My Sausage!

The 3 of us with Honey and Buzz have been to Rudy's on a Sunday the past month a few times. I don't love bbq, I just like it. It must be that the weather has been perfect for it--cold and/or rainy. It's nice to sit on their porch, with the fire going and the rain coming down outside. A friend told me, "It's comfort food." That must be why Rudy's has been so appealing lately.

We're trying to figure out how much of what to order, so every time we make adjustments based on how much leftovers we have. It's a skill we're developing.

Must haves: brisket, creamed corn, sausage, and a small cole slaw for myself, and sweet tea.

Not always necessary: ribs, turkey, and potato salad.

We discovered a new favorite of Riley's--sausage!!! He'll eat it with or without the "ketchup." Don't panic, it's barbecue sauce. That Rudy's BBQ sauce is pretty spicy, too! The creamed corn is a hit--what idiot wouldn't LOVE that stuff? Mama's cole slaw comes right back out of his mouth.

If you run into us at Rudy's, you'll for sure hear Riley saying, "My saw-sich." He'll say it with an entire mouthful of sausage, with some left in his little paper boat! He needs more--before he runs out!

The Ranch

My father-in-law and brother-in-law bought some land just outside of Lampassas. The Ranch. We're already in love. We've spent 2 weekends out there (and the boys a day off in the middle of the week) cleaning, moving in, cleaning, painting, and cleaning. This weekend a new toilet was installed, Riley rode a tractor for the first time with Uncle Mike, the cable guy came, Riley rode the 4-wheeler with Aunt Robbye, and Robbye and Mike moved in ALL of their goodies. There is so much work to be done, but every trip out there, it just gets better and better.

Today we were amazed by The Bee Tree. We parked, got out, and heard the buzzing. Of course it's a tree not far away from the house, halfway between the back and the front. One can't ignore the constant buzzing. It's pretty incredible, actually.

I cannot wait until the house is ready for us to spend the weekend in. Let the good times begin: riding 4-wheelers, shooting skeet, watching the cows, working on the tractor, getting away from it all, and most of all--hanging out and relaxing with our family.

He Thinks My Tractor's Sexy

Today I drove a tractor for the first time. Yes, really drove it. Forward, backward, lifted and lowered the loader, and tilted the bucket--the whole nine yards! And....Riley wanted to ride it with me. It's one of the few times he's sat still. He loved it (and I did too)!

Hey Cupcake!!!

I finally went to Hey Cupcake yesterday and it was everything I wanted it to be. It is a shiny Airstream Trailer converted into a cupcake stand--topped with a revolving cupcake (pink icing with sprinkles). Hey Cupcake should definitely be on your "List of Things to do in Austin."

The cupcakes were pretty fantastic too. I chose 24 Carrot (carrot cake with cream cheese icing), but running a close 2nd (I'll have that next time) was the Michael Jackson (chocolate cake with cream cheese icing).

I'm ready for another. Maybe I'll see you there.

www.heycupcake.com

(It's on South Congress, not far from Guero's--queso and cupcakes--watchout!)

I'm in Love!!

Yesterday was my first day of Spring Break. I had initially planned to take Riley to school Monday and have lunch with a friend. I felt a little guilty, but was going ahead with the plan. I even considered taking him, driving him to my mother's, etc. Early Monday morning, this friend emailed and said she had to cancel because she was having an unexpected root canal.

It was a great day to stay in--pouring down rain and pretty chilly. He slept in and we hung out in our j.j's most of the day. We watched a few episodes of Backyardigans, of course. He's starting to laugh at the funny things, so that's exciting to watch. He's been singing along for a while now and knowing more and more of the chorus and the last word of the lines. It warms my heart watching these things develop.

We ate blackberries (his first time and he says black bay-yay).
We ate scrambled eggs on toast with cheese.
We read books.

We played cars.
We went out on the back porch a few times ("A-yard Mama.")
We put together puzzles, 6 times each.
We played with "money" (his cash register).
We snuggled.
We loved every minute.

I am so thankful for my friend's dental drama (sorry, Cara). Without it, I would've missed out on this wonderful day with my favorite little man.

Coffee Date

My Babe surprised me by showing up at school on Friday. We had a Chili Cook Off and he almost made it in time to be a guest judge. Instead, he arrived and there were 4 empty crockpots!

After school, we stopped into Starbucks and had a coffee date! It was perfectly cold outside and both of us decided on something cold--whatever. We sat in the cushioned chairs and took it all in. Talking, people watching, and purely enjoying each others company. It meant more to me than he knows.

Strawberry Cream Frappucino for him and an iced Caramel Macchiato for me. D-Lish!!

These also caught my eye.....yes, I'll take 12, please.

Guinea Pig

So I practiced on my sweet baby yesterday after I soaked in some of the wisdom I gained from my class on Saturday.

His blue eyes mixed with the golden cast of the sun look so green I can't believe it.

The Cupcake Academy

I had a photgraphy class today. It was fun and I learned some tricks to make my photos even better! These are some of my favorites from today.


Yes, there really were cupcakes!



This is Mrs. Cupcake (the fabulous, real-life photgrapher. Check her out at www.pinkletoes.com).



See how pretty she is without a camera in front of her face? Notice her perfect cupcake shirt!


I took this great picture of these sisters and I don't even know their names.



My favorite pic of Shelly from today

Stress ball

I'm the stress ball!

It all started Saturday morning. I was worried all day about how Riley would handle a birthday party being at 1:00--when his nap usually starts. I was so worried about it, I couldn't relax all day. He had a great time, loved the inflatable madness, and sweat his little hiney off. We went home about 2:30 and he had a great nap, business as usual. I was so proud.

Today was his 2 year well check at the doctor's office. This was our 2nd attempt because the first appt. we were too late and the dr. had an appt. following ours. I was so frustrated because I zipped right off when school was over and couldn't have been any quicker.

I worry about what a mess he'll be at the dr.'s office all day (well, when I'm not teaching first graders about the regions of Texas, how to revise their lead, or fact families). When we arrive, he says, "No. Bye bye." (I don't want to be here, let's go home.) When we walk through the office door, he whimpers and clings to me. I hand him off to Mimi while I check us in (thank goodness my mother can go with us--it's not easy by myself). I hear him saying, "Go home." Sorry buddy, we have to do this.

It's not just the shots that stress him out (and make me sweat) but the whole process--starting with walking in the patient room. First thing--weigh the boy. Not an easy task. This time he didn't have to weigh on the baby scale either, we went to the "big boy" scale that you stand on. Well, Riley didn't stand on it--he picked up his feet and screeeeeamed! We ended up weighing both of us and subtracting my weight. How desperate do you have to be to get on the scale when you don't have to? That was me. Desperate. (He weighs 28 pounds and I'm not telling how much I weighed!)

Then we go to the room to see how tall he is, which means lay him on the table so they can put a yard stick up next to him. MORE SCREAMING, more stress. He associates the table with shots, so he doesn't want to be on it. It takes all 3 of us to pin my sweet boy down so the nurse can put a yard stick up next to him (34 1/2 inches). Dude, she isn't even going to TOUCH you.

Then we wait and wait and wait and wait and wait for the doctor to come in. Meanwhile Mimi and I are trying to entertain him. Ugh. He won't have a snack or a drink because he's too stressed. I'm getting hotter and sweatier remembering the last time we tried to do this and I was late.....how long am I waiting for the doctor? Wouldn't we have been right on schedule for our last appt.? Whatever.

Dr. comes in and mostly asks me questions. We all have to have our ears checked, our throat looked at, and our eyes--maybe even twice. Whatever it takes for Riley to do it. The doctor leaves, Riley waves "Bye bye" with a smile because we're leaving, right? Nope......the dreaded shot is next. Can Mama breathe yet?

In she comes, Riley panics, cries, clings, etc. I ask Mimi to slip his pants of because that shot is going in the front of his thigh. We quickly pin him back down on that "hurting table." I stay close to his face and hold his hands while the nurse straightens his leg out and gives him the one and only shot of our visit. Bandaid. Done.

Riley's fine. "Bye bye, thank you" he says to the nurse that just pinned him down and gave him a shot. My sweetheart. "Shoes...on" he says, meaning "Now can we leave?"

Yes, we're done. You're done. Breathe.

Slumber Party

We all drove out to Wimberley for our annual Bunco Slumber Party at Christa's and had a girlie ol' time. We brought munchies:

Crab Rangoon Dip with WonTons

Fresh Fruit

Fresh Veggies

Bacon Wrapped Smokies

Cheesy Hawaiian Bread

Oooey Gooey Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies

Cream Cheese with Blueberry Raspberry Chipotle

Macaroon Almond Brownies

Kolaches (for Sunday breakfast)

We brought drinks:

Red wine

White wine

Gin and Tonic

Vodka with Blood Orange Italian soda

We snacked, drank, listened to music, played Apples to Apples and Music Catch Phrase, and watched part of the first new SNL since November--but the best part was we laughed and laughed. We belly laughed, the good kind.

It was fun and great to get away. We talked about how we're getting older--not staying up as late, not drinking as much, all wanting to sleep on a bed or couch, and nobody throws up.

We woke up pretty early and sat out on the front porch for a couple of hours. We drank coffee, ate kolaches and fruit, flipped through People and SI Swimsuit edition. We talked about places we'd been, places we want to visit, and shared our stories of how we'd met our husbands (even though we knew them already).

It was a delightful time.