Ethan's Birthday Party

Ethan and his best buddy Matthew had their 4th birthday party yesterday at the Texas Transportation Museum. There were lots of real trains, models trains, old-time cars, tractors... even carriages on display. It was a GORGEOUS day. Sunny and upper 70s. Couldn't have asked for better weather!


This is the engine that pulled the tour train. One open car with bench seats and a red caboose. It went out about 1/2 mile and then came back on the same track. They could make the trip into a loop but it would cost about half a million dollars and they haven't found a wealthy train-loving benefactor yet!


Here's the caboose where all of us rode. Once at 2:00, 3:00 and 4:00!


This is the party area. The red building on the right is actually another caboose that holds the party tables. We did a Thomas pinata from the tree.


And here are the birthday boys listening to the conductor. They got to stand in the front and give hand signals to the engineer that the train was loaded and ready to roll!

Ethan's Birthday ... continued

These two cars had all kinds of rooms: sleeping areas, dining areas, seating, bathrooms, you name it. You could walk from one end to the other and see how people traveled by rail 'back in the day'.


Here's Jacob in the dining area.


Jacob, Kate and Ethan playing checkers in the seating area.


There was an whole outdoor area dedicated to model trains. Here's a pic of one of them. There was also a Thomas one - much to the delight of the birthday boys!


Ethan and Matthew about to blow out their candles!

T-ball Game

Practice was Wednesday. Today was GAME DAY! At this age level, there are no outs. Everyone gets to bat every inning. Here's the team playing defense - almost lined up directly across the field from first to third. Apparently, there are TWO GAMES going on at each field. One game is played on the infield, and one in the outfield. Today we got the outfield.




Sarah was last in the batting order, so every time she hit she got to run all the bases at once. Home runs every time! haha!

T-ball Practice

Here's Sarah at practice for the first time. And some of the Pink Lady Posse... Kaelie, Camryn, Sarah and Lakyn... notice all the pink gloves?


Pink batting helmets...


Here are the boys hanging out...probably wishing they could play. Love Lucas' new Vans? Super cute! They stole the bats from some of the girls - even those are pink!


Another great shot by Ethan.

A New Project

We are the new owners of this gigantic swingset! Found it through a friend of a friend. The people spent $6,600 (!!!) on it 8 years ago and their four children used and abused it, and have now outgrown it. They are excited to see it go to a good home - especially, another home with four kids! It's got another baby swing behind the slide, a rock wall on the backside and a tire swing underneath. The best part? It's free!


We're not giving them money for it, anyway. I'm sure there will be expenses in terms of replacing bolts, rusty parts, a warped board or two. Not to mention all the sanding and staining it needs. Some leveling of the backyard might be necessary. So, it's really not free, but we're suckers for a sweet DIY project!


Here it is after the first afternoon of deconstruction. It may be awhile before we see an "after" picture with it standing in our yard!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Wish I could be there to bake you a cake. Hope you enjoyed your day!

Random Girl

Thoughts over the last couple days:

1. Twilight movie. Slightly disappointed. So much of the book occured in Bella's thoughts and it didn't translate well to the screen. Huge chunks seemed to be missing. One of my girlfriends thought Edward wasn't brooding and 'old world' enough. I'd have to agree. And why are Jasper's eyes all bugged out? Still, it was nice to reconnect with the characters since it seems so long ago since I read the book. I'll watch it again, I'm sure.

2. Rebecca's coming! Yay! Just in time for Fiesta! One of the best times to see San Antonio. Seems far away still - probably more so for her as she waits in the frozen tundra that is Minnesota. Can't wait!

3. Babies everywhere!! Spring is in the air and everyone seems to be pregnant. No, not me.

4. On a related note, I got all teary-eyed the other day when someone said about Lucas, "He's gotten so big!" and I tried to explain that he would be old enough to go the preschool in the fall. Didn't help that kindergarten round-up for Sarah was tonight at the elementary school!

5. Basketball and T-ball seasons start tomorrow. Of course, Sarah and Jacob have practice on the same day at the same time. I guess this is a peek into the future - some sort of training exercise - for when we have four kids all in different activities and have to be in several places at once.

6. Reagan Marketplace! Come buy all your spring birthday and Mother's day gifts from me and my friend Charisse. We'll be hawking our wares on April 11. Put it on your calendar!

7. Anyone know how to remove Mod Podge from clothing?

Alright, that's enough randomness for one night. My mind is spinning and if I have any hope of getting to sleep, I better quit. Peace out.

Silly Saturday

Another one of Ethan's best shots. I can't help but love those baby toes of Lucas.



More evidence of Lucas' shoe fetish. He doesn't always match.



We were up early enough to bring home donuts for breakfast from the grocery store. Ethan got a chocolate one...all over his face!



Big day for birthdays! Happy 34 to brother Todd! Happy 3 to nephew Payton! Happy 7 to friend Chase! Here's Chase's cake made by moi. Probably could have used another monster truck crushing one of the other cars, but I think it looked cute. If you look closely, you can see the tire treads.

Sandbox Fun

It's warm enough here to run through the sprinkler, but it never fails that the sandbox is the bigger draw. Most of the time, the sprinkler is used as a water source to make mud.

Neighbor Julie


Friend Lakyn


Friend Dryden

Her 'do too!

Sarah got her haircut today. She waited very patiently for Dad to get home from the boys-only birthday party so we could go without Lucas and have some girl time. She wants to get a bob but Dad isn't ready for that. So she only got about two inches taken off. And hopefully some help for those awful bangs. And a butterfly tattoo. And finally, ice cream - which was probably the best part for her.

New Hairdos

The boys got haircuts at Sport Clips. We tried to get Lucas' cut too but he threw a fit and Sport Clips is not the same as CoolCuts4Kids when it comes to handling crying toddlers. If he would hold still for one second, I would take a picture of his hair this morning - styled with maple syrup. It's funny how I see things in these pictures after I post them...like Ethan's shirt covered in frosting from the cupcake he at at school right before we got haircuts!

Lost a tooth!

Sarah lost her first tooth last September, a couple weeks after an unfortunate collision with Daddy's collarbone while dancing to High School Musical. So this is her first official lost tooth - right under the first one. I think she could stick her tongue through the hole if she tried.

Now whenever I get the camera out, Ethan and Sarah want to take pictures too. Here's a sample of their work. Maybe this will become a regular feature...although I delete all the shots of the carpet, tops of heads, blank walls, etc. I think the camera brings out their silly sides!


Taken by Ethan


Taken by Sarah

New Babies in the 'Hood

The momma on the left is Gracie. She is a hairless American Rat Terrier that lives a couple houses up the street. She just had her second litter of puppies. There are two pups - one named Tic Tac with an X on her behind and Benji, a boy. They are a little more than a week old here. And if you want one, I believe they are both still available for adoption. Even though we are the almost only family on the block without a dog right now, I'm going to hold out for something with fur.

Celebrity Encounter

Jacob is starting a new basketball season and the Parents Meeting was tonight. The newly formed Stone Oak Athletics League has ties to several Spurs players, past and present. Antoine Carr (http://hoopedia.nba.com/index.php?title=Antoine_Carr) and Mike Mitchell, both former players, were at the meeting. Here are Jacob and his teammate Joseph with Antoine Carr. I just realized they are both wearing soccer shirts to a basketball meeting!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Birthday Mark!

Yesterday was Mark's birthday. I'm sure it seems like only yesterday that he was wearing this Batman costume, or we were giggling over the surprise 40th birthday party invitation...where is that thing? I will scan it if I can find it!

Here he is with his new toy. Anyone want to go on RAGBRAI (July 19-25) this year?

Tubby Time!

Nothing makes Lucas move faster than saying "Tubby Time!" He runs straight for the bathtub. I'm not sure what happened with the tint on these middle shots. Same night, same tubby...but they seem very pink.

Early Summer?

It was the last day of a warm stretch - supposedly going to be 87 degrees and humid! It was actually more like 67 when you factored in the water temperature but the kids didn't care!
OK, maybe they cared a little bit. Here are (clockwise from left) Camryn, Kylie, Sarah, Grace and Gwen, all huddled together for warmth!


Sassy girls!


Tough guy!


Goggles for a waterslide?


Kings of the mountain!

Good thing they enjoyed themselves. It's about 50-something and rainy today!