We like grapes

Last night my sisters, Tara and Amy and I went to a painting class, we had wine, irish cheese, crackers and grapes.....in retrospect grape jam would have really pulled it all together.(just kidding) We had fun, drank a little, laughed a lot. We love eachothers company, but the personalities of our classmates fit well with ours too, which is always nice.

Click here to see the venue

Yum Irish cheese! I couldn't get enough of this.

This poor couple to the left of the picture asked me to take a picture....I don't think it turned out very well so they asked Tara to retake it. You always have to take two pictures though right? So Amy jumped in and took one too. She was laughing so hard the picture didnt turn out. They were good sports about it, even if in the back of their minds they were thinking..."please just let us have the camera back" ha!

 My finished product up close and personal

 

Tada! Check back next month for what we three are able to accomplish! :)

Light the Night Walk

As most of you know Yuliya's name comes from a great family friend Yuliya Marcer. Yuliya, her husband Andy and my dad used to ride and talk motorcycles together. Her daughter Sasha had leukemia during the time my dad had lymphoma so cancer and motorcycles brought our families closer together.  I received this letter from Yuliya M. this morning and would like to pass it on, since most of you have met, are friends, or have heard of them. Please take a moment to read, donate, or just remember Sasha. Thank you!

"Each year for the past several years my family and I have walked in memory of my daughter Sasha at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Light The Night Walk. This year the Woodlands walk falls on Sunday, October 23rd, one day after what would have been Sasha 15th birthday, and I am writing to ask for your support.



We walk once a year in hopes that one day, one day very soon, no more kids and their families would have to got through this. Light The Night is a special night, celebrating and commemorating lives touched by cancer. And as this year has already shown with very promising gene therapy trials for CML in part funded by LLS, your help makes a great difference!


Please consider making a donation to LLS on behalf of our team and in memory and honor of Sasha and all those who suffered from blood cancers. To join me in the Walk or to donate online, please visit: http://pages.lightthenight.org/txg/Woodland11/ymarcerrmz.


LLS is the single largest nonprofit contributor to blood cancer research – more than $750 million has been invested in life-saving science.
Critical treatment innovations have originated through blood cancer research – radiation, chemotherapy, stem cell transplantation, and new targeted therapies. Nearly 50% of all FDA approved cancer drugs in the past decade were for blood cancer. Many are now being tested for other cancers and other illnesses.
Last year over 40,000 patients received financial assistance from LLS totaling over $6 million. And LLS provides information and support to patients and their caregivers all free. And to help patients during this time of crisis, LLS' financial aid and co-pay programs are critically important.


Thank you for your friendship and support. I hope you can join us at the Light The Night Walk in the Woodlands on Sunday, October 23rd, at 5.30 pm, and walk with my family and the Nabors team. Please don't hesitate to contact me for any details.


Thank you,
Yuliya"
 

alyssa's first time at discovery green

We took our cousin Alyssa to Discovery Green to play in the water field. We didn't know there would be a bike rally.....okay okay it wasn't bikers as in Hell's Angels, it was much better than that, a bunch of dorky bikers with reflective vest on riding for Habitat for Humanity. :) The kids had fun watching them depart from the park for their ride.

Alyssa loved the water

long morning...dazed out, ready for a nap

crackers? crackers? this is what cash does if I bring a purse or a bag anywhere, he knows I'm always packin' and he wants his crackers. Today I could hardly get him to play because he was so interested in his crackers.

Ah, let's go antique shopping. "Okay momma"

This picture made me laugh, pretty accurate for me, my sisters, Yuliya and Jackson. We do love cereal :) What's your go to comfort food?

Something new

Who likes wasting food? Not me! So I searched for a recipe that would allow me to use up the rest of my fresh spinach and found one called spinach brownies. It was incredibly easy to make, and I had all of the ingredients including a bag of mozzeralla cheese that also needed to be used. Now while the kids finished dinner I prepared the spinach brownies and popped them in the oven.

Gross name.....tastes fantastic!

So I sat and ate spinach brownies and watched an episode of Madmen.

I went to bed

at 12:44 a 2 yr old boy runs into my room, and holds his arms up to jump in bed with me, I lift him up and we snuggle

20 minutes later the same little boy slides off the bed, and runs back to his own room

3:15 same little boy starts opening and closing his bedroom door

3:18 close

3:18 open

3:18 close

3:22 open

3:24 close

3:24 open

3:27 close

3:27 I turn off their night light

3:50 open

3:51close

3:53 open

3:54 close

3:58 open, and a rumbling comes pouring down the hallway like a stamped of baby gazelles. I look in the doorway and there are my two babies standing in the doorway asking what's for breakfast and if its a school day.

3:59 "It's bedtime!"

6:15  Cash is surprisingly wide awake and ready to roll.

Yuliya is not, she doesn't want to:

 open her eyes

get out of bed

be talked to

be looked at

get dressed

brush her hair

6:25 Toddler melt down, she's certain I haven't zipped her dress up all the way and theres no convincing her I have.

6:45 we hold hands while I drive them to school.

(lots of traffic today)

6:55 She's better, lots of hugs and kisses from both, and off to breakfast with friends.

And now the sun is rising..... :)

Good morning family.

Finally!

A little rain around here, big fat rain drops! It was great to see rain on Saturday and Sunday after our long summer of no rain. It didn't stop the city at all, houston was proud of the rain everyone was walking around still enjoying being outside. Oh how we have missed that element of weather :) It rained 1.5 inches in houston this weekend, not nearly enough to pull us out of the drought, but geez it was nice to see, and feel on your skin. It was pretty icy cold. Soldier's dust bowls are on hold for now, has turned into copious amounts of muddy paw prints painted across the hardwood floors. A girl can't keep her house clean this summer it seems.  It was also museum district day. :) Free museum passes!

Keith was really excited about this.

Oh also, I had a pumpkin smoothie from jamba juice.....yum!

Happy Friday!

Sometimes I can hardly wait for fridays, this week is one of those.

On Tuesday a park on our side of town caught on fire and stressed me out all night. We had hot ash falling like snow all over the front yard.  I watered down the front yard and roof, but it was absolutely unnerving to think about the miles of completely dead grass and dying trees in the reservior and park between my house and the fire. Hoping all night a hot ash wouldn't come to life in that field. Luckily this fire was contained

 I only had to give soldier TWO baths this week. His new favorite thing is rolling in the sand (was dirt, but the backyard hasnt been watered all this dry dry summer) in the backyard and then promptly shake off that coat of sand recreating the 1930's dust bowl in my kitchen. He is now under strict supervision, go outside, do your business, and back inside with you!

But today is friday, and what does that mean? It means going out to eat with my sisters tonight.

It means waking up on my own at 7 instead of the mechanical alarm clock sound going off in my ear at 5:30 tomorrow morning.
It means early mornings with cool air and soft sun at the farmers market, where I'll get fresh bread and goat cheese for lunch later.
Rooting for Madison at her volleyball game. Visiting an off the grid farm, and taking soldier to the dog park.

Fridays are my gateways to relaxation, alone time or family time, less stress, more time, more time to feel the warm sun on my skin and my babies cuddle in my lap.

Happy Friday today :)

And so it shall be....

I was raised by a tree hugger, and I think I have officially passed the torch. Momma is proud, you're next Cash! If I can get him to stop stomping on bugs....

yes she is kissing the tree

What sound does a Monkey make?

Amy's famous monkey impression, low grade though, there were a ton of people around us. See link for video.

Squint

We all have these small rituals we had as a kid that we secretly never drop. Whether its waiting until you eat your whole fortune cookie before you read it or playing games with your shadow. Touching the roof of the car under a yellow light or a train, holding your breath past a cemetery or looking at the clouds for shapes and stories like a felt board. One of mine is I try to imagine how tall I would be next to the letters on a billboard or the stars on a massive flying flag. Could I sit scrunched up inside the shipleys donut or stand under the arches of a golden m? Maybe if I squint I can see myself up there in between a few stars. What game did you still play?

I think I would come just above his knee

P.S. For more updates on the fires go here for montgomery

or here for bastrop

These fires are still burning after 5 days peoples houses and every possesion lost, please don't forget to donate, all houston fire stations are now accepting supply donations. Red cross is accepting monetary donations.

Things you can give:

clothes

canned food

bottled waters

Tylenol/Advil/pain relievers

baby food

trash cans/trash bags

laundry detergent

socks

pillows/blankets

diapers

What do you have?

Sorry it has been so long since my last post, I went to San Antonio for the holiday weekend! It was delightful, more on that later. More importantly, on the way home the sky was black...

Bastrop fire.

A wildfire started on Sunday, and the high winds blowing across the state helped it grow out of control. For miles you could see the smoke, from Interstate 10. This fire is in Bastrop, Texas. It's tragic, see the below links on news coverage and donations. They are accepting money donations as well as material. If you have kids, this is a great time to clean out the closets and donate all of their old clothes, over 1000 homes were lost and the fires are still burning. Bastrop is the major fire, but there are more in the greater Houston area that have yet to be contained as well, still taking homes and families every possesion.

Magnolia fire

Last week a fire burned in the reservior near my house for two days, luckily it didnt come anywhere near the house and was easily contained. But if it hadn't been I would be thankful not to live like the Dragon Princess. So tonight we donate :)

Now through September 11, you can help by donating to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund - online or in-person at any of the 35 Houston-area Randalls locations.

When you checkout at your neighborhood Randalls, you can make a donation of any amount, which will conveniently be added to your grocery total. This donation will be indicated on your receipt.

UPDATED 3 p.m. Tuesday—Firefighters in Grimes County are in need of bottled water, Gatorade and snacks. Donations can be dropped off at the fire station at 1200 Rudel in Tomball.
UPDATED 3 p.m. Tuesday – Volunteers with the Katy Fire Department will be going back and forth to BASTROP to bring donations to fire-stricken areas in CENTRAL TEXAS. Firefighters in Bastrop are asking for baby wipes, Visine, Vaseline, white T-shirts, industrial-grade goggles and hand towels. You can take your donation to 1417 Avenue D in Katy. They will also be accepting items for those who’ve lost their homes, including bedding, clothes and household items.

UPDATED 3:30 p.m. Tuesday – The Texas Wildfire Relief Fund– a statewide non-profit organization – and the State Firemen’s and Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas are in urgent need of donations to help equip volunteer firefighters across the state with the clothing, supplies and safety equipment they need to battle the wildfires.

Secure, tax-deductible online donations can be made to the Texas Wildfire Relief Fund at txwildfirerelief.org.

American Red Cross Donations

For Montgomery county only:

In-kind Donations - http://www.helpourcounty.org/. Click on "Donate Goods," register self, click on "GiftMatch. Log in information about donations. Please note large items separately.
Financial Donations - Go to http://www.helpourcounty.org/. Click on "Donate Goods," Register self, click on "Donate." Make a donation by credit card.
Volunteer - Go to http://www.helpourcounty.org/. Click on "Volunteer," register self, click on "Opportunities." Search for "Fires 2011 Volunteers" or find it in the listing. Montgomery County United Way is the agency


P.S. I will get back to daily life blogging shortly, I just think this is more important at the moment. Thanks for understanding!

blender baby

Alyssa loves core exercising....who knew. See link for video :)

San Antonio

Keith and I went to San Antonio this labor day weekend. We stayed at the menger hotel. I forgot my SD card, so for now most of my pictures(not many) are stuck on my camera. I will update this post later with more pictures. For now I'll just tell you about the nearly 150 yr old haunted hotel we stayed in!The Menger!

It has a pretty amazing history you can read here.

Or book here

"The hotel also holds the unofficial title of "The Most Haunted Hotel in Texas." The Menger claims to host 32 different spirits."
The hotel is right next door to the Alamo. Remember the Alamo! In it's history it has had many additions, walking through it is living in a time warp. I recommend at least walking through the lobby next time you are in San Antonio. :)

Old style telephone booths at the hotel.

River boat tour

Breakfast at Mi Terra, with his family, no thats not his family, but I was a little distracted :)

Breakfast was great, but lunch the day before was amazing, we learned a new way to make guacamole!