We found out just a few days ago that we'd be graced with Anne's presence yesterday! THIS is why we love that she lives closer now!! She drove up to spend the afternoon with us and B was pretty excited to see his A(u)nn(t)ie Kate!

So crafty, she is. Check out her new use for toy pliers:

Thanks for coming to play with us, AKH(G)! What day should we expect you next week?

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!

The B-Man and I played tour guide for Cady and her mother yesterday to none other than.....the place where dreams come true. Yes, my friends: WEGMANS!!! Cady-bug was more than a little excited. Here's what we found when we arrived to pick them up:

(Man, girls travel with a lot of stuff! :-)

The kiddies got a little restless after sitting in the cart for awhile, but we had a fabulous adventure wandering around the store. And I've totally sold Lindsey on the joy that is the Market Cafe: so many options and such a great space for eating! Between us, we ate bagels, fresh fruit, sushi, and pizza--- which leaves out the Chinese/Indian buffet, salad bar, amazing subs, made-to-order caesar salads, soups, and "real food" like chicken/lasagna/pork, etc. I must stop now or I will start to cry since they've pushed back once again the opening date for our planned local store...

ANYWAY-- we had fun!

I escaped last evening for a delightful dinner and gossip session with Carrie. You all know by now (if you didn't already know by knowing us) that she was my first friend in Corning. Getting together with her always puts me in a nostalgic mood, making me think of past experiences (at least the ones captured by photos since we're old and forget stuff), and heightened by the recent discovery of this website. (It isn't working as I write this, so check out the blog version to get an idea of what I'm talking about--and make sure to scroll down to see all the examples!)

I have a picture of us sitting at a table from our birthday celebration in 1995 and one of these days, we'll do an actual re-creation of it or another of our old pics. In the meantime, however, here's how we look these days:


I am not kidding when I say that I really, really, really want to hunt down SO many people and do some follow-up pictures!! It's gonna happen!! But amazingly enough, I've actually already captured one. Thanks to the wonders of digital scanning and software, here is the INTERNET DEBUT of "First Day of Kindergarten/Last Day of College." (Kelly and Fran made it so much easier when they decided to go to Baylor, too!)


Ah, I love photographs! And even (ssshhh!!) growing older!

Wait-- you DON'T let your kid get all the knives out of the dishwasher?? Just send me the Mother of the Year trophy now!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

We did not even leave the house yesterday. I'm feeling better, but I'm still not quite there yet. Now I'm starting to get worried B might have re-caught the cold. Time will tell, I guess.

All we did was sit around.

Seriously.

Do you say 'tissues' or 'Kleenex'? I try to remember to say tissues since I generally buy whatever brand is on sale and it's often not Kleenex. I got a free sample of Puffs Plus with Lotion recently and it was such a help on our trip this weekend where my nose decided to run forever. It's still running, although we've moved into the more yucky phase, complete with general achiness. (Why doesn't spell-check like the word 'achiness'? No, I don't mean 'raunchiness'!!) So we only left the house yesterday to go to the Teeter to buy Jumbo packs of diapers for $5.99. SWEET DEAL--especially since I had coupons I could use, too. Ah, I love a good sale.

While we're on the topic, I saw recently that there's now a Facebook group that is called something like "I am from Texas so I call everything a Coke." I would totally join that group if I were into joining such FB groups. I have no qualms about brand-name infringement there, although I'll usually specify that I want a "Dr. Pepper," etc, when asked what kind of Coke I want!

Moving on. I'm not sure I have any brains left since they might all have exited through my constant nose-blowing. But here's what I've discovered about myself and I guess I do need brainpower in order to make this true (which it is): I am incapable of using any of the common abbreviations when texting. I don't know why, but I can not bring myself to type "R U" for "are you" or LOL or any of those other time-savers. In fact, I always get annoyed that I often can't find the comma since you know that I am plunking out long, complex sentences in order to try to get my point across!! :-) I am such a weirdo.

You know what else I can't do? Call people by nicknames I didn't create. I mean, if your name is Rebecca and you go by Becca, I'll certainly call you that. But, for instance, I just can't call you "Bres," Kristin Breslin Myers! I just can't do it!! I also have trouble calling high school friend, Julie, by her common nickname of "Jules." It's just one of those things. (And yes, the one exception I can come up with on this topic is "Annie Kate" but I'd like to think that I adopted that family moniker because I'm practically a Havalchak, right?! ;-)

What else can't I do? Oh, I can NOT tie balloons on B's wrist the way they do in stores with those cool slip-knots (probably not the right term). I just don't understand anything spatial. He walked around yesterday with a ballon tied in a bow on his wrist because that's all I know how to do. They were especially good with knot-tying at Trader Joe's but, just FYI, they've discontinued handing out balloons because of environmental concerns.

And....this is the end of my foggy-head ramblings. Hope everyone has a fabulous Wednesday!

Reading really IS the gateway to fun! (Okay, I just made that up.)

But as parents who get a kick out of teaching their kid "parlor tricks," we love it when books make it even easier! B has really been into shapes lately and it's all thanks to this little tome:

One of my awesome Big Lots purchases the other day was a container of foam shapes in...well, shapes, so there will be some play/practice with those when I finally unpack. In the meantime, the BG does some pretty nice play-doh shapes:

And it all leads to this fun!



PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, POLLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(In case you are unaware, the blog title--okay, minus the toddler part--is the state's tourism slogan!)

We were so excited to be the first houseguests at the new homestead of our favorite relocated Seattleites! We arrived late Friday night in time to watch the birthday girl blow out candles on her TWO birthday cakes!

Their house has a great screened-in front porch where there was some fun with Raffie:

And an AMAZING backyard to enjoy, too!

We managed to cram a lot of adventure into our short stay! Can't wait to go back!

When we leave the house, we leave the house!!

Our day started with a fun visit with Kathy and baby Brady, complete with stroll to a neighborhood park. You'll just have to imagine the cuteness since I didn't take my camera with me-- I was too busy watching my child trip over his clown shoes at least 4 times. (Um, are the shoes I bought at Kohl's mismarked or what? Perhaps he's a freak of nature and his feet have stopped growing, but come on! Let's not make it that difficult!)

ANYWAY.

From there, we cruised over to meet Polly for lunch as she passed through town. The weather was absolutely glorious yesterday with that temp where you don't feel too hot or too cold and it's all sunny and bright. Ahhh. Love it. So, not surprisingly, we took some pics--although the photographic session was actually instigated by the hilarity of B walking into a liquor store, picking up a basket, and walking around like he knew just what he was looking for:

(Okay, we might have led him into the store. But he took it from there!! Also, please note that liquor stores are ubiquitous here because wine and beer can't be sold in grocery stores. So it's not quite as sketchy as it might sound!)

Polly and the Brookster:

The girls, with B making an appearance in Polly's petite shades:

B got to try on Polly's Caps jersey to get pumped up for last night's big game! (Unfortunately, it didn't help them win, but I know they'll get those Canadiens yet!)

Then, to cap off our day's entertainment, we met the Carlson ladies for dinner. Since the BG has class on Thursdays and Cady's daddy is out of the country, we try to hang out on Thursdays. (Woman power, you know! ha!) After dinner, we took the kids to a big field and let them wander around and over to the little playground. Then we tried to get them to pose cutely but B was apparently a little scared:

He's MUCH happier when he's behind the wheel!

Although he looks less happy to have a passenger!

What a beautiful day!!

PS: And speaking of beautiful days-- HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANNE!!!!!!!!!!!!! If only I could be there to celebrate with you. Oh wait! You don't live in Seattle anymore!! Hang tight for birthday interlopers...

The B-man is much improved but we ended up staying home yesterday because....well....I'm lazy like that. And I figured another day of keeping away from others could only be a good thing!

Though he hasn't seen his twin in some time, he has started wanting to sit on the counter just like she does:

After a slow morning of library videos (currently playing are House Construction Ahead and All About Wheels!), he finally got out of his pajamas and requested some sandbox time with the trucks:

And in case you think he looks less-than-thrilled to be there, here's proof that our happy little guy is back:

PS: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to two of my favorite couples: Geoff & Nicki and John & Carrie!

Ha! It's been almost 2 years to the day since a very similar blog post title!

Well, B seems to be on the mend but since we once again didn't leave the house (and it was really cold and yucky yesterday), here's a more cheerful take on the little guy from Sunday. He's started requesting this song quite regularly and while I've realized my words have apparently diverted from the original (per other You Tube videos), they're the words I know! And this joker LOVES it!



PS: I learned this song as a camper at Camp Longhorn from 1988-1992. Any other CLHers out there?

Or at least many of you do! Indeed, our china is Noritake Ardmore Platinum, or #2 in yesterday's picture. (I just learned from this link that it's been discontinued. Guess I should figure out if I need anything!)

I'm curious as to how the majority of you knew that?! Does it just have me written all over it?? I figured it would be a toss-up between #1 and #2, with #3 a good diversion with its Emily-approved blue and white. I don't think I would ever have selected #3 because it's so bold, but the more I've looked at it, the more I think it's actually really striking and I kind of love it!

Anyway, thanks to those of you who played! In case you're wondering, Sheils and I recognized #1 as Lenox Eternal, which is the gold version of Lenox Solitaire, which is her china!

(And if you think this whole conversation about china patterns is weird, then you're probably not from Texas! ;-)

---

In other news, we didn't leave the house yesterday since Mr. B woke up with a fever and a cough. There was lots of video-watching and cereal-eating going on in these parts:

We'll be homebound again tomorrow since he still had fever when he went to bed, so give us a shout if you're bored and want to chat!

Oh, and I lied a little bit about leaving the house yesterday. I might have escaped in the evening to get some Vitamin D from the sun streaming through my car windows...on the way to the mall. Grammie informed me that I was actually getting "Vitamin S" for shopping, which I guess is true. But there was plenty of Vitamin B for BARGAINS!

Saturday afternoon was the annual Spring Tea for the local Baylor Women's Council. I was a little more involved than usual this year, as I was asked to "design" and order the invitations. As you might guess, I used my friend, Vistaprint, and managed to have pretty invites made for less than half of the amount I was told to spend! (You're welcome, Baylor!)

I attended two fabulous teas several years ago each at super-fancy hotels here, but this year it was held at a local home. I'm pretty sure this decision was made to keep the costs down--which we all appreciated--but we might as well have been at a hotel. The house (belonging to a local alumna who is also a Baylor Regent) was beautiful! As much as I would have loved to take pictures of every room, I didn't want to look too weird so instead I just snapped a few!

The main spread:


Secondary food table:


Green and gold goodie bags ready to be distributed:

Alison recommended the caterer from a party she and David had a few months ago, and I loved the food both at the tea itself...and yesterday when I got to munch leftovers!

And now for the competition portion of the day...

I was asked to bring some tea cups and saucers to share for the cause. I took this picture of the set-up and then my Moore contest-loving brain took over: can you guess which china pattern is ours?? Post your guess in the poll on the right!

Attention! You may not guess if you were there yesterday (Alison), if you helped me pick them out (Geoffrey), or if you displayed wedding gifts at your house (Sheils). Oh, and I guess also prohibited would be the lucky man who gets to eat gourmet food off this china EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT..........ha ha ha ha ha......who am I kidding? I peeled off the original inventory stickers this weekend and we've had them for 9 years!!!

I know many of you already saw this pic on Facebook, but it still just cracks me up. Before we left the CO house on Monday, Grammie was concerned that Brooks was cold and outfitted him with one of her vests. It turned into quite the tunic on him and Geoff determined that he looked like an apothecary on the Renaissance Faire circuit:

Now, since we can't leave well enough alone AND enjoy nothing more than fun words coming out of our toddler's mouth, Uncle Geoff taught him how to say his new role. We didn't get any video at the time, but B can still declare his "job" this many days later!

(Don't mind the post-trip mess in the background!)



HAPPY FRIDAY!

We went over to meet baby Henry yesterday. He slept the entire time we were there, which kinda makes it seem easy compared to the chaos of toddlerdom....but then I remember the constant feeding routine! (I mean, come on, my kid doesn't even eat!)

While Mr. Henry has been flirting with a mild case of jaundice, the real reason he looks dark here is because he's smooshed in a pasty ghost sandwich:

The Carlson ladies came over, too, and we were all thrilled by this sweet picture of B & C...

...until Jack totally showed up the Brookster with an even cuter pic:

And, in other news, the parents of Jack and Henry are totally amazing with craftiness and home improvements-- check out this play kitchen they built from scratch!

It is HOT in these parts! Whooo-wee! I haven't really "prepared" the shorts/short-sleeved wardrobe line for Mr. B yet (I mean, it is only early April) so he might have spent the whole day in some shortie pajamas. Whatever!

So yes, there were record-breaking highs here yesterday. Good thing I came home to find this tasty treat waiting in the fridge:

The BG is really rather amazing. In addition to figuring out how to fix our perma-dripping faucet, and cleaning (for the first time ever...ew) the coils of the fridge which Hallelujah! stopped its perma-running noise, he whipped up--from scratch--this Fresh Lime Chiffon Cake to take to Easter dinner with friends. YUM.

And that wasn't even all!! We also came home to discover a homemade sandpit for the Brookster!

Demonstrating the removal of the cover designed to keep interested neighborhood cats away:

Can't you just SEE the excitement?

Getting down to the business of sand play. Gotta love tree stumps re-purposed as stools!

And here we have....a frog. Don't you think he looks quite amphibious? It makes me smile.

I have no idea what we'd do without the Big Guy. He's the best.

A few fave shots from our weekend:

(Okay, we're really in a valley, but whatever. Our shortness-of-breath and incredibly dry throats say otherwise!)

Not surprisingly, we've pretty much been hanging around the house. I had planned to get out for some exercise but the snow everywhere made that a bit more difficult. So I decided to eat instead. (Weight Watchers took a break this week. Scary.) We've cooked scrumptious dinners each night-- if I had a kitchen as nice as this one, I might really be Betty Baker.

ANYWAY-- a tour of our homebound adventures...

Brooks had to go cold-turkey on enclosed sleeping when the Pack-and-Play died a sad death. Amazingly enough, he took the change like a pro and I now consider him a switch-sleeper!

He was SO excited when someone finally was willing to tromp out into the snow so he could check out the river:

Bedtime reading with Uncle Juff:

Preparations for Fudgesicle ice cream:

Some s'more-crafting:

B's new fascination with (helping to) light fires does not make his pyrophobe mother happy:

Brain-training with the Jeopardy champ:

A return trip to the semi-melted Rio Grande made for a happy boy!

B and I will catch a ride to Denver with G&N today and we all fly out this evening. We have enjoyed fabulous family time but are looking forward to seeing that tall guy again!