New Austin Abode...

This past weekend we got outta town. B-rad and T-bird moved into their SWEET new house in
Austin. We love their new place. My favorite was the wall of window across the back of the house. We could be sitting on the couch and see the kids in the backyard... It was beautiful! The house is great and in a great location south of town.

Their neighborhood has some great parks and walking trails. Even though it was cold, we took the kids and pups to the park!!
I think that everyone had fun though... not just the pups and C and AM!

Sat night, we got to visit with some old friends. You may remember her from when she sang so amazingly at our wedding. They have a 2 yr old now who literally has more energy than ANY kid I have ever met!!

Here are the kids at dinner!

Watch Out for horse apples...

This morning after breakfast, C started talking about wanting a race car driver at his birthday party, maybe a horse. I said "You want a PONY!", and he said, "NO!" ... I guess "ponies" are too girly?

This all sounded fun, BUT I was worried he might be frightened of horses up close. I jumped on the Internet and found this great place by the airport(just 15 minutes away). They allow little kids to be walked around the yard riding their pony...we called it a "Wild Mustang".

As expected C was hesitant at first and insisted that his sister have the first turn. When she survived, C excitedly took his turn. They just switched back and forth for 30 minutes. Then, we walked around petting all the dog, cats, and "tall" horses. What a great way to spend Sat morning!!

My New Dryer!!

I guess I mean OUR DRYER! This is our old dryer.

It has a great story. We saw a flyer at the local grocery store when we moved into our new house. "Washer and Dryer for $60" This was back before we knew about things like Craigslist. We actually had to call the owners to see them. When we went to take a look, the woman selling them immediately took $10 off because the washer leaked. So for the the last 8 years we had a dryer that basically cost us $25... The dryer served us well, but it was obvious to me after doing some laundry at my moms that it was possible to dry clothes in half the time!!! So, thanks to a Christmas miracle(thanks folks) we have a fancy new dryer. I can't wait to get the matching washer!!

Maybe I'm just lucky...

I read this post the other day and was flabbergasted that anyone would think that MARRIAGE is harder than MOTHERHOOD, but I guess I am just lucky. Maybe I just married the right person, but what am I not seeing?

Even though being a mom is somewhat instinctual, I feel like it is such a challenge. As my husband says, "You only get one shot at it.". I guess I do have to be tolerant of B sometimes, but for the most part, we are a united team and help each other out. Sometimes he doesn't let me spend as much money as I would like and I have to clean up after him and cook for him and ... but, that's no different then the kids, right? :) I joke. He's awesome.

Feel free to read for yourself . http://dooce.com/2009/01/07/better-worse/#comments-start

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! or is it years?

We went to Gruene to see Robert Earl Keen. I didn't attend the standing room only, smoky concert, but had fun at the pre and post gatherings!!

Erin with all the boys...typical :)
I went up to Austin to visit a girl I played soccer with in college! It was great to see her and her family. We are both pregnant with our 3rd. Who would have thought?

Our 2009 didn't start off very lucky as we were 2 for 5 with our bowl picks:( BUT, S and Haydog came for the evening...so awesome!! They are both so sweet to our kids. We went out for Mexican and later had milk and cookies.

We are hoping for the best and looking forward to the rest of 2009!

FINALLY, Christmas came...

C got a "talking book" and a "race car track". He loves to read. I think that is typical 1st child behavior because AM is not as into books! Maybe she will read the Sunday paper for the ads?

She likes to jump. She got a trampoline and a tunnel-fort-thing.

Opening presents was very fun. The kids had trouble waiting their turn sometimes...

Everyone loves whipped cream. Especially on Gramma chocolate pie.

I hope Gramma has room for all the grand kids on her lap. She might need a bigger chair.

Then we did some fun things like...

Make some cookies.

Wrestle with our cousins.

Take some naps with Cedar.