BBQ and babes

We had a BBQ with our friends, the Davis', on Saturday and Rich made me take pictures of him smoking. He smoked 2 chickens and some pork ribs. The chickens turned out great. They were so good that the kids snacked on chicken all night. The ribs were good too, but a little dry. Rich is going to baste them next time. He is really into this smoking thing. I guess he just needed to find something to replace his cigarettes.









Hunter really wants to learn how to play Settlers of Catan. I think Rich told you the story with the wheat thins. Hunter bugs Rich every night to show him how to play. Rich decided to start teaching him about all the pieces and what they mean and what they do. I think we might look at the kid version and see if it's something Hunter can do. He's such a funny boy.

I took Hunter and Elizabeth to the Dr. today for their yearly checkup. They needed to get their hearing and vision tested before they start preschool and they needed to get some shots too.

The vision test was pretty funny because they had some weird shapes on the chart, like a teacup and a hand. I was kind of worried because they weren't getting any of them. After the nurse took them over to the chart and talked to them about the shapes they did fine. The nurse said they did better than most kids.

The hearing test was funny too. They use a machine that looks kind of like an ear thermometer. When the kids hear a beep they're supposed to raise their hand. Lizzie was funny because she would say "I heard that one" when she heard the beep. At first Hunter didn't want to play "the stupid beep beep game" but then he played the game and he actually raised his hand.

The funniest part was after the shots. They both of course cried and were offended that I would allow someone to hurt them in such a horrid manner. They got to pick a toy and a candy and that made them feel a little better, but Hunter told the Dr. that he needed crutches and then decided that crutches wouldn't do it and he needed a wheelchair.

I finally cut Anna's hair last night. It was getting so long and always in the way. It's still way cute and she still has her cute little blond curls. I should take a picture.

I thought that we would get though this without much ado, but our sweet little Anna has caught a case of the terrible two's. She is so whinny and she likes to hit her brother and sister (they probably deserve it) and I probably shouldn't tell this story because now everyone will know that Rich and I, on occasion and when provoked, will utter profanity. (I know you're all shocked and amazed that 2 saintly people such as Rich and I would do such a thing) On Saturday Lizzie and Anna were playing on the stairs and all of a suddenly Anna let's out with a "Damn it!" and she hit the stairs and dramatically drops her head down. Rich and I both looked at each other and Rich asked her what she said. With a ton of attitude she said, "A Wizzie make me mad again". I never figured out what Lizzie did, but I guess she'd finally pushed Anna over the edge and I guess we'll have to keep our language in check.

Oh Children!!!!!!

Lovely Sunday evening

We had such a nice night last night.

Our real estate agent had a party at the clubhouse in her development last night. The Clubhouse was nice with the swimming pool behind it and a play ground behind the pool. There was tons of food at the party and a jump house too. Hunter and Elizabeth spent most of the time jumping. Anna isn't quite brave enough for the jump house yet.

When the kids had enough of the jumping I went and got them each a drink. As I was walking back to them Lizzie pipes up with "Mom, I need some liquid". I gave her a cup and she said, "This liquid tastes like orange juice". I have no idea why she decided to use the term "liquid" or where she heard it, probably from Rich.

We walked over and let the kids play on the playground for a while and then we noticed a paved walking trail that went over a little creek. We walked over and looked off the bridge and then walked along the little creek. There were hundreds of minnows in the creek and the kids got a kick out of them. We followed the trail for a bit and then walked back down to the creek. I was with Hunter and Elizabeth and they had a cute little conversation. Lizzie saw a tree and said, "Hey, that's bamboo". (It wasn't bamboo) Hunter said, "Oh, pandas live in bamboo". Lizzie replied, "We must be in China". I guess I missed the day in geography when we learned that China was really close to Murphy, TX.

Anyway, the weather was super nice and we really enjoyed our little walk and the chance to spend a little bit of time together as a family. We've decided that we should use the walking trails in our development that follow the same little creek (I think) more often.

We're back

Well, we made it home. We left California at 6:30 am on Sunday and got in our house at 3:00 Sunday afternoon. It was a long trip made longer because neither Rich or I got any sleep the night before.

I don't know if Rich told you that my mom had her knee replaced. The surgery went great and her recovery is progressing on schedule. It was pretty painful, but it gets better everyday. At this point she's not sure she wants to have the other knee replaced, but my guess is that opinion will change in a few weeks when she can walk better.

The kids were great while we were away. Anna got sick the night before my mom's surgery and ran a fever for about a week, so she was a little cranky. Hunter and Elizabeth just loved having lots of people to play with. And they of course kept everyone laughing with their antics. My niece, Emily, and her boyfriend, Matt, took Hunter and Elizabeth to Matt's cousin's birthday party. Apparently they had a jump house with a slip and slide attached. The kids had a great time and love Emily and Matt. They had to laugh at Hunter when the we're in the car. The kids were quiet and all of a sudden Hunter says "Look Beth, Fords". They'd passed a Ford dealership and Hunter got excited.

The kids are upstairs right now throwing a birthday party for Hunter's match box car named Sporty. I'm amazed by their little imaginations and the things they come up.

Holly and the kids are in California

This is Rich. I'm not much for blogs, unless they deal with boring legal ethics issues, or possibly fantasy sports. But since Holly is in California with the kids, I didn't want anybody wondering what was going on. Even though the kids won't talk to me (I'll remember that when they want cars when they get older), Holly's been giving me regular updates.

Everyone should know that I'm pretty addicted to Settlers of Catan. Holly's pretty into it as well, but she's not as good as I am (its not arrogance if I state a fact, is it? I have issues with humility, my profession frowns upon it). We've been playing Cities and Knights pretty regularly, and Hunter is absolutely fascinated by it. He always wants to play, but since I always want to win, he gets nothing but non-committal grunts about "when you're older" from me. Still, he complains enough that usually I let him pull up a chair and watch, and he must be picking up bits and pieces, which leads to today's story. Holly gave the kids some hexagon-shaped wheat thins as a snack, and apparently Hunter immediately associated the shape with the game. So he asked Holly's brother (Terry or Jeff, I can't remember which), if he ever "plays this game" as he holds up the wheat thins. Holly's brother was perplexed by the question (Hunter gets that a lot), until Hunter started laying out a Settlers board using the hexagon-shaped wheat thins as tiles. I really got a kick out of that. I guess I'll have to teach him how to play, but I won't let him win. You've got to earn your victory when you play me. The sooner that boy learns that, the better. I'm fairly certain I'll not be nominated for Parent of the Year this year, but I'll survive.

I see that Holly hasn't mentioned it in any of her posts, but let me tell you that Texas is HOT. Its been over a hundred degrees the last couple of days, and we're supposed to hit 106 for the next two days (can't wait to put on a suit in that heat). It was 63 degrees in Oakland when I flew back to Texas last Sunday, but it was 105 in Austin when I landed. That heat will hit you like a ton of bricks when you're not used to it. I am no longer fond of lawn work due to this heat.

One other thing that I should tell y'all about (I'm becoming a local. I pepper my speech with "y'all" and "fixin'" ta"). They don't wear boots and hats in Dallas. I consider that false advertising, and perhaps a breech of contract. One of the reasons I took this job was so I could wear boots and a Stetson with my suit at work. They don't go for that in Dallas. Maybe Houston, certainly the sticks of West Texas, and most assuredly in Oklahoma, but not Dallas. I guess we're too civilized here. Whatever. Give me another year of building a stellar reputation at the firm, and I'll be sporting some American gator skin boots to the office. And yes, in case y'all are wondering, my neck is beet-red.

More funny things

The kids came through again today with some more funny saying. Just thought I'd share.

Lizzie was looking through some toy binoculars today and she would say "Look a shoe. I need to capture this on film".

I like to watch this show on Style Network called Clean House. The show is about people who are pack rats and have filthy, cluttered houses. The kids watch it with me and I tell them that we pick up toys and clean the house everyday so our house doesn't look like those houses. We were watching it today and Hunter had his little stuffed lion with him. Hunter said " Lion really likes this dirty show". I hope he doesn't tells anyone how mom likes to watch that dirty show.

As I mentioned a few days ago, I'm potty training Anna. She's doing a great job and I praise her every time she uses the potty. Today she went to the bathroom and as she reached for the toilet paper (if I don't watch her she'll unroll the whole thing) she said, "Aw, peeing is cute". And I have to admit that she is pretty darn cute when she does.

Hope you get a kick out of these.

Funny kids

Just thought I'd tell you about the funny things the kids did and said the last couple of days.

We picked Hunter and Lizzie up from their Sunbeam class at church yesterday and they told us that they learned about temples. Hunter had a great picture that he'd colored and proudly told us that it was a picture of a goat going to the temple. Not sure if he just didn't listen to the lesson or if that's some deep doctrinal insight. I do know that it's definitely a piece of art we'll keep.

Somehow, at dinner, Anna ended up sitting in her booster seat with a toy that plays the ABC song. I took it away from her so we wouldn't be forced to listen to it all through dinner and that of course made her mad. She started to cry and pushed her plate away saying, "I don't want it". She repeated this phrase a few times and then switched to "I don't want it. It's not nummy". By the time the other kids finished their dinner, Anna had decided that she did want her dinner and that it was nummy and that is was fun to make a mess with mashed potatoes.

We headed out to Walmart tonight and on the way Rich told the kids that no kids were aloud to sleep in our bed tonight. Lizzie was of course offended that she would be banished from some place and asked Rich why. He told her that she pushed him off the bed last night. She said "Oh, I'm sorry Dad, I didn't know you were there. Do you still love me?".

Just an interesting side note. We saw a turkey in our front yard when we left the house tonight. A welcomed difference from the usual cottontails that we see all over. The kids bug us all the time about how they want a bunny. We finally told them that if they could catch one they could keep it. I think they've given up.

After reading these stories none of them are really as funny in writing as they were in person. Hope you like them anyway.

Cute little Anna

I just wanted to post this cute picture of Anna. She fell asleep on the living room floor today with a pair of sunglasses on. Her napping habits are quite funny. I can't lay her down or rock her to sleep. When she gets tired she just finds a quiet spot and lays down and goes to sleep.

Her big news is that she is well on her way to being potty trained. We started yesterday morning with a couple of accidents but by the afternoon she was doing pretty well. She wore panties all day today, even on our trip to Walmart, and didn't have any accidents. Is it possible that we could be a diaper free household soon?

She just likes being a big kid. When we go swimming she wears swimmies (those little inflatable things that go on the arms). She thinks she can swim and doesn't like me to hold on to her in the pool. We went swimming last night and she was holding on to my hands and then jumping in. I finally convinced Lizzie that she could just jump in without me catching her and once she started doing that Anna had to follow suit. She floats in the pool and kicks her little legs and eventually she gets somewhere.

She loves animals especially Littlest Pet Shop ones and when she sees a baby animal she says in a really high pitched, squeaky voice "Ah, it's so cute". She's just a good kid and we are so glad that she is a part of our family.