Campin' and Fishin' (with LOTS of Mosquitoes!)

We went out to Lake Livingston this weekend with Joshua's Cub Scout Troop.  There was the usual setting up of tents, sleeping bags, nature hike, campfire activities, etc. along with LOTS of mosquitoes. 

Let me say that again.  There were LOTS of mosquitoes! 

Seriously people.  These suckers were as big as your head.  They bit through our pants and shirts.  They mangaged to find that one place, no bigger than a couple square inches, that didn't get bug spray.  And they didnt' wait until dusk.  When they found out we were coming, they honed in on our campsite and started feasting from 2:00 PM on.  Sunday was no day of rest for them either...they were out and about when we started breaking down gear right after breakfast. 

Well sure...they went after everyone else too.  Bug spray with Deet was liquid gold this weekend.  That Avon stuff didn't do a thing for those who tried it.  'Course, if you live in Texas like we do, you knew that already. 

Thankfully the kids didn't complain too much.  Especially after getting bug spray 3 or 4 times over a 24 hour period.. 

Here's some of the highlights!

Nature hike with a park ranger:

Playing around with my camera along the way:

Our campsite.  I always laugh because we have to bring a tent big enough for six...everyone else brings much smaller tents. 

That night, we had silver turtles for dinner, s'mores, skits, and retired two old flags by holding a brief ceremony and buring them in the campfire. 

I actually slept pretty good this time.  Last time we went camping, Rebecca had a bike accident, and we ended up at the local ER until midnight.  By then, my adrenaline had been in overdrive for hours, and I just couldn't fall asleep until about 2:00 AM. 

Rebecca and Christina were up first next morning, the boys all slept until about 7:15.  We had doughnuts for breakfast.  I know...y'all were expecting me to fire up the campstove and cook, but it just involves too much work, and the kids are too hungry to wait very long.  Camping makes 'em hungry, you know? 

The definite highlight of the weekend was fishing at the lake.  We went right after breakfast.  Either the fish are really hungry, or very well-trained.  Joshua, Rebecca, and Christina each caught 3 fish!  They were just little perch and had to be thrown back in, but still, the kids were thrilled. 

Like any proud parent, I had to take pics after each catch...here's a few: 

Gabriel was very curious, and wanted to fish too...but sharp little fishing hooks and 2-year-olds don't mix. 

 He was content to walk up and down the dock with me...

and say hi to all the ducks. 

We had already packed everything up before heading to the lake, so after fishing, we headed home.  It rained on the way...which worried me because we'd taken the truck.  Luckily, nothing was soaked through, and most everything was in large garbage bags...I knew I'd have enough laundry to do without the mess of drying and airing out 6 sleeping bags and 6 pillows. 

Speaking of laundry, I've got to go put it all away now.  I started last night, and finished up early this morning.  Sigh...maybe I'll take a nap.  Camping makes Momma tired!

Trick or Treat!

It's time to put on costumes...

It's time to dress up right...

It's time to get things started...

'Cause it's Halloween tonight! 

(anyone guess the tune?  It's from The Muppet Show). 

Okay...let's introduce this year's cast of characters!

We have Joshua as Batman.

Rebecca is a leopard. 

 Christina is a cheerleader from HSM.

And Gabriel as a Texas A&M football player (I made this for Joshua when he was 2.5). 

Thank God the Aggies won last week AND today's game, or Gabriel would have to wear his Aggie Football costume in disgrace.  And I really didn't want to put him through that.  

Aw...aren't they cute?  I just want to eat 'em up!  (Well...maybe not, I'll save room for candy later ;-).

This year, Joshua was invited to go trick-or-treating with a friend who lives on the other side of our subdivision.  Thankfully, he came home with about the same amount of candy as the other kids. 

I loved Halloween as a kid.  Growing up an Army brat and living on military bases had one great benefit on Halloween.  We had free run of the base, and didn't worry about our safetly, because everyone knew each other, esepecially since our Dad was an officer.  So we'd be out for hours, making sure to hit every last house.  I distinctly remember using the large brown paper grocery bags with handles, and coming home with it full to the top.   Man...it was fun.

The weather tonight was perfect.  I mean, for Houston, it was as good as it gets.  Clear, cold (well...cold for us anyway, about 55 degrees), with just a hint of wind...perfect for trick-or-treating. 

Gabriel really got into trick-or-treating this year.  Most 2-year-olds don't turn down free candy you know.  The hard part is keeping him from eating as we're collecting it, LOL. 

Once we got home, we sorted the loot...

the kids noshed on their favorite selections, and settled back to watch It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.  We have to watch it every year...it's tradition.

Ah...the kids are in bed.  Time for me to go pick out what I want.  Hmm...Almond Joy...that looks good...Reese's peanut butter cup...yep, I'll take that too.  Wait, dark chocolate M&M's...can't past that up...ah...the spoils!

Excuse me please while I go indulge my inner child.  HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Fun Times

Last year, one of our neighbors set up an LCD projector and DVD player in his driveway, and invited all the kids over for a movie and popcorn.  He used his garage door as a backdrop for the movie.  Everyone thought it was a great idea. 

We're having our second annual block party next weekend, and offered our driveway for the evening movie.  David decided we should have a test run with our projector.  This was last Sunday night, and the kids begged to watch a movie.  Being the responsible parents we are, we told them, "not tonight, you have school tomorrow, but you can watch something next weekend." 

Of course, the kids never forget a promise, so David set up the equipment tonight, and the kids are outside enjoying Animaniacs along with popcorn, hot cocoa, and Kool-aid.  It's a perfect night for a movie, clear, cool, (dare I say, "cold") and there's a full moon.  Ah...the memories we're making for the kids :-). 

What's Next?

We've had a slew of things breaking in and outside our house lately.  Is there some proven fact when a house is 5.5 years old it decides to start coming apart?  Well okay...not really, but seriously people...I am starting to wonder what's next.

It started with my laptop.  The monitor has been sputtering lately, and 3 weeks ago, it went out for good. 

David is pretty sure it's a broken cable inside the hinge.  I now have it plugged into our main computer's monitor...but every time we unplug the laptop so David can use his computer, my monitor won't recognize the connection when we plug it back it...so I have to reboot the laptop.  Very, very annoying to say the least.  Not to mention the fact I can't cart the laptop around the house anymore...I am chained to a desk. Boo hoo.  I've been spoiled...I know.

There are 2 cracks in my stone countertop...one is only about 6 inches long, but the other one radiates right from the corner of the cooktop and goes out nearly 14 inches.  I am very dismayed by this...it probably means the countertop needs more support from underneath the island.  And when my awesome but very busy hubby can get to it...who knows. 

I know you can't see it...but it's there.  Sigh.

In all truth, the most concerning issue is the washing machine. 

About 2 years ago...it started to leave rust stains on our clothes.  We can't be certain it isn't the dryer, but I've figured out if I leave the lid open after the last load on laundry days, it takes care of the problem.  Within the last 6 months, the agitator has acted up, and once it stopped working completely..then decided to start up again.  It's almost 11 years old, so we know it's time may be coming.  David says if it goes out, there's a laundromat just down the street.  I told him to go "you know what."  There will no trips to a laundromat in my future...not if I have anything to say about it.  No way. 

Let's see, what's next?  Oh yes.  Two weeks ago, we discovered the kitchen sink was leaking...and the cabinet underneath was soaking wet. 

It took David most of one Saturday, and 2 trips to Home Depot...but he fixed it.  He's awesome like that.

If only the garage door had been that easy.  It started acting up 3 weeks before the faucet repair.  David worked on it 2x, and it still wasn't quite right. 

My father-in-law was kind enough to work on it while we were gone to San Antonio on our vacation earlier this month.  It worked for a couple of days, and then jammed again one morning.  I had to maually shove it up as hard as I could so I could get the van out to take Gabriel to MDO.  David gave it another go last weekend, so we'll see how long it holds out. 

Hmm...I know there's one more thing. 

No, it's not Gabriel.  But don't you just LOVE the Elmo pajamas?  "I got it at ROSS."  (Oh, and a pair of Cookie Monster pajamas too).   

Oh, yes...the lock on the back door was so stiff, I had to use both hands to lock it...and a key of course.  David sprayed the inside of the lock with powdered graphite, and now it works great. 

Are y'all noticing a common theme here?  Something breaks, David fixes it.  Yeah...he's great :-).  Heaven only know how much money we've saved over the years by fixing it ourselves instead of calling a repairman.  And yes, he's been hired out by me, free of charge, to our friends who needed some help getting their homes ready to sell.

Oh...I even fixed something myself just this morning!  The printer wasn't feeding paper correctly, so the last few times we've printed something out, the text came out crooked. 

But, I looked at it, saw the problem and adjusted the lever for the paper size... and voila!  I know I'm not as talented as my husband, but I'd like to spare him any more repair jobs for a while if I can. 

God must be chuckling right now up in heaven.  He knows one of my pet peeves is things breaking...especially if I can't fix it myself.  I am not patient, and sometimes can't undestand why it takes David forever to fix something.  I get frustrated very quickly, and resent the time it takes to fix the problem.  I need more faith...and try to go with the flow when the unexpected happens.  Sigh...and even when things break...it's not the end of the world, right? 

Well...I'm going to go finish the laundry.  Hopefully the washer feels like cooperating. 

Just the Two of Us

This past weekend, David and I were able to go on vacation to San Antonio.  No kids (thanks to Grandpa and Grandma), no real schedule, and 3 days all to ourselves.

So, what do two people do on a weekend away?

First, you go garage sale shopping.  (seriously?)

Yes!  The King William District was having it's annual garage sale that Saturday.  We are not ashamed to say we love a good garage sale.  You never know what you'll find.  And guess what I found? 

A bicycle.  I really did!  A Schwinn 12 speed...in my favorite color, PURPLE.  The owner wanted $50 for it, but we bargained and paid only $35 for it.  Now I finally have a bike and can go bike riding with the kids around the neighborhood lake. 

SWEET! 

Before I go any further, I must say the B&B we stayed at was wonderful.  Rex and Jay were our hosts at King William Home; they were so gracious...and good storytellers.  Next time you see me, I'll tell you how they found a time capsule in their house...no kidding.  (Oh, and the house if for sale, if you're in the market for a really gorgeous B&B ;-).   
Next,  a visit to the Alamo...I've lived in Texas for 15 years and hadn't been yet.   Sorry. 

Then we stumbled onto a street festival featuring chalk art.  Interesting. 

Next was lunch with my Granparents at the retirement center.  We were actually able to have a leisurely lunch with decent conversation.  Usually the kids are with us and we're just trying to get through the meal without a disaster. 

The rest of the afternoon, we went Spanish Mission hopping.  San Antonio has 5 missions, all established in the first half of the 1700's.  We had already started with San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo), and after lunch we went to Concepcion...

San Jose...

and San Juan. 

The missions close at 5 PM, so we didn't make it to the last one, Espada.  I borrowed this pic from Google.

We went back to the Riverwalk for dinner and ice cream.  Did I mention I had ice cream every night we were in San Antonio?  Yep...I did.  I walked off some of it ;-). 

There's an ampitheater along one end of the Riverwalk, and they were hosting an International Accordian Festival.  We listened to some great music there, at the stage in La Villita, and even got to dance a little. 

Then it was back to the B&B for some wine, conversation with Rex and Jay, and off to bed.

The next morning, we had breakfast and went to Mass at Mission San Jose at 12 noon.  They had a mariachi band, and it was a neat experience.  They sang everything in Spanish (of course), and played special songs after mass for those celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. 

We wanted to eat lunch at San Antonio's #1 burger joint, Chris Madrid's.  But it was closed :-(.  So we tried #2 on the list...it was closed too.  By now, I was really hungry, so we ended up at Chester's Burgers.  It was fair...honestly, I was hungry enough to eat anything.  I will say their chocolate milkshake was darn good. 

After that lunch fiasco, we went shopping at El Mercado, the largest Mexican market outside of Mexico.  Most of it is indoors, so despite the rain outside, we were able to browse leisurely at all kinds of handmade items from Mexico...pottery, figurines, ponchos, leather goods, and yes...even kitchen sinks (although they were way too pretty to use in the kitchen; I'd recommend the powder room instead).  We bought stuff for the kids and a leather fanny pack for David's parents.  David tried on cowboy hats...but I talked him out of it.  He did buy a handmade chalice--he wants to use it as a Blessing Cup for our family.  I got a 9-piece Nativity set from Peru, and a handpainted serving bowl.  Now I have to research a good recipe for chicken mole, or something like that :-). 

Back to the Riverwalk to listen to more good music, and finally decided on Luciano's for dinner.  It was SO good y'all.  David and I split an order of seafood pasta, and we still couldn't finish it...the portions were that big.  Of course, I got ice cream afterwards at an ice cream shop...Mexican chocolate with cinammon (makes me want to add cinammon to chocolate ice cream from now on).

It was getting late, so we head back to the B&B.  Next morning we went to San Fernando Cathedral...it was incredible.  I wish I could go to mass in such a beautiful church every day.

David and I sat in the sanctuary for a few minutes, taking in the beauty of that cathedral.  I prayed for all the intentions of every person I knew who needed prayers, so if you are reading this...you were included. 

It was almost time for us to hit the road, but David wanted to take one of those Riverwalk boat tours.  I said,

"Do you really want to do something so touristy?"  And he said, "Yeah, I do!"
All right...and it was a bit silly to me, but I did enjoy hearing about all the history surrounding the Riverwalk, the different buildings, etc.  I love history (I always read the entire history book in school by Christmas). 

Last stop that day was Taco Haven.  This place was insanely good...with REAL homemade tortillas. 

I had one bean and cheese taco with bacon, one chicken fajita taco, and one pork carnita taco.  All of them were delish.  I was full...but not too full to get an apple empanada to go (David got a pineapple one). 

We drove home in pouring rain and horrid traffic, but the kids pounced on us when we walked in the door, demanding hugs, and their presents (not necessarily in that order).  It was good to be home. 

I would have loved one more day to eat some more, but we were grateful to have our first vacation in 3 1/2 years.  I'm sure it will be at least that long before our next one. 

"Got a Little Story for Ya Ags"

Brad Blauser is an Aggie...and you can vote for him on CNN's website

Today...

is better than yesterday.

Yesterday, Christina was home sick because she had a fever on Sunday.  She played nicely with Gabriel all morning while I made lunch for the Legionnarie of Christ priests here in town (which was delivered today). 

All was going merrily until 2:30, when the school called.  Rebecca was hanging out in the nurse's office, complaining of a headache, and a low-grade fever of 99.6. 

I ran to my neighbor's house to see if anyone could watch the two little ones sound asleep in their beds while I ran to the school to get Rebecca.  No such luck.  So I had to scoop Christina and Gabriel right outta bed and drive to the school.  Luckily, the nurse brought Rebecca right to the van for me...which was great, since Gabriel had no bottoms on, and neither of them had shoes. 

I still had a cake to make for the priests.  So I got that in the oven, finished the chili and put it in the crock pot, and the bread was already done and out of the bread machine.  I figured I had a handle on things.

Pretty soon though, my rosy day turned sour, and then took a nosedive straight into terrible.  Gabriel has the bladder control down pat, but not the bowel part.  He had fiber in his dinner the previous night, and I am sure that is why he had 8 poopie accidents all over the house...2 of them not on tile...but on carpet.  Sigh...

The kids starting fighting, and really didn't stop until bedtime.  They argued over every little thing...I tried to just ignore it...realizing that 2 cranky, sick little girls were grating on all of our nerves.  At one point, peace was resorted for a while when Rebecca and Christina got out markers and coloring books...but Christina got a hold of a permanent blue marker and colored ON MY LAPTOP.  The aforesaid blue marker had been taken away 2x that day already...so the previously mentioned child got a spanking.  Yes sir, she did.  After than, and a dreadful scolding, the marker thankfully came off with a generous application of nail polish remover. 

I decided the kids needed a chore to do...and I needed a break from them.  So I send them upstairs to clean up the gameroom.  Rebecca was putting the kiddie table and chairs together, pulled the cord on the LCD projector from its perch on a shelf above the table, and it came crashing down on her hand.  Ouch.  Of course, she screamed bloody murder, which scared poor Gabriel half to death, so he started screaming too.  I was trying to nurse one crying child, hold a toddler, and get dinner on the table.  Dinner had to wait, even though it was already done...the crockpot is great at waiting. 

My dear hubby walks in just as we are finally sitting down to eat, at the rather late hour of 6:45.  The first thing he asks if if the LCD projector still works.  I tried to remember that it's an expensive piece of equipment, and we need it for our NFP class Friday night, so of course that is the first thing he would say.  And I know I didn't have to get up from the table and go and check it...but I did.  I admit it...I didn't walk, I stormed up the stairs...and yes...it still worked.

I didn't even feel like eating dinner....I just bawled instead, my chili got cold...Rebecca tried to cheer me up, but it was too late...I'd already lost it...after trying so hard not to all day. 

Okay...deep breath...in...out...again.

I pulled myself together, ate dinner, hugged my kiddos, told Rebecca thank you for trying to make me smile, kissed my hubby, cleaned up the kitchen, swept the floor, helped David get the kids to bed, made lunches for the next day, sorted a mountain of laundry, said my prayers, and collapsed into bed.

Both the girls got up at 3:30 AM with fevers...so they were both home today.  All has been well, minimal fighting...both took naps (Rebecca had quiet time), Gabriel took a nap, and Mommy got a nap too. 

Bad days are just that...bad.  Yesterday was exceptionally bad. 

But I have to remind myself...after a REALLY bad day, the next day is always better.  And the sun always come out...it did today.  And God still loves me...even after losing my temper big time yesterday. 

Thank you Lord, for the better days.