Hannah didn’t have school on Friday, so Bill and I took the day off and drove with the kids to Sugar Land. Friday was also our tenth wedding anniversary. We stayed with friends and had a great time. Saturday, the friends we were staying with had a huge birthday party for their boys. The kids had so much fun. They had rented a bounce house with a slide, and Zachary wasn’t scared of it at all. He was only interested in sliding, and he couldn’t climb up the slide himself, so Bill and I took turns helping him up. Later on, the older kids started playing with water balloons and, finally, the water hose in the bounce house, so they were all soaked. After the kids (ok, most of the kids) went to bed, the adults played Guitar Hero World Tour which was pretty fun just to watch. I got sleepy before the rest of them, so I went to bed before they were finished playing for the night.
On Sunday morning, we got up and had a breakfast of doughnuts and kolaches. Bill had to go back and buy more, and Hannah requested a “wienie dog”, which we decided was a sausage kolache. After breakfast, we packed up everything and drove to Galveston. Since I have only been there a few times since we moved away almost five years ago, I just can’t get used to all of the development through League City. None of that was there when we left. It was the first time we had been to Galveston since Ike hit last September. I can’t get used to the new causeway, either. There are still boats in odd places. We only drove up 61st street and the Seawall then to the Strand and back up Broadway, so we didn’t see a lot of the neighborhoods. Everything along the Seawall from 61st to 21st looks pretty good, except for everything that was out over the water and washed away. The 61st street fishing pier is gone. The Flagship hotel still has damage, and Hooter’s (which will probably always be The Ocean Grill to me) is gone.
They have started rebuilding Murdoch’s Bathhouse.
There is only a tiny bit of the entryway left of the Balinese Room.
It looked like most places downtown had reopened. The ANICO building still looks the same. Rudy and Paco’s looks very different from the outside. Driving down the Strand, we were able to see the rust on some of the buildings. And, I made Bill drive by Ashton Villa, where we were married. It had damage on the inside, but still looks good from the outside.
After Galveston, we headed back home. We drove through a horrible thunderstorm in Dickinson and League City. Hannah slept most of the way home, since she didn’t get much sleep while we were gone. Zachary got tired of riding about Ennis, so we had to listen to him complain the rest of the way home.
May 27th, 2009 in
galveston |
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I finally have a little time to write about Zachary. We had his birthday party on Saturday afternoon. Hannah had a soccer game at 11, and they were also having a kid’s fair at the soccer fields. Zachary got to see some horses, a Careflite helicopter take off just across the soccer field from us, and Sparky from TMS.
After the soccer game, we went out for lunch. Zachary drank all of his milk and tried to get the waitress to get him a refill. When she walked by, he looked at her, pointed at his cup, and said “More.” She didn’t realize he was talking to her, though. While we were eating, I recalled another time all of us had eaten at the same restaurant before one of Hannah’s birthday parties, when Zachary was 6 months old. He fell asleep in the highchair and when I picked him up, he had soaked through his pants. About the same time I was thinking about this, Uncle Alan decided to mess with Zachary, which caused Zachary and his booster seat to turn on their sides in the chair. I managed to catch him by his head, but I had trouble getting him right-side-up in the chair, so I picked him up. And, what do you know? He had soaked through his pants again. So, I took him to the restaurant to change him and realized I didn’t have a change of pants with me. So, Zachary left the restaurant in a shirt, diaper, socks, and shoes. Bill made the comment that he looked really classy.
After a short nap, we had cake and presents. I made a Cars cake.
Zachary didn’t seem too excited about his Cars cake, and even less excited when Hannah decided she needed to be in the picture with him.
Zachary got more Cars and some trains.
After he opened his presents, the kids played with the party favors.
Ignore the dead plants in the background.
On Wednesday, Zachary went for his two-year checkup. He is 36.75″ tall and weighs 31 pounds 10 ounces.
It’s hard to believe my baby boy is 2 today. His birthday party was Saturday. He got cars, trains, and animals – all of his favorites. I’ll post pictures later; I haven’t transferred them from my camera, yet. So, here’s a picture of the birthday boy from Sears, where I took both kids for pictures on Sunday.
April 28th, 2009 in
zachary |
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We spent the day in De Leon. The kids had an Easter egg hunt with their cousins. This picture of all four cousins was difficult to get. They didn’t want to look at the camera at the same time.
Interview with Hannah, age 6
1. What is something your mom always says to you?
Be good
2. What makes mom happy?
When you don’t argue back
3. What makes mom sad?
When i don’t listen
4. What does your mom do to make you laugh?
When she says something funny
5. Who are your mom’s closest friends?
Grandma and Papa
6. How old is your mom?
34
7. How tall is your mom?
Taller than me
8. What is Mom’s favorite thing to do?
Work
9. What does your mom do when you’re not around?
Go to school
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
I don’t know
11. What is your mom really good at?
Writing
12. What is your mom not very good at?
Drawing
13. What does your mom do for her job?
Work on computers
14. What is your mom’s favorite food?
Vegetables - She really doesn’t know me at all
15. What makes you proud of your mom?
When you hug me
16. Who is your mom’s favorite cartoon character?
I don’t know
17. What do you and your mom do together?
We both play on the computer sometimes
18. How are you and your mom the same?
We both paint our nails
19. How are you and your mom different?
Her hair is long and mine is curly
20. How do you know your Mom loves you?
When she says it
21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
He likes to read like mom
22. Where is your mom’s favorite place to go?
Out to eat - Hannah seemed to think “out to eat” was a place until she was 3 or 4.
23. What does your mom like most about you?
When i love her
24. If you could buy any present in the world for your mom, what would it be?
A cat calendar
Since Hannah is on spring break this week, daycare has planned different activities for the school-age kids each day. Today was “Crazy Day”, where they all dressed up in crazy, mis-matched outfits. Here is what Hannah wore.
March 16th, 2009 in
hannah |
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I was sick all weekend, which led to some not so clear thinking on my part. This could be bad, because I had an economics final over the weekend; I hope my answers were coherent enough for a decent grade. I’m feeling better today, but that could just be the DayQuil talking.
During my foggy weekend, I decided Zachary needed new shoes. His old ones were starting to look pretty ratty, and his toes were about to run out of room. While we were at Wal-Mart on Saturday, we got him size 8 of the same Cars shoes he already had. Having Cars shoes seems to be the only way to avoid him wanting to wear his Cars pajamas everyday. While we were in the store, he tried on the right shoe; it fit ok, so he didn’t try on the left shoe. When we got home, Zachary took the new shoes out of the shopping bag and box, and put the new shoes up in his cubby. Then, he put the old shoes back in the box. I made sure they were, in fact, the old ones and threw them away. I never looked at the new shoes until this morning. I got them out of the cubby and was about to cut the tag off when I realized we had one size 8 and one size 7. At first, I thought we had thrown one of the new shoes away, but both of these had clearly not been worn. Luckily, the shoe box was on top of the recycle bin, so we still had it. The only other shoes Zachary had that still fit were some sandals, and they are not allowed to wear sandals to daycare. So, Bill took him to daycare as usual so he could eat breakfast, and I took an early morning trip to a different Wal-Mart to buy more shoes. I made sure these were both size 8 before I left the store. Then, I had to drive to daycare and change Zachary’s shoes before I went to work.
In other shoes news, Hannah really wants some boots. Kindergarten had “Rodeo Day” at school last week, and she was a little upset she didn’t have any boots to wear. She did have a hat, so that kept her from being too upset over the boots. I should have taken a picture of the stick horse we made before she took it to school; it lost its head on the way home Friday.
February 23rd, 2009 in
hannah,
zachary |
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This is a survey for all of you married folk.
Fill it out & don’t forget to tag other married couples on your friend list. Don’t forget to tag back the person that sent it to you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. When was your wedding day? May 22, 1999
2. What day of the week was it? Saturday
3. Did you get married in a church? No, we got married in Ashton Villa.
4. How many in your wedding party? Just 2 – Kim and Aaron
5. What happened to 5?
6. How many guests were invited to your wedding? Not sure, about 50.
7. How long did you wait to Tie The Knot after your proposal? Almost 2 years.
8. Who did you hire as your photographer & videographer? James Morrison was the photographer; no videographer.
9. Did you have a DJ or a band? No
10. Did your father walk you down the aisle? Yes
11. What color were the bridesmaid dresses & groomsmen vests? navy dress and black vest
12. Who was your Maid Of Honor/Best Man? Kim and Aaron
13. Did you have a Bridal Shower? Yes
14. What type of limo did you get? No limo
15. Where did you go for your Bachelorette/Bachelor Party? Bacelorette party at City Streets in Houston.
16. What type of wedding gown/tux did you two wear? My gown was white A-line with short sleaves and a short train. Bill’s tux was black.
17. How was the weather? Hot and humid – It was late May in Galveston.
18. Where did you go on your Honeymoon? Las Vegas
19. What was your favorite part of your wedding day? I was just relieved when it was all over. We were surprised with the Aggie War Hymn when we left the reception.
20. How long have you been married? It will be 10 years in May.
February 19th, 2009 in
wedding |
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Answer one word only– Not as easy as you might think! Now copy and paste this to a note and tag your friends to see what they can come up with! Enjoy!
Where is your cell phone? purse
Your significant other/spouse? Bill
Your hair? brown
Your mother? Sharon
Your father? Sam
Your favorite thing? kids
Your dream last night? volleyball
Your favorite drink? Shiner
Your dream/goal? quiet
What room are you in? dining
Your hobby? many
Your fear? spiders
Where were you last night? home
Something that you aren’t? skinny
Muffins? warm
Wish list item? kitchen
Last thing you did? shower
What are you wearing? pajamas
TV? off
Your pet? Gus
Friends? many
Your life? good
Your mood? happy
Missing someone? Grandma
Drinking? later
Your car? Explorer
Something you’re not wearing? shoes
Your favorite store? online
Your favorite color? blue
When is the last time you cried? ?
Who will resend this? ?
My favorite place to eat? Fresco’s
Favorite place I’d like to be right now? Seattle
February 7th, 2009 in
Uncategorized |
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When I found out I was required to take and economics course for my masters, I was less than enthused. I had two undergraduate economics classes and didn’t find either one of them very interesting. In fact, all I remember about one of them is butter; the professor liked to use butter as his example on nearly every supply and demand curve. However, this graduate class has been pretty interesting. Maybe it’s the professor, maybe it’s the class discussions, maybe it’s that economics is very much in the news right now, or maybe it’s a combination of all of them. Anyway, it is very interesting, and it will be interesting to see what happens with the stimulus and bailout plans.
Sunday afternoon was absolutely beautiful, so I took Hannah and Zachary outside to play. Hannah met two girls that moved onto our street several months ago. They rode their bikes together while I alternated between pulling Zachary in his wagon and pushing him on Hannah’s old tricycle, which is now his. He seems to prefer the tricycle. I preferred the wagon, because it didn’t hurt my back. The girls invited Hannah to jump on their trampoline, and Zachary really wanted to get on it, too. But, I figured he would find someway to go flying off of it, like he did from the sofa in December. I didn’t worry too much about Hannah getting hurt, because I figured she would be too scared to try much, and I was right.
Zachary found another way to injure himself, since I wouldn’t let him jump on the trampoline. After the trampoline, the girls came over to our house to play, and I started cooking dinner and noticed Zachary in the pantry. Usually, he just grabs his beloved applesauce, announces “apple”, and runs off with it. But, I noticed he was reaching for the canned beans, which were stacked two cans high. I yelled “no” and ran for him, but it was too late; he pulled the cans down and hit himself right below the eye. He has a small cut and a bruise, but seems to be okay. We hope he scared himself enough that he won’t try that again for a while, and I’m trying to make sure the pantry door stays closed.
