V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

I specifically remember when I learned how to spell this word: 3rd grade spelling bee. I spelled it right and I think I got a piece of candy for my efforts. I've told Jeff since the beginning of our relationship, "I'm always ready to travel--just let me get my purse." Jeff agrees whole-heartedly, though I guess in his case "wallet" would be more appropriate. And as you faithful blog readers know, this has certainly been a year of travel for the Watts. Well, we've managed to pass our love for travel along to at least one of our kids, as evidenced by the following conversation that took place between Ruth and her grandmother sometime in the last couple of days. Ruth was playing Nana's piano and singing church songs.

Ruth: When I grow up I'm going to be a church piano player.
Nana: That's great! I bet that will be really neat.
Ruth: Yeah, but if you come you probably won't see me.
Nana: How come?!
Ruth: Because I'll probably be on vacation a lot of the time.
Nana: Well, who will play the piano then?
Ruth: I guess the other lady will have to.

We're off again on Friday. Headed out to the Davis Mountains to enjoy (and to do a little more work on) the cabin we built earlier this summer. It should be nice and cool out there and not the least bit humid. We'll think of all of you!

It's A Date

Ruth was staying with her grandparents Monday night and last night, so Jeff and I decided to try to take advantage of the opportunity and have ourselves a bonified date. Monday night just didn't work out, so after Weston went to bed, we had an inside-out date instead--you know, where you order pizza and watch a movie at your house. Yesterday we were determined to get out, so I spent all morning trying to find a babysitter for the little man. Finally, I got in touch with Sarah, who became our hero by agreeing to watch Weston for us for a few hours. Thanks so much, Sarah! For our date, we made our first trip over to the Alamo Drafthouse. So much fun! You get to have your dinner and your movie all in one place. We'll definitely be back! We saw Click, which we enjoyed. We laughed, we (er, I) cried, we had a ball. And we agreed that we don't do date night often enough, so we will definitely make an effort to remedy that!

The End Of An Era

We officially pulled Ruth out of preschool today in favor of other activities she wants to be involved in. It's been a good experience for all of us, but it's just time to move on to something esle. We are especially thankful to Ms. Vicki for making Ruth's first school experience so great. Can't wait to see what the next era brings!

Boogedy Bears

This afternoon Jeff was telling Ruth a story that he was making up on the spot. And without her really realizing it, he was having her add details to the story every so often by asking, "And then what do you think happened?" At one point the charaters in the story came upon a cave, and Ruth chimed in, unprompted, "There might be a bear in there." Jeff didn't really acknolwedge her comment but just went on with the story. Then one of the characters suggested that they go into the cave and the other character piped up, "What if there's a bear in there?" That really got Ruth's attention and she said, "See! I told you they were thinking about there being a bear in there! I was right and you were wrong." It was really funny to see how amazed she was that the story had taken a turn she had predicted. There were in fact bears in the cave--a special breed called Boogedy Bears. When Jeff finished up his story, Ruth decided to tell her own. She did a great job making up the details of her story and it actually had something of a plot. Very fun!

Ouch!

We were in the video store today and as Jeff was checking out, the young clerk commented on his Aggie ring. "Oh. Are you an Aggie?" Jeff asked in innocence. And then without warning the girl just slapped us both right across the face. "Yes I am," she said. "Class of '09." Class of '09! We were stunned. Jeff sheepishly threw back that we were Class of '99 as we made our escape from the brutal attack. How can it be that we are running into people that are graduating from college 10 years after we did?! We are still reeling from the blow hours later. We both agreed it would have been a little easier to take if she would have said Class of '08 or even Class of '10. But the pain of hearing her say "Class of '09" was almost too much to bear.

We're All Together Again

The kids and I made it back safely from Colorado yesterday evening. We had a wonderful time. I just wish we could have bottled up some of that cool weather and brought it back to Texas with us. Jeff made it home from his New York/Boston buiness trip tonight, and so we are all together again in our home--one big happy family!

You Get A Line; I'll Get A Pole; We'll Go Fishing In the Crawdad Hole

Red All Over

I was baking this morning, and the red food coloring pretty much exploded in my hand. And that's always fun. My hands turn red and my countertop did too. I'll just tell you I was none too thrilled. After scrubbing my hands with soap several times, as reccomended by the food coloring label, and still seeing no improvement in the staining, I came over to my trusty laptop and looked up stain removal on the internet. I came across an article about removing hair dye from skin and thought that solution sounded resonable for food coloring as well. Toothpaste. That was the solution. I had that on hand and decided to give it a try. I didn't get the stain completely out, but I saw definite improvement and would probably see the stain go away with a few more treatments. I was impressed that something so simple could do the trick. And as a bonus, I came out smelling minty fresh. As for the countertop, my favorite kitchen cleaner should do the trick. If you have laminate countertops, Scrubbing Bubbles Bathroom Cleaner is the only way to go. It gets out everything! So, those are my cleaning tips for the day. The kids and I are off again this evening for another adventure (Colorado with the Watts side of the family) so I'll catch up with all of you in a week!

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Weston discovered a new toy today, which he fell in love with. And Ruth was just as thrilled with his discovery. They played together for quite a while, and we all had a really good time.

Going Out With A Bang

Here's to Fred. He lived well, and he died well...sort of.

Down, But Not Out

Well, our first attempt to buy a convenience store didn't work out for us. We terminated the contract this afternoon. Don't think, though, that we are going to give up on our "dream" so easily. We are already checking into other options. We'll keep you posted.

The Voice Of Reason

My friend recently went to Brazil, and she brought me back a small bag of these wonderful guava cookies that I like to get when I'm down there. This afternoon, I decided it would be fun to open up the bag and have a little snack. After eating a few cookies, I commented that I could probably eat the whole bag. Ruth said, "Mom! If you do that your tummy will pop!" So, I did what any sensible parent-who-doesn't-want-her-tummy-to-pop would do, I shared. I offered a cookie to her and some to Jeff. After Jeff and I ate a few more cookies, Ruth piped up again: "You guys need to stop eating cookies or you will be sick!" So, I offered her another cookie. This time, she turned me down, saying, "No thank you. I've had enough sugar for today. I had sugar in my cereal and sugar in my juice, and I've already had one of those cookies." Remind me again, who's the adult in this relationship?! It was hilarious!

Craig's List

I finally scored my first free items from Craig's List today, and no, they do not include a hot tub. I got three really neat light fixtures. And I was darn close to getting a queen-size mattress and boxspring, but I basically had to choose between that and the light fixtures and I had already committed to the light fixtures. Mattresses come up fairly regularly, so maybe I'll have another chance on that. I've been a Craig's List junkie for quite a while and it's neat that it has finally paid off for me.

Gymnast

I took Ruth to a birthday party today at Capital Gymnastics. She absolutely had a blast. She got to jump and climb and run...and I even got to do some flips on the trampoline. It's been a while, for sure! It was a very fun party and now all Ruth can talk about is taking gymnastic lessons, so I guess we'll have to check into that.

Success

noun
An event that accomplishes its intended purpose

A lady showed up at my door this morning trying to drum up business for her investment firm. She was dressed for success in her tailored business suit. And that got me thinking about success. I don't know how much success she actually had today for all her looking the part, but if most of the houses she visited were like mine, they probably threw her material in the trash seconds after they closed the door, if they were even home to begin with. I, on the other hand, had a very successful day--not because I wore an expensive suit or because I made a lot of money, but because I made my baby laugh, I taught my daughter a couple of new words, I sat down with my little ones and told them about the Lord, I read them stories, I took them to the park, I allowed Weston to broaden his taste horizons, I did a craft with Ruth, I spent quality time with my husband, I smiled, I sang; and besides all that I also got the kitchen cleaned up and the floors vacuumed and the plants fed. Are there still things left undone at my house? Sure. But overall, I'd say I accomplished my intended purpose. And nothing feels better than when you can sit down at the end of the day and know you were truly successful--even if there is still a pile of laundry waiting to be put away.

Pictures From The Weekend

You Might Be a Redneck...

...If you are entertained by throwing good firewood into the mud just to hear it go "splat."
...If you store your most valuable possessions in the freezer.
...If your cell phone rings to the tune of "Dixie."
...If you rush through your dinner so you can have a chance to drive the backhoe before dark.
...If you catch a tarantula at a dinner party.
...If you comment: "that's the coolest thing I've ever seen" after being shown said tarantula.
...If you walk to the end of the road and come home covered in flea bites.
...If you come to breakfast with your shirt on wrong-side out and backwards.
...If you finsish your first beer of the day at noon.
...If you enjoy sleeping in the closet.
...If you refer to a certain canoe-like water craft as a "Kywhack."
...If you try to dye the living room carpet red by stomping cherries on it.
...If you look for any reason to go down to the gas station.
...If you get a kick out of sweeping dirt over to the vacuum just to see it get sucked up.
...If you leave large muddy footprints on the bathmat without realizing that you did and without comprehending what you could have done to avoid the situation.
And finally, you might be a Redneck if you watched the Fourth of July fireworks in this way: on your boat, on the trailer, in the HEB parking lot, with a beer in your hand and a life jacket around your neck, as the radio played patriotic tunes.




Disclaimer: The statements contained in this document, though they may resemble the comedy of Jeff Foxworthy, are actually true in some form and were all a part of the Watts holiday weekend in one way or another.