Picnic in the Park!

So we usually have a playgroup meeting at the park by the library on Wednesdays, but apparently, everyone bailed this week. Except us. So we played for a while, but mommy decided to move our picnic lunch to our own back yard. We have a nice, clean picnic table to eat at now (thanks, Grandma!) so we thought we'd take advantage of the cool weather (hey, it's not 100... that's cool for us!).



Isn't it great how none of my kids knows how to chew with their mouths closed?




Such cute little legs...My silly girl who hates pictures

Happy Fall!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! I LOVE FALL! I just glanced at the calendar, and what do you know, today is the first day of autumn. Strangely enough, I already put out my fall decorations. So go celebrate the best season of the year, and have a happy fall!

Hey, got a ciggie?

My daughter's new obsession: Cigarettes. One day we were walking to our car from HEB, and Sofia looks down and sees this little white stick on the ground.

"What's that, Mommy?"

Oh, crap.

So we have a short conversation about cigarettes, and how we don't like them because they are dirty and make people sick. I don't want to make a big deal out of it, but I want to make sure her first impression of smoking is significantly negative.

Well, it sure did make an impression. Now, every time we get out of the car, she walks slowly around the perimeter, looking for cigarettes, and pointing out each one. When we go by the outdoor ashtray in front of the stores, it's like Christmas for her! She'll ask me questions about them, like, "We don't like to touch those. But do we like to look at them?" Why is the forbidden so tantalizing?? Mommy says No should be enough for her!

When I see someone smoking, I cross my fingers and push the cart faster, because I know she'll ask me very loudly if that person is sick because they have a cigarette. And while the answer would be yes, I'm not ready to be a public crusader on that point yet. How do you tell a 3-year-old why an adult is doing something that will indeed make them, and people around them, sick? It doesn't fit into her sense of logic, and it doesn't really fit into mine, either.

So we had another brief discussion about addictions, which I connected somewhat loosely to her habit of sucking her thumb. We had to talk about how sometimes it's hard for people to stop doing things that are bad for them. I know, I know. Smoking not equal to thumb-sucking. But I didn't exactly have much time to prepare a thesis for her. I thought I had a good 10 years before we would be having the smoking talk.

So here's my advance apology to all the smoking addicts we might come across around San Antonio: I'm sorry my daughter's judging you. But she's right. Smoking makes you sick.

Partyin' with Grandma!

To add to all the fun, Grandma's here for a visit, and boy, are the kids having fun! We went on Thursday to one of their all-time-favorite places: The Children's Museum.

Here they are riding the trolley:

Here the boys are enjoying the fish, and singing "Fishy, Fishy, Swim in the Water" and dancing quite rhythmically.Here, Ben's milking the cow (pretty cool, actually. Has water in the udders):

Sofia the Pioneer Cowgirl:Keepin' Shop:Working the heavy machinery:

And cooking up some lunch:

It looks like their building a pretty awesome grocery store in the lower level, and I think it's supposed to open later this month. I think I might like to check it out, leave the kids at home.

Far, Far Away

My beloved left me this Wednesday past to go to the far away land of Mongolia. No, he's not moving there. I know I am a pain to live with, but I don't honestly think I'm that bad. He's actually there on a medical missions trip, accompanying some pediatric cardiologists that he used to work with who have a non-profit called For Hearts and Souls that, among other things, do heart caths & procedures for children in these far away lands.


He's very excited to be able to participate not only through the medical aspect, but to also minister to these children and their families to show them Christ's love. It's been something he's been looking forward to for a very long time, so it's hard to believe he's actually over there now.

It costs almost $6 a minute to call him on his cell phone over there, so we won't be talking much. Luckily, he does have periodic Internet access in his hotel room (yes, it's a missions trip, but you think the Dr.'s are going to rough it? The pictures of the hotel look nice) so we get to email and use MSN Messenger occasionally. Mongolia is 13 hours ahead of us, so we're not often awake at the same time.

I asked him if his skin color blends in with the Mongolians, and he told me it does more or less. Apparently more, because he said a tourist (he thought Japanese) asked to take her picture with him. So either he really does blend in, or she thought my man was hot. Which he is.


I looked at pictures of Mongolia the other day, because I don't really know anything about it other than that it's called Mongolia (I never was good at geography) and it looks really pretty there. I guess the city itself is pretty nasty (I think he's in Ulaan Battar, the capital), but most of the population is nomadic, raising wild horses and such. It is quite amazing, actually. I also saw an article talking about how Mongolia is one of the last unspoiled travel destinations left.







The language is a little crazy, a cross between maybe Russian & Mandarin or something (no surprise, since it's sandwiched in between Russia and China). Definitely not a roman alphabet. That would drive me crazy. They should really consider changing that. Here's an example of the Sabbath School lesson over there:



Tomorrow Filipe's going to try to meet up with the pastor of the Adventist church over there, who happens to be Brazilian. Go figure. So he's excited also to be able to talk with someone who can understand him!

The kids really miss him, and every time the door beeps (thank you ADT), they drop what they're doing and yell "Daddy!" so that's kind of sad. But it's nice to see them missing their Daddy. I guess you could say I miss him too! I'm counting the days....

Oops, I did it again!

So I've been hearing the cry of my fan base (yes, Jessy, that means you and Kim. My true fans.) for updates. So here's the latest:

No, my Toyota Sienna did not come with the little-known option of a rear window with automatic roll down. Nor did they install the sunroof in an unusual location. If it looks like my rear window is smashed, it might have had something to do with that slightly invisible tree I backed into. My deepest apologies to my cousin Shelli, to whom the now-scarred tree belongs.

Life has been a bit more than the usual brand of hectic this past week and a half, so I was a bit distracted while we were up visiting family in New Braunfels on Friday. Honestly, I had recently been priviledged to enjoy a freakin' amazing hour-and-a-half full body massage from a very talented man (get your mind out of the gutter--it's my grandmother's massage therapist) so I think my mind/body were more relaxed than they should have been with me behind the wheel. I did have a sensation that something wasn't quite right, but it was too late. I looked back, and my window was gone. Sad.

So if you don't see me anywhere anytime soon, it's because I'm waiting to have it fixed. I have an appointment to get it assessed Monday morning, but who knows how long after that until I'm back on the dangerous roads (or driveways.....) again.