Circus

We took the kids to the circus last Saturday. It was Emerson's 1st time and Landon's 2nd. Emerson did better than I expected since she's such a wiggle worm and busy body. The first 20 min. or so she sat as still as could be in Jason's lap just mesmerized by all the action. Of course it was during the segment with horses, zebras, and dogs. She loved it and kept pointing and giggling. She did get squirmy in between the acts as the "clowns" were boring....we weren't that impressed this year and thought the circus was way better last year. Landon was scared during the beginning as he always anticipates fireworks everywhere we go and he kept saying he wanted to go home. He warmed up soon, but kept his hands over his ears for a few minutes each time there was fireworks or loud sounds. He then enjoyed the dogs (awesome act that the kids LOVED), elephants, and the tight rope act. Their favorite part of course was all the junk food....coke, hot dogs, nachos, and popcorn. Overall the kids had a great time and we plan on making this a tradition. I still have such fond memories of my parents taking me to the circus as a kid at the Compaq Center.

You will notice in one of the pictures that Emerson is in my lap with no shoes on as she decided to grab her cup full of coke by the lid and she spilled the entire contents onto herself. She was soaked in coke and her shoes needed to dry.








Emerson participating in a magic trick. Landon wasn't too impressed! :)

Weekend Visit

Two weekends ago we went up to Chappell Hill and Brenham and visited Jason's grandma, Busha (polish for grandma). Jason, Landon, Dustin, and Hunter went up in the morning to drop off some "pet chickens" at their new home on the farm and the boys went fishing and did all kinds of other boy stuff. Of course no pictures, as men are not that great at doing so. Emerson and I met them for lunch at the Chappell Hill Cafe and then we switched vehicles and headed to Brenham to visit Busha. We haven't seen her in a while since she is at her new home. She broke her hip back on January 2nd and had surgery, rehab, and therapy and then they moved her to a retirement home type place about 6-8 weeks ago. It's not a nursing home, just a place for the elderly to go where they have food provided and social activities. It's like a dormitory and we were really impressed with it. Busha can't go back to her home as she still can't walk unassisted 100% of the time and her house it not accommodating for her needs. She wanted to go home so badly as she's so independent and stubborn but I think she has finally accepted that it's not going to happen and she seems really happy in her new home. She's such a trooper at 93 years old! You would never know that's how old she is. The kids seemed to like her new home and enjoyed the visit, even though Landon keeps asking when we are going to go back to her house since that is all they know and love going there to play, see the chickens, and cows. They miss the fun times there. It took us 10 minutes to get to and from her room as all the residents wanted to visit with the kids. It's amazing to see the impact that little kids have on the elderly. They were so happy to see them and their faces all lit up. Emerson had fun reading books with Busha as she actually sat still for longer than 5 seconds and of course had a blast playing with the doors (she is still obsessed with them...drives me crazy!). Landon had fun watching Wipe Out on t.v. and playing with cousin Amber who was visiting too. We then hung out outside on the porch in the gliders and just chatted for a while as it was breezy and not humid. Busha really enjoyed our visit and we look forward to going for a visit in a few weekends. I think she may need the company now more since Alice passed away.



There is something about this picture that makes Emerson look SO grown up. I've noticed that a lot lately that she has changed so much just since her 2nd birthday in May. Her hair is longer and her face is thinner and looks more like a little girl. Where is my baby?

A Lot Going On & Very Sad News

I'm actually behind in posting, which is so not like me, but so many things have been going on. My new laptop I got in March has been giving me problems with stupid spy ware so it has been with The Geek Squad since Saturday but has been a pain for a few weeks now. Argh! So I have been using my phone for everything...not ideal. All my pictures are on the laptop or are still on the camera. We have also had 7 showings of our house and are meeting with the design center on Tuesday for our 4 hour pre-construction meeting (we signed the contract about 2 weeks ago) for the new house. Not to mention how crazy it is to keep a house spot-less and in "show condition" all the time with a 2 year old and 4 year old. All I have to say is someone better buy our house ASAP! I could go on and on, but I need to really get to the important and meaningful stuff right now....

Jason's sweet Aunt Alice, whom I have loved as my own aunt for the past 12 years, passed away last night. Long story that I'm not going to go into right now, but we were there when it happened at the hospital and it was the most heart breaking and worst thing I have ever witnessed. Not everyone was able to make it to the hospital in time (one of their sons got there about an hour later and a brother just 10 minutes later). I can not clear my thoughts and I keep replaying things over and over in my head. When I get a chance next week or this weekend I will fill you in. PLEASE keep Uncle Marion, Keith, and Richard (Alice and Marion's two boys), and the whole slew of dear family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. They really need them. Tomorrow is the viewing/rosary and Friday is the funeral and burial. I'd greatly appreciate all prayers. I'll be honest, it hasn't totally sunk in for a lot of us and it just doesn't feel real.

I'll post soon. Here are some pictures of Alice. She was an absolutely incredible woman and had the most amount of strength and courage I have ever witnessed. I'm just so sad that the kids will probably only remember this remarkable woman by pictures. She will be greatly missed, but so deserves to be pain free dancing with Jesus and being greeted in heaven by her dad and brother. Uncle Marion said it so well last night..."she's leaving hell and going to heaven". Well done good and faithful servant.

Galveston Trip Day 4, Last Day

On Sunday my parents came up early in the morning and we headed out to the beach right after breakfast. The kids enjoyed some more sand building fun as Jason built a river/moat and they had fun filling it up with water. We also found TONS of sea shells that were still connected. They must come in early in the morning as they were everywhere you went....it was pretty interesting. Emerson still had fun jumping the waves and being pulled around in her wagon in the water and going on walks. Of course around our house everything is "monkey see, monkey do" so you know who else wanted to be pulled in the wagon as well! After fun at the beach we went back to the house for lunch and then loaded up to go home. The kids went home with my parents so we could unpack, clean the house, mow the yard, and get things ready as our realtor was coming early on Monday morning to list our house and take pictures. So we had a nice quiet car ride home where we actually got to have a conversation during the day light hours! :) Both our kids are busy motor mouths and we never get to carry on a conversation until the kids are in bed.

By the way, we saw no signs of oil or tar balls as the media was dramatizing. We actually didn't even know about the recent "sightings" until we went into town and saw all the media and coast guard helicopters (we did see them fly over the beach where we were twice) and the tour guide on the duck tour pointed it out and poked fun at the media. We weren't worried at all. On Sunday we did see a truck from the oil spill division drive by on the beach way down where we were (15 miles from the seawall). Jason had me quickly take a picture as it is history.

Galveston Trip Day 3

On Saturday we spent the whole day back at Moody Gardens again at Palm Beach. We were planning on going when we were there on Friday but ran out of time and the kids were tired and cranky. It was SO much fun. We got there around 10am and claimed some good beach chairs in the shade in the nice white clean sand (obviously it is trucked in!). We spent almost 6 hours there swimming in the multiple beach-like pools, and at the splash pad and slides. As evidenced by the pictures below Emerson LOVED the slides as she went down them at least 15 times (with a huge grin and giggling all the way down...she was so excited!) while Landon refused to go near them and pretty much hung out at the bottom whining the whole time...kind of spoiled Emerson's fun, but that is just not his cup of tea. On the other hand, he had a blast at the splash pad and enjoyed squirting everyone with the water guns and running around in all the water. He did not want to leave! The kids liked the beach entrance pool even though Emerson had several near drowning experiences. That child has no fear and just kept on walking in the water even when she couldn't touch the bottom with her feet. Landon was cautious and stayed by us the whole time not venturing away like his crazy sister. We ate lunch out by the pool and just hung out. We really enjoyed it there and plan on making a day trip or staying one night just to go to the Palm Beach again....I highly recommend it!