Old Pictures

Charlie with Aunt Elizabeth, this summer.

Exhausted kids after a day at the beach this summer.

Molly having so much fun at the park!

Aaron and me being all cuddly!

Aaron cracking his naked self up in the mirror!

Goofy baby in the tub!!!!

Half a Decade

Noodle is five years old today!

And, again, no pics. I have them on my phone but cannot figure out how to download them onto the computer.

For her birthday, Noodle requested a mani-pedi and a movie. So yesterday, that's exactly what she got. She looked so cute and way too grown up for her own good as she sat in a cute little pink chair with butterfly wings on it. She was totally into getting pampered as her feet, legs, hands, and arms were massaged and her nails painted. She even got cute little designs on her nails. Too adorable. She thought she was a princess. Well, she IS!!!

Then we went to see Monsters vs. Aliens, which was really cute. She was so happy to go to the real movies. It was Noodle's perfect day.

And she is the best Noodle in the whole wide world!

When Noodle was born, she cried and cried and cried. I was so worried about her. It broke my heart to hear that little cry. But as soon as the nurses handed her to me, she stopped. Chicken Nugget and Noodle are five years apart, so I was a little bit scared that maybe I had lost my baby touch. But Noodle and I became close right away. I remember once when she was just about five or six months old, I had to leave her with a babysitter for a few hours. I hugged and kissed and cuddled little Noodle before handing her off, and I told the babysitter, "I'm not used to being away from her. She is just my little friend!"

The babysitter said she could tell that we were like a team. :o)

Now my little Noodle will be going off to big school next year. I can't believe it. Let me tell you, Noodle is really something special. She is very selective about handing out affection, and you know that it is really a treasure when Noodle gives you hugs and kisses. I've had to get used to that, since I'm an affectionate person, but it has just made me appreciate Noodle all the more.

Noodle loves to draw and paint and do any kinds of art. She also loves to sing. She is so talented, and she hangs a new picture on our bedroom door every other day. Noodle is very generous with her artwork, and when you come to visit us, you will not leave without about five pictures she has made for you.

Noodle, we love you so much and I am so glad you are part of our family! You are amazing! Happy birthday!

Our Day in Downtown Houston at the Houston Zoo

We did park-and-ride. Houston has some good public transportation. Too bad it's not so good for getting into Houston, like the public transportation in San Francisco's Bay Area. It's getting better, though. There's now a bus you can catch from Baytown, but only at certain times of the day. But this is a post about our day in Downtown Houston and at the Houston Zoo, not about public transportation! So, the above picture is Buffalo Wings and the big kids walking to the train.

Here are the big kids waiting for the train to arrive.

As we waited for the train, I took some pics of downtown Houston. Above is a statue of a lady's head. Don't know who she is or why there's a statue of her head, but I thought it was cool.

Above and below: downtown Houston cityscape. I LOVE driving around in a big city. Though I like San Francisco better, Houston is still really fun to drive and walk around in.

The dazed children ride on the Metro.

The Houston Zoo is inside Hermann Park. George Hermann (whose lovely statue you can see above) is known as one of Houston's greatest benefactors, and Hermann Park is a wonderful place with lakes, trails, a train, playgrounds, and fountains.

The big kids in front of one of Hermann Park's fountains.

At the zoo - are those Houston lawn ornaments? Nope, those are the real thing!

Baby Butterbean was all like, "Man, I love those flamingos. I mean, they are really something!"

What was it with me and water fowl today? Above, Chicken Nugget and some pelicans.

Above, Noodle at the petting zoo. Below, Banana at the petting zoo. Goats are very friendly.

Above and below, the big kids at the reflection pool.

A picture of Hermann park's palm trees. That's right - green and lovely, and have been that way since mid-February. I'm not bragging. I'm just saying. To the right of those palm trees is the spray park, and let me tell you, there were plenty of kids getting soaked and cooling off after a long day in the toasty Houston sunshine.

Heading back to the train after a long day at the zoo.

One of downtown Houston's Metro trains.

A cool church downtown.

Did I mention that I like cityscapes?

Well, I do. A lot.

And while Houston is no San Francisco or Chicago, it's pretty spectacular in its own rite.

Best Sisters

Saint Patrick's Day Adventure

Today, took the big kids to the San Jacinto Battleground and Monument. The monument has a museum in it; you can also watch a movie about the Texas Revolution (we opted not to today) and ride an elevator 50 stories up to the observation deck, which is just below the star at the top of the mounument (we took the elevator ride - scary!).
It started out to be a foggy and drizzly Saint Patrick's Day. Even so, I wanted to take a picture of all the kids in fron of the azalea bushes before we got into the van. Baby Butterbean didn't care to accompany us on our tour of Texas history, so he stayed home with Dad. Besides, BB had had a long night of teething and Dad had stayed up with him, so they were both pretty tuckerd out. And believe you me, learning about the Battle of San Jacinto can really use up lots of energy.

Our journey began as we traveled for minutes and minutes to get to the monument (which is like two miles from our house). Most exciting on our journey was the ferry ride. The ferry pictured is not the one on which we rode, but it's just like the one we rode. I took this picture from the van (which was on the ferry at the time).

At last! Our perserverence paid off. We made it to the monument. We looked around inside for a little bit, exclaiming over swords and guns and the portrait of the evil Santa Anna, and rejoicing over at portraits and articles of Colonel Sidney Sherman and Sam Houston. OK, so it was more like me going, "There's Sidney Sherman! Say, 'Yay, Sidney Sherman!'" and the kids repeating, but I think it sunk in a little bit.

All around the monument is the battleground. There are also lots of nature trails as *the oil companies try to make up for all the damage they have done* the historical society has tried to recreate the natural coastal prarie as it was at the time of the battle. We went on a great nature trail.

We did't see any crabs, otters, fish, or snakes, as the nature trail sign had promised, but we did see lots of birds. It was really cool.

Too bad it was so dang foggy. It would have been a great shot of the monument in the background.

We stopped for a quick photo op in front of the reflection pool before going across the street to see the rest of the battleground and to look at the Battleship Texas, which is docked there. We didn't get out and go in, just looked at it from the van. We decided to save it for a day when Grandma and Pappa are here.

But our adventure was not quite over! Banana and Noodle were in severe need of haircuts. So we had some lunch at KFC and then went to great clips, but we had to get a "before" shot of the overgrown mops.

Oh, so nice! After - now we can see Banana's eyes again! And Noodle, well, she had done some damage to her hair previously which could only be corrected with layers. Now, it's all one length again. However, no matter the length or layer, those kids are adorable, if I do say so myself!

Home again and the fog had burned off, so the three big kids went back to where we started this morning, with the blooming brillant azaleas - and a brilliant St. Patrick's Day adventure - behind them.

More Saturday Morning Pictures

When Noodle saw I was taking pictures, she also had to ham it up. She said, "Take my picture holding Baby Butterbean's puppy!"

Well, when Banana realized we were now incorporating props into the photo session, he ran to get his monster-truck-tire earmuffs that he got at the monster truck show a couple of months back.

Then they posed.
Then I said, "Give me your biggest smiles EVER!"

So they did:

Baby Butterbean and Baby Butterbean's Brother

Baby Butterbean is getting big. Too big, if you want my opinion. I don't like it. Not even a little.

Anyway, here's a list of Baby Butterbean's milestones:

*He turned 9 months old on the 12th of this month.

*He's babbling. "Da da da da da da da . . . " It's way cute.

*He has four teeth and is in the process of getting his fifth. Again, serious cutness. Well, they're cute after they come in, but getting them is a nightmare for him. Poor guy.

*He's getting some adorable, fuzzy, chicken-type fluff on his head. Nice to pet.

*He's trying to crawl. He's getting close. Way too close.

*The strawberry on his nose is fading. But even that makes me sad. It's like the last mark of his very tiny infanthood. I think his red nose is absolutely adorable.

*He can hold his bottle.

*He is eating all kinds of food.

*He thinks he's all big and almost not like a baby anymore. I like to remind him that he's wrong about that. I remind him a lot.

Also, Baby Butterbean has the best big brother in the whole, wide world. Banana wanted in on the picture-taking action this morning. I said I would take his picture if he gave me his very best and biggest smile. What do you think:

Noodle

Chicken Nugget had an overnight event this weekend, so I left the boys at home to watch wrestling and basketball, and Noodle and I had a date! We ate at Cracker Barrell, and Noodle picked out a dress-up set that was on sale for 70% off. We went to see the movie Coraline ("That mean mom was scary!" was Noodle's review of the movie.). I had to make a quick trip to JCPenny to get some pants ("You're just killin' me, Mom, with all this stuff you have to do at the mall!" was Noodle's impatient review of my shopping excursion to Penny's.) Last, we painted at a ceramics place in the mall. Noodle painted three hearts to hang up in her room, and I painted a rose. We even got sparkles srayed on them before we left.

Have I mentioned at all how super stressed I have been lately? No? Well, I have been. Probably more stressed than I can ever recall feeling, EVER. It is a combination of lots of things, but let me just reiterate that the ending result of the combination has been STRESS.

Leave it to Noodle to make me feel better.

Yesterday, as we were leaving Cracker Barrell, I said, "Noodle, did you know that I love you? I love you so much. I love you more than the world!"

Noodle wanted to let me know how much she loves me, too. She said, "I love you more than chicken!"

Thanks, Noodle. I really needed that laugh! And I need you. And I even love you more than chicken, too!

Stop Getting So Big!

Even though these pics are orangey-yellow (we STILL haven't picked out a new camera!), there's no denying that Baby Butterbean is so cute! And TOO big! Week before last, his first tooth came through. His second will probably pop out this week. You can see it beside the other one. Also, he rolled over for the first time on Wednesday.

I've been reluctant to accept the fact that Baby Butterbean, that little guy that came into the world at 5lb., 12oz., would grow up. I have tried to keep that from happening. Unfortunately, I haven't yet figured out the magic formula for keeping babies little. Baby Butterbean will be 7 months old tomorrow.

As soon as Noodle saw that I was taking pictures, she wanted to be in them. I said she had to comb her hair first. Well, as you can see, she got really dolled up here, donning barrettes and a lovely necklace. Noodle is getting too big, too. She'll be five in May!!! Does anyone out there know how to make this stop?????

So . . . it really CAN snow in Texas!

Last night, while we were at church, it started snowing. My friend ran into the choir room after practice to tell us all. I went to get the girls from their children's activities, and saw that all the kids had been outside and gathered up cups of snow. You'll see the girls displaying theirs, above. They insisted on keeping the snow in the freezer last night.

We have a late start to school today, so I wanted to go outside and capture the phenomenon. Have you ever seen a tropical plant covered in snow?

Standing in some Coastal Texas snow.

Banana has never, ever seen snow before. He wasn't sure what to think about it. He said, "Mamma, I made my foot! Look!"

And you can see him pointing at his footprint, below.