Bunnies & Bluebonnets

It feels like I am crazy busy, but then it also kind of feels like I have been doing nothing recently.  I guess maybe I am just crazy busy with the everyday boring aspects of life that aren't super tons of fun to blog about - ie: gym, grocery store, cooking, cleaning (or at least thinking about cleaning), keeping children alive, etc.

What is fun though are 2 things currently.  I was making breakfast (Sunday I think), and look out into the backyard to see this:

Bunnies!!!!!

And of course they immediately went to our neighbor's backyard when I ran to the closet to pull out the long range lens for the camera, but still - BUNNIES!!!!  And in my yard - which goes to prove that we have moved into a different area than we were in previously, because this is our first official sighting of bunnies.  And the kids were stoked.  Pretty sure they wanted to go adopt the bunnies immediately and spend the rest of the day petting them, but I made the boys stay inside (I know, mean mom - but on the other hand, wild bunnies, so good mom).

The other fun going on is that it is bluebonnet season, and as good Texans, we had to do the obligatory plopping of small children in the flowers and forcing them against their will to have photographs taken of them.  All told, I would say they did pretty well - certainly not a picture among them which is super high quality (not like my awesome Valentine pictures at least), but they are still cute boys, and are in bluebonnets.

Direction - look at Mommy and Smile = Result - one following directions, one trying to pick a flower...

Direction - this time look at Mommy, and also smile = Result - one sticking out the tongue, one smiling but rolling his eyes (seriously, he is too young to be as good at eye rolling as he is)...

Direction - hug your brother and smile = Result - about as close as we are going to come to following directions today

Direction - Travis, smile for Mommy = Result - Strike a pose!

Direction - Jake, smile for Mommy = Result - I'm going to do what Travis is doing!

So yep, those are my little hams, and our attempt at taking bluebonnet pictures.  We'll have another shot this weekend when we head to The River for a work weekend - we'll see if we get anything more "Wall Worthy".

Travis Turns Two!

Two days ago - our little guy turned two years old. (I know, I am late with this post, I have been busy cleaning house for a birthday party this weekend - or possibly I have been busy procrastinating and not cleaning the house.... and yes, this post signals more procrastination)

Travis's birthday was a success, hugely more-so than I imagined it would be when we woke up in the morning.  Both boys slept until the time that they were designated to wake up - and happily this time, not by force of Mama.

The first item on our agenda was Travis's 2-year old appointment at the pediatrician.  Now I will admit that scheduling this appointment on his birthday was not really my first choice of timing, but overall it worked better with our week than any of the other days would have worked.  And it went much better than it could have gone.  First off, we were in and out in under 45 minutes (unheard of at our old Dr. office).  He didn't really talk to the Dr., which prompted the question of if he talks much - to which I had to tell him that Travis "talks non-stop, and in complete sentences", because well, he does - just not for people who he doesn't know very well.  And to top it off, he got 3 "shots" - one which was a blood test (finger prick), one a skin test, and one an actual shot.  He was kind of annoyed by the first 2, but cooperated very well.  The third, which was the actual shot didn't go over quite as well and there was sad crying - but big brother Jake fixed that in about 5 seconds by saying "Travis you did so good, now you get a lollipop", and that got the crying to stop immediately.

Our second stop was "the party store" so that we could acquire the necessary party supplies for the birthday party on Saturday.  This was a nicely quick in-and-out stop.  Then we met up with Grandma, and decided to go do something fun.  First we tried to go to My Gym, but that didn't work out too well.  There was not a single parking spot, or improviseable parking spot left available - and being a spot straight off the access road of a freeway with no other close by stores to park at, we decided to revise our plans instead of parking next door and walking 1/4 mile.  So we ended up at Hoppin House.

Hoppin House was a coin toss for us.  Travis has been notably afraid of bouncy houses since forever, and would always cry and cling to me saying "no Mama, no".  But he likes the foam pit, so we figured if nothing else, he would have fun jumping into that for an hour.  It went much better than we had imagined, and he actually went into (voluntarily) a bouncy house, and had a good time.

Fist stop, foam pit - and he went in arms up and super excited!

Next stop, slide, he was a little terrified, but then wanted to go again.

Fun talking to Grandma on the outside.

All sliding together

And landing in a pile at the bottom.

After Hoppin House, we went to Culvers for lunch - yum, and Travis consumed almost an entire milkshake all on his own...

Then we were off to Grandma's house to ride bikes and open presents.  The kiddos didn't exactly make it, and both passed out for about a 15 minute nap each.

After Grandma's and nap time, we played outside and upstairs a bit, and then went to Mangeri's for dinner (mostly because of the playground, but also because Pizza is always a big hit), and ended the evening at a frozen yogurt shop.

Pretty easy to see that this kid had a very happy birthday!

Our Crazy Weekend

Well, I knew that it would be an interesting weekend, but I had no idea how it would end up!

Friday was mostly normal - went to the gym, went to Lowes and bought a bunch of flowers, planted said bunch of flowers in the front yard (because seriously the home builder thought that annuals were a good idea in the front flower bed - as if!), boys napped, dinner was had - and was amazing - chicken crusted in asiago cheese bread crumbs with tiny hand-cut oven baked french fries (which Jake deemed as the best dinner ever), boys went to bed, and Mama and Daddy had Bloody Marys to celebrate another day that we survived being parents!

Saturday was a bit different.  Saturday started early - 5:15 type of early, when Jake woke up screaming and I ran upstairs to find him covered in blood (bloody nose).  Of course this woke up Travis who had to come in and make sure that big brother was okay.  So for about 30  minutes there were 3 of us in Jake's bed all trying to stop his nose from continuing to bleed.  It did finally stop, and all children were told to go back to bed until the sun came up - which is actually what they did (thank goodness).  I got a little more sleep, but not a lot, and was back up at 7:30 doing breakfast for the kids and getting myself ready for the busy day ahead.  (I was to be leaving at 8:30 to drive to Houston for a Memorial Service, Blake and the boys were not coming with me.)

At 8:20, I check Molly's (yellow lab) ears, because she had started shaking her head a bit that morning, and the first ear was fine, no goop.  Second ear however I kind of freaked out when I just lifted it to check on goop - reason I freaked out: her ear thickness was in excess of 5x what it should have been.  Seriously, her normally 1/8" thick ear appeared to have a roll of quarters shoved into it - and it was the full length of her ear.  I (after freaking out) immediately called the vet, and got their answering service because they didn't open until 8:30.  Blake and I decided that he would borrow his dad's truck and get Molly in to see the vet (since I had to take the Yukon to Houston since I can't drive a stick - yeah I should really learn).  So I leave at 8:30, and am calling the vet on the way out of the neighborhood and describing what is going on and they say that they have no appointments available at all... great.  So I ask where they would recommend I take her because there was no way that I was letting her poor ear stay like that or get worse all the way until Monday, and they put me on hold for like 3 minutes which gets me nicely out of the neighborhood on my drive.  So then they come back and tell me if I can drop her off RIGHT NOW, that they could work her in to the schedule.  So I turn the car around and get the dog and drop her off at the vet where they explain it will likely need surgery, and make me sign a bunch of paperwork.  My poor puppy!

8:50, I am back on the road and headed downtown to pick up my sister and take her with me to Houston. I call Blake and fill him in on Molly's supposed outcome, and let him know that if they can work her in, the likely will be doing surgery, if they can't that they hopefully will schedule it for first thing on Monday.  I get Laura (sister) at 9:20 and we stop by a coffee shop, and get provisions for the drive, and then proceed to chit chat for approximately 3 1/2 hours as we make the drive to Clear Lake City just south of Houston... have I mentioned how great it is to have my sister living in town again - I love!!!

We check into the Hotel just before 1pm, and get changed for the Memorial Service, then meet up with Mom and Dad and make our way over to the church.  We meet up with the cousins briefly before the service in the family room and give them bunches of hugs before going to take our seats in the area right next to the reserved for family section (we aren't actually family, but next closest thing when you grow up with someone and they are at all the family occasions and are family to some of your extended family).  The service was beautiful - I still can't believe that my uncle and his brother actually were able to get up and speak about their father - but he was an awesome man!  (If you are so inclined, the obituary is pretty cool, and he was NASA's Chief of Technical Services, and designed the Flag which is flying on the Moon today) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10708894/Jack-Kinzler-obituary.html

I called Blake after the church reception, and it turns out that the veterinarian kept the office open after closing that day to do Molly's surgery, and then stayed and talked with Blake about the after-care that she needed to receive.  Office closes at 3 on Saturday, Blake didn't walk out until 4:30.  Poor thing's ear has a giant cut all along the inside to "drain" all the blood and goo, and has all these tube-like things which the sutures went into to attempt to keep the shape of her ear as it heals.  It kind of looks like she got a waffle iron to the ear the way that it is all put back together.  But I am so grateful for our Vet, and am amazed by how they stayed after hours (and didn't charge us with after hours care).

After the service and the church reception, we went to dinner at the little Mexican place which we used to go to all the time when my parents lived in Houston. Yummy!  Then around 8:30, we drove over to my cousin's Grandmother's house for the "after party" - and what a party it was.  I think that everyone was finally able to "let loose" and enjoy themselves.  There was much drinking, and consuming of all the leftover desserts from the church reception, and then card playing.  Hand and Foot - great game (apparently kind of like Kinasta I am told).  2 different games of it going on at the same time in fact.  The "young adults" (and yes Blake, I fit into this category, thank you very much), and the "old adults" (also known as the parents of said young adults).  The gaming continued until the 2am hour of the morning when everyone pretty much decided they couldn't stay awake long enough for the last round of the game.  Fine by me, I was tired, and I was on the team with the top score!

Next day, Sunday, we had breakfast around 11, and then drove home - we were pretty exhausted, and there was not nearly the level of conversation which had been had on the drive down - either because we were too tired, or because we were all talked out, hard to know.

So yeah, interesting weekend, long weekend, and it makes me wish that I saw all of my cousins (and cousins of cousins) on a much more regular basis than I do!

(Thank you Bronwen for the pic, and yes I know I look ridiculous - they caught me and Libby mid-laugh - Laura of course looks like a supermodel)

House Post - All Moved In - Part II

And, the long awaited reveal of the upstairs decor at the house - enjoy:

This is the Guest Bedroom - King size bed (has had 2 overnight visitors, desires repeat business and additional sleepy people who haven't yet stayed)

Another view of the Guest Room

And last view - best view in the house is actually out that window... just sayin'.

Game Room/Media Room upstairs (Overlooks the downstairs Living-Room - hence fan in background)

Other view of upstairs gameroom

Upstairs Guest Bath

Jake's Room

Other view of Jake's Room

Travis's Room

Other view of Travis's Room

Boys Shared bath

Hallway outside the boys rooms, and the Playroom

The Playroom - now even better organized (but you'll just have to trust me)

The Playroom

The Playroom

And that is basically it for the upstairs - there is also a spare room, which is currently collecting extra desks (yes we have 2, and my sister was trying to push another one on us!), outgrown baby clothes and clothes Travis has yet to grow into, all the not being used baby gear, and stuff that we haven't found places for at the house yet.  No idea what our plans for that room are, but I am sure we will figure something out eventually.

House Post - All Moved In

Things have been pretty boring around here lately - I know, even with Spring Break we didn't do a whole lot of things.  We have been training Travis to sleep in a queen sized bed, and that has been interesting, but that is best saved for a post after it starts to be more successful...  So I thought that I would change up the background on the blog, and then share photos of the house all decorated like - because I had all those posts about construction, but none about finished and lived-in product.  So, hope you like the new background, and here is part 1 - downstairs.

Dining Room

Still Dining Room

Living Room

Living Room (with dogs sleeping on sofas - yes this is very normal decor for us)

Living Room looking the other way (and yes there is a fire in the fireplace, these were taken in January)

Kitchen and Breakfast room - taken from the stairwell landing

Breakfast Room

Kitchen looking toward Living Room

Kitchen

Master Bedroom (red pillows because that is the color our flannel sheets are, and like I said, it was January - they are cream colored now as we no longer need the flannel)

More Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom looking out

Master Bathroom from the doorway

Master Bathroom

Master Shower

And that is the downstairs - there is also Blake's office, which hasn't had my touch really put on it yet - so no pics. for now, a laundry room and a powder room.  Eventually I'll probably put up the Laundry room, because I have done a lot of work in there, but who knows.

Next time - the upstairs!