Yummy Bread

For all who were concerned, my sourdough starter worked I think. I made some yummy Parmesan Pepper Sourdough Bread in the bread machine tonight. Yea me! Now I am going to try the yummy sourdough biscuits that Mom made for Aaron and I when we were younger. If anyone has other recipes to offer that utilize my starter, I would love to try them too.

New look

I decided that after a year and a half it was time for a new look. I hope everyone likes it. I may change a few more things too, but I haven't had time yet.

We went to lunch with friends today after church today. Brenna serenaded us with her versions of "The ABC Song", "Twinkle Star", and Jesus Loves Me". I'm not sure if they really knew what they were getting into when they invited us. Actually they did, they have all been good friends to us and have spent enough time with Brenna to know that lunch with a two year old is not conducive for great adult conversation.

Sleepy Girl

I would have to say Brenna was worn out by VBS this week. Her sleep schedule has been all messed up. This picture was taken at 9:15 am, and I don't think she was waking any time soon. I started to make some noise so she would wake up. I didn't want her to miss her nap in the afternoon. We have all been a little on the tired side. I have actually taken a nap with Brenna for the past 2 days, but today I knew the bills were overdue and spent the time working on them.



After VBS on Friday, I found this in Brenna's bag. She must have had a lot of fun with it for them to send it home with her. I guess it was appropriate since the theme was Outrigger Island (in Hawaii) this year.



Today at the pool Brenna was quite funny. There was a lady sunbathing. Whenever Brenna sees people sunbathing she says they are night-night. So the scene proceeded as follows.

Brenna sees lady. "Lady go ni-ni."

Brenna turns to Daddy and jumps. She comes up wiping her hair out of her eyes and spitting out water.

Daddy takes Brenna to the stairs. Brenna turns to see, "Lady go ni-ni."

Repeat sequence several times.

Daddy take Brenna to stairs one last time. Brenna turns, "Lady go... Where lady go?"

Lady had moved to the end of the pool to talk to her children.

It was actually quite funny to Nathan and watching Brenna's amazement to discover that the lady had moved.


Well, we have one week left until we are Georgia bound. We are all excited about seeing family and friends we had to leave behind. We are also both looking forward to food we had to leave behind. Nathan wants to eat lunch at a favorite Chinese place while I am looking forward to Krimson's. They couldn't be more different and they are in very different parts of town, but I am sure we will manage. I will think about the yummy sandwich and cookie until then.

A Question for All you Bakers

I am trying to make a sourdough starter. The one I tried has been sitting for 6 days now and doesn't seem to be doing anything. Can anyone one help with advise or a new recipe? Also how do you know when it is ready?

VBS Finale

Well, VBS has now ended. We did our Family Night tonight which turned out good. The kids sang well and had fun performing for their parents. There was a side show at the end with some great pictures of the kids and workers. There were also several great pictures of Brenna. I am going to try and get them so that I can post them for you all to laugh with us. I am tired tonight and thought I would just go to bed. Here are a few pictures I took this week.

Busy Week

I can't believe it isn't Friday yet. I am so tired. Nathan and I have been leading the music for VBS at church this week. Those kids are wearing me out (with the help of my own too). The day started early to be very trying, but ended well. Brenna actually fell asleep well tonight. This is the first time it took less than an hour this week. I guess she is exhausted too.

Brenna has learned a few things this week too. She came home one night saying, "holy cow". I wish you could hear her little accent when she says it. She makes Nathan and I laugh every time. We also went to the library again to get a better selection of books. I didn't do a very good job picking books the last time we went. Mom, we found another book by the author of "Rumble in the Jungle". Brenna was pretty excited about that. She was actually very funny at the library today. She hopped into a chair next to the little table at the library and started saying, "how 'bout dis on?" She was so cute.

So, how will we end this week? Probably as busily as we started the week. We still have VBS tomorrow and Friday. Luckily Friday is a "Parents Night", but we will still be leading music then too. Tomorrow Brenna and I (and maybe Nathan) will be going to the pool in the morning. I am hoping that the pool will put Brenna in a better mood than she was today. I don't know what fun activity we will partake in on Friday. Read later to find the answer.

You know you're getting old when...

... the "must see TV" of your youth is now on TV Land.

... you make yourself stay up until 10:00 because anything else seems way too early.

... the newest fad (ex. heeleys) seem ridiculous and you don't understand why anyone would want to wear them, or you only complain when a child comes rolling up to you.

... you talk about how old a movie is by relating it to the age someone you know who is in high school.

... the kids around you have more energy than you can even remember having.

Nathan and I lead music at VBS tonight. We had fun doing it, but we are exhausted now. The kids were great. They followed directions and participated so well. Now we are both just ready for bed. I can't believe we are doing it again all week.

Brenna seemed to have a great time in her class too. It was basically a nursery, but I think the worker was going to try to do some sort of lesson. The director showed me a picture I hope to be able to post sometime soon. You will just have wait in anticipation. I expected her to fall asleep quickly when we got home, but I think she may have been drunk on Dimatap. She sang "Old McDonald" and "Jesus Loves Me" for at least an hour after we put her to bed. She was also rolling from side to side. Nathan and I just had to laugh. I think she is finally asleep now at 10:30. Hopefully we won't make the same mistake tomorrow too.

I'm sure I will be posting more about VBS as the week goes on.

I took this picture a few days ago and thought I would post what Brenna now uses to sleep. I have tried to keep the poor bears original name (McDougal) but Brenna insist on calling him Goober. "Where did she get that name," you may ask. Well, that is the name of Tanner's stuffed animal, of course. She has learned so much from her cousin. So now she has to have a "quadumvirate" instead of a triumvirate.

Our Future Musician

Today we came back from the pool to Daddy and one of his students practicing their bass trombones. Brenna was sitting on the couch listening to them play, so I went to take a shower. As I was leaving the room, the boys finished the song and I heard my little one say, "More, more". I giggled to myself and continued to the bathroom.

When I came out, I heard a strange noise and came to investigate. Brenna had one of Nathan's mouthpieces at her lips and was humming notes into it. All I could do was laugh. I guess she is turning into a girl after her daddy's heart.

Learning to Count

Scene: Brenna with a plastic cup of shells.

Brenna: Daddy pour out

Daddy: How do you ask nicely?

Brenna: Peas

Daddy: Can you count your shells?

Brenna: One, Two, Free, Pore, Pie, Tixsss, Sehmen, Eight, Nine, Ten (southern drawl included) Yea!!

Daddy: Yea!! How many do you have?

Brenna: (enthusiastically) Two!

Sea World Again...

...with Daddy this time, and Aunt Liz, Tanner, and Baby Avery. We went to see the Dolphins and the Beluga Whale show. Then we all played in the water park part of Sea World. Tanner and Brenna loved all the toys and playing with each other. I love to watch them interact.





Brenna and Tanner kept us all laughing with their antics. Before dinner they ran back and forth from the front door to the living room chasing each other and throwing the ball to each other. We laughed at my vertically challenged child who Nathan claims takes after her mother. I plead the fifth. She ran as fast as she could after Tanner with her arms and legs flying to both sides. I can't describe how funny it was to watch her running. We all laughed. Tanner and Brenna laughed at themselves for being the center of attention.

After dinner Liz, Nathan and I had a lovely toddler serenade. Tanner and Brenna sang "Pokey Hokey" (as Tanner called it tonight), each competing to see who could sing the loudest. Tanner won that competition. He must take after his Daddy. It was quite funny to hear the words they knew and the ones they didn't know. There were arms and legs just a shakin'.

All in all it was a good day. Tomorrow will be a huge let down. Even the pool is closed tomorrow. We will be pulling out all our entertainment.

Home Again, Home Again

Well, we are all back in Karnes City safely now. Everyone had a great week. Brenna wanted to go home with Nathan and I, but I can't really say she missed us that much. She had a lot of fun with Mimi and Poppi. When we drove into our driveway she started to cry and say "Mimi". I don't know where she thought we were going. We were in the car for 3.5 hours. I just explained that Mimi had to stay at her house with Poppi and it was time for us to come home.

Aparantly Brenna did all the things a child would do at their grandparents house. She got what she wanted, and had a great time everyday with constant play. She and Mimi went to the pool everyday and she played with Poppi a lot. I am sure she read many books too. They did go to story time at the library. Brenna loved the dancing and play there. Mom said she had to pick out books for Brenna because she just wanted to play.

Mimi and Brenna also did some baking together. They made sugar cookies and chocolate cake.

They also enjoyed the fruits of their labor with Poppi.

"Oops, you spilled a little Mimi."


Brenna also loved watching Sesame Street on Mimi's bed while she got ready in the morning. I am wondering if she will want to sit on our bed in the morning now. Or, maybe she will understand that she only did that at Mimi's house. We will see soon.


Westin and Annie came with us to Houston to pick Brenna up. Annie travels well, but Westin is not a great travel partner. Brenna loved having him sit next to her, but he meowed a lot on the way home. When we brought him downstairs in his cage Brenna had to see what was making all that "loud noise" in the cage.


So today, how do you go back to normal life? Daddy and Brenna went to Walmart, and Mommy and Brenna went to the pool. That sounds pretty normal to me. I hope we won't all be bored next week.

South Padre Island

What a great mini-vacation Nathan and I had. I am so thankful we were able to go away for a few days together. We had a great time. I will try and give a short recap. The drive there actually wasn't too bad. It only took us 3.5 hours to get there to our surprise. We both thought it would take between 4 to 4.5 hours. The hotel was a normal hotel. Nothing special about it except the tempra-pedic beds which were wonderful. I would like one of those at home.

We were planning on going back across to the mainland for dinner at Chili's, but there was a huge problem. Or first indication was that there was a stationary line before we even got onto the bridge across. I luckily looked at the bridge to see what was going on and noticed that there was no one moving all the way across the 2-4 mile bridge. We quickly decided we needed to eat on the island. We found a little resturant on the bay side that served sea food. Nathan ate his typical shrimp and I had a not so typical fish taco. It took our food about an hour to get to us, but we were "entertained" by the 75 year old man singing karokie (mostly country). I think Nathan has heard all the country music he can tolerate for the next year or so. It was humourous to hear a man of that age singing and enertaining us, but he was very nice and entusiastic. My dinner turned out well worth the hour wait. Nathan said his was good but not memorable. Our waiter kept apologising for the wait saying they just got slammed. The poor wait staff was running all over trying to serve everyone. I don't think they even realized why there were so many people there. (Remember, no one could get off the island). We actually watched the line on the bridge start to move after about 1.5 hours. It was still backed up after we left.

On Saturday, Nathan and I decided to take lessons to learn how to build sand castles. It was a brilliant idea. We had so much fun learning. Our instructor was great. He was originally from Australia and then England, and had a great accent. He was very energetic, animated, and full of stories. Nathan and I learned a lot and had a great time with him.

Here is Nathan and the castle he built.


Here is the castle I built.


This is the castle the instructor built while teaching us. He said we should stand in front so that everyone would think it was our creation and be impressed, but you know I can't lie.


After our lesson we finally got across the bridge for lunch at Chili's. When we got back we went to play on the beach. Unfortunetly neither of us were smart enough to re apply our sun block and in two hours we did get burnt. I don't understand how I can always remember Brenna's sunblock but seem to forget mine. Anyways, it is mostly on our backs and mine wasn't too bad. Nathan's was a little worse. We are two intellegent adults. We should know better by now.

We had loads of fun playing in the water. The tide was very strong and was very difficult for me to move anywhere, but I did catch a few waves on our new "boogie" board. It has Nemo on it in honor of Brenna. Hopefully she will like it too. After I was thoroughly exhausted, I went in to use my newly learned skill and build a castle. Nathan followed shortly and we built two more castles. (That is where the majority of our back burning occured.)

Anyways, we had a great day together. We had fun learning and eating. It really was just a renewing time for our relationship. We haven't spent time alone and together in a long time. We should try to do it more often.

Dinner

Well, we had a nice day. We didn't do much. In fact, we watched a few movies, went to Walmart, and Dinner. So we aren't very exciting without our two year old.

Dinner was great. Nathan and I were both pleasantly surprised by the dinner. We now know where to take everyone who visits us and wants to go out to eat. It is not fine dining, but it is great food. Nathan loved his burger and I had a normal salad with some very good chicken, but my favorite part of the meal was the chocolate cake. Wow, that was some blog worthy cake (as Nathan called it).

So all in all, it was a good day. We are leaving for Padre after I go to Sunday School this morning. I hope everyone else has a great week.

Childless

What a strange feeling to be without Brenna. She went with Mom yesterday to spend part of the week with Mimi and Poppi. Mom said she had some trouble going to sleep last night, but hopefully she slept through the night. This is the first time she has spent a night away from Mommy and Daddy. That has to be a little hard for her too.

I find it humorous that Nathan and I don't know what to do with ourselves today. Tomorrow we are leaving for Padre which will be great fun, but today we are left wonder what to do in this little town. So far we have come up with Walmart for cat food and Jerry B's for dinner. Sounds like an exciting day. I'm sure I will sew some and Nathan will play some video games, but it sure is quiet in this house today.

I love my little girl. I hope she has a great time with Mimi and Poppi. I know that Nathan and I will have a great weekend alone. That alone time is long overdue. But when all is said and done, I will be glad to be a whole family again. I guess that says that we are doing something right as a family. We can tolerate and enjoy the time apart, but also love coming back together as a whole.

Bareback Riding

Brenna has given the term bareback riding a whole new meaning. Caution, the following picture contains nudity. She wanted to ride after her bath. Nathan thought it was too funny to pass up. He called me in to capture the moment. She was having a great time.



Brenna and I went to San Antonio again yesterday. This time we went to the zoo with Mom and Tanner. The kids had a great time. Brenna kept saying "more animals", and as we were leaving Tanner continued to say, "Kayla go wrong way." I made one mistake and the boy wouldn't let me forget it. I tried to tell him I was going to right way now. He just laughed and repeated himself. He must have forgotten that Mimi went the wrong way driving home. She got all confused and took a little longer to get home. Apparently my mistake at the zoo was more funny.

The San Antonio zoo has a great little area for kids to get wet and play at a beach area. Both Tanner and Brenna loved the sand and water. We had toys and water, what more could a toddler want. They played well together and next to each other.



We ate lunch at the zoo and then drove to Aaron and Liz's house for a nap. I love that Brenna likes to play with her cousin. I hope she always enjoys time with her cousin. I have really enjoyed spending time with Aaron and Elizabeth for the past two weeks. Nathan will be able to come with us next time. That should be even more fun. We are planning to go to Sea World again with Nathan this time. That will be in a few weeks.

For now we are all preparing for our vacations. Nathan and I will be leaving for South Padre on Sunday. Mom is picking Brenna up here tomorrow. I hope Brenna has a fun time with Mimi and Poppi this weekend and the beginning of next week. This will be her first time away from Mommy and Daddy all night and for several nights. I hope she sleeps.

First day of Summer Break

Today was the first day of summer break for Nathan. It was a good day for everyone. I have the feeling that it is going to be hard for Brenna and I to adjust when Nathan goes back to work again at the end of July. Brenna loved having both of us at home today. I was able to go run today for the first time in awhile. I loved it. Then we went to the pool for the remainder of the morning. Nathan and I rotated who watched Brenna most closely. It was a great time for all of us. Brenna loves the pool and she is getting better in the water every time we go. I hope she is comfortable going under by the time the summer ends. I would love for her to be able to swim under water, but I don't know if she will or not. We will just see how the summer goes.

I am tired as the day ends. I guess I did more than normal. I hope Brenna sleeps well tonight. I think I will. I thought she would get a good nap, but that darn fire siren woke her up. It makes me so sad. She wakes up scared to death. She just doesn't want to go back to sleep then. They go off all the time here now. I'm sure it would help some if it would rain a little. I do feel like Nathan. We bring a vortex of dryness wherever we go. How sad. I do miss the rain. I think I would even enjoy a few afternoon showers here. Now that is a good nap time.

Have you ever just needed...

...a two and a half hour nap?

I lasted longer than Brenna. I guess, my body was too tired to keep up that pace. I was remembering Sunday's in the old days BB (before Brenna). This also prompted me to remember Sunday afternoons when I was growing up. I used to hate it when Mom and Dad would tell us the "Bed Monster" was calling to them. I don't know why that title didn't scare me to death, but it didn't. I just didn't like for them to be gone so long. Aaron and I had to entertain ourselves.

Now I love those Sunday afternoon naps. I wonder if Brenna will feel the same in a few years when the "Bed Monster" calls me on another Sunday afternoon.