Last Day with Papa Steve

For our last day with Papa Steve we went to Zilker Park to ride the Zilker Zephyr (our new favorite activity).

It was such a hot day I think we would've been better served to swim in the Barton Springs pool.

Here's Jack's blue face after snarfing down a blue raspberry snow cone on the train.

After riding the train and playing at the park, we ate lunch at Rudy's BBQ.

Then we went home to enjoy some Wii playtime before taking Papa Steve to the airport.

Thanks Papa Steve for coming to play with us, and thanks Navarre and Catherine for coming to share in the fun! We had a great time!

Visitors

We were really happy to have Jarod's dad stay with us for a little over a week. He came to help out at Jarod's work during ROT Rally. Last year he came while the kids and I were in California, and Jarod and Steve had a great guys' week. We were happy to be here this time so the kids could have some time with their Papa Steve. Carly was so excited about his visit, she'd call everyone weeks before he came, and tell them what Papa Steve needed to bring with him when he came. Navarre and Catherine drove down from Dallas the first night Papa Steve was with us, and we all went to church the next day. It was great to have them down. It's a rare thing to have Jarod's family so close. Catherine humored Carly by doing her hair. She just loved the attention Catherine doted on her. On Monday Jarod and Steve went on a ride with some of Jarod's friends. They rode out and had some good BBQ at Cooper's in Llano, stopped in Marble Falls to check out a classic car shop, and ate pie at the Bluebonnet Cafe. They all came back safe, and very tan. After their ride they played slot cars with the kids. The rest of the week Steve was subjected to hot manual labor to help prepare for the rally. He was a huge help to Jarod. I was able to go to work with Jarod and Steve on Saturday to help out in motor clothes and type in credit applications. It was fun to see all the different people that travel from all over for the rally. I have a greater appreciation for what Jarod deals with at work, also. It was a great experience.

Twister!

From the title of this post you might have expected to see pictures of people bent over a plastic game board with their hands and feet on different colored dots. Sorry to disappoint.

While Papa Steve was visiting with us we had some brief but exciting weather. Jarod and his dad barely made it home before the rain started. The sky was very ominous, and as it turned out, full of tornado activity. There were three reported tornadoes, and plenty of hail. Luckily my car was still being repaired from the last hail storm so it wasn't subjected to more dents. Mama Tess had sent some cute umbrellas along with Papa Steve for the kids, and they were a BIG hit. They got to use them during the storm. We went out to watch the show and they used their new umbrellas to protect them from the spray coming off the roof.
While Jarod and Papa Steve were looking in the back yard for some good sized hail, Nacho crept inside and sat on the rug. He kept inching a little farther inside in order to secure his place away from the storm. He ended up staying in our bathroom during the storm, and the poor thing was so scared, I don't think he moved at all until the storm was over.

A damp Papa Steve and Carly are showing off the mostly melted half section of hail that they collected. See the different rings in the ice? Cool!

Random

Here are some pictures of the random things we've been up to lately.

When I decided to grow my bangs out, Carly decided she wanted to do the same. We went a while without trimming them, and she would pin them back herself. I finally broke down and cut them again though. I think she looks so cute with bangs. After I did her hair she was brushing it constantly and looking at herself in the mirror. I think she's pleased with her 'do. Don't judge me on the evenness of her bangs. They really are even, but in this picture they don't look it. Did I mention that she has really curly hair, and at least one cowlick in the front? Carly loves reading to the boys. I get a kick out of hearing her say "come on boys, lets read a book."
I've been borderline obsessed with making dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls lately. I have to make myself stop so that I don't gain a ridiculous amount of weight from this new obsession. Talk about YUM!!

Cranky Cowboy

Jack was really cute getting his cowboy duds on. The kids all take turns wearing Josh's cowboy boots, and this last week it was Jack's turn. He really loves putting on everyone's shoes and tromping around the house. He did not want me to take a picture of him in his outfit, though.

"I'm a Big Boy Now"

Sometimes when I'm helping Josh into his pull-ups at night I can get him to sing "I'm a big boy now!" It's amazing to me how grown up Josh is getting. Yesterday we celebrated his third birthday, and it was a lot of fun. He got lots of birthday wishes throughout the day, and in the evening we got ready for the family party. I had high aspirations of making a storm trooper shaped cake, but after wearing myself out doing yard work all day, I was feeling less than motivated. Instead, Jarod made a plain 9x13 cake and I frosted it with my interpretation of Darth Vader on it. I was happy that Josh was at least able to name who the character on his cake was. It's going down in my book as a success. We decided to eat Josh's favorite foods for dinner, and my parents were kind enough to humor us by eating our meal of chicken nuggets, fries, and green beans. I thought it was a lot of fun, and I think it's a tradition I'd like to keep. Hopefully my kids' taste in food will expand, though. As soon as we sat down and Josh saw the party plates and napkins, he said "where are the hats? We need party hats!" Luckily my dad had brought that yellow play construction worker hat, so that became the special birthday boy hat, and Josh loved it.

After dinner we opened gifts, and they were all a big hit. My folks got him a toy lawn mower that blows bubbles and we got him some Star Wars paraphernalia. When we were done opening gifts we all went outside to try out his new toy and blow bubbles with the other kids. When it was getting too dark to really see the bubbles, we went back inside for cake.I just love this boy's smile. I think he really enjoyed having everyone sing to him. Jack devoured the cake. He was licking his fingers and spoon to make sure he got every bit of sugary goodness.

Josh was too distracted by his new cool Star Wars figurines to even touch his cake.

It was such a successful birthday. Today they've been wanting to watch Star Wars all day, and play with Josh's new figures and light saber. I've been hearing things like "I'm going to save you princess Leia," "kill the bad guys," "use the force Luke," and lots of shooting guns, all morning. Jarod is excited that his boys are getting old enough to enjoy this kind of play. Now we're just waiting for them to be ready for Transformers!

Preschool Graduation

Preschool graduation was a little anti-climactic for us, considering Carly isn't starting kindergarten in the fall. She misses the cut off by a little over a month, which means she'll be one of the older kids when she does start, and I think that's best. We haven't decided what we'll do for preschool next year, since most of the kids in the co-op group are starting kindergarten in the fall. We'll just cross that bridge when we come to it.

Here are some pictures from our graduation ceremony. The mom in charge did a really fabulous job. The moms/teachers each got a thank you card that had a picture of the kids spelling out "thanks" with their bodies, and the kids all got a diploma with a picture of the class on the front. It was so creative and well done.(L-R) Decker, Nathan, Asher, Carly, Savannah, Emily

I just love this girl. See how she humors me with a picture?

Melissa also made a banner of what the kids learned in each month. I was wowed.

Yea preschool graduating class of 2009!!