We celebrated with family and friends at our neighborhood pool and park.
Nathan grilled hot dogs, and I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing, at Ben’s request. (Me: “Ben, do you want vanilla icing on your cupcakes, or chocolate?” Him: “Actually, I think I’m going to have a little bit of chocolate.”)
How can it be? My [...]
This weekend we went to Port Aransas with friends from our preschool co-op community. It was Ben and Maddie’s first time to visit the beach.
So far Port Aransas hasn’t been affected by the oil spill in the Gulf. But these oil platforms, which were clearly visible from shore, were a constant reminder of the disaster [...]
I’ve been making Ben and Maddie this yogurt snack in the evenings. It’s Greek yogurt mixed with chopped fruit (tonight it was peaches), ground flax seed, and a touch of maple syrup.
It’s a giant mess. Best to put on jammies afterwards.
This morning, friends came to play with Ben and Maddie while Nathan and I attended [...]
This morning we walked in the annual Balcones Woods July 4th parade.
Yesterday morning Ben and I went to the party store, where he chose our wagon decorations.
Nathan and Ash pup, who now weighs over 30 lbs! He was very good about wearing the flag bandana and greeting other dogs in the parade politely.
We walked with [...]
I recently started a dress up box for Ben and Maddie with some really cheap pieces we picked up at Savers on Burnet Road.
Every time we’ve pulled the box out to play, Maddie has worn the purple hat.
She and Ben both like the chunky black beads and the black and white patterned purse, which they [...]
with Great-Granny Edith
and Great-Pawpaw Tutt. My grandparents visited Austin on Monday to see us and our new house for the first time. It was their 12th anniversary. We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar about 20 times, and Ben gave them a tour of the house. Monday night we made a spaghetti dinner, and sang Happy [...]
The perfect tuna salad, on whole wheat:
2 cans tuna in water, drained
2 stalks celery, diced
1/3 cup finely diced onion (Red is best, but I used yellow today.)
1 thwock canola mayo (The real stuff, please. But not too much.)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
the most? Is Ash.
He cried and howled a lot today. He’s usually very quiet.
We made the right decision for Sam. I know that, seeing him at the end. Seeing his body relieved of the pain, remembering what he looked like that way. It had been a long time since I’d seen his body peacefully resting.
We [...]