sad.

Right about 6 years ago, Russ called me at work and said, "Do we want a cat?" NO was my firm answer. Confused because Russ is a self proclaimed dog person, not a cat person at all. I've grown up with them and love their aloofness--they like you if they want to. Cats like people who like them. Dogs like everyone!

Well, Russ comes home with the cat anyway. And comes home with another one the next day!! We both fell in love with them--some more than others. No matter what though, they have been part of our family since right before we got married.

Callie has always been painfully shy and terrified of almost everything. She loves her Mama though...I'm pretty much the only person she had anything to do with. When we have company, she hides until they've safely driven away.

Last weekend she was clearly not feeling well. We gave it a couple of days, hoping for an improvement, and it just didn't happen. Russ tried to take her to the vet this morning, but they didn't have an available time until the afternoon. I took her in after school and our vet said she was very sick...that it could be a number of things, and it didn't look good. Even if we ran tests and diagnosed something, she was a very sick kitty and still might not make it. I said goodbye to my little girl last night...and my heart is broken.

Boys Day Out

Today was Riley's first University of Texas sporting event. He attended a baseball game (Texas vs. Kansas State) with his Daddy and his Buzz (it was NOT their first University of Texas sporting event). He had a great time eating hot dogs, drinking lemonade, seeing Bevo, and walking around, (and not watching the game)! He made it most of the game, but they were home before it was over (it went into overtime). Daddy was wondering if he was ready to go to a football game yet...he's not even close.

Thank You

Riley's never too far away from Dog. He always knows where to find him and Dog is able to comfort him when nothing else can.

Last month, I was putting Riley to bed and laid Dog right next to him. Riley snatched him up and put Dog at the foot of the bed and stated, "I don't need Dog. I don't love him."

Mommy's heart was broken. Just one more thing to add to My Baby's Not a Baby Anymore list.

Thankfully, the weekend came and Riley and Dog were buddies again (and Mommy was able to erase something from that big and nasty list).

Haircut

We normally have Nonie cut Riley's hair at our house. Bless her heart, she lives in Onion Creek, works all day, and drives to our house to cut our spoiled little boy's hair. Only because she loves him. And us too!

Well, we hadn't made any arrangements with Nonie and Riley's hair wasn't getting any shorter, so Russ decided to take him to the little barber shop he goes to. Russ got a haircut first while Riley sat in my lap and watched. Russ was mortified that I joined them, but I wasn't about to let him have another "first" haircut without photos.

This was Riley's first haircut that wasn't by Uncle Bernie or Nonie. In a barber shop, in a chair, with clippers and everything!! He was such a big boy...and didn't even ask for a lollipop when we were finished.

Framed.

I have this wall of framed photos in our stairway of our vacations together. I take the photos and Russ measures, levels, and makes them look this fabulous. (I don't have the patience for this task.)

NOW I have this...

in my dining room. It was a gradual process and it looked like we were crazy, but I envisioned this wall of frames filled with framed photos. Phase One is now complete...well, for a few small frames to fill in two gaps. Now I can start filling these up with wonderful photos of us and the people we love. No theme here: old, new, family, friends, anything...but no trips--those have their own special place too. I can't wait for Phase Two to be complete!

Stupid Ladies

Dear Stupid Lady,

Please stop calling me at work and leaving messages trying to make a dermatologist appointment. Don't you hear the message with my name and ___________Elementary? C'mon. You've heard it approximately 12 times this week. Are you confused? Have you ever had a dermatologist appointment at an elementary school? STOP calling me. I can help you read, write, and put a band-aid on your knee, but I cannot help your skin.

Get a clue,
Me

Dear Stupid Lady,

Please do not write a check for your child's field trip and make it out to me. My name on the check. Seriously? Do you think I pay for the entire class to go on the field trip?

Get a clue,
Me

(Thank goodness I work with children who aren't supposed to know these things. I could NOT spend my day with stupid adults. What a nightmare.)

Static!!!

This hairdo was sponsored by static. Nothing else, I promise. Oh, what fun I had at the park this day--begging him to go on the slide again and again!

Downtown and SoCo

We went to Guero's to celebrate Kyle's birthday and had a great time. I regretably took no pictures of people, just things. I love these two.

Bluebonnet Cafe

While we were in Marble Falls, we had to stop at the famous Bluebonnet Cafe.

When we pulled in there was a line around the corner--thank goodness we'd already decided to just get some pie to go! Robbye and I snuck in the "exit" and we were spotted by someone who worked there. We were obviously beginners.

A whole chocolate meringue pie to share with the family. Meringue is serious business there.

A slice of lemon cream for me.

A slice of coconut cream for Robbye.

Everything was delicious, but I'd definitely stick with the cream pie next time. Though it is beautiful, 8 feet of meringue just isn't my thing!

Sweet Berry Farm

I think I was looking forward to visiting Sweet Berry Farm more than Riley was. He woke up Thursday morning and said, "One more school day and then it's a 'stay home day' and we go to the strawberry patch!"

Their website provides journal-like updates about what they have in season and when it is the best time to come. A few weeks ago I decided that we needed to go on Good Friday, not expecting we'd have enormous hail and a freeze in the area. That hurt the strawberries (and future blackberries) and when I called Thursday afternoon for an update I was told there would be some at 8:30 but she didn't know what to expect after that. It wasn't looking good and I wasn't planning on being in Marble Falls at 8:30 on my day off...

but I'm so glad we did! Not only were there strawberries to be picked...

there were horses to be led,
a face to be painted (for the first time),

goats to be fed (particularly the cutie baby ones), and big mean goats to yell at (Riley's favorite part),

homeade ice cream to be eaten (Russ' favorite part),
and family fun to be had!

Welcomed Guest

Justin spends his weekdays in San Antonio at BAMC and drove in to join us for dinner. It sure was great to see him. Riley particularly enjoyed himself!

Easter Fun

This morning was our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. Last year Riley really enjoyed everything there was to offer....except the creepy Easter Bunny. This year, he was thrilled to see him!

He even drug his grandparents over to him, so he could introduce them to the Easter Bunny!

We hunted Easter eggs,

rode the train,

rode the pony,

blew some bubbles,
and headed home
after our hoppin' good time!

Some Assembly Required

Riley received this fun bubble mower for his birthday in January (thanks Notgrass'!). We've had it in the box in the garage because we haven't been spending much time outside. Don't think for a minute that Riley was going to let the weather keep him away from that mower. He wanted to mow in weather I wasn't ready to supervise in.

Well, Spring is here and we've been spending more time outside. This evening while Russ was outside visiting with the neighbors, Riley asked if he could play with his lawn mower (not anything else he'd already drug out to play with) "Sure! If you can open it, you can play with it, " Russ said.

While they were talking, our little man was busy ripping into that box! Riley informs Russ that he's got it out of the box, holding the lawnmower handle. The next thing Russ knows, Riley has assembled that lawnmower AND put the bubbles (with the lid on) exactly where they go!!

We were a bit surprised AND impressed. He loves that thing and has mowed every day since...