Interpretation of the "Chicken Dance"

I love my kids, I love how incredibly individual their characters are from one another.....and I love how Issac inherited his father's dance moves :D

The Kayaking Mishap

League City Lighthouse

I have been trying to get out on the water for over a month now and life has been nonstop. So on Labor Day my friend Kallie and I decided to take “Sally Forth” (my inflatable kayak) out to sea. Well at least out to Clear Lake.

As always we like a little adventure and Monday Houston was on the dirty side of Tropical Storm Hermine. It had been stormy all day but the radar looked semi clear so we thought we would port in between rain bands.

Our goal was to row over to the old League City Lighthouse. It's under lock and key, but you can row up to it from the lake. The homes were beautiful, its a part of League City you never see driving because it a gated community tucked away.

Bridge 270/518

On our way to the lighthouse it was getting dark but we were almost there so we pressed forward. By the time we took a few photos the sky was turning black with rumbling in the distance. We both paddled like mad and about half way back to where our car was the wind picked up, the waves began to whitecap and our boat felt a little heavier than it did six miles earlier.

We decided to head for Nassau Bay and digging as hard as we could we passed a sign on a buoy that stated “BEWARE OF ALLIGATOR”. We took a moment to ponder if it was a good thing or not the word alligator was in its singular form. Inflatable boat + rough seas + electrical storm + large pride-of-the-community alligator could really make for a bad day.

We finally made it to a boardwalk, not know how far it was to the car. We climbed up the ladder, heaving our air kayak, which now really (weighed 80 pounds) up on the walk, watching the water pour out of it. Needless to say somewhere in the alligator's back yard we managed to put a 10-inch split in the bottom of the boat. But FYI it stayed afloat.

Taking shelter from the storm

So we starting walking down the streets of Nassau Bay, mutilated boat in tote, attempting to find our bearings in the pouring rain. Guess it must be a common occurrence because no one even looked twice. And that is how our day on the lake went. Sally Forth is currently in for repairs and well Kallie and I have photos of the lighthouse.

A Picture Worth One Word....Seriously?

I was helping Erin with her homework and thinking (in my perfect world) Isaac and Eliza were playing so well together. And then he walked in. Eliza decided to use him as an art board "because she didn't want to mess up her drawing". There was no screaming involved so he was 1. thrilled for the attention or 2. knew that screaming would only make her do something more extreme.

Thank goodness for washable markers!

Bring On The Rain

Its been a hot, dry summer so the rain this week has been welcomed. Ike LOVES to splash in the puddles. This week I have been caught in two separate torrential downpours on my bike pulling the trailer. The first was fun and Isaac and Eliza stayed fairly dry (and I was in biking attire). Today however we were just picking up Erin from school and Isaac ran out in the downpour to play in the puddles and I was soaked (in khakis, ugh!) from chasing him down, so I figured we would just make the 3/4 mile trek home.

Erin sobbed uncontrollably all the way home on her scooter. I am a horrible parent because I couldn't help from laughing as I watched Erin's gracefully gliding through the downpour yelling at the top of her lungs between the sobs "I hate this!". Drama Drama :)

A couple of days ago the girls were out running around with rain jackets and umbrellas and Ike ran out in just his clothes (as always).

Photo One: Ike joyfully playing in the rain

Photo Two: Mom walks out to see Eliza sudsing up Ike head with HAND SOAP.

Photo Three: Ike's playtime in the rain was interrupted by soap in the eyes and dad came home to mom holding a screaming child under the outdoor hose spicket...in the pouring rain.

Night Fall

Living in the burbs we rarely see a good sunset. This was one of those nights where dusk clashes with stormy air and gives the world a yellow hue.

Daddy's New Ride

We've been car shopping for a while now. We found out this spring that our Buick Regal was failing in well, pretty much all areas. The cost to fix was more than the car was worth. With 170,000 miles on the odometer it has been a wonderful car but it was time to say goodbye to an old traveling companion. We were disappointed because our goal was to hit 200K on it.

The Buick was our first big purchase together. Jared had accepted a job in Houston and I was still finishing school at Iowa State so we needed a second car. We were visiting my parents in Manchester and while waiting for them to close down the shop one night we decided to go look at the used car lot down the street.

The manager asked if we had ever driven a Buick and we said, well no, but our grandparents drive one :) He threw us the keys without even asking for a drivers license, told us to go put ten miles on it and come back. It was a sweet ride, the price was right and we purchased it the next day.

Seeing the Buick go was hard, (it was traded in on the drive the Texas drive clean machine program) it was being scrapped. Lots of good memories in it, heck two of our children were practically born in that car (thank goodness for leather seats :)

This time we wanted something that was safe and got great gas mileage. We almost purchased a Prius but it had some problems we didn't feel comfortable with (like it would kick into gear when the battery switched to the motor when in neutral).

We had been eying the Honda Civics but most were out of our price range. And then we found this little gem. Its a 2007 Civic. I wasn't crazy about getting a coupe until Jared talked me into driving it. The price was right, its in excellent shape and I was getting too many calls from Jared to pick him up because his car wouldn't start. Oh and it's Blue! We have only owned white cars except our van which is puke gold, ugh!So I suppose Jared deserves something a little sporty after driving a Buick for seven years (although I steal it whenever I don't have to take three kids, because you know it gets better gas mileage than the van :)

First Day of Kindergarten

Where does the time go? It seems like yesterday we finally got to bring this beautiful fragile baby home after a lengthy stay at the hospital, having no comprehension of the joy she would bring into our young marriage. And this week she walked through those entry doors into Bauerslaug Elementary to start the next chapter in her life.

Erin does not deal with change well (I have been trying for months to get her into new tennis shoes) and so naturally she was apprehensive about starting a new school. However she has a wonderful teacher and her first week has been good. In fact her first night home I asked her what her teacher was like and she said “She seems very competent”.

Its funny, her elementary school has more students than my JK-12^th grade complex did growing up. They typically have 80-100 kindergarteners but the last minute they had over 140 register so they were scrambling to find teachers and staff.

With budget cuts they did away with bus service this year. I guess we know no different, but what I do know is the car drop off line can be up to an hour wait – one way! So we bike it. Ike and Eliza ride in the trailer and Erin rides her scooter. The only bad thing is right now its hot! A few of the days the heat index was still over 100. The school is only about ½ mile; round trip it’s about 15 minutes. We have to cross a 4 –lane divided highway. It’s at a stop sign, no cross walk, so the traffic makes me really nervous because everyone is in the morning rush mode. Erin waves like a crazy woman to make sure the cars see her and typically they wave back to signal its okay to cross. It’s hilarious; she is my safety conscious one!

As for me having three at home the past year I didn’t think I would have a problem, but the first day was rough, the house felt a little emptier and Eliza was lost without her sister. And Isaac didn’t have his protector by his side; he probably had the roughest week.

And she is off!

Hot Tamale

Totally Focused

I love this photo of Erin....she reminds me alot of Jared's sister Britt, totally focused and ready to compete :) Erin joined the neighborhood swim team for the second half of the summer. To join you had to swim the length of the pool and she just barely made it. Most of the kids had been swimming all summer and she was the youngest on the team by a year so she was always about a half lap behind everyone.

It was really good for her, by the end of the session she was a fairly proficient swimmer and she really enjoyed it. She can't freestyle to save her life, but that girl has a killer butterfly stroke :)

Girls Camp & Grandma Sue Visits

A couple of weeks ago I got to go to GIRLS CAMP! Yes I am one of those freaks of nature who loves to go camp in the sweltering heat with a bunch of city teenage girls who have never been camping, let along taken a shower with a family of spiders.

We took 21 girls from our ward and it was a wonderful week! Low drama (well low for teenage girls) and lots of fun experiences and above all it was just a nice break from life and a chance to refocus spiritually.

I spent most of my free time at the rifle and archery range since I was fighting a chest cold all week. Even being sick Amber and I SWAMPED the competition in the canoe races and had the best overall time in the camp.

And while I was away, my mom and aunt Kathy flew down to watch my kiddos for the week. The played tea parties, American Idol, learned to tie-dye from the hippie sisters and got spoiled rotten.

We went to the beach on day and Eliza found a blue crab that she wanted to pet, not such a good idea :)

The girls had a blast and I think my mom and aunt had a good time. Although mom said it took them a good week to recover.

Ikes Tat

We thought now that Isaac is walking, he could walk himself down to the local tattoo parlor and get inked.....or it was the work of older sisters :)

Ike's First Birthday!

How did my baby turn one? I remember when I found out we were having a boy, I was not disappointed by any means, but after two girl I thought, “What am I going to do with a boy?” I soon found out that I would cuddle with him and love on him and completely spoil him. This little guy is so sweet (and very handsome I might add) and it totally a mama’s boy. His has a huge smile for such a little guy and is very even tempered. Isaac has truly been a blessing to our family and it been fun to watch him develop over the past year.

Ike started walking a couple of months ago but every time he took a step we heard” Look! Ikey’s walking”….PUSH! So he decided enough with that - took a break and decided in early July to take another shot at it.

Jared’s parents and his brother were down for his birthday and his sisters baked him a cake, which he devoured hand and fist. He got lost of “manly toys”, abacus from Erinhis favorite by far was a helicopter from Grandma Linda – like father, like son!

The Great EasTex Canoe Trip

Jared’s parents came to town for a week and offered to take our kids for a couple of days so Jared and I could take a much needed vacation. We have never had the night away from the kids in 5 ½ years so needless to say we were very thankful for the offer.

I have been eyeing kayaks for sometime and saving my money and Jared pitched in the last little bit as my birthday present…and some kayak paddles and life jackets. We ended up buying a Sevylor Inflatable Colorado two-person Canoe. After doing some research we decided on paddling Village Creek up in Big Thicket National Preserve. Big Thicket is known for its ecological diversity. It’s the cross roads of the several different eco systems and houses four out of five carnivorous plants native to the US.

There are no camping facilities in Big Thicket; however it’s free to apply for a National Park Service Backcountry camping pass, which allows you to camp on most sandbars on the river within the preserve. We decide the first night we would camp on the river and the second we could stay at Village Creek State Park.

The day before we were to port out Alex paid northern Mexico a lovely visit dumping rain on most of East Texas. The forecast was not in our favor (try 80% chance of rain all three days) but we were hell bent on canoeing and so we headed off ignoring the forecast (and packing lots of food because I can be wet but wet and hungry is just miserable).

We used a local outfitter, Piney Woods Canoe Outfitters to drop us off and pick us up. The guy was great, gave us lots of good info about the area and was reasonably priced. He told us that they lost 50% of their canopy trees during hurricane Rita and Ike. I thought that was a lot, but after we got on the river, it became apparent that we were in a eco system called Sandylands and these towering pines and hardwood were rooted solely in sand.

The first day we paddled around 10 miles and we had a rough start. Jared jumped in the river for our first portage and forgot his cell phone was in his pocket and swamped it. We had a little inner tube to pull behind us that carried our tent, cook stove, clothing, water, cooler and pretty much all of our supplies. They lasted a whole 20 minutes before catching on a tree branch and popping. So we stopped and managed to pack everything on the back of our boat. And then around the three mile mark Jared snapped his paddle and it started to pour.

The first day was an exhausting day of paddling, there were at least 30 trees to cross and scores more to dodge (and dodge well since we have an inflatable canoe). There was lots of “LEFT! LEFT! NO YOUR OTHER LEFT”! Amazing we didn’t fight and we found the canoe tracks wonderfully, almost like a kayak. After five hours of paddling and porting we found a beautiful secluded sand bar. I guess the nice thing around canoeing in the rain is no one else is on the river.

It stopped raining enough to set up camp before it opened up again and poured. We cooked dinner in the rain and finally set off to bed. The only people we saw in two days passed by us that night around 10pm.

The next morning we set off for the last 14 miles. This day was much easier as the park let the outfitter come in and cut trees to make passable channels for paddlers. The day ended up being overcast without any rain – the weather was beautiful and the river was amazing. Lots of cypress trees with rows of knees and moss handing from their low branches. It was amazing; the only thing missing from the picture were alligators (thankfully).

We completed our journey for 24 miles after another 6 ½ hours of paddling at Village Creek State Park. As we got out of the river it started raining again. Realizing that our equipment was all wet from the night before we decided to cut it short and head home.

But not before heading to Goings BBQ, the local restaurant in Lumberton, Tx. It was the best BBQ I have eaten and came with a live country western band in the corner equipped with appliqué Texas blazers from the 1970’s. A perfect end to an EasTex outing.

Eliza's 3rd Birthday!

Eliza turned three on June 27^th! Where has the time gone? It just seems like yesterday Jared and I were sitting a Clear Lake Regional L&D room laughing at the morning saga as the color slowly came back to Jared’s face. She was born with a spark in her eyes and I knew from the first time I held her she would make life full and vibrant. From that day life would never be the same as our family grew to four.

Eliza is my rough-and-tough girl. She takes on the role of the Alpha child in any play group (for better or worse) and is extremely competitive. And with the flip of a coin she can be so sweet and shy. I love her energetic character and her mildly sarcastic sense of humor.

Eliza has learned this year to love bubbles, kitties and playdoh. She is always “helping” in the kitchen (why typically results of me bleaching food coloring out of something). She must have clean hands (even if the rest of her is fifthly), insists on brushing her teeth at least twice a day and has a growing fear of public restrooms. She LOVES Frog and Toad books and when all is silent at night she still asks to be rocked.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!