Going Underground

Last month we had a very special visitor, MAGGIE! Probably our favorite part of South Carolina, she gets to visit a few times a year and we always enjoy it. This time, it was cool and rainy most of her time in Texas so we were quite choosy in our activities, with the outdoors not being an option.

Kelly Ann and I treated her to dinner at Alamo Drafthouse. The movie wasn't great, but I loved the drafthouse. How can you beat dinner and drinks via a waitress while you're in a movie theatre?!

Kelly Ann and a friend took Maggie to a concert at a dancehall. The old fogies stayed at home and put the kids to bed.

We also enjoyed quite a few delicious meals like salmon, shrimp and strawberry shortcake. I think Maggie was concerned she would have to endure our restaurant hiatus, but I don't think we mistreated her.

Our only toursit outing was Innerspace Caverns, a nearby underground cavern. It wasn't as spacious as Carlsbad Caverns that we grew up going to, but the stalagmites and stalagtites were still impressive.









We can't wait for Maggie's next visit! Hopefully next time the weather will allow us to stay above ground.

UP & Away

After sequestering ourselves to the homefront all week, the kids, Abigail's friend, Morgan, and I finally ventured out last night for some low-key fun. Cooper had his first movie theatre experience with UP. (Abigail's first was Charlotte's Web a few years ago. Granted, Cooper was there, but sleeping in his car seat as he was only a few months old.  As you can tell, we don't get to the theater very often. Daniel and I saw The Proposal last week, but before that we hadn't seen anything in almost 18 months, which was, I believe, Transformers.)

The movie lived up to the hype, for me, and the kids enjoyed it as well. But, I'm certain much of the subject matter (death, ageing and urban development) was lost on them.  Despite the animation, it really is more of an adult screenplay.

After the movie, I needed a few new books so we made a pit stop at Barnes & Noble where the kids also picked out books for themselves.

We finished off the night with a tasty burger at Fuddrucker's. Although, the kids were much more fascinated by the larger-than-life burger outside the restaurant.

Movie Night

Anyone who knows our family very well, knows that we don't celebrate Halloween. The origins of the event are enough to make us find something else to do. Here's a brief synopsis of the "holiday": It began as a festival when Celtic pagans would take stock of their supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores.  The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31 the boundary between the living and the deceased dissolved, and the dead became dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops.  The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, into which bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown.  Costumes and masks were also worn at the festivals in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them. 

So, there you have it. It's not something either Daniel or myself are interested in encouraging the kids to partake of. I know, I know. You don't have to give me the speech about it just being kids dressing up in cute costimes and getting lots of free candy. In my opinion, I truly believe that Satan must get even a tiny bit excited about having so many people join in an event which comes from evil origins. You don't have to agree with me, but we're very set in our Halloween avoidance ways. We don't even attend the church events. They call them safe alternatives to Halloween, but why are they called alternatives when it's the same darn thing! Kids are dressed up in costumes and getting candy on October 31! Just because it's in a church doesn't mean it's an alternative. It's just a scenery change. 

On top of that, why would I tell my kids that ghosts, spiders, witches and running around in the dark are things to be celebrated? No thanks, we can find something better to do with our time.

Abigail is fully aware of what Halloween is for other children and doesn't mind letting them know that she doesn't dress up or trick or treat. She certainly didn't mind when I told her that we would find something fun to do instead of Halloween. Daniel was working, so the kids picked out a new movie for our home collection and we hosted our own movie night.

Plenty of fun was had hanging out together in our comfy pajamas and watching Madagascar. It was so good, we watched it again on Saturday! I'll take an evening of snuggling with my babies and watching animated animals sing show tunes over Halloween any day.

All Busted Up -- Pinatas and Mommies

I have nothing of humor or importance to post after this busy weekend, but thought I could at least share some pics and details of the last few days. Friday night was spent sewing two pillowcase dresses for a birthday present to give to Abigail's friend, Skylar. I attempted to guide her in fabric choices, but she was in charge of the selections. I did put my foot down when she selected the Dora fabric, but her final picks were cute. She was eager to model the dresses, as you can tell from her posing, but they were much too big for her, as Skylar is 6.

I wasn't too sure about the butterfly fabric, but it turned out okay. The trim helped cuten it a bit, but it's certainly not my favorite. 

But, before the birthday she-bang, we had a t-ball game. Unfortunately, the Indians were not near as entertaining as last week's Pirates. The Indians never once tried to field the ball while running the bases, nor did they have any unwilling players being drug through the game by moms. Oh, well. The kids played well even if they did not bring the laughter.

Abigail played third base in the first inning and shortstop in the second. She still seems to think she's playing some type of football/t-ball combo game and makes a diving tackle if anyone gets to the ball before she does. The young man playing shortstop (in the above background with his father) cried every time someone other than him fielded a hit. Unfotunately, that was every hit of the game. (I attempted to cheer him up and help him, but his lack of English speaking and understanding caused a problem in that.) 

Abigail's hitting improved tremendously this game, and she's a a speed demon on the base paths. Here she is running towards me at third base.

Okay, so she's not a speed demon.  You can see the runner coming from first to second has already arrived, and she is just halfway between second and third base.  But, she made it. That's all that counts.

In the meantime, Cooper was safely strapped into his stroller and unhappily watched the game from the sidelines as Sissy and Mommy took on t-ball while Daddy fulfilled the American dream -- at work.

Once t-ball was completed, we raced to the next event which had been highly anticipated all week: Skylar's birthday party. I was pleased to see Abigail quickly toss the cleats and stirrup socks for pint corduroys and some girl chatting in the park.

Of course, the party was not complete without scooping up candy from the busted pinata...

And, now that the weekend is over, I'm certainly feeling what that pinata feels. From sewing to t-ball to party to church -- I'm thinking that next weekend I'll go to work and let Daddy manage the carpool.