Fernandes Photo Shoot

So my MIL's bday is this Saturday, and behold, I had no gift! So I thought and thought, and finally thought, what does a gmother love more than her gchildren!! So we (I) decided to make a calendar. I was about to go through the last year of pictures to try to find season-appropriate pictures to insert, when I thought--why not have current pictures for the seasons! So we had an impromptu photo shoot in Sofia's bedroom. The kids cooperated, mostly because it was naptime, and they would do virtually anything to avoid that. So here are a few seasonal highlights, in no particular order:

Oh, the joy of jammies!

Thanks to the recent "cold" weather at night (hey, we almost got a frost!) our behind-the-times mommy realized that the kiddos had no winter pjs. So, what a fun day! Everyone got new jammies. Nothing beats a brand new pair of warm cuddly footie jams. Sweet dreams!

Blessed are the children

I love children. I love all children, although mine are more precious & clever than any other child. But I love children because of their innocence complemented by their natural curiosity. My daughter Sofia (who will be four years old in December) asked me the other day why her tongue wasn't wrinkly. Why would your tongue be wrinkly? I asked her. She noted that when she sucked her thumb for too long (a habit we are in the proccess of breaking!) it came out wrinkly. So wouldn't it make sense that her tongue, which sits in her mouth all day, would also be wrinkly?

Anticipation, or An Apple a Day

I was in HEB the other day, doing some shopping in the produce department, when I saw them. Piled in a big crate, set in the middle of the floor, so as not to miss them. HUGE, beautiful, shiny green and red apples. I picked one up. I gave it a couple of nice hefts in the palm of my hand, awed by the weight/volume ratio. That extra poundage, of course, means that the water content is high. High water content = juicy apple. Yum.The sign above them said "Honeycrisp" in a way that made me absolutely sure they would be sold out within a few minutes, so I had to get one while they were there. Of course, the sign also said "$2.99/lb" in a way that made me absolutely sure that they would completely blow my budget for the week. So I only bought one.

This beautiful specimen of an early fall apple was just shy of an entire pound. It cost me $2.63. I took it home and gave it a quick polish before giving it the place of honor in the fruit basket. It made the Jonagold apples there seem puny by comparison. I thought about eating it right away, but knew that anticipation is half the enjoyment. So I just admired. And waited.

I was right about the anticipation. I was enjoying it, perhaps too much. Last night, I had a nightmare in which someone mistakenly ate my Honeycrisp beauty. I felt bereft when I woke up. I was only pacified when I went downstairs to ensure that it was, indeed, a terrible, terrible dream.

This afternoon as the boys napped, I decided that the time was ripe. I sharpened my knife. I gave the apple one last scrub. I set it on the cutting board and took a deep breath. As the knife sliced through the skin, I could hear the pop! as the juice squirted out. My water/volume ratio theory was confirmed. This was a succulent one. The anticipation was climaxing. I just knew that this was going to be the kind of apple that caused the fall of mankind. I couldn't wait.

I cut it into manageable pieces and took a final look. Mouth watering, I took my first bite. Yes! It was juicy! As those apple juices reached the various tastebud locations in my mouth, I felt...........

Disappointment.

For all the good looks & hefty weight (and hefty price), this apple rated a 4.5 on the sweetness scale. Rats. What a waste of anticipation. I guess that taught me it's best not to expect the best. No matter how good something looks, it probably isn't.

Filipe says I'm a pessimist. I think I'm a realist. Either way, the apple was mediocre. Better to expect mediocre and be pleasantly surprised than to anticipate greatness and be disappointed.

Oh, and by the way, those "puny" Jonagolds were about the sweetest, juciest apples I've had in a long time. And they were on sale.

Daddy Day Care

Daddy took the crew to get the mail... I never realized how much it looks like a day care when travelling with all three kiddos!

When good news goes bad

Why can't good news ever come without bad news? We have a condo that we have been trying to rent out since June. It has been sitting vacant, and doing its best to make our bank account vacant as well. Well, good news: we heard from our property manager, and we got a year lease on it! Yay! Now we can buy groceries! But my relief was tempered when they told me the maintenance coordinator needed to talk to me. Oh crap.

Turns out the tenant was complaining that the air conditioner was spitting out only warm air. What does he want, we're in Texas!! Anyways, turns out the heat pump is broken, coils leaking. Don't really know what all that means, but I did understand what $2500+ means. Good times.

But hey, silver lining (however thin) is that we don't have to worry about getting another renter for at least 12 months! Just got to keep telling myself that.

From where I sit

I grabbed the camera last night (or was it this morning? We were up until after 1am) as Filipe was packing for his annual sales meeting in Montreal. This is what I saw.

Filipe's still-unpacked suitcase....
Still unpacked hanging bag....

Sewing machine covered by still unfinished Christmas gifts....

So I'm realizing that I have a lot of unfinished business in my life. When do I get to finish something? Take it from inception to completion? See it through to the end, where I can shelve it and say, "I did great. That was fun." or feel that sense of accomplishement? I look around my house right now, and the dishes from lunch are still on the table, I have a load of laundry sitting in a basket from when I took it out of the dryer two days ago, the desk is covered by this-and-that from who the heck knows when.

This doesn't just apply to my housekeeping issues (and I have plenty!). I have a couple of boxes of craft supplies I got to do projects with Sofia (and I'm not a crafty person), I have school books to do with her that I haven't gotten around to, I have all sorts of ideas for community service projects & church projects, even an idea to start a business. But do I finish any of it? Do I follow through? No. It's just more clutter in my head.

I just want to finish something. Anything.

International Patriot

We got roped into manning a table at our church school's International Food Fair this Sunday. We only had one day's notice, so it wasn't as cool as it could have been, but we did okay! Yummy yummy Brazilian food! Too bad you missed it.

Enchanted Rock

Filipe had an "office day" today, so we took a last minute trip up to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. We figured it was about time we put our annual State Park Pass to good use.

So here we are eating lunch:

And here we are ready to hit the trail:

And here we are at the top of Enchanted Rock:

Okay, well, maybe not. This is really us, on the, umm.... trail? Okay, not really, but actually a sandy dry creekbed. We're not too good at maps:


Sam and Sofia getting a great ride:

Little Explorer Sofia
And one of a couple of fawns we startled from the brushGood times! Filipe found a nice spot for camping sometime, but I think for a day hike we'll go somewhere that has water next time! Maybe Guadalupe River or McKinney Falls. Stay tuned!