Mother's Day

My kids and hubby were super sweet to me on Mother's Day, as always. I got some great gifts (Shaun of the Dead DVD - thanks, Ryan!), flowers, cards, cupcakes, and a fantastic lunch at Mandola's. Garrett's school had a nice Mother's Day tea, which was precious. Thank you to my two sweet kiddos and my wonderful husband for making the weekend a special one. I'm so happy to be your mommy, Garrett and Scout. I couldn't imagine two sweeter kids!

Easter

Easter always kinda gets overshadowed by Garrett's birthday, but we had a nice one. It was just the four of us this year, and we took it easy. The kids loved getting their baskets and loading up on some sugar before church. We actually got a pretty good family shot before we left that morning, too. We came home for lunch, but saved the egg hunt for after Scout's nap. Her territory was the backyard, while Garrett got anything behind the fence. It was a lot of fun, and the kids found every egg! I think G finally started to understand the real meaning behind the holiday, as we tried to spend more time this year talking about the incredible sacrifice that Christ made for us. Although it's very belated, Happy Easter, everyone!

Yummy Peeps!

The Backyard

No, this is not a post about more house renovations involving our yard, although we have worked on it a lot this spring. I'm writing about the outdoor music venue in Austin that changed locations, and has just re-opened, The Backyard. I took the kids today to their First Look Festival, which was really fun, but I should start by mentioning Ryan's involvement.

Ryan started a branch of his company with his friend and co-worker Eric called Green Event Services. They provide a green waste disposal option for events in Austin by recycling and composting the large majority of the waste produced at the events. I won't get into all the details, because I don't know or fully understand them, but people were telling Ryan and Eric that it couldn't be done and that no one would pay for it. The guys believed in Ryan's ideas and Eric's numbers, and they convinced their boss and the Austin Wine Festival to let them try. Almost a year and several events later, Green Events is now partnering with The Backyard, providing their services for every concert. The Backyard people have been amazing to them. They treat us like family and truly appreciate the care that the Green Events team is putting into the Backyard's dream for their new venue. Ryan and his team educated the vendors and staff and put in countless hours to make it a success. Ryan was even up at the venue laying flooring and painting on his day off to make the first concert a success. And, it was. The first show was ZZ Top, which I attended with my mom (and ran into my cousin and uncle there), while Ryan worked. That's the other thing. Though Ryan is heading up this project, he still walks around picking up trash off the ground, going through cans to pull out compostables, and stays until the end to collect it all. He is such a hard worker, who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty, literally, even when he doesn't have to. I'm so proud of him, and I wanted to share what he does, because he won't. We all know he loves his job and talks about it a lot, but he leaves out the part that he's responsible for these huge projects. I just wanted to brag on him a little. He's smart, hard-working, innovative, and pretty dreamy. The dreamy part has nothing to do with his job, but it's true!

Back to our day. I decided a festival that started early would be a good opportunity to take the kids to a concert, so we showed up at noon, met Ryan for some Torchy's for lunch (one of the delicious local vendors at the Backyard), and set up camp under a tree on our blanket. We chatted with Ryan's co-workers and the Backyard staff who came by, but pretty much stayed with one of Ryan's office co-workers Katrina. Scout had a fun time with her. The crowds didn't start coming until the afternoon and early evening, so we were able to let the kids run a little free, since it was easy to keep an eye on them. My children have never met a stranger and tend to find a way to join other families and groups without seeming like they're imposing, and today was no exception. Garrett pretty much stuck to one family with two little girls and ran around with them all day. The three of them ran back and forth between our family and theirs. They played so hard, I don't imagine any of them heard many of the bands. In fact, before bed, I asked G if he liked the music, to which he replied, "What music?" Scout floated among several family groups. She spent a good amount of time with one old woman, who gave her a pen and paper to draw and engaged her in conversation. She also stood in front of a couple for at least one band, and imitated the man's dancing and made faces at them. She clapped and cheered everytime the crowd did and shook her hips a lot. She got a lot of sweet smiles and "She's so cute!" Both kids played their air guitars at various times and got their rock star on. Ryan also took them backstage to see where the artists hang out, which I'm sure they cared little to nothing about, but I thought it was sweet. We ended the evening with some Mandola's panini and cannoli and a VIP golf cart ride from Daddy to our car. Scout missed her nap, and never acted like it, besides the immediate unconscious state she fell into a half mile down the road. It was a great day, and I'm so glad my kids got to experience it. Thank you, Ryan!

Air guitars

Garrett and Ryan

Me and Scout

The kids checking out a cool caterpillar (it was the star of the show for quite awhile)

Scout and Katrina

G with the stage in the background - a beautiful backdrop

G and his chauffeur

Superhero Training Camp

Garrett loves pretending to be a superhero, and since he loves them all equally, we opted for the superhero-themed birthday party, instead of focusing on just one. We planned a superhero training camp at our house with 5 skill areas to master. The invitation was a letter marked "Confidential" complete with handler instructions and references from graduates of our Super Secret Superhero Training Facility. Not to name drop, but Superman, Spiderman and Batman all made the list. It was our first drop-off party, so we wanted to be sure to have enough activities to keep them busy. We had everyone wear their favorite superhero costume. Garrett chose Spiderman, I was a trainer, Ryan was Clark Kent, Scout started out as Batman, and my sister invented a superhero named Green Lightning and made her costume (it was awesome). We also had appearances from the Flash, C-Man, another Batman and Spiderman, Superman, and a Power Ranger. Ryan also made a playlist for Garrett of some great superhero songs to play during the party, which he loved! The five skill areas we chose were web-blasting, speed and agility, marksmanship, rescue skills and strength training. For web-blasting, we put the kids in a circle, tied white yarn around G's waist, and had him throw the ball of yarn to someone across the circle. That person then wrapped it around their waist and tossed it again. By the end, we had a nice web in the middle. For speed and agility training we divided the kids into two rows, each with a soccer ball. When the whistle blew, they had to pass the ball down the line and back, alternating between passing the ball over their heads and between their legs. For marksmanship, Ryan gets the Father of the Year award. We had planned on setting up a dartboard on the fence and letting the kids hit it with water balloons. Well, it rained the day of the party, and the heaviest of it was during this activity. So, my sweet husband stood in the pouring rain holding the target while the kids lined up at the open patio door and took their sweet time throwing the balloons until everyone got a couple of turns. Sweet Daddy! For rescue skills, we went on a group scavenger hunt to save the princess (one of Scout's dolls that I'd taped to the underside of our dining table). It involved riddles and finding clues, and the kids were really into it. Finally, for strength training, we did a pinata. Of course, it was still raining, and since we have no trees growing in our house, Ryan stood on a ladder in the living room and held the very full pinata while the kids again took their time breaking it open. Good thing Ryan has enormous muscles. At the end, all of the kids passed with flying colors and received a certificate stating their official superhero status, signed by Justice Forall and everything.

We finished with a cookie cake with sparkling candles and yummy snacks. The kids really got into all of it, and I had a super time doing it all with them. They all got along well, and worked together. Scout wasn't even mad that we'd taken her doll, but was very grateful that we'd rescued her from the bad guy. I'm really happy that we could celebrate Garrett's five years with his very super friends!

Green Lightning!

Clark Kent, Caroline and C-Man!

Starting the web

Finishing it up!

Speed and agility

Notice I'm safely behind the glass as the water splashes off the target and back into the house.

Contemplating getting Daddy instead of that target

Look how all of these kids have it out for my husband!

At least Caroline tries to hide the pleasure she's taking in seeing Ryan get soaked.

Finding the princess


She's safe!









Make a wish!

Show us those muscles!

His friends know him well, and he got some good presents! Thank you, everyone!

Happy 5th Birthday, Garrett!

My sweet boy turned 5 today! I have to admit, it hurt a little. Four sounds small and sweet, and five sounds so big! When G woke up this morning and came into our room, we sang Happy Birthday to him, and then I cried a little. I told him that I was sad that he was turning 5, and he said, "But I'm learning new tricks everyday, Mommy, so you can't be sad." Well, that sounded so sweet and grown up, that I cried a little more. I really didn't spend the entire day crying, and I am happy that he's growing and learning.

The past year with Garrett has been full of fun and sweet moments, and I can't wait to see what 5 brings. We ended this year of his life with new hair and new eyes, but Garrett is still the tender, loving, verbose and imaginative boy he's always been. He loves making up stories and songs, climbing on things and then jumping off of them and using his ever-evolving superhero powers and pirate skills to fight bad guys. He holds tightly to his convictions, like "love God", "eat foods with lots of vitamins", "don't litter" and "always save the princess." He is loving and forgiving of his Mama. He lights up when Daddy walks in the room. He is patient when teaching his little sister new things. Ryan and I are so proud that Garrett is our son, and Scout couldn't love her brother more. We love you, G. Happy Birthday, big boy!

Dress up

My kids are so into costumes. Most are of the superhero or pirate persuasion, but we like to mix it up a little with the occasional gunslinger, puppy dog or knight thrown in there. Here are some of the kids' latest creations.

Harry the Dirty Dog

My sister had the wonderful idea of taking the kids to see a theater performance of the classic Gene Zion children's book Harry the Dirty Dog toward the end of February. It was playing at the Majestic Theater in San Antonio, so the kids and I made an overnight trip of it. Garrett loves the book, and Scout loves dogs in general. She hadn't had the patience to sit through the reading of the entire book, so she was always offended when we called the stuffed animal she loves so much, a dirty dog. After the performance, she understood. Now, she can tell us the whole story, including the parts when Harry gets really dirty.

We followed the musical with a day at the park, a nap and then dinner at Incredible Pizza. Seriously, Austin, why do we not have one of these? The next morning, we had breakfast at Jim's, which is becoming a San Antonio tradition for my kids. We finished by watching the old Disney cartoon version of Robin Hood, which my sister owns. It was a terrific weekend, as usual, with "Aya" and her guinea pig. Thanks, Andrea, for the great idea and a super fun weekend!