Laundry

I have to say that I am so thankful for the fact that Ben does his own laundry - it really lightens my load (pun intended - har-de-har!).

Too Pooped to Poop

Ben and I attended the Weekend to Remember marriage conference this weekend here in town.  It's ministry of Family Life and has been taking place for 30 plus years!

It was just amazing, and we highly recommend it to every married couple. The speakers were funny, and the material was packed with wisdom on how to create a great marriage.

There are so many things we wrote down as our take-away, but the main thing that I see immediately following the conference, is that we feel like a team - fighting for each other. 

Click Below for More Info!

Family Life - Weekend to Remember

Low-Ride-Er

It's been too long since we had a video on here!  I think I've been fighting lingering feelings of defeat after many failed attempts at loading the centipede extermination video a couple months ago.  

There are three things that stood out to me in this video, and we'll see if you have the same take-away as I did.

1) My daughter does not obey

2) Evan is adorable 

3) Elena can do the iconic "Elaine Dance" from Seinfeild really, really well.

We're Ready, are You?

We're ready for whatever harsh winter San Antonio dares to throw at us!

No, it doesn't fit Elena. This outfit was actually mine as a baby, but Elena loves to pull it out during room time to try on.

Hair Cut #2

I went a little shorter than I had planned.  I should have gotten a picture of the pile of red curly hair once I was done cutting Evan's hair, it was pretty impressive.  That's all I've got!

Carvin' Pumpkins

We didn't get around to it, but the raccoons (or whatever they were) did! 

When we went to the pumpkin patch, we got one big pumpkin plus multiple tiny ones (it was hard to say "no" to Elena). I piled the odd grouping together outside our house. The problem was, after a few days, we noticed a little pumpkin from our stash missing. Then, holes began appearing in the ones remaining.  And now, this picture shows the sad remains of our original pumpkin family. Elena tells me it was a porcupine. :-)

His First Word Is... Your Pick

I'm really torn on what to label as Evan's first word. In the hopes of one day actually making a baby book for him ('ya hear me there, right Stephanie?) I need help deciding which word to put in that baby book blank.

He started saying, "Da-da" on command a couple of months ago. It wasn't just completely meaningless babble, because he would say it after we asked him to, BUT I don't think he connected "Da-da" with Ben either. 

Then, a couple of weeks ago, he dropped something and said, "uh-uh-uh-oh".  At first I thought it might be a coincidence, but within the hour he did it again, and he still continues to say "uh-oh" when he drops something.

And now, as of yesterday, "Da-da" morphed into "Da-dy" and he seems to be connecting it with Ben. 

So, what do ya think - Da-da or Uh-oh?

It's Gettin' a Little French Around Here

Some would describe these power lines as an eyesore, but to Elena they are... "the Eiffel Tower!" Hmmm... when you look at them that way, they are kinda nice.

November 1st

WARNING - THIS IS BORDER-LINE SAPPY :)

I had the best surprise Saturday night. Unbeknownst to me, Ben had made arrangements for us to go out in honor of our first date, exactly six years ago. Ben is wonderful about planning surprises, but I usually have an idea when something is in the making since the surprises normally fall around my birthday or our anniversary.  This time however, I was completely caught off guard. 

I won't give you the entire story of how we met and fell in love, but I'll give you enough so that you can appreciate what he did last night. 

We were at Texas A&M in the same marketing class six years ago. We had met earlier that year, and then sorta ran into "each other" in the class (that's the abridged version). On the day we "ran into each other", Ben asked where I was headed after class.  I told him that I had to high-tale-it over to the Administration Building where I worked (it was about a 30 minute walk). Surprisingly, he was also headed over there too!  Actually he wasn't; it was a complete lie. We had a great time talking that day and we ended up walking together every Mon, Wed and Fri for the next two weeks. Funny note here -  every time Ben dropped me off, he waited for me to go into the building and then he'd turn right around and head back over to west campus.

At the end of those two weeks he asked me out for the following Friday. It wasn't until this point that I was completely sure he was interested... I really thought he was just friendly (duh!). Ben let me know the type of outfit that would be appropriate, but the location and events were going to be a surprise. 

Friday night came. He picked me up at my apartment and we walked down to the car. When he opened my door for me, there was a gerber daisy in the seat and a pack of my favorite gum. I was thinking - nice touch, this guy cares about the details!  Little did I know, that Ben is the most observant guy I had/would ever meet.

We started driving, and then we kept driving... and driving... and driving! Once we were outside of College Station I think I assumed we were going to a restaurant in the country or something. Finally I asked where we were headed, and he tells me, "Houston"!!! 

As we get into the Galleria area he tells me where we would be dining - The Cheesecake Factory! Yum! We enjoyed an awesome dinner, and then afterwords went to play put-put golf. The only problem there, was that a ridiculous cold front had moved through. I think we only lasted 5 holes in the 50 degree weather before we called it a night. 

So, that was the first date. It was a huge success as far as first dates go!

On Saturday afternoon, about 4ish, Ben let me know, "We're Going Out!" I was really surprised and excited, but more confused than anything because it seemed so random. But oh my goodness, once he explained, I was beyond happy. I mean, he could have taken me to Burger King at that point and I still would have been thrilled. 

Once I was ready, we went out to our car. He opens my door and there are six gerber daisy's and six packs of my favorite gum on the seat! As you might be able to guess at this point, we ate at the Cheesecake Factory, and after dinner enjoyed a competitive round of put-put.

I love how creative Ben is and that he still takes the effort to surprise me! Thank you Ben for such an awesome night that brought back wonderful memories. I love you!

The Air Show

We went to the Air Show at Lackland AFB on Saturday morning.  We got to see some older planes up close, walk through some of the bigger ones, and watch some really fast ones fly over us.  Sorry, I don't know my planes - I have to use preschool words like big, old, fast, and yellow :)

When we settled in to watch the fly-overs I thought that I was prepared to tell Elena to cover her ears and to cover Evan's myself since we didn't bring ear plugs (Bad Mom Award!). But, my little system broke down on the very first pass and both kids started crying. Thankfully some nice people let us borrow these heavy duty ear muffs. Oh Evan, if you only knew how adorable you looked!

Fall Fest Block Party!

Our neighborhood does it every year, but this year was especially fun because we rented a bouncer for the kids. Who doesn't love those things?!?

Now I have to admit that I have no creativity when it comes to costumes, so when Ben's parents brought back a hula skirt and lei from Hawaii for Elena, I jumped on the idea of using it for Halloween. But sadly, Evan was not so fortunate as to receive a costume as a random gift this year, so he went without. Once again, I find myself in a position to be nominated for the "Bad Mom Award." :)  Anyways, here are some pictures of last night.

Isn't she lovely?

We did that mummy wrap game thing.

Elena thought the idea of candy being distributed everywhere you turn was a pretty sweet deal.

Wonder-Woman calling Elena to come join her

Poor, poor, costume-less Evan. To add insult to injury, he had to hang out in the stroller most of the night since I was working the games and Ben had both of them. 

We'll make it up to you next year, buddy!