Dough

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I heart homemade playdough. Ben had gotten new Play-Dough of the store variety for Christmas but since we shipped the stuff from Omaha, and it has not yet arrived, I resorted to a tried and true kool-aid play dough recipe that is easy, cheap, and fantastic.

Kool-Aid Play Dough Recipe

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup salt
3 T oil
2 packets of kool aid powder (we used another brand)
glitter – optional
additional coloring such as Wilton’s – optional

Mix dry ingredients with a whisk. Add oil and blend. Pour 2 cups boiling water over all and mix. After it’s cooled, the child can help mix the dough. I mix it and then spread it out on our metal top table and finish mixing it so it cools faster.

Enjoy! I love how Ben always makes his a dinosaur land. He simply can’t conceive of anything else he’s so into dinosaurs.

The Texas Renaissance Festival

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Our first time at the Ren Fest was FANTASTIC! We loved it. The place is huge, the entertainment is vast and varied, and each of the kids found something interesting to make it a great night. Gabe loved the dragon items, Jack enjoyed the jousting, and Cole claims to have enjoyed just being with his family (cough, cough, I think he liked the belly dancers best). I highly recommend the place for lots of entertainment. We are glad it was a relatively colder day so that many of the girls were more covered up than usual, probably!

Thanksgiving at the Church

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So there were lots of people so my MIL reserved the church. It was nice to have everyone sit down to eat together but there was an awkwardness afterward with no football and no couches. Moral of the story: Thanksgiving was meant to be held at home! It WAS fun, however, to see all of the Roberts and meet Ali’s kids and Rebecca and Josh, Boyd’s new wife and baby.

Knitted Newborn Baby Boy Hat & Mitts

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The CUTEST (and my first!) newborn baby boy hat and mitts. The hat is a variation of Susan B. Anderson’s “Go Team” hat published on her Spud & Chloe blog this past week. The mitts I made up but they seem to work well. I might try lining those with polarfleece so that the yarns don’t catch tiny, fragile, newborn fingers. More pics of the sweet baby wearing the goods at my Ravelry account. Even more pics at our flickr account.

Halloween 2010

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I gave birth to an entire crew of stormtroopers. The kids know their own names but I have no idea who these costumes are supposed to be. I just shelled out the money.

San Antonio, We Love You!

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We had a quick weekend trip a few weeks back to San Antonio and LOVED IT! What a great city! We visited the Alamo, walked the Riverwalk, the Witte Museum (fantastic!), and — best of all — went to Six Flags. The boys love adventure parks and Cole declared this one his favorite since the roller coasters were all “big”. We have never taken them to a huge Disney park so their perspective is slightly limited. We love Adventureland Des Moines (clean and great for smaller kids – lots of little kid rides). We also love Worlds of Fun in Kansas City but it is dirty and the food is gross. We REALLY liked Silver Dollar City near Branson, Missouri – that is such a fun town, too. Don’t forget to eat at Landry’s if you go anywhere near Branson – fantastic food. But, for Texas, San Antonio’s Six Flags beats Schlitterbahn hands down. Of course, we’ve only been to Schlitterbahn at Galveston – perhaps the New Braunfels one is better. Worth a try!

Crabbing at Crystal Beach

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More pics on our flickr account. We had a great time several weeks ago at Crystal Beach. It was a Thursday and Don had off work because he had done some extra (many extra!) hours while we were in Omaha. It paid off. We didn’t even have to wait for the ferry – Don saw dophins in the water both ways. We just drove right on and went over to “the zoo” at Crystal beach and there were maybe a handful of people there that day, since it was a weekday and rain had been in the forecast. We took a chance and it paid off! Solitude on such a beautiful, popular beach. Don found some crabs and took the boys crabbing. I made Cole clean them after we boiled them. I kept chanting “Fear Factor” as he was getting grossed out. I thought the “science” kid would love that, but I guess not. It was a great day!

First Day of School 2010

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I’m blogging while Cole’s in seminary. I have been walking/running with the dogs every morning and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it that early in the morning but I broke my pinky toe last night and it hurts pretty bad this morning. No walking for a week (hopefully not more than that) for me. Oh well, I probably have more than a week’s worth of blogging to catch up on. Cole started a new, huge high school “far, far away” and he starts and ends school quite early so, between him and the littler boys, I’m not getting as big of a block of time open during the day to work, etc. Meanwhile, I have a 9th grader, 4th grader and 2nd grader. Next year will be the year of total change when Bennie enters Kindergarten. Until then, he and I are going to have a blast this year while all of the other boys are at school. Buckle up! It’s going to be some kinda ride (please, you must say this like Gene Wilder in The Frisco Kid: “Some kinda Torah!”).

Nebraska: The Good Life

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I’m sitting in the car, blogging on the laptop, windows down, 75 degrees outside and breezy — THE BREEZE! — it seems there are never breezes in Houston. None of us wants to go back to Texas. I can’t even call it “home” — too hot, too many bugs. We are enjoying Nebraska and Iowa so much that even the kids don’t want to leave (and Cole’s spent a month on Papa & Nana’s floor!). The little boys have been rotating couches and seem to be fine. It’s amazing how kids can adjust. Three more days in heaven and then we head back to the sauna known as Houston. It will be great to see Don again — I think if he wasn’t there, we’d just move in and I’d enroll the kids in Ralston. Sure, we’d miss Gretna but I’d do just about anything to stay here. So many great friends are here, too. It was great to see ALMOST everyone. There were a few friends and family we missed. One thing is for sure: we’ll be back! Plus, we’ll be just as annoying and stay just as long!!!

Do Not Repeat.

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I certainly hope to not repeat this past month.  Or year.  I am aching for a change of scenery.  I thought I might start to like Texas over Christmas but it didn’t last long enough for me to actually like it.  It’s too hot already now.  Too many bugs.  My kids are inside too much.  Isn’t that reason enough?

So, on to more positive things.  Oh wait, I don’t have any.  Let’s just have fun satisfying my OCD and making a list of the things that have broken since Don left:

1.  His car (technically this was before he left).

2.  My computer died for a day – mid HUGE project.  I could not get it to reboot and it is very much on its last leg.

3.  The chandelier in the entryway (there are 3 of them but this one is what allows me to see the dirt on the floor…wait…maybe this *is* a good thing after all).

4.  The box fan.

5.  The dvd player.  Ben shoved a dvd in the wrong place and now we can’t get it to work at all.

6.  Gabe’s 3rd backup pair of glasses is broken leaving him with none.

7.  My Dad’s hip – does this count if people are broken?  I was supposed to be in Nebraska and I’m stuck here (see issue #1) until Don gets back from Philmont and we can resolve the car issue.

8.  Towel rack in the master bath.

9.  Toilet paper holder in the powder room.

Is that it?  Really?  It feels like so much more…  I know, I know, my problems are tiny compared to some.  I will admit that.  I guess I’m just too tired to deal with them appropriately.  No more reading until 4 a.m. for me!!  But that Hunger Games book was so good, I just kept reading and the time it took to read it just flew by.  I had only started at 11 p.m. and I just couldn’t put it down.  It’s violent but I thought it was a really interesting premise.  Lots to discuss.  I think it’s equally an adult book as a young adult book.  Very thought-provoking, anyway.

Puppies in Ties

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So cute. Pepper is growing HUGE very quickly. She also seems to be hungry ALL of the time. I think we may have adopted a puppy great dane by mistake.

Jack’s First Swim Meet

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My kids teach me something every single day. Although most days it’s just a new level of patience! Today, though, Jack taught me to not underestimate his ability. He started swim team not knowing anything about swimming and today swam across the pool both freestyle and backstroke – and shaved nearly a minute off his time for each. While I had been worried about him participating because he’d surely come in last (and, truth be told, he only beat one kid), he was concentrating on what mattered most — getting there. He said, “I just got up on that stand and wanted to WIN!” He said he was at the other side before he even realized it so he didn’t have time to think about holding onto the ropes. Nothing like your own kid teaching you to have a winning attitude — whether you win or not! And, yes, that is a marker smiley face on his belly button. Small pleasures, people.