Museum School

Every Monday, Miles and I go to downtown Fort Worth for his Museum School class. It's a two-hour once-a-week preschool sponsored by the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. Their curriculum is all about animals and they get to experience live animals in their classroom. Yesterday, they talked about opossums. He came home full of fun opossum facts.

First, we go to lunch. Yesterday, we ate at a Fort Worth classic, The Lunch Box.

Happy dude.

Grateful Sunday

This has been a good week; we had the loveliest weather! Today, I'm grateful for:

• the three people in this picture. We had fun with them at a local Wild West Festival on Saturday.
• the smoothness of our house purchasing process. All has gone well so far; we're set to close at the end of October.
• October, the official start of sugar cookie season. I make those babies from now until Valentine's Day; can't ever get enough!
• our health and safety. We know so many sick children right now, the germs are everywhere! So far we've steered clear. I heart Purell + Lysol.
• the wonderful messages heard last night at the General Relief Society Broadcast. I loved Barbara Thompson's talk about minding the gap. So clever.

need i remind you?

Our current spider is pet tarantula number TWO. Here are the kids with Charlotte (number one) back in 2005. How did I end up in this house of weirdos anyway?

Grateful Sunday

Audrey, Parker, and friends, Liliana and Julia watching our new tarantula catch a fly. They were glued to that jar.

This was a big week, filled with all good things, thankfully! I'm grateful for:

• a successful children's program at church today. Each child did a wonderful job on their part and they sang like angels. I was so proud!
• a trip to the temple with my boy. Nothing like the temple to recenter your priorities.
• our accepted offer. We put an offer in on a house on Thursday night and it looks as though the sellers have accepted it! Now on to the detail stuff (anxious for the inspection). Quick details on the house, in case you're interested:

built in 1986

2450 sq ft

one story

4 bedrooms, a pool and seven-tenths of an acre

in our same school and ward boundaries

needs some updates/work (enter contractor friend)

If all goes as planned, hopefully we'll move in sometime in November or early December. After we sell a whole bunch of our stuff. Wish us luck!

idiosyncrasies

It is often said that there is no better creature than a three-year-old boy. They are full of ideas and fun, and Miles is no exception. Like lots of little people, he has his little collection of precious items that he likes to tote around. I thought I'd document his current items for posterity.

Click to enlarge, if you please. What are your kids carrying around these days?

Grateful Sunday

Neal and Parker prepping for a chicken fight last week at our friends' beautiful pool.

This Sunday, I'm grateful for:

• Rain, even though it's been raining since Thursday, I'm not tired of it yet. We needed it so badly and it has cooled temps down into the 70s. Never a bad thing!
• a happy home.
• Neal's home made gnocchi. It's so good, even if it takes forever to make!

Have a great week everyone!

Quote of the Day XXII

Audrey frolicking with her classmates during a field trip to the natatorium last week.
(Thanks for the picture, Karen!)

Audrey and I were making our way to piano lessons the other night and she brought up the subject of money. Quite typical for her; she seems worried about our financial situation often (even though we constantly reassure her that we are fine and that she needn't worry {see below}).

A: Mama, like how much money does Daddy make in one day?
Me: Well, he doesn't get paid every day, just once a month. And you don't need to worry about it, sweetie. We have enough money to have everything we need. You don't need to even think about it.
A: I know, but sometimes, when Daddy comes home, he just puts a few coins on the table and I think, "Is that all he got today?"

sadness ensued

The other day, Parker happened upon the cracked open shell of our dear leopard tortoise, Toots. Apparently something had eaten him right out of his shell. It was a very sad moment. Parker was pretty broken up about it and all we could do was hug him. Audrey, the staunch animal lover, wasn't emotional at all, which surprised me. She just really wanted to know what happened to him.

In the end, we had a little burial service. When Parker saw the shell again, the tears came back. He's such a tender little dude. Cries when Yoda dies on Star Wars.

Miles was done right after he said his piece about our dear departed Toots. "Mama, take a picture of me jumping willy high!"

Summer Recap

We had our best summer ever this year. We travelled near and far, spent time with friends and family. We feel so blessed. Here's a quick recap, I want to see it all together.

In May, we started the summer off with a trip to San Antonio.

Right after school let out, we took a trip to Sundance and Salt Lake City.

We had a quick weekend in Athens, Texas, doing some family research later that month.

For the Fourth of July, we hit up Lake Ouachita in Arkansas with Neal's family.

Our cruise to Alaska with my family was definitely a highlight. (Thanks for the picture, Elliott.)

And just about a week later, we headed off to New Orleans and Florida with friends from Houston.

Labor Day: The last day of summer, we spent at our friends' house swimming with a big bunch of great people.

Summer '09 was so great.
I'm already thinking about plans for next year . . . maybe an RV trip? Costa Rica?
We're mulling it over.

Lake Fun

We went out to the lake with Neal's brothers, Jeff & John, Kami, Caroline, Jackson & Aidan on Saturday. We had lots of fun, thanks, Jeff!

Audrey taking a break from tubing to catch a snack. Jeff driving the boat!

Caroline & Miles

Shortly after this picture was taken, Audrey was bounced about 5 feet in the air, coming down right on top of Parker. Funny to watch, but a bit scary for her!

Neal, Parker, Aidan & John

Happy Labor Day everyone, you totally deserve a day off!

Grateful Sunday

We got a trampoline. After a house fell through this week (that we loved), we just caved and got something for the backyard. We've kept telling the kids, "we might move" so we didn't want to install anything out back. Probably not the most optimistic move, but we got a trampoline anyway.

This Sunday, I'm grateful for:

• safety and health. Especially after a weekend on a trampoline and at the lake. Sometimes I'm just so grateful that no one is hurt!
• Neal's brothers; we had fun out on the water with them and their families yesterday.
• people at church. There are so many good, humble people in this world. Hard working, genuinely wonderful people. I'm so glad I know so many of them.
• my family; though they're far away, I'm so grateful to belong to them. They are all wonderful examples to me in so many ways. Love you guys!

concentration