"David!"

Confession time.
Exasperation. It happens! And when it does, I'm known to let out a "Dang it!" Here or there under my breath. I KNOW!!!! Can that be ANY more of a hick-ville phrase???? (Linguistic residuals of my time in Arkansas I suppose........kidding, Ark. friends & fam.!) The phrase sort of runs together, with the first part punctuated....so, it sort of sounds like "DAne-it". At least that's what it sounds like to me! We've been overhearing Hayden playing or taking a part something (future posting about that) and saying "David!" Rick figured out Hayden's enigmatic name calling....boy, am I red with embarrassment!

Speaking of Hayden, he's sick this evening with a fever, sore throat, congestion, etc...... He's already been up three times in misery, poor thing. Get better soon, Hayden.....spider walks, donkey kicks, and cartwheels are in 36 hours!

Skating time

We attempted roller skating for the first time on Saturday. The kids earned all of their stickers on the weekly "sticker chart" and this was the reward. Hayden has been infatuated with "wheel shoes" for awhile now, and has begged and pleaded to for us to try it. Both kids were incredibly excited, jumping and hugging each other when we told them it was time to go. Rick and I went into this experience with a hunch that the only probable thing to fly fast was our $20, and we were right! The kids HATED it. Shortly after the first picture was taken we had two kids on our hands screaming saying "Whoa! Whoa! " Their wheels were tightened to begin with , so they weren't rolling THAT much. Plus, we were holding on to them. Oh well, they were brave soldiers. I think we were able to cajole them into doing a lap holding onto the hand rail. Poor kids, they completely lost composure when the lights went out and the disco strobe light came on. Luckily, the blaring 80's music drowned out their screams. We couldn't help but to laugh a little with our two little tykes doing silent screams to Paula Abdul's "Straight up now tell me" .



Here's me calming them down. (And yes, Aubin and I are sporting matching pig tails.) I hooked them up with some goldfish crackers while Dad and I did a 3 lap "couple skate". It was a memorable moment of marital bliss until the last lap when a roller-derby chick in short skorts and knee highs came flying up behind us skating with a leg by her ear. An amazing physical feat, true. But not good for the ol' mommy ego who was wet with kid sweat and slobber! Rick and I gave each other a look and just started howling.

Flashback Friday

This is H. at 6 weeks old. (Photo taken by Dad.) This creepy little doll is "Hugo--Man of a Thousand Faces" which was popular in the 60's-70's(?) According to family tales, Rick scared his little sister by tying string to Hugo and let him dangle outside her bedroom window. This isn't the original Miles' family Hugo, though. This one was purchased for a pretty penny on eBay. Now Hayden can pass on the tradition & have fun pranking Aubin one day.

Gymnastics update

The kids had a big time at gymnastics today. Coach Hannah showed Hayden how to do a backward somersault and he was very excited. Aubin executed her "donkey kicks"in a manner worthy of a trip to Beijing. Other than gymnastics and a random at-home popcorn party, we kept our activities light.

Whistle Pig and Pig & Whistle

This post is for Rick's family. Page's Restaurant is "Home of the Whistle Pig" in Niagara Falls, NY. The "whistle pig" is a hot dog with cheese whiz and bacon. (I never had one, but came close when I was pregnant with H.) Anytime we passed this restaurant on our outings, I'd pretend to be the whistle pig because I have a strange talent for realistic pig oinks. Seriously! So yeah, I'd do an oink-whistle combo....um...am I really telling this story in a public forum?
Anyway, on our way home from my family reunion last Saturday in the middle of NOWHERE we came across the "Pig and Whistle". I'm fascinated by this! How can 2 different human beings come up with combining a pig and a whistle AND think it's a really good idea for a business? How could you go to the bank and ask for financing with a straight face?

Tomato time

Not really an exciting picture, but you get the idea. Tomatoes are coming along, except I've been getting these really big, fat green caterpillar things chowing down on the leaves. You can't pull them off, they've got quite the death grip going on. (RGMsr....send Apollo STAT!!! His services are needed. )

In other news, Moms eat free on Mondays at Gattiland. Need I say more?

Road trip

My mother's side of the family has a reunion every year around Father's day. It's about 2 hours away, which is a big deal because it's encroaching on the 3 hour "road trip radius" from our home. Why 3 hours? Because that's the point when the DVD/snack supply interest begins to deteriorate and the "he's looking at me/are we there yet" kicks into high gear. Root canal, anyone?
As a kid, Rick and his family drove back and forth from Texas and upstate New York. So, I get no love or laughs on my r.t. radius rule, just crickets softly chirping. Yeah, yeah.....you all pushed your Volvo uphill in the snow, both ways...I get it. I still think you were all CRAZY. ( :
Don't fret, GP's . I'll get over myself in a few years and we'll make it up there. We do sincerely appreciate you all coming to see us for now.
Back to the picture. Much like Rick's family who stopped at "Stuckey's" on their car trips, we stopped at at "Buc-ee's" for a fill up and a snack.

Birthday blog

First of all, thank you everyone for all of your birthday well wishes!
I had a nice day today. The kids woke up extra early for me ( : and decided to run around the corner at the same time to bonk heads like the 3 stooges. (Aubin would obviously be "Curly"....but "Mo" or "Larry" for Hayden..?) Boo-boo bunny was extracted from the freezer and put to work before 7 am.
Rick had the kids draw birthday cards last night and they were funny. H & A were a little ticked I went to Barnes and Noble without them. So, Hayden drew a "scary person to scare me" and Aubin drew a sad face. A little harsh don't you think? I redeemed myself by taking them to the pool today, so all's well that ends well! Tonight was mom & dad nacho/movie night....my favorite. A good day indeed.

Pictures of the day

You've got to get creative at the end of the day, especially when it's a triple digit afternoon!

San Antonio Zoo

We took Dad to the zoo yesterday. Hot, but fun. Here's a picture of the Lory's. You can feed them small containers of nectar. Look at Hayden feeding the birds! One Lory decided to give Rick a little smooch.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of our Dads out there!

Okay. I'm not trying to be pretentious with the the black and white photos. Sometimes, it can really make facial expressions that I love "pop out" of pictures. These are two of my favorite "Dad" photos of Rick. The first photo is with Aubin at 9 months-ish. The second photo is of the Miles boys.

Rick is a stellar Dad. (Tissue please!) He is completely committed to our family. He voluntarily conducts "Hazmat" duties with the shop-vac at 2 am when a kid comes down with the stomach flu. When Rick quietly comes home from work, he finds the harmonica hidden behind our mantle clock to announce his arrival. The kids squeal "Daddy's home!" "Daddy's home!"
On Saturday mornings, He takes H & A to get donuts so I can get a head start on the day with a little peace and quiet. He can fix anything and makes the best homemade pizza and grilled cheese sandwiches.

How I came across such good fortune, I do not know.
Happy Father's Day Rick. You're the greatest.

Aubin sayings

Aubin has been trying to make sense of the world in her 3 year old way. She has been categorizing things the past few weeks. She'll randomly blurt out"type of" statements like:

"A deer is a type of camel!"
"Breakfast is a type of lunch."
"A zebra is a type of color."
"Paper is a type of paper cut."

I hope this stage lasts a while. Cracks me up.

Our crazy day

Pardon the pictures. Some of them are a bit blurry. Indoor lighting always gives me fits...something to work on! (Plus I didn't want to be "that" mom who takes a million pictures of her kids and who is oblivious to her surroundings trying to get the perfect shot....okay maybe I AM that mom, but I tried to tone it down...just a little.)


We went to the library this morning and what did we see? A statue of Icarus! I'm not kidding, I'm not making this up! Some type of art exhibit going on this week. How weird is that?









Park time..........whew. H-O-T!






Gymnastics!!!!!!!

Hayden pictures

Hayden woke up at 5:00 am this morning with a nightmare about "Icarus". He was upset that his wings melted. (Sometimes we listen to "Between the Lions" CD's that came in Chick-fil-a kids meals last summer - Greek mythology was one disc.) He calmed down, but was ready for the day and put on his Spiderman costume from last Halloween. (Why? ....Well, apparently a full body polyester suit on a 100 degree Texas day makes perfect sense to a 4 1/2 year old. ) And what did Spiderman do today? Well climbed walls, of course. Including the wall of the bathroom where he used the towel rack to help his climbing super-powers. (Do you see where this is going yet?). Yep, I heard a crash from around the corner. Now there is a nice big hole in our wall. ) : The day turned around after he had a little cat nap and was all smiles when dad got home. We went on picture walk this evening and we both had a lot of fun. Tomorrow is gymnastics day and both kiddos are excited.

Danskin

Yesterday was the annual Danskin Triathlon here in Austin (1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run). I was a little sad because I couldn't do it this year. I did it for the first time 9 months after Hayden was born. I had a post-baby body and the 'what-do-I-do-with-my-life-now' momma drama going on. I am highly UN-athletic and rate a 3 on a 1-10 scale for P.E. type talents. So, trying a triathlon was CRAZY. (Did I mention that I didn't know how to swim beyond doing the "dog paddle"?) I signed up for a 10 week training group and it ended up being loads of fun. I highly recommend doing something that you think you can't do. (Wow--there's a little public service announcement for you! Hey, the more you know!)
Yes, math fans, Hayden and Aubin are 17 1/2 months a part in age. Which puts me at about 1 month pregnant with Aubin in these photos. (Didn't know it yet of course.....no wonder I craved fajitas with grilled onions afterwards.....I hated onions all my life until that day....go figure.) Here are pics from my first Danskin:



Sea of swim caps! (Each color represents a "wave" of appx. 25 people.




My pink cap wave...waves go at 3 minute intervals to avoid confusion and chaos. Poor husbands, it's like "Where's waldo" out there trying to find your wife.







"Transition area"...this is grand central station, basically. This is where you grab your bike and rack it again before the run. The red towel over the bike marks my "spot".





!!!!!!!!Happy Birthday to Nanna!!!!!!!!!

Snake Day Reenactment

Okay. I'm still in shock about stepping on that snake the other day!

Here's the scene where my children are running with knives while I'm having a bit of that "mommy juice". But oh no! Dad's home early for lunch with Granddad on his motorcycle!

Wouldn't this make a great Christmas card? What would people think? I'd love to see the reactions. You know, I should do that. Print up a bunch and send it to random people in our neighborhood, no return address or anything....just a "Season's Greetings!" Hmmmmm....

(Disclaimer to people reading this blog who don't know me......no m-juice was consumed during my SAHM duties.)

Another day

We made it! We made it through another day. We braved the Texas heat and went to the park at 2:00 (crazy, I know). A little shower happened earlier and I just HAD to let the kids run around for a bit.
Before too long it was supper time and bedtime routine commenced shortly thereafter. Here we are at the last step before the tuck-in.

Good night!

The birthday party

Aubin threw a birthday party for Butterscotch (the amazing mechanical pony we got on Craigslist). The party was complete with Ikea containers for hats and princess tea cutlery for serving cake.
Aubin surprised the horse of honor with a pile of alphabet blocks for its birthday present. Butterscotch tilted her little mechanical head in grateful gesture. We saved some pretend birthday cake for Aunt Kara who also has a birthday today.
Happy birthday Aunt K!

The kids had their first gymnastics class today. It was perfect for small children. I didn't bring the camera because I needed to help out. Next week though, watch out. Pics galore.

Granddad and today's surprise

We went to a family get together at my mom's house on Saturday. We had fun eating, visiting and playing in the big backyard. Watching Aubin play football with Granddad reminded me of doing similar things with him when I was a kid. That's me on the motorcycle with him circa 1980. He and my Grandmother rode up to central Arkansas from Austin, TX. How cool is that? Grandparents riding up to your doorstep in a motorcycle! (Speaking of his "cool" factor, his 1988 Terlingua World Champion chili recipe was printed in Maxim last year in the list of "manly foods".)
Anyway- the kids, Rick, and I immensely enjoy his company when he's in town.

On a random, completely unrelated note, I stepped on a SNAKE today! Pretty sure it was an Eastern Yellow Belly Racer. http://www.austinreptileservice.net/solid.html
(Link for your enjoyment)
I was gathering yesterday's water from the kiddie pool to drench the garden when I felt my sneaker squish on something that was frantically moving ......(pause).........SCREAM!..........uncoiled the 2-3 foot snake that slid away to the neighbor's yard. Too bad it was 9 am, I could of used a little "mommy juice" right then.