Africa Live II

We spent a great morning at the zoo today and took part in the grand opening of Africa Live II. Grandmother came with us and helped tremendously with the 1 to 1 adult/kid ratio. The new zoo exhibits were really nice. A new bird aviary section, Colobus Monkeys, a bigger Okapi pen, and a big termite mound with African Wild Dogs. Ian was upset that they didn't have any real termites, but considering the ecological effects if two African termites escaped we can understand. We watched the elephant show, saw the lion drinking, the new baby kangaroo in its momma's pouch and the porcupines. It was wonderful weather and a great day to spend at the zoo. A big thanks to Grandmother and Grandpa for generously supporting something that our family enjoys all year round.

In case you were wondering....... this is how you catch a Garrett.

100th Day of School

Ian is a wonderful boy.

He has grown and matured so much in the past 6 months and it has been a joy to be part of and watch at the same time.

Today is the 100th day of school and they are doing it up right! They walked through a giant cardboard cut out '100' to get to the classroom and each child brought 100 edible items (Craisins for us) and 100 items in a collection (Legos, of course, in stacks of 10). It is also a dress down day so he didn't have to wear his uniform if he brought 100 pennies (or a dollar) so he was searching through his drawer looking for a play shirt with 100 on it. Surprisingly we don't own one, so we took an old shirt and I wrote '100% BOY' on it. He loved it!

He is going to have a great day today. We are so thankful for Mrs. Carpenter and her kindergarten. I heard the words that I had been working towards and wanting to hear for a long time the other day. Just out of his own quiet and thoughtfulness Ian looked over to me from the kitchen table and said, "Momma, I love school." While I know that feeling may change from year to year, I felt encouraged even with the final goal still far ahead.

Here are some other funny Ian stories, honestly, from just the past week.

Ian said the weekly memory verse last Sunday in front of everyone at church. He was really excited about it and kept asking if it was time yet. For a reward he was able to choose any dessert after lunch. We hit an ice cream parlor and he chose vanilla ice cream????

I watched a friend's little girl yesterday while she worked. The little girl had fallen asleep on the way to pick up Ian from school so as we walked to the car I told Ian there was a new little girl in the car and that he needed to be extra quiet climbing in because she was sleeping.

Ian looks at me with a big smile, completely excited and says, "Is she ours?!?"

We were listening to our Seeds Family Worship CD in the car the other day when Matt 17:20 came on in which Jesus talks about needing only faith as small as a mustard seed to move mountains. Ian from the back seat asked how big a mustard sea is? And then continues think out loud on how yucky an entire sea of mustard would be, gross and yellow, and how you couldn't swim in it. He finally asked his original question again and I was able to explain it was a mustard seed.

We pulled up to school today to drop Ian off and there was a big work truck out front from a local plumbing company. Ian said, "Why is that big truck here?" I explained there was probably a toilet blocked up somewhere in the building and the plumbers were here to fix it.

Ian replies a little sheepishly, "Oh, I think that was me."

I still haven't gotten the full story on that one and I hope we don't get the bill.

Driving in Chris's new truck the other day we were perusing satellite radio stations and came upon 'Whoomp, there it is." The kids all started jamming in the back so we left it on for a little while until Ian asked what they were saying, of course. We listen to a pretty narrow range of music in the car these days. I told him Whoomp and he laughed saying he thought they were saying "Poop, there it is." Instead of being the little boy I was expecting and just continuing to sing it over and over just for the snickering fun of saying poop out loud, he stops and decides we should save that song for when Nora is potty training.

Nora loves her big brothers, but especially lights up these days when she sees Ian. Each morning as soon as she is out of her crib and has seen me and Chris, she runs to find Ian and give him a big hug. He picks her up and swings her around saying sweet things like, "how's my little sister?" over and over again. She loves it and it is heartwarming to watch.

It's a Brand New Car.....

Or Truck.... and well it's 'New' to us.


Chris finally upgraded from the '96 Tbird to a vehicle that better fits the Texas in him and his work. It is a really nice truck with a great back seat that fits all the kids and their carseats! Plus it is way more technologically advanced than anything else we own. Now we just have to buy all the tech gadgets the truck can support.
What a birthday present!

Do you believe it?

It snowed real snow at our house today. We were amazed. It was certainly beautiful and fun while it lasted.

Chris Day

Happy Birthday Chris!

(PS - I made the best, most moist chocolate cake ever. Check out the recipe here.)

SUNSHINE

Finally, a great day to be outside! We have tried the past few days, but the wind has been so cold that noses start running, cheeks and fingers get cold and the kids (or I) want to be back inside pretty quickly. Today is a different story. Sunshiney and very comfortable. The kids were dying to be out so after school we played on the slide for a while until Nora led the charge to the creek. It is flowing over the road again now that we have had some great rain. We are really hoping it will stay nice through the summer so we can do some good swimming. The water is so clear and beautiful. We will need to kidnap some fish from the ranch though. With the drought last summer all of our fish died and we are afraid it will be bug central down there without them.

The kids threw rocks forever and then did stick vs. bark races through the shallows and over the waterfall. Most got caught on the grasses but eventually Ian got one over.

We always have to come in because Nora gets wet and today was no exception. She just walked right into the shallow water next to the road and soaked pants, socks and shoes. She would have stayed there and played until her feet turned blue.

I hope spring is here to stay in Texas and moves quickly up to my friends and family up north and east!

An Extra Inch

This is how much hair I had cut from my head about a week ago. I was tired of my blah, straight look that inevitably ended up in a pony tail by the end of the day so I went in for a change. I was going short, but went shorter when the hairdresser suggested I had enough to donate. I had always thought you needed 10" or even 12" to donate, but Pantene can take 8". (this is 8 1/2") Here is the site to visit for the info: Pantene Beautiful Lengths. They partner with the American Cancer Society to provide wigs and hair extensions to cancer patients. My beautiful sister did this about 2 months ago. She donated 12" and with her thick hair probably had enough for a two wigs all by herself. Having Brenna's donation fresh in my mind when Heather suggested it made it an easy decision to lose an extra inch. So I thought I might share in case someone else is considering a change - maybe you can go the extra inch as well.

Here is my new look (in case you were wondering) compliments of Ian's photography. I haven't had hair this short since high school and I am liking it!

Valentine's Day Party

Ian's class had a Valentine's Day Tea and followed up with a dance party. All the kids were really cute and had a great day. Nora was inspired by the music and took part in the YMCA and the Limbo.

Let's Rodeo San Antonio

Chris and I took part in the Go Texan VIP party at the Rodeo last night. It was a really nice event with lots of businesses represented. Go Texan is a Texas Dept of Agriculture program to market and promote Texan agricultural products as well as the restaurants that use them. We are a good fit in that model and enjoy working with them. This event was part of the San Antonio Rodeo so I was awash in Texans wearing their rodeo finest; always an eye opener and sometimes a giggle to this northerner. We were asked to bring something other than sausage which is our usual fall back tradeshow fare. Chris answered that challenge with an awesome Carne Guisada con Nopalitos on tortillas (a Mexican tomato and pepper based meat stew with cactus) showcasing our stew meat cuts. We (I) served at least 320 people with many coming back for seconds or thirds. Everyone raved. I think we could have sold the Carne Guisada right there. Chris also made some good quail contacts and visited with other meat and sausage guys, always important. We had a fun time and thankfully the weather wasn't as predicted so we were able to get home without any trouble.

I really like doing these events and I always come home very proud of my husband. How he engages the public in promoting our business and especially how he conducts himself with other purveyors and business owners is admirable. I especially like it when he wears his hat.

Fun with Cars

Garrett loves to sit and play with his 'computer'. Especially when he gets a chance to play without Ian telling him the answers or Nora grabbing and pushing buttons. Give this kid a good night's sleep, a full stomach and some peace and quiet and he can do anything.

Foundation Fix part 2

We endured another day of mass hole digging and dirt displacement today in an effort to shore up the west side of our house. After the kitchen incident of last summer we have been very aware of doors not closing and cracks creeping, some small... some not so small. We had hoped the problem with the kitchen was an isolated event and that it hadn't had any other effects on the house, but as time progressed we saw that one side of the house hadn't fared too well. We had a exterior door that didn't close at all and many, many cracks inside and out. We decided to sure up this side of the house to stop anymore problems from occurring and so far so good. The door closes now and some of the most horrendous cracks can't even be located if you don't know exactly where to look. It is really interesting to hear your house groaning and shifting. I can only imagine what it sounds like during a tornado or hurricane. Thankfully it didn't need to be raised too much to alleveiate the stresses on the walls, interior door frames and roof beams. When it was finished it was almost as if the house said "ahhhhhh," as if we had a chiropractor over to do an adjustment.

The engineer was encouraging and didn't think this problem should continue to plague us. The rest of the house has fared well since the fix last summer so we are hopefull to have handled this problem in a complete and responsible way for our family and our home.

Baby Shower

I had a great weekend away visiting with Vanderbilt friends and celebrating the upcoming arrival of baby Pearce!

Vicki was a wonderful host at her new home in Cinncinatti and Claire and Sarah had arranged a lovely shower for us to all enjoy. Seeing all the girls and getting in person updates on kids, husbands, extended families, schools, and you name it we probably talked about was priceless. I am really glad to have a group of friends like this where as soon as we see each other again it is like we saw each other just the day before, even if it was more like last year. They all make me laugh, they all make me think, and they all make me remember the college days I cherish because I was building friendships like these and starting my future with Chris, not to mention getting an awesome education.

We missed Amanda since she is expecting baby Pandjiris #2 any day now, but hope to hear good news soon!

Jackie and Denise were wonderful flying company, especially when I was randomly chosen for a security check and set off the alarms when my bag tested positive for explosives??? They loved my pat down and watching the TSA guys inspect every inch of my luggage.

Can't wait to see these new little ones and be together again.

Thanks Ladies!