The International Hot Dog Society

To celebrate Helen's successful 10-mile race yesterday, she and Gabe invited us over for a Hot Dog and Margarita party. These were not just ANY hot dogs, however. Inspired by this magazine article, they provided quite the global experience for us!

(If you click on the link, you can check out a slideshow of the 80 international hot dog varieties. We feasted upon the Spanish, North African, Cuban, and German ones!)

Grillman Gabe:

The ladies (Kathy being preggers, Helen and I had to sip on some margs for her!):

My plate: I have halfsies of Spanish on the left and Cuban on the right, with some delectable sweet-potato fries that were really cooked in a fryer and everything! (Full disclosure: I also had a halfsie of the German one and a bite of the North African one. And I didn't run at all.)

But I did not eat FIVE hot dogs like "Funcle Joel" did! Here he is modeling his Spanish masterpiece. (Full disclosure: he ran 16 miles earlier in the day so I guess he can have 5 hot dogs if he wants)

The big guy seems pretty happy with his dogs: (He ran 3 miles and had 3 dogs--which, if we stuck with that ratio, means Joel could've had 16 dogs!)

What was B-man up to ths whole time? Some cat-petting:

And (cover your eyes, Grammie) a LOT of attempted drinking! He kept pointing to the margs and saying, "Juice! Juice!"

Bon Appetit, indeed!

Bear Hugs

Yesterday morning, B and I ventured out to Alison's house where she was hosting a Baylor Women's Council service project. The group put together cute little goodie bags to take to a local children's medical facility. I know the kids will love them!

The result of all the assembly-line stuffing and packaging:

The attached note:

We are very thankful that Alison encouraged the us to come even though the active boy prevented me from doing any real assisting with the effort. As you can see, he could barely be corralled for a picture:

Not when there was a bulldozer to look at!

He Looks a Bit Like a Bug

(Sunglasses week, continued)

Speaking of bugs, after we taught him the name of the "little hopper" on one of his shirts, he now thinks all buggy creatures are "ah-per". We'll be outside and he'll be pointing to the sidewalk and saying "ah-per!" which kinda sounds like a really over-emphasized "up" and then I'll realize he's pointing to an ant and calling it a hopper. Eh, you gotta start somewhere!

Happy Friday!

Updated PS: Heh! I just realized from this picture why my sunglasses were so smeared and gooey yesterday: oatmeal!

"If Only We Lived Closer..."

We always say that to ourselves after spending time with Karen B and her family! She and I have been friends since middle school and continue to lead lives with so many parallels. The B-man and I ventured to the Garden State for a quick overnight visit so we could meet "little" Micah who was born in February, making him 13 months younger than B, who is 13 months younger than Judah. We also got to have a little fun time with daddy Warren whom Karen married exactly 3 weeks before our own wedding!

As you can see, said boys had lots of adventures on our visit:

We managed a self-portrait during all this frivolity:

Sleeping off all the fun:

Where is He?*

I just can't seem to find the little street urchin. Could've sworn he was just here.

Aha! There he is! (And his nostrils, too!)

Oh, I see-- he's going to play it sly. He must be working on some sort of secret toddler-spy operation. Mustn't bother him further.

*The real answer to this question is NEW JERSEY! We are visiting Karen B and her family and hope to have a full report tomorrow!

Sometimes Shades Can Bring Sunshine

Yesterday turned into quite the day dealing with some weird car noises that arose suddenly on Sunday afternoon. Long story short: B was amazingly well-behaved during our 2.5 hours at the dealership, and while unfortunately the problem is with the tires (read: NOT under warranty), we aim to get it taken care of this morning. But with all the craziness related to that and with the big guy off at his first 13-hour work day of the school year, the little guy and I had a bit of a stressful day.

Thank goodness for this guy to make me smile:

And then a little self-portraiture when he demanded that I wear them instead!

In much more upbeat news, congrats to Sara and Adam on the arrival yesterday of B's newest cousin, Miles Austin!!! Hooray!

Scenes from a Sunday

After my camera freaked out the other week, I engaged in some extensive research about a potential replacement. I actually went as far as buying 2 other cameras since both retail establishments have very generous return policies. I was pretty near deciding to return both of them when my camera did its possessed thing again yesterday. I imagine it'll come back to life at some point, but we're going to move ahead with a replacement.

After deciding between the two cameras, we trekked out for a family trail walk where I could put it to the test:


We had no idea when we set out for a walk that we'd get to a point where they'd cleared a path all the way down to the river. (For those who are local, this is the trail directly behind the middle school that eventually makes it all the way to the park, but the path to the river goes off to the right when it goes from a paved trail to gravel.) So B-man had a bonus visit to the water and did not want to go home when it was time-- hence the tears in the lower right!

Need Your Suggestions!!!

An eye cream to help a "girl" out?


Desperate. (but also cheap)

Go.

Three Times the Cuteness

Happy Friday!

Come With Me to Corning!

Well, at least on a photographic journey!

I was just able to get my paws on some of the fabulous pictures from Anne's wedding photographer and I had to share a few of my faves! After the wedding, we took some photos in downtown Corning's Centerway Square (very near this brick) and they will be such cool keepsakes.



This one was actually taken before the wedding on the sidewalk in front of Anne's house, but I just love it!

And, finally, we have the most successful shot from our "photo shoot" at the "studio" that the photographer set up at the reception. There are some, um, less attractive shots of us that just might make their way onto the blog someday for a giggle!


Yay for Annie Kate and Adam...and good pictures!

Is That His Truck? No. Is That His Truck? No.

But, hey-- looking out the window helps pass the time, so hooray for that!

This first week of football practice seems to be going well, although I'm sure the coaches wish they had more then 30 varsity players! It's definitely quite a change to go from a 4A school (the largest category) down to a small 2A! The big guy has been leaving at 6 AM but has actually been getting home around 5 PM, so we've been enjoying some evening time. With the start of teacher in-service next week, however, the regular schedule of late afternoon practices will start and there probably won't be much point for B looking out the window waiting for his pappy!

Coming Soon to a Concert Venue Near You

And, if you're lucky, maybe you can get in with the band's GROUPIES:

He's A Pretty Cute Nursemaid (Nurseman?)

We spent the afternoon yesterday visiting our friend Karen I. She's recuperating from surgery and is home from work twiddling her thumbs. It worked out perfectly: we got there about 11, let B run around for a bit, put him down for a nap, and then I went and picked up lunch for us. The little guy was very cooperative with a 3-hour nap and we girlies got in some good chatting time!

We hope you continue to feel better and better, Karen!

Not Like the Big Guy?

Because, really, if he were a mini-Big Guy, then he'd L.O.V.E to mow the lawn. And I'm not sure that's the case. While I'd like to say the morning of lawn care went down like this:


And this:

It quite quickly turned into this:

And this:

I guess it's not really fair to say that his dislike of pushing the mower is a strike against the bond between father and son, though. After all, he kept abandoning his toy to go be closer to his daddy!

Guess He's a Jeopardy Champ for a Reason

That brother of mine-- what a genius! Indeed, I purchased the coolest.toy.ever for $2.02 with tax at a local thrift store. (Although, seriously, even $7.99 would have been a good deal for all the fun features on this thing!)

In other news...the weird sound you might have been hearing in the atmosphere over the last couple of days was me freaking out at the apparent demise of my camera. It did this weird freezing thing on Thursday where the lens gets stuck in an extended position but the camera won't turn back on and retract (or, you know, work), although not due to battery problems. It did this a few months ago but fixed itself within an hour or so. I hoped this would be the case again, but 22 hours later, I was facing the fact that a new camera purchase might be in order. (I don't feel too bad about it since, as some of you have pointed out, I basically walk around with my camera glued to my hand. To say it is used regularly is a bit of an understatement.) But then, just as suddenly, it finally came back to life yesterday afternoon. I have an idea we're nearing the end, but at least I was able to snap this pic to show off B's coordinated shoe-and-outfit combo before it croaked for good:


Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Of Balloons, Bites, and Bargains

We got to bring home some of the balloons from the party Wed night, since apparently "Molly really wanted B to have them"!!! Indeed, they did provide some entertainment this morning as the little guy dragged their deflated selves all over the house:

No! Those aren't football plays on his leg-- they're bug-bite indicators. Sure enough, this guy not only got my pasty skin, but also my tendency for ginormous bites! Awesome! (Please note that I added those in Photoshop: I did NOT write on my child's leg!!)

And......that's it for today if you're a "normal" person. If, however, you are a) really into children's toys , b) really into the victory of a good bargain, or c) really into listening to me talk for 2 minutes, then I would love for you to take a tour of my recent fabulous resale find! :-) According to my research, this product was made between 1994 and 1996. (And yes, we cut off the phone because the cord was just too darn short, probably to keep it from being a choking hazard.)



So here's the CHALLENGE: How much did I pay for this toy? (If, for any reason, I've already exclaimed to you over my find, you are not eligible!!! Honor system, people.)

A Great Excuse for Cupcakes

(Not that one is needed.)

The celebration of babies-soon-to-be-born continued last night with a "sprinkle" for Jen, who has Baby Girl #2 on the way in a few short weeks. Sixteen of us met up at a local restaurant for some tasty dinner, fabulous cupcakes, and even sweeter gifties for the guest of honor!

The tray o' cupcakes:


The loot:

Jen and her sister, Michelle, who is visiting from Birmingham:

It definitely seems like the year of the girl up here-- is that the case where YOU live?

A Taste of the Homeland

Turns out there's a really good authentic Texas BBQ place very near the big guy's new stomping grounds. I'm pretty sure I had read about it in a magazine at some point but promptly forgot about it until Big Daddy found it in a national list about the best BBQ restaurants in the country. So even though Grandma and Papa probably didn't come up here to eat their own native cuisine, it was chosen as the celebratory dinner location of choice for Monday's birthday boy since everyone wanted to see his new school anyway.

This is one of those issues where my readership will split: what exactly constitutes barbecue? You Texans out there know that when I say this place was a Texas BBQ joint, it clearly featured brisket. The locals, however, tend to think of barbecue as a pork thing. Since I had stuffed myself with a burger the night before, I actually did opt for pulled pork and I have to say it was the best I'd ever had. The brisket-eaters seemed to be quite pleased with their selection, too:


The place was covered in bumper stickers and other assorted memorabilia to make us feel at home: a Whataburger bag, a Blue Bell magnet, a "Keep Austin Weird" sticker, etc. And the birthday boy was certainly pleased that they had ice cold Shiner Bock at the ready. Methinks the coach will be spending plenty o' time on these checkered tables now that his new school is so close!!

Our company all departed early yesterday morning, so we had a lazy day yesterday in preparation for the major change about to take place. "2-a-days" start Saturday and every day is needed this week in order to prepare for the official start of the season. The B-man and I look forward to seeing the big guy again in December! (Maybe by then, the little scamp will be able to say to his pappy: "I can't wait to play SOCCER!")

Dude, It's Not Gonna Bite You.

Have you seen the scariest thing around? It winds up, is maybe 3 inches long, and is currently the most frightening thing in B's world:


No matter that he's played with it in the bathtub for the better part of a year. This thing is suddenly SCARY-- even on dry land:

Shall We Gather at the River?

But before we do that...

Geoff passed through Friday on his way to his 15th high school reunion (and returned last evening to spend today with us before flying back to LA) and found a jovial nephew sidekick:

Saturday, there were some box-rides with Grandma:

And then it was finally time to go to the river! The big guy has been wanting to take the little guy to our nearby river for a long time, and it was the perfect activity for Grandma and Papa to join in on. Not being quite as much of a fan of the great outdoors (or, more accurately, summer heat), I opted to stay at home and lie on the couch. A great time was had by all!


When they returned, the B-man was so happy about his aquatic adventures that he just couldn't stop with the kisses!

PS-- A HUGE birthday shout-out to the big guy who lives here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Yippee! More People to Play With!"

"Grandma and Papa read me every single book I bring to them. AWESOME. But they also...

...help me with my new toys:

...build things with me:

...and give me great hugs!
Hope you have a weekend full of play, too!"