Saturday in Teravista..

Riley on the slip-n-slide
Taggert at the bottom of the water slide
Jamie, Mike, Joel & Mandy- barbecue experts

celebrating the big winners

Today our neighborhood hosted its first BBQ Cookoff.. including a slip-n-slide, water slide, dunking booth, and catered bbq.. Everyone had a great time, and congrats to our friends, Girls with Grills and Bad to the Bone for taking first place with their barbequed creations.

Ladies Night with Sex & the City..

Ever since it was announced that there would be a Sex & the City movie, Carol and I have talked about going, and kept each other updated with any movie news we would come across.. an alert went out to the street, and last night 4 of us packed our purses with snacks & cocktails to head off to the movie theater..

flashback to earlier in the afternoon, which found me at two liquor stores, only to discover two empty shelves where cosmo mix usually is.. everyone stocking up to celebrate the movie that made cosmos famous perhaps?.. not sure, but luckily, I located a bottle I didn't know I had when I got home.

Carol, Mandy, Jamie and I headed up to the theater a full hour early, along with many other women.. we picked great seats, with plenty of time to catch up & share laughs..

the movie.. it was a-w-e-s-o-m-e.. For Carol, Jamie and I, long time fans of the show, it was satisfying and emotional- we all had teary eyes for most of the 2 1/2 hours (which seemed like 30 minutes).. For Mandy, I was happy to see she was able to get in to after never really watching the show (but how is that she has missed it all these years??)..

Jimmy Buffett concert, 2007...

Cleaning out my camera, I came across this picture of Ethan & Troy at the Jimmy Buffett concert last year... nice..

Memorial Day 2008...

For Memorial Day, several of the neighbors rented boats out on Lake Travis.. I am in the group picture as well, but you can't see me... I am on the phone Troy is holding up to his ear, as I was at home, studying CLU... Regardless, the boaters had a great time, and Taggert & Riley enjoyed their very first time on a boat.. Thanks for your cautious driving, Steve-o!

Taggert's journal..

We recently visited with Taggert's teacher for his end-of-the-year conference.. inside his desk I found a journal that Taggert writes in everyday... this particular entry stood out to me... possiby as evidence that Troy and I listen to a little too much 80's music?...

Halloween 2007....

how lucky are we that our boys get to grow up with a great group of kids around?.. needless to say, we are happy to know that we'll get to stay in Austin for a while.. : )

the field trip part II....

so we've seen the field trip pictures that Taggert took... without a doubt, there were a couple of donkey's taking a piggy back ride... and we'll leave it at that... ; )

Dancing in Walburg..

Friday night we drove up to Walburg for a little dinner & a lot of crazy dancing with the neighbors.. as you may notice, the children are dripping wet, as it was no cooler than 145 degrees.. but that didn't stop them from trying out their new dance moves.. some of the move had them rolling around on ground.. latest dance craze perhaps?.. or maybe they were just trying to cool themselves on the concrete..

the field trip.....

Taggert went on his 1st grade field trip, to a place called the Crow's Nest, where he told me they would see animals in "their natural habitat".. the checklist mentioned "cameras" on the list of needed supplies to bring along, so he & Troy picked up a disposable camera last night..
When I picked Taggert up from school, he was excited to tell me all the things he had taken pictures of.... a longhorn.. his shirt.. some friends.. a donkey, that had his two back legs on the ground, and his two front legs on the back of a donkey standing in front of him.. what??... what kind of place was this??..
I'm a little nervous to get these pictures developed... Nikki told me in their house, they say that's when animals are giving each other piggy-back rides...

High flying....

Here are some photos of our latest activity.. I am so amazed at how well our little guys can throw & catch the frisbee..

Pizza Night..

Daddy had to go out of town, so the boys & I invited Taelyn over to make pizzas.. everyone agreed when you make them yourself, they taste better!

my boys...

My boys have been thinking a lot about what they want to be when they grow up.. Taggert has flip-flopped between working in a fast food restaurant & being a scientist (have I mentioned he has been accepted into the Talented & Gifted program at his school for social studies & science?)... He finally settled on scientist..
Riley is not limiting himself.. he wants to be a police officer, football player, deer hunter & scientist..
Here they are in their flight suits from Nanny... she bought them a while ago, just like the ones Papa used to wear.. the boys found them this weekend & told me they fit just perfectly, even though the legs came up to their calves..

Mother's Day 2008...

I woke up to the sweet offer of cherry poptarts or cinnamon toast for breakfast.. Taggert showed Troy how to make the cinnamon toast, which included cinnamon & butter on both sides of the bread.. Riley layed on the couch, letting us know his "bones hurt".. later on, this evolved in him throwing up all over my bedroom.. no worries though- my boys each gave me special books of coupons, which included a free colored picture, an offer to take care of each other & the cat, and an offer to cuddle.. priceless...

Super Bowl champs..

Super Bowl Saturday..

We settled in for a potential long day on the football field.. if each boy won their first playoff game, they would go on to play the Super Bowl of their bracket.. Riley's team won their first game, then Troy & I spent time running between Taggert's 1st & Riley's 2nd games.. Taggert was especially nervous about his first game, as it was an entire team of 2nd graders (apparently a menacing group).. nothing to worry about, as Taggert's team easily won their first game as Riley's team was receiving their Super Bowl trophies..
..finally, on to Taggert's 2nd & final game.. word spread up & down the sideline that a parent on the opposing team had gotten into a screaming match with an official the previous week.. I have to add that in 3 seasons with this league, we have never experienced that..
back to the story-- our ref, (very young & needing some assertiveness training) started making some controversial calls against our team in a very tight game, hampering our best efforts to steamroll the competition... when this continued after halftime, our assistant coach (and league director) took it upon himself to throw the ref out & take over the ref duties himself.. for some reason, this did not go over well with the other team (did I mention they have a reputation for acting out?)..
Lots of words were exchanged and some parents (one with a kid on his shoulders) stormed onto the field to argue/curse this decision.. our assistant coach/now ref threw the parent out of the field, at which point I started to pack up.. physical altercations make me a bit nervous...
after what seemed like several minutes, things settled down, and we went on to win in the final minutes...
THANKFULLY, my precious Taggert was busy digging for fossils on the sidelines, and didn't even notice all of the excitement.. and, with Riley enjoying a pb&j in one hand, while holding his Super Bowl trophy in the other, he also was spared the insanity..
so, we are cautiously looking forward to next season.. : )

another reason to love Austin...

...the great bumper stickers around town... on the way to work recently, I saw "imagine whirled peas"..

Union Hill Elementary Field Day 2008..

Troy was able to visit Taggert's Field Day this year, and get these action shots.. not the typical Olympic-caliber events, but exciting just the same..

Ladies Night...

10 years ago, if you would have told me that "Ladies Night" would mean getting together with other moms (and a mom-to-be), stopping at Friday's for a cocktail & then heading out to a place where we prepare meals for the freezer, I would have thought you were crazy.. and yet, 10 years later, there we were- laughing, telling stories & making future plans for more such adventures.. thanks for the invitation Mandy! looking forward to the next escape from Fairway Path!..

Mr. Mark update #2

So far, no luck with getting Mr. Mark's job back... one of the other mothers involved has spoken to the Y a few times to no avail.. and they have not answered the letters the rest of us sent.. most of the mothers involved in the letter writing campaign have decided to remove their kids from the program for a couple of reasons- 1) to show their opposition to the decision & 2) because Mr. Mark was by far the best counselor, so what does that leave...?
It's truly disappointing, but there is still some hope on some job leads for him.. thanks to everyone for their continued support..

Saturday & Carolpolooza..

This Saturday started early, with football again.. both boys won their games, with Taggert running almost the entire length of the football field for a touchdown.. I almost screamed myself hoarse.. we all noticed how he kept his eye on where we were all sitting to make sure we didn't miss a step.. both teams are undefeated as we go into the playoffs next weekend..
After football Carol & I ran errands together on what will be one of her final Saturdays free, now that she has gone back to work.. I joined her on my first trip to a scrubs store to get her some new ones for work.. that place is where fabrics go to die.. it is amazing collection of insane patterns.. good news though, as I was able to quickly lay my hands on the most expensive scrubs in the store- Grey's Anatomy brand no less- and help Carol make some quick selections.. they were by far the softest scrubs available, and I have half a mind to go back and get some to wear as pjs.. next was a trip to the bookstore for Cooper's birthday presents (happy birthday Coopy-doo!) and then finally to Whole Foods..
You will be hard pressed to find two women who have more fun in a grocery store.. it started earlier at football where we shared recipes we had come across lately.. we settled on some unusual sandwich combinations & new appetizers to attempt.. we wandered the aisles of the grocery store, sniffing unusual fruit, trying cheese samples & doubling back to look at everything again.. we must have lost track of time, as Steve called to make sure we were coming home at some point..
Dinner on the patio & childhood stories around the kitchen island, brought a relaxing end to a long day.. no one can accuse us of not squeezing the most out of our Saturday..

Taelyn & the boys at her game..

I just love this picture of the boys & Taelyn at her t-ball game.. Thanks for sharing Rachael!

Peace, disco and.... a tornado?..

Taggert's school had a family Seventies dance last week.. knowing full well that this could be our only chance to go to a dance with Taggert, we jumped on it (after much convincing by me to Troy that he would not look ridiculous in an afro... somehow he bought it).. the Joneses got in to the spirit as well, and we all threw together the best hippy & disco wear we could find..
afros and all, we started on the street & then off to dinner at Fridays... by the time we pulled up to the school, people were walking out.. (this is where Troy noticed that pretty much no one else was dressed up...).. turns out there was a tornado spotted in our county, and the dance was cancelled..
no worries, we headed back to the neighborhood, and were joined by the rest of the neighbors in our garage, to watch the crazy sky..
it was a bit much to get all gussied up, but totally worth it when we saw how much fun the boys had..