Reconnection

Grammie Sheils is here visiting this week.  I didn't mention it yesterday since I didn't have any photographic evidence (even though she arrived Friday evening)-- she's always yelling at me not to take her picture!!

Many of you are aware that everything I know about making and maintaining relationships I learned from her.  I was so fortunate to grow up in a family that treasures friendships and places a high priority on staying connected with people.   So I shouldn't be surprised that she arranged for a well-overdue lunch rendezvous with some very special Corning friends who now live about 2 hours north of us here.  (Yes, she comes from Dallas to get more northern folk together!  It's a gift!)

A few of you actually know the friends in question, and even more of you may remember a very important role one of them played on a hot summer day about 10.5 years ago:

 Recognize anyone in the picture below?

 Dr. Boell was our minister at First Presbyterian Church when we lived in Corning.  He baptized and confirmed me, and did us an absolute honor by traveling to Waco to perform our wedding.  He retired almost 7 years ago and they moved away from Corning so I haven't been able to catch up with them on my semi-regular trips to the Crystal City since then. 

It was a gorgeous day yesterday--perfect for a little road trip--and we met up at a restaurant overlooking the water.  Several times during our lunch, a train would go shooting past on that big bridge, which was quite the entertainment for a certain Brookster, as you might imagine!

There may or may not have also been some rock-into-the-river-throwing...

PS:  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FAKE AUNTIE CHISTY!!!!!  (even though that life-sucking job of yours keeps you from actually reading this blog, I imagine Fake Uncle Eric will pass along the celebratory wishes I'm sharing here!  :-)

Literary Confinement

When we were at C's check-up last week, the pediatrician kept interrupting our discussion to exclaim things like, "WOW-- she really is busy, isn't she?"  And "I bet she doesn't sit still for reading books, does she?"

Her daddy had previously mentioned to me his sadness about the latter. If she does hang out for a book-reading, she's generally more interested in trying to eat the pages.  Since her brother has always been a reading fiend, this is new territory for us.

That BG, though-- always thinking.   He developed a system whereby he can read to her without her being able to a) escape or b) eat the pages:

Glad we have a problem-solver in the family!   He'd probably appreciate it if I weren't always creating problems for him to solve, but at least this one had nothing to do with me!  :-)

High Chair Hijinks

Wait-- something seems a little off here...

He's an odd bird!

Sister might look this gangly in the chair before too long, as well!!  We had her 12-month appointment yesterday and she's still off the charts for length.  Amazingly enough, she weighed 8 oz less than he did at a year (she seems like such a chunk compared to him!) and is also a bit shorter.   It appears, however, that the kiddos are both going to be long and lean...just like their mama.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. 

(Susan, since I know you're curious:  her measurements were 20 lbs, 10 oz and 31.5" long. :-)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

No, Really, She's ONE!

You know, for the B-man's 1st birthday, we filled his crib with balloons and enjoyed a tasty meal at Sushi King that included surprise ice cream for the young sir.  Last night, there was ice cream, too...as part of the kids meal at high-class establishment On The Border, where I decided I wanted to go for some cheap Mexican.  There were no balloons. Times have changed!!

There was, however, a tasty sweet treat.  Harris Teeter gives out free 6" cakes for baby's first birthday....but I wasn't wasting the Lindsey Carlson special (white cake with white icing) on a baby!  We ate that and I got her a cupcake!

SomeONE's Big Day!

 A retrospective:

(also called: how many different shades of pink can the blanket appear?!)

Mmmm....Sleep

Don't let the blur throw you-- that is indeed a perfectly-posed sleepy boy!   I couldn't resist snapping him in his slumber.

At newly-4 years old, the B-man still naps 90% of afternoons, and he still sleeps pretty hard.  He definitely falls asleep much faster at night on the days when he misses a nap, but is a happy (and obedient) boy lying in his bed awake on all the nights when sleep takes a bit longer to be found.  So still pretty much a win-win situation for us!

Now, he does still end up on the living room couch 95% of the time by 7 AM, but, again, since he doesn't bother us, I try not to worry too much about it.   Besides, I accidentally left on the downstairs family room light the other night and...whaddya know?....he never left his room.  It totally has to do with him waking up and feeling alone.  I'd just leave it on every night but, as the BG pointed out, that would be an awfully expensive nightlight!!

I Am Typing This Post With A Ten-Foot Pole

I really, really love the BG, so I bought him this:

In the name of science (as in, our continuing experiment of "Does this girl really eat EVERYTHING?!"), I gave the go-ahead to feed her the vile black ovals:

 And...she liked them!

 After eating a whole bunch of 'em, she moved on to the puffs course, where she decided to try the latest in head-decor:

Berry Long Time

Maybe I should figure out how to protest my own packrat nature.  I just came across this bag stuffed in a storage shelf in our basement:

 Hmmm.....sure looks like a strawberry-themed collection.  Let's dump it out and take a look:

SERIOUSLY.  It's 2012.  I had to have bought this stuff in 1998 or 1999.  Maybe 2000.   Why has it moved with me at least 3 times?  

Better question-- if I've kept it this long, shouldn't I just keep it until I actually have room and/or time to be crafty??!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Protest THIS! {A Contest}

Did you try to go to Wikipedia yesterday?   Or Craigslist?    Man, even our local high school football message board went dark all day in protest of anti-piracy bills under consideration in Congress.

I noticed also that the Google logo was blacked out in solidarity with the protesters.  Thank goodness that's all that was dark-- I started hyperventilating imagining a world where I couldn't look up pressing issues like "what to do with leftover 1/2 C pumpkin puree," "does Salvation Army accept books?" and "Texas Multi Mamas discussion."   (Side note:  Texas Multi Mamas is my first reality show experience since I watched The Apprentice years ago because we knew one of the contestants.  Anyone else watch it on WE these past 4 weeks?!)

I'm sure it surprises no one that I'm neither occupying or protesting anything.   But the BG--after some spousal nagging to help me craft a question for fun conversation-generation--came up with this gem:

If I were to get the rebellious itch, do you have any suggestions for WHAT I should be protesting??!!!

Can't wait to hear your ideas!   This Thursday needs a good giggle!!!!   :-)

Someone...

...took a snooze in the car:

 ...got gussied up:

 ...had a haircut:

 ...stole her son's birthday present because it fits perfectly and is so warm:

Photo Spectacular!

(Or, perhaps more appropriately, spectacular photos!!!)

Ian makes us look good.  Simple truth.   :-)

Sheils wanted us to get a family pic taken while we were all together right after Christmas.  Ian and Karen were generous enough to stop by on their way home from their holiday travels to take some snaps.   At the BG's suggestion, we ended up on an old bridge that is part of a running trail he's frequented over the years.   We put on quite the show for runners and bikers alike that morning since we looked like VIPs with the big lights that Karen (aka Assistant Extraordinaire) was aiming at us!!  Ha!

The "winning" shot:

After he felt like he'd gotten some quality options for the purposes intended, Ian humored us by doing some impromptu smaller-group pics.  

The original Moores:

The Moores, Party of 4:

The sibs:

Sibs, expanded:

The young(ish) ladies:

 The Kentobeans (females required to have glowing top-of-head tufts):

And the Brookster:

Thanks for making us feel so purdy, Ian!!!!

FOUR

Indeed, the young sir hit the big 1/25th-of-a-100 yesterday! 

Before we could go too crazy celebrating, however, there were some Saturday-night preparations.  The BG put together a bike:

While I did some baking:

I knew we were going to two different birthday parties on Sunday where likely there would be cake/cupcakes, so I figured I should go in a different direction and ended up with cookie cake. (mmmm.....cookie cake.)  I followed the directions to leave a 2" border from the edge of the pan when I put down the dough, and it still expanded all the way past the pan (you can see the circular buttery residue towards both top corners of the mat in the above picture)!   The outsides were getting browner faster anyway, so, as you can see, I just trimmed it down!

You didn't REALLY think I could do anything even quasi-artistic, did you?!

Yesterday morning, the B-man seemed excited about his new wheels.  Sister tried to give him a push:

Crazy that he's four, no?!

The BG had to leave at 5 to go to the football banquet so the 3 of us celebrated with his third sweet treat of the day.  Um, that's a LOT of cookie cake.  I might soon be calling for people to come get some!!

"Ooooh! The camera!  I'll just walk on over to you to grab it!"

PS: Speaking of birthdays, HAPPY BIRTHDAY today to Aunt Nicki!!!!!!!!

Zazzle and Dazzle

I always like to find funny Christmas prezzies for my brother and ended up having quite the time shopping at Zazzle.  I happened to end up on that site on the one day they were having a 50% off all T-shirts sale (with free shipping over $50) so it's safe to say that everyone got insider-jokey tees for Christmas!!

Zazzle mostly sells shirts that other users have designed and there are a TON.  From that selection, I took care of the giggles for Geoff, Nicki, and the BG.  But for the B-man, I decided to use their design tool to throw together a little something just for him.  Behold, the mathematical masterpiece (worn by a slightly-under-the-weather-boy holding a stuffed garbage can on his head...whatever!):

Yes, dear readers, that DOES say:  1/3 Baboo (his nom de utero) + 1/3 Apothecary (what Uncle Geoff has called him since this picture) + 1/3 Randomsheb (his favorite Hero from 1000 Heroz) = ONE COOL CAT.

Indeed.

As for the dazzle, C is walking all over the place--she traverses hallways and entire rooms!  With our freakish 60 degree weather yesterday, I took her outside to see how she'd do on the sidewalks while waiting for the BG to get home.  Alas, she probably needs more substantial shoes for her to go nuts out there.   Hoooo is a cute almost-one-year-old, though?!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Day Two Hundred Nineteen is Here!!

FINALLY.    We arrived at Day 219 in The Hungry Age of Famished Farmers, in B's beloved 1000 Heroz game.  After a few days of heroes (heroz?!) named Japheta (216), Anakim (217), and Hepzibah (218), yesterday brought the most exciting one yet:

Well, they sure got that "Aura of Cool" thing right, huh?!  (ha ha ha ha)   Whaddya think-- does this guy look like his namesake?!

At Least Someone is Creative

I really, really need to get myself organized.  Such masterful day-planning and task-accomplishment, however, is losing out to me "doing my bidness" on the computer, watching TV now that there are finally new shows, or going to bed at 9:30 like I did on Monday because--I'M NOT KIDDING--I'm just done by nightfall.   Clearly, I need either to start my day at 6 AM or find a way to be energized after dark because, otherwise, I'll end up eating some really tasty sushi takeout for dinner on a Monday night that, while delicious, was probably not the most fiscally responsible response to playing fast and loose with a cooking plan.

Thankfully, I got my act a little bit together yesterday and planned/shopped for dinner recipes for both last night and tonight.  Each will make plenty o' leftovers so we should be set.  Goal for this weekend:  get back to a more macro look at the week ahead.  Accept that there are only the tiniest nuggets of alone time available and prioritize what needs to be accomplished then.  Etc, etc, etc.  Oh, man-- I am putting myself to sleep, this is so dull.

Good thing someone knows how to spice things up with homemade hammers!



Thank goodness for creative Big Guys!

Warm and Giggly

My parents brought all kinds of treats back from their recent English adventures, including 4 pairs of really cute tights for the little miss.  I immediately expressed that I felt unprepared to show off the designs since I don't really have skirts in her wardrobe right now, but Grammie pointed out that her intention was for C to wear them under pants for extra warmth.  So I decided to do that yesterday and figured I'd start with the one solid pair since it kills me a bit to hide cute patterns under pants!

See?   She can't pull off her (admittedly droopy) "socks" because they won't come off!!!

I was so shocked to find out when I pulled them out of their package that they weren't totally solid after all!

 Now, I'm sure she loves being so warm and toasty, but why exactly is she grinning so much?

Oh, there's a pretty funny ghost roaming around!

Wait, what's about to happen?

Aaaahhhhh!

Fun times with the sibs!

Blah Blah Blah

I don't have all that much to show for this weekend but it flew by.  I took no pictures. Super boring.

We "took Christmas down" on Saturday.  I'm really kinda sad to have the coffee table back in the center of the room, but I s'pose that's where coffee tables go when there are no Christmas trees to barricade, huh?

Yup-- exciting stuff.  Let's just take it a step further and show you the latest in bristle block building:

The BG's sister, Sarah, gave the kids this awesome set for Christmas and I can honestly say it's the first set of "building materials" that I've truly enjoyed playing with.  If you know me, you won't be surprised to hear that I am only capable of "building" completely symmetrical blobs that serve no function.   So you can imagine how in awe I am of people (here, the BG) who say, "I'm going to make a bulldozer"....and then DO.

This is a heck of a lot better than my symmetrical blobs, I assure you.  I'm quite curious to see which way the wee Kentobeans go in terms of engineering skills.  For their sakes, I hope it's not in their mother's path!! 

Prayers for Linds

I've been serving as the Safran Family Reporter while Lindsay has been in the hospital since giving birth to Blake on Tuesday.  Unfortunately, she had a setback today and has become sick.  You can read more about it here.   I know they would appreciate any prayers you can send their way.   Thanks.

Kitchen Twirling

I took this pic of the BG and C the other day:

And I knew it reminded me of something.

Then I found what I was remembering....and realized it was taken almost exactly 3 years ago:

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Perserverance

It's certainly no video production complete with music and edits, but she IS the second child.   :-)

Miss C still seems to favor crawling but she's been spending more and more time upright...even if it's in spurts!

BK, PhD

At this point, my best guesses for his advanced study would be The Science of Smell, Memory Magnification, or Driving Mothers Crazy with Purposefully Silly Word Pronunciations.

Any other suggestions?

PS:  HUGE congrats go out to the Safran Family on the birth of Blake yesterday afternoon.  He arrived several weeks early as did his older brother, but Linds hung in there and appears to have avoided the serious sickness she faced the first time.  Hallelujah!

-and-

HOORAY to the Carpenter Family on the birth of Dawson...also yesterday!! Rach's pregnancy ended up being quite an adventure with more than 2 months in the hospital on bed rest so I know they are so happy to have him here. Really-- how crazy is it that my two roomies gave birth (both a few weeks early) on the same day??!!

Final Visitors of 2011!

The arrival of Grandma and Papa late Thursday night (during that insane Baylor/Washington shootout-- Sic 'Em!) brought with it another fun morning of present-opening on Friday. The kids were pretty excited to have more quality grandparent time:

 They carted with them all the way from Austin this very cool cardboard (color-able) house!   Speaking of color, don't mind the little miss while she samples the crayon stash:

Between the Papa-rides...

 ..and the captive audience for his favorite game, the B-man was in heaven!

What a treat to see all our parents in December!!   Thanks to you all for traveling to spend time with us!