Santa, While You're Here...

We've had a wonderfully relaxing break so far and had a great Christmas together. Evelyn and Kenneth opened a single gift on Christmas Eve--both chose the nerf dart shooters and fun ensued. In the midst of the play, Evelyn lost one of the darts. She decided it would be a good idea to ask Santa to look around for it when he dropped in.

Kenneth has been doing a lot of drawing lately. He's very diligent about it and pays close attention to detail. We bought him a special binder to hold his artwork. I'll have to look into lessons or something for him, but in the meantime we'll just keep on encouraging him. I've posted a few of his recent drawings. What a joy it is to be part of their lives!

Family Versions of Elf-Yourself

These are too funny. Kenneth couldn't stop laughing. Be sure to turn on the volume.

Erin, Rod, Kenneth, & Evelyn:
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1632005144

Caleb, Kyle, & Ann Marie:
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1632365522

Nana & Pops:
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1632488423

Grandpa Merle & Grandma Linda
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1704221223

Stealth Wal-mart Shoppers

It is possible that Evelyn has helped our family measurably contribute to the bottom line of the companies that make the cartoon-character band-aids. She is quick to apply them and exhaustive in her application. I'm not sure exactly how she got the surface scrapes on her knee in the picture, and to the best of my knowledge, she had no physical injury on her nose.


I pretty much avoid going to Wal-mart. It's not because of any grander concern with unfair practices that may or may not be true. It is because something always happens. Usually the "something" is of the lengthy checkout line nature. Despite the guaranteed but unknown issue, I made a trip to Wal-mart tonight after the kids went to bed to see if I could find a particular CD for a gift that's been tricky to track down. While there, I figured I could get a few grocery items as well. Why not, right? I got my cart, placed my 3 post-it notes of need-to-get-items onto the front seat flap, filled it with a few things, then made my way to the music section to look for the CD. I parked the cart in an unobtrusive place, not blocking any aisles. About 10 minutes later, after unsuccessfully searching for the CD, I returned to the cart and found it in the middle of an aisle, in a really awkward place, and my post-it note arrangement was grouped together and moved to the main part of the basket. I thought a Wal-mart employee had moved it with the thought that someone had abandoned it. When I tried to push it, it felt like something had gotten caught under the wheel; after a few more attempts at pushing it dawned on me. Some FREAK stealth shopper had switched carts with me because they picked a bad cart that was hard to move when they entered the store. I was probably being mocked from a distance by the cart hijackers.

No Caves for Mom

It's the final week before school lets out for a 2-week vacation. The kids are ready for the break, but they're also excited about the classroom parties that will go on this week. Kenneth's class has chosen Mexican food as a theme (what says "Christmas" more than burritos?--hey it's TX). We've been given tortilla chips as the item for which we're responsible. Evelyn's class is a different story, however. The 1st grade has collectively chosen to have a breakfast party. We've been assigned a fruit tray. Sigh. I figure the teachers assign the "responsible" mothers the difficult items. Heck if I'm going to pay HEB for a prepared tray either (they charge mucho $$$$ for those), which means I'll be slicing apples and arranging grapes at 6:30 Thursday morning.

We had the Discover channel on one evening recently...which led to a very amusing comment/observation from Evelyn.

Discovery Narrator: "Caves remain one of the least explored places on earth: at least, by man."
Evelyn: "Yeah, women don't go into caves. At least women like Mom don't."

Rod and I about died laughing. So true though.

Is There Such a Thing as Horse Dander?

We have had a very busy week so far. Kenneth performed in his Bulldog Honor Choir on Friday night for the WinterFest. Songs ranged from traditional carols to Feliz Navidad and Hanukkah songs. Last Saturday, Kenneth and Evelyn were invited to a birthday party at a horse-riding lessons place up in Round Rock. Each child was walked around a fenced-in area for about 20 min. and if they were adapting well, the trainers took them to a trot level. They both had a blast. In fact, all of the kids had a good time. No one cried or was injured, which is an accomplishment at any party, but particularly so when you throw horses in the mix. However, we did find out that we can add horse dander to Kenneth's long list of allergies. Poor guy. He got off the horse with hives all over his face and arms. No more horses for the Wallines.

I've been listening to a bunch of old Christmas records that belonged to my parents; the songs are so much better than some of the painful renditions that you can hear on the radio (a la Mariah Carey). My favorite is this "Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Band" trumpet-based record that insinuates that I should be making a cheese ball and cocktails for imminently-arriving, hip guests.

I can hardly believe Christmas is almost here. My sweeties hammed for the camera in front of the fully, fabulously decorated tree.

Santa Pics

These pictures are from the neighborhood party last Sunday. Rod took the kids out yesterday and let them pick out a Christmas tree. Of course, they also came home with candy canes, an 8-pack box of ornaments, a pack of razors, and a Snickers bar. (This is what happens when you send Rod on a singular mission.) This afternoon, I put on the tree lights and let the kids go for it as far as ornament placement. It is pretty funny because only the front of the tree was covered, yet they had overcompensated for their height and clustered everything up higher than would be expected. I rearranged only a little bit because the wonderful part of a Christmas tree is seeing what each child deems important. Evelyn arranged the new pack of ornaments all in a row, so that they're touching each other.

Jury Duty Fun

It's been awhile since I posted any pictures. This is partly my fault, but I can blame Rod a bit too. He has yet to retrieve the Thanksgiving photos (and a few others) off of his computer for me. Don't worry--I am persistent.

We spent some time this weekend getting the Christmas decorations down so that we could slowly start decorating the house. The advent calendar was the critical item, because who wants to start an advent calendar a week late? We have not yet gotten a tree, although we may manage to get one this week. Definitely by this weekend though... The neighborhood association had a little gathering with Santa visits and a small train for the kids on Sunday. The train was a bigger hit than anticipated, even with kids Kenneth's age.

Rod has been busily getting the third issue of his B/CS community newspaper out the door. The first two issues have been received very well by people in the town and there is a bit of a local rock star phenomenon happening for him (and his partner, Chris) when they are seen around town. (Each issue has their picture in the front, as part of the editors' note.) We experienced this as a group when we made a day trip to CS on Saturday and went out to eat with Chris and his family. While Rod was working on a few loose ends on the newspaper, the kids and I visited Elizabeth's family. Caleb and Kyle were so happy to see Kenneth and Evelyn. In fact, Kyle actually ran to me and hugged me (a first..., because he's usually shy with me).

I was summoned for the Travis County jury duty selection process this afternoon. I had to go downtown and pay $15 to park in a garage 8 blocks away because the particular courthouse where the trial was going to occur did not have nearby parking, other than metered street parking (which is 2 hours, max). Of course, I was one of maybe 5 potential jurors that actually obeyed the 'park on your own or take the Dillo' message. (Note: the 'Dillo is a semi-ridiculous name for the free downtown trolley system, short for Armadillo, I guess?? I wouldn't even know where to begin taking a 'Dillo even if I thought it was a good idea.) Everyone else parked next to the courthouse in metered parking and were told that the county would pay for any parking tickets incurred over the course of the five hours that we were there. I'll know better next time. The case turned out to be in a Criminal Court. Since I was not chosen to continue with jury duty I do not know the case details (and, I suppose, couldn't share anyhow if I was selected); however, we were informed that it was a 1st degree felony case that included burglary and some form of aggravated assault (which could have been murder in the worst form). We also knew that the defendant had been previously been convicted on a 1st degree felony. Nice. Figures my first call for jury duty had the potential to be so dramatic. I am glad I wasn't picked. Highlights of the time I was there:

* Each of us was assigned a number, which we had to label on an index card and hold up as we stood in a line for 30 minutes waiting to be invited to sit in the courtroom. There were sixty of us, standing around, not talking.

* Listening to an annoying guy engaging in banter with the corrections officer who was monitoring us. "So, let's say that someone didn't get the first letter." "What if someone didn't reply to the email that asks for the acknowledgement with capitalized first and last name?" "What happens if someone leaves the building on one of the breaks and doesn't come back?" Blah blah blah.

* Fitting 7 people onto a bench that should really only comfortably fit 5. It was worse than a plane, both from a side-by-side personal space perspective, but also because the leg room was tight. And you couldn't speak out of turn, drink a diet coke, or chew gum.

* Listening to 2 people waste valuable time as they explained why they could not possibly pass judgement on another human being due to their religion. Apparently karmic forces take care of all good and bad imbalances. I think they actually knew each other outside of the courtroom because I noticed a granola greeting in the hallway prior to any of the karma-talk. "[Loud Squeal] What are YOU doing here ?!?"

* Hearing a potential juror try to get out of serving because he owns a small business. About four people tried to get out of serving, which required approaching the judge's bench and presenting your case. This guy made sure to explain loudly that his business was a special case because he details planes (a mission critical job indeed). The judge didn't agree & took him to task for not being willing to serve his government.

* Plane detail guy was the most vociferous potential juror present and spent a lot of time debating what "reasonable doubt" was. "Is it 100%? Is it 75% Is it 80% How will I know what reasonable doubt is? How will my opinion of reasonable doubt be comparable to yours, ...or his, ... or hers..." Blah blah blah.

* Assistant District Attorney actually said "My bad" when mistakenly using the wrong term for something.

Thanksgiving '07

It's been a great Thanksgiving Break. Merle (Rod's Dad) and Linda arrived Wednesday afternoon with, literally, armfuls of homemade cookies and pies. I will seriously need to go on a fast this week to deal with the excessive amount of desserts that were consumed! Elizabeth and her family arrived on Wednesday also, although they stayed with my Mom and Dad. We had 17 people at the Thanksgiving table, and the food was wonderful. The company was even better. We managed to get family photos taken, which was not an easy task...

Some of my favorite moments:

Caleb (Elizabeth's 3 yr old): Repeatedly asked "Can I please have some dirt?" [Dirt=Dessert]

On the way over to my parents' house:
Evelyn: "Kenneth stop it!"
Kenneth: "Stop what?"
Evelyn: "Tooting! You need to go to Toot-oring [tutoring] to learn to stop tooting!"

Reviewing a Harry & David catalog with Caleb in my lap:
Erin: "Oooh I like all this food. Nuts, cheese, apples, pears...What is your favorite food on this page, Caleb?"
Caleb: "I pretty much like pizza, mac a woni and cheese, chicken nuggets, that kind of food. Not that stuff."

Regarding a nightshirt with obvious static cling:
Evelyn: "Every time I see my cousins 4 days in a row, my nightshirt does this."

One More Soccer Weekend

The kids have wrapped up their Fall soccer season with the exception of one more tournament for Kenneth's team. Per the usual psychotic nature of soccer planning, the games start at 8 AM on a Saturday and are in a town about 25 minutes from our house. Argh.

My Aunt Pat and Uncle Henry visited my parents this week and we went over for appetizers and wine on Tuesday evening. It was great seeing them again and the kids enjoyed it too. They went home with a couple of new games that Pat bought for them and are looking forward to trying them out. Board games on the weekend are pretty standard for us.

I took a personal day from work today and relaxed in the morning at Upper Crust Bakery, reading some of the many catalogs that have besieged my mailbox since November began. After lunch I went to the school and helped out Evelyn's teacher by folding/stapling classwork, then helped out Kenneth's teacher as well. I also brought in some $$ from Taiwan so that I could show the kids what money from a different part of the world looked like. For Kenneth's class, I showed them how to convert from Taiwan dollars (TWD) to U.S. dollars (USD). They were impressed with the $500 TWD, which was only about $16 USD. We ended the day with (unfortunately) flu shots for both kids. Normally, Evelyn would qualify for FluMist (Kenneth's mild asthma prohibits proper intake of the FluMist) but they were out of their supply--so she had an unexpected shot and was not thrilled about it. A hospital cafeteria popsicle post-shot made life a bit better.

You're Killing Me

I got back from Taiwan late Friday night (or early Saturday morning, depending on how you look at it). On my 5+ hour layover in LAX, I saw Kimora Lee Simmons (not so famous celebrity) and Meg Ryan (definite A-list celebrity). According to a couple of American Airlines workers I befriended during my lengthy stay, I had "just missed" Danny Devito. LAX is happening. Today was very hard as far as jet lag since it was a full day of work. My eyes were red by about 2 PM. I will be heading to bed pretty soon.

In my absence, Evelyn spent some time admiring my (mostly costume) jewelry in my closet. I could tell because things were rearranged just enough that I knew someone had been looking. One of the things I do as resident tooth fairy is store their teeth in separate little containers. Kenneth has long been aware that the tooth fairy is not real, but Evelyn was holding on. One of the containers that held teeth was placed on top of my main jewelry box. The conversation went like this:

Little E: "Is the tooth fairy real?"
Bigger E: "What do you think? Let's talk about it."
Little E: "I'm not so sure. I found a tooth on your floor!"
Bigger E: "Really, because I noticed that some of my jewelry containers were rearranged and one of those containers had your teeth in them."
Little E: "Are you the tooth fairy?"
Bigger E: "Yes, I am."
Little E: "You're killing me!" (Incredulous look...)

Halloween Adventures

This year, I had the pleasure of walking around with the kids (and a group of neighbors) for Halloween. Rod wanted to be the one to answer the door, but I really think he wanted to surprise trick-or-treaters with his Superman costume.

We got about 10 minutes into the neighborhood walk when I received a phone call from Rod. Thank goodness he was the one who was home. He had gone into the garage briefly to get something from his car and on his way back in, a RAT scurried from the garage into the house. Rod said the body was about 5 inches and adding the tail made it about 9 inches. AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH. He chased it around the house and at one point it jumped onto the first stair, as if it wanted to dash upstairs. It would have been a nightmare trying to find it if it did that. He said it ran under every conceivable cover and when I returned home, all the couches were upside down from his searches. The rat even ran over his foot once. Eventually he chased it out the front door. Ugh. To top it off, the kids were getting ready for bed and a huge grasshopper had found its way upstairs and was chaotically bouncing off the walls. it didn't help that Kenneth was laughing hysterically and yelling "It's got enormous fangs! Look at the fangs!!" Evelyn was beside herself with tiredness and got so upset about it, especially when Kenneth grabbed her dress she had set out for the next school day to use to capture the grasshopper. I intervened, trapped the grasshopper in the middle room and when Rod finally arrived at the scene, he went in to get it. Sure enough, he agreed that "this sucker has a set of choppers." Great.

This Halloween rat was rodent incident number 4 in the Walline household. We've been here for a little over 4 years, so once per year isn't too bad I suppose. Some of you may recall my experience with finding a dead, disgusting, drowned rat in the midst of my clean WASH as I unloaded it from the washing machine to the dryer. This was a couple of years ago, around the same time a mouse crawled through our cooling down oven to grab a freshly baked mini-muffin from the cooling rack and try to drag it back down. The other rodent experience involved me seeing a mouse run through the garage, and because this was our first rodent incident, Rod didn't believe me until he found said mouse drowned in a bucket that had a couple inches of water in it.

Life's an adventure, though I'd prefer adventures without animals involved on any level.

I am leaving for Taiwan again on Friday evening and will be back the following Friday. Rod launches the 2nd edition of his magazine in my absence. He's so excited about it!

Toh-Tally

Evelyn tells us that a boy named Nicolas ("sometimes he lets us call him Nick") has a way of accentuating other people's adjectives with the word "Totally." Evelyn likes to use the word "Sweet!" or "Awesome!", to which Nicolas replies in perfect Sean Penn in Fast Times at Ridgemont High fashion "Toh-tally Sweet...". It is cute to watch Evelyn imitate him.

Last Saturday, Kenneth participated in a special soccer tournament called "Spookout" through the Round Rock soccer association. The teams were 3 vs. 3 so it was much more fast-paced than a traditional game. A different set of rules applied as well. His team won all three of the standard games, which allowed them to advance to the finals. Their last game was so exciting and so close -- they were leading till the last part when the other team scored one goal that put them in the lead. Although I did not get any pictures of the games, I can assure you the boys were beyond thrilled with themselves after all of the games, and truly disappointed when they lost. However, he got a great trophy and the team had 2nd place status in the tournament.


Saturday night, Rod and I dressed up for Halloween and headed downtown to a friend's loft for a party. Rod was Clark Kent and had a Superman costume underneath his suit. He revealed the Superman costume after we had been there about an hour. I attempted a Wonder Woman costume, mostly made out of things I already owned. We had to stop at a Walmart on the way to the party to pick up gold braided rope for the lasso of truth, a gold belt, and a gold wrist bands. This picture was taken before I wandered through Walmart in my red tights, short-shorts, and high heel boots to purchase the accessories. I ditched the yellow-suede belt in the picture for a gold one with a big buckle. The blazer was the only thing that kept me feeling like a semi-normal person. Of course, having Rod accompany me with the suit probably didn't read too well to the Pflugerville Walmart customers. I swear we looked better in person.

Blue Angels Air Show

Last weekend we zipped up to Dallas to visit our friends, Tiffani, Jim, & Abby and see an air show that featured the Blue Angels. The Blue Angels are 'the best of the best' as far as fighter and stunt pilots. It was a beautiful day, but despite the nice weather, the sun made us tired. OK, when I say "us" I mean the 4 females in the group. Tiffani laid on her back on the hot concrete at one point and I spent time sitting with my head facing down to avoid too much sun exposure. Evelyn and Abby took only one good photo where they didn't look exhausted or upset. Rod took a picture of me and Tiffani that I refuse to admit was the reality of the day (and also refuse to post it). The wind had whipped several hairs out of the ponytail that was attempting to restrain them and we looked like splotchy-faced Olans. Kenneth and Rod spent most of the time happily looking up at the sky with cameras. Rod was bright red the following day. The Blue Angels portion of the show was very cool, I have to admit.

AbouTown Launch

Rod and one of his College Station colleagues, Chris, launched a community newspaper called AbouTown that gets mailed to everyone in Bryan/College Station. We are all very excited about it. They had the launch party about a week and a half ago and lots of folks showed up to support them.
While we were there, the kids went to Elizabeth's house and hung out with their cousins. OF course, they had a lot of fun.

We've been so busy that we have had a poor plant in the pot in which we bought it for about a month. I faithfully watered it in the tiny pot, but it definitely needed to be planted or it would die. The kids helped plant it in the front yard. Hopefully it will grow to block the view of the water meter and hoses!



Saturday started out with the usual soccer games. Rod took this cute picture of Evelyn and a couple of her teammates. This weekend we went to an awesome (!!) restaurant south of downtown called Home Slice with some friends/neighbors. It was amazing. The pizza was great, but the meatball sandwich was to die for. Those of you who know me, know that I would not ordinarily lush over a meatball sandwich so it has to be good! Afterwards, we headed over to a green city festival, organized by the City of Austin.

DC Trip: Day 4

The last day of our trip included a morning visit to the Textile Museum. This is not a traditional stop that a DC-visit might entail, but it is worth it. My work is directly involved with Industrial Design and textiles play a role in user perceptions. The museum was recommended by a colleague who has specialized in Colors/Materials/Finishes as they relate to products. It was located about 4 blocks from our B&B, in a historic neighborhood. As we walked down the street, we realized we were surrounded by embassies. Walks later that day in a slightly different direction showed more of the same. Although it makes sense, it still surprised us how many we saw. The picture is me in front of one of the Ireland embassies. The Museum was located in the former family home of the man who started the collection that has now grown into the largest collection in the U.S. The third floor of the museum actually has a textile library for students of this art.


After the Textile Museum, we had lunch in the Dupont Circle area at a French Bistro and spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening shopping in Georgetown. Our flight was early Sunday morning and we were very glad to get home to see the kids.

DC Trip: Day 3

Our third and fourth days in DC were a little bit more relaxing. The morning at the B&B was a little odd, though. Forgive the detailed story about the toaster situation, but it bothered me at the time. The regular B&B management was not around when I got up for breakfast; instead, another lady was handling the kitchen and clearly was not aiming for customer experience. I was all set to toast my own bagel using one of the three available toasters set up in the dining area, without any need for eggs or anything that might require assistance. Because they only had mini-bagels, I opted for the traditional toaster where you can lay the bagel flat, as opposed to the sideways-entry toaster, which is really meant for larger items. I placed my bagel halves in the toaster and realized it wasn't plugged in, so I reached around the table and plugged it in. Out of nowhere, this lady appears and tells me "You can use the other toaster!" Taken aback, I said "this is fine, I plugged it in". Clearly still invested in my bagel-making tactics, she pointed out "this one has a bagel setting!" OOOOKKKKK. I could tell she was edgy, so I looked at her blankly and moved my bagels to the sideways toaster that she desperately wanted me to use. Of course, the bagel setting was actually meant for normal-size bagels, not mini ones so it didn't really work out. As soon as I got the bagels in the preferred toaster, she grabbed the tray from the first toaster, dumped the few crumbs into the trash can, put the tray back in and unplugged it. WHATEVER. If she really didn't want people to use it because she didn't want to clean it, then it shouldn't have been an option on the table. Sigh.

Our first stop of the day was the Smithsonian Hirshhorn museum, which is primarily sculptures, mixed in with a few other exhibits. The exhibits included:

* An art series by Morris Louis. His striped canvases appealed to me tremendously. I may try to find a print of one that I really like for framing purposes.

* A room with a name plate that was called "Milk Run". The idea was that you were supposed to walk into this darkened hallway with glow-tape arrows to direct you to an even darker room. The messaging dictated that you wait several minutes for your eyes to adjust and said not to "walk in the white area". A security guard stood in the area between the semi-darkened hallway and the "milk run". She guided us, one at a time through the darkness by holding our elbow and asked us if we wanted to sit. Sure, why not. This involved further elbow guiding until she gestured (I could barely see) to an area that had a bench. By this time, I realized we had been guided past a row of people already seated on what was a bleacher-like bench. After my eyes adjusted, I was embarrassed at how much those people could see us stumbling around, shoulders hunched and hands out searching for solid objects. The milk run itself was just a stark white floor with a reddish-orange lighting glow coming from around the corner that projected onto the white floor. It was very serious in there and I asked Rod if he thought we should expect anything else. We eventually got up and left. The security guard told us that "milk run" implied a sunrise on a farm and that was what the exhibit was about.

* A video that was more like animal performance art. The artist videotaped a wild wolf and a wild deer together in a white room; basically, taking two wild animals out of their natural element and watching what happened. The images would zoom in on the deer, which was clearly stressed out (breathing hard and darting eyes). The wolf circled around but got bored and laid on the ground to sleep after a while. The goal was to have observers look deeper into themselves (according to the signage). It didn't do much for introspection (for me anyway).

More tomorrow...

DC Trip: Day 2

We are lucky enough to have 2 cousins in DC, Hank and Sarah. Hank has finished college and is working near the Capitol and Sarah is a junior at George Washington University. Hank arranged a personal tour of the US Capitol through our state rep's (Mike McCaul) office on Thursday morning. A very nice intern named Emily showed us around and we heard about many details that I don't think we'd have been told on a regular tour. No famous politician sightings, although we saw Nancy Pelosi's chamber entrance with a "closed" sign blocking the hallway. :)


After that, we visited the Library of Congress, which was one of my favorite sites on the whole trip. It is not only beautiful, but the ambiance reminds you that education is sacred. We walked past the Supreme Court building as we left the Library.

After lunch, we visited the American Indian museum and the Botanical Gardens, then headed back to the B&B to rest up before meeting my cousins for dinner. We met in Georgetown at a restaurant called Clyde's and had a great visit. We hope to see them more often. Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of the four of us!

DC Trip: Day 1

Rod and I landed in DC around 3 PM last Wednesday and after purchasing $17 worth of two drinks and a shared Cinnabon at the airport, we bought Metro cards and hopped on the Red line to Dupont Circle. Our B&B was perfectly located in Upper Georgetown, which was a safe(ish) and eccentric part of town. The Metro station at Dupont Circle was about 5 blocks from the B&B, so it was a brief walk every time we wanted to use the subway. The escalator up (see Rod's picture) was very steep and moved very slowly. Our B&B was quaint, with spiraling stairs and wooden floors . We were on the 4th floor (no elevator) and our particular room was really rather big, with our own bathroom and mini-refrigerator. The fourth picture from the top (in the center row) of the website was our specific room. http://www.lodgingsinternational.com/accommodations/1663.htm


After relaxing a bit and unpacking our luggage, we checked out the street map and determined that we were only about 3-4 miles from the part of DC that had the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, etc. We ate at a locally famous Italian restaurant called Anna Maria's. There were pictures of the owners (father, then son as the pictures progressed in time) with famous politicians and celebrities. I am standing in front of the restaurant in the picture.

We continued our walk down to the monuments for a night-time view, which we'd heard was a requirement since the lighting is so beautifully placed. We walked by the Capitol, the White House, the Washington Memorial, the WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, and the Lincoln Monument. On our way to the Lincoln Monument, we walked along the rectangular pond that was featured in the Forrest Gump movie; by that time, it was dark and swarms of large gnats were attacking us along the entire length of the pond in periodic (every 30 seconds or so) bouts. On our way back to Georgetown, we walked through the George Washington University campus. The next day, we regretted the 8 mile walk because our shins were quite sore!

Pulling Nails

The photo is a collage someone at work made of various people at work during the Habitat for Humanity project. I am in the top-left photo, sitting on my rear end in the shade while doing my nail removing work. Might as well make it as easy as possible!

Rod and I are heading to Washington DC Wed-Sun this week for a mini-vacation. We are excited about the trip, although work is relentless.

Deconstruction

Elizabeth and family visited my parents on Thursday, so we went over there for dinner and to hang out briefly (school night). Kenneth took some pictures with my camera and got a cute one of Caleb. Anne Marie is so much bigger than when we saw them last. Somehow we didn't get a picture of her, but we'll be seeing them soon.

Friday I spent time with a group from work doing a Dell-sponsored volunteer day. We chose Habitat for Humanity. Our project was a deconstruction project, rather than a construction project (with which most people are probably familiar). Deconstruction projects are jobs where the HfH can salvage building materials to sell in their HfH store and with the proceeds, can fund construction projects. My particular task of the day was moving large pieces of plywood with nails in them and removing the nails. One of my co-workers, Danielle, and I were partners throughout the day and for the first half of the morning we had a little system where we could sit on the ground and remove the nails. I was so exhausted by 2:00 when I left--it was harder work than I thought. I admire the stamina of the people who do that type of work everyday.

Kenneth and I were chatting about how much a mother loves her children. The conversation on my end went something like "I will always be thinking about you, even when you're a grown up...wondering if you're driving safely, taking your vitamins, getting enough sleep..." Clearly this motherly love was sinking in for Kenneth, because he jumped in: "Mom, do I have a mosquito bite on my back?"

Keeping the Sideburns

Kenneth and Rod got haircuts yesterday. They were much needed for both of them. While at Kenneth's soccer practice tonight, Evelyn announced that her Dad looked like a caveman with his new haircut. I'm not sure where that came from. Kenneth had a funny comment too: tonight, after brushing his hair, he studied himself in the mirror and said "I chose to keep the sideburns." This is so funny to me because he has never had sideburns, ever.

When we got back from soccer practice, a couple of kids were riding their bikes in the circle, so Kenneth and Evelyn joined them for a bit as I unloaded the car. I came outside to hear fake fart noises happening from all the kids and hysterical laughter. One of the older boys said "Girls don't do that!" and I debated the merits of providing the alternative argument that all living things generate gas, but decided against it. The last thing I need is to be any weirder than the neighborhood kids already perceive me to be.

Rod's been very busy the past couple of weeks with work, traveling to College Station to get a local project kicked off. I admit, operating in a pseudo-single parent mode is difficult. My Mom came over on Saturday to watch the kids while Rod and I went out to dinner and a movie. The kids are wearing their new Halloween shirts that Nana got them. Evelyn spent part of the day in her sequin-pumpkin shirt, purple shorts, and knee-high black boots "because I thought this would look good."

At Least There Were Cupcakes

Kenneth and Evelyn had been monitoring a chrysalis (butterfly cocoon), and it finally hatched. It didn't want to leave the stick it was sitting on, but it eventually flew away. For a brief period of time, the chrysalis was in Kenneth's classroom so the class could learn about it.


This week, my cousin Jeanne visited my Mom for a few days. We had dinner with them on Tuesday and had a great time visiting. I think they had a very low-key agenda throughout the week going shopping and tooling around Austin.

I asked Evelyn how school was one day this week and she said in a very exasperated voice, "Well, we had a cupcake at least!"

Cricket Freak Out

Every year in Texas an onslaught of crickets show up in front of stores, in buildings, etc. At my work, they have become such a nuisance that the facilities group has had to take special measures to deal with them. I have found them crawling up my cube wall, on my keyboard, on the floor under my feet, etc. Some co-workers and I observed how the crickets get onto the 2nd floor: they drop out of the light fixtures. Gross.

Anyhow, earlier today I went into my bathroom (at home) and noticed some lint-like stuff on the toilet seat. Now, having two children, I was not too surprised or concerned with this. I periodically have to clean up craft projects that find their way to the toilet. I wiped it away and moved on. Later on, I re-visited the same bathroom and found more lint-like stuff. This time I looked around to see if there was evidence of a craft project anywhere else--there wasn't. I determined it was probably some dust being forced out of the fan vent in the bathroom and that next time I got around to it, I should probably clean it. The story is not over. Rod goes into that bathroom a few minutes later and said "What is a cricket doing in the toilet?" AAAAGGGGHHH. A nasty cricket got into my attic and decided to fall out of the fan vent into the toilet. Prior to its demise, it was scuffling around in the vent causing dust to fall out. FOUL. It could have fallen onto my head while using the toilet or jumped out of the toilet onto me.

First Soccer Games for Fall '07

The first soccer games of the Fall '07 season kicked off today. Kenneth's was at 8 AM (no sleeping in!) and Evelyn's was in the afternoon. Kenneth is in a level now where the field is bigger and the number of players on the field is greater. He played the entire game on the field. Evelyn also has moved up a level onto a bigger field, and she is in an all girl's team now. She is happy to have a pink uniform! Rod had to go out of town today so we decided to have dinner at Central Market.
The location was chosen for two reasons: (1) the usual reason--nice live music and a playground with shady trees, and (2) so that Kenneth could look for yet another piece of wood to create a bow. We were successful on both counts. A ladybug kept us company too.

Back to Busy-ness

So school, homework, soccer practice, and soccer games are in full swing and I'm back to using my wall calendar to keep track of everything. In his spare time, Kenneth has been perfecting his bow and arrow creations. We have gone on mini-hikes to look for branches that can serve as different bow sizes and arrow styles. He has modified the arrows with leaves to create different aerodynamics. Recently, Kenneth made a bow and arrow for Evelyn. After he taught her the basics of archery :) she was excited about hitting her targets and about learning from her brother. While she was busy trying to hit the center of an Aggie blanket, Kenneth quietly came over to me and said "I'm so glad Evelyn has something to do now, other than dolls."

Visit with My Grandfather

The first week of school wrapped up nicely. I picked the kids up at 3:00 with a couple of ice-cold Sprites and we headed out to pick up Rod. My grandfather is visiting Mom and Dad this week. It is his first (and probably last) visit to Austin, as it is getting more difficult for him to travel. Rod went to lunch with them yesterday, and we all met them today for dinner.
We chose to eat at The Oasis, which is known for its view of Lake Travis. We were fortunate to get a table under an awning because a brief rainstorm blew through. The waitress was positive the sound of thunder was just the band moving around equipment--wrong!

We only heard a little bit of the band, but they were really great--the name was The Belleville Outfit. I'm definitely going to try to catch them again whenever they play again in Austin. This is the last free weekend before the actual soccer games start, although the kids have been practicing with their teams for a couple of weeks.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school. Yesterday, the kids were so bored. I was trying to work from home and every minute or two I'd have a food request, or have to mitigate a minor bickering fight, or get a head rested on my shoulder. I finally brought out the huge Colorforms set and they played with that for about an hour.

Anyway, today they were able to ride the bus because it was running late (normally, it arrives about 20 minutes before we typically leave). The picture outside is a small grouping of kids waiting for the bus.

When I asked them how their first day was, they were so enthusiastic. Kenneth's teacher apparently had a stint on Animal Planet as a "snake lady." Evelyn thinks her teacher is just great. She has been seated next to a boy that was in her class last school year. This boy absolutely loved Evelyn. He even bought her a large Sponge Bob Squarepants Valentine's Day card last year instead of the typical little Valentines that everyone hands out. However, there's a negative side to Kindergarten love: he also tried to cut her hair. I hope he has matured a little bit. Rod asked her about her day with her "boy friend." This was her response:

"He's not my boyfriend. He's just in love with me. He loved me in Kinder and he loves me now. I'm not in love with him."

Ice Cream Festival

Saturday we went to an Ice Cream Festival in a downtown park. I know that proceeds were supposed to benefit something, but I have no idea what. We contributed $25 to some cause: $20 for 4 ice creams--dairy-free gelatto for Kenneth. Plus, a $5 face paint, which Evelyn promptly washed off as soon as we got home. ("It itches, Mom!") It was very crowded with both people and dogs. Dogs of all sizes, including little ones that shouldn't have been walked in a crowd. I accidentally kicked a dog (not too hard, but still) because it licked my foot and I thought it was a bug. I apologized to the owner, but she just glared at me like I did it on purpose. It kind of made me not so sorry at that point!
Evelyn and Kenneth played a game where they had to create a pretend ice cream sundae by using a spatula to get ice cream (colored tennis balls), whipped cream (cotton fluff), etc. from one mixing bowl and across the grass to the sundae bowl, one piece at a time without dropping anything. At another point, two jugglers juggled pins with the two of them in the middle. Kenneth thought that was just great.

Today was their last day of summer camp/school. We brought them to Nana's house tonight to swim and spend the night. Nana will watch them tomorrow and I plan to take off on Friday. Nana will watch them again on Monday and school starts Tuesday. They can't wait to meet their teachers.

Expressive Cake

I left work after lunch today to pick up the kids and hang out. We met Nana for an early dinner at Mandola's, which is an Italian restaurant in mid-town. The bruschetta is the most fabulous bruschetta I've ever had. After dinner the kids browsed the desserts display. They have homemade gelatto and a huge range of pastries and cakes. Evelyn is reading a lot better now, but sometimes she misses the mark just slightly. She ran back to the table, full of excitement about a cake she saw that she wanted. She called it "Expressive Cake," but it was actually Espresso Cake. It looked chocolate-flavored to her. I helped her choose a more suitable dessert for a 6-year old.

Rod called us on his way back from a business trip in College Station while we were hanging out. Parts of the drive back are in low-signal zones, so sometimes the phone cuts out. Evelyn was on the phone with him when all of a sudden she gets louder: "Dad, your voice is getting blurry!"

Wrapping up the Summer

The Summer is coming to a close. School starts on August 28th and we've been busy getting ready. Clothes shopping, school supply shopping, doctor's forms, etc. have all kept us running around a bit more than usual. Kenneth and Evelyn are ready to go back to school. Evelyn is particularly excited about being a first grader. I will post some more photos soon.

Visit with Elizabeth's Family

Elizabeth and team braved the 2 hour car trip from College Station to Austin and visited from Friday through Sunday. They stayed at my Mom's house and we went over on Saturday to spend the day. Ann Marie has gotten bigger and is very cute. The picture doesn't do her justice because she barely made a sound the whole weekend--only when I tried to take the picture. That's OK. We'll have plenty of opportunities to take more pictures as time goes on.

On the way home from swimming lessons, the kids had a funny conversation:

Kenneth: "I can't wait to get my driver's license. It's going to be so cool. I can go out with my girlfriend."

Evelyn: "You probably won't HAVE a girlfriend."

Kenneth: "That's so mean!"

Evelyn: "Probably. I said probably."

Kenneth: "Well, you probably won't have a boyfriend."

Evelyn: "I don't care. Why would I care about that?"

Magnetix

After a few birthdays and holidays, the kids have accumulated an impressive collection of Magnetix. The concept is similar to Tinker Toys, but each piece has magnets in it, and the collections come with round marble magnets. They've each spent hours building things.
I will occasionally find a dangling Magnetix contraption hanging off a doorknob, and Rod occasionally manages to step onto a magnet marble. :) The Sponge Bob design is Evelyn's.

Sassy Faces

This blog is mainly pictures (too tired to write tonight!).

Rod and I, 11 years to the day.

We spent some time practicing sassy faces at Nana's house.