I'm Two!

Where to start....

I have been so bad about taking pictures the past couple weeks. Everytime I remember my camera we are usually on another lake, river or pool trip. And, really, how many more pictures of the boys in swimsuits and life jackets this summer do I need? I'm looking forward to the season change and new photo ops. Maybe you will even get to see my kids (and Greg for that matter) with shirts on! The boys and I have made several trips to the pool and went on some outings with friends. The boys have turned into total water bugs. A couple weeks ago we were at the pool. The three of us were in the big pool- Noah had his life jacket on and Wyatt had arm floaties. I was tryin got teach Wyatt how to float on his back. Noah, a little jealous I think, asked me to teach him how to swim. I told him I couldn't until he was able to totally go under water, which he has always been scared to do. I don't know what got in to him, but that very second he climbed out of the pool, shed his life jacket and jumped in. He hit the bottom (it was only 3.5') and bounced up, treading. So now he is a fish. He jumps in and out the shallow area with no flotation and jumps in the deep area with his jacket on. It is great. He has so much more fun in the pool now and I don't have to be there to catch him! Well, not wanting to be outdone by his brother, Wyatt jumped in. He has floaties but he jumps in, goes under and bobs to the surface. Now he is really fearless. So the two of them are all over the pool now, playing and I get to rela! (That is not a typo- that letter is not working on my keyboard. My computer is not doing too well but I'm determined to keep it going.) They are just as crazy in the rivers and lakes too. Greg and I are having more and more fun with them each day. They are going to be such cool kids. Sorry for the bragging. I took them to our local gymnastics gym yesterday for the second time this year. Every Monday morning they open it up to just parents and preschoolers. The boys wore themselves out. There is a huge pit in the floor filled with foam blocks over which they practice the uneven bars and the vault, etc. Noah climbed up on a platform about 6 feet over the blocks (I don't know eactly how deep the blocks go) and did a superman jump off. Again, not to be shown up, Wyatt followed. He is so small though, that he would fall between the blocks and just be totally buried. Other moms were looking at me in disbelief, and maybe a little disapproving, but the boys were having so much fun. The owner of the gym thought it was great. We'll have to go more often. All three of us were dripping in sweat by the time we left. I'm waiting to put Noah back into gymnastics when he turns five and will actually be able to be a part of a real instructional and competitive class. This past weekend we celebrated Mema's 76th birthday in Wahlburg. It was really fun to see all the family. With si little ones under 5, there was plenty of entertainment. They all play really well together. Of course I forgot my camera at a big family gathering with great picture opportunities. It was a busy day. Sunday evening we went on an impromptu canoe trip up the Blanco River from 5 mile dam. We only went a couple miles but it was really mellow, pretty trip up and down the shady side of the slow moving river. We stopped to swim, skip rocks and throw the biggest rocks we could find as high as we could and watch them KUR-Plunk in to the water. It was great. Noah begins preschool net week. He is very ecited to be a Monkey this year. So am I. Oh yeah, the pictures. The first one they are washing the motorcyle, getting it ready to sell. yep, Greg said a final goodbye to it on Friday. He also parted with the sailboat. It was sad, but he is such a good husband. He sold them so we have some money to invest and save for some land in the future. The net two pics are Wyatt enjoying the popsicle he earned by eating a big pile of green beans and the net is him unhappy about his mouth hurting from the frozen lips caused by the popsicle.

Wonderfully Made Announcements

Dori and I have gone into business together. We create photo announcements for occasions like births, engagements, adoptions and moving. So pass on our website address and contact to friends and family. We need referrals to keep building our portfolio. Visit wmannouncements.com. The site is still under construction and will continue to grow.

Sum, Sum Summertime

The blazing hot weather is finally here! That means sprinklers, watermelon and popsicles. As much as is possible, the boys and I are enjoying the fiery TX sun. A couple weeks ago we visited Landa Park in New Braunfels with our friends. We stopped by the famous Naeglin's Bakery and got some amazing cookies and breakfast pastries. Landa Park has several playgrounds, springs, pools, falls, really big ducks, a train and the Comal River runs through it. The friends we went with each had boys a little younger than Wyatt. We played, had a pic-nic and swam. It is a beautiful park and I recommend it to anyone looking for a free, refreshing time in New Braunfels. We spent a weekend at the Lakehouse . The guys hauled muck out of the lake while us girls cooked and decorated flip flops (a crazy mom idea in celebration of Dori's b-day). Last week we visited our close friends Becky, Molly and Evie in Schlulenburg. They have a couple acres in the middle of nowhere with chickens. It was a blast and really fun to see Molly and Evie. Molly is a terror- her and Wyatt get along great. Evie is sweet and enjoyed the attention poured on her by Noah. Wyatt enjoyed trying on all Molly's bracelets, necklaces and sunglasses. I think he wonders why he and Noah don't have all that cool stuff. Becky suggested getting him some 'man jewelry'. Hmmm... I think sunglasses are enough for now.
Some of you may know that Greg and Noah were in a wreck just before our FL trip. Everyone was okay but the company truck he was driving was totaled. Big mess, but the happy ending is that Greg's company bought him a new vehicle (new to us, anyway). He is now driving a black 2000 4runner. He loves it. The boys love it too. Every black SUV is now a 'cool 4runner' to Wyatt. He cries when I put him in the Rav because he wants to ride in the 'brand new truck'. It's the McDanel coming out in him. Noah is fascinated by the idea that the white truck went to the junk yard. Out of the blue I get questions like 'will the truck in the junkyard get smashed?' and 'does the truck still have it's wheels?' Noah is starting the ever-so-fun tough questions for mom and dad stage. 'Will Fluffy [the fish we had to flush last week] live again when he gets to the ocean?' 'When will you [mom] be old and have a messed up face?' 'Can I get married when I'm 15?' 'Who's bigger- God or Jesus?' I can't think off all the funny ones he has asked me lately- I need to start writing them down. The other day he asked me if we were going to Birdbath and Beyond. Of course everything he says Wyatt repeats so things are twice as funny hearing Wyatt's version.

Had to share this one...

Destin or Bust

Picking up where I left of- Brandon's last night was the fourth. We all went to bed early. We were so tired that none of us noticed the sounds of World War III two blocks away. I even slept through Yeti cuddled up on my head shaking in fright. So the next weekend we visited my cousins in Waco. We had a great time talking, eating and watching the kids have fun. Amanda's kids were great entertainment (and sitters) for Noah and Wyatt. Here they are playing with their monster trucks in the mud. The only way I could get a tearful Noah in the car to go home was to remind him of our upcoming motor home vacation. The next Tuesday Mimi, Papa, Grandma Jean and Grandpa Bob all descended on our house in preparation for the much anticipated family reunion about to take place in Destin, FL. We loaded up our rented motor home with all the necessary, and several unnecessary, things eight adults and four kids need for five days at the beach. We left around 8:30 Tuesday night with the plan to take shifts driving through the night and reach Destin by morning. Everything went relatively smoothly. The kids were so awed by the wonders of our 28' Coachman that it took them until 10:30 to finally fall asleep. They slept in the RV's 'attic'. I have such great memories of trips like that when I was little, but it is even better to see my own kids experiencing it. Us adults played some Yahtzee and tried to keep dad company as he drove, since he did most of the driving- so much for taking shifts. It wasn't long before dad was the only one awake. A peaceful night's sleep in a bouncy, clanky motor home on I-10 through Houston and Louisiana was pretty much impossible- unless you're mom. She soundly slept while bouncing back and forth along the bed in back. Like an old Donald the Duck cartoon. We made it to FL Wednesday morning where we met up with Dori and Jay, who did the same drive in the mini van with two dogs. After getting settled at the military recreation area in our RV slot and cabins and making about 20 pb&j sandwiches while the twelve of us and three dogs soaked up the air con in the RV, we congregated at the pool with the Georgia clan. We reacquainted, cooled off and planned dinner. I don't think I can relay the entire trip, but I will give a few highlights. Thursday morning we awoke early and loaded up for the beach. 10 folding chairs, two ginormous umbrellas, one ATV wagon, at least a dozen sand toys, a surfboard and so on. The Georgia clan, proving their blood relation, kept right in step with a full on county fair style collapsible tent and two giant ice chests on wheels. The white sand beach with emerald green water were beautiful. We had a great time. This was Jon, Dacy, Noah and Wyatt's first experience (that they can remember anyway) with the beach and ocean. They were totally intimated by the waves. After letting us carry them out into the waves, they opted to just play on the shore, only letting the water get as deep as their ankles. But they had so much fun and I think the group under the tent had just as much fun watching them. Mom, Dori, Tracy and I tried boogie boarding. That's about all I need to say about that. Greg also tried surfing for the first time. Just like Greg, he was able to stand up and ride a wave into shore on the first try. Granted it wasn't a very big wave, but it was still impressive. I tried it later on and only managed to ride it in on my belly. Even so, it was a whole lot of fun. Greg and I took another morning and went scuba diving. We did two dives- each around 80 ft. We saw lots of fish I can't name, a sunken boat, barracudas and many, many jelly fish. We ate lots of great seafood while we were there. We all went on a dolphin cruise. We saw dophins. Noah got to drive the ship. Wyatt was overwhelmed by boats and jet skis the whole trip. We rented a pontoon boat. Or as Wyatt called it- a ON-ooon boat. Dori decided you can get Wyatt to say any word by putting it in front of the word 'boat'. Wyatt found a new best friend in Presley. He would follow her to the ends of the earth. Every time we separated from their family he cried 'pesleeeeee'. For a few days after we returned home, he would say 'Pesley?' every time he saw a tan little girl with dark brown hair. Greg, the boys and I stayed in the RV the whole time and the boys cried when Papa drove off with it after we got home. So after stuffing ourselves with mounds of shrimp and Gleta's margaritas and desserts, and getting sand in all our nooks and crannies we headed back to Texas. We had so much fun. I waited way too long to write about the trip and now I don't have the time or energy to properly retell it. It was so good to see the extended family and be reminded of how deep our roots are and how strong they make us as individuals. How about Austin next time??

Wet Fun in the Summer Sun!

Get ready to snuggle in for a long blog. I guess I need to start way back- some time around mid June. Around that time was our church's VBS. This was Noah's first time. I was the recreation leader for the week. I had a good time but Noah loved it. The songs they learned and getting to perform on stage Sunday morning were his favorites. He also memorized three new Bible verses along the way, but I can't seem to get him to recite them to anyone but me. Wyatt really enjoyed VBS too. Of course he is too young to be part of the program but there was childcare for those of us helping run it. VBS for Wyatt was riding around in the six seater stroller, eating watermelon outside and playing with bubbles on the church lawn. The following weekend was the church's Jr. High lake trip for which Greg and I have somehow become the waterfront coordinators. We trailered a church member's boat out to Highland Lakes Camp, launched, drove the boat across the lake to Greg's boss' dock in Point Venure, tied off, paddled a canoe to shore (the lake was so high the dock's walkway didn't reach shore) and jumped in the back of Papa G's pickup for a ride to his house. By a chain of crazy coincidences, Greg's parents, his boss' weekend house and our church lake trip are all in Point Venture. That was an amazing weekend for the boys. All the different modes of transport, grandparents, the 'big kids', lots of boat riding, snow cones, homemade ice cream, trailers, jet skis- they had a blast. Greg and I spent Saturday driving boats. I drove the tubing boat (I got every kid airborn on the tube! Grandpa Bob would be proud!) and Greg drove the wake/knee board boat. The first two hours of the morning it poured down rain off and on yet I still managed to get a really painful sunburn before putting on sunscreen at lunch. Mama G took care of the boys for us. For the first time ever, I think the boys actually wore her out. Granted, she did have a long week at work, but still, she usually seems to have more energy than the kids. As you can see we somehow ended up jumping rope in the driveway. We all tried it and it is hard workout. How did we do that for so long when we were only eight? The following week Mom, Dori and the kids visited for a couple days. Those visits are always such a whirlwind I don't really remember all we do. I'm sure there was some hectic shopping with toddlers and mexican food involved. I do remember the worst tantrum Noah has ever had. He had a total and complete melt down that lasted hours and ended with an unheard of- and heavily protested- afternoon nap. The prior busy weeks finally caught up to him and it was not pretty. He came out of it okay but it shook me up. After mom and Dori left we did nothing for a few days- that is until we had more company. Brandon, Greg's closest friend from high school, visited us all the way from Alabama. Greg took off the Mon. and Tues. before the fourth and spent five solids days just playing with Brandon. That was during all the crazy rain and flooding in Central Texas. So they spent most of their time paddling every flooded river within two hours of us. The boys and I went along on most of the trips to take pictures and play in the water. It was five days of boating bliss for Wyatt. Boats are his most favorite thing in the world and watching his dad in one is even better. While they surfed and played in a wave Wyatt watched intently. He utters manly grunts when they do something impressive and exclaims "Uh-Oh!" when they flip over. Noah watches some but he really likes to splash around in the water, swim and explore the shoreline. The picture is of Greg running Graduation Falls on the San Marcos. There are lots more pictures of all this stuff on my Flickr. I think Brandon had fun. Hopefully he left still wanting kids some day. I know the boys loved having him around and Wyatt even named his kayak action figure after him. It was also a much needed break for Greg. He is the only person I know who relaxes by paddling and riding until he can hardly move. I thought I could make it all the way through this tonight, but I'm getting weak. This is going to have to be continued...

I haven't forgotten about you...

It is really late (at least by my internal clock) and I have too much to write. So I'm chickening out. But I was able to update my photos on Flickr. So go have a look and make up your own stories for the pictures to hold you over until I have the chance to write again. The super cute Wyatt pic is so you don't feel like you got totally jiped.

Canoe Trip

Here is Greg's latest craigslist purchase. We sold 'my' (I haven't been in it in almost 5 years) kayak and bought a canoe. Since selling the kayak, Greg has been totally canoe crazy and finally found one to his liking on Friday. He was beyond excited to be able to take the boys to one of his favorite places in the whole world- the river. On Saturday we packed a lunch, loaded the canoe and set out to paddle from the outdoor center in San Marcos to just past the Martindale dam- about 12 miles. I have paddled this stretch a few times in a kayak and Greg has been down it many, many times. He always underestimates how long it is going to take by several hours, but I still believe him and go along with his plans. As usual, his three hour trip ("We're in a canoe! It will take no time at all!") turned into six hours. But we survived. The boys did amazingly well and begged to go again Sunday. In fact, I guess I was really the only grumpy one by the end of the trip. In my defense, I did paddle the whole six hours through some pretty good rapids and grooling flat water, hauled the boat from the car and over dams, hit my head on a low bridge with rapids underneath and acquired a baseball-size bruise on my hip. We may go again this weekend! We really did have a lot of fun. The San Marcos is beautiful in an eerie, unpredictable sort of way. I have always loved the huge bald cypress' with their narly roots covering the banks. It was early enough in the morning that we got to see a ton of lounging turtles, one snake, dragonflies the size of birds and all kinds of other TX wildlife. We even came upon a herd of mangey sheep (visit my flickr for more pics). Greg and I love to do exciting stuff like this with the boys. I hope they really appreciate these memories and experiences when they get older. I can't wait to see what Greg will have the four of us doing when the boys are a little older! Hope I can keep up- or at least get a good seat to watch the action. I wish I had gotten more pictures of the canoe trip but there was a lot going on and I could only take my camera out on the calm sections and when we stopped for lunch.
This last picture is of our latest pet. 'Twitch' is a little bunny that has taken up residence in our backyard. He is a cute little guy (or girl) and seems fine living in a yard with two small children and two dogs. He is friendly with Greg and I, letting us come within a few feet of him. I know he does not seem like he would be welcome in our big veggie garden, but, so far, he has caused very little damage. I let a few carrots overgrow and he nibbles on the foliage of those, but I can't really see any other damage. In fact, tonight when I took this picture he was happily munching on grass. So maybe he is a rabbit that prefers lush St. Augustine over stinky ol' vegetables. I will keep you posted on Twitch's life.

21 Months!

June Already!

It has been such a long time since I last posted that it took me a good 15 minutes to remember the correct username/password combo to log into Blogger. So now I'm beat before I even got started. So, what has happened in the Godsey family in the past month? Well, if I gave you the details I'd be here all night and I'm sure blogger would kick me off for surpassing my storage limits. So here are the highlights. I think Mother's Day was somewhere in this past month. I'm pretty sure we were at the lakehouse, but we didn't officially celebrate until Monday when Greg made me breakfast and took the four of us out to dinner. Shortly after that was a weekend in Dallas and another trip to Vegas for Greg and I. This time we stayed in the newly remodeled Flamingo. The convention we attended had a 'spouse program' of which I got to be a part. It included a makeover, pilates class and a really fun cooking (and eating!) demo at a shwanky Spanish restaurant on the strip. It was really fun. I didn't take any pictures- there are only so many pics of Vegas I desire to have and I've reached my limit. The boys stayed with Mimi in Dallas. Dad was out of town the whole week- poor Mimi. My boys are not always the little angels you see in these pictures. They tested their limits with Mimi but everyone survived and had fun. Immediately following that trip Mimi and Papa were in Austin for a couple days and the night they left we headed for Lago Vista for the Memorial Day weekend. We spent the three day weekend with Greg's parents. Much of the weekend we were livin' it up at Greg's boss' house on Lake Travis. That was another really fun weekend. So that was almost two solid weeks of being out of town. We kicked off this past weekend early with a visit to the lakehouse on Thursday. Friday, my birthday, I spent the day with the Jr. High and High School girls from our chruch youth group. Me and some other ladies in the church hosted a 'spa day' for the girls that have attended our Bible study the past 5 months. We laid by the pool, had our nails and makeup done, snacked, relaxed in a massage chair, made a fancy dinner and took pictures. Not a bad way to spend my birthday. We were back at the lake on Saturday to play, play, play. And Sunday was back to church for the day. Whew! So in the past month we have traveled thousands of miles across several cities and states, seen a lot of our families, celebrated two national holidays, graduated Noah from the Butterflies to the Monkeys class at preschool, healed probably a dozen skinned knees, bailed Yeti out of doggie jail and I turned a whole year older.
Wyatt gets more and more... fun?... each day. If you know how to interpret, he is talking like crazy. I don't know if he really is talking early than Noah or if it's that we are more in tune with toddler speak these days. Maybe a little of both. His most favorite things in the whole wide world are boats, chocolate and dad. He is happiest in his swim trunks, at either the lake or the river watching Greg paddle or wake board. He walks around the lakehouse chanting 'boat ride' until his demands are met. He carries a little plastic boat with him almost everywhere he goes. As for chocolate, he really can't get enough of it. I thought it was the cookies at first but now when I give him a big, chewy, amazing oatmeal cookie he has learned he can pick it apart- eating only the chocolate chips. He sucks the chocolate yogurt off of pretzels and I have to hide the chocolate syrup in the fridge so he doesn't see it when I pour him a cup of milk. I guess there is something of me in his personality!
I spend most of my time these days refereeing arguments between Noah and Wyatt and trying to teach the two of them how to play together. When Wyatt came along I had wonderful images of the two of them being great buddies, but, so far, the only time they seem to enjoy each other's company is when they are wrestling like wild dogs in the middle of the living room which inevitably ends up in somebody (usually Noah) getting hurt. I've had to outlaw all wrestling unless supervised by Greg. They get along pretty good when I can get Noah to teach Wyatt things, but I have to be right there observing because it can go from good to nasty real quick. I suppose it will get better the older they get... right?
Okay, I just started uploading the pictures and realized there are all kinds of things we did this past month that I left out. So, the first picture is Wyatt asleep in the driver's seat of Papa's boat. We had taken the 9th and 10th graders from our church to the lake for a day. Wyatt had a horrible fever that day and just couldn't stay awake. While we were cleaning the boat I sat him in the seat and he just curled up and slept. Poor guy, but it made for a really cute pic. I also left out a trip to Waco last month for Asahel's wedding. We stayed with Dan and Amanda. The boys had a blast with their five. It was their first time to wrangle chickens and ride a supersized wagon with bench seats and a handbrake. I had some good pics but I think I lost them. The fifth picture pretty much sums up Wyatt. In the water, a little crazy and a whole lot of fun. And the last pic sums up Noah- in a car, handsome sweety with a little sneakiness mixed in.

Family Night

Monday night was Noah's first school performance at his preschool's family fun night. Before the program he was got a stomach from begin a little nervous about getting on stage. But after a pep talk from dad, he recovered and had an awesome performance. His class sang five or six songs with motions. He was front and center. I think his teachers carefully planned it so that the kids most likely to sing loud, do the hand motions and behave had prime positions. It worked until the boys on either side of Noah began arguing and threw a couple punches. I could see Noah in the middle waving his hands, eyebrows crinkled, trying to calm the two. They got over it and continued on. This picture is cropped way down so you can see Noah, but there were about thirty kids on stage. His 'best friend' is Ashley, the little girl in pink in the top right corner. The gap next to the kid in green is from a little girl who literally jumped around like a maniac the whole program. She is probably in mid air off camera. I'm sure her parents were mortified during most of the program- especially when she lifted her skirt in front of several hundred people. Watching four and five year olds perform is hilarious. We had a great time and Noah did an excellent job. The rest of the night we ate pizza, played carnival games and visited his 'class'. Greg finally got a glimpse into the mysterious world of Noah's preschool. Noah was thrilled to have Mama G there and show her his school. The last picture is Skylar and Wyatt banding together to get through the crowd. Both are very independent and, says their Sunday school teacher, rule the church toddler pack.

Babies, Babies, Babies!

Three of my closest friends had babies within a month of each other. I love it! All three are extremely cute. Congratulations Becky, Robin and Kelli!
Evie June
3/19/2007
5lbs 10oz
18.5"





Reece Elizabeth
3/28/07
6lbs 12oz
19.75"







Zachary William
4/20/07
6lbs 14oz
20"
(He looks just like his dad!)

Happy Birthdya, Laddy!

Last Saturday we attended Grandpa McDanel's 80th birthday party. Of course it was a Scottish themed event. Bagpiper and all. We had a great time and it was great to see almost all the family. You'd have to ask grandma for the exact numbers, but I do know that all her children, most of their spouses, most of her grandchildren and all but 1 (I think) of her great grandchildren were there. That is well over 60 people without family friends. Every family brought two to three dishes so we ate really well too. Saturday night we relaxed and prepared ourselves for our usual hectic Sunday. Visit my Flickr to see more pics from the birthday party.

Bluebonnets, bunnies & bumps

This week has been incredibly busy, but I know that is no excuse for you blog addicts. Good news is that I love my new camera and have already taken over 600 pictures with it! With such cute kids around me all the time, how do I not take pictures? Last week was a tough one for Wyatt. He just couldn't stay on his feet. His first major crash happened while walking through the living room and he tripped on his sandals (the shoes I loathe) and went face first into Noah's little armchair. that left a bruise covering his whole left cheek. The next day he did something (no one else was in the room, but I think it involved the bunkbed ladder) and acquired a good scrape beneath his left eye and he tore that little flap of skin that connects your upper lip to your gums. Later that day we went to a birthday party for a little friend of his and he fell at least three times. He fell so many times past two weeks that he became attached to 'Mrs. Helpful' (character shaped ice pack) and he took her wherever he went until she finally got a hole and began oozing goo. Poor Wyatt. Noah was 'star of the week' at preschool last week. That means he got to take pictures of his family to school with him to show his class and also do show-and-tell. He took Herbie and his favorite Cars cars to show. He was so excited to get up in front of everyone and talk about his stuff. His class is also rehersing for an end of the year program. He talks about it all the time and can't wait to be up on stage on the big night. I guess we don't have to worry about stage fright or fear of public speaking for him. Last Saturday we went to Skylar's 2nd b-day party. Maggy the Happy Clown did a little performance, painted faces and make baloon animals. It was Noah first time to have his face painted. He chose to be a rabbit- not a tiger- a rabbit. Greg gave a little 'humph' when the clown put blush on his cheeks. He was the cutest little bunny I had ever seen. The clown painted a yellow happy face to hide Wyatt's bruised cheek. Monday of this week Christie and Ben met us at the Wildflower Center to picnic and romp in the pretty flowers. It is the perfect place to let boys be boys. They ran, climbed, chased butterflies, swung big sticks, admired planes and trucks, hunted bugs, threw rocks in the water, stomped on bluebonnets and just had a good ol' time. There is a section where they have put in a picturesque little babbling brook that winds around, tumbling over rocks and running beneath little bridges. Little boys, flowing water and rocks are not always to best combination. Early on Ben almost fell head first into the babbling brook, but Christie literally caught him by one foot and pulled him up- I wish I had been quicker with the camera. Then the boys were doing pretty good just playing at the edge. And right when Christie and I relaxed a little and let our guard down, Ben was lying in the middle of the little stream (again, I wish I had the camera out faster). It was really shallow and narrow so he was in no danger of drowning, in fact, after getting over the initial shock, he probably would have preferred to stay in the water. But we got him out, soaked chest to toes. Wyatt was very concerned about his wet clothes and tried to help wipe him off. He spent the rest of trip in his soggy diaper and onesie. The rest of the week I have spent doing church stuff, taking kids to the doctor (just check-ups) and helping out a friend who is pregnant and on total bed-rest. The bluebonnet picture at the top was taken in a field in front of our church. After two planned photo sessions, one at the lake and one at the Wildflower Center, the best picture I got of Noah in the bluebonnets was taken spur of the moment while we were just goofing around in the field a couple evenings ago. The last picture is of my beautiful rose. Two years ago Greg gave me thorny twig in a pot for Valentine's Day (the "dumb, made up, retailer's holiday" he doesn't usually celebrate). Now the twig is a gorgeous rose bush with humungo flowers on it. So now, in the spring and summer, every couple of days, Greg gets me rose.

Thanks Uncle Sam!

I got a new camera! I'm so excited. It is awesome. Gotta love tax returns (and generous husbands)! I didn't get the camera until after Easter so I do not have any pictures from Easter. I was bummed I didn't have my new camera, plus mom and Dori were around with their fancy ones. So you have to wait for one of them to upload their pictures. This blog is filled with pictures taken in the past two days with my new camera. As for Easter, There will be no cute pictures of little darlings dressed in pretty pastels running through green grass to find brightly colored eggs. Since it was a miserably dreary weekend with rain and 38 degree temps, the best we could do were kids wearing sweatshirts purchased on clearance from Wal-Mart the day before, finding eggs in piles of laundry and life jackets in the lakehouse basement. However, the eggs were brightly colored and beautiful. Turned out that an egg hunt on a cement floor with a two and one year old is not the best idea. Immediately following the egg hunt was a boiled egg breakfast. Dacy and Wyatt loved the egg dying. Jon and Noah did about six each and went back to playing cars while Dacy and Wyatt could have dyed eggs all day long if we had let them. Even though we had a lot of fun, I can't really think of anything else to write about about our Easter weekend. Friday we attempted to take pictures of the four kids in bluebonnets. I think we may have gotten a few good ones. We'll see what Dori posts. The kids were pretty cooperative, but it is just really hard to get four little ones to look the same direction at the same time without any tongues out, noses running, hands flailing or eyes closing. We did not have an dancing dogs or Papas this time to entertain them. The rest of the weekend was eating, cleaning up kids spills, washing dogs, eating, playing games, cleaning up kid spills, eating, playing games, etc. So far this week has just been an enjoyable, playful week with the boys. I spent most of today in the garden weeding, planting and murdering aphids. Yesterday we found a dead lizard (from his physical condition, he probably died of natural causes) and the boys and I gave him a proper memorial service and burial. So when Wyatt found a rubber lizard today he attempted to bury it in the garden. It is still sitting by my tomatoes. Maybe it will scare off some bad bugs. So my new camera takes great pictures but I still have a lot to learn about it and I am not a skilled photographer by any means. But do expect to see more pics on here and my flickr. This last picture is Wyatt thinking "now mom has really lost it- she is laying in the front yard taking pictures of the sky."

2nd Annual Egg-stravaganza

We did lots of fun stuff this past weekend. Friday night our wonderful neighbors watched the boys and Greg and I went on a date. We went to a shwainky new bowling alley in Austin. There were colored dancing lights, black lights, the balls and pins glowed in the dark, there were numerous huge projection screens hanging over the lanes playing music videos, really loud music and a waiter for every lane. It was pretty fun, a little expensive and really loud. Afterward, we hung out in SoCo (that is South Congress for those out of touch with the hip Austin scene). There happened to be some big custom roadster rally. The street was lined with homemade hotrods and motorcycles. We had great pizza at some little trendy hot spot- again, it was expensive and loud. We enjoyed our date night and it was even better to come home to sleeping kids and a peaceful house. Saturday we went to a family friendly dinner party at Christie and Che's. I think there were about seven couples there and almost everyone had two kids. It was a little chaotic, but a lot of fun. We met some really cool new people and had a delicious dinner on the deck. I don't have any pictures from it but some may pop up on Christie's blog. Wyatt skinned his knee pretty good and one kid ate a slug, but everything else went rather smoothly. We headed on to Mama G's that night for more festivities the next day. Sunday was the second annual Easter egg hunt in Point Venture. Big crowd. I think there were something like 16 kids- one age 7 and the rest were four and under. But Mama G was very well organized with personalized egg buckets for each kid and 300 plastic goody-filled eggs. After a big, yummy lunch and the egg hunt, there was a chocolate fountain and all kinds of stuff to dip in it (is there anything you can't dip in chocolate?). Thankfully, the kids were busy with play dough and cupcakes out on the deck so the grown-ups could act like kids inside with the chocolate. I think Greg and his dad enjoyed the constructing and engineering of the fountain just as much as the chocolate itself. Dene, Mckenna and Avery were there Sat. night and Sun. as well, so the kids were able to spend some quality time with their cousins. The picture of all the kids lined up are all of Memaw's great-grandchildren- except for Trudy (second on the left) who is a grandchild. The last picture is Noah and Wyatt in the bathtub Sunday night. They received soap as one of their Easter Gifts. It was like silly putty so you could shape it. Noah's was red and, as you can see, the red made everything red. I gave them their soap to use and then went to set out their jammies and put some stuff in the laundry. Meanwhile Noah decided to wash himself and Wyatt with the red soap. It did not wash off. The next day Noah's hands and chest were bright pink and Wyatt's face and hair were also pink.