Halloween 2014

I'm finally getting around to posting about Halloween.

Halloween. It was a kind of a crazy rushed day. I worked. B had a half day. A went to Ranger Day at Jesuit and then helped with intramuals decorations. J had a full day of school. When I got home, A was already over at the cousins' house to hang out with her friends. She took her pumpkin with her. The boys had already carved their pumpkins but I didn't get pictures with them lit. I took pictures of  the boys before DH & B headed over to a halloween party & I dropped J off at a friend's house. When I finally made it to the party, it was crazy busy with kids everywhere. It was Halloween on a Friday night so everyone came. Last year B played too much and was upset at the end of the night because of he lack of candy. I walked with him and his friends trick or treating so we didn't have that issue this year. A & her friends came trick or treating at the party. J was dropped off at the end of the night. He had fun with his friends and 3 lbs of candy. Luckily, by then, the boys were tired and I could go home.

State Fair 2014

We ended up with an afternoon free on the last day of the Fair. A was at Six Flags with the church youth group, so the rest of us headed out. We took the obligatory walk through the auto show where the boys checked out sports cars. B practiced his Heisman stance. Next on the list was corny dogs.

We spent way too much time in the midway. B played lots of games. J tried multiple times on the shoot the star with the bb gun game. He came very close, maybe next year. They both rode the bumper cars and B rode a couple of little rides. He's still my little boy who loves motorcycles.

On our way out we walked back through the auto show so the boys could drive a simulation video game. They ended up being too short. We found a pinball machine instead and played for free. I was the queen of pinball and beat them all. All the boys want a machine at home!

We grabbed an ice cream on the way out. It was a great visit to the Fair.

Garden 2014

I got my tomatoes in the ground before the end of March. We had a freeze warning a couple of weeks into April. I tented the plants with some old sheets.


It wasn't too bad. I think I lost one tomato plant, but it might come back.

The strawberries survived and are producing fruit.


We've eaten 4-5 so far, but some animals have discovered them and there are now bites out of the ones that are growing.

We've had a pretty cold spring. The benefit of the cooler temperatures, tomatoes already growing.


Isn't that awesome!!!!

I didn't do much with my compost this winter due to the broken wrist. I discovered that cold composting doesn't kill pumpkin seeds. After a quick screen of the compost, I tilled it into the box before planting the tomatoes.


After a week or two tons of baby pumpkin plants were going. I moved a couple and plucked the rest. I'm still plucking the rest.

I don't know if the transplants will survive, but if they do, maybe we'll get from free pumpkins for Halloween.

Easter 2014

We had a nice Easter.

The boys were up early. We woke up A so we could have the egg hunt and make it to 8am mass.






The kids were nice enough to stand in front of the remaining dogwood flowers for an Easter picture. The boys weren't super cooperative about smiling for the photo. When J looked at the camera without a forced grin or a smirk, B was staring off into nothing. This was the best I could do.


After mass, we went to fish fry at the IL's house. It was delicious as always.

Spring Break Part III

The rest of Spring Break was baseball, baseball, baseball. We spent Sunday-Thursday in Phoenix and saw 5 games. DH even squeezed in an extra afternoon game on our last day in town.

Sunday afternoon we went to the Rangers at the Mariners. We got seats down the first base line. The kids went to sit right on the wall, easy access to signatures from players walking on and off the field.

The best part about this game was that B was sitting on the wall with J & cousin M. A player walked passed by and patted him on the head. But what he really did was take B's sunglasses off the top of his hat. B was sort of starting to freak out but the player turned around and gave him a thumbs up. He dropped off his gear eventually came back to return the glasses. The player turned out to be Brett Nicholas, a catcher who played in Frisco last season. Brian was super excited. After the game, we hung around after the game and got his autograph.


Monday morning we went to the Rangers practice facility. Lots of excitement.

Pudge Rodriguez coaching the catchers.


Elvis Andrus walked right passed me!


The kids got tons of autographs! There were baseball players everywhere. Most of them were minor leaguers, but they happily stopped to sign baseballs/shirts/hats.

After a lot of searching, we found Preston Beck, the son of a math teacher at school. He was nice enough to stop and talk and take a picture with some of Mrs. Beck's former students.


While we were at the back fields watching Preston play, B went to find his new favorite player Nicholas at batting practice. He yelled out, "Hey, Brett, remember me!"  Brett remember that he was the sunglasses kid. After he finished batting, he gave B his batting gloves. When they were leaving the batting cages, he stopped and signed a glove!




B was one excited boy!

We had lots of fun the rest of the week.

Adrian Beltre signed autographs.



Yu Darvish pitched.



All the kids got a picture with B's favorite, Brett Nicholas


They rode the carousel.  Well, girls took selfies while riding the carousel. (I liked the warnings on the sign!)




Adrian Gonzales tossed a ball to J on his way to the dugout


We watched Elvis Andrus & Adrian Beltre do pushups after losing some sort of bet in the batting cages.


We met Darren Oliver while watching Preston Beck play.


We got a picture with all of the kids and Preston Beck. Those poor single A boys don't get much attention at Spring Training. Preston must have loved the cheering squad we brought to his game!


It really was a fabulous Spring Break trip. We'll have to do it again some day.

Spring Break 2014 Part II

On our way down to Phoenix, we took the scenic route through Sedona. We stopped at a place called Slide Rock State Park. It was a great place except for the very cold water. It would be nice to go back when it is warm enough to slide down the rocks.










We finally arrived at the fabulous house in Phoenix and waited for the other families to arrive. The S family showed up about an hour later. The kids went from heated pool to pool table to hot tub back heated pool all night. We all (including me who tried to go to bed multiple times) stayed up until the cousins arrived.

A was excited (or I was excited for her) because they brought along the very big envelope that arrived in Dallas that afternoon. We have an Ursuline girl in the class of 2018!


Sorry for the awful lighting/bad picture! I tried to get her to stage it again so I could get a better one but she refused.

Spring Break 2014

We had a great spring break this year. Last year DH & BIL#2 went off to Spring Training for the weekend. They enjoyed it and decided we should go back with the families for Spring Break this year. BIL#2 rented a big house and invited us and another family to join them in Phoenix.

Since Phoenix in only 3 hours away from the Grand Canyon, I convinced DH that we needed to make a side trip. We left Dallas at 4am and drove straight through with only 3 bathrooms stops. We made it in time for sunset. It was an impressive road trip with 3 kids, especially with B who has a teeny bladder once he sits in a car.

The Grand Canyon is awesome. We had a quick visit, less than 24 hours but we made the most of it.





After catching the sunset, we checked into the hotel. DH called ahead to confirm our reservation and asked for a room with a view. They told us that not many rooms have a view, but they managed a bit of one.


We walked down to a cafe to eat dinner and check out the gift shop and then we headed to bed. We were tired.

The next morning we got up and watched the sunrise.


















After a very nice breakfast at the hotel, we purchased souvenirs and headed out. We left the park via the East Entrance and stopped to check out the sites along the way.




We went down 4-5 turns at the Grandview trailhead. A is convinced we need to take a family trip to hike down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I don't know if that will ever happen!










After leaving the park, we pulled over at a lookout on some reservation land. Brian was disappointed but he did obey the signs.




It was a good day spent at the Grand Canyon. Maybe someday we will take A's trip!