They're back....again.

Picked the kids up yesterday.

Well, not all of them. They were in Houston last week and Kirsten decided to stay a little longer.


Guess she doesn't miss me yet.


Is this what I can expect from the teenage years?


I don't know whether to be hurt that she didn't want to come home yet or not. I guess I'll choose not.


We saw this when we were almost home.



But we didn't see any rain. Go figure.

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday Dax!!!


Dax turns 39 today!!



For the first time.


We closed the office for the day so that he could do this with friends.



Although he did a lot of this.




And we saw a lot of these.




I made a cake for Dax -- from scratch even. It certainly wasn't the prettiest cake I ever made. (But it wasn't the ugliest either.)



But it was good.




We spent most of the day just doing whatever we wanted to. The kids are in Houston with their grandparents so we were free to just do whatever. It was a nice and relaxing day and I hope he enjoyed it.

Love you babe!!

Oh, by the way, here's the ugliest cake I ever made.

Passed the class

On Tuesday I went and took the class required to get a concealed carry license. It starts with a shooting portion and then moves on to the classroom part. Here's the silhouette that I brought home to show Dax.





You may notice that they're all pretty good shots - if I do say so myself. :0)



Well, Dax didn't buy it for a minute. It's not the silhouette that I shot, it's actually a practice target that the teacher (who is a friend that's also named Dax - if you can believe that) had shot and saved for me just to take home for the sole purpose of giving Dax a hard time. It's good to have friends. lol



I did pass in case you're wondering.



In other news, I sat in traffic for 20 minutes on the way into work this morning. (I live in a small town and drive to an only slightly bigger town so traffic is not EVER a problem.) This was why.






Someone's truck caught on fire. It burned really hot, the tires were melted off. They were pulling a trailer with a truck on it too. Fortunately the fire didn't spread back to the trailer. It was a really big deal, there were about 8 police cars and the two fire trucks. I'm sure they needed the two fire trucks just for the water in them but I'm not so sure why they needed 8 police cars. Most of us were there waiting in traffic before the fire trucks even got there. Scary stuff!


It's really lucky, though--I'm sure they don't think so--that none of the grass around it caught on fire. It's so dry here that a grass fire could have gotten out of control in a big hurry.

Animal party

We had a couple of parties at our house over the weekend. Wyatt had a party for one of his stuffed animals (a second birthday.) Addison helped host the party and none of the rest of the family was invited. Only our stuffed animals were allowed at the party and were returned to us later complete with goodie bags. [I have it on good authority that my little cocker spaniel is being courted by a pig.] The party was complete with freshly made brownies, drinks, and games (pin the head on batman.)

So of course Abigail scheduled a party for one of her stuffed animals. For her party there were white chocolate cream filled red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (this is just proof that if I were to stay home every day the whole family might have a weight problem) handmade party hats for all of her animals, and party games too.

I was invited to this party so was able to snap some pictures.







We were making pinatas for both parties but didn't get them finished in time. (And the mess from those? What was I thinking?!) Hopefully we'll get them finished soon so that I can get the mess cleaned up and they can whack them little bits and pieces.

Fireworks show

We had our own little fireworks show last night.

Preperations:


Boy did it make them mad when I would use the flash!!


Sparklers





Fireworks:







It was fun and we only set the cactus on fire twice. Of course that upset Addison to no end. She kept lecturing Dax about the fireworks and telling him that the police were going to arrest him. She's like an old mother hen.

Happy 3rd of July

It's Market Days here in Wimberley on Saturday so we're celebrating the 4th a day ahead. While I understand this concept for the parade in the morning I am a little lost on the fireworks later tonight. Market Days will be long over by then so it shouldn't be a problem to do them on the 4th. But, as always, nobody asked what I thought about any of it.


I woke the kids up early so they could go to breakfast with Dax & I and we would be in a prime parade viewing location early (which is very unlike us). Addison slept in Wyatt's room and here's what I found when I opened the door to wake them.

She's sleeping on a trunk with a chair pulled close to rest her head in. During breakfast she did tell me that it was an uncomfortable way to sleep and she would never suggest it to anyone. Hmmm. Who would have guessed?

After breakfast we still had about an hour or so to wait until the parade started. The kids were just really wound up and excited about the parade. It was hard to keep them calm until it was under way. See:



Their excitement is sometimes a little overwhelming. I'm sure you can see what I mean.

But, the parade finally got started and it was good. It was pretty big this year. Here are some of the entries. (The cars are for you Dad!)




Unfortunately they weren't throwing steaks, just candy.




This is the float that the Boy Scouts built for their entry into the parade. I'm feeling pretty certain that they won first place for that float. They even had dry ice smoke coming from the back.

He had a sign on his bike that said 'King of Pop' and a boom box playing Michael Jackson songs. This picture doesn't do his sequenced pants justice!

This one was shaped like a jet. Pretty funny.

So there you have it. All of the parade high lights and you didn't even have to sit in the sweltering heat to see it. Aren't you sorry you missed it?

Personal chef

I've waited a long time for this but I've finally gotten my own personal chef. The chef is a young girl named Addison and she even has a 'shoe chef' that accompanies her named Wyatt.


Here are photos of them preparing something fabulous.









Oh yeah, they made burgers.


They actually turned out really well and the kids had fun. Now if I could just get someone to clean the messes.

Didn't fall far from the tree....

It must surely come from their father's side of the family. I'm far to reserved for my children to get this kind of behavior from me.

While in Houston the kids went to a place called Itz. From what I understand it's the same concept as Chuck E Cheese but designed for kids a little older. Two of them put their tickets together to pick out prizes. They did get some lovely gifts though, just look:










Betcha want one, don't you?




So, if they're misbehaving or acting really dumb can I tell them to get their heads out of that chicken's @$$?




Just wondering.




Really, that's not the kind of thing I would ever say to them.




Even if their actions sometimes warrant it.




No, really, they're great kids and should only be wearing a halo above their heads.




Okay, maybe not a halo, but certainly not a chicken either.

They're Baaacccckk!

I went on Saturday to pick the kids up. They had a great time with their grandparents but I think they're glad to be home. I give them a couple of weeks and they'll be bored and ready to go do something again. :0)


Dax's mom took them to have pictures made and they came out really cute. Here's a group shot:





It's good to have them home. Especially since Addison and Wyatt have assured me that they'll be spending the whole day cleaning their rooms and the house. I should have nothing to worry with when I'll get home, at least that's what they told me last night.



Any one want to bet on how long this will last?




I didn't think so.



But, I can't wait to get home to see ALL that they've done. I'll be able to just breeze in and sit on the couch and eat bon bons while I watch movies because everything will be taken care of. Right? Well, except they've already asked to be excused from having to clean anything outside, oh, and the litter box, and under their beds, and whatever else they can think of. Then again, if they clean anything I'll be thrilled.


Update: Addison called me when I was on my way home yesterday to tell me that she and Wyatt have changed their minds....they don't want a dog and therefore won't need to do the whole 'being responsible' thing. They cleaned out the bookshelf with the kids' books in it and told me that they had swept and cleaned Addison's room. I could really only tell that the bookshelf had been cleaned but I'm good with any sign of progress. Just so you know, I would have lost any betting on this because I would have at least given them 2 or 3 days before they caved. I would have never guessed that they wouldn't even make it through one day. Sheesh!

Unexpected guests...

On Sunday we went to Austin for the afternoon. When we got home we found some unexpected guests hanging out in our yard.






How cute is that?

They of course ran off into 'The Black Forest of Doom'. (That's what the kids call the area up front where the brush has not been cleared.)

Then a little later the baby came back out into the yard and got pretty close to the house.



I'm a little nervous about what will happen when the dog returns from her summer visit with Grandma. Hope she'll leave the little deer alone.