Cruel Summer

Not really, but when you factor in the heat and humidity and "exceptional" drought we here in Houston are experiencing, it seems slightly cruel for our first summer here. Seriously! The heat index (which is like the wind chill factor for those of us used to cruel winters) gets up to 108 and higher! A few weeks ago Andy, Zane and I got a cold (how do you get a cold when it is so hot?) and all you had to do to decongest your nose was step outside for five or ten minutes. Pardon my vulgarity, but after the short time outside, the snot just poured out of Zane's nose! I am not kidding! Of course after five or ten minutes spent outside not in a swimming pool, you suffer heat exhaustion so then you must choose between being able to breathe or being cool.

Enough of that! We have had good times despite Mother Nature doing her job. We have been to the beach a few times and just love it! Galveston's beaches are not beautiful like Hawaii or Florida, but they are still fun! The boys loved jumping the waves and building sand castles. We saw jelly fish one time. That was interesting, but a little nerve wracking.


Tucker finally wins!


Zane enjoying the brown waters of the beach

We also went to Jedi Training camp. Yes, yes I know. The Jedi lived a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but some of them are still around and taught an auditorium at the Space Center full of boys and their fathers (and us few lucky moms) the ways of the force. Each of them got a little blown up light saber so they also learned some fancy maneuvers.



We got to meet people like Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers, R2-D2, Boba Fett and my personal favorite: the Tough Lady. I don't know her name, but she is in some of the new movies and Derek and Tucker call her the Tough Lady. They even dress up like her by putting their pants on their head and waving around a light saber.


The Tough Lady

We also celebrated Derek and Tucker's birthdays. Derek is now six and Tucker is four. We had fun with them and can't believe our kids are actually growing up. Just think in five years how much our family will change! Crazy!


Derek as Anakin Skywalker


Tucker playing with his new Soccer Guys

Now we are getting ready to move to a house. We have lived in an apartment since we got here and lets just say we are very excited to be moving to a house. If Patch knew what awaited her (a yard and much easier access to take her for a walk) she would be in the car waiting. We still have until the end of this month, but who's counting?

Houston Zoo Trip

This picture is misleading. Tucker looks rather grumpy here, but in fact everyone had a great time! Yes, it was hot. Yes, it was sticky. Yes, we were drenched in sweat! Despite all of this, everyone enjoyed seeing all the animals. Tucker and Derek walked that whole zoo and still found energy for the playground at the end!



This orangutan was posing so perfectly for this picture. He just fit right into our family. Once we got up and someone else came for a picture, he turned his head and sauntered away.



Zane was ruthless at the petting zoo! We knew he loved cats and dogs, but he truly enjoyed the petting zoo more than any other exhibit! When he was in the stroller, he calmly looked at the exhibits and "oo"-ed and "aw"-ed at the proper intervals. When he got out though, he took a much more vocal and energetic response. He ran after a poor unsuspecting bird trying to "pet" it. Zane's way of petting involved arms outstretched, waving wildly back and forth with fists ready to grab a big handful of fur (or feathers in the bird's case). So, the petting zoo was perfect!
The only animals in the petting zoo were goats who were very calm and used to the turbulent kind of TLC young children provide. Zane was no exception. He was pleased as punch to have that kind of freedom and ability to run around petting every animal inside the fence. Only after Zane thrashed the goats around a bit did Derek and Tucker take a shy little pat.



Not only was the zoo cool, but our zoo experience was amazing. The animals were more active and visible than most other times I have seen them. Maybe it was the heat and humidity. Anyway, this is a cheetah that was pacing and came so close that Derek timidly backed away without realizing he was doing it! Below is a lioness. At the lion exhibit, you can walk to an underground tunnel to see them on a more "personal" level. There she was, right by the window! The male lion was there, but let's just say that he was in an awkward position that did not promote picture taking!






The aquarium was really neat. You could crawl through a tunnel to be "with" the fish. Zane and Tucker needed a lot of provoking to get through the tunnel. Good thing I didn't get stuck!




Thank you to the Houston Zoo for providing us with a fun and memorable afternoon!

Pig Party

So, the swine flu is all around us. So to ward off any bad karma or ill-will, we had a pig party! We ate Piggies in a Blanket (sausages instead of hot dogs because my kids aren't too fond of hot dogs), corn on the cob, and "slop" (salsa and chips - I wasn't very creative on that part). For dessert, Tucker and I made a Mud Pie - chocolate pudding with cookie chunks. Then we played "Pin the Snout on the Pig." Zane didn't like the blindfold. Next we played "Pig in a Basket" - throwing a pig puppet into a laundry basket at various points in the room. It started as P-I-G, like H-O-R-S-E in basketball, but Tucker already spelled PIG with his first four throws (He made one of them). In all fairness, we let the PIG thing drop and just shot baskets.



Zane enjoys the slam dunk.



Tucker likes to show off for Zane. Note the cars all over the floor. Our floor always looks like this.



Derek enjoys the dramatic wind up. He made this shot, by the way.

Last, we blew up pink balloons and had fun with them. We were going to watch a movie like, "Babe" or "Charlotte's Web" but it was a school night and they were having too much fun with the games. So, if you are stuck at home because of the swine flu, don't fret, just have a party!

P.S. Don't forget to wash your hands!

Texas Two-Step

Yes folks, we are back in Texas! After a whirlwind month of deliberation and packing and confusion, we are back. Andy was offered a job in Sugar Land which is twenty miles outside of Houston. So, after prayerful consideration, we felt that moving here was the right decision. That doesn't mean that it was easy. Andy is still in school and had to study and write reports amidst all the packing and planning. Not only is moving across the country difficult, but his new employer wanted him there on April 13th, which meant we had three weeks to get there! We told our friends and everything that we were leaving and they would ask when and we would say, "Friday is our last day!" It was very sudden. We considered having just Andy go down for a while, but it wasn't that cost effective and we would miss him WAY too much! So, here we are!

The drive was long. We made it in three days and spent two nights in a hotel.



A HUGE thank you to my parents who helped us drive across the country with three kids, a dog and a large U-Haul with a car transport attatched.



This was the view for three days for my mom and me in the van. The truck always tilted to the right a little and scared us. We thought it might tip over if a turn was taken too sharply.




Zane had the hardest time, of course. I believe that toddlers have to take a certain amount of steps each day before they can go to bed. If the requirement is not met, then mom and baby stay up until the remaining steps are taken. They also have to be held for an undetermined amount of time before bedtime can take place. Needless to say, Zane did not meet any of those requirements for a stretch of time and is now finally "catching up" on his daily steps.



Tucker did amazingly well. He rode in the U-haul a few times and overall, did excellent- THANK YOU TUCKER!



Derek also did great, but did not fall asleep once the whole way down there! He would start looking very glazed, but never gave in to the lulling temptation of sleep! He would also have a hard time settling down for bed. He doesn't want to miss a thing!



The end of one chapter, the start of another! I hope and pray our house in Cortez sells SOON SOON SOON! I know it is a horrible time to be selling a house, but we felt so strongly about moving away from Cortez, I know we did the right thing. I just hope that it sells soon!

Andy the Hoop Star

Many of you have heard of the Harlem Globe-trotters where they do all kinds of funny and crazy tricks with the basketball and its hoop. However, there is another team called the Harlem Ambassadors that does the same kind of game, but on a small town kind of level (if you get my drift). Anyway, they came to Cortez last week and Andy was asked to participate as a team member to play against them. They named themselves the "Montezuma Mavericks." Montezuma is the name of our county. Anyway, all sorts of people from the community were asked to play on this team including the mayor of Cortez who is about four feet tall - seriously! The Ambassador team members joked around alot with everybody including my dear husband!



There are only five players on the Ambassadors and one of them is a chick! She "knocked" Andy down as seen in the picture.



Of course after that, he was entitled to shoot two free throws, but not before they "checked him out" and tried to make him mess up his free throw. He played along well and even made the shots!



Before the game, the Ambassadors told the Mavericks to play hard, even though all these funny things would happen. So Andy played hard, and is seen here out dribbling the Ambassador! The crowd was wild because Andy was keeping the ball away from this Ambassador and the guy was getting frustrated!



He made a few shots and had a lot of fun! I am glad we got to go and watch him play. The boys thought it was great fun to see their dad in the limelight! We love you, Daddy!

Predicting the Future

If I were to predict the future occupations of my three children, it would go like this:



Derek is fast at everything: running, eating, growing, etc. He loves being the first one done at dinner or the first one to get dressed in the morning (bedtime is a whole other story, of course). Derek has a competitive spirit that he gets from his dad and his mom. Making friends usually comes easy for him, unless he is in an uncomfortable or new situation. At the park he finds new friends easily and just wants to spend his whole day playing pretend things. His fascination for cars started mere months after birth. He made the "car" sounds at nine months old (My friend Diane calls it "spit power"). All this taken into consideration, Derek would love to be part of NASCAR in some way. But realistically, he could work as a P.E. Teacher on some level. He loves teaching me how to do tricks on my bike. Things like riding with no feet, wheelies, starting and stopping in silly ways are some of my latest aquisitions. He loves sports and activity and competion. Another possible endeavor for Derek could be advertising. He has an uncanny ability to convince you of anything. Convince you that it really wouldn't be that bad to have another cookie (I ate some healthly food and I rode my bike for a long time today). Convince you that the fire alarm is what causes the fires (I think if we got rid of it, I could go to sleep because I wouldn't be scared of it going off and waking up to a fire- my response: "GO BACK TO BED, DEREK!") Back to the advertising bit, he could not only convince clients to advertise through his company, he could convince customers to buy their product.



Tucker is really funny once he warms up to you. He also LOVES music and books. Tucker also exhibits strong feelings for when he feels he has been treated unjustly (I didn't do it, Mommy). He ALWAYS makes sure that everyone gets a turn because then he is certain to get a turn for himself. He harbors resentment to those who are mean to him for no reason (one kid in particular at school who has hit him several times has the label of "monster," "scary guy" and "mean kid." Tucker can only take so much and then one day I just know he will turn around and slug this kid. Someday this will happen (it has happened on more than one occasion to Derek). So, Tucker is not serious enough to be a judge and too unsure of himself to be a police officer, but he would do well as social services worker. He would help those in need (he is always sharing bananas and toys with Zane) and put others in their place who are being mean. He also would love a position in the NASCAR industry, but realistically, he could also be an occupational therapist because he can be patient and kind with other people. He gets lost in his play and can spend a long time playing alone on one thing. This could prove helpful in this industry.



Zane is very young still, but I will predict possible occupations for him anyway. Again, any car job would work since his love for cars began in the womb (the boys would drive cars over my belly). Zane also has a very loud voice and loves music. The theater or opera could be fun, but requires late hours which Zane might not enjoy (he gets grouchy when he doesn't get enough sleep). The volume might be effective as an auctioneer. Zane is very jolly and loves to laugh. He also enjoys eating. He could be a restaurant critic. When he doesn't like the food, he can throw it off the plate or bring a dog and feed it to the dog. If the food stays on his plate or is consummed, that could be considered a good review.

Well, time will tell! I will keep you posted (assuming Blogger is still around then). When asked, they both want to be police officers or firemen. Zane said, "AHHHHHHHH!" very loudly.

Super Bowl & Valentine Boxes

Nana and Grandpa came down to enjoy the Super Bowl with us. We had a great time and loved the 3-D part! The Saturday before, everyone but me and Zane played golf down in Farmington, NM where the course was very brown but open for business. The boys LOVED playing with Nana and Grandpa and came home very tired. (Thank goodness!)



As I mentioned before, Zane and I didn't go golfing. Some crazy rule about "no one-year-olds on the course." Anyway, so Zane decided that having muscles might make him look older than one so next time he can go golfing with his grandparents. I personally think he doesn't look older, but looks pretty funny!



Just yesterday, Derek came home with the all-important assignment of creating his "Valentine Box." The next morning he approaches me and says,
"Mom, I know what I want to do with my box and I know how to do it, too."
"Oh?" I say. "What's that?"
"I want it to be an alligator and his mouth opens and shuts and you put the valentines in his mouth!"
"How did you come up with that?"
"I had a dream about it!"
And that dream was apparently a good one, because I think his alligator box turned out fabulous!


Tucker must have thought so too, because he decided to make a shark one. We made fins and flippers that you can't see in the pictures.



This picture is a little better so you get the full effect.

The countdown to NASCAR continues. Thank you all for your sympathy. I told Andy that since last weekend we watched the Super Bowl and on Feb. 15th we will watch NASCAR that THIS weekend we are going to watch "Enchanted" because I have never seen it! He is a good man and agreed to it. How many of your husbands enjoyed "Enchanted?" Andy is a little skeptical, so I need evidence that it is not a horribly "girly" movie. (He'll watch it anyway, but I want to save myself from cynical remarks coming from the other side of the couch.) Thanks again. Any other good "chick" movies I might be missing?