Snugglepuss

Regan and the Mont-ster. He's such a snuggly kitty!

Wonder How Round Rock Got Its Name?

We've taken people here and shown them where Round Rock really did get its name from, and people generally don't believe that it was indeed named after a large, round rock! But it really was, and today, the kids made their mark on the round rock. After going to an early movie to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid, we met some friends and a home school group at this park which we haven't been to in a while, but is usually good for watching the ducks. But today that wasn't good enough for the kids! They wanted to get IN the water and swim around and climb on the round rock. Well what's it gonna hurt, right? They jumped in, Riley came prepared with his bathing suit, but Regan didn't, so she ended up getting completely and totally soaked before we left. They had a great time, Riley found some tadpoles and they both caught some minnows, they fed the ducks, climbed the rocks, slipped around on the mud and basically enjoyed being kids! Regan came home naked, wrapped in my girl scout cookie tablecloth that I keep in the back of the truck during cookie season, and Riley had to go to gymnastics smelling like pond water. I'm sure Coach Gene loves me today.

So now you know, and have photographic proof of the actual Round Rock that our town was named after!

Northwest Park

Northwest Park

We had our bowling group this morning and after that we decided to try out a new park with some friends. We grabbed lunch and headed there, the weather is SO beautiful these days and even I hate to be trapped inside on a day like today! We had a picnic lunch and the kids played on the playground some, but the real appeal was the pond and the turtles that lived on an island in the center of the pond. And a hobo camp in the bushes! The things these kids will find!

Riley's friend AJ rolled his pants up and tried to wade in, but before you know it, he was in about waist deep, so Riley decided to strip down to his boxers and undershirt and they wanted to see if they could get to the island to grab a turtle. They eventually made it to the island, but with so much screaming over the cold water and the muddy bottom, there wasn't a turtle in sight when they got there! (Smart turtles!) They were so messy and dirty and disgusting, which is a sure sign that it was a fun day!

Next thing you know, we hear they found a clearing in the bushes where there were blankets and clothes, and they thought that was so cool that people must live there and get to play in the pond all the time! Anyway, it was fun, and I'm just so glad we have the opportunity to be outside on days like this, enjoying nature, and not stuck behind a desk.

Phil's Ice House

This is by far one of my favorite places to eat in Austin! Best burger in town, next door to Amy's Ice Cream, a cool playground for the kids, what's not to like, right? So, we met David here for lunch and the kids had fun. They usually eat, then spin so much they lose their lunch, but I guess today they took it easy.

Sew Fabulous!

Well, there aren't a lot of posts for Spring Break like I normally have because the kids went to Camp Doublecreek for the week and I had a week off! I did miss them, but it was SO nice to have some time to myself for a change! I had a pedicure, went to a movie, and NOT a kids movie!! And David took 2 days off to spend time with me and we went to breakfast and just enjoyed each others company. It was a nice break, but now, back to reality!

Regan's girl scout troop went to Sew Fabulous, an even to teach the girls how to sew. I should have taken the class myself! They taught them how to tie a knot, thread a needle, a running stitch, whip stitch and how to sew on buttons. I just sat there scratching my head. Of all the sewing ability in my family and I can barely get Regan's patches on her vest without maiming myself. But hey, she can do it now after this class!

The Mont-ster

Isn't he cute?! He's the most lovey cat, and he has the most annoyingly loud meow when he wants something. But he likes to stand on his back legs like a Meerkat and he gets right in your face and rubs his face all over you. It's funny, and endearing, and we love him so much!

Park Day

One of my new goals this year is to get involved more. Regan is really missing friends from school, so I realize we need to be out and about, and expand our circle of friends. With that in mind, we headed out to Park Day with some other home school friends. This is a great park, I used to bring Riley when he was a baby, but hadn't been in ages. The kids loved it, plenty of room to explore, trees to climb and lots of shade for us moms! It was a perfect spring day, and we spent hours outside enjoying it!

No More Cookies!

My life by the numbers lately:
Boxes Regan sold: 752
Boxes donated to Operation Cookie: 138
Boxes donated to Austin Children's Shelter: 18

Total Boxes sold by our troop: 4,670
I'm the cookie mom for our troop, so almost every single one of those boxes came through my hands (and my truck, my living room, and my dining room)!

So here is Regan and Marillah, the top two sellers in our troop (Marillah sold 1138, that's a BIG number!)


And with that, I am officially DONE with cookies for this year!

Hockey Day

One of our home school groups had a really awesome field trip that we got to go on. First, we got to go out in the morning and tour the new Cedar Park Center, home of the Texas Stars Hockey Team, and tour the facility. We were the first group to ever get to watch the Stars during practice. The kids loved it as we sat up in the party boxes and watched the practice, and listened to someone go over the "science" of hockey. Basically, the ins and outs, and some of the rules, and how they set up and tear down the rink for other events, it was very neat.

Then since we were over by our old house, that used to be my mom's, we drove over there, saw the old place, (it looks pretty much the same) and drove over by Grandma and Grandpa's old house that was right down the road from ours, but now was confusing because there is a giant toll road separating our houses now! We also went to Block House Creek Park, where I spent MANY an hour pushing kids on swings! Regan didn't remember the park, but Riley did, and we went hiking up the creek a ways. The weather has been gorgeous, but we were dressed for the ice rink, so we were melting out there!


Then later that evening we went back with our group for a real live hockey game! Regan wasn't too impressed, but Riley and his friend Jett loved it. Riley got an autograph from one of the hockey players, and then as we were leaving the arena, the cheerleaders were by the door, (I didn't even know they HAD cheerleaders for hockey!) so Regan wanted to meet them and get their autographs, and Riley of course had to get in on that too.


It was a fun day, and one of those rare ones where the planets align and the kids actually got along! In one picture, right before I snapped, Riley actually, on his own, put his arm around Regan. I wanted to scream, "You DO love her!" It was fun, and I'm hoping Spring is bringing out the best of all of us.

Geography Club

We joined a Geography Club so we could meet friends and learn about other parts of the world and sample their food and the kids could get some experience in front of people doing a short presentation about each month's country. This month, in honor of the Olympics, the chosen country was Greece, which worked out perfectly for us because we are studying Greek mythology and reading The Odyssey. So we met our group for the first time today.

The presentations were great, one little boy (6 years old) did a chart of the Greek Alphabet, another told the story of Pandora's box, there were posters with pictures from Greece, and several people made Greek flags, and 2 little girls even sang the Greek National Anthem!

Regan had a sudden bout of stage fright, so she didn't want to play the Minotaur like we planned. Riley was Theseus, who slays the Minotaur. He did a great job of telling the story and he even brought a giant sword to slay her with, but she just stood there and tried to hide behind her mask.

And everyone brought some awesome food, there was Greek meatballs, tabouli, tzadziki, spanikopita, olives and feta with pita chips, dates and walnuts, orzo, lentil soup, and some yummy almond cookies. We eat Greek food often, so it wasn't too much of a shock to us, but I'm a little worried about some of the upcoming months!

ANSC Science Class

I was really wanting to stay in Houston one more night and take the kids to the San Jacinto Monument and the Battleship of Texas. You know me and my love affair with Texas History. But, we had science class today and it seems like every time we have science class, it rains. It's so muggy and wet and nasty there when it gets damp, but that doesn't stop the kids from trekking around all over the place. They have really been enjoying the science classes, and of course, I am enjoying them too as it means an hour and a half to myself to go meet David for lunch at Chuy's! Today they learned about Texas Plants. Regan even got a landscaping book with all the flowers, plants and trees that are native to our area. She can't wait to get to gardening!

Houston National Invitational

The reason for the trip, the HNI meet. There was cheerleading competitions going on in the next room, and girl's gymnastics going on in the same area, and 2 levels of boys competing, so it was a madhouse! And it dragged on and on and on. Riley is still a little off his game from his recent elbow injury, and he missed several practices from that, so he wasn't in top form. But he enjoyed competing. He didn't medal at this event, but there's always next time! We sat so far up in the bleachers, I didn't really get any good pictures, just this one of warm-up time and you can see how crowded that place was!

Houston Zoo

When we got to my cousin's house on Friday night, the kids were so excited to see their cousins! It was like they have known each other their whole lives. They got along great, they're the same age, and they just had the best time together. Regan and Joy made brownies for everyone, while Riley and Jeremiah rocked out on Rock Band. See what I mean? Four peas in a pod!

Houston Zoo

And then Saturday, we took it easy, my cousin has been working nights, so we slept in, had a lazy morning, and then headed to the Houston Zoo, along with half the city of Houston it seemed, that place was packed! But the kids had a good time running around, and I hadn't been there in forever, so it was a fun day. The weather was great, and my Aunt Janis came too, so it was good to spend time with family.

Then we headed back to the house for chicken, and my kids have always wanted KFC, and mean mom that I am, have never gotten it for them, but my aunt brought over some KFC, so my kids were in heaven! It was really good, that's why I never buy it!

Blue Bell Factory

Riley had a meet scheduled in Houston, but they didn't get the registration on time, so we were not going to be in it, but then they took it anyway, so at the last minute, we find out we have to go to Houston! David already had a meeting scheduled in Dallas, so he wasn't able to make it, so me and the kids headed down early to stay with my cousin Christina, her husband Benny, and their 4 kids. On the way down, we stopped at the Blue Bell Creamery, a place I had passed by a million times, but never actually visited. It was really neat. We got to tour the factory and watch them fill up half gallon containers of Homemade Vanilla (the most popular flavor) and see them wrap ice cream sandwiches and all kinds of other goodies. At the end of the tour we even got to get a free scoop. It was a nice break in the trip!

Sydney Bear

Haven't posted a picture of Sydney in a while, and she's getting so big, crawling and pulling up all over the place. This is Sydney and Regan after church on Wednesday, just moments before she yanked her hood off!

Feeding the Ducks

When Alex brought all the food over to make sandwiches to feed the homeless a few weeks back, I saved all the bread ends to feed the ducks. Well, we had been so busy that we forgot about it, so the bread was nice and crusty when we did make it to the pond. I went back to where we saw the mama and baby ducks, there is a small fishing pond nearby, and I thought that might be where they lived and sure enough, we saw the mama and a TON of babies there, and got to feed them and pet them. They were very friendly and ate the bread right out of our hands. Regan reached out and picked one up, he was very vocal about that, and then Riley wasn't going to be happy until he managed to grab one too. They were so cute and fluffy looking though! It was really hard not to bring one home with us!