Sweet Berry Farm 2010

Each spring, we make the beautiful trek to Marble Falls, Texas for berry picking. This year was an exceptionally awesome drive with the gorgeous array of wildflowers in the hill country.

The recent rains made for muddy fields, but we came prepared with WalMart and Target bags abundant to cover up the little ones' feet. We mommies.....always thinking ahead! The bags actually worked despite the fact that they caked on mud and added about 10lbs of weight to each child. This did, however, help to slow them down and allowed us to keep up with them!

The animals are always a huge hit. There was the cutest little donkey baby this year! You can go here to see just how cute he was. (Suz, I will pay you royalties! Plus, this gives more people the chance to see "The Great Poop of 2010"!)

Even though he weather was cooler than year's past, we couldn't skip the traditional homemade strawberry popsicles and ice cream. Worth the trip alone!

We hope to head back for blackberry season soon!

Wildflowers

There's reds, greens and sometimes blues.

All different shades.

All different hues.

Sometimes fast,

Sometimes slow.

All different rates

At which they grow.

They're everywhere,

And all around.

But seem nowhere

When still in the ground.

But wait for the sun,

And up they will shoot.

Up from the soil.

Up from the root.

They make you smile

As if on cue.

And then you realize,

You're a wildflower too.

The same principles

Apply to us all.

We all go to the same place,

As the flowers in the fall.

-Shelby Pollack

Recently, Mama and Dad took a trip here:

Paradise Island Atlantis Resort

Mama feels so very bad that she has oogles of pictures of all the marvelous adventures our family partakes in, but she never seems to get around to blogging about those wondrous times.

This post is a photo make-up for some of those faults. Few words. Many photos. Thanks for supporting her photo therapy. It helps with her guilt.

Mama and Dad are not usually so overdressed for the beach. They were waiting to go on an excursion and decided to take a walk on the beach. Here, mama is seen making fun of some Jersey girls posing further down the beach. Wicked hot.

No, mama did not ride on one of those big germ vessels (I guess we know who doesn't like cruise ships). The day mama and pops decided to go to the mainland and shop, they were joined by a couple thousand of their friends who just "stopped by". Mom told Dad to take a picture because this was the closest she was getting to a cruise ship. Did I mention she doesn't do cruise ships?

There were lots of nighttime walks on the beach after dinner. Dad's lack of photography skills catches the romance of it all, don't cha think?

There were boat excursions, spa visits, golf rounds, scuba diving, dolphin adventures and mostly...a lot of this:

relaxing........

Never Teach Your Child to Read!

****Warning!!!! This post may be offensive to following groups, so please be aware and take caution before reading.*****
*Small Children
*Older children
*All children
*Literacy groups
*Those thinking of learning how to read
*George W. Bush supporters
*Republicans
*Clergy
*Man in the little, blue Chevy with 800+ bumper stickers on his car

The following groups should refrain from reading this post at all:
*Grandparents

There. Now that we have all of that squared away, we can get to the business at hand.

Many of you in my close circle of friends (that sounds so exclusive, doesn't it?)....okay, those of you who I see on a regular basis have probably already heard this story, but I feel very strongly that I need to document this to hold over Kaelan's head someday. I hope I can use it for good and not evil.

While driving to school the other morning, we hit a stop light and found ourselves sitting in one form of that oh so wonderful Austin traffic. Mom drifted off to daydream land and focused on the dog in the back of the truck in front of her while Kaelan used her down time to catch up on some reading via the car next to us.

Suddenly she shook me out of my sunshine slumber and the following conversation ensued:

K: I thought you said his name was George.
Mom: Who? Curious George? It is George.
K: No. George Bush George. I thought you said his name is George. Who is (and here is the part I warned you about) WHO IS F*** BUSH?

Yes. It was THAT word. The mother of all curse words. I know, I was just as stunned as you are.

Mom: (completely stunned) What? What are you talking about?

K: See there on that car? It says F*** Bush. Who is he? Is that President Bush's name in the middle? I thought you said his name was George.

Mom: (Looking over at the car next to us and seeing the wallpaper of bumper stickers, begging my four year old read them aloud) Well.......(don't blow your Mommy of the Year opportunity) Kaelan, his name is George Bush.

K: Then who is F*** Bush? (oh, please stop saying that word)

Mom: (Not wanting to freak out and draw more attention to the word) I am not sure who that is, but looking at all those other bumper stickers, I see that car says a lot of not nice things. Maybe we should not read them or say them out loud.

K: Oh, okay mom. But we should ask Dad if he knows F*** Bush. Maybe he will know who he is. Maybe F*** Bush is George's brother or something. We will ask dad for sure.

Mom: Great idea! You do that when we see him later today.

**So you may disagree with how I handled that little scenario, but what would you have done? I am new to the whole Mother of the Year pageant, so I did my best in the question and answer session......perhaps I blew it. I guess there is always the swimsuit portion.**

And one more little post note.....I think my lack of reaction to the whole situation made our good friend F*** Bush very unremarkable or memorable. She hasn't' brought "him" up since and hopefully, never will again. We just won't talk politics around our house for a while to stay on the safe side.

Mad Scientist

Science Night with Kaelan and Dad.
It can be a scary thing.
This week we had a fairly safe concept: Sink or Float. The upcoming volcanic explosion is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Thus far, there has not been a Frankenstein brought to life, but it is still early in the year......


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Luck O' the Irish

5 Lucky Things About Our St. Patty's Day

1. Kaelan informed me her nose was clean and that boogers were not approved on the green article of clothing list. Phew...good thing I had that green shirt for back-up.

2. Story Time at the Book Box-30 or so little leprechauns running around jazzed up on shamrock cookies....what is not lucky about that?

3. Green Creme de Menthe Hershey's Kisses-mom should know. She downed half a bag today.

4. Inflatable Jumpers-what luck that we would visit one today with our wee lads and lassies to work off the shamrock cookie high!

5. Knowing that the other half of the Creme de Menthes are sitting downstairs waiting to wish me Top o' the Mornin'!