A great big place with a a great big heart . . .

 . . . was the title of  today's school musical program. Our favorite pioneer had the opening and closing narration lines. She sang, danced, and did a wonderful job!

One of her lines: "Someone once said, 'I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as quick as I could.'  So . . . whether you've lived in Texas your whole life or you just got here, we hope that you'll agree with us that Texas is a great big place with a great big heart."

gecko frito

Found underneath Ed's bed today

Dead
Fried
Dried
Gecko

Thank goodness for the boy who found it, taking it out to the garbage can, without my asking him to do it!

He commented later, "It was really skinny and shriveled up."

(Not the first time we've found dead fried dried geckos inside).

Spring Break 2010

Last week was Spring Break. We left Thursday morning and headed to Houston.

We stopped along the way in Brenham, (Ice cream capital of TX), for a little Blue Bell ice cream.
4 chose Mint chocolate chip.

While I went to the temple, the baby slept. The others swam at the hotel.

We drove to Galveston to taste the salty water and put our feet in the ocean.

14  feet total.

2 of us were sunburned.
1 stayed in the shade the whole time.

10 hands built sandcastles.

Who says work isn't fun? We had some extra time to fill and when we mentioned that building sandcastles was an option, the vote was unanimously in favor.
The finished products:

 I played in the shells

While Dad took the kids out to see the fisherman

Rides given,
children chased,
and memories made.

Attention Galveston:

 We walked along:

We saw hundreds of these:

And plenty of this, as well:

We drove to Kemah for dinner outside on the boardwalk. Of course, we ate seafood.

Nathan went to the temple, too.

The rain started 5 minutes before we left our hotel and followed us halfway home. A lovely getaway!

****This post is dedicated to mom, who taught me to love the ocean when I young.
She loves mint chocolate chip, has been asking to see photos of Ed, and will love the photo below.
Caption reads: "Caught in Galveston Bay"

Today in my backyard

St. Patrick's Day

I planned to put on a shamrock sticker, but I forgot.

I was cleaning.
We are on the market again!

The house we live in was for sale when we came to look for housing. Since our landlord wasn't able to sell it, he started looking for renters. It has worked out very well for us, and is a nice house in a good location.
When I think negative thoughts about keeping it clean, I remind myself that it didn't sell when he was living in it either. Then, I feel better.
"It won't be my fault if it doesn't sell," I chant to myself.

Quick sewing

Happiness is  . . . . a quickly finished project.


This is the first time I've completed a sewing project within 24 hours of returning from the fabric store. I kind of like that feeling. I've made aprons like this several times before. This time I made it reversible and used contrasting fabric for the neck and waist ties. Success!

Heard at the Hunts: Last words

She said: "We are in love together."
Complete with green marker on both arms, hugs, kisses, and snuggling.
I tried to capture the position in which she fell asleep, but she had already moved.
Time is so fleeting.

Today in my backyard (EDITED)

I have a lovely covered patio right out my kitchen door. It is sadly underused.
This visitor might be one of the reasons why.

(Yes, this is a photo of a DEAD snake right out my back door. . . too close for comfort. The fact that he was dead doesn't make me like him any more than the live one that was in my driveway last spring).

I have a self diagnosed case of ophidiophobia, keeping me in good company with Indiana Jones. This is surely related to the greater case of herpetophobia I also suffer from. Thanks to wikipedia, I have learned the "severe emotional reaction" I had during this experience was normal for someone with my condition(s).

And thankfully, I will not be at this address in September again. But I might have to leave before the visitor's mother comes looking for him.

END OF THE STORY:
I PUT THE SNAKE IN A GARBAGE BAG THIS MORNING. HE'S BURIED IN MY GARBAGE CAN, JUST WAITING FOR HIS DRIVE TO THE DUMP. GONE . . . OUT OF MY LIFE FOREVER!
WHEW!!!

Baby girl quilt

 

Since starting my new part time job (nursing), my sewing machine has been running a lot less lately. This week I did have time to sew on some cub scout patches, however, I have resorted to showing off quilts from long ago. In this case, this quilt was sewn in the Fall of 2008, shortly after moving here. One of my friends was having her baby in November. I offered her a choice at her baby shower: 

either a gift card, or to help her sew a quilt for her first daughter. 

I stole the design from a JCPenney catalog of cute baby things. She chose the fabrics, and we cut, ironed, and sewed it together. Honestly, she did most of the work. All I can remember sewing is putting the horizontal rows together, and the binding. (Oh how I love hand-sewing the binding to the back side). She tied the quilt with her mom after the baby was born. The backing fabric is the same as the binding. I love how it turned out, I would use this design again. It is easy to find 3 coordinating fabrics you love, cut squares and sew them up. It was fun to work on it together.

three

times my baby woke last night to eat while everyone else was sleeping
number of canning jars I washed today
how many times our children were asked to go to bed tonight before they did
number of loads of laundry I did today--it was a wet day (yesterday was the big laundry day of the week, the normal 6 loads)
also how many times I have edited this

but most importantly

three wonderful years!
(strawberries, strawberry cake, strawberry frosting, and strawberry ice cream)