Sweet Ending

Last night’s dinner was what I would consider a complete failure. The menu included chicken breasts and baked potatoes, so I tossed them all in the oven together at the same time, on the same temperature. Fast forward an hour, and I'm using a knife to try and chisel the potato apart, and Jon heaping mounds of butter, sour cream, and cheese on his to mask the lingering flavor of rawness. Sour cream and cheese are good, but, but come on, even they need help. Jon was grateful for dinner, and played it off as “not that bad,” but I knew he was sweetly lying through his teeth. The potatoes were half-baked and the chicken was nothing to brag about, either. Towards the end, we simultaneously grimaced as we took a bite, caught each other’s eye, and burst out laughing. It really was so bad, it was funny. After we regained control, Jon had a most clever idea—a trip to Sonic for dessert as compensation for a dinner gone wrong. So, all was well as we ended a dining disaster on a sweet note. Thank goodness for Sonic…and a brilliant husband.

It Worked!

It worked! Although I hate to say "told ya so," it seems the fall decorating actually did triggering autumn-like temperatures. (That, and I've been watching the news, and Pete predicted this "cold front" all weekend). The cooler weather rolled in, and today was absolutely beautiful--warm sun along with a cool breeze. The perfect afternoon to spend some time outside with each other, so we decided to head to the park when I got home. Although Jon wasn't feeling the best, I think it helped him to get outside and enjoy the day. Nice way to start the week.

In Name Only

I have absolutely no idea what inspired me to catch the autumn spirit and deck the house in fall flair. Maybe it was walking down the Halloween aisle at Walmart yesterday, and seeing all those delicious bags of candy for little ghosts and goblins. Never mind that it was a sunny, humid 95 degrees, and it definitely felt more like summer, my focus today was fall. Maybe decorating the house was my attempt to invoke cooler temperatures. Come on wind, blow. Come on leaves, fall. Come on hooded sweatshirts, fresh apple cider, pumpkin patches, homecoming parades, and popcorn balls. Let’s get on with it, already! Not only am I ready, but our house is also ready for the new season, even if autumn is here, for now, in name only.

Winding Down the Season

"Take me out to the ball game,


Take me out with the crowd.


Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks,


I don't care if I never get back,



Let me root, root, root for the home team,



If they don't win it's a shame.


For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,



At the old ball game."

Probably our last game of the season tonight, and we saw a good one. Rangers 8 and Tampa Bay 3. Jon's holding out hope for next season, and it looks like he's got a new little baseball buddy for life.

Da Plane!

If you live in the DFW area, you really should check out the airfield observation deck. It's located right on the edge of the airport, and it's so much fun watching the planes take off and land. They also have a pretty nifty audio system where they broadcast air traffic control. Since it was such a nice evening, we decided to take Liam. He loves planes. In fact, I think it's safe to say, the boy is obsessed with airplanes. He went nuts. Oh, yeah...we'll be back again soon to see "da planes!"

Farewell, Dear Summer

Even though summer unofficially ended for us a month ago, in celebration of the last calendar day of summer, I'm posting a 2009 summer in review. Because it was, after all, a pretty fabulous summer.

June—So long school, hello vacation. Parents pay a visit. New baby niece arrives. Take a weekend get-away to Houston, and then off to Brenham without Liam for his first parent-free overnight. Yummy tour of Blue Bell and beautiful bed and breakfast stay. Liam’s first trip to the ER with a dislocated elbow on Father’s Day. New job for me as an instructional coach. Trips to playgrounds, zoos, splash parks and lots of family swimming in the pool.

July—Fun family 4th of July, Rangers game and fireworks. Off to see the Minnesota gang. AMAZING TRIP TO CANADA. Whales, ferry boats, Tim Horton doughnuts, Green Gables, tall ships, lighthouses, and jackets every day. Will we ever come back home? We must. Car transmission dies…typical Oklahoma story. School is getting closer. No, please, not yet!

August—More weekday outings with friends to the arboretum and Cowgirl Museum. Begin directing a Sunday school class at church and make new friends. School looms with workshops scattered here and there. Saturday’s at the farmer’s market and stocking up on school supplies. Lots of Netflix after Liam goes to bed. Back to daycare and work we go. At separate places.

September—Love, love, love the new job. Fun Labor Day in Charleston. Adopt -a-college-student (actually, two) at church and stay for the potluck. Weeknights watching Wheel of Fortune, family outings to the mall, and packing lunches. Weekends fill with more trips to the zoo, birthday parties, and laundry. Finally starts to rain…and doesn’t seem to ever stop. Cooler weather on the horizon proves fall is near.

Goodbye, Summer 2009. It’s been fun, and we’ll always remember you fondly!!!

Z-O-O Means F-U-N

Liam and his buddy, Owen, took us to the Dallas Zoo this morning.

The boys had fun in the play area.

And loved looking at all the creepy crawlies.

They saw a 300-pound tortuous having a morning snack,

The notorious elephant, Jenny, who has caused quite a stir in Dallas,

And three pretty giraffes.

Towards the end, we went back to the kid's activity area. Surprisingly, the boys still seemed to have plenty of energy.

We figured it was time to head home after the grand finale...playing in the fountain that runs through the play area.

A happy, wet, and fun time was had by all.

Friday Night Fun

We decided to go to Grapefest tonight for dinner because if you arrived before 5:00, you got in free. Well, apparently we arrived at 5:01 (although Jon's watch and lots of people's cell phones said 5:00) because we missed the deadline. Geesh, people, really??? At lease give the benefit of the doubt and work in a five minute cushion. Well, we weren't going to plunk down $20 just to go in and spend another $20 on food, so Jon came up with Plan B...

Here's Jon's We-Missed-Free-Grapefest grumpy face.

He quickly comes up with Plan B!

Liam doesn't seem to mind. He's just chillin' in the backseat

And making funny faces.

Ah...there it is, one of our favorite fast food joints.

Culvers!!

Even though the evening wasn't exactly as we had planned, we ended up having a nice little Friday night family outing.

Celebrating the Grands

Did you know that Sunday was national Grandparent’s Day? Well, it was. And we missed it. In fact, I didn’t even know it happened until I drove by an elementary school this morning and saw on the marquee that they were hosting a grandparents’ luncheon this week to celebrate the event. After much research (googled it), I found out that Grandparent’s Day always falls on the Sunday after Labor Day. Here’s a little pictorial tribute to the wonderful circle of grandparents in our family:

Biting and Feeding Friends

So the parenting challenges continue. In addition to making "No, mine!" an every day phrase now, Liam has taken up a new bad habit. In fact, it's almost painful to write, but here goes. Liam decided last week that it's fun to bite his fellow daycare buddies. That's right, I said BITE, and he seems to be targeting the girls. This ungentlemanly behavior first surfaced Tuesday, and then he struck again on Thursday. It's hard to know how to discipline because we never see him do it at home, so we aren't catching him in the act. AND since he's only seventeen months old, he doesn't seem to fully understand that biting is a really bad thing. When we ask him if he's going to bite other kids, he looks at us with huge, soulful eyes and adamantly shakes his head and coos, "Nooooooo." We can only hope that this is a better week for Liam. And the other kids at daycare.

On a positive note, though, let me leave you with this--Liam sharing a cracker with his best stuffed pal. Although sometimes we have our hands full with this little guy, all the challenges are overshadowed by his sweet, loving, and gentle spirit.

"No, Mine!"

When we got back from South Carolina, Jon surprised Liam with his favorite thing on the planet right now--a toy lawn mower. Now, I have to admit this lawn mower is pretty impressive. It has balls that spin around when he's "mowing," songs that play, and the sound effects of a real mower. And all these bells and whistles are extremely loud. I think they may be, in fact, louder than a real lawn mower. No bother, though, because Liam loves his new toy. So on Monday night when it was time for dinner (and a break from the noise), I took the lawn mower from Liam and said, "It's time to eat, but you can play with it after dinner." Well, that was absolutely no consolation to our little one. In fact, it was the catalyst to Liam stringing together his first two words--"No, mine!" Okay, then. Steadily we march towards the terrible two's.

South Carolina Weekend

Liam and I just returned from a lovely Labor Day weekend at my brother and sister-in-law's in Charleston. We weren't there long, but we covered a lot of ground in a short period of time. We had a great time, and Liam had fun hanging out with his Uncle Nathan, who he calls "NaaNaa." It was interesting to see the sights of Charleston and Charleston Southern University, the university where Nathan teaches and Amanda works. Most of all, it was good to spend time with family. We want to go back again soon, and we'll definitely bring Jon with us next time.


Liam is obsessed with airplanes, so this little play area at DFW was a huge hit at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday.




One of our first stops in Charleston, the Battery looking over to Fort Sumter.




Liam liked the cannon balls at the park.




Amanda and her new kittens.




We went to go feed the ducks on campus, but Liam decided he needed some bread, too.




Liam loved spending time with Uncle "NaaNaa."




A beautiful rainbow in front of Nathan's office.



Liam supports the team by wearing his Charleston Southern University t-shirt.