Dos Fiestas

Holy cow! What a weekend! We had, not one, but TWO birthday parties at our house on Saturday, and boy were they fun! We started the day with a little party for our Claycito, who is turning ONE on Saturday, if you can believe that. Since he's our Cinco de Mayo baby, the theme was fiesta all the way. We had fajitas, carnitas, Spanish rice and guacamole on the menu. (And, we ran almost completely out of food, which is absolutely unheard of--and supremely embarrassing--for Watts. Jeff's dad may never let us live it down)! I set the kids' real Mexican sombreros around for decorations. There was a large cake with maracas on it for the guests, and Clay-sized maraca cake for the birthday boy. And, we had the teeniest, tiniest, most perfect pinata for our Little Bitty. We were so glad to be joined in our celebration by so many members of our extended family.

ONE!

Getting our fiesta on

A cake to shake things up

"Happy Birthday to you!"

Sharing some cake

Trying to get every last bite

A Clay-sized pinata

When that party died down, we fired up a party for my mom, who turned 60 last Sunday. I had put together a little slide show of pictures spanning all those years (thanks in great part to my grandmother), which we all enjoyed watching. We ate the most tender and delicious ribs, homemade potato salad and a wonderful, creamy Jell-o salad, made by my sister. And then, we had Dulce de Leche cake for dessert. THE SHOES, with a few modifications, even made an appearance during the gift-giving time. And, at Mom's request, Ruth performed some of her piano pieces and her PSIA poem. It was so much fun to laugh and remember and visit and celebrate my incredible mom.

Birthday Buddies

Mom is supicious

Modeling her shoes, while a younger version of herself looks on

THE Shoes

A scrapbook with contributions from the whole family

Make a wish

Ruth performs...

...And entertains

We feel truly blessed to have such an amazing extended family, and we thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend this time together celebrating the lives of some of our favorite people!

Hats I've worn this week

• Teacher
• Chauffeur
• Nurse
• Party Planner
• Maid
• Baker
• Referee
• Exterminator
• Chef
• Dish Washer
• Laundress
• Banker
• Principal
• Mover
• Supervisor
• Artist
• Writer
• Adviser
• Photographer
• Librarian
• Historian
• Gift Wrapper
• Computer Tech
• Plumber
• Mail Carrier

CC Field Day

Excellent form in the bolo toss

Washer toss (Obviously, Watts boys must raise a leg to toss an object.)

Parachute games

Clay found the whole day completely exhausting

Corpus Vacay

I do not have the energy to tell you all the details of our wonderful long weekend in Corpus, but I can give you some highlights.

• a short visit to the Robstown library
• swimming at the hotel
• a few residual tummy issues for a few kids
• abundant Mexican food and seafood 
• Sand Fest
• gigantic corndogs
• playing at the beach
• very minor jellyfish stings for a couple of kiddos
• beautiful sunsets
• the baby's first real steps
• a visit to the U.S.S. Lexington
• great fun at the Texas State Aquarium
• a ferryboat ride
• fruity little drinks
• swollen "duck lips" for mom
• a visit to the South Texas Botanical Gardens 

My little hermit crabs.

The big kids enjoying the surf.

The little guy ready to get a move on.

In the barber shop aboard the Lexington.
(Can you see Clay and Jeff reflected in the mirror)?

Visiting with the dolphins at the aquarium

Playing hard at the aquarium's splash park

My favorite sand sculpture at Sand Fest

Vying for king of the hill

A story about a day

Our story begins at 12:30 am, when I was awakened from a much-needed deep sleep by death-is-upon-me screaming coming through the baby monitor. This NEVER happens, so I quickly made my way to Clay's room. Upon opening the door, I was hit square in the nostrils with a foul, foul odor. With only the hall light on for guidance, I reached for my sobbing Itty Bitty. He was soaked, and I could tell in the dim light that he had been vomiting in his bed. I spent the next thirty minutes getting him calmed down, cleaning him up and changing his bedding. He went back to bed without another peep, but I lay awake wondering what in the world I was going to do about CC. Since today was the last day of CC for the semester, I had some extra responsibilities and the kids had their hearts set on being there with their friends. I finally convinced myself that it could simply have been something Clay ate and that things would be better in the morning and I would make my decision then. Well, at 7:00 am it was clear that things were not much better. The only difference was the end that was producing the foul odors. So, I went through the process of cleaning up the child and changing the bedding once again. I knew I couldn't take him to CC and expose the other kids to whatever this might be, but I wrestled with whether to shirk my responsibilities and disappoint the older children. While stewing about what to do, I started packing lunches, reminding people to get their water bottles and backpacks, and loading an incredible amount of paraphernalia into the van--which included our regular massive amount of gear, as well as lots of last-day stuff: teacher gifts, three batches of cookies for various class parties and much, much more. Thirty minutes later, I was on the phone with my father-in-law, desperately asking if there was any way he and my mother-in-law would be willing and able to take on a sick kiddo for the day. They happily agreed, and soon arrived at the house to pick up Clay and take him to their house. I can't tell you how thankful I was! I then made another phone call to the CC director to let her know we would be a little late.

On the way, the cute little teacher gifts (potted plants) spilled their contents all over the floor under Max's feet. Ruth was close to tears, thinking her gift for her teacher was ruined. Max was close to tears as he realized he was going to have to step in that dirt in order to exit the vehicle. And I was close to tears because I had a sick kid, I was running late and now I had dirt all over my van.

We finally arrived at CC, where I single-handedly unpacked all the gear, so that the kids could go on in to the assembly time. It took For-Ever. Then, I had to set up my classroom, interrupting a class already in progress in order to procure another table. When everything was done, I turned my class over to a sub, so I could test two young ladies, individually, on all of the memory work from the whole year. I finally stepped back into my classroom five minutes before class ended--just in time to give out the participation certificates and special treats I had brought.

The afternoon was going along smoothly, until I had a chance to meet a mother visiting our campus with thoughts of joining us next year. We chatted for a while, and then I kicked in to "director mode," telling her I had registration forms, if she was interested. I walked her through the forms and explained everything as best I could, and she very sweetly listened and acted interested, and then said to me, "I actually designed these forms." Turns out, she was one of the very first directors in the state of Texas. And, she's going to be on my campus next year as I fumble my way through my first time to direct anything. Awesome.

I made it through the rest of the day just fine and then rushed Ruth over to piano lessons. It wasn't until Ruth came out of the lesson that I realized she had gone in without any shoes on. That was a first. And I still don't know what possessed her to do that. It was just another awesome aspect of the day.

Then, we were off to pick Clay up at my in-laws. Somewhere along the way I picked up a killer headache. Fortunately, my sweet father-in-law offered to make dinner for us, and I didn't put a fight. Dinner was obviously going to be way too hard for me to pull off tonight. Another bit of good news was that my in-laws reported that Clay had been happy and healthy all day and seemed to be completely over all his tummy troubles.

But, the minute we walked in the door at our house, he proved that the tummy troubles were not completely behind us. Even now, I seem not to be able to get the stench out of my nose.

I got him cleaned up and put to bed, and then turned my attention to the packing that needs to be done before we can leave on our trip tomorrow. And Jeff got home in the midst of that. Woohoo! Just the bright spot I needed. Unfortunately, I have yet to get back to the packing. Or to vacuuming up the spilled dirt in the van. Or to a million other things that need to be done before we leave. And, frankly, I'm thinking about just ignoring all that stuff. Though, I'm having a hard time ignoring the 4-year-old crying (still!) because he doesn't want to go to bed.

If you need me this weekend, I'll be on the beach. With a fruity little drink in my hand.

The End.

April's Agenda

Appearing on the April calendar:

• Mom's Night Out
• A lunch date with my mom, sister and nephew in Austin
• Fiddle Fest in Llano
• Marble Falls Science Fair
• Jeff's spontaneous holiday
• Sleepover at my in-laws'
• A visit with my brother-in-law, who lives in Mozambique but is in the States for a few weeks
• Jeff on the radio, promoting Strong Academy
• Another boy in the mix for a day and a night, while his mama has surgery
• Last day of CC for this school year
• A beach vacation to Mustang Island
• A very special birthday for my mom
• CC Field Day
• A birthday fiesta for Claycito
• A birthday bash for my mom

I don't know if we could possibly squeeze any more fun out of this month!

Holiday

At breakfast this morning, Jeff announced a holiday for us--no school, no work, just pure fun! (That's when he became the hero of the day)! He wanted to take the kids over to a place called Jumpoline Park, in Austin. It is a room full of trampolines of all different descriptions, and it is super-fun! We arrived right when they opened, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. A few other people came later, but since it was a school day, it remained fairly quiet. We stayed for about 3 hours, and all four kids had a blast! (And Mom and Dad had a pretty good time, too)! When everyone finally got hungry, we went over to Chuy's for some superb Mexican food. After we got home, Jeff took over kid-duty, while I went out for a pedicure. The holiday ended with a (living room) Movie Night and (bedroom) Campout. It was such a fun day, spent with my most favorite people on the planet!

Dancin' Machine

Having a ball

Ready for action

Dodgeball champ

When you live with boys...

...You will find:

• Body parts stuck in unlovely places--fingers in noses; hands in underwear.
• Tee-tee on the bathroom floor (and maybe a few other places it doesn't belong).
• Cuts, bruises, scrapes, bites, and other bodily injuries that have never been mentioned.
• Dismembered action figures lying around.
• A lingering unpleasant odor.
• Water, when there should be no water.
• Dirt. Everywhere.
• Insatiable appetites.
• Great acts of daring being performed constantly.
• A trail of crumbs. 
• Dirty socks.
• Objects always being thrown in the house.
• A great deal of noise.
• Deadly weapons posing as everyday objects. 
• Legos under your bare feet. 
• A ridiculously large collection of things that go.
• Toothpaste on the counters and sinks (and mirror and cabinets...).
• A wide path of destruction.
• Ripped clothes. (Probably lying on the floor).
• Boogers on the wall. 
• Smudgy fingerprints on almost every surface. 
• The sweetest, most sincere hugs and kisses you can imagine!

Everything Easter is supposed to be

We did something a little different for Easter this year. We went over to Fiddle Fest in Llano for a sweet little service down by the river and some old-fashioned, country gospel music. It represented, to me, everything Easter is supposed to be: casual, peaceful, beautiful, and simple. It was a blessing to be there.

A sweet fragrance, filling the air

Peace like a river

Positioned on the rock

11 Months

11 months. I just can't believe it. Our adorable little Claycito is 11 months old. This month has been huge--in terms of new things, if not in terms of Clay's physical size. He is wearing mostly 6-month clothes now, though they still sometimes hang a little loose. I always tell people that he's big for a six-month-old. His blood tests showed that he was pretty anemic, but everything else came back normal, so we're just pumping  him full of iron-rich formula and will keep an eye on his weight. I think he seems to be quite healthy and even seems a little chunky sometimes. He has added two new teeth this month, bringing the grand total up to six. This amazes me, since the other kids were just getting their first teeth at his age. He has started making more word-like noises, and has even starting saying "bye-bye" quite clearly while waving. He is also making an adorable raspberry sound, and a not-so-adorable squeal when he knows what he wants, but we don't. He is cruising around while holding on and has taken what can almost be called an actual step without holding on. It really won't be long before he takes off. He loves to play peek-a-boo, take baths, play with balls, and give kisses. He adores his siblings and enjoys hanging out with them, but is also quite happy to play by himself. And he is just the cutest thing ever, and we love him so much!

Not defined by what I'm not

• I'm NOT a runner, but I run three times a week.
• I'm NOT a trained teacher, but I teach--my kids on a daily basis and a classroom-full of other people's kids, once a week.
• I'm NOT a morning person, but most mornings find me up and at 'em before the sun.
• I'm NOT skilled in Latin, but I teach a high-school level Latin class to my nine-year-old, and I learn right along with her.
• I'm NOT a gourmet chef, but I can serve my family a dinner that will make them smile.
• I'm NOT a "country girl," but there are frequently cows in my yard.
• I'm NOT a coffee drinker, but I do enjoy the occasional cup of joe. (Likewise with wine).
• I'm, generally, "an Indian, NOT a chief," but I just took a job as the director of our CC campus for the next school year.
• I'm NOT a saint, but I am saved by grace.

Things that go bump in the night (and the middle of the day)

From the moment the windows were installed in the house, we have had all manner of fauna crashing into them--from little bugs to little boys. The worst offenders, by far, have been the moths and the birds. The moths actually woke me up around 5:00 am the other day with their incessant pounding, and it took me quite a while to figure out that I wasn't hearing the steady downpour of a nice rain shower. Lots of small birds seem to have had an especially hard time navigating the windows in the living room and the window in the master shower. But, today, while we were having lunch, a fairly large bird came zooming into the kitchen window, with enough force to make an imprint. Dazed by the original impact, he bounced and hit again, but amazingly managed to stay in the air and continue on his merry way. I do not envy him the headache he must have taken with him. And I can't tell you how thankful I am that he didn't come all the way through the glass and land in my kitchen sink. 

Face plant

Winging it 

Spring Break

We were a week late to the Spring Break game, but we definitely made the most of it when it got here. I dropped the kids off with my MIL on Wednesday morning, and she and my FIL took them out to the Davis Mountains for a few days of fun, mountain air and mud puddles. Jeff was working in Houston, so I was truly on my own. So, after dropping the kids off, I headed to Belton to visit a friend I've had for twenty years. You heard me right; I said 20 years. Is that crazy or what?! It was a wonderful visit, and such a bonus to get to see, not only her, but her lovely family, too! Afterward, I invited my mom to share in a big Sam's trip, so I would have company and another set of hands for pushing the other shopping cart! Then, I had dinner with my parents before heading home to a very silent house. I can't remember the last time just the three of us had dinner together. It was nice.

 I had to work on Thursday at CC. I was filling in for the director, who was out of town, in addition to tutoring my regular class and facilitating the afternoon program for the little kids. It was a busy day, but still very enjoyable (and a little odd, since I didn't have my own crew to keep up with). I just love being a part of that community! My mom had planned to sleep over on Thursday night, so she was waiting for me when I got home. After a little chit-chat and a couple of glasses of wine, we headed in to Marble Falls for pedicures, followed by dinner at a fun little wine shop/bistro Jeff and I had recently discovered on a date night. The dinner was wonderful, and the company was delightful!

We slept in on Friday morning, had some coffee and then headed in to town for breakfast at the French bakery, one of the Watts family's new favorite places. The atmosphere is fun, and the food is absolutely to die for! With our bellies full, we decided to get down to the serious business of shopping. There are quite a lot of cute local shops and boutiques, and Mom and I had so much fun poking around in all of them. The find of the day may have been the western-style, zebra-striped matching rain boots, at 70% off, that we bought for Ruth and me. I think we had gotten our money's worth out of them before we ever even got out of the store! We finally took a break mid-afternoon for some lunch at a wonderful, local deli. After lunch, we drove over to Johnson City, where we popped into one cute little store, drove by LBJ's birthplace a couple of times, and visited the dollar store, before heading back to the house, so Mom could get her things together and be on her way home. It's been a really long time since just my mom and I had so many uninterrupted hours together, and we had a blast! Shortly after Mom left, I threw together a couple of appetizer plates, and joined some of the neighbors for Friday Fun Night--a weekly neighborhood gathering out in the street. We hadn't made it to one of these events in a while, and it was nice to get to catch up with some of the neighbors and enjoy the incredible weather.

I spent almost the whole of Saturday in a classroom, doing a training class for CC. And when I was finished, I was pooped. So, I came straight home, warmed up some leftovers, and watched The Blind Side. That movie is so good. Every. Time.

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day, and I wasn't interested in wasting it indoors, waiting to be reunited with my family. So, I took myself over to Wildseed Farms in Fredricksburg, where I listened to live music, enjoyed peach ice cream, bought some herbs, and took no less than 200 pictures of the amazing flowers. It was a heavenly day! And by the time I got home, in the middle of the afternoon, I only had to wait about 30 minutes for my peeps to walk through the door. There were hugs and smiles and stories all around. I loved my little vacation, and they loved theirs, but it was so very good to all be back together again!

Beauty...
(poppy field at Wildseed Farms)

...and the beasts!
(the big boys, after a mud bath)

Happy Spring!

~from our family to yours~

Kryptonite

I am usually a super-stong, do-it-yourselfer, who does not cower in the corner or ever ask for help. But there are two things that turn my spine into jello. Every. Single. Time. They are cockroaches and tornados. (Actually, even just the threat of either one). The cockroach business we'll save for another therapy session. But, tonight, with a tornado warning flashing at me in another tab, we'll address this particular issue of mine.

As a young child, I lived in a small town in northwest Texas, that hosted a fair amount of tornados over the years. Many homes had basements or cellars, but ours did not. So, we would gather at the homes of friends and neighbors whenever The Threat was issued, day or night. With all the excitement in the air and the crowd of familiar faces, I might have thought these gatherings were parties, but for the adults' grim faces and grave examining of the dark sky. More than once, I caught a glimpse myself of the ominous clouds, producing their funnels in the distance. Though it was terrifying, it was also a bit exhilarating. I instinctively respected these storms and knew they contained a power that could not possibly come from man.

In the Spring of 1991, at the end of one of my eighth-grade school days, as I waited for my mom to finish the after-school responsibilities that go along with any teaching job, I gained a more intimate fear and respect for tornados. As we watched the sky darken through the computer lab windows, where my mom was trying to shut down all the machines in the face of the stormy weather, we heard the briefest sound of one of the town's tornado alarms before the power went out completely, and we realized we needed to head for cover. Our initial reaction was to strike the "tornado drill position" in the hallway--a drill we had practiced many times during our school years, always accompanied with giggles and excitement at escaping class for a few minutes. This time, I felt no such giddiness, though I did have the impression that everything was moving in slow motion. We hadn't been in the hall long, when the janitor came along and remembered he had the key to the school basement, where old school play costumes and props were kept and where rats were known to roam freely. As we, and the handful of other people left at the school, made our way down the hall--again in slow motion--I turned my head to the right just as we passed the large windows at the front of the school, and I saw It. The swirling abyss of blackness was just outside the door, traveling casually down the street that ran in front of the school.

I don't know how long we endured the hell of the basement and the not knowing, but when we finally emerged, at the firefighters' urging, it was like  stepping out into a very unpleasant dream. Nothing seemed based in reality, and yet, everything seemed so incredibly real. The football stadium and field house just a parking lot away from us, were completely gone. And there were stories that "things were bad" on the end of town where our house was situated. I'm not at all sure how my mother managed to control the shaking of her hands or the beating of her heart (which as a child, I never noticed, but as an adult with kids of my own, know for certain must have been the case) to coax our car to move in the general direction of our home. The signs of the monster's passing were evident everywhere--mangled trees, crumbled buildings, downed power lines. The road to our house was closed, but we were finally able to snake around on back roads to get there. The main house was still standing, but the playhouse my grandaddy built with his own hands--the one I had lamentably become too cool to play in in recent years--was upended across the neighbor's fence, and the garage sale items my mom had been storing inside were strewn across what seemed like every inch of the neighborhood. And all the buttons had simply been plucked off all the clothes, as if the tornado had some great sewing project to tackle and couldn't be bothered to visit the fabric store for supplies. A neighbor's garage had collapsed. Houses and businesses all over town were destroyed. The power was out for days. And every night for a week, we holed up in another neighbor's basement, watching the clouds taunt us over and over by dipping down little funnels that never quite reached the ground. It remains, to this day, one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. Even now, just the mention of a tornado watch is enough to send shivers down my spine.

Several years later, I had another close encounter with one of these beasts. Just home from college for the summer, at the end of my Sophomore year, I waited out another terrifying storm, alone in my parents' bathtub. That one traveled unabashedly up I-35, taking out whole towns in its wake. Just a mile from where I was hunkered down, the lake's marina was obliterated.

So, tornados are my Kryptonite. And, I'll admit, I can be downright silly about it. My first order of business in every home I've ever lived in has been to establish a tornado plan. I have been known to decree a home unfit for purchase if I can't come up with a "safe room." That's why my sweet husband drew a true safe room into the floor plan of our house, and then saw it through to completion. He did a great deal of research and came up with something that should withstand just about anything. So, if you're looking for the kids and me tomorrow and can't find us, come knock on the pantry door. We may be in there warding off the effects of the Kryptonite.

Look who I found guarding the pantry

Piggies, beware!

No one to blame but myself

I have often heard parents blame teachers for a child's academic difficulties. I have also heard teachers blame parents for a student's lack of progress. But, as both parent and teacher, I have no one to blame but myself when things go awry in the school room, which they did a bit this week. When that happens, I don't have the luxury of trying to pin the blame on someone else. I simply must figure out where things went wrong, retrace a few academic steps and then move forward in a way that, hopefully, best helps my students/children reach their full potential.

Happy Pi(e) Day!

It's 3-14, which means it's Pi Day, for all you Math nerds out there. And, you don't live in a town with a restaurant famous for its pies and let this particular holiday slip by unnoticed. Now that I think about it, this could possibly be my favorite of all the holidays!

The pie case at the Bluebonnet Cafe

Two of Weston's favorite things make this day possible: Math and Food!

mile-high meringue

Nom, nom, nom

...And a sweet little helping of "Cutie Pie"

Dream House Complete

We bought our land in July. In Texas. In the middle of a long drought. And, we thought it was just about the most beautiful property we had ever seen! A year and a half later, our house is finished, and we are settled nicely into it. I love everything about this house! But the land. Oh! The land! In March. After some glorious seasons of rain. The land has made this truly my dream house. These ten little acres are peppered with wildflowers and foliage in every shade: purple and yellow and pink and green. And, my personal favorite, blue! There is a beautiful blanket of bluebonnets lining my driveway, and leading visitors right up to my front door. I love it so much!! It's just what I've always wanted! And, I get to share it with the people who mean the most to me. Can life possibly get any better than this?!

Home, Sweet Home

A Texas Welcome

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

BLUEBONNET TIME!!

The cutest bluebonnet posers of all time!

Look out, ladies!

Beautiful Ruth