Fun with Tyler and Charlotte

Audrey with Charlotte (who could be mistaken for Audrey's mom). Now you know where Audrey's hair comes from!!

Tyler and Parker having a stick (tree limb) sword fight on the creek bank near our house.

There's a really cool tree house exhibit in our community and this is the most impressive one! It's made out of foam and has stairs to the top, so you can poke your head through his eyes.

Another one of the tree houses, isn't it cute?

Neal's sister, Charlotte and her husband, Tyler made a couple of stops at our house this past week on their way to and from a fabulous cruise. Lots of cruise lines depart from Galveston, just a short drive away, just in case any of you are wondering if there are any good reasons to come visit us! We had lots of fun with them, and the kids might have a new favorite aunt and uncle! Thanks for coming guys!

Happy Birthday Baby!

Neal's 31 today. My man is the best: super smart, very well-rounded, almost too responsible, ridiculously handsome, and pretty much fabulous all-around. We discovered some really good Japanese food last night and had a yummy Black-Bottom Banana Cream Pie to celebrate. Audrey was quite upset that we didn't have a cake, but was satisfied with a cup full of chocolate chips. This morning, Neal was treated to quite the rare occurence: a real-deal birthday breakfast of bacon, eggs and buttermilk biscuits. Oh, and the best birthday gift of all: no ward leadership meetings this morning! Hurrah. Happy Birthday Baby!

Anatomy 101

So my kids found a new favorite book the other day. They call it the "skeleton book." The book is filled with real pictures of real dead bodies, dissected and everything. I don't think the kids realize the bodies are real, and I'm not about to start that conversation! Their favorite pages are the ones about the skull and face. I quote, "Eeeeeew, yucky eyeball! Giggle, giggle." Maybe they're budding dentists, already studying up for Head and Neck Anatomy. Every once in a while, one of them will ask me, "Are some mommies dentists?" They have a hard time grasping the fact that some mommies work every day like Daddy does. I often have a hard time grasping that, too. :)

Of fig trees and families

Here are the kids next to the fig tree we planted for Family Home Evening this week. It's gonna look great in a little while, Neal promises. Figs grow fast, didn't you know? Right now, it just looks like a sad little stick in the middle of our front lawn, but if you look really closely, you can see a little green bud at the top of the stick. Isn't that just the most hopeful thing?

Girlie Girls

Audrey was invited to a very fancy party this weekend for her best friend, Rian. They all met at a fancy tea house, had their hair and make-up done, got into the fanciest dresses they could find, and had a fashion show. Following the runway show, they munched on strawberries and melons, followed by a fabulous birthday cake shaped like a handbag. It was simply divine, dahlings, and Princess Audrey received "real make-up" as her parting gift. There may be hope that she's girly after all! I was worried she wouldn't get that into it, but, she loved the party. Who wouldn't? They had bottled water and fruit platters for the moms, so we sipped and chatted while the girls tried not to move too much. They were simply too fancy to do anything too silly or childish, and so they floated around, being very careful not to smudge make-up or damage the hair, although, there wasn't much chance of that happening. We counted 27 hairpins in Audrey's hair, and at least 15 sprays of hairspray, not to mention a dusting of glitter. Oh, did I mention the dark teal dress-up dress and golden "up-shoes" in her actual size? Heavens, it was lovely.
Audrey's hair is about half-done in the above picture. I told her that her hair was fancier than mine on the day I got married!

The girls getting ready for the fashion show.

Audrey in dark teal and Rian, her fellow frizzy redheaded friend.

They had birthday cake with real china and goblets, filled to the brim with "princess punch."

My husband, the hero.

My good friend Natalie came to visit the other day. We had a fabulous time taking care of our kids together and doing some fun girly things. I always say, if we're all going to be at home doing the kid/housewife thing all day, why do it alone? Luckily, she agrees, and we get together often! Well, as she was driving away, I noticed her back tire severely low, and hence, her car was undriveable. Wouldn't cha know, Neal had come home early that day (yay for no class). Well, my husband, the hero, without a blink of an eye or a sigh of dismay, quickly changed Natalie's flat tire into a donut and she was on her way. We both watched carefully, so next time, we feel comfortable that we might be able to do it ourselves. I mean, I think we could have figured it out without him, but it probably would have taken us an hour, and our kids would have been running wild in the street. So aren't we glad for handy husbands? I just had to share, mostly so you all can see what a hunk Neal is.

For Natalie's take on the flat tire, check out her blog by clicking here.

Horsey Lessons

Audrey learning to weave the horse between the cones. She did it!

Parker lookin' cool while waiting for Audrey.

Audrey right after mounting Hunter! She looks so little. That is a big horse!

Waiting in the Sienna Stables office for her lesson to start. "Why is it taking so long?"

Because Audrey has wonderful grandparents, she was able to make one of her little dreams come true this week. On Tuesday, she began horseriding lessons at our local stables. She was so excited, asking desperately every night if tomorrow was Tuesday, and then patiently waiting until 2:00 on Tuesday to go. We started a bit late, because some other riders were hogging her teacher, Miss Sarah.
Finally, Audrey got her turn, we walked out to the stall where her new horse friend lives. His name is Hunter, and as Sarah said, "he's a big horse, but he's gentle." Well, Audrey's only ever ridden ponies, so needless to say, she looked teeny up there on Hunter's back. Parker and I waited in the car, as it was cold and windy, and we could barely see Audrey in the ring, so the pictures aren't great, but she had so much fun, she's once again asking how many more days there are until next Tuesday. Miss Sarah was so impressed that Audrey knew what every part of the saddle and bridle were called, and as we were driving away, Audrey saw a horse out in the pasture and said, "Look, Mommy, that horse is cantering!"
OK, I'm sure he was. Thanks Bramma and Pa!

Audrey's Brain

Audrey's little brain never quits. This little girl has the hardest time going to sleep at night. She can not turn herself off. Most nights I have to do the "honey trick" to help her relax. The honey trick consists of me very slowly tracing my finger down from her hairline to her toes, telling her that the magical drop of honey is putting all her body parts to sleep. Even an hour or so after bedtime, Audrey calls to us from her bed in a whisper yell to ask us something or to tell us "one more thing."
Last night, for example, Neal had been laying down with her for about 20 minutes, and he thought for sure she was asleep. He started to carefully get up, when she said, and I quote,
"Daddy, do bats have tails?"
Does anyone have any advice for turning off your brain?

Bedtime Stories

Every once in a while, Parker will sit down and let Audrey read him a book. Tonight it was after the bath, all cozy in the glider.

6:40 PM

This is what we all were doing at 6:40 PM last night. Just a slice of our lives.Neal practicing his ukelele. He's been working on "All You Need is Love" by the Beatles.

Audrey reading the new library books to her guys on the couch.

Parker taking a bath, me on scrub duty.

The Library

Today we took our weekly trip to our local library (above), and although we're usually relegated to the kids' section and storytime, today we got there too late. So we picked out a few (22) kids books, and then I thought we'd venture over to the really quiet section where the adult books are. I'm in a dinner rut and thought maybe I could find some good cookbooks from my favorite chefs, mostly from the Food Network. Well, to my pleasure, there were shelves and shelves of cookbooks I can check out free! I ended up getting Loretta Lynn's cookbook, (complete with recipes for possum and rabbit, but also some good kuntry cookin') and another about Provencal cooking. And then, we were walking past the section about classical literature and Greek history, topics I always wish I knew more about. I was so giddy with excitement and suddenly glad that I am only 28; I have the rest of my life to read books and learn, and to go to the library. One day I might even go alone. Oooooo! So take a visit to your library, too, there are wonderful things there and the only thing that costs money is the copy machine!

Kids and cameras

I let Audrey and Parker take the camera for a minute this afternoon. When I got it back, this is what I found. They posed their favorite toys and took headshots.

At the Car Wash

Neal and Parker washed the car today. In the picture on the right, it looks like we made Parker wash it himself, but don't be alarmed, as much as he wanted to, we don't let him use the power washer. One day, maybe, but not yet. Oh, and it's warm enough for shorts and flip flops here, just in case you were wondering where to come on your next vacation away from cold weather! (ahem, Indianans)

Quotes of the Day II

Audrey, while I'm trying to put her to bed: Mommy, do they speak English in Paris?
Me: Some people do, but most people there speak French.
Audrey: Then where do they speak Spanish?
Me: Oh, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, lots of places.
Audrey: And Texas?
Me: Yeah, and Texas, too.


Parker, on potty break from Nursery today: "I'm all done with my class. I been in there a willy long time."

I like to do drawrings.

Here are some drawings the kids made today: Audrey's is a picture of her on Spirit, foreground; me on Rain, to the right; and Parker on Esperanza, Spirit's mom, with a really long tail. The best thing about this is when Audrey says "Esperanza" in a perfect Mexican accent. No joke, a rolled "r" and the "z" sounds a little like a "th." Ok, so maybe it's a Spanish accent.

Parker's is entitled: "some people with no heads because the bad guys cut them off"
(He's really a sweet boy, I promise, he just thinks bad guys are really cool right now.)