Houston Area Live Steamers

Jason had a fun event planned for us this past Saturday.   We packed a picnic lunch and headed out.  It involved this:

That is a miniature steamer train.   My kids love trains.   They cheer when I get stopped by a freight train in my wanderings around Houston.  Jason found these and we headed out to Zube Park in Hockley to check out the Houston Area Live Steamers.   HALS is open to the public the 3rd Saturday of the month from March to Novemeber.   We got there about 11:00.  There was a pretty long line by that time.   They start giving rides at 9:00.   HALS do not charge admission, but will accept donations.

We waited in line about 30 minutes, but it seemed to go fast.   We watched the trains pull in and out of the station.   They had 3 or 4 trains running at the time.  As we waited, we got to watch them service a couple of the trains.  The people running the club are really friendly.   The trains are fascinating to watch.   As we entered the station, this was some of the fun signage they had:

When our turn came we climbed aboard.   The passenger seats are benches that you straddle.  

The ride was about 10 minutes.   The weather was an overcast, slightly breezy day which made the ride enjoyable.  They had cute signage along the route.   My favorite was "The Badlands, watch for snakes and alligators."  Here is a sign I had my camera ready for:

At the end of the ride we headed to the other side of Zube Park for picnic lunch and then playtime on the play structures.  

This park had some interesting play structures, but I didn't get any pictures of them.  We headed home after playtime to check in on the puppy we are puppy sitting.  

Four Legged House Guest

Since Friday afternoon, we've had a four legged house guest.   Her person returns on Wednesday evening.  She has been a lot of fun.   Her name is Missy and she is a six month old Havanese puppy.   My kids have wanted a dog badly for a couple of years now.   This is a good preview.   Friday night we took a walk around our neighborhood as a family.   Saturday brought more walks.  That night we gave her a bath.  She tolerates the kids well.   They play with her every chance they get.  Jason and I joke that she thinks the kids are fellow puppies.   She has some pads for toileting while we are gone.   She didn't appreciate us leaving twice yesterday, first to church and later to small group.   When we got home last night, the pad was shredded.   The kids and Jason cleaned it up while I walked her.  This morning she went with us to take my daughter to school.   We played a little fetch yesterday and this morning.   

Tug-o-war is another favorite game.  We're enjoying our little house guest.   Marcy, Missy says, "Hi!"

Book Review: When the Soul Mends

This is a sweet story of relationships restored after an Amish girl chooses to leave her famly and the plain ways.  A tragedy brings her back to her family for a visit.  She must deal with her past in order to go on with her future.

I thought this book would hold a lot of promise.  I enjoy fiction novels particularly about the Amish.   This title is the third in a series.  Since I jumped in the middle of the series, I spent the first 30-50 pages just trying to figure out who was who and their significance in the book.   I liken it to going to a family reunion where you know no one and continually ask, "Who was that?   Who do they belong to?"  There is a chart of the characters at the front of the book which I referred to frequently.   Once I had the characters and back stories straight, I was able to enjoy the book.  I would not recommend jumping into this book without reading the first two.  The character is very believable in her struggle between her past and her present lives.  The author is obviously versed in Amish custom because the Amish people are not mischaracterized. 

This was a good read once I got past my initial confusion.   It was well paced and interesting. 

I received this book free from Waterbrook-Multnomah Publishing for the purposes of review.   All opinions expressed are my own.  

Holiday Posting

I noticed my last post was at Easter.  Now I am posting about Mother's Day.  I hope to have time to blog about more than holidays going forward.  We've finished a home improvement project that was a huge time commitment.  That being said, I had to let other things slide.  I am gearing up for VBS at my church.   My projects are planned, my materials list is in, and we have a workdays to start prepping stuff this week and next.   I must say I have been blessed by the wonderful people God has put on my team this year.  I can tell they will be fabulous.  We are doing the art room for preschool.   How fun is that???   I want to have all the prep work done well before VBS, so I can sit back, execute the plans, and not be stressed by it all.

Last summer, I was CRAZY busy all summer.   I will not do that to myself again.   I hope to spend many days at the pool teaching my kids to swim, AGAIN.   Every summer I teach my kids to swim, then we spend some time at the beginning of the summer relearning.  I really wanted to put them on a summer swim team, but I am also cutting back on activities to avoid the CRAZY summer.  I think my daughter is going to take gymnastics lessons this summer, while my son takes a break from gymnastics.   I really wanted to put them in classes at the same time, but the class times don't match up.   Also, I will say...classes are not cheap.  Little man and I will get some quality time while sister takes her class.   She looks forward summer gymnastics because I won't let her take during the school year.  I am planning some morning schooling activities for us as well.   I am the mean Mama who makes my children school year round.   There is tremendous loss of knowledge with a long summer break.   We do school to keep this from happening.  Maybe one day the successful professionals my children become will thank me or maybe they will just hate me for it.

I started this post to talk about Mother's Day.   On Mother's Day, the kids bounced up out of bed at 7:00.   Jason and I just groaned and rolled over.   We have worn ourselves out with our project.  The kids were so cute.   They made invitations to a party.   Jason and I each got one.  They also posted signs leading up stairs to the party room.   I sat in the hula hoop with a crown on my  head to open...THE gift.   My daughter's teacher made each mother a book.   The students in the class drew a page about why he/she loved his/her mother.  She them compiled them all into a book and bound it.  It was really cute.  Jason gave me a beautiful rose bush.   The flowers are white with red tips.   I love roses.   I nursed three bushes back from the brink of death at our house in Woodridge.   I haven't had any roses to mess with since we moved from Illinois.   I'm excited about this one.   My first challenge right now is to keep alive through our drought.  We had a great morning at church.   Our church always gives gift to the oldest mother.   They have ALL the mothers stand up to start.   At 33, I sincerely doubt I am the oldest mother, but I did it anyway.   I used to hide in the balcony and not feel weird about standing up, but now we sit on the bottom floor and well, it is weird.   Two sweet 90 year olds won this year in our service.   They were as cute as could be.  After church, we came home and later went to my Mom's house.   We ate and spent time together.   It is a blessing to be back in Houston and get to see my Mom and Grandmother so regularly.  I enjoy getting to see my family.

I have several things to accomplish today.   I'm off.

Easter

Our church had a service last night for Easter.  I'm thankful for Christ's sacrifice.   Take time to reflect on the person of Christ, His death on the cross, and His rising from the grave this Easter.

¹ When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, ² “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” Matthew 26:1-2


 ⁴⁵ Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” Matthew 26:45-46


 ¹ Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. ² So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor. Matthew 27:1-2



 ²² “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.
   They all answered, “Crucify him!”
 ²³ “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
   But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” Matthew 27:22-23

 ³² As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. ³³ They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ³⁴ There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. ³⁵ When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. ³⁶ And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. ³⁷ Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Matthew 27:32-27

 ⁵⁰ And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. Matthew 27:50

 ⁵⁹ Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Matthew 27:59-60

⁶⁵ “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. Matthew 27:65-66

 ¹ After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
 ² There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
 ⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Matthew 28:1-5


 ⁹ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
 ¹⁰ They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:9-11

All passages NIV.   Taken from www.biblegateway.com

We've Been to Texas Children's and Back

Monday was our big day at Texas Children's hospital.   We've been waiting six weeks for my son's tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.   The short story is some time last fall my son had a cold.   We noticed that he stopped breathing in his sleep.  He also snores louder than most grown men, especially when he is sick.   I made a note to talk to the pediatrician the next time we were in to see her.   She looked in his mouth at the next appointment and said that his tonsils seemed abnormally large.  He also has a history of frequent ear infections.  She sent us off to a Pediatric ENT that she felt was conservative.   While waiting for the appointment, we heard more instances of sleep apnea, which are terrifying.  We saw the ENT in early February.   He agreed the tonsils and adenoids needed to go.  There was a six week wait for an OR at Texas Children's, but it was the only hospital that our insurance allowed us to use.

On Monday, we went to the hospital.  One perk of day surgery at TCH is complimentary valet parking.  We went upstairs to a very cheery waiting room.   There were several riding toys to play with as well as other toys.  My son loved it.   For his sake, I just didn't think about how many germs were probably on those toys.   Someone came out and talked with my son about the medical equipment that he would see.   She showed him pictures of the OR.   She was really nice and wonderful.   We waited a bit longer then his stats were taken in another room.   To all the places we went, he was allowed to ride a riding toy.   He loved that.   We talked with the anesthesiologist nurse practitioner about the surgery.   Then were given Texas Children's PJs and taken to a final waiting room.   We met with the ENT  and anesthesiologist in there.   While we were in the final waiting room, my son found a John Deere tractor riding toy in there.   He was already loving the experience, but that put it over the top.   My son is crazy over tractors, especially John Deere.  When he was called back for surgery he happily rode his tractor down the hall.  

Jason and I went back out to wait.   After about 40 minutes, they called us back to the Post Anesthetic Care Unit.   When we got there, my son was still asleep.  It took him about 30 minutes to come around.   His nurse was really nice, very gentle, and patient with us and him.   In fact, she took care of me for a few minutes.   I have a needle phobia, which I have been trying to get over for years.   I had a bad experience with an IV when I was about 4.  My phobia is getting a lot better, but seeing my son I had a really hard time.   I felt woozy a few times and sat down.   The third time she asked me if I was feeling ok.   I admitted that I wasn't and asked if I had turned white.  She got me some juice and peanut butter and that helped a lot.  I was irritated at myself for now being able to hold it together.   I have to remind myself I have come a long way.  I can take a flu shot without laying down now and I can give a blood sample without vomiting and passing out.  While my son was coming around the anesthesiologist came by and checked on him again.   We were in recovery two hours.

He slept most of the first day after the surgery.   The second day he bounced off the walls.  The second night was rough.   He does not like the taste of the Hydrocodone, so it is hard to get him to take it.  The third day he was quieter and kept telling me he felt better.   He is ok if his pain medications are current.  When it starts to wear off, he gets uncomfortable.   Waking him up is the worst because this throat and mouth are dry and typically the pain medicine has worn off.  He is eating lots of chocolate frozen yogurt, jello, mac n cheese and pasta salad.   Yesterday, I took him off the Hydrocodone and switched to Tylenol.   He is calmer on the Tylenol and able to nap in the afternoon.   Today my goal is to get more protein into him.   Every day is better.

In my mind since it was a day surgery it thought it would less traumatic.  It is a pretty major deal.  My son's recovery has not been as terrible as some I have heard about.  He has been a cooperative, sweet little patient.   Our next big milestone is somewhere between 7-10 days post surgery when the scabs finish coming off.   We also have to work back up to solid foods.  Every day is better.  

Quilting, Quilting

Since finishing the sock monkey project, I have cleaned up my studio space.   It was nice to reorganize, throw away and get things back in order.   I also had to corral the disaster on the kid's side of the table.

I have two quilts finish soon.   My sister-in-law is on bed rest and due in four weeks.   I have a suspicion that once her doctor lifts the bed rest restriction that she could have my niece anytime.   I'm so excited about her quilt.   Half of it is cut already.   It is a ladybug themed quilt, but I am not using a single ladybug fabric.   I have another idea to incorporate the lady bugs.

The second quilt is for some dear friends from college.  We went to college with Patrick.  He is one of Jason's favorite people in this world.   We got to know Carrie when we were living in Florida.   They were at the University of Florida, Gainesville while Patrick got his Ph.D.  We were in Orlando while Jason got his MBA at Duke.  Side note, Jason traveled to North Carolina every eight weeks for a one week residency for twenty L..O..N...G... months to get his MBA from Duke.  Back to the history, we would meet Patrick and Carrie in the Clearwater/St. Petersburg area because it was equidistant from our respective cities.  One trip we shelled on Caladesi Island.  Here is a picture circa 2006 Patrick took of us on that trip.  Brooke is two and I'm expecting Brayden a few months after the picture was taken.  

We also canoed in search of Manatees on another trip.  We made trips when we would meet at various springs between Orlando and Gainesville and snorkel the boils.  We love them and I'm so excited to make a quilt for their baby due in July.

My daughter thinks I am not an artist, but a craftist.   So I'm off to be a quiltist today!

Aid Sudan 5K

Last weekend Jason and I ran the Aid Sudan 5K.  This was my 2nd time to run and Jason's 1st.   He started training in January with me.   In the last month, we missed a lot of training due to injury and illness.   I had an on going knee issue and spent a lot of time sick.   Jason worked on our backyard drainage and garden which took time away from training.  The day of the race I felt great.  I planned to beat my time from last year.   Here we are before the kids 1K.

My kids ran their first 1K.  I was unsure how they would do.   They did really well.   My daughter finished in the first 20 kids and my son was about 15 kids behind her.   Here they are:

They were so proud of their ribbons.  

Next was Jason and I's turn to run.   Here we are at the beginning.

We ran the first 10 minutes with no problems.   Then into the 2nd mile Jason's knee started to tighten up.  He stopped and stretched.   We walked a little and he stretched some more.  His knee continued to give him issues.   We ran through the turn around and walked again.   After the turn around, his knee became so tight he was limping as he walked.   I decided then I would give up besting my time from the previous year and finish with Jason regardless of the time.  We walked a lot.   Jason kept trying to stretch it out and didn't have much success.  A friend from college caught up with us.   We ran the last stretch with him and encouraged him to the end.

You can see our cheering section in the above picture.   Jason pressed on and finished. 

I enjoyed Jason doing the race with me.  Hopefully, we can run together again next year and not have any knee complications.  

Sock Monkey Bonanza

The blog has been neglected recently due to sock monkey production.  For my daughter's birthday this year we had a sock monkey themed almost sleepover.  I gave each girl a sock monkey as a party favor.   Here are all the girl's sock monkeys.

I ordered the traditional rockford red heel socks and started sewing.  I took several pictures of the process and plan to post a how to blog.   When I looked for instructions, there we some instructional blogs.  Honestly, I found them lacking.  We had a cookie cake.   I used our Recycle Bank points for a free cookie cake from Great American cookie cake.   They did a great job decorating it.  My Mom gave gave my daughter some cool monkey PJs to wear for the party.   The party was three hours of high energy excitement.   My mother-in-law was in town to help with the party.   I was so thankful to have her help.  For the party, we made shrink-a-dink tags to go on the monkeys.  Next, we made personal pizzas.  As the pizzas cooked, we made bottle cap necklaces.  Then, we ate our pizzas and played Uno.   By this time, I could see that the girls needed some unstructured time.   We had a dress up time which gave them an opportunity to dance around in my daughter's dress up clothes.  Finally, we had cake and ice cream.   After cake and ice cream, I read a book to the girls and their parents arrived to pick them up.    My daughter had a great time and I collapsed on the couch to recover from five giggly energetic girls.  I count this year a success and I am already dreaming up the plans for next year's party.

Spring Break

I am a couple of weeks late blogging about Spring Break.   I wanted to share what we did anyway.  I think the kids had a lot of fun.   I loved seeing friends that I don't get to see often.  Our week looked like this:

Monday was spent getting organized and ready for the week.   This was the kids least favorite day.   It is far more fun to destroy their rooms and playroom than it is to clean up.  We paid the piper and were ready for a fun week.   Jason called late in the day to tell me he was given two rodeo tickets for that night.   He and I went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.   I was so excited.   The last time I went to the HLSR, I attended I saw George Strait in concert.  I am not a huge sports fan, but I do love to watch rodeo events.   I had a blast cheering on the bull riders and barrel racers.  Kid Rock performed after the rodeo.   We stayed for about half the concert.   When Kid Rock's shirt came off, I was done.   It was a study in contrasts compared to the Chris Tomlin concert Jason and I recently attended.  I'll take Chris Tomlin any day!

Tuesday we had a friend over to play.   Her Mom was in the hospital and she hung out with us.  We were finishing violin practice as she arrived.   She helped/watched my daughter finish her lesson.  The girls played with their American Girl Dolls for quite a while.   They held a tea party for the dolls complete with paper pretzels and biscuits.  My son played on his own when he wasn't irritating the girls.   We ate lunch and rode our bikes to the park.   After playing at the park, we came home.  The kids then played in the backyard.   My kids had a blast.   Our friend's daughter fell asleep in the car not long after she left our house.   I was told she had a great day too. 

Wednesday we had play date with a family from church.   They go to Sunday school and service opposite hours from us, so we don't get to see them often.   We went over to the Audubon Society to take a hike.  I had never been over there before, but it was a beautiful hike.   I want to take the kids back and take some pictures.   There is an old log cabin with lots of stuff to explore inside.   I think we caught it during the lunch hour because it was not open.  After our hike, we headed to Terry Hershey Park for a picnic lunch.   There is one place in the park where there is a massive grassy crater.   My friend and I sat in the middle and watched the kids play.   The girls collected huge bouquets of wild flowers while the boys explored.   We also met a neighborhood cat as we were leaving.   Apparently, he thought the hatch of my friend's car was a comfy place to sleep.

The kids found this beyond funny!

Thursday was day trip day.   I bought Jason a book for Valentine's Day called Day Trips from Houston: Getaway Ideas for the Local Traveler.   My Mom and I picked a day trip and took off.   We picked the West day trip 3: Czech Country.   We headed out to see what we could see.  We stopped by the Fayette Hertage Museum and Archives.   This is the place to go is you are tracing your Czech ancestory.   We weren't.    It was housed in the town's library.   Outside was a nice park and playground.   It would make a good picnic lunch spot.   We had already eaten lunch, so after a quick look around we were off again.   The book recommended the Jersey Barnyard.   We called and found out the prices were $7 for adults and $5 for kids.  After looking at the place, we skipped it.   I would rather go to The Oil Ranch closer to home even if it is pricer.   We called the Katysweet Confecioners.  They are also mentioned in the book.   We were told  they are no longer offering tours.  We found the town square and stopped into Le Petite Gourmet Shoppe.   We found the shop interesting.   The staffers were friendly to the kids.   We had some samples and made a couple of purchases.  We walked the square and found my camera card needed reformatting.   The traditional town square was neat.   The courthouse was in the center with the storefronts facing it on four sides.   I could picture bygone times and see the heart of the town.  We tried to find Monument Hill and Kreische Brewery State Historic Site.  My GPS was no help.   The book said it was 1 mile south of town.   We headed out of town toward Schulenburg and stumbled upon it.  It is run by Texas Parks and Wildlife.   We took the Scenic and Historical Trail which was a short 1/2 mile hike.   It was late in the day and we were warned by the park ranger that the hike down to the Brewery ruins wasn't bad, but the hike up was rough.   I was not interested in carrying two tried children back out, so we kept to the high country.   The park ranger was very friendly and helpful.   On our hike, we had a breathtaking view of the Colorado River.   We saw the orginal house and barn for the site.   There was also a monument and marker honoring the men who were involved in Dawson Masacre and Meir Expedition.   These were interesting from a Texas history perspective.  From a lookout point along the hike, we could also see the brewery ruins.   The bluebonnets were blooming as was the Texas Mountain Laurel.   Both were absolutely beautiful to behold.   The Texas Mountain Laurel smelled heavenly.   Overall the road trip was fun.   We  did not get to the 2nd half of the road trip described in the book to Schulenburg.   There is a painted churches tour that sounds interesting.   That will have to be another day!

By Friday we were worn out.   I wanted to visit my friend in the hospital because she was due to deliver on Monday.   My Mom watched the kids while I went to the hospital to visit.  I had a great visit with my friend.   My daughter read a book all day at my Mom's house and my son played outside. 

Now Spring Break has come and gone and April is almost here.   Time passes so quickly.  The bluebonnets are blooming on the banks of the bayou not far from my house.   I headed out Monday to try and get some good bluebonnet pictures.   My son will NOT look at the camera or smile.   These are the best I got.

 Bluebonnet season is my FAVORITE time in Texas.   The things I missed the most while I lived away from Texas was the HLSR and the bluebonnets. 
The azaelas blooming in my yard this year were amazing.   At least I got a kind of good picture of the kids.