Brainiac

Monday morning, Miss C and I treated ourselves to a little fruity treat:

Lest you think she now only makes a strange half-smile, here's a full one!

The reason for the outing?  She had just previously looked like THIS:

According to the information I received, that is a "stretchy net with sensor sponges soaked in saline solution" that is recording the "electroencephalogram" and has something to do with analyzing the "functions and development of the mirror neuron system."

All I know is that I spent 1.5 hours at work, too:  filling out questionnaires, completing assessments on the computer, and even having to speak for 5 minutes straight (!!!) describing Miss C while being recorded.   It was the first time in however many studies we've done at "college" where there was this much parental participation....but also the first time there was a monetary reward.  Yee-haw!  :-)

B's New Fave Place

The B-man adores the Dallas Arboretum (or "Spizzerinctum" as it somehow is now known in our family).  We had plans to go over spring break and then obviously things got a bit more complicated.  Thankfully, we made it work with one last hurrah adventure on Tuesday morning before our afternoon flight-- and found the new Children's Adventure Garden to be pretty much the coolest thing ever!

(Jennifer T-- thought of you as we explored around since I'd just seen your Arboretum/Adventure Garden pics!)

Some of the only flowers we saw since we ended up spending so much time in the new space:

Exploring the Adventure Garden.  The kids are heading towards the water roof/waterfall...

...and here they are underneath/in front of it with Grammie.  Can you see how it's blurry behind them because it's a sheet of falling water?

More water!  Much of the space is like an outdoor science museum with just hundreds of hands-on activities:

Miss C trying out the outdoor clock thing-- I KNEW I should have taken a pic of the official name because I can't remember it now and a google search keeps turning up "sundial."  The name of this sort of time-telling apparatus started with A and had several syllables but is not "Agamemnon" which is what keeps coming to mind! (Edited to Add:  Aha!  Analemmatic!)

 In any case, she's standing on the "April" block.  See where her shadow hits the clock numbers?  It really was 9:55 when I took this pic.  So cool!

All the running and exploring wore them out.  Halfway through the flight, I looked over at her and she was completely conked out, pen still in hand!

That Wasn't What I Was Expecting

I am quite thankful that my children have, so far, spared me from clothing battles.  Even the 6-year old wears whatever I pick out and my dislike of chaos thanks him.  I've finally let go a bit of my "it can happen so much faster if I just dress him" sense of efficiency and tasked him with putting on said clothes himself....generally while I'm running around making sure something else is happening as it should.  Yesterday morning was no different as I scrambled to get two kids out the door to church at 9 AM.

(Slight electronic pity party interjection here to tell you that the BG worked at the school mulch sale from 7:45-3:45 Saturday and was out spreading mulch at houses from 7:00-5:30 yesterday.  And, as you can imagine, he was pretty much about to topple over when he got back last night so it was a solo parenting weekend which is decidedly far less fun than the alternative!)

After church, we bopped around killing some time with errands until our fave lunch spot opened at 11.  We made a quick restroom stop before hitting the road where we all had quite the giggle:

"Wait-- why do I have on two pairs of underwear?!"

Might need to rethink that whole letting-him-dress-himself thing.....   ;-)

(And yes-- before anyone tells me, I absolutely know he needs to be doing all this by himself.  I know I have a tendency to choose efficiency over lifeskill-development.  Knowing is the first step to solving the problem, right?!)

Pull Up A Blanket And Stay Awhile

This pic is actually from several weeks ago but it's never too late for photos of a social gathering, right?

Miss C decided, all on her own, to set up blankets for various "friends."  The dalmations (Roger and Mayshie) are cuddling on the far blanket.  Babydoll is ready for an array of food products on the next nearest one, and the Olivia blanket in the foreground was for the party-mistress herself.  She proceeded to curl up on it and stay for quite awhile.  (The mess in the middle is all her dress-up clothes that apparently needed to be added to the mix.)

As I just heard Grammie say to someone, C is "turning into quite the hoot."   And a pretty cute hoot to boot:

HAPPY FRIDAY!

And We Are STILL Just Like This, Too!

I packed up two boxes of "treasures" to be shipped back here in addition to papers/photos/programs I was able to stuff into our suitcases.  Rest assured I have enough flashback items for years to come!  ;-)

Behold Exhibit A:   no date but let's go with late preschool

Pretttty sure I didn't pick awesome activities for my parents and, um, I don't ever remember liking to jog even a little bit.  ("I tried to be a jogger but my thighs kept rubbing together and I was afraid I'd start a fire.")   But you know what?  Ol' Geoffrey's habits ended up leading to a career so I think he wins!!

Cousin Fun

We were gone for two weeks but the kiddos spent much of that time away on adventures.  The first week, they spent 5 days in East Texas at Grandma's wonderland of pond and fun.  Then this past week, the BG took them to Central Texas per our original spring break plan while I stayed in Dallas.  Big props to him for taking a few pics during that portion!

As you saw yesterday, C found some dress-up flair at the cousins' house.  Rachel joined in on the festivities:

Then there was a Hill Country tea party:

What was B doing during all this? Oh, you know, just running around with a paintball gun:

Earlier in the weekend, Big D was able to gather all his chickens for a photo:

So glad the kids could spend so much time with their peeps!

Headed Home

It's a good thing we are headed home today--  Miss C seems to be turning into a cowgirl!

:-)

Family

Apologies for the weeklong blog break. 

I have every intention of returning to this space with the same regularity as before but the past 10 days or so have been so out-of-the-norm that I'm having trouble getting back into the proverbial groove.   We are doing okay, though.  Truly.

Geoff and I have 3 cousins on my dad's side-- the children of my aunt Carole Jean.  When you line all 5 of us up by age, it goes girl/boy/girl/boy/girl with just about 3 years in between each one.   While the eldest cousin, Jeanne, was unable to come to Texas for the memorial service, Glenn and Paula were both there.  After the burial in Waco on Tuesday, a big group of family went out to a totally-Texan joint just down the street from where the BG and I got married.   Turns out all of us cycled through the empty spot at the table where Glenn and Paula were sitting and photos were captured of us all:

Well, all of us except the BG.  He was too busy enjoying chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and fried okra!

The Final Update

My mother, brother, aunt, and I all stayed at the hospital last night because it was pretty clear that he was finally nearing the end.  We talked to my dad, told him we loved him, and assured him we'd be fine in his absence.  Around 2 AM, we all dozed off in the room's chairs, mostly huddled under blankets in the chilly air.  About an hour later, each of us woke up as the nurse came in and we all realized that his breathing was slowing.  So we were all awake and together as he left this world shortly after 3 AM.

A few pics with my Daddyrags:

Thank you so much for all the love and support this week.   It's hard to believe he won't be the first commenter on this blog post like he often was...

Thursday Update

Still we wait.

Rosemond (whom I met on move-in day at Baylor) came and got the kiddos yesterday and drove them to a Dairy Queen about 1.5 hours away where they met up with Grandma.  She took them back to her house where I know they are having all kinds of fun.  Not sure yet when they'll come back but I am so appreciative of her taking care of them so I can be present without distraction.

We enjoyed a really nice day of visiting with both family and friends who have come by the hospital.  As horribly sad as this situation is, it's actually really special to have time just to be together with so many loved ones.  There seems to be a general decline each day in my dad's breathing and it's so hard not to know how long this will take.  Hospice has been called in and he is receiving only comfort care.  My mom has been sleeping in the room-- I haven't talked to her yet this morning but I know the night before, she really got some good, deep sleep.  I hope that was the case last night as well.

I know it's probably pretty standard to remember only good things in situations like this, but all the comments we've received through Facebook make it clear that, overwhelmingly, people loved my dad so much.  They have written/talked a lot about his smile and his laugh and that makes me feel such a connection with him since I am aware that I'm known as a bit of a smiler!  ;-)  He has always been such a model of generosity--a fact that I freely admit I've used to my advantage over the years...hee hee!--and I just love that everybody felt that about him, too.

I also learned that an uncle of his called him "Stringbean" which, considering his physique the entire time I've been around, cracks me up!!

Update

There is still no news with Opa.  The kids and I made it here late last night so I was able to go to the hospital and spend some time with him and Grammie.  He is basically non-responsive-- looks like he is sleeping.  His lungs are filling with fluid and the swelling in his brain continues.  So we continue to wait for him to be called Home. 

Thank you for the outpouring of emails, texts, and calls.  We feel very loved and it is my belief that Opa does, too.  I showed Grammie last night how to use Pandora on her laptop and I selected the Willie Nelson channel to play right next to Opa's ear.  The first song that played?  "Always On My Mind."

Be Their Guest

Saturday afternoon, B and I went to the production of Beauty and the Beast at the BG's high school.   We were invited by a kindergarten friend's mother and there turned out to be 4 little buddies who sat together.   For the matinee performance, there was a "character meet and greet" ahead of time and it was really neat-- we filed behind the curtain and really interacted with the high school actors:

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As many of you know, this blog is about to lose its most loyal commenter.  Opa had a serious stroke on Sunday afternoon and will not recover.   I find it fitting, however, to be posting about a high school production on what may be the last day of his life.  His time as "Official Kibbitzer" for the EHS Drama Club in the early/mid 90s is legendary!  

Early Egg-Hunting

Saturday morning, I took Miss C to an egg hunt at the church where we've been attending.    As it turns out, it was a quick-enough adventure that Mr. B would've had time to hunt before going to his first soccer practice, but he went on with the BG to do that and C got all the eggs to herself!

Well, that's not exactly true....there were SO.MANY.EGGS.  I couldn't believe it!  I ended up way at the back of the property to take a picture-- the entire field was covered from back where I was all the way up to that brown building:

There she goes:

In case you're thinking-- why is she running past all those eggs in that photo above?  Answer: she was particular about her choices:

After she filled her basket, we stopped at the "recycle eggs" box to drop them off since we didn't need to take them home.  At that point, I discovered that every single egg had candy inside-- score!  So we took some home and I hid 12 eggs around the backyard so her brother could participate (and snack), too!

End-Of-Week Blues

I am a giddy partaker of store samples but I hardly ever actually purchase the item.  Broke my own rule this past week, however, with the tasting of TJ's current "spotlight cheese":

I don't think it will change your mind if you despise bleu/blue cheese but, if you're a fan, then I think you'll love it!  I've sprinkled some on salads and also spread it on crackers like they did in the store.  YUM!

(Also-- the wedge pictured above was only $2.80!)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Pinkalicious

A woman stopped us at TJs yesterday to say to Meelie, "Wow- you must really love pink!"

And that was BEFORE the addition of the coordinated bevvie!  ;-)

Back to Nature

We went on our first "spring walk" yesterday, complete with walking sticks:

Of course, I just checked the weather forecast and the high next Wed is 48 degrees but whatever...

 These two actually told me more than once that they were hot on the brief walk so, basically, I'm looking forward to a summer of complaints!  ;-)

Good thing they're sweet.

Cartwheel and a Couch

(Please note:  I did not say "Cartwheel ON a couch" because that is a no-no!!)

I remember years ago writing in this very electronic space about the wonder that is the Target Red Card. Obvs, there's been a bit of hackery since then but I still think it's a fab deal to get 5% off every time you shop-- not to mention free shipping on any online purchase.   So the new question is:  are you using Cartwheel?

I know it's been a thing for awhile but, when it first came out, it seemed to be only accessible through Facebook.  As it turns out, I'm actually not a fan of people knowing exactly what I'm doing/buying so I did not start doing cartwheels back in the day-- extra savings or no extra savings.   Now, however, you can create an account with your email address and seriously?  So worth it!!

Once I realized Miss C and I would be making a Target run yesterday, I opened the app and checked out all the deals.  (I actually 100% prefer to use actual websites on an actual computer which you can also do through the internet but we were already on the go.)   I've found that, more often than not, the things I'm looking for have an electronic coupon waiting for the taking.  Yesterday's much-needed purchase was "squeezie yogurt" so I checked out the Food/Dairy selection of electronic coupons:

 

10% off Go-gurt (this in addition to the 5% off with the Target Red Card)??  Um, yes please.

There are currently more than 500 offers available, just for some perspective, although I think you can only load 12 at one time.   You can either select your coupons on the website and print out the barcode to give to the cashier or you can load them on the app and just hold up your phone for the electronic bar code to be scanned.  As you can see from the screen shot above, I saved $10.85 yesterday completely on items I was going to buy anyway.

The big win of the day was when, standing in the home decor aisle at the store, I searched the app and found this coupon:

New throw pillows have been on my list for a few weeks and I saw some there I liked.  Getting an extra 15% off?   Again, YES please!

(The real kicker is that the coupon's "backside" states that it doesn't apply to Clearance but I totally got a couple bucks off per pillow at checkout even though the pillows had been marked down.  Is there anything better??!)

Oh, and the reason I wanted new pillows is because we recently got a new couch.  The pillows that came with it were not ones we wanted to keep.  I had found a "pouf" for super cheap at Kohl's that was reddish so I wanted to find blue pillows to tie the couch together with not only the colorful button rug in the playroom behind it but also with the blue & red baskets I finally found to fill the bottom tiers of our shelving:

 

Boom!  

(Of course, now we really need to find things to hang on the expansively blank walls....of the whole house....)