september...

 

 

 

 

 

It was one of those weekends.  The kind of weekend where everything goes smoothly, everyone has fun, and you know it is one that you will remember.  The weather was perfect to play outside for hours- Hutson logged in some good hours on his Gator, and Wheeler chased after him putting horse apples in the back.  We took a little trip to the Ft. Worth Zoo and stopped at the famous Stockyards.  We visited with Great Grandma and Papa, and took baths with our cousins and devoured apple pie and vanilla ice cream.  We even cleaned out the garage.  Ok- it isn't fully cleaned out but we are working on it.  

(Jerry Sr.- I know you just choked on your coffee reading that because you don't believe it... but yes, we worked on the garage.)

Silver back Gorilla...

 Trying to get the boys to pose is near to impossible...

 

 

 the claw marks on the inside of the glass made me a little apprehensive, but not Wheeler...

 

 

 

 tried to get some pictures of the me with the boys... Yeah that is Jerry's finger in the top left corner...

 

 this guy kept posing for the camera...

 Hutson saw the snake and just reached out and grabbed it... He wanted to hold it by himself, thank goodness the girl wouldn't let him.  His willingness to grab the snake spurred a conversation around how we only touch snakes at the zoo and not outside in the backyard or at Papa's ranch... I am even more nervous than before about letting them play outside by themselves now.

 Wheeler was enamored by the fish tanks... there was a black caiman in this one that he kept following.

 The last thing we saw on our way out... this MASSIVE crocodile.  There was literally less than a foot separating this beast from my precious firstborn.

 Mr. Cool

Picking up horse apples to throw in the back of the gator...

 

Those of you in Texas know that we are in a drought, a severe drought, like don't water your yard for the rest of the year drought.  This is how we conserve our water...

I'm not sure what Papa was saying to them, but he had them all riled up.

 

 

 

**I think this last one is my favorite.  Joey looking at me, Lily at Evee, Wheeler at Hutson, Hutson at Lily and finally Evee looking at Papa.

sneaky...

This is what happens when I ask the little men to look at the camera...

Wheeler's face turns to stone...

and Hut puts on the cheesiest smile you have ever seen.

So sometimes a mama has to get a little sneaky and just snap some pictures over the shoulder and hope they turn out...

Ducks in Texas

 

 

 

 

Jerry's beloved Ducks are playing in Texas today.  He couldn't be more excited.  While he is at the game he still made sure that I put the boys' jerseys on so they could root for daddy's team as well.  So I thought we would have a few impromptu photos...yeah these photos that I snapped away in less than five minutes, these photos...yeah they cost me 2 time outs, 1 spanking and 4 donuts.  But they didn't turn out too bad.  We love our daddy.

List update

In July I made a list of 30 things I wanted to do before I turned 30 next summer.  You can read all about it here.  It has been almost two months and I thought we'd take a look at where we are with the list...

1.   Hang the framed photos/art that is sitting around the house (over 20 pieces)

Whew... finally did this.  Seriously all this stuff was just sitting around the house and it is so nice to have it up on the walls.  I mean it only took me 3 years.. :)

1. This great little piece of Artwork given to me by a friend... The artist is a friend of theirs and does amazing work... check him out  http://bricemccasland.com/

2. & 3.  Photos from Jerry's grandmother's Ranch in Central Oregon.  He spent quite a few summers kicking rocks there from what I am told.

4. & 5.  Photos my friend Ashley took in Nepal- #4. is one of my favorite photos ever- it is of little children and they are so cute.

6. An old OR license plate of Jerry's

7. A really cool map of Portland found here.  They have a bunch of cities that are pretty cool, thinking about getting the Minneapolis and St. Paul maps as an ode to my MN roots.

8. & 9.  Drawings of Willie and Waylon.  My brother drew these and gave them to Jerry a couple of years ago for Christmas, before they passed.  I am really glad we have them now.

10.  Clock from Ikea

11. & 12.  Some photos I took for a photography class back in the day.

13.  Large wall calendar from Paper Source, (one of my favorite stores) to keep our family organized.

I also hung a couple of file baskets in the office to help take care of the file clutter... and I LOVE them.  Found here.

I also had some stuff to hang in Wheeler's room... Glad to get it off his window seat so I don't have to worry about him breaking the frames anymore.

I found these cute little prints on Etsy, and just had to have them for Wheeler's room.  The cross stitch was made by Grammy Donna...

I can't completely cross out anything else right now on the list... I have a lot of things started though... I am really good at starting things.

I am halfway done with #5.  I am making good progress with #8, I have about 7 books read of the thirty.  Narrowed it down to a couple of options of classes for #9.  Halfway done with #15- only 10 lbs to go!    Signed up to run the Texas Half in January and started training for it.. which is #16.  #18 Hut is potty trained, now we just have Wheeler to go, he is showing signs of being ready..yea!  I have not had one soda since July 8th.. so doing well on # 21.  I have slipped a few times and had a piece of candy once or twice.. so #22 isn't going so well, but we are working on it. 

24.  Sell something I make.  Whoohoo.  I had taken some pictures of my niece Emersen for my SIL, and worked a little magic in photoshop then put them on my smugmug site, and Cathy bought a couple of prints.  yea!

#28 I have made two new meals for the family to date.  In July- I made salmon patties, which were delish, and in August I made baked ziti for the first time.  It was a modified recipe I found in Parents magazine and we loved it!  Plus- it was super easy.  We will be adding that into the rotation.

30 before Thirty

1. Hang the framed photos/art that is sitting around the house (over 20 pieces)
2. Finish the playroom (paint & decorate)
3. Finish the guestroom (paint & decorate)
4. Make a headboard for the guest bed
5. Finish the office (organize and hang pictures)
6. Refinish bedroom dresser (paint & hardware)
7. Reupholster craigslist chairs
8. Read thirty new books
9. Take one class to support one of my many hobbies
10. Go on a long weekend with just the Jerbear
11. Take a family road trip (3 hours or more)
12. Take the kids to the DMA
13. Take the kids to the Children's Science Museum
14. Take the kids to the Heard Museum
15. Lose 20lbs
16. Run another Half Marathon
17. Sew at least one dress for a little girl
18. Both boys potty trained
19. Be caught up on photo books of the boys (4 for Hutson & 2 for Wheeler)
20. Take a girls weekend
21. Drink no soda for one year
22. Eat no candy for one year
23. Blog redesign
24. Sell something I make
25. Volunteer
26. Kids Volunteer
27. Contribute some kind of income to our family
28. Cook one new meal/dish a month
29. Learn some HTML code
30. Ride a mechanical bull