The things they say!

The kids were fighting over the map in the car and the ensuing conversation went something like this:

Esther: Mom, Nathan won't give me the map. Watch this.

Esther: Nathan, are you done with the map?

Nathan: No!!

Esther: See? It's like talking to a wall!

Fall Decor

I took advantage of a cooler rainy day a couple weeks ago to set out our fall decor. Of course, now it's back in the 90s and very humid and miserable. So I just stare at my faux leaves, crank up the AC, and pretend it's cool and crisp outside. Fortunately, in a few short days we'll actually be experiencing it in gorgeous New England!

Esther-isms

The pianist at the reception ended up being a friend of Daron's from BYU. He introduced us and was trying to introduce Esther and Nathan who were running back and forth. Daron was trying to briefly explain Esther's personality to his friend when she came running up to us and said, "Were you guys alright while I was gone?" Case in point.

This afternoon we are driving down to Houston. We'd been on the road for sometime when Esther said, "Mom, we're just like travelers 'cause we've been traveling for a long time!"

And recently, when you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she takes a fighting stance holding an imaginary sword and says triumphantly, "A musketeer!"

Near Disaster

We went to a wedding reception last night and the kids were pretty well behaved. Towards the end, the kids wanted another drink of water so we headed to the punch bowl and I got them each a small cupful. Nathan drank a little bit and then lifted his cup up to dump the rest back in the bowl! Quickly considering the angles, I knew I wasn't going to reach it quite in time and, unfortunately, his cup was starting to spill out, I simply knocked it away from the bowl, causing it to spill all over the floor instead. Luckily, it was just water and was easily cleaned up-unlike having to get someone to refill the punch bowl! As we wiped up, Nathan kept looking at me like, "Mom, what'd you do that for?"

Birthday Weekend

It's been a busy few days, so we've been celebrating Daron's birthday all weekend! On Thursday (his actually birthday), we had scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, fresh peaches, and smoothies for breakfast. Then he went off to work and Esther was sick all day. By the time Daron came home she was jumping all over the house and we switched off so I could head to my RS meeting.

Friday evening we dropped the kids off at Roark's house where they had a sleepover. Daron and I headed up to a Marriott hotel out in the boonies of Fort Worth where we enjoyed a quiet evening. We ate dinner at the Twisted Root (check out their webpage at www.twistedrootburgerco.com) in Roanoke, which has a population of 650. Cute little town. The burgers there are huge and yummy. I had a chipotle, guacamole, cheddar burger topped with onion strings. Daron had something similar. Anyway, they make everything homemade including their ketchup, bbq sauce, and mustard. Their homemade root beer is also delicious! (For those Dallas folks, they have one in Dallas, too. It's located in the Deep Ellum district.)

The view from our room overlooked the golf course and Fort Worth in the distance. The evening cooled down to almost 60 degrees and we enjoyed a short walk around the grounds before bed. It was so weird not having kids to put down!

Saturday morning we ate our free buffet breakfast. We didn't eat much as we'd really pigged out the night before on burgers. Then we went to the club house to get our golf clubs, balls, and tees. They hooked us up with a golf cart and off we went! Daron has played a handful of times; I've played mini golf and went to a driving range once on my mission. Other than that, never touched a club in my life. We were rather pathetic most of the time but occasionally we hit some pretty good shots. I made a lot of holes in the grass and between the two of us, we managed to only lose three balls. Not bad. It took us 3 hours to play 9 holes and Daron ended up with 20 over par and I was at 30 over par. Hmm... Neither of us will be going professional anytime soon!

Here's Daron showing off his prowess.
Here's me looking very unprofessional, but I hit it!

Anyway, we had a yummy dinner Saturday night - hot dogs (Daron's fave!) and made a cake but couldn't eat it as we all ran off to a baptism. It wasn't until tonight that we finally got to eat his birthday cake with the missionaries. i made our new favorite - Williams-Sonoma Devil's Food Cake with whipped chocolate frosting. Yum.

Happy Birthday, Daron!

Free Pictures

I love finding pictures online to download and print out for hanging up. I just found this website with some adorable pictures that would be especially fun for a nursery or kid's room. Enjoy!

http://www.ohmyhandmade.com/2010/what-we-love/free-downloads/free-artwork-for-nursery-childs-bedroom-or-playroom/

Cavanaugh Flight Museum

We took the kids to the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison for Nathan's birthday. Granted, it was two weeks after his birthday as our Saturdays have been so busy. But we really enjoyed it. As we walked into the hangar, Nathan took one wide-eyed look around and shouted, "Wow!!!" It was a really neat museum - with airplanes, jets, helicopters, jeeps, and cars from many past eras.