Happy Birthday to….Elizabeth!

The last few weeks have been so fun for D and I.  We do not have little ones yet, but we get to enjoy our friends kids and love it!  In the last few weeks we have attended 3 baby birthdays.  I was not able to attend sweet Everett’s First Birthday – but I hear it was a blast.  Lot’s of little monkey’s playing till they dropped.  But I was able to attend Elizabeth Grace’s First Birthday and lucky for me, the Hubs was asked to be the Party Pics guy.  He had a blast.  Here is our pictorial documentary of this fun event. 

  Starting with the details…can you tell this was a little girl’s party?  Lots o’ pink.  Here are the delicious cupcakes.  Several of the Mom’s in the class got together to help Elizabeth’s Mom, Sarah, bake and decorate these.  So awesome! Of course there had to be pink lemonade.

Here are some shots of Elizabeth’s grandparent’s sweet backyard.  Yes, this is a backyard.  Isn’t it awesome!?

Here’s the Tator Tot Gang.  These little one’s will soon be keeping up with our class toddlers, but for today, they were content to just chill by the pool. 

Could life get any better?

Here’s some shots of the kids enjoying the several baby pools set up all over the rest of this enormous yard.  I was so jealous of that backyard.  It was like having your own private park.

Pure baby joy!

Who do you think is having more fun, the kids or the Dad’s?  Hmmmm?

Here’s the Birthday Girl chillin in the big pool.  

This is precious Jemma, a model in the making.  As soon as the hubs put the camera on her, she started posing.  I’m not lying, it was hilarious!

But, if you were that beautiful, wouldn’t you be all smiles?

Here’s the newest addition to our class(at the time, Kellen just beat him last week), Little Man Jake.  He’s content to just stay with Mom, thank you very much.

Here are some examples of the awesome parents in our class.  D and I are learning so much. 

Here’s Tif and her little men.  Dad had to work that morning, so Tif bravely came by herself with these two.  But she knew we would all help her keep an eye on them.  Another reason why we love our class.

Perfection!

Can you tell Aubrey loves her Daddy….sweetness.

  

And the grand finale of the afternoon…the birthday girl enjoying her cupcake.

  Cupcake Happiness!

Thank you to all the parents who let us enjoy their children, they just made our day.

Next post is Big Man Trey’s 2nd Birthday.  Get ready for some Cars (Mator and Lightening McQueen may have made an appearance). 

Patience is a Virtue

I have been on a dangerous and legendary journey known as Getting A Texas Drivers License.  Ya'll, what. a. hassle.  This all began 1 month ago when the hubs got pulled over for speeding.  We were informed by the lovely officer that it is Texas law that when you move here you have 30 days to get your cars all registered, inspected and get a TX license.  30 DAYS!?  I guess since we don't pay state taxes they have to get it from somewhere else. 

So there is where the journey began.  The Hubs has been awesome!  He got both cars inspected and then went through the arduous (and expensive) process of getting the cars registered.  So all that was left was for me to get my license (he got his last week).  Yesterday, I took off the morning from work to do this.  I had my social security card, my registration, my insurance.  What else would you need?

I pulled up to my neighborhood DMV bright and early at 8 am.  To my complete dismay I found a line of people wrapped around the building.  This building was so old and so small that we couldn't all fit in.  So we were forced to stand out in the blazing hot Texas sun for over an hour.  Ya'll it was 96 degrees and 90% humidity - it's dangerous to stand out in the direct sunlight in that weather for a long time, doesn't the Texas DMV know that they are located in TEXAS?  And there was no breeze. 

After I'd been in line for about 5 minutes, a DMV employee came out and started helping the first 5 people outside.  Then she decided it was too hot and went back inside.  So helpful.  One hot, sticky, sweaty hour later I made it inside.  I was drenched front head to foot in sweat.  My clothes were soaked through (yuck!), my hair a disaster, and my makeup was running everywhere.  The "helpful" DMV lady from earlier comes up to me to ask what I was in line for today.  I told her and she asked me for my birth certificate (why in the world would you need a birth certificate to transfer a drivers license?  why I ask you?!).  I told her I did not have one, but that my husband had received his license from that DMV last week without a birth certificate.  She said I had to have one.  Then I got a bit snippy and told her, "You know, this would have been helpful  information to have about an hour ago when I was melting in the sun outside.  I guess it was just too hot for you to do your job." 

Yeah, not Christian-like at all.  I said that, then turned and stormed out to my car.  I was a wreck.  I got in my car, started crying (because I knew I'd have to take the rest of the day off work to get this done, plus I was just hot ya'll - MISERABLE), and sped straight home for a shower. 

After I'd cleaned up and composed myself, I gathered said Birth certificate plus my passport (for good measure) and headed out to another DMV.  Thank God it was modern, big, and had AC.  I had to wait in one line for 30 minutes just to get a number.  Then, was told to take a seat until my number was called.  I sat for 45-60 more minutes.  Then they told me to get in another line.  I stood there for 30 more minutes and finally made it to the counter. As I stood in line I found out that this DMV was the only one in all of Houston, TX that you did not have to wait outside in the heat, which is why all of Houston was there yesterday.  REALLY TEXAS, REALLY?!  I don't ever want to hear another Texan tell me how much better Texas is than Louisiana because I will win that argument everytime.  EVERYTIME!

Anyway, 5 hours after I started my epic journey I walked out of the DMV office with, not a license, oh no, not in TEXAS, that would be too easy.  No, I was given a print out of my license and told that they would mail it to me in 2 - 6 weeks.  Again, REALLY?!  I never had to wait outside at a Louisiana DMV, nor did I ever have to wait more than 2 hours, and I always left the DMV office with a new drivers license.  What a concept.  I am very disappointed Texas, very disappointed. 

Ok, I've gotten that off my chest and I feel better now.  I hope you are all forewarned.  And if you live in Houston and have to go to the DMV go to the one on Dacoma off of 290.  Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT go anywhere else - you will regret it.

Anyone else had any terrible DMV experiences?  Let's share.

Dog Days of Summer

We are the proud parents of two adorable and wonderful dogs – Bruiser the 7 year old, 6 pound Maltese and Daisy the 2 year old, 75 pound yellow Lab.  D and I love these animals so much.  We’re not so into our dogs that we dress them up and humiliate them, but we do talk to them and do just about anything to make sure they are content. 

Well, as you fellow dog owners will attest, there are some not so pleasant aspects of being a dog parent. Obviously, the poop.  Yeah, not fun.  The “I ate too much too fast” barf.  Sooooo not fun.  And the dragging of the butt across the floor in front of your house guests.  Not cool. 

There are a few special things Daisy does particularly that are just unique to her and drive me crazy. 

Exhibit 1.  Shedding. Everywhere. Constantly.

If you have not figured it out…that’s a hairball on my floor!  And yes, we vacuumed just two days prior.  You should see my clothes people.  I am mistaken for a blonde Wookie on a regular basis.  The shedding, oh, the shedding!

Exhibit 2.  Tissue Eating.

So Daisy has this terrible habit of eating tissue.  In the morning when I put on my make up I use tissue to catch any loose powder.  Daisy stalks me and as soon as she thinks she has a chance she’ll stealthily (is that a word) but quickly grab the tissue, run as fast as she can into the front room (where she thinks we can’t see her), and eat the tissue.  Weird.  Well, a few days ago I walk into my bedroom and notice my tissue box on my bedside table.  Something was strange about it.  Can you guess? 

This was the culprit when confronted with her weirdness.

Tissue, Mom?  I don’t know anything about tissue…maybe Bruiser ate it.  Yeah it was Bruiser. Love me, I love you.

 What, are you blaming me again?  Don’t even think about it, Kid.  I mean really, I can barely reach Mom’s knees.

Yeah, they have a very Odie and Garfield relationship.  Except my Garfield is a dog. 

Do your pets do anything funny or weird?  Please say yes, because I really can’t afford a Pet Therapist (yes, that is a real occupation and idiots people actually spend thousands of dollars on this).

Baby Field Day 2010

Ok, I know what you are thinking, “What?  Baby Field Day?”  Yes.  It is apparently a tradition in our Sunday school class.  Since so many of us are having babies, the Hubs and I excluded, we through this event instead of a million separate baby showers. 

We all met up at Memorial Park’s Picnic Area and had a blast.  The weather was perfect.  It wasn’t humid yet and felt like an awesome Spring day.  We celebrated the birth of 4 sweet babies and played fun goofy games in the park.  There was the Baby Diaper/Stroller Relay, Toss the Baby (Egg), and Water balloon Volleyball. 

That’s me in the purple shirt.  Mr. Frog was our baby and we were supposed to put a diaper on him and get him in the stroller.  So that’s the ladies effort.  Here are the guys.

There’s my man trying his hand at it.  I guess he did alright considering the guys won.  Can you believe it?

But I guess it makes sense, I mean, look at these awesome dads.

And here is our fearless hostess, Super Mom

It is so nice to be a part of a group of people who care so much about each other.  Our Sunday school class and small group have been the biggest blessing to us.  We love these people.

The Big 3-1!

Yep, I turned 31 years old on May 20th.  Where did the time go?  I feel like I just graduated from college.  Seems like yesterday.

I had an awesome birthday. Well, the actual day I was traveling in New Mexico for work.  By the time I got back on the next day, I had a full blown sinus infection.  The worst one I’ve had in years. 

So on Saturday, I woke up at 6 am after a long night of coughing.  I had to move to the couch in the living room so I could stop coughing and sleep.  All day long, I slept.  My husband kept coming in and out of the kitchen.  At one point I asked what he was doing and he reminded me that we were going to our friends, the McGraw’s, for dinner.  Then I slipped back into my medicated coma.

Around 1pm I woke up and decided I should probably take a shower and get dressed, it’s the least I could do for the McGraw’s.  Around that time Hubs told me he had to run over to the McGraw’s to help Mr. McGraw move a heavy piece of furniture. Ok, whatever.  He came back and then we headed out.

The minute we walked through the door at the McGraw’s, Mrs. McGraw took me to the backyard to “visit.”  After a few minutes, I decided I wanted something to drink so I went back inside.

To my surprise, the Rabe’s from our Sunday school class were in the kitchen.  This confused me since the McGraw’s and the Rabe’s have never met.  As I was pondering this strangeness everyone yelled, “SURPRISE!”

My Hubs threw me a surprise birthday party.  Isn’t he the best!  He had to have it at the McGraw’s because we still have not unpacked yet since we know the lease situation is only temporary.  So, I’m sure he knew I would not want people over at our house tripping over boxes.  So the McGraw’s graciously opened their home – I have awesome friends.

Here’s my man and Mrs. McGraw hard at work putting together the incredible chicken kabobs:

They were delicious!

Then Hubs shocked me again.  He made my birthday pie.  Pie, you ask?  Yes, amazingly sweet peach pie.  Perfect.  And not one but three,each one with my initial:  KFE!  Check it out.

View Full Album

There are the guys helping Hubs present his masterpiece and there I am making my birthday wish.  Really, could a girl ask for more?  It was a wonderful day spent with the best friends and an amazing husband.  Thank you Lord, I am blessed.

Crawfish Boil 2010

I’ve gotten a bit behind on blogging lately.  Mostly because all my pics are on my hubby’s awesome Canon D.  The Canon is not like my little snap and shoot.  I can get those pics lickedy split, but I have no idea how to get them off the Canon.  So I have to wait for Hubs to be in the mood.

Anyway, he finally did it, so here ya go. 

We had an awesome Memorial Day weekend, which began at our friends Tanner and Jessie’s house on Saturday.  Tanner’s family is from Louisiana and has a crawfish farm, which is why Tanner and Jessie have an annual crawfish boil.  Well, it was awesome. 

If you’ve never had crawfish before, it can be a little intimidating.  They really are mud bugs with very hard shells covering their bodies.  So be you have to rip them apart and pry off their shells, which will inevitably lead to some cuts on the fingers.  But it is totally worth it.

Tanner and Jessie did it up right.  Not only did we have crawfish but potatoes, garlic, mushrooms, and corn. Yummy!

Feast your eyes.

  Certified Cajun goodness, it does not get any better than this folks. 

It was a wonderful day spent with good friends and enjoying great food.  Aren’t you jealous?

What are some fun, unique foods from your part of the country?  Let us know in the comments.

Where My Ladies At?!

So, summer is here in the good ole South which means 100% humidity and 100 degree heat. Or in other words, Bath Suit Season. 

Oh, did you hear that blood curdling scream? No?  Sorry, must have just been my knee jerk reaction.

Up until this year, I was one of those annoying young ladies that just did not understand why other ladies dreaded shopping for a bathing suit.  Well ladies I have crossed over to the other side and I now understand.  I really, really understand.

One Sunday a few weeks ago our sweet friends invited us to swim at their pool.  So, of course, I panicked because a) my size 2 body had morphed into a curvy “real woman” body and b) I have not bought a swimsuit to fit said “real woman” body.  But we said “Sure.”  Poor D, he had no idea what was to come.

As soon as we left church I informed him that we were not going to eat lunch, but in fact, were on our way to Target.  I thought, “Surely, Target or Old Navy will have a suit and I won’t have to go to Dillard's and spend a fortune on a bathing suit.”  I know, those of you experienced “real women” are shaking your heads because you know the folly of my thoughts. 

I mean does Target or Old Navy not realize that anyone over a size 6 does not want to wear a string bikini.  I mean, all I wanted was a great tankini and swimming shorts for a cover up.  Is that really too much to ask?  Well, 2 hours later we ended up at Dillard's.

My poor man.  I grabbed about a million suits and headed to the dressing room.  2 seconds later I realized I needed him to be in the dressing room because there was no way I was going to parade my new body in front of everyone in Dillard's. 

He was awesome!  So after several very quick bathing suit changes, and an awesome sales lady who kept bringing me a bigger size.  I truly believe that the designers are dumb and put a size 10 on a bathing suit that is really a size 6.  That must be it.

Anyway, here is the total awesome, comfortable, sweet suit I bought (and yes, I spent way more just on the top than I have ever spent on an entire bathing suit).

It was impossible to find a one piece or tankini that was long enough for my super long torso, so I compromised.  I feel totally comfortable in this (the fabric is like a dream) and I don’t have to worry about my bikini line.  SWEET!

The annual 5 day family reunion is coming up the week of July 4th, so I need just one more suit.  Well, I could just rinse out my suit at the end of everyday, but come on, really?  So I am hoping that Dillard's will have a major sale soon.  Please?

Otherwise, I’ll be hitting Marshall’s as my good friend Erin says it has great deals.  I’ll be hitting it soon and I will let you all know the results of my search.

So for all you real women out there, let me hear ya!  Do you have any good bathing suit finds, any great stores the rest of us should check out?  Let us know.

Now I am going to go feel comfortable in my new body and enjoy eating my hubby’s awesome cooking for dinner.