Rodeo Days Are Here

The Houston Rodeo has begun. So, today was Go Texan Day at Preschool for Holland. Yee haw.

Holland's cowboy hat is a couple quarts shy of a 10 gallon.

"DRAW!"

When Did Heaven Open Up And Drop This Down?

So, I'm in Starbucks last week, and I found the most wonderful thing. It's a Tall Skinny Caramel Mocha. Now, any beverage, hot or cold, that begins with the words, "tall" and "skinny" should be given a chance, on principle alone. And I did try it. And let me just say to my new love, Tall Skinny Caramel Mocha....you had me at hello......you had me at hello.

Rockets Vs The Bulls

As a part of Grey's basketball season, 2nd Baptist had "Rockets Night". We got discounted tickets. Since the whole family went, we opted for the most discounted tickets yes, they were the cheap seats. Basically we sat in the rafters with the banners. After the game, we got the opportunity to go on the Rockets court and shoot a free throw. We had so much fun! I think Grey and Holland liked it, too.

Grey compares his wingspan to Yao Ming's.

Holland is unimpressed with Yao Ming. I mean, really, he doesn't dance or sing or do anything she likes.

Grey tests his reflexes.

The love of popcorn can make any event fun and tasty.

A nice view of the court.......with my zoom lens.

A more realistic view of the court from our seats.

Grey's free throw shot on the court after the game. Lots of suited up security guys.

My free throw shot. It almost went in. Look at the security guys' faces; they're thinking it might go in. I believe I owe my almost free throw basket to the previous Friday when our playgroup met at Chuck E Cheese and my friend Liz and I played the basketball game until our arms were numb.

Mac's shot rung in, but then rung out. So close.

Holland is once again unimpressed with this special moment.

Picture Day

Today was picture day at Holland's PreK. So, we took some warm up shots to get her in the mood. I wish we had done that for Grey because his class picture is well....pretty awful. He said the photographer took it before he was ready, although the 19 other kids and teacher were ready. I'd post it, but Grey would get mad. It's punishment enought that it will go in the annual. Lesson learned for next year: Pay attention. Every picture must be a dramatic pose.

She wanted to turn the camera on me. I tried to give my best "Holland Pose". Yeah, it's much cuter on her.

Support Your Local Girl Scout Troop(s)

See, we did our part.

All we need now is a cow.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, we made the Valentine's circuit. It started on Wednesday for Holland in her dance class. Basically, we had to hitchhike to get to her class, because on Tuesday, she and I got in the truck to run an errand when I saw that the ABS light was on. Now, that means that the anti-lock brakes are disabled which is not a immediate problem unless the brake light is on, too. Did I mention Mac was out of town? So, naturally both lights were on. I recalled all I knew about brakes so I could make an informed decision about what to do... aka I consulted the manual. Basically, it said that if both lights are on then (a) the brake fluid is low and has triggered the light to come on or (b) the brakes are going to go out causing you to drive off a cliff and die in a fiery crash at the bottom of a mountain. At least that was my interpretation. Anywho, it took the rest of Tuesday and Wednesday morning to replace front and rear brakes and some other work I needed to get checked out. So, let me take a moment to thank my friends who let us "bum a ride" and didn't make me chip in for gas. Thanks Liz and Sheri!

Holland exchanging valentines at dance with Ashlyn.

Party #2, no, wait Party #3 (I forgot she had an Awana Valentine's party.) Here she is with her good friend, Faith. We give her coffee to keep her going at all the parties. That was a joke.

The Valentine craft was painting a mini flower pot. Oh, how I held my breath as she painted in her new white pants. That paintbrush is much too close for comfort.

Each enjoying their Valentine bounty.

That bounty included 4-5 Fun Dips which for those who don't know is basically colored sugar eaten by licking a candy stick and dipping it in the sugar. It's one step above the pixie stick which is pretty much the equivalent of crack for kids. It doesn't bother with the pretense of the candy stick; you just pour the pure sugar directly down your throat. Soooo the Fun Dips will mysteriously disappear along with a couple of pieces of chocolate. Hey, I think I've earned a mini snickers or two.

A Gallon Of Unleaded Paint, Please...

So, when we moved into our house almost 2.5 years ago, we made a list of things we wanted to do and buy for the house. The list was quite lengthy especially since when we moved in, all we had downstairs was a TV and a rocking chair, (we put our older sofa, chair, and recliner in the game room.) In our time here, we have made progress in checking items off the list. I know the neighbors appreciate the blinds.
Anyway, on down the list was painting. All our walls, except for our room and the office (they were already painted by the builder) are the color sand, not the pretty white like the Alabama gulf coast beaches or the brown oil-tinged beaches of Galveston, but somewhere in between. We definitely need some color. Plus, several of our friends have either just built a house or remodeled a home, or just painted 'cause they wanted something new. They all picked colors that look good which is somewhat of an issue for us. We have trouble choosing colors. I just don't have the vision. I can't tell from a 2in x 2in card of a paint color how it's going to look married to my living room wall.
So, we went to Lowes to get some paint samples to try on the wall so we could sort of date a color before we commit. Quick paint selection tip: leave children in truck. We occasionally asked Grey what he thought about a color, that is until he said one of the colors we liked look like diarrhea. Well, that word just sent Holland into a fit of laughter. Grey, never one to walk away from an audience, proceeded to tell us again how much the color resembled diarrhea. So then Holland breaks into "Diarrhea, the Musical", complete with original song and dance. And that was when we decided it was time to take our samples and go home. Have we decided on a color, yet? Nothing, for sure, but we do have our eye on Winter Delta. She could be the one.
But, hey, if you're in Lowes and hear a showtune about diarrhea, please stop by the paint counter and say hello.

Playgroup Goes 2 Stories High

Last month, our church had the grand opening of the new children's building, giving our existing kid base room to move around and still leaving room for even more kids to be a part of our children's ministry which rocks, for lack of a better word.
Part of what they added was an indoor playground. With the heat, the sun, and endless rain we get, it gives the kids year-round access to burn off the endless energy they possess. It is huge! It has a 2 story spiral slide that had me screaming all the way down, because naturally, I wanted to try out the slide.....to make sure it was safe. And it is, if you are a kid. Adults, not so much.
What's also great is that it is open different times during the week so we have been able to bring the kids up for a climate-controlled playgroup that doesn't involve pizza, a giant mouse, and an endless supply of tokens. (still lov' ya, Chuckee.)

You just never know what is going to pop out at the end of the slide.

Furniture, anyone?

The Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus Mania

Oh yeah, we have totally joined the ranks of the Hannah Montana Fan Club. (3 out of the 6 Cds in my truck cd player are Hannah Montana.) And in true Disney fashion, they have put Hannah Montana on any available product. Clothes, dolls, watches, pencils, bandaids, and so on . But Holland flipped when she saw the Hannah Montana wig. And well, we had to have it.
We also went to the Hannah Montana Meets Miley Cyrus Concert Movie in 3D. This actually sold out in The Woodlands in 12 minutes. We are able to get in our theatre, granted before the schools got out. I wasn't prepared for the sticker shock, though. The tickets were $15 apiece! For that price I thought H.M. should show up in our theatre with popcorn and a box of Milkduds for both of us.

I just can't figure out where the need to dress up like her favorite performer and sing and dance the night away comes from......................

Oh, never mind, I figured it out.

Bridgefest 2008

Every year our YMCA hosts Bridgefest. It's basically a race to raise money. I'm sure there's a lot more depth to it than that, but you get the gist. Anyway, Grey's new PE teacher really pushed and promoted it for his school, even offering a pizza party if they had the most school participation and also the run would count toward their total miles run at school. Because, people, they run in his PE class, at least a mile every chance they get outside. So Grey was pretty pumped up about running the mile with the other 7-10 year olds in Bridgefest. My biggest fear was that I or Mac was going to have to run with him. We don't run. In fact, if you see us either one of us running, call the law, 'cause somebody is chasing us. Turns out, Grey didn't need us. Calling all the "sharks" from his school. (The shark is their mascot.)

Ready to go.

He did great for his first race. His time for the mile was 8 minutes and 20 seconds.

Now they actually had a 1/2 mile race for Holland's age group, but she was home with Mac and still asleep after we got back from the race.

And then there's the obvious: Holland + running = Not happening.

When Mac's Away......

Mac headed off to Las Vegas last Saturday for a week. He went for Furniture Market or maybe he was booking a Elvis impersonator show. He did come home with a new pair of gold Elvis glasses. And generally what happens when Mac leaves town, somebody goes down. This time it was Grey. About 10:45 Sunday night, Grey comes down and wakes me up. And I was in deep sleep. In fact, I had already had a dream and woken up confused and disoriented as I so often do. (Welcome to the world of my sleep issues.) So I was out of it. But anyway, Grey let me know that he had thrown up.....in his bed, excuse me, all over his bed. Several pillows were casualties. They were buried immediately. Oh, people, the mess. I will spare you the details. I only wish I had been spared. The 2nd time he threw up, (oh, did I forget to mention he threw up more than once?) he made just inside the doorway of the bathroom. Third time, however, is the charm. He made it to the porcelain bus for that one.
Was it the flu? He had the high fever and more vomiting so I'm inclined to think so. I didn't take him to the doctor, which it turns out they were out of flu tests anyway. I got that info from my friend who had 4 out of 6 family members get the flu. I'm thinking maybe getting the flu shot helped Grey get over it faster, because by Tuesday afternoon he was a lot better. Thank goodness. And fear not, the upstairs had been hosed down with Lysol....several times. It is now safe to come over.