Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

Here is a picture taken just this morning of the two munchkins. They are big kids, and it's unusual that they are both sitting still long enough to take a picture like this. They must have still been groggy! Lately we've been kept busy trying to keep these two in line. School is back in session for Mick, and life is back to its normal rapid pace.

Suessical

Ike went to the Pajama Time storytime at the college library last night. It was a Cat in the Hat theme since Suessical the Musical is playing at the center next to the college right now. Ike heard three stories: The Cat in the Hat, Horton Hatches the Egg, and Horton Hears a Who! As seen here, some of the characters from the musical came over for the storytime. Ike has started getting into Dr. Suess books. We went to the Sealy library and checked out the maximum number of books, a whopping 3 whole books, all of them Dr. Suess. One of them was a compilation of six stories. It is old and the pages have started coming away from the binding. A big chunk of pages fell out and Ike cried and cried. Poor kid. I think the lecture about how we need to take good care of the library books really made an impression on him.

C'mon Mom, Keep Up!

I have been informed more than once recently that I have been extremely slow to update the blog. I've offered to pass on the responsibility, but that didn't fly so here I am.

We've been busy since we last posted (coloring Easter eggs two months ago!). We experienced the busiest weekend yet. Zoobilee was Friday, the 15th. Ike's "Tigger" party was Saturday, the 16th. Father's Day was Sunday, the 17th. By the 18th, we were ready to go back to work because we couldn't take anymore excitement!

We've started a bit of a tradition (if Aggies do something twice, it becomes Tradition) with our Father's Day lunches. This year we returned to Pappadeaux's because Mick wanted to eat alligator (and there was no wait). Mick got a free coffee mug to commemorate the occasion.

In other news since April, Aggie is now eating table food and drinking cow milk. She's walking and says "dada". Her hair is really growing in the back, but she still appears bald on top. She has taken on an endearing nickname at daycare: they all call her "Pelona" which means no hair, baldy. I think she's going to take this nickname with her to the toddler room.

Ike is potty training. He's doing a pretty good job so far. He's got standing offers for rewards once he gets it down pat. His vocabulary is improving and his speech is improving. Lately he's been saying "yessss" and "why-eeee". Today is his 3-year check up so we'll find out how big he has gotten. We know he's a big boy, but we can't wait to quantify it. On that note, today is our last visit to see Dr. Readinger. He is moving to Fort Worth, and Mommy is sad about that. Ike had a great Tigger party with his friends at Monkey Bizness, and last weekend he went to Hopey's gymnastics party.

Mommy's work is very busy, hence no posts. Houston is booming right now because of the oil industry, and Cameron stock is up. Our division moved to our new location over the Memorial Day weekend, and a month later, we are still dealing with build out issues. I've also gone through Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt Level I and II training. All I need is some more work, right?!

Daddy is busy with the first summer session that he affectionately refers to as "Summer Boot Camp". He has about two more weeks of that, and then he's down to one class per week. But when his real job simmers down, his "honey do" list kicks in. There is plenty to do around the house to keep him from becoming bored. We got gutters put on the house, and our next project is getting a patio installed. Decorative Concrete....who knew? Once that's in, I'll have to post about it.

In other interesting news, Bobby Jones, as in Bobby Jones Czech Band that played at our wedding, is currently missing. He was last seen on June 22nd and no one has seen him or heard from him since. He missed two gigs over the weekend and didn't show up to work Monday morning. According to the news reports, it doesn't seem like they are looking too hard for him. They don't yet suspect foul play....they seem to think he might have taken off on his own. But either way, we feel they should be doing more to locate him. Godspeed.

Eggs, Glorious Eggs

We colored Easter eggs last weekend. Ike had an Easter party at school on Thursday and learned about coloring eggs there. He was a pro when we did them at home. He wanted to be the one to "catch" the egg with the dipper. Aren't our eggs pretty? Turns out that we tried two different kinds of coloring kits from Wal-Mart, and the cheaper one without the fancy cups had better color. I'm not sure which one of us had more fun though. We had to take an intermission to boil another dozen eggs!

"I'll be there when the bluebonnets bloom."

We took the kids out Sunday to take pictures in the Bluebonnets near Welcome Community. The flowers were pretty good in our usual spot. Ike was slow to warm up to the camera for some reason, not his usual ham-self that day. Aggie enjoyed pulling the blooms off. We had a picnic at the park in Industry, and Ike played on the playground.

Aggie Girl

You may have been wondering what Aggie was up to during all of our adventures. She's been along for the ride, but she enjoys sleeping on these trips.

She went for her 9 month checkup last week. 17.1 lbs and 27 inches. Two teeth, and more on the way. Crawling and cruising. Finally growing some hair.

Happy Independence Day, Texas!

The first weekend in March, we went to the Texas Independence Day celebration at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park. The weather turned out to be great that day. Sam Houston IV was the speaker. His speech was brief, and he basically said that Texas History as a subject in public schools was suffering because of standardized testing. He has been focusing his political efforts on getting rid of the TAKS test, and his report was that it looks like the legislature is going to can it. I don't know about that, but it seemed an odd subject for an Independence Day address. The guy looked just like portraits I've seen of the original Sam Houston! We shopped in the gift shop along with Congressman Michael McCaul, and Ike got a patch and a walking stick.

Piano Bridge

I guess it was at the end of February, but we took a drive to Schulenberg, Texas one weekend. We started out driving with no particular destination, as we often do, and we headed west. We decided to go to Schulenberg since we hadn't been there recently, and when we got there, we decided to take the driving tour of the "Painted Churches". But you won't find any pictures here of these churches....nosiree, the highlight of the trip was the Piano Bridge and the primative restroom facilities at the church at Dubina (no pics of that here either, unfortunately?, but I told Mick he had to take a picture or no one would believe it!).

Gig 'em Aggies!

In honor of A&M Men's basketball win over the t-sips last night....WHOOP!

Remember the Alamo!

We went on a spur of the moment trip to San Antonio last weekend. We visited the Alamo and the River Walk. It was a quick trip and the weather was a bit cold so we plan to go back in Spring to take the river boat tour and visit the Texas Cultures museum.

More January

We all had fun at RB's 3rd birthday party!

January

Long time, no blog! January was a busy month and just flew by. Aggie attended her first AGD Gingerbread Tea.

Ho, Ho, Ho

Mommy took the day off from work so that she could join Daddy on the kids' first real visit to Santa Claus. Ike was very excited about Santa. When he sat on Santa's lap, he told Santa that he had been a good boy. Santa replied that he already knew that Ike had been a good boy. When asked what he wanted Santa to bring him, Ike responded "Presents!". Santa told him that he'd bring some surprise presents then. Ike thanked Santa and gave him a big hug. The kids took a pretty picture with him, and then Santa gave Ike two coloring books (one for Ike and one for his baby sister). Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas!

Busy Bees

Gosh, it's been about three weeks since my last post. Time flies by when you are busy going to birthday parties and holiday parades and shopping malls!
Here are the highlights that will get you up to speed:

• Elizabeth Eckelberg turns 5--Party with face painter/balloon animal maker
• Scott Luza turns 4--Party at bounce house with Elmo meet and greet
• Sealy Fantasy of Lights Parade
• Wallis Holiday Parade
• Aggie crawls--Six-month-old Aggie weighs 15 lbs. even at check-up.

So Many Parties, So Little Time

We attended yet another birthday party on the 19th. We ate pizza, and all the kids decorated their own cupcakes. Ike kept wanting more, more, more of the dinosaur and car sprinkles. Good times, good times. Ike is a lucky boy to have so many friends with great parties.

If I Ran the Zoo

We all went to the Houston Zoo on the 17th. Ike learned a new word, Okapi. We saw the new baby giraffe, the baby elephant, and a three-legged dik-dik. The kids (and Aunt Kristy) really enjoyed riding the new wildlife carousel in the children's area of the zoo. We were lucky in more ways than one when we caught the last ride on the zoo train. The train broke down right as it was pulling back into the station!

A Bunch of Weird Eggs

We have been keeping busy the past couple of weeks. The "cousins" drove down from Portland, Oregon to visit the 15th-21st. Ike loves his cousins, and he especially loves the ladies. He seemed to play better with Anna and Megan than with Ian.

Bring It On! (The Food, That Is)

On Saturday, November 11th Mick and I dined at Fogo de Chao with the Boppies (Blow Out Preventor Engineers) courtesy of Cameron.

Meat, meat, meat. Oh how many meats you eat!

I had a fantastic time and can't wait until next quarter to get treated to more fine dining.

Party Boy

We all attended Logan's 3rd birthday party on Sunday, November 5th at the Sealy baseball park. Ike had a fun time in the inflatable train after he quickly figured out how to climb up and slide down. The kid has been to so many fun parties lately that he is going to have high expectations for his own birthday. We need to start planning (and saving) now!

Halloween Spirit

This morning Mick was in the Halloween spirit. Aggie dressed in her cow outfit. Mick appears to be Sherlock Holmes, and Ike is Sponge Bob Short Pants. Ike's dragon/dinosaur outfit is not suited to wear all day at school, so Sponge Bob Short Pants it is. We will hurry home tonight to try Trick or Treating. Ike is excited about being a "dinosaur".