"Two Bad Mice", etc

Tonight I sent Noelle and Jonny to see Transformers (I think it's a movie) together. Kate, who was made to play outside all morning (Tough life, right?) and then be 'Mom' all the way to Austin and back, was quite naturally feeling cheated out of a whole day by that fast aproaching blanket of darkeness which she whoafully refers to as 'Bedtime.'

Since Reagan and George were passively traveling to tomorrow land, I decided to find out whether or not Kate would like a Peter Rabbit story. At the end of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Katie 'wasn't tired.' So we read Benjamin Bunny, Squirrel Nutkin, and Two Bad Mice. At the end of Jeremy Fisher... Kate fell asleep. I've concluded that Katie indeed does enjoy Beatrix Potter's characters.

P.s. If you are planning to read Squirrel Nutkin to your child, it helps to remind them durring the suspensful parts that Nutkin will not die. He does lose his tail though, so don't promise that, "Nothing bad will happen". :)

SHREDDED WHEAT

SHREDDED WHEAT

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Check it out. I laughed, so hard. Best video shorts on youtube, yet.

I was grateful to wake up this morning and see a sheath of gray clouds covering the usually azure sky. The temperature was mild, only about 83, so I sent the girls outside to play since Tanner was going to have to drive all the way to Austin with only 4 hours of sleep under his belt. I figured if they were outside, they could squabble to their hearts content and not disturb him.

The past few days have been really hard on the girls since I don't feel comfortable letting them play outside when the thermometer is reading over 95. I'm just too ignorant about heat stroke and things like that to take the risk of letting them play outside. I've taken the girls to the children's museum and the mall quite a bit so that they can get some active play time into their schedules.

So, when I shook Tanner awake at noon, he stumbled around blindly for a bit, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, remembered to shave, that sort of thing. Then he went out to the car to unload the trunk so that there would be enough room for Jonathan's luggage. He was back inside the house within ten seconds excitedly telling me to OPEN the windows, let the air inside! I didn't argue. I knew that the high was only going to be about 95, and I figured that a little fresh air would keep us all healthy. The house steamed up quickly, but there was a nice breeze so I think we accomplished our goal. After about 45 minutes, I closed the house up, waved goodbye to the kids and Dad, then turned the AC on full blast.

I'm not sure what to do with myself for the next hour. It is so quiet.

Fourth of July events | Bryan/College Station, Texas - The Eagle

Fourth of July events | Bryan/College Station, Texas - The Eagle

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Just stuff

We found another great swimming pool. This one goes from zero feet to 3ft, so I can sit with Georgie in the very shallow end and let her splash in the water while Tanner floats around with Reagan. Kate is so independent now. She just "goes swimming". I find it a little unnerving because I keep thinking of her as my little baby, but apparently she's big enough to know how to swim.

I hope to post some pictures soon just not tonight. We had to re-wire everything since Jonathan is moving in with us tomorrow. The room he'll be staying in was our office/storage area, so we had to find a new place for the computer. Then we had to buy a hub and networking cables and wall jacks and all sorts of crazy things in order to get Internet access throughout the house. Luckily, I know all about networking, so it wasn't a big deal to set everything up. We did consider going wireless, but I didn't want to have to install a wireless adapter in my desktop. I have to admit, it is nice to have my computer out of the "roach" room. Unfortunately for Jonathan, there is at least one more wall to repair before construction can start on his room.

Now before you think that I'm being callous, let me assure you. The wall we have to finish is the one next to our washer and dryer. We used sheet rock as a temporary measure to plug a hole that is about 2 feet wide and 3 feet tall. That's it. The sheet rock is on the OUTSIDE of the house. There is no plywood, no siding, no insulation, no plastic, nothing, just sheet rock. The window is nailed onto the house as a temporary measure to keep it attached. These temporary measures have been in place since January while we've been dealing with things like collapsing walls, broken windows and holes in the floor. You see, Jonathan's room has siding on the outside of it. 90% of the walls have sheet rock. All of the windows are securely fastened to the house. And there are only minor cracks that we've filled with caulking as a "temporary" measure. But don't worry. We've rebuilt 4 walls since we've been here. Replaced 3 windows, two doors, two fans, 3 light fixtures and remodeled an entire bathroom. We'll get it done eventually, and for now, I bought a can of roach spray for his room...

Are you tired of hearing about the weather, yet?

You know it's hot when...

• the butter melts on the counter even though the AC is running full blast
• the water bottle that was left in the car is warm enough to soothe a back ache
• a 9 month old baby starts to cry when the car door is opened, so you end up standing on the curb for 5 minutes while the AC cools the seats down
• the family goes swimming at 10:00am BEFORE it gets too hot for the water to cool you down
• you can't tell if you turned on the hot water or cold water tap

All of that to say, at least I'm not in Sacremento where it 110 today. Makes our 97 look pretty puny.

"I must say as to what I have seen of Texas, it is the garden spot of the world, the best land and the best prospects for health I ever saw, and I do believe it is a fortune to any man to come here." -Davy Crockett