Another River, Another Story

Cousins are awesome. My immediate family is actually pretty small, with my mom having one brother and my dad being an only child. My first cousins consist of 3 guys whom I love dearly but then there is my extended family... including all kinds of second, second once removed, third cousins and so on. You get the idea. The great thing is, years ago, before I was 10, my maternal grandfather's side got busy with family reunion plans, plans that turned into traditions that have allowed me to have some of the most amazing friendships and times with these kinfolk. But it doesn't stop there, not only did I have the privilege of spending summers with my cousins learning about the country life, swimming in spring fed ponds and living on a diet of the biggest, juiciest hand picked peaches in the world, but now my kids are doing the same. And loving every minute of it.

So this summer, we made a trade. Some of my kids visited their cousins in West Texas and then, a week or so later, he came here to absorb a tad bit of the city life.

And to our joy, the halfway meeting point, to exchange these cousins, was at their river cabin, where we stayed and played for a few days.



But this was not just any 'ole cabin, this was a dream cabin including every possible luxury one could imagine. And hummingbirds galore! See the tiny thing on the tree branch?



I stood very still so he came a bit closer...



and even closer.



Their cabin was on the Llano river, a little low this time of year, but still such a beautiful blue green. That's Maren at the bottom of the pic.



Gib spend hours fishing. This was one of his favorites, a Guadalupe bass.



And here is Dalton walking on water... actually he's trying his best to sink the canoe!



Awww, sweet Kate the pillow dog.



Oh, and the fence lizards... we can't forget them. Males have this bright blue belly.



The kids spend hours catching and building a great habitat for them. Interesting how the cage they built was portable so we now have several beautiful blue bellied reptiles here in our habitat... lizard anyone?



Wildlife was everywhere. This was a white tail deer, but mostly we saw axis deer (covered with white spots). They came right up to the feeder by the screened in porch every morning.



Here, Caelan showed his skill with the bow and arrow. Nice.



And what would a cabin visit be without a campfire and smores?

Ronald and Nancy, thanks again for sharing your river haven and Jodi, Dalton and Caelan, thanks for the memories. We love you guys!

Calling all Cowboys

...and Cowgirls, of course! Recently I saw an advertisement in the paper that reminded me of this treasure of a place right here in the metroplex. And you know why it is so amazing... because Ft. Worth knows how to incorporate the arts into a family friendly environment perfectly. Don't get me wrong, I love the big D, but they could take some pointers from our western neighbors.

Anyway, we had a blast, although some were a little shy at first, smiles were soon to follow.

Finding Nemo

A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of retreating to a land near the Brazos River called Nemo. Population 473, two of which include the wonderful Mr. and Mrs. Southward, who so graciously lent us their guest home. And let me say, this was just the kind of place we had been looking for.

Incidentally, as we roamed about the acreage, we also found things like...



a Red Eared Slider,





a leopard frog,




a brown furry mama spider carring her babies on her back,




a ribbon snake




an few unfortunate downslides,





another leopard frog




and eventually the road back home.

Let's eat!

As I was browsing a fellow blogger's page today, I found this amazing website. So informative. Some brilliant mom is the mastermind behind the operation I'm sure, and kudos to her! Locally, the restaurants I found that participate are:

Texas Land and Cattle
Bennigan's
Berryhill Baja Grill
Luby's
Black Eyed Pea
Dickey's

Different deals different days. Love it!

Update

You know all is well when old faithful will share a stick with the newcomer.

Meet Anders

After my last post, I thought it was absolutely necessary to show you, now that my little sis is all grown up, which one of her flock absorbed the largest part of her childhood looks and then some. Minus the red hair, Anders wins the blue ribbon, hands down. Isn't he a handsome five year old? And he is one of the most thinkinest kids I've met. Creative, in every way, which brings me to the following pictures.

But let me back up a minute by saying, I'm sure you have noticed how Lara and I love to mingle our plans together, allowing the cousins to play and allowing us to catch up or slow down, depending on the time of day we meet. So last week it was decided that in the heat of this summer, some sort of water play was necessary. And all were happy for the most part. But after a while, the fountains and waterfalls provided less than enough entertainment for Mr. Anders, just as he spied the pools of water in which the waterfalls spilled. And yes, I have to admit, the day was blazin', and he had a very inviting idea. But, we had an agenda that really needed to stay in place to ensure the most fun for everyone. And our time in the fountains was not quite over because although all the little children were wet and frolicking, we were dry and hot, only saved by an occasional mist and the shade from some ornamental Pistachio trees. The plan was to eventually move down to the bigger and wetter land at the end of our adventure because where the water was deep, the shade was not.

Now we obviously didn't give this lenghthy explanation to the kids, therefore the pleading began...





and continued...



See how influential he is with the hand gestures trying to convincing us of his suggestion?



But we weren't caving.




We were hot and had lost all abliity to hear a soggy child's plea.



So he kicked it up a notch,



And then finally, he gave us the cry of defeat.

And yes, we were moved, so after he took a bow, we headed for the deeper water.

See, smart, I tell you, this son of my sister's is smart, but you know what they say...apples don't fall far from the tree.

O Sister of Mine

I remember...
When you were young
Let me reminisce
You're now so very very old

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Guess where

...we went yesterday?

One Day

Summer school, VBS and the big kahuna swim meet (Divisionals) all in one day. Pictures coming later tonight...


OK, OK so I'm a little late, just keeping with the theme of the day, I mean yesterday.

First, Gib nearly missed his bus at 6:45 a.m. for summer school.

Second, his ride was late picking him up after school so he completely missed the warm up and barely made his first event (and yes, his ride was none other than the always-going-ninety-to-nothing, Mr. Brown ;p).

Third, VBS was good. The kids had a great time and for me...3 whole hours of quiet. Thank you, Jesus.

Fourth, the Barracudas lost after holding the Divisional Champ title for 11 years to the slimy cheating red team. Excuse my language.

Fifth, it rained at the big swim bash afterward.

So, for the most part, the day wasn't pretty. And the pictures I promised? Sorry my friends, but the shot below is the one and only worthy of public viewing. Yes, I know what your thinking, and you don't have to believe me, but certainly Brayden's expression should be enough to convince you otherwise. The truth is, every single photo from the day is far more comfortable in that special little file called delete. Honestly.


Exposure is so overrated.

Kate Spade

Awww, today we have an appointment to have Kate spayed. Isn't that a little punny?

THE COPING DIET

Only girlfriends can understand this one. This is a specially formulated diet designed to help women cope with the stress that builds during the day.

Breakfast:
1 grapefruit
1 slice whole wheat toast
1 cup skim milk

Lunch:
1 small portion lean, steamed chicken
1 cup spinach
1 cup herbal tea
1 Hershey's Kiss

Afternoon Snack:
The rest of the Hershey Kisses in the bag
1 tub of Haagen Dazs ice cream with chocolate chips

Dinner:
4 glasses of wine (red or white)
2 loaves garlic bread
1 family size supreme pizza
3 Snickers Bars

Late Night Snack:
1 whole Sara Lee cheesecake (eaten directly from the freezer)

Remember: Stressed spelled backward is desserts.

My friend Joann sent this too me...not that either of us can relate.
Thanks for the smile, sweet friend!

Independence Day

Yes, we all know the history, but just in case you haven't had the opportunity to read the letter John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail on July 2, 1776, (when the legal separation from Great Britain was originally voted on), in anticipation of what this holiday would mean, take a moment to share in his vision:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.


And so we continued the celebrations...


My beautiful niece enjoying the promise of an afternoon of sugar.

Then, we ooed and ahhed at the small fry petting zoo.




These baby billy goats were just Ryan's size.

After the festivities, we bar-b-cued with friends and cooled off in their gigantic pool. Thanks Jennie,Ted and Jake! And then later in the evening, we took in our second firework show of the holiday...



thanks to The Pioneer Woman for her photo tips, actually, for the photo! :)



Finally, we headed home to love on our doggies and curl up in our beds, in our house, in our nation that our forefathers built.

A wonderful day. A wonderful country. A wonderful life.

God has Blessed America.

More, please

What would you say if I told you I really didn't have enough to do, or that I crave more responsibility? I'm sure you would believe that I so enjoy the process of potty training and that one more mouth to feed seems just dandy, right? Well, the correct answer to all of these questions is:

A) Absolutely
B) Kinda
C) Not so much
D) Never

And if you guessed C, you know me well (never saying never of course) but, I do love warm, sweet, thankful faces, like this one...



So, without further adieus, everyone, meet Kate, our newest member of the family.

She, like Heddy, is a cattle dog, and obviously a Red Heeler. Heddy, our first love, was given her name for the beautiful brunette actress, Hedy Lamarr ( not sure why we added an extra "d") so Kate's name was chosen for the beautiful redheaded actress, Kate Walsh. We aim to keep things fair around here.

And no, I didn't need an additional living creature to look after, or more poop to clean up, but for a while now, we thought Heddy might need a friend or more specifically, an ear to chew on.



And fortunately, Kate likes big families with many children to herd, or at least that's what she told me in the cage at the animal shelter.

And I believed her...well, we all did.

Welcome home, Kate!

A Child's View

A child was asked to write a book report on the entire Bible.

The Children's Bible in a Nutshell


In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but
God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says,

'The Lord thy God is one, but I think He must be a lot older than that.

Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did. Then God made the
world.

He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked,but they weren't
embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet.

Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from
the Garden of Eden. Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't
have cars. Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.

Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who
lived to be like a million or something.

One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy,but one of his
kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some
animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.

After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his
brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob hisbirthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.

Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston.
Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt
and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on
Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice,bowels, and no cable.

God fed the Israel Lights every day
with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments.
These include:
don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff.
Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more:
Humor thy father and thy mother.

One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use
spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the
town. After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a
slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500
porcupines. My teacher says he was wise,but that doesn't sound very wise to
me. After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these
was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore.
There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry
about them.

After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The
New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn.

(I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying
to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would
be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.')

During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like
the Pharisees and the Republicans.

Jesus also had twelve opossums.

The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they
named a terrible vegetable after him.

Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even
preached to some Germans on the Mount.

But the Republicans and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the
Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.

Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again.
He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the
Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.