LoverBoy

Abram learning to say "I love you" for the first time. You can see that he eats up all of the attention we send his way. It's true that we cheer after almost everything he does. He'll probably be one of those types who narrates his own everyday life. Complete with reverb, like at a football game. Heaven help him.

Eskeleto and the Great Pumpkins

You guessed it. For Family Home Evening this week, we carved pumpkins. Since it's so hot down here, we can't do it too early or else we end up with mushy jack-o-lanterns. The girls carved great pumpkins. It was a nice reminder that Halloween is here!

Marin

Santi

Santi couldn't wait to collect all the pumpkin seeds. She really wanted to take toasted pumpkin seeds to her class. She wasn't much for the goopy-goppy innards of the pumpkin though. She thought the seeds were just going to neatly trickle out. Wishful thinking. She didn't do too bad though. But she did keep going inside to wash her hands. So we each got a handful of sticky, juicy doorknob when we went back inside.


Marin had no problem getting messy. Since she's in Science Experiment mode (we'll post that later), she was coming up with all sorts of hypotheses of hybrid pumpkins. She actually found a sprouted seed in hers, which she quickly planted seeing it as a sign of our family's future in pumpkin patching.


The girls love this photo from the inside out. I do too.

While the girls carved pumpkins, Abram teetered around the table trying to get his hands on anything. At the pumpkin patch (for which there are no photos because I forgot to replace the memory card in the camera), he kept running around saying, "Ball! Ball!" He rolled about half a dozen pumpkins down the trail before I realized it. This guy is such a liability, I'm telling you. Since then, he's learned the word pumpkin, which he pronounces, "pum-pin." Then he gives a sinister and scary laugh (Abram style of course). He still rolls them around like a ball though. I hope for the girls' sakes that their jack-o-lanterns last through the holiday. I'm not counting on it though.

Eskeleto

How cute are these jammies? The funniest thing about them is that they glow in the dark. So Brian and I get the biggest kick out of shutting off the lights and watching Abram toddle around in the dark. It's also a little bit creepy, that's when we turn the lights back on. One night, I went in to his room to check on him before going to bed and was startled by his skeleton jammies. A dose of my own medicine, I guess.

Well, get a good look folks....you won't often get a chance to see such a sight. This guy is hardly ever still. Or napping.

The Dews and Don'ts

From this picture, does it look like Sheri Dew and I are BFF? That's what I was going for even though nothing could be farther from the truth. But that's what I felt like after getting a reassuring hug from her.

This last weekend some really amazing girlfriends and I drove up to San Antonio for the Time Out For Women seminar with Sheri Dew. We skipped out on the rest of the conference. Probably because we might have a little spiritual ADD and couldn't stick it out a whole weekend. Probably not, but we had quite a few new tools in our toolboxes after just one day of self-reflection.

Some of my favorite quick quotes from the seminar (which does NOT do it justice, but if I write a couple things here, I'm likely to have more accountability. So skip this part if plenty necessary.)

Sister Dew talked so inspiringly about expanding our influence for good and helping to raise the next, more challenged generation of leaders. That hit home and made me miss the kids. It also made me buy some more of her books...that Sheri Dew, she's so smart.

Virginia Hinckley Pearce gave a whole list of helpful tips to taking it one step at a time from Cambourne's Conditions of Learning. We had a lot of fun repeating those and calling each other out the rest of the weekend.

I think my favorites were from Wendy Watson Nelson:
"The Lord is the great editor of our lives. He leaves out all forgiven sins and transgressions like they had never been there."
She also quoted President Eyring, "As the forces around us increase intensity, whatever spiritual strength that was once sufficient will not be enough."
She also hearkened to something I've heard Brian's mom (Renee Hulse, MFT) talk about which is to stay curious and ask curious questions. They are less intrusive, offensive, and judgemental. Working on it.

Wayne Boss gave me fodder for the ages. That guy is most hilarious without even knowing so. He told a story that illustrated how we can destroy trust, from which I gleaned the quote, "Get out of my way...Scarface." It's one of those "had to be there" sorts. Like many things, funny to me and no one else.



Sweet Soul Sisters
(Left to Right) Margaret (who I met just that weekend), Emily, Anna, Me, Jill, Shanna, Angela, and the other Xochi (yes, another Xochi. Crazy).

Going to the temple was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We don't often get to go since it is so far away. Plus, it was so nice being with such cool people.

Here we are at lunch the next day on the Riverwalk. We had some of the yummiest guacamole this side of the Rio Grande (which I think I can now say with confidence). Our server, Liz, who is a very delightful young lady, came to get our drink order, to which we replied (as all Mo's do):

"No thanks. We don't drink. We're Mormon."
She said, "Really? I am too! My last name is Morman."

We thought she was joking. Apparently Liz is not a member of the Church, but her last name really is Morman (with an "a"). So we all kidded around with the Morman girl and esteemed ourselves very funny indeed. She was such a good sport. She even let me take my picture with her like she was some sort of Morman novelty. Which frankly, she is. I've never met a Morman who wasn't Mormon. Actually, I've never met a Morman.

Yeah, I'm not really sure what's going on with my wickedly Krusty the Clown eyebrows either. I'm going to be one scary old lady. I'll just need a sinister cackle to go with it.

I LOVE these girls!

Angela (who we should rename Angelina Jolie for more reasons than just those pouty lips. I didn't say henna. I didn't.)

The weekend really was full of introspection. Thanks to this T-shirt, I've been given a renewed sense of what it means to be Mexicana. Phew! I didn't buy it though, should I have? Well, it probably prompted me to pose for the following pictures:

Orale!

Here are the girls remembering the Alamo. It actually is quite a reverent experience that I think everyone should see if they have a chance.

And this is just a little something we do on the side.

Meanwhile, back at the Homestead....

This weekend would not have been possible without my husband who either loves me enough to let me go, or foolish enough to think the children would be easy. Luckily he's a fool in love because he did make it possible for me to go AND the children were AWESOME. Why I don't have the same effect on them, I will never know. Alas.

He drove them to all of their respective activities throughout the weekend and even met them at school for lunch.

But the best part... he took them to the opening night of HSM3! He and all the other Mr. Moms for the weekend (my friends' husbands) got together and took the kids to the show. These guys are top notch. They could've just sat home and fed the DVD player while the kids parked it on the couch all weekend. But they didn't. Brandon even wanted all the guys to wear "I Love Troy" shirts, which they opted against. You could tell they were a little heart broken about it. Can you imagine all of these hot dads with Troy shirts? Lovely.

So thanks to my handsome man for clearing his schedule (something we all know is near impossible) and to the kids for missing me and yet behaving angelic. Thanks to a group of sisters I was lucky to be a part of. I don't want to take it for granted.

Oh, and thanks to Sister Dew for snapping a photo with me. Do you think she'll want a copy?

A Little Gulf

We went to South Padre Island for the weekend and had some much needed relief. Bri had a little work retreat for his directors and we got to meet up with him after the girls got out of school on Friday. Although the weatherman called for rain, we didn't see any while we were there. But wind is one thing you can count on at South Padre this time of year. Too bad Bri forgot his kite. Actually, I was pretty relieved he did or else I'd end up with all the kiddos while he flew his kite up the island. No thanks. Not this time anyway. Definitely next.

As the following pictures portray, playing with Abram at the beach was the family favorite this trip. Santi was trying to teach him to run away from the waves. A concept he didn't want to grasp. Bri and I had to keep our eyes on him because he just kept running out into the surf. Seriously, how is it that he thinks he can swim? This isn't the bathtub, boy.








Our girls never tire of the beach. They could play there for hours upon end. I don't know what we'd do if we weren't so close to the beach. We thought moving to Texas was the end of that. We probably would've both failed Texas geography at the time (I think I just heard the entire Lonestar Republic gasp en masse) and had no idea about SPI.





I don't know if our house is the most boring of places, but the kids freak out when we stay in a hotel. They seem to love every little thing about it. The girls absolutely love hitching a ride with the luggage (something we probably shouldn't do). It doesn't look like Dad's too worried about it.




Abram was tied up on the phone most of the first night. After his bath (and leaving half the beach sand at the bottom of the tub), he ran around desnudo, happy as a clam. He suddenly stopped in the middle of the floor and started peeing. When he does this, he says, "pee pee" but because his belly is so big, he still can't see where it's coming from. So he kinda bends over a little and then stops peeing. But then he stands up and it starts again. Poor guy spends a lot of time bending over and straightening up trying to see just where this is all coming from. So the lesson here, I guess, is beware of hotel room floors. At least the ones we've stayed in. And our backyard.

Marin and I woke up a little earlier than everyone else on Saturday to take a few photos. Very simple. I had the hardest time knowing what to do. The wind was coming off shore from the North (which is very unusual) so it conflicted with the sunlight to get a water backdrop. So inexperience showed through here. Perhaps I can get tips from the likes of Gerardo Garmendia and Margo Clarke.





We didn't want to miss the annual Sand Castle Days down on Isla Blanca. It was the first time we went since moving here. It was pretty fun and I was quite amazed at some of the sculptures.



The most effort of the day was keeping Abram within safe distance of the sand pieces. The contest castles were roped off, but they had an amatuer section where Abram was free to play Godzilla if we'd let him. And trust me that he was dying for that opportunity. Fortunately, it never came.

We ran into the Terry family and got to hang out with them a little. All the kids gave building their sand castle the old college try.





We hung out on the bay side for a little while and ate lunch. The girls talked us into going to Pirate's Landing...again. It seriously had to be the last time. I don't know if I can lunch with life-like buccaneers and swashbucklers one more time. The novelty has quite worn off.







And last but not least... Bri and I crack up at this sign EVERY time we go to Isla Blanca. What is wrong with Texas? (don't answer that.) If you don't want me to mess, then please, think before you mass produce traffic signs. Everyone in every other state (and by that, I mean California) knows it is supposed to say, "Speed Bump." Just don't make it so easy, Texas. Have a little self respect. Honestly.

Just Like the Movies

The house was decked out in full movie premiere regalia and the "snack bar" was stocked with empty calories: popcorn, nachos, M&Ms, and licorice. Friday night was Marin's birthday party (We celebrated early since the next few weekends are booked with other stuff). I hoped the girls would have fun, but I had no idea I would enjoy myself so much. We made it easy and ordered pizza for dinner and then tried to stick to a really spirited movie theme. We will definitely recycle the idea and decorations for another party down the line.

Brian and I planned a fun scavenger hunt for the girls. Each clue was movie related and it was so much fun to see the girls running up and down the cul de sac. The girls won prizes from the Snack Bar like Nachos and Popcorn.

This is where we found Abram after Bri and I both thought the other one had him sometime during the party. Oops. He was quite happy with the girls' leftovers. Mmmmmm.

It may have been a draw between the scavenger hunt and the outdoor movie as to which was more fun. My vote is for the movie since I didn't have to run after a bunch of girls in the dark. I was much happier lounging in a lawn chair. And thank you South Texas for the most perfect weather you have ever allowed. The offshore breeze was very much appreciated. Sigh.

The picture above is of Marin receiving the movie, Nim's Island, which was the main feature of the night. We were dying because when she went up to open it, she seriously gave a full on acceptance speech:

I just want to thank all of you for coming. And thanks so much to my mom and dad for everything. I'm really grateful to Triana for giving me this movie for my birthday....

And just like the real awards shows, her speech was cut short due to time restrictions. Dad really wanted to get that show on the road.

This was a really fun bunch of girls which made for a ridiculously fun party. In Marin's own words, "This is the best party I've ever hosted." She kills me.

Bri did such a great job recreating the Big Screen on the back side of our house. He even hooked up the speakers so it really felt like we were at a drive in. I thought it was awesome. I want to do this all the time. Especially since we miss a lot of movies while they're in the theater.

His favorite place to be.... the only boy among many girls. The girls were entranced for quite a while, until the next popcorn refill.


Here's our guy loving the glow bracelets. Bri said he had almost fallen asleep and then I went and brought these out. Sorry. It was the first time he's ever seen them, so it was fun to watch him check them out.


The Big Star of the evening. She was such a gracious little hostess. We are a lucky pair of parents. I have to admit that the night was such a whirlwind, I forgot to bring out the cake before the movie started. So we just had cake after everyone left. It was surprisingly fun with just our fam. Then, we took very generous helpings to our neighbors. And of course, I made my Birthday Cake Shake (yes, it is a proper noun). To Die.

Here's a snapshot of my friend, Cake, and the party favors (which I was able to remember to give out). Marin loved giving them to her buddies on the way out. You gotta have Milk Duds and Junior Mints at a movie party! We also gave away bonus Blockbuster gift cards to her friends who were the first to wish her a happy birthday, thank her for inviting them, and to ask how old she was. It's funny how seriously Marin took her task to tell me who did what. Imagine that, Marin taking a task very seriously...


Happy Birthday Marin! We love you. Thanks for letting your geeky parents celebrate with you.