Texas Tradition

Here in Texas, come every spring, it is a tradition to roam out into the fields and along the highways, pull your car over and get out to take pictures with the blooming bluebonnets. Now, I understand that some places consider these a weed (a pox upon their nation!) but we here in the Lone Star state love 'em.

Here's the results of this year's efforts. It's been a dry year so far, and the bluebonnets aren't blooming like they did last year; but it's still a good show. First, here's a bluebonnet for you.

Now Lil'E in the field.

And here's Lil'er E (when we were not having to keep him from picking every flower he saw).

And the family.

Tags: Bluebonnets, Pictures, Texas, Spring

2y (24m) (731d)

Yesterday was a big day - Liler'E turned 2 years old. That is, 24 months, or 731 days (last year was leap year). Just look at how happy he is! (Of course, if you had that much food on your face, you'd be happy, too.)

Big party today - Elmo themed, for the Elmo lover. A few friends (as "friendly" as a kid just turning two gets) and some family. At least, everyone who isn't sick. But he's happy today, and having fun.

No more computer for me today - it's all party from here on out.

Lil'E is growing up

So the other night at bedtime, Lil'E run's downstairs is is very excited about something.

Lil'E: Guess what! My bottom's big enough now that I don't have to use that thing on the potty!
Mrs. E and I: ? ? ? What . . .
Lil'E: That white thing. I don't have to use it anymore!
Me: Do you mean the toilet seat!?!
Lil'E: Yes! The white thing you put your bottom on! I'm big enought that I don't need it!
Mrs. E: Sweetie, that's the toilet seat. Everyone uses it. Mommy's bottom is much bigger than your's and I still use it. You always need to use it!
Lil'E: Oh, okay. (but still confused as to why)

I must say that I've never heard women so freely discuss the size of their bottom's before. I'm still laughing at this who episode.

It could be worse . . .

It's been a long Christmas week. Forgive the blithe nature of this post, but I'm just too tired for anything but listing the facts.

• Lil'er E had a cold all week. Hey, it was better than the RSV he had last Christmas.
• Getting ready to leave for my parents for five days, I notice that our cat had not eaten any food for a couple of days. I got a bad feeling about that.
• Lil'er E cries the whole seven hours to Abilene.
• On Christmas night, after a nice day with my parents, brother and sister-in-law, and niece and nephew, Mrs. E and I went on a double date with my brother to see Seven Pounds. A depressing movie, after which my sister-in-law checks her voice mail to discover that her 46 year old aunt has died. Apparently a suicide (the facts aren't all in), on Christmas Day. Worst part of the holiday. Period.
• Lil'er E, while getting over his cold, discovers that he can climb out of his pack-and-play bed and run to freedom. Which he did all last night. No real sleep for Mrs. E and me from 2 am on last night.
• Returning home today, I find that my cat did, indeed, die while we were gone. I found her lying under the Christmas tree - always her favorite place to be. The kids have taken it okay, at least so far.

I'm tired. I'm more than a bit sad. The kids had a great Christmas, and it was great to spend time with my family (and now with Mrs. E's family for a couple of days). But there just seems to be a pall hanging over this holiday. I've got Sufjan Stevens' "That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!" running through my head right now - I wonder why.

Hope your Christmas was a little better.

Hey, Buddy

I've talked about Justin before several times, the infant son of a friend who has Downs syndrome. This past Saturday we got to spend some time with their family, some friends, and around 2000 other people at the Buddy Walk benefiting the Downs Syndrome Association of Houston. Justin is doing great, and part of that is the services and information that DSAH has been able to provide. This Buddy Walk was to help them out, to continue their existence. The picture above is the group of Justin's Jaywalkers (the Euphrony's are on the left). We walked around the Buffalo Bayou in downtown Houston on a beautiful day.

Keep praying for Justin and his family as he continues to grow.

On a side note, I was reading Jeremy Thiessen's blog and saw that his first child, Liam, was born last week. On Saturday they found out he has DS. Pray for Jeremy and Erin (his wife) as they take this curve ball and learn the path God has given them.

Thursday (in bullet points)

• Wake up, shower, dress, then wake Lil'E.
• Prod Lil'E into eating, dressing, and getting out the door. Drop her off at school, while she complains about not remembering all the lyrics for "Feliz Navidad".
• Run by Sonic for morning drink-stop.
• Return home to wake Mrs. E and Lil'er E. Prod Mrs. E into acting alive while getting Lil'er E ready for pre-school.
• Take Lil'er E to pre-school, then return home.
• Begin enjoying hours of mid-day datetime with Mrs. E.
• Head out from the house, and eat lunch with Mrs. E at The Cheesecake Factory.
• Shepherds pie at The Cheesecake Factory is good, but not like what I've had in Scotland.
• Stroll through the mall and pick out a new light jacket that does not have my old company's logo on it.
• Leave the mall and go bowling with Mrs. E. Proceed to be totally embarrassed as I average 85 over two games, get beat the first game by 40, and slide down the alley after a foot fault turned into a total loss of dignity.
• Realize that bowling only once every 18 months does not leave one in decent shape to be a consistent bowler. Big surprise.
• Leave the bowling alley and head by Sonic for the afternoon drink-stop. Drop Mrs. E off at the house to let her have a few minutes alone while I go pick up Lil'er E from school.
• Drop Lil'er E off at the house, realizing he would be totally flipping out while waiting to pick up big sis.
• Leave to pick up Lil'E from kindergarten. Come home and help with her homework.
• Play with the kids for a few minutes, then bundle the family into the car to go see Bolt at the Movie Tavern.
• Watch the kids enjoy lots of popcorn, fries, corndogs, and a movie about a dog. On a school night.
• Come home, tuck the kids in bed, relax with Mrs. E, and write this blog.

G'nite!

Watch out, Tom!

Happy Thanksgiving, from the Euphrony's!

Random notes

Two out of Three ain't bad
With all due respect to Mr. Meatloaf, while two out of three ain't bad, two out of four is. Specifically when it is 2 out of 4 family members having strep throat. Namely, when it is Mr. and Mrs. E who have strep throat. And we're just waiting for the Little E's to catch it. Really, what are the chances that mom and dad can have strep throat, take care of the kids, and the kids not get sick? It's times like this that I wish we had family living in the area. It would be perfect to tell the kids they're going to grandma and papa's house for the week, let them handle the kids, and let us get well. But, alas, it isn't so.

It's so sparkly
So Lil'E came home from school yesterday and told me that her teacher is getting married. Her ring is so sparkly (so I've been told). Don't know when the wedding will be, but there's a chance that Lil'E will have to learn her teachers new name before the end of the year.

Has anyone else out there had a teacher get married in the middle of a school year? I did, when I was in 4^th or 5^th grade. All the kids brought her wedding gifts one day - for a little boy, it was an odd experience.

Music on my mind
So, I have so many music-related posts in my head that I haven't been able to get them all out and on the blog. I had really meant to have reviewed Sara Groves' new Christmas album by yesterday, but the strep kept me down. Plus I've also got a few thoughts about worship music and a few new bands to introduce to you. Oh, and I'll be going to the Arts*Music*Justice Tour on Sunday, so that will be fun.

In review . . .

accounting

11 days, 12 hours, and 35 minutes without power

But wait! What's that I hear? Could it be the hum of an air conditioner? Or the whirl of fans? Maybe it's the buzz of electricity in the air and the house!

It's true, we finally have power! It came back on around 3:25 this afternoon! As I type I sit comfortably in my own chair, watching CONCACAF soccer, while the kids sleep in their own rooms! Thanks be to God for restoring the normality of electric life to the Euphrony family!

(Can you tell I'm excited?!?! Maybe from all the exclamation marks?!?!?)

Now we just have to refill the fridge and replace all the food we threw away when it started to thaw and rot.

Euphrony in absentia

While the Euphrony family continue to wait for power to be restored at our humble abode, I thought I would fill you in on the madness that was last weeks "vacation" from work and school. (As a side note, the power company lists our zip code as having only 33% still without power as of early this morning. Secretly, Mrs. E is convinced that, when there are only 1000 or so left without power in Houston, we will be among those lucky few.) Right now we're all worn out, having stayed at three different places in the last week. The kids want their home, Mrs. E and I want our bed, and no one wants to go to a suitcase to find closes for the day. Sometime soon normal life will resume, but not quite yet it seems. While we wait I'll give you a recap of what Euphrony has been up to in absentia.

As I had mentioned last week, we road out the storm in our house. The damage on our street wasn't really all that bad, and between eight (or so) hours spent last Saturday and Sunday cleaning up the yard we were back in shape. Except for the lack of electricity, of course. And the piles of debris that still sit in my front yard. With no reason to stay and several reasons to leave, we packed up some suitcases and headed to my in-laws house in Dallas. Being from some archaic time, they have neither cable nor broadband internet access at their house - but they do have a trove of classic toys that the kids love to play with. Really, not having fast, easy internet all week was a good thing. Having little to keep be busy I probably would have spent hours every day looking at the same information on storm damage and repair estimates, resulting in serious depression. I was already down, feeling rather powerless to do anything to restore my family to "normality", so the barrage of stories would have been less than helpful.

Since Mrs. E's parents both work full-time, we had the days pretty much to ourselves. Monday we hung out with my sister-in-law and their daughter and son (they live not far from Mrs. E's parents) - the Lil'E's always love playing with their cousins. Once my brother got home from work he cooked us some dinner. Now, I a pretty good cook and can whip up a nice meal when I have a mind to; for my brother, cooking is a passion. He grilled some chicken breasts that had marinated in an apricot sauce all day, and some bell peppers and jalapeños that were stuffed with cream cheese, green onion, and bacon and then wrapped in bacon. Add in a broccoli and rice casserole and it was pure heaven to people who had eaten little but junk that last few days. Thanks, bro - that's still the best meal I had all last week!

On Tuesday we decided to enjoy the sunny day and cold front (only got up to around 80°F) and go to the Dallas Zoo. It was, apparently, Houston Evacuee Day at the zoo - probably more than 90% of the people there were from Houston. I'm guessing that they did above-average business all last week. As usual, the zoo was a hit with the kids.

Wednesday we hung out more with my sister-in-law at the Firewheel Town Center and let the kids play. Firewheel is an open-air mall, with and outdoor playground, a huge fountain with fish, and a stream that the kids could play around. With Mrs. E pushed a napping Lil'er E in the stroller and did some shopping, Lil'E and I spent two hours running around the stream and playing games. The most common game lately has been where she pretends to be a princess and I'm the prince she marries. We fight off bad guys, get married, and on this occasion had a baby. She actually led me to where the "hospital" was beside the stream, laid down on a rock, and I swear was about to start making birthing noises before she declared the baby was here. (Do any guys out there besides me feel a little odd pretending to "have babies" with their little girls?)

On Thursday we pretty much just chilled around my in-laws house. Mrs. E shopped.

On Friday we put Mrs. E on a plane to come back to Houston while the kids and I went to stay the weekend with my brother. Mrs. E was in a play that was supposed to perform the weekend of the hurricane (but didn't, for obvious reasons). They were, however, able to reschedule for the following weekend; so the organizer paid for Erin to fly back (since we only had one car in Dallas) so she could round out the cast. There was no reason for me and the kids to be there so we stayed the weekend in Dallas. The kids and I had fun at my brothers on Friday afternoon and Saturday, then got up and drove back to Houston on Sunday morning.

Now I'm back at work and Lil'E heads back to school tomorrow morning. I'm planning on going to go chat with and see Addison Road in Conroe on Thursday night while they are here with Pillar, along with Our Heart's Hero and Philmont. I've heard some of Our Heart's Hero's music, but not anything from Philmont, so I'm looking forward to getting a taste of their music as well.

Normal life. Right now, that is our dream. We're making a start on it.

Tags: Hurricane Ike, Dallas Zoo, Power Outage, Addison Road, Pillar, Our Heart's Hero, Philmont

and counting

9 days without power

And counting.

I'm back at work tomorrow, and we're back in Houston. We're staying with some friends who have power until ours is back on. The power company tells us that our zip code is not slated to have "substantial restoration of power" until sometime after Thursday, September 25^th. No definite date. As of this moment ~53% of our zip code is still without electricity. At least our water and sewer is in working order - some people don't even have that much.

(More later on our week in exile.)

Riding the storm out: 3 Stories

Story #1: Justin
I had asked everyone to be praying for Justin, who had heart surgery a week ago today. He and his parents rode out Hurricane Ike in the hospital and probably fared better there than most anyone else. The hospital never lost power and Justin is progressing remarkably well. In fact, the question is starting to become what to do if he is ready to go home but has no electricity at home. He has most of the lines and monitors removed and has started smiling again!

Story #2: The Euphrony's or A (kid) hurricane within a (big) hurricane
The last time I updated I talked about our preparation for Ike and how someone was offering to give Ike away on Craigslist. As Friday night went along we got the kids in bed, Lil'E in our bed downstairs and Lil'er E in his room upstairs. Then Mrs. E and I watched Monk and we went to bed. Around 1 a.m. (shortly before the eye was hitting land) we brought Lil'er E downstairs - he never went back to sleep. And, with him awake, Lil'E woke up. So, as Mrs. E and I tried to sleep on the couch and recliner, the kids ran circles around the living room; all the while outside the wind whistled and howled and trees creaked and popped. In other words, they had a blast of the night! Finally, around 5 a.m., they fell asleep in our arms. The electricity had gone out shortly before 3 a.m. Saturday morning, so most of the fun was in the dark lit only by LED lights.



Come "daybreak" the eye was over us. We could look outside for a bit and see some of the damage before the wind and rain picked back up. Finally, around noon, things were calming enough to go outside and begin some cleanup in the rain. One of our sweetgum trees in the front yard had snapped 20 feet off the ground and fallen on our neighbor's car (sorry!). First priority was getting it sliced up enough to allow them to cover up the hole in the windshield and to move the car so they could get a generator running out of the rain. After this we waited until the rain died down a bit more and began cleanup in earnest. I had another sweetgum drop a large branch over our driveway, and pine branches and pinecones everywhere - but no damage to the house (whew!). Our neighbors across the back fence had a pine snap and fall on their house, but only damaged the covered patio. Down the street a large tree fell and crushed a garage. Any trees with shallow, small root systems were pulled completely out of the ground. Power was out almost everywhere, with random spots around town having electricity. One of those was an intersection about a mile from our house - frustrating! As the day progressed we ate what we had, drank the water I had laid aside (there was a boil notice for all water around town) and made it through until evening. At least we could flush without problems! By 8 p.m. it was dark and the kids were in bed. Mrs. E was in bed, too, and I stayed up to read for a little while. We were hot, but we slept okay.

Sunday was a new day, with some new damage. We had more rain overnight and branches and trees that were loosened by Ike came free and came down. The kids had faired well on Saturday - Sunday they were just plain cranky. With no cold drinks, they wouldn't drink anything. No more milk. The foods in the fridge were gone and the stuff in the freezer were going. No ice. Oh, and did I mention cranky kids? Once the novelty of it all wore off they decided they had had enough! Lil'er E walked up to the TV every 10 minutes and tried to turn it on; persistance was not rewarded this time. I finished cleaning up the yard around 4:00 p.m., had the fridge and freezer cleaned out by 5:00. Before six o'clock we were on the road to Dallas to stay with family until either the power came back on or we had to return for work/school. Lil'E's school is out until at least Thursday, and my work until at least Wednesday. At last check, the electric company that services us was still showing 98% of their customers without power - some 380,000 households. We didn't need to be there, and we could get away. Let someone else have the ice they're shipping in, they need it more than we do.




Story #3: Mrs. E's grandmother
If there's a bad time for something to happen, it probably will. Last week, before the hurricane, Mrs. E's grandmother (in Port Arthur) had a stroke; it was a full day before anyone found her. She's been in the hospital recovering, and was not able to be evacuated before Ike hit. The hospital did not lose power, but Mrs. E's mom got a call this morning that her condition had deteriorated and she was put on life support. So not ten hours after we got to her house she was headed out to be with her mother in what could be her final days. Please pray for my mother-in-law (going into the blackout) and for her mother and family.

This has been a long post but I hope you read all of it. I wanted to update on several fronts and figured I'd mash it all into one. I'll keep everyone informed on the further adventures of the Euphrony's over the next few days.

While I'm at it, I'll ask a question: What is the longest you've sat in your house without power?
Tags: Hurricane Ike, Fallen Trees, Storm Damage, Debris, Electricity, Power Outages, Cleanup

Things I've learned in Tennessee

Well, we finally made it home today. After 1750 miles, ~85 gallons of gas, 3 billion hours in the car, and more lapses in sanity than I can count, we're resting in our own beds tonight. Okay, so it wasn't that bad - but Lil'er E did wake up at 4:00 this morning and never went back to sleep, so we're all a little exhausted tonight.

On a different note, here are a few things I've learned while we've been visiting in Tennessee.

1. Tennessee has a lot more hills than Texas. Okay, so that's not so profound; but that does not mean its not true. Sure, Texas does have the Hill Country, but Houston is a coastal town and the biggest hills are the speed bumps in parking lots. Where I grew up in West Texas is even flatter (what flies out of your mouth when you sneeze from the dust significantly alters the elevation of the landscape there). So, I got used to driving up-hill everywhere I went - and the old joke of walking to school in the snow up-hill both ways actually makes some sense, now.
2. It's harder to play the driving alphabet game in Tennessee than in Texas. You know, the game where you have to find a letter on a road sign (using cars is definitely cheating). All because of one letter - "Q". In Texas, you can find a "q" every five minutes, as you pass the next Dairy Queen. They don't call it the Texas Stop Sign for nothin'! But, alas, it's not the Tennessee stop sign. We spent an hour trying to find a "q", and nearly gave up hope and quit in the process.
3. I've never before attended such a cool fireworks display. Oh, I've seen better fireworks, but temperature wise it was actually bearable to be outside to watch them. The July weather in Tennessee was quite pleasant, nice even, never getting above the upper 80s while we were there. This is compared to the hotter-than-hades July 4th celebrations I'm used to enduring. I'm sure, of course, that it gets hotter there in August; but in Houston in August people are known to pray for a quick death before having to go outside. It ain't pretty here (but there it was).
4. There are some mighty nice people who live in Tennessee. We had a great time with our old friends in Jackson, and we got to spend a couple of nice days with another set of old friends in Memphis. And of course there are some very nice people in Nashville, as well. We had the chance to eat a little pizza with Brody and Kristin and their three boys. We did not have the chance to meet with Stephen or Chaotic Hammer, though - maybe the next time we are in the same geographic region we'll have more time.
5. Other parents have some funny stories about their kids. I mean, really funny. So I mentioned our friends in Memphis. They have two boys about the age our my kids. We spent the 4th riding the trolley through downtown Memphis (past Beale, saw the site of MLK's assassination, etc.). They told us, though, about their oldest boy's growing curiosity about the differences between his own equipment and daddy's. Then they told us about finding him, with a black marker, drawing pubic hair on himself and his little brother - to be more like daddy. (This space is intentionally left blank for your laughter.)

Well, we'll talk more once I've slept tonight. And maybe tomorrow night. And the night after that, too. Pictures will be forthcoming, as well.

Do you have any good memories of Tennessee?

Just past half-way

The count, at just past half-way through the family vacation.

• 880 miles traveled so far
• 45 minutes of children sleeping in the car
• 1 child who actually slept
• 3 places we have slept
• 2 more places to sleep before home
• 1 Pixar movie seen by Lil'E, NatCh, and myself
• 2 museums visited (one art and one science)
• 1 dinner plan canceled because of 1 bee
• 2 children waking up way too early every day
• 1 barbershop convention, with attendees at this hotel (and singing in the lobby at 10:00 pm)

Lots of fun! I'm practically bouncing off the walls! This picture pretty much says it all.

Catchin' some fireflies

After driving some 670 miles over the last two days, we have arrived in Tennessee. So, what is the biggest thing we've done thus far? Catch some fireflies, of course. That's what you do on vacation! Here's Lil'E with our friend NatCh

Oh, yeah, also play with your friend's papillions. When we arrived, Lil'E made me carry her in on my shoulders to keep her away from the evil dogs. After an hour, she had played with them enough that the poor dogs were worn out and Lil'E was disappointed that their stamina was so low.


So the Euphrony's are chillin' for a few days. Maybe get a chance to have dinner with these people in a few days. That'll be nice.

While I'm not blogging, be sure to follow the 40 Day Fast through Inspired to Action. Go read today's posts about the people of Paris or about the Dalit people of India. And keep praying.

I've got a fever

Vacation fever! I've been seriously burned out the last few weeks. Doing way too much both at home and at work, plus the ol' blogosphere. So the Euphrony family is getting outta here for a few days. I'm taking the rest of the week off and we're going to meet the extended Euphrony family at a hotel with an indoor water park. All the fun with half the sunburn!

I've gotten, like, nothing done at work the last two days. Too distracted I guess, or too much of a migraine this afternoon. We'll have computers with us - Mrs. E still has to teach her on-line class - but the internet will not be my big focus. I just bought a couple of new books and want to see what kind of a dent I can make in them when I'm not swimming with the kids.

Do be looking for some action from me on Inspired to Action, though. I just posted some thoughts earlier today, the first I've been able to contribute in a while. Plus, I'm getting an interview together with a teenage girl named Ellie. If you live in the Nashville area you may know her name - three years ago, at the age of 10, she organized the first Ellie's Run for Africa to raise money for schools in Africa. The fourth annual run is this weekend and I've been talking with her about it all. Also, I've been talking with Jason Gray and hope to have an interview with him on World Vision and IJM pretty soon. Keep your eyes peeled over on I2A!

See ya!

A tale of two birthdays

We're celebrating two birthdays this week at the Euphrony Homey. First is the lovely Little Euphrony, who is now five years old. I blinked and here we were, watching her dance recital, seeing her compete on swim team, flying through preschool graduation, and celebrating our not-so-little girl.

Ballerina Girl

Swim Team Girl

Graduation Girl

Birthday Girl (Oh, yeah, those are fresh blueberries and strawberries on her cheese pizza. This from the girl who at McDonald's mixes the ranch dressing for her chicken nuggets with the caramel for her apple slices.)

Birthday #2 is for the newest and oldest child in our family. Brenda, a girl who lives in Uganda, just joined our family two weeks ago and turned six this week. She is the child we sponsor through Compassion. Sadly, she is actually a replacement (of sorts). We were sponsoring a girl in Brazil, but the project through which she was helped was non-cooperative with Compassion and they were forced to cease operations with them. So please pray for Syng, that she continues to find help now that we are no long in touch and helping her; and pray for Brenda as we get to know her better.

Happy Birthday, Girls!

Tags: Birthday, Compassion, Ballet, Swim Team, Preschool Graduation, Party, Uganda

Well there's your problem!

So Liler'E has not been sleeping so well the last few nights. Fussy, waking up crying, over and over again. I was playing with him Monday night, got him to laughing, and saw some new white spots in his mouth. Molars. Plural. Two new molars breaking through soft gums at the same time. Well, know we know. This brings him to eight teeth, and I can only imagine what this will allow him to eat now. Without molars he was already doing a good job of eating whole hot dogs, apples (not sliced), and bananas and oranges by the truckload. Now I fully expect whole cows to fall prey to these choppers.

In other news, Liler'E was not waking me up with his crying, seeing as how I was not asleep in the first place. Major insomnia going on here. Last night I was up till 3 am. Night before was 1 am. Friday night I only managed about two hours. Don't know what's going on. I guess I can sleep when I die, right?

The following is an open letter, but specifically for the neighbor lady at the end of our block:

To Whom it May Concern:
The trials of homeownership are many. Chores must be done, leaks fixed, yards tended. At times many try to do too many things at one time; rare is the homeowner who has not been caught in the shower or changing clothes when the phone rang or a timer went off. This is part of the rigors of life in the 'burbs.

There are, however, occasions when time should be taken to complete a task at hand before rushing to attend to the next pressing matter. For example, while the water may need to be moved, so as not to flood part of your lawn or flowerbeds, time should be taken to dress properly. Rushing out in a baggy tee shirt that comes far short of covering your pink-pantie clad rump as you work to move the sprinklers is exactly the kind of situation we want to avoid. Please, for the sake of the neighbors - for the sake of the children - put some pants on.

Sincerely,
The Euphrony Family

Family Update

We may be coming through the end of the disease cycle that we've so thoroughly enjoyed the last three weeks. Keep you fingers crossed, but no fever in two days! Now, if only I hadn't dropped that stool on top of my foot . . . (I'm still debating if it may be broken or not.) I've never broken a bone in my life, and I don't want to start now!

My dad is apparently a big-wig at the moment, having his picture on the front page of their newspaper. He, and a couple of others, form a committee that seeks to either block the city from annexing the area they live in (just outside of town) or at the least offer something more than increased taxes for taking the land into the city. The city sees the area as a lucrative source of tax dollars, and the residents don't want to pay the extra chunk of change out of their pockets without little things like the city providing police and fire service, water, sewer, street lighting, etc. like the rest of the city gets. In other words, if they are going to be part of the city, then treat them like residents and not like back-alley mugging victims. They had a nice picture of him in front of their house, wearing his Aggie shirt, arms crossed and looking resolute.

We've had plenty of pictures lately. Here are a few of my little darlings. First is Lil'E. This is her school picture, taken by a man named "Mr. Funny" who seems to have a problem with bumping his head on the door frame every time he comes to the school. Lil'E can't talk about him without laughing for ten minutes.

Next up is Liler'E. Here is is, on a rock. And actually smiling for the photographer. Wow. Ain't he cute!

Finally, we have the siblings. They love each other so much - even when Lil'E smothers Liler'E to the point of driving him insane. The classic Texas bluebonnet photo. We had a fun time trying to get these photos; police action forced us to evacuate the park went first went to for the family pictures. They had a dozen cop cars and even a helicopter or two buzzing overhead. F.U.N!