Babies!!

It's a good week for babies! This week we added two little bundles of joy to our extended family; a niece and a nephew (this is our first niece, by the way, and I am already itching to buy her some cute little clothes! Why is it that girl clothes are so much cuter than boy clothes?). I cannot wait to get my hands on these babies! Being part of two families is great fun when babies are involved!

On Monday, my sister gave birth to Lucy Rose (6lbs 15 oz, 21 inches long). Isn't she beautiful?

In a lot of the pictures I've seen of Lu-lu, she has her hands on the side of her face like this. It it too cute! I love it!

Then on Thursday, Husband's sister had this little guy (6lbs 9oz, 18.75 inches long)! Hello there, Thales Christopher! I absolutely adore this picture. He looks like he is puckering up for a kiss from his favourite Aunt (that would be me, in case you were wondering!).

Oh man! I can't even stand how cute this picture is!

Let the Seduction begin

Saturday night I received a text message from my sister Margaret, who is very, very great with child and about to pop! The message informed me that she was being admitted to the hospital and they were going to induce her. I quickly phoned her to get the details than asked if there was any of the family I needed to phone for her. She had already talked to our Mom so she asked me to call our brother Joe. When I called Joe to tell him, the conversation went something like this:


Me: Hey just calling to let you know Margaret is being induced tonight.

Joe: Yeah, we know. Mom already called. Ron said they were seducing her. Has she been seduced yet?

Husband: Not yet. They are just buying her drinks right now!



My family cracks me up! My sister is being seduced at the hospital. Classic!

"Your face will stay like that!"

When I was a child, I had this habit of putting my fingers in my mouth and stretching my mouth out, horizontal-like. My mother HATED it when I did that. She would always tell me that if I did that enough times, my face would stay like that. I did it anyway. I don't remember the reasons why I did it. Maybe I thought I was being funny. Maybe I knew it drove my mother crazy. Maybe I just liked stretching out my face. Who knows? Anyway. I will never forget the day I stopped doing it. I was 5 years old, and we were in Nebraska, visiting my grandparents. We were sitting in church when my mother leaned over, and whispered "See that man sitting on the back row?" I turned and looked and saw a man in a light green button-down shirt. Then my mother said "Look at his mouth." His mouth was stretched out, horizontal-like, as if he had his fingers in his mouth and was pulling, but his fingers weren't in his mouth! Then my dear, kind-hearted, sweet mother said to me "If you don't stop pulling your mouth, you are going to end up looking like that man!" It terrified me to think that my mother had been right: My mouth would stay stretched out forever! It had happened to that old man, and it would happen to me. Now, many, many years later, the image of that man is still fresh in my mind. And to this day, I have never stuck my fingers in my mouth to stretch it out. I am still afraid that my face will stay like that.

So, on this Mother's Day, I want to say thanks to my mother for taking an everyday situation and using it to scare the crap out of me in order to get me to stop a habit she hated. That is a gift and a talent, and quite frankly, completely messed up!

A day at the races

Every year, a nearby town holds wiener dog races. This year we met up with some friends to watch the action. Despite their stubby legs, some of those dogs sure can move fast. The most entertaining ones were the dogs that didn't leave the gate or ran in circles! Our old friend Jack the wiener dog (the one we pet-sat in December) ran in one of the races. He came in third, which from what I've been told is his best showing to date. I guess last year, he got about half-way down the "track" and then turned and ran back to the starting gates!

The dogs at the starting gate

Run, doggie! Run!

Here's Jack--the superstar!

They had a petting zoo that had the most adorable baby goat! I want a goat now!

I think this is the fattest chicken I have ever seen!

Here's Jack in his race (with Vance, his owner)

Mystery seeds

On New Year's Eve, husband and I attended a "parade" downtown. I use the term parade loosely as it was more like a bunch of hippies, potheads and environmental crazies walking in groups down the street dressed like hippies, potheads and environmental crazies (The city we live in is for people who belong in Oregon or Vermont but like nicer weather!). One of the groups was encouraging people to beautify their neighbourhoods. They were handing out packages of seeds. I took a couple, brought them home and promptly forgot about them. The other day I was doing a bit of spring cleaning and found the seeds. I decided to plant them. I looked on the package for instructions on how, where and when to plant the seeds, but there were none. Then I noticed that there was no indication as to what type of seeds they were. Hmmm...mystery seeds. I planted them anyway. Three little pots now sit on my balcony, growing the mystery seeds. I have no idea what I planted; I just hope it's nothing illegal!

One down, two more to go!

My brother Ron got home from Peru yesterday (He was on a two year mission for our church)! One of the disadvantages of living so far away is that we were not able to be there to greet him at the airport. Nor will we be able to be there anytime soon to see him. But through the wonderful world of Skype, we were able to chat with him and use web cams to see him! He is thinner, and balder and looks older but he's still Ron! (As a side note he said I looked skinner than I did two years ago! Woo-hoo! He is now my favourite brother! Sorry to my 3 other brothers!) We are so excited to have him home and are now counting down until my sister gets home from her mission to Arizona (on June 23!!). Another brother, Jon, is on a mission in Houston and won't be home for another year, so we won't start that countdown yet.

This is Ron the day he left for his mission.

This is after about 20 months in Peru

Forget Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig or even exercise! I'm moving to Peru to lose some weight!

Out and about

Summers here in Central Texas are hot! Husband and I learned our lesson last year and are spending as much time as we can outside before the heat hits. (Just so you know, spring is pretty hot too. What is considered summer weather in normal land is a typical spring day here). Today we decided to hike to the top of a hill situated in the heart of downtown. It offered us beautiful views of the Colorado River, the city skyline and very, very expensive houses.

The Colorado River and the very, very expensive houses!

Up close and personal with aphids.

These flowers were everywhere on our hike! I think they look like irises so that is what I am calling them. If anyone knows what they are, let me know!

One of the paths we took. Doesn't it look idyllic?

Us!

The city skyline. It looks crooked because I was standing on a very unstable rock when I took this.