Sunday, July 30, 2006

Shamu

We went to Seaworld SA today with nannie, papaw, Am, Em, Harmony & Janice. It was a blast. Had no idea until just before we got on to the Steel Eel that Amberlin had never ridden a non-kiddie roller coaster; what a roller coaster for your first one! We caught lots of air. I tell you I was a little scared too looking over the side when you are over the trees and you are only halfway up. It was a blast but am exhausted.
Here's a little blurb from the Seaworld webpage about the Steel Eel: "Steel Eel"
SeaWorld San Antonio boasts the Southwest's first hypercoaster, the "Steel Eel", with its pulse-pounding, 15-story initial drop, speeds of almost 65 mph and non-stop peaks, valleys and camelbacks that create maximum "air time," or weightlessness - a hypercoaster's signature feature. This "eel-lectrifying," state-of-the-art coaster zooms along 3,700 feet of track and covers the serpentine route in two minutes.
Am was quite a trooper as afterwards she decided we could also ride the Great White:
Texas' first inverted steel roller coaster! You'll dangle your legs from ski-lift-style seats and go heels-over-head five times during more than 2,500 feet of breathtaking loops, corkscrews and other thrilling maneuvers at speeds of almost 50 mph! The multi-million-dollar ride also was the first coaster ever built at a SeaWorld Adventure Park. The Great White was more fun in Amberlin's opinion.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

from the back yard

While finishing up the dishes tonight I spied a beautiful sunset out the kitchen window. So I opened the door and walked into the backyard to spy one of those Texas gorgeous sunsets. I called for Trey and Danielle to come see. We enjoyed about a minute when I decided to run and get the camera. I literally RAN to get the camera and was gone all of 20 seconds; when I came back out it was already faded. Within another minute it was gone . . . So we checked out the garden and 1 of 2 baby eggplants growing and picked a few of the ripe tomatoes. Danielle took this tomato photo.

and now . . .

a tirade about my day at work @^%#*#*#**@^*#&@&**@B!^*N*#N@&^B*(NQ* UWYU^W*^#&*@^@&&@(&*&(I^%#^#(&@&@&^*(*(*^)()()&*)_OYI&V@%%^@V^@^U&*^&@&^#^*#*&@&^#*^!!$#!$##%!$!^&Q%%&!^*^%#%&@)(&%!@!%$O@Q%$I)@%&)!I&%!)I&%!I&$!I)&I!)I!$^#*!^$)*%!*Q&BU %)&*&^BIB&)^NB@*I^N*K)*B@NIB^*)K*B@

UGH!!!

On another note . .. . should your day require a drink after work and you are in the SW Austin area, Abuello's (sp?) in the former movie theatre spot at Barton Creek mall parking lot has some very good drinks for the money you just earned. Wed evening the house margaritas (which are also quite good melted) are only $2.50 and regular happy hour is $1.00 off drinks. I had the biggest Mind Eraser I've ever had for $4.50.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Netflix

After spending around $20 at Blockbuster this weekend--for 2 rentals and old "restocking" fees (They aren't "late" fees you know) Trey and I decided to give Netflix a try. Our first 2 DVDs arrived today so we watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang during dinner. Once Danielle goes to sleep we've got Walk the Line for us. Our list of movies to watch is almost 200 long. It's amazing how many movies you miss when you've got a kid at home and don't get to go out much! :-)

connor

My auntie sent link to photos of my cousin, Mark & Tiff's boy, Connor.





They live in Nebraska. Their zoo looks incredible. I think Danielle will be jealous when she sees thisphoto with the Hippo statue.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Am & Em & random . . .

Our precious neices are on their way to Texas for a week. They will be with Nannie & Papaw until this weekend. Then we'll have them Sunday night and Monday. Danielle is so excited and has asked a million times "when are Amberlin and Emory going to get here?"

Danielle is feeling better but is on stronger antibiotics as she has ear infections. Ear infections while on antibiotics!!!! Trey stayed home with her today (he's under the weather too) and they did lots of art projects.

Saturday we watched Cari at her gymnastics showcase. Here's a cute photo:

lol

Sunday, July 23, 2006

fever broke . . .

Danielle's fever broke--at least artificially--but she is back to playing so we'll hope it lasts. Trey still feels badly and will stay home tomorrow.

boo bear

My poor little boo bear is sick--her fever spiked at 103 last night but has been down around 102 most of today. She has dr appt tomorrow. Trey is also sick...extreme Mom guilt for working...

Friday, July 21, 2006

Children in church

These came in one of those forwarded email loops but I thought they were funny enough to share . . .
A little boy was in a relative's wedding. As he was coming down the aisle, he would take two steps, stop, and turn to the crowd. While facing the crowd, he would put his hands up like claws and roar. So it went, step, step, ROAR, step, step, ROAR, all the way down the aisle. As you can imagine, the crowd was near tears from laughing so hard by the time he reached the pulpit. When asked what he was doing, the child sniffed and said, "I was being the Ring Bear."---------------------------- One Sunday in a Midwest City, a young child was "acting up" during the morning worship hour. The parents did their best to maintain some sense of order in the pew but were losing the battle. Finally, the father picked the little fellow up and walked sternly up the aisle on his way out.
Just before reaching the safety of the foyer, the little one called loudly to the congregation, "Pray for me! Pray for me!"--------------------------------------------------------------- One particular four-year old prayed, "And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."--------------------------------------------------------------- A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't ! worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am."--------------------------------------------------------------- A Sunday School teacher asked her little children, as they were on the way to church service, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?"One bright little girl replied, "Because people are sleeping."--------------------------------------------------------------- A little boy opened the big and old family Bible with fascination, looking at the old pages as he turned them. Then something fell out of the Bible. He picked it up and looked at it closely. It was an old leaf from a tree that has been pressed in between the pages. "Mama, look what I found," the boy called out."What have you got there, dear?" his mother asked.With astonishment in the young boy's voice he answered, "It's Adam's suit".--------------------------------------------------------------- The preacher was wired for sound with a lapel mike, and as he preached, he moved briskly about the platform, jerking the mike cord as he went.Then he moved to one side, getting wound up in the cord and nearly tripping before jerking it again.
After several circles and jerks, a little girl in the third pew leaned toward her mother and whispered, "If he gets loose, will he hurt us?"
--------------------------------------------------------------- Six-year old Angie, and her four-year old brother, Joel, were sitting together in church. Joel giggled, sang and talked out loud. Finally, his big sister had enough. "You're not supposed to talk out loud in church.""Why? Who's going to stop me?" Joel asked.Angie pointed to the back of the church and said, "See those two men standing by the door? They're hushers."--------------------------------------------------------------- My grandson was visiting one day when he asked , "Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?"I mentally polished my halo, while I asked, "No, how are we alike?""You're both old," he replied.--------------------------------------------------------------- A ten-year old, under the tutelage of her grandmother, was becoming quite knowledgeable about the Bible. Then, one day, she floored her grandmother by asking, "Which Virgin was the mother of Jesus? The Virgin Mary or the King James Virgin?"--------------------------------------------------------------- A Sunday school class was studying the Ten Commandments. They were ready to discuss the last one. The teacher asked if anyone could tell her what it was. Susie raised her hand, stood tall, and quoted, "Thou shall not take the covers off the neighbor's wife."

Monday, July 17, 2006

Mr Lewis & the Funeral Five

Our buddy Dave is a rock star:

http://www.dtweekend.com/071306/murderballads.php

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Fiesta Texas

Friday night we went down to SA then joined our friends, the Beamans, for Fiesta Texas today. We had a lot of fun but there are some definite improvements Fiesta Texas could make. Trey and Bob both think Disney could give them a few customer service lessons. But, all in all, it was fun for teenagers Brian and David and fun and memorable for Cari & Danielle.
Here's a few photos:










Boycott amazon.com & toysrus.com

In May I ordered something from toysrus.com, who is partnered with amazon.com, for my nephew, Kyle. I was getting antsy because it was JULY and though it was indicated to be delivered in July so I checked on it. This is the crappy response I got:

Thank you for writing to us at Amazon.com.Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.We've checked on the availability of Sunny Time Adirondack Chair. At this time, it appears that it will not be available for shipping from the co-branded Amazon.com/Toysrus.com store. Because of this, we have cancelled the item from your order for you. We apologize for the inconvenience.During the change in the relationship between Amazon.com and Toysrus.com, inventory and availability estimates can change very rapidly from one day to the next. Unfortunately, in spite of all of our efforts, there will be some unforeseen fluctuations in our availability estimates.When payment for an order is not completed, for example, if the credit card is declined, the cancelled order will not appear in Your Account.If you require to contact us again, please send us an e-mail via this online form: xxxxxx

I've spent a lot at both places in the last few years--will be boycotting them from now on . . .

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Artichoke and Green Chili Dip

Arlene from my UMW Circle group served the most incredible dip last Tuesday evening; she said I was free to share--here ya go:

Artichoke and Green Chili Dip (Sandy Theis)
8 oz. cream cheese (neufwhatever or reg. is good), room temperature
up to 1 cup (usually 3/4 cup or as much as you like) light mayonnaise
14 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
7 oz. can chopped green chilies with liquid

Chop drained hearts and mix in all ingredients. Chill. Serve with pretzels, Dorito multi-grain chips, etc.

Happy Birthday, Danielle!

Can hardly believe that 4 years ago today our precious baby girl was born. Happy birthday, BooBear.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Danielle's 2nd cousins


Here's a recent photo of Danielle's 2nd cousins. Four boys and the youngest the little baby girl! I hope we get to visit them soon . . .

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

nice . . .

nice . . . just when I was thinking we had a little extra savings to kick around I find out that stylin' Grand Marquis of mine needs quite a bit of work. Of course, just the computer diagnosis alone is around 100 bucks. I about fainted when the guy told me the total of all "proposed" repairs. It's more than our monthly mortgage. Called Trey and he said to only do the top 3 things. Still high but quite a bit but better than all 6. Ugh!

5 second rule

In looking up something about children's health I ran across this article; Is food really safe to eat off after it's been on the floor? http://www.webmd.com/content/article/124/115555.htm

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Danielle's 4th birthday party.

Below you will find many photos from Danielle's birthday party. It was a pirate theme--argh! Trey had a blast making the invitation and the cake. (Thanks, Gretchen and Amberlin, the original pirate theme and treasure chest cake makers; would've loved to have y'all, Emory, Addison and Uncle Dan here in the puffy shirt too . . . )


Thank you to everyone who made Danielle's 4th birthday so memorable; we love you all.

In attempting to create some kind of warm marshmallow frosting Trey did this to my blender and then left the house to buy icing. In cleaning up I reached up to unhook and couldn't find the top of the whisk to detach. Needless to say, no marshmallow frosting made it to the cake. He's lucky it all eventually came off--thanks to my mom!