Mac n cheese

Scout still hasn't mastered the closed-mouth kiss. She has learned the pucker, and even a kissing sound, but does not employ them appropriately during an actual kiss. She usually comes toward you with a pucker, which proves to be a fake-out, as at the last second she opens wide for the contact. Scout gave G a kiss today before their naps. Garrett laughed and said, as he was wiping his mouth, "It felt like mac n cheese!"

Zoo Trip Photos

Zoo Trip!

A couple of weekends back, Ryan went to Huntsville to volunteer for a race that a lot of his running buddies were doing. Instead of sit around the house moping, I decided to take the kids to visit my sister Andrea in San Antonio and spend the day at the zoo. I've taken Garrett once before when he was two, but this was Scout's first time. Being the crazy animal lover that she is, she went nuts pointing at, following and growling at all of the animals. The funniest moment with her had to be when she was standing with her face to the glass of an aquarium, pointing at tiny little fish and making fish faces at them, while completely oblivious to the huge hippo bottom in her face. She never noticed it. G had a good time feeding the lorikeets little cups of nectar and brushing and feeding some goats. They both enjoyed the preschool play area, and the only slightly scary moment was when Scout came face to face with some fish that were bigger than she is. She jumped into Aya's (Andrea's) arms at that moment. We ended our outing with a ride on the train at Breckenridge Park. G loves train rides and later said it was his favorite part of the day. Scout loved waving to anyone and sometimes no one. Thanks, Aya, for a really fun time! The kids loved tearing up my sister's un-babyproofed apartment and taking a bath away from home. They even fell asleep in the car almost immediately, and neither woke up during the transfer from the car to their beds. Yes, I'm a beast to get my almost-four year old into his top bunk without waking him. I admit, at one moment I almost lost it laughing thinking of how silly I must look trying to get him in there. I felt like a teeny woman trying to put my sixteen year old in bed. Anyway, it was a wonderful day, and we even made it to church by ourselves the next day with minutes to spare!

Nice guy

Ryan had a meeting a few nights ago, which caused him to miss dinner with the family. The kids really look forward to that time with him, so it was hard on G. A wave of emotion came over him and he started to cry at the table saying how much he missed Daddy. The exact words were, "I really miss Daddy. He's a really nice guy, and he loves us." Huh? A nice guy? I mean, he is, but that's what you say about the guy who does an extra special toss of your ice cream scoop at Amy's to make you smile, not the man who meets your needs on a daily basis and loves you unconditionally. However, after further thought, I realized that G's statement is just about all he needs to know about Daddy right now. He is a really nice guy (selfless and amazing, actually) and he does love us - a lot. It's that love that sends him to work to provide for us, then come home exhausted and sit down only to play a game of Candyland, cut and cool the kids' food at the dinner table, and bathe and read to them. I know he's not the only exceptional husband and father out there, but he's ours, and we're happy that he's a nice guy and loves us a lot!

Just a meteor, or was it?

While Ryan was sitting in Bible class last Sunday, and our friend Mat was discussing the lesson that he and Ryan are going to present this coming Sunday on the prophecies in Daniel (some pretty scary stuff, if you haven't read it before), Ryan saw something huge with a trail of fire behind it fall out of the sky. Apparently it was spotted by a lot of people from Dallas to Austin. Initially, it was thought that it was a piece of a satellite from the two that collided. Now, we know it was just a meteor, although Ryan's not convinced. According to him, it's a government cover-up of something more mysterious. My dad loves this theory and is fully on board with Ryan, as usual. Since these two are pretty much all talk and virtually harmless (dare I say, ridiculous), I don't think we'll be having any government types knocking down our door to keep us quiet. You'll all know what happened, though, if we disappear, conspiracy movie-style.

Just like you

G and I were having a conversation the other day about what he wants to be like when he grows up. The conversation turned to his wife, and I asked him what he thought she'd look like. He said, "Just like you. Just like you look right now." If he were any older, I'd think he were trying to get on my good side, but I know he meant it. So sweet. Some days, I just don't think I deserve him! He must get that from his dad.

On a side note, please don't share this story with G's wife. I'd hate for her to be immediately insulted at the thought that she might look like me, however I look at the time. And I'll do my part to be a good mother-in-law by not pointing out that he loved me first. Leave and cleave, right?

Scout's first storytime

Scout is giving up her morning nap, so I'm trying to find things to do in the morning that keep us out of the house and keep her too busy to feel tired. So, yesterday we went to Barnes and Noble to buy some books for their cousins. I realized that we were there at the perfect time for storytime. I used to take Garrett all the time, but we had to give it up when Scout stopped napping well in the stroller. G was stoked, but I was a little nervous about how to keep my busy and social girl from disturbing everyone trying to listen. The storytime lady picked the perfect book, We're Going on a Bear Hunt, and had everyone participate in the motions. It was right up my little dancer's alley, and she thoroughly enjoyed "stomping through the snow", "running through the grass", and "shaking off the mud". She still made her rounds smiling her toothy, scrunched-up nose grin at everyone, but they all looked charmed, rather than annoyed. The coloring page at the end was also perfect for her, and she had fun gathering the crayons. Yea! Another milestone, and we survived it!