Big Fun in Cow Town

Eric and Matt headed off to Guitar Center in Ft Worth to look at a fancy schamncy speaker, so the kids and I headed off to the zoo. We had a great time, but boy - were we glad they have a train! By the time we arrived at the far end of the zoo, Alex had a huge blister on her foot and could hardly walk. Rather than carry her all the way back to the entrance, we rode the train back to the entrance. Much easier on my back!

Then, we headed over to Chili's to have dinner with one of my very best friends from college. It was great to get caught up and spend some time renewing our friendship! Our kids had a pretty good time, too, as is evidenced here:

(Notice that Alex is not in this picture...she was crying...as usual these days! But don't Raylen and Carter look adorable?)

And the Saga Continues..

Okay - who knew that having the trees trimmed would cause so much DRAMA in our lives?

First, the cost.

Second, Alex's favorite tree EVER being cut down.

And now...

One of our neighbors called the police because we cut a limb off of her tree that was hanging down IN OUR YARD...almost touching the ground.

Did I mention that it was hanging in our yard?

Oh - and did she come TALK to us about it? NO! She yelled at the poor man trimming the tree and called the City. He invited her to come over to the house and talk with us, but she didn't want to do that. She would 'catch us outside sometime.'

Then I found out that last week when the trimmers were here, she yelled at them because they cut a limb from one of our trees that was shading her yard. Again, it was hanging down so far that it was cracked.

I don't know when the last time someone trimmed the trees at our house, but it looks SO much better now!

We are going to have to watch our backs, though!

What is up with people?

When did we stop looking out for each other? When did we stop caring about how our actions affect other people?

I am sick of it, and I am pretty much sick of people.

So there.

Hooray!

Today we bought a new light fixture for the dining room...NO MORE FLUORESCENT LIGHT FOR ME!!! I am very happy, in case you couldn't tell. And, it was on sale 1/2 off. Oh, yeah (doing the cabbage patch)

Busy, but Good!

We had a fun time this weekend! Friday night we had dinner with a couple from our church (and their granddaughters.) Eric and I had a great time getting to know them better, and the kids really hit it off! I wish we made it more of a priority to 'socialize' and get out of our routine. We always have so much fun!

Saturday started off a little rocky. The tree-trimmers came (NOT the $100/tree people, thank goodness) and went to work on our little forest. All of the sudden, here comes Alex, crying hysterically. I mean, I thought she was seriously hurt. She was crying so hard, she could not make words. Once I ascertained that she was NOT hurt, my patience, of course, became - well, limited. Finally, she told us that THEY had cut down her sitting tree. HER FAVORITE TREE IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!! Please understand, this tree was growing sideways and sticking out over our driveway. And I don't mean just the top was leaning over. The tree was growing horizontally - literally. Which is why it was good for sitting. It took quite some time to calm her down. In fact, when we left for town an hour later, she was still sobbing. Those poor people that trimmed the trees felt AWFUL! They said they had never experienced anything like that before. In fact, they felt so bad, they went and found a couple of swings to put in a couple of the other trees. I now have a happy girl. Except, she will undoubtedly hold it against us forever. The traumatized little tree hugger (bless her little heart).

Things went smoothly the rest of the day - I was off to rehearsal and the Premiere of this season's ballet, the kids were off to Grandma's and Eric was off to his gig at the Leaf. What? You didn't know about his gig? Check out his website so you won't miss the next one! http://www.akaduo.com (That was a completely shameless plug!) Hey - while you're there, check out the dates for the cruise to Cozumel. It is not too late to join us, you know!

Today, Matt joined us in Worship and he and Eric rocked the casbah. I mean sanctuary. No, really - it was awesome. You should have been there. Really. You have GOT to keep up with the website. Anyway, I took the kids to Brady for a switcheroo with Grandmommy and then we all headed home. We had our own little rockin' party with Choo Choo Soul and They Might be Giants. If you are a parent and you do not have the Choo Choo Soul CD or They Might be Giants 'Here Come the 123's' GET THEM! You will love them as much as your kids. Seriously. Sometimes I drop Carter off at school and forget to switch my iPod to 'grownup' music because I am jammin' to the kid tunes.

Wow. I just admitted that to the entire world wide web.

I should sign off now.

Another Great Weekend!

Why is it that we feel compelled to fill up our free time with activity after activity? We kept the kids home this weekend, and Eric and I had no obligations, so we just focused on our FAMILY! It was GREAT! We played board games, cleaned the house together, cooked together, ATE TOGETHER AT THE TABLE (we are so busy, we almost never have all four of us sitting and eating together!) I am resolving to have MANY more weekends like this. Now, I know Eric is getting into his busy season, but that does not mean that when we ARE all home we can't focus on each other. I have no idea why this is such a revelation to me, but I certainly feel enlightened!

I think the highlight of the weekend was when we taught the kids to play Hearts. I am a huge fan of Hearts, but I was afraid it would be too complicated for them to grasp. We need to work with Carteron his strategy, but Alex ROCKED IT! She was all over it, although she did apologize every time she passed on points. It was hilarious!

We also taught the kids how to play Mancala, which is an African game that my Nonnie taught me when I was little. I spent so many hours playing Mancala with her...we had so much fun! (She also taught me Gin...just try to take me on!) Anyway, you can imagine my joy when Alex and Carter declared Mancala to be their new favorite game (THE BAST GAME EVER! in Carter's words.) It just makes you feel so good to relive your fondest memories and make new ones with your children at the same time.

WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' TV!!!!!

The laundry is done, the house is clean...I need to round up foursome!