Duck!

Duck sits all alone.
Days pass as it rains and rains.
Come inside wet duck.

My Best Shot Monday (but not my best haiku.) Check out Tracey's Picture This for more best shots.

Pretty Eggs All in a Row

Does anyone else think that eggs look really cool all lined up in a carton?

All is Fair

I asked Natalya, "What does it mean to be fair?"
She replies, "It means to be nice to people and to give them what's theirs."
I say, "Are you always fair?"
She says, "No. It's hard being fair."

This was taken at Boerne Berges Fest about a month ago. Small town carnival, big time fun.

This week's Thursday's Theme is "Fair". Get your tickets and join us at Picture This.

Pic of the Day

Slippery When Wet

This is what's called in and around the San Antonio area as a "low water crossing". Whenever we get heavy rains or everyday for a year rains like we've been having, the news people will come on TV saying "watch out for low water crossings" because some spots over roads will flood. Is this a San Antonio phenomenon? We were driving home the other day and decided to take a new road home just because. As we were driving we see the "Road Closed" sign. But like every other San Antonian we think, "That doesn't apply to us. Let's go around it and see." As we drive not even a mile down we see the next sign that reads "Water Over Road" and sure enough, there was. This doesn't look as daunting in the picture but the water was rushing. Fast. Super fast. Many a loony driver will brave this mini flood of water and end up on the news themselves not able to tell their story. The rain continues even as I type. Did I miss the memo to build our ark?

Hangin' With the Homies

The other night we met some wonderful friends for dinner and a swimming. The girls had a fabulous time. But the water was so cold because it really has not warmed up to Texas hot due to all of the rain. We lucked out though. We had a clear evening and dodged the rain. For now. It did come back.

"Should it be a cannonball or a jackknife?"

Vienne with 3 of her favorite friends taking in some evening sun.Sunset by the pool. This will be My Best Shot for today. Check out what everyone has to offer.

Back to School Blues

When I was little, I used to love the phrase "Back to School". I always thought is was cool going shopping for new school clothes and I was always so anxious for summer vacation to end. These days it seems that I hear "back to school" earlier and earlier in the summer. Summer vacation is short enough and seems to fly by while we try to cram in as many fun things as we can. HEB already has out the kids' school supply lists! The catalogs start multiplying in the mailbox with the "must have back to school trends". My head starts spinning trying to figure out if I should register the girls for swim and dance or just riding lessons or just one for swim or does she want to play soccer again?!

So, lately I've started talking about going back to school because I figure I have to get them prepared. Them. Both girls. This Fall, Natalya starts 1st grade and [sniff] Vienne [sniff] starts [sniff] preschool. "Back to School" is monumental this Fall. The end of Summer now also means that I lose my 24 hour companion. It means that for those few hours a week someone else gets to experience why I think V is such a cool gal. It won't be the same around here. I won't be the same around here. "Back to school" will never be the same again.

We took Natalya to get her back to school hair cut. She had so much fun and smiled the whole time.

Holy moly, is she only six?

Her hair only looked this good for about 15 minutes. It ended up behind her ears as usual.

House

So far the house is still going well. Nothing really fun to report. The bones are going in so it's not too interesting at this point. But we meet with the cabinet guy again this weekend and that will be fun. Fireplace box is in for the great room.

The girls' tubs are in. And for some reason, that was very exciting for them.
Someone else is building a house on our house.

Drip

"No, I can wash my hair by myself!"

Don't be a drip. Join us at Picture This for Thursday's Theme.

Dinner for 7

My sister Stephany come home to visit and for Vienne's birthday. We don't get to see her enough but we'll take what we can get. Mom and Pop and Steph came to Boerne to meet us for dinner. My sister is so beautiful and is a great artist. She has the most fantastic personality that nobody could meet her without adoring her. The girls love her.
Grandpa and V.

Mom and StephVienne said, "Let's make funny faces!"

So we did.

Pic of the Day

The Eyes Have It

I think a gift we were given as moms is that we can often tell a lot about our children by looking at their eyes. When they are telling the truth, when they are frustrated, when they are not really listening, when they are proud of an accomplishment, or when they are not feeling well, it all seems to come right from the eyes. While we were in Cali, Natalya got a unexplained fever of 103. It all came and went within 24 hours but she did not want to be sick. Too many fun things planned and she knew she'd be missing out. But I knew she wasn't feeling well because her eyes looked so tired and droopy. So, as though as she is, she stuck it out with a smile on her face and blue bags under her eyes. And, as it often happens with Natalya, all of a sudden it was gone and she was back to her usual perky self. This is My Best Shot Monday. Come see what others have contributed at Picture This.

Home Sweet Home

We made it back from what turned out to be a whirl wind trip to CA. I can't believe how tired I am. I always thought it would be cool to jet around the world at a moment's notice but I've found out that airplane travel is the pits. It's unpredictable, it's uncomfortable, it's so nice to be back home. We did have a good visit with the family though. Just wish they lived closer.

But in all my weariness, I still manage to get back on the computer to check up on what's happened while I've been gone. Maile's Photo Tip Friday was on Reflections so here's what I have. And she has more pictures from V's photo shoot. I can't help but smile, laugh, and cry all at the same time when I look at them. I will have pictures up of our trip and Vienne's birthday party soon.

This is Vienne discovering that she can see herself in the bumper of Daddy's truck.

Life is a Highway

This is My Best Shot Monday. Filler' up and follow me to Picture This.

This picture fits my travel themed story. We were supposed to have left for CA yesterday to visit Greg's family. We woke up at 3:30AM to be at the airport at 4:30AM to find out that our 6:00AM flight was cancelled. (You know, even my salon calls me when my appt. needs to be rescheduled. We got no call from the airlines.) Skip through a series of events, we will try again this morning with another 6:00AM flight. I truly believe in karma and think that I was being punished. Only happy thoughts for the rest of the week.

Photo Tips

Not by me, of course. My awesome photog friend Maile has started a new blog (does she ever stop working?!?) over at WOAI (our local NBC channel.) Every Friday she is offering tips on how to one day quite possibly maybe in my dreams get my photos to look somewhat in a little way but probably never as good as her photos. I will keep trying. Oh, and she has the best photo of Sweet V up as an example. Check it out.

She's Crafty

Thought I'd share a card I made for my friend who's having her first baby. They think it's a girl. And it will be a Texan.

Send in the Clowns

We celebrated Vienne's birthday with dinner at Rainforest Cafe and the Ringling Bros. Circus. I think Greg and I had just as much fun as the girls do. The circus was extra exciting this year. I think the best show was watching the girls watch the show. They truly were amazed. I hope it stays that magical for a long time.

Walking along the Riverwalk to Rainforest. We actually had some sun light and Vienne was so blinded that she had to pull out the shades.

This was Vienne's "Volcano". I think it could have served at least 10. But the girls were happy to try and finish it all themselves.

Rubber elephant for Natalya: $15 (wow.)
Pink, spinning, light up thing for Vienne: $20 (ouch!)
Cotton candy, regular size, regular color: $10 (WHAAAAAAAAAT?!)
The looks on the girls faces as they watch the acrobats flying right above us: the cheapest part of the whole evening.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Sweet V!

Of course, we always get sentimental on our children's birthdays. I started to hit me about 2 weeks ago when Vienne started to act like a "big girl" with big girl conversation, more independence, more complex thinking. She is a complete opposite from Natalya which has brought us different challenges and has made us experience the world from a different perspective. We can't wait to see what the next year brings for our Sweet V. She is definitely wearing "3" very proudly today.

This is Vienne at about 3 months old. Daddy was just about to leave for Iraq.

And Vienne celebrating her first birthday with a little bit of cake.
Vienne today coloring with big sister. Check back for more celebration pics. We'll continue to celebrate over the next week with a trip and a party.

Spectacle

For Vienne, this was all the spectacle she will take. She still doesn't like fireworks. But a few sparklers and a mini fireworks show in the street was enough. We did the small town parade (click here for pictures) in the morning and ended the day with cupcakes with our sweet neighbors.
Spec-ta-cle: noun; a visually striking performance or display. From Latin spectaculum, public show.
Join us for Thursday's Theme and show us yours at Picture This.

4th of July Parade

This morning we celebrated Independence Day with the city of Comfort at their annual 4th of July Parade. It's a very small town about 15 minutes Northwest of Boerne. Lots of character, antique shopping, and small town flare. I was really hoping that this would be a "typical" small town parade and it was. Lots of children, tailgates open, dogs on leashes, and lots of smiling faces.

This is Natalya's expression every time she sees a horse.And for the girls, the best part of the parade was that every float threw them candy.

Red, White, and Blue

My Best Shot

Hmmm, there seems to be a theme running through most of my pictures lately. Gotta work on getting that outta there. Think dry, think dry, think sunny days.

Here's one more from our day in the rain. Can't help but love her. This is My Best Shot Monday. Check out what other have contributed today.

Sea World

One of Vienne's favorite places is Sea World. We had not been yet this year so the Hip Chicks were very excited to go today. For Vienne, the highlight of Sea World is still Shamu. Natalya doesn't care so much about him anymore. But Vienne will still watch in awe. While we are at Sea World we have to visit the dolphins and sharks, see Shamu, and do some swimming in the water park.

A self portrait of me with my Sweet V.

Say, "Cheese!"

And this is us waiting for the torrential sideways rain to stop before going into the house. It didn't. We got soaked. We wondered if the people still at Sea World were getting wet. We managed to get through most of the day with no rain.