Today was a snow day!

All about J’s snow day:

At first, it started snowing. Next thing, after that we went out back and out front and we did a snowball fight. I would say four snow ball fights but I don’t remember if it was more. After that we went on a scooter ride. Then we went out back and did a snowball fight. After the snowball fight we made a SUPER FORT! Now ice pellets are coming down! Ice pellets!

My favorite part was the scooter ride and the snowball fight.

All About NM’s snow day:

First, we had a snowball fight out back. Then, we had a snowball fight out front. Afterwards, we had a bigger snowball fight out back. I packed my fort with snow. I also went in the snow with my scooter.

We have seen big snow-ball like chunks, little snowflakes and ice pellets.

My favorite part was the snowball fight because I haven’t made a hard-packed snowball in such a long time!

More from mom:

In case you were wondering just how much we got:

And maybe this shows it, too:

Pretty, huge snowflakes:

This is Austin, Texas, y’all! Wow, huh? Sometimes God just likes to throw wonderful surprises* our way!

*Surprise: somewhat. I got one from Amazon today. The lensbaby got some optics, hence the effects on some of these shots. I think my husband intends to spoil me.

So out we did go. After church we drove down Congress and parked in the SoCo district. I think my hubby is trying to give me more opportunities to get to take pictures. So I did:

And I’ve always wanted to wander in here. Costumes can be so much fun. Not the best picture but it’s hard to get all the detail in this facade.

Random splash of color:

Actually, around SoCo color is everywhere. My baby was so patient and let me take his picture:

I don’t remember the rest of the sign, but this made me think of the Golden Rule (active, not passive):

After our all-too-short walk, we headed home for lunch and the kids had a blast running laps in the back yard. Then they played with their scooters. Then they ran. Then scooters. They don’t hesitate to take advantage of good weather!

Our dear neighbors had walked Sprocket for us and hung out for a bit after they dropped her off. It was nice to have them visit (we don’t get enough of those!) and I took some snaps of their boys. This one’s Max and I love his fur because of the visual texture:

This little guy is TJ and he’s a rare white schnauzer with lots of schnauzer spunk:

Our day was very blessed and we had a great time. Am rethinking how we do school since we do so much “working for the weekend” that we are failing to see the blessings of the week. Prayers, please? Thanks.

We took Abba to see the Bob Bullock Museum of Texas History. Verdict: FUN! Since we wanted to get gas, we opted to take the longer drive through down town on Congress Avenue.

Congress: one of my favorite street views. Well, I can’t think of any other so it must be my favorite.

The terrazzo of the foyer in the museum:

Yes, that is a campfire surrounded by peoples who were a part of Texas history. Nope, no photography allowed of the museum exhibits because they are all from private collections. But this was part of a quote from Stephen Austin, I think:

The kids had a great time. The don’t enjoy the very early history except perhaps the conquistador armor. They really like the third floor the most and that houses the artifacts of more recent history: oil and its discovery, mercury mining, cattle industry, air and space, etc. They have a real thing for NASA going right now.

It was very cold that day, around high 30s when you count the wind chill. So this was taken while the others were rushing back to the car:

On the way to lunch, caught this Honda, heavily influenced by Italian car design, yes?

We had lunch at Kerbey Lane Cafe. And there was waiting but it was all patient. But NM didn’t want his picture taken again.

J didn’t care. The little containers of half-and-half were more than enough entertainment because they doubled as space ship parts.

By the way, the pear and bacon sandwich they had was good, but could have used more bacon. Mind you, I’m not a major bacon fan but it needed more bacon punch than it had. The sweet potato fries were awesome as usual.

Saturday

No photos to share, really. We spent the day at the Happily Ever After Marriage Conference that was put on by our church for the greater Austin area. We were able to attend this year because there was child care. Woohoo! The kids had a blast, too. We received an agenda that mentioned they could ride scooters so I had them bring theirs just in case. Turns out they were the only ones who had them! And how fun is it to get to ride indoors? SO fun. They were sweaty and all smiles when we picked them up. The conference itself was such a blessing and it was great to see pastors and their wives share from the bible and their experiences.

Sunday

Friends from church invited us and a few other families to their house just so the kids could play and we adults could fellowship. That was an awesome time! I felt bad because we arrived earlier than they had planned we would but that just gave our kids more play time with their friends. We don’t get to enjoy each others’ company nearly enough. Just makes me look forward to that One Day when we’ll have all the time in eternity to hang out.

Monday

More fun! We took Sprocket to the botanical gardens for a walk. The only sad thing was that the Japanese garden was closed so there was no chance J could fall into the koi pond. I kid, of course. It did give me more time to play with my birthday present and hubby played a little bit with it, too.

Hubby, in a wool hat (did I mention how cold it’s been?):

He took one of me that ended up with neat spectral aberration:

The boys, albeit with the “normal” lens:

They were actually still for a bit so I could do this. They’re good boys!

Sprocket was beside herself most of the time. I thought this was a funny shot considering what she’s doing and what the sign says:

Needless to say, we weren’t out for very long. The weather has kept us indoors but today we’re seeing lots of sunshine. Hopefully, this keeps up so that we can get out a little bit before we see more rain. My NM is missing soccer very much! They have missed all their practice days since the season started about two weeks ago.

A friend had mentioned they went out to Hamilton Pool for a hike and swim and said it had the actual falls falling into the pool. Wow! It had been a wimpy falls the last time we visited so I thought that sounded fun.

Fun!

But then there was That Voice that kept telling me You Must Get Seat Work Done and it kept wagging a finger at me. Oh dear. I didn’t like that voice much especially since it was so pretty outside and friends wanted to go with us after I mentioned possibly going. So I gagged that voice. It didn’t sound very nice anyway.

As usual, I didn’t say anything until THE very last possible moment, and then some. Off we go to get cash for parking and then drive off to head to the Pool.

It was fun!

Well, admittedly, the boys did more hanging out with their friends than observe-and-report-your-findings. But this time around, we had nature notebooks for them plus colored pencils so that they did a better job of follow up vs. just taking photos to hear the camera click and play with its settings. And all the Charlotte Mason fans say with me, “Yay!”

Most of the hike, this is what I saw of my boys if I saw them at all:

I don’t know what was up with me. Usually, I manage to see the little things but my friend was the one that caught sight of this little guy:

I didn’t have a handle on the camera because I was distracted and so I couldn’t get things just right. Or maybe it’s just that hard to capture something God made in a man-made box? That’s probably it. Because these were hard to get:

This is what the sky was supposed to look like:

Boo. Next time, I won’t forget I have a “fully automatic” button on that camera.

On the way back, one of the boys in our company spotted these wee little froggies all over the place. Boy, those things were fast and they jumped so far! But I did manage to catch one, plus pointy finger to give you an idea of scale:

I have a soft spot for little froggies. Little froggies are one big soft spot. Heh. I thought this plant was pretty, so I had to click:

We had fun. It ended up being a great thing that we got to go since we won’t make Friday’s hike (just one disadvantage to having only one vehicle). See, God knew we had to get out then and there. Thanks, Abba, for that nudge!

Don’t miss more photos (including minor drama!) here.

Hubby and I got to take turns with the camera. Irony: I took wide shots while he took up-close shots. Ironic because he wants a wide angle lens and I want a macro. Want, want, want…we’ll be wanting for a good long while. But let me share some of what we did manage to capture because the boys were being very indulgent towards us shutterbugs:

First, hubby told them to stop so he could take his picture and this is what happened:

After mom said something like “no smiling” the smile did make it to his eyes:

NM is just as silly sometimes:

But he has such a sweet smile:

And when he complained about getting closer to the ground like I asked him to, his Abba told him a silly story that made him give this look:

Now this is a look I was afraid we would never get on camera:

This is the face he makes when he gets shy and happy at the same time, like when you call his attention to the fact that he’s really cute and you just have to take his picture. Yes, yes, yes, there’s food all over the front of his shirt but that’s his privilege as a boy.

I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing them like this.

2009-06-18 Inner Space Caverns

Originally uploaded by Phisch

So, much delayed post, sorry!

Three weeks ago, we had the blessing of a visit from my MIL. Unfortunately, hubby couldn’t take the days off while she was here (he made up for it the following week though).

I honestly can’t remember what we did on the Tuesday she was here.

But on Wednesday of that week, we—NM, J, Lola, myself and our friend R from church—headed up to Georgetown to see Inner Space Caverns.

The caverns were discovered in the 60s (I think) while the government was planning for a highway. Instead they found miles and miles of caverns.

The blue light in the photo indicates that particular part of the cave extends 100 ft to over a mile deeper. Green means it goes 50-100 ft. deeper. YIKES.

It took a few minutes for me to settle my nerves and keep from thinking that the ceiling was going to come down at any second, too look for places that, if the ceiling should fall, there would be some space that would leave breathing room and, barring that, some place that the ceiling would be should to get me so I wouldn’t have to worry about surviving in a tiny space.

Images of some animals’ remains that have been found in the caverns:

Horse the size of a large dog:

Ground hog, full sized:

Pretty rock formations:

I think that NM had the same concerns because he said to me “Mom, it’s good that the rocks are so solid and made that way so that they could be here for years and years and years and not collapse.” That was his seeking reassurance from me! R and J were both nervous, each taking my hand at different parts of our tour. They were all quickly taken up by our guide’s stories and explanations of what we were looking at, though. Ultimately, their fears were abandoned and forgotten until it was time to leave. “At last! We exit!” R said when we were back on the tram to ascend.

Afterwards, the kids each got a sack of sand to “pan” for gems (thank you, Lola). They all found different things but no gold. Not that it mattered much, the older boys were envious of one another (he got a bigger one! ya well you got more!) but the little one was just proud of his stash which now has a place of honor on his book case.

One of the boys’ stashes:

When we were done there, we drove Lola through Sun City, which is a retirement community very near Georgetown. She is still considering retiring there but that would be some years in the future, if the Lord wills. Wouldn’t mind much if He did!

• Police Officers
• Sherrifs
• State Troopers
• Constables

then you can add to that list:

• Texas Rangers

They all drive around and I’ve seen them (except for rangers) everywhere so there’s some overlap there. Just odd, is all.

If brevity is the soul of wit, then my soul is an empty pit. You can quote me on that.

Since the last post, this is what happened that is shareable:

- J and NM played their last soccer games of the season. J actually played for about 30 seconds. There was an award ceremony afterwards and his coach said “I hope you play next season!” He absolutely loves his trophy. NM got a medal and is looking forward to spring season already.

- I ended and we (hubby and I) finished painting NM’s room. It looks so amazing. I don’t say that because it’s a smashing job (it’s pretty good) but the change from the color “burnt almond” to “lava blue” on the bottom and “horseradish” (a warm white) everywhere else is amazing. The other color sucked up all the light and now it’s bounced all over the place. The room looks so much nicer now! I’d have photos posted but Flickr is still misbehaving for me.

- Sprocket learned to play volleyball with a balloon. I’m considering passing on the video to America’s Funniest. Do they still do that? She’s so cute in it. But it might not win because of my annoying giggle.

- My SIL, her hubby and kids drove with my MIL all the way from CA to TX to visit us for Thanksgiving week. They arrived the Saturday before. Next day, we got them up and went to church for first service. We headed home afterwards to prepare and enjoy NM’s 10th birthday party. I’m still getting over that. The boys scrimmaged in the back yard and NM scored a lot of Lego sets. I think there were only two presents that weren’t Legos (one of which was FIFA 2009 for Xbox that we got him). Besides the presents, he had so much fun with his friends and we even got to see two friends of his from last year’s team. One of the neighbors brought over his BB gun and after I tried to shoot it twice, I threw up my hands and told my hubby he has to be there if the gun was being used. I didn’t have to worry. But that thing was the subject of many conversations when the kids left to go home (I chatted with the parents).

- Monday after, we all took a walk around Town Lake/Lake Lady Bird trail. The kids—and Sprocket—walked for three miles and no one really complained until we were close to the end of the trail. The fall colors are so bright this year compared to last. I have no idea why that is, but it’s amazingly gorgeous and such a blessing to see. We went home to have lunch and drop off the very tired dog then went to see the state’s capitol building (see pics on Flickr). My BIL enjoyed the many monuments scattered thoughout the grounds. Quite a few of them are related to the Confederacy and their loss in a major conflict. Again, I failed to make it up to the 4th floor of the rotunda, only up to 2nd this time. There was a service going on for a recently deceased attorney general inside of the House chambers, but I did get to see the Senate chambers. Their walls had photos of each of the different sets of senators as well as kids. I never did get who the kids were and why they got to be a part of the senate year book photo.

- Next day, we headed to Zilker Botanical Gardens because the kids wanted to. “What’s Dinoland?” they asked when we passed many signs the day before. It was a collection of life-sized sculptures of what dinos may have looked like, all strewn about the Gardens. Also, they had many different t-rex cut outs that they sent to area elementary schools to decorate. The one you see here had to be the most unusual one. The kids got such a kick out of the whole thing, it was worth it. Sprocket got to come, too She was most pleased.

- Wednesday, we didn’t do much at all. The kids just hung out and were having so much fun that it was hard to tear them away from it all and have, well, more fun. But we did! We decided to go and enjoy the Texas winter sport of tobogganing. Eh? you wonder. Well, we have hills that have a lot of dead, brown grass and a convenient 45 degree angle. In our garage, we have a long, narrow box of about 2′x2′x6′ and a matching cover (the toboggans) plus miscellaneous empty packing boxes. Have you added two and two? Hehehehe. Suffice it to say, we *all* had a blast. The kids and adults piled into and onto boxes and slid down the hill. Over and over and over. No injuries, saved the emotional security of the dog who was subjected to at least two rides. It would have been more but she learned how to bail in mid-slide which isn’t very safe. The kids will forever remember that as The Best Most Fun Day ever and the hill will be two times as high and as fast in their memory as it actually was. It was that fun (videos on Flickr to prove it).

- Thursday – Thanksgiving. That was nice. In spite of the turkey being five hours late, the stuffing being too soupy and the cranberry jello having too much, well, jello, we had a great (late) meal. I have no photos, my MIL took one of the bird though. The kids just hung out and the adults did, too, helping me and hubby with meal prep and all that. I enjoyed it. Now and again, between checking the temp, crumbling the breadcrumbs, mashing yams, etc., I did take the time to make a mental inventory of what I had to be thankful for and, praise God, I did lose count. He is so good to me. I did my level best (and succeeded) to avoid reading my SIL’s thanksgiving card. Her remark when she wrote it was something like “working in a hospital, I know lots of things to be thankful for.” and so I worried about crying when I read it. It was ok, though, I didn’t cry when I read it the next day, she was kind By the way, we used Alton Brown’s turkey brine and it came out good (and looked good, too). I would probably only add a little more salt and use less canola than we did.

Ok…not so speedy of an update, is it? You’ll just have to forgive me…after all, I was away from blogging for just about a month. I have lots of blogging to make up for it!

IMG_8433
Originally uploaded by Phisch

More photos here.

Last Friday, three other moms from church and I took our boys out to a pumpkin patch called Sweet Berry Farm near Marble Falls, TX, about an hour away.

The boys all had a blast! Most of them were 4 yo and under so I told NM he had to help be in charge and keep an eye on the younger ones which he did very well. He was a big help. The boys got to enjoy a short tractor ride that took us to a long tractor ride and we got to see the outside part of their Texas-shaped corn maze. It cost $6 per person to get in and I had spent our moolah on the tractor ride or I might have considered it.

Not that it mattered. The place was littered with stuff for boys to have fun with. They had artesian pumps, wagons for racing (turns out we weren’t supposed to get on those, they were for groups only), goats to pet and feed, an old boat full of pumpkins, an old horse trailer full of pumpkins, an old truck full of pumpkins, an old tractor trailer full of pumkpins, etc. Seriously, if all they had was the horse trailer, all the byos would have felt the hour drive was worth it. They could have played in that thing forever. J was happy because he got two little pumpkins for $1 and NM got a Sprite for $1. We were all very, very worn out when we got home. I had a long nap!

Corn Maze

Sunday after church, we took the boys and a friend back out to Marble Falls to try and make it through the corn maze. I have no idea how big it is, but it was plenty big. While we were there on Friday, I overheard someone say that it took up to an hour and a half to get through it. We had a time to beat!

Our tractor ride took us again to another tractor ride that took us to the maze entrance. During this ride was when I realized I didn’t charge the camera battery. FAIL! Not good but oh well.

We each got a card with ten names listed on it: all cities in Texas with names that started with “C” except for Sanderson. You have to find spots in the maze where they have punches for your card so you can keep track of which “cities” you found. We did make it through the maze with only minor injuries (NM got cut on a leaf and J fell) in about 45 minutes. The cold drink we got at the end was great! It was so hot going through there but very much worth the drive. I hope we get to go again.

Today, I took care of the boys while hubby worked. When we got home, it was almost noon and he hadn’t eaten yet so we headed out to Kerbey Lane Cafe. Oh. My. Seriously good eats! NM had their burger and J had a pancake (they serve breakfast 24 hours a day). I just have to blog what hubby and I shared.

I ordered duck quesadilla. It had sweet, caramelized onions, duck, cheese, spinach on a spinach tortilla and a side of fresh corn relish. You could taste how fresh the veggies were! It also came with a spicy tamarind dipping sauce that was spicy but I didn’t care, it was so good.

Hubby’s meal was made up of steak strips, avocado strips, red pepper strips and sweet onion on a corn pancake with a side of black beans. To die for! That was amazing.

I really wish I took a photo of our food so I could remember. Oh well…just an excuse to go back. They’re open 24 hours a day and I’m tempted to run out for dessert! Ha!