Fun-Filled Day

Today, the girls and I headed to the zoo with our playgroup from church. The weather was so nice; it was overcast and breezy and the perfect temperature. It was a big day for me as this was the first time I've driven in Houston. I've driven as far as the beltway and on the beltway, but not "in" Houston. This west Texas girl doesn't do traffic well, but we survived.

We watched a sea lion show, saw the one month old giraffe, saw lots of animals napping on a lazy cloudy day and ate yummy cotton candy. And this freaky flamingo caught my eye. I've never seen one sit like this.

After Chris and Jessica got off work, we headed to AMF to go bowling for Jessica's birthday. Then we got back in our cars and went to Main Event because someone didn't think to check on lane availablity and AMF was booked with leagues. Oh well, I think Main Event was probably more fun. We bowled, ate pizza and cake, played in the arcade and basically got Jessica's kids all sugared up and then kept them out late on a school night.

My Precious Valentine

This week our playgroup went to an assisted living facility to pass out valentines to the residents. Clara was especially compliant and sweet that morning and she melted my heart over and over with the affection she showed the residents.

I tried having the girls make valentines to hand out, but each of them got about 5 done before the novelty wore off. The ones they made were cute though. We had to give out regular ones after the homemade ones ran out. I had a talk with Clara and Samantha on the drive there. I explained that they would be passing out the valentine cards and that they should say "Happy Valentine's Day!" and be very sweet and give hugs because the grandmas and grandpas that live there are lonely and they love to get hugs from little girls and boys. Well, she took my little talk to heart and hugged and kissed everyone she could. In this picture, she's trying really hard to wait her turn to give a big hug but she just. can't. contain. it.




Ahhhh, much better to let those things out than to let them fester.



On Saturday, Clara gave Daddy a bouquet of hearts she made and the card she picked out. It had Nemo on it. I tried really hard to steer her towards the cute cards from daddy's princess, but she wasn't having it. I was at least able to talk her out of the ones that said "To my son on Valentine's Day".

They left for their daddy/daughter breakfast soon after and brought me my Valentine's present when they got back. Clara picked out some pretty tulips. Chris said they walked in and she went right to them and said they were Mommy's flowers. (She takes after the both of us when it comes to her decisive nature. No need to dilly dally on such matters.) Then she chose a slice of red velvet cake and two chocolate covered strawberries at Hubbel and Hudson. Girl's got good taste.

We were lazy all day and then went bowling with Glenn, Becky, Leah, Kate and Christa. It's been a long time since I've bowled and this was Clara's first time. What form! (I swiped your picture, Becky. Thanks!)

I'm Here

I know, I know, you've all been wondering where I've been. I'm here, and we're all fine. I've just not been in the mood to blog I suppose. For a normal individual that wouldn't be such a big deal. But see, I don't email or pick up the phone or even reply to emails sometimes, so everyone really is in the dark when I don't blog.

My poor mother-in-law emailed when we got back from our trip to Albuquerque to make sure I wasn't still sick and I never emailed her back. I'm a loser. My mom didn't even know we went to Albuquerque until a couple of days ago when she called. See? Big loser.

Speaking of Albuquerque, I left you with a video of Clara singing Happy Birthday to her Grandma. That was just to throw said grandma off. A couple of hours after I posted the video, we got on a plane to surprise her for her big birthday.

The plan was to surprise her by showing up at Jason's Deli that night. They go there before church, so we got there about 15 minutes early. When we saw them drive up, I sent Clara to the door with her camera to get a picture of Grandma. I saw Linda notice her as she was walking up and then she just stopped dead in her tracks, mouth wide open when she realized it was Clara.

So we fessed up to having been in on the surprise with Dan for a couple of months and were there to spend a few days with her for her birthday. We said we wanted to take her out to a nice dinner Friday night and got all dressed up for it and Tim was going to meet us there as well. Much to her surprise, Dan had planned a big party at the restaraunt with lots of friends from church. As we rounded the corner to be seated, the room broke out in "Happy Birthday" and it took Linda a few seconds to realize it was for her. She was wondering why the hostess just stopped without seating us first. I think there were about 30 people there and again, Linda didn't have a clue that something was up. Dan was pretty proud of himself for keeping it in so long without exploding first.



Clara had a runny nose for a couple of days before we were to leave on our trip and then started acting more sick the day before, so I went back and forth trying to decide if I should take her to the doctor or not. I didn't want her getting on the plane if it was an ear infection, so I called the doctor to see what she thought and she called in an antibiotic for her. I'm normally not a fan of using antibiotics unless it's truly necessary, but I felt it was truly necessary to not be on the same plane as the child if it was, in fact, an ear infection. She did great on the plane.

She went through a whole lotta kleenexes on the trip, but was feeling much better after a few days. I, on the other hand, felt like poo. That first night just about killed me. My sinuses felt sooo dry, my lips were chapped and my throat was on fire. The dry air really does a number on me. I also think the altitude bothers me. I just don't feel normal and get tired very easily when I'm there. We bought a humidifier the next day and I slept a little better the next two nights, but I still woke up every hour or more in pain. I lost most of my voice and it was about a week before I was able to sing Clara's goodnight songs again.

Clara did fine on the plane ride home, but I was in some serious pain during takeoff and landing. My sinuses felt like they were going to explode. But, I made it. I felt better after just one night in my haven of humidity and was back to my normal, mosturized self a few days later.