That Santa Is One Cool Dude

I'm telling you, he has basically run the roost in our house for the last 3 weeks. There's really no need for me or Terry to even be here. He single handedly keeps Ava and Grace in line. Simply speaking his name out loud in front of them alters their entire attitude. If their hands are wrapped around each others necks, saying his name frees their grip. If they are pinching and poking each other, saying his name suddenly has them hugging it out. If they are chasing cats or running around like miniature lunatics, saying his name turns them into angel's. Santa is AWESOME.

We found out he can be even more awesome when along with his name, we throw in "I will pick up that phone and call the North Pole if you girls keep acting up." That one works really well. And since Ava thinks he uses a telescope to see children inside their homes, I sometimes use the "I will call Santa and have him point his telescope toward our house, if you don't stop doing that." That one works like a charm.

Santa's my new BFF.

The Velvet Devil Gave Me Hives

I swear the weirdest shit happens to me. There was The Innocent Run On The Beach that turned into a nearly deadly asthma attack, The Spoonful Of Honey I Swallowed In New Mexico that nearly killed me, and as of last night... The Glasses Of Red Wine that resulted in hives (is it always plural??) across my entire back and chest. And wait a minute.... when is ever singular? Can it ever be just a hive? Why is it always plural? How come I can't get a single hive? Why are they always grouped together to form hives? That shit isn't fair! Because those bitches itch! And burn! And look SO DAMN GROSS!

I remembered to remain calm and ran to the kitchen to find the Benadryl, because I'm always a complete fucking spazz as cool as a cucumber in emergency situations. I dug thru the medicine cabinet and found Ava's Children's Benadryl. Hmpf. Well, clearly, I'm not a child. Even though that might actually be up for debate, I at least I weigh more than a child. I contemplated taking the 2 yrs. - 6 yrs. old dose, and decided I fit more comfortably into the 6 yrs. - 11 yrs. old category. Totally. And since I'm a talented Math Whiz, I quickly calculated a formula to ensure the exact dosing measurement recommended for my weight/age combination. I poured a whole bunch into one of Grace's princess cups and guzzled. This was NO TIME FOR LOLLY GAGGING PEOPLE! At any moment I could have swelled up into One Giant Hive! OMG! Then it would have been singular! I answered my own question! Neat!

I don't get why they recommend you Do Not Drink Alcohol While Taking Their Medication...because...ummm...I totally recommend it!!! I woke up this morning, my hives were gone and I barely remember having them!

My Biggest Little Girl

I've decided Ava's pretty much ready to move out of the house and begin her life on her own. She woke me up this morning, already dressed, handing me a brush and a rubber band for her hair. She does that every morning, but this particular morning I heard her rummaging in the kitchen, opening the pantry door, jingling silverware, talking to herself. I got out of bed and walked into the kitchen to find her gesturing "ta-da!" with her hands, showing me four bowls and spoons, the cereal Grace eats, the cereal she eats, and muffins for me. I was concerned with her counting abilities since there are only three of us here, and then saw the can of tuna and a can opener she'd gotten out for Joey. She said he was pawing on the pantry door and figured he needed Tuna for breakfast.

I cherish the mornings that it's just me and Ava, when little Grace is still snoozing in her bed and she and I can have alone time together. It brings me back to when she was a baby and she had 100% of my attention. She was a year and a half old when her sister was born and sometimes I feel like that wasn't enough time to spend with just her. I love these mornings and when she comes into my room to wake me up, hearing her say "Mom, it's just you and me!" melts my heart.

We Don't Speak To The Un-Famous. Contact Our Agents If You Need Us.

Two years ago Terry and his team from work volunteered to answer the phones during a pledge drive on KLRU. Watching him on camera cracked me up, and it cracked my dad up to watch live as he called in a dozen times and and hung up on everyone until he reached Terry. It was hilarious to watch! His team was kind of nervous, never having done it before and everyone giggled each time the camera panned over to the lucky person's who's phone rang.

This year Terry mentioned KLRU contacted him inquiring about the possibility of volunteering once again, and anyone who knows Terry knows he said HELL YES before they even finished the question. He would never turn down an opportunity to stick his face in front of a live television camera volunteer within the community.

He asked me if I wanted to participate this year, along with a bunch of his friends from work. And to everyone that knows me, knows that I have a huge fear of public speaking and OMG this is live television people! "Places Please!" and "5-4-3-2-ON" and all of that livetelevisionstuffthathappens. There's no running off stage or throwing up or fainting without all of the 100 old people watching KLRU world witnessing it.

I said yes. And totally acted like I was fine with it. But Terry knows me better than that and very quickly realized he might have a problem on his hands when after the producer gave us our printed instructions on how to correctly dialogue with callers, his wife was the only one of 10 people who took their paperwork off to the side to study while everyone else ate sandwiches in the green room. It was actually a hallway, but green room sounds fancy and we're all stars-like.

Terry laughed at me which only made me more nervous. I actually though about switching to an off-camera role, answering roll-over calls. But the last minute, I decided I was fine. Having a friend sitting next to me cracking me up, helped talk me off the bridge.

Terry and I decided to sit apart to maximize the opportunity for face-time. It turned out the spot I chose had the camera on it basically every moment and his seat hid him from view for 70% of the show. Ouch!


A producer secretly plotting to block Terry from any possible camera shot.


A pre-production huddle as Denise tries to light Terry's head on fire with her eyes.


No one can stop laughing! Except Terry. Who's not visible.


Finally! One of the TWO phone calls I had all night!


Here we have Ben actually WINKING at the camera on the bottom left and Toby who's laughing so hard she needs to get her water from the floor. Hilar.


Look at you guys! Working hard on those 3 phone calls you each took! Way to go!

The kind peeps at KLRU opened up the Austin City Limits set, which was next door, and it was gorgeous! The lighting is far from ideal for my camera flash, but I'm just happy I was able to get a tour!

Pictures from behind the scenes....Enjoy! Toodles!

KLRU

Food + Family + The Farm = THANKSGIVING!

Somebody needs to refil their Retin-A prescription.

Thanksgiving 2009 from Kara on Vimeo.

Parental Supervision Required

Same old stuff going on here. Not much new happening. Except yesteday I let the girls out in the backyard to wear their asses out enjoy the beautiful sunshine, and discovered they have their very own way of behaving like hillbilly banchies being creative with their imaginations.

I've got the most AWESOMEST idea.



Hey Ava! Look at ME!




It's totally fun! I feel the 50 degree wind on butt! Awesome!



Here. Look at my pants. Make yours do that.



HELLZ YEA!! LEAP FROG!!



OH SHIZ. WE'RE SO BUSTED. MOM TOTALLY SEES ME.



I'm pulling mine up. Act cool Ava. Pretend we're just chillin'.




She'll never know I started it. Especially by the way I fixed my pants. I'm a totally perfect pants-puller-upper.

False Advertising

I would love to meet the person who designed the packaging label for a container of barium sulfate liquid. I want to introduce myself to this person and instead of walking up and shaking their hand in a very cordial manner, rather use that same hand to slap them across the face as hard as humanly possible.

How full of shit are you man?! Trying to fool us by designing a label with pictures of vanilla beans, fragrant white flowers and frothy milkshakes with whipped cream squirted atop?? Are you kidding??

Do you think there's even 1 milligram of actual vanilla bean or magnolia essence or whipping cream in this shit? Wait, I know the answer to that question. Because I drank a bunch last night and had the pleasure of having another healthy portion for breakfast this morning. I drank all 450mLs of it and it certainly didn't come close to the lovely goodness that the label suggests. It tasted like chalk, metal shavings, wet toothpick wood and sweet-n-low were thrown in a blender and pulsed on high until it formed consistency of wet cement. Doesn't it sound delightful? I gulped it right down.

Actually, I tried to gulp it right down. As Terry was standing next to me, we pretended it was a "road block" on The Amazing Race and all I had to do was gulp it down in 1 minute and AWESOME! I would win a million dollars! I tried that... um... until right before it hit my top lip... the smell made it's way into my nostrils and I gave up on the Amazing Race. I totally lost a million dollars. Sorry honey, don't be mad.

It took me 30 minutes to drink last night's portion. I drank this morning's portion in 10 seconds flat because the girls were almost late for school. Barium burps are way gross. FYI.

You can imagine how excited I was when the doctor gave me an entire new glass of exciting vanilla milkshake to drink when I arrived this morning. I tried to tell her I already drank what they'd given me and OH GAWD there must be some mistake. Before I took a sip I told her about the whole Amazing Race thing and she laughed and nodded her head, so I laughed too and drank it all. Then she told me she'd never seen the show.

Can I Get A Bzzzz Bzzzz!

Ava was planning on dressing up like a cheerleader, until a couple of weeks ago when she saw an ad in the paper with a Strawberry Shortcake costume. She loves her some S.S. After she put on her costume this morning, I took her outside to spray her hair and sent her back in to check it out in her bathroom mirror. I wish I had taken a video of looking at it, with her hat off, it's really bright pink and she was totally amazed. The little things in life make a 4 year old smile, and it was exciting seeing her eyes light up as she was so berry berry pleased. She told everyone at school her hair was pink, as if they didn't notice the ever so natural, glowing pink hue of each of her pony tails.

Grace ran around the house this morning with arms out, buzzing, saying "I make honeee!" And, um, lemme tell you - if she were a real bumble bee, she'd bee the only one I wouldn't mind flying around my face. She makes a beeutiful bee, if I do say so myself. I hope she behives herself on Halloween night, and doesn't make a bee-line straight for the candy. I'm hilarious.

Happy Halloween Day at school everyone!

Strawberry, Bumble, and an adorable Baylor Cheerleader (Finley)

Spiderman (Bryson) took a break from saving the world

to pose with Strawberry.

Strawberry with Ariel (Ms. Marie)

Bumble next to her Cowgirl teacher (Ms. Fiona)

Ava Turns Four!

Happy Birthday Sweet Ava!

Ava's 4th Birthday Party from Kara on Vimeo.

Mr. Wizard Would Be So Proud

Amber and I took our kids to Chic-Fil-A for lunch this afternoon and she mentioned inside our kids' meals were some kind of science/experiment type of toys. I tossed them into my bag and after I got home, opened them up and read the instructions. I put the girls up on the kitchen counter and "completed" the experiment for them.

Directions:
1. Fill dish with milk and let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Add a few drops of food coloring.
3. Put a single drop of liquid soap in the middle of your dish. What happens???

Oh Gawd! How fun! WHAT ON EARTH WILL HAPPEN?! The suspense killed us. So I read the part that told us what to expect:

Get ready... I was excited when I read:

"Your milk colors will EXPLODE!!"

Oh Shit! Should the kids wear goggles? I looked inside the bag and didn't see any. What about gloves?! EXPLODING milk colors must make a huge mess, right? The bag didn't have any gloves either. Where are all of the safety warnings and safety equipment? Will it burn our faces when it EXPLODES all over my kitchen?

The directions/pamphlet advised us to try different kids of milk to see what effect that would bring.

After seeing first hand the EXPLODING fireworks of color, I can hardly wait to run to the store to buy all different kinds of milk, like skim or 2%. I might even try half-and-half or even whipping cream! OMG you guys! Chic-Fil-A kid's meal toys rawk!

Milk Explosion from Kara on Vimeo.

October 4th, 19(What?)

My mom's birthday was last weekend and her three lovely children got together to celebrate her big day! Lunch was late in the afternoon so we had the place to ourselves, which worked out great because the kiddos were able to be loud, run around and just be kiddos without pestering anyone. Sounds good to me!

Half of Grace's face, Ben, Chris, Madison & Kelli

Zach & Dana with Mom

Grace thought Ben's eyes should be closed.

Terry's enjoying hydrocodone. Or has gas.

Isn't this the sign for no good in football?

Yay for birthdays!! And ice cream!! With cherries on top!!

It's Friday! A Great Day For Humiliation!

Last year, the morning of Picture Day at school was a huge nightmare. A total flop. Ava bitched and moaned about the outfit I'd chosen, complained about her shoes, complained about her hair... I changed her three times, it was an absolute nightmare. All the while Grace was banging her forehead on the tile floor attempting to prove just how far she will go to get my attention and make me hold her. It was a morning from hell.

Well goooooood morning! It's picture day again! JOY!

For this morning's pre-picture routine, I was prepared for the shit to hit the fan. But, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the The Picture Day Gods had spoken. And they said (amazingly) No Child Shall Bitch About What Is Placed Upon Their Bodies.

It's a frickin' miracle.

Both of my children kept their big mouths shut as I got them dressed this morning. Not a peep. Not a whimper. Not a "But Mom! I want to wear my flip flops!" or "Noooo Mommieeeee, I don't wanna wear tocks wiff my soooose!" They just sat there like limp noodles allowing me to shove arms and heads and legs into outfits I ACTUALLY PICKED OUT. It was a journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the twilight zone.

I can't go on with how easy that part of the morning was, without mentioning the fact that I was so fixated on the feeling of freedom from the lack of arguing going on in the house that I forgot there was more to getting them ready for school than their clothes. Like packing their drinks. And packing their snacks. And packing Ava's Show & Share item. And it was only when I shut off my car and opened the door in the school parking lot that I realized I forgot something way more important than food or liquid for my children. That feeling of freedom I was having - was not from an argument free morning - but from me not having on a bra. Holy shit. Not only did I forget that important part, but as I was apologizing to Ava's teacher for the lack of snacks, drinks, homework, etc., I let her in on my wardrobe shortage. Yea, I don't know why either. But for some reason I felt obligated to tell her. We're friends, but I guess not as good as I thought because when I told her, she didn't laugh or say "Girrrrrrrl please, I've done that before!", she threw her hand up over her mouth in shock. I'm not sure if she did that because I confessed to her that terrible tidbit of TMI... or because I'd said it right in front of a Dad who had been behind me the entire time trying get around me to let his kid into class.

When I was a senior in high school I was a brat and a total know-it-all, and that year my step-dad told me he was going to buy me tractor for Christmas so I could pull my head of of my ass. I could have used that tractor this morning.

Never Have I Ever...

Have you ever been in a public restroom walking toward the sink when an automatic deodorizer-spritzer thing spritzes a wet, misty cloud of fresh fragrance directly into your face? Well let me tell you, it's exciting. Say the word spritz out loud. It made made me laugh too. Spritzing. Spritzed. Spritzle. Oooohh! Something should be named Spritzle! If you have a new kitten and you can't decide on a name... go with Spritzle. It's cute.

Have you ever drank an entire bottle of wine by yourself while watching the Emmy's? Well let me tell you, it's exciting.

Have you ever rolled over in the middle of the night and laid your cheek and part of your bottom lip onto cold wet toddler drool? Well let me tell you, it's exciting. And it stinks.

Have you ever gotten out of your car to get the mail when the the top part of your flip-flop, flips underneath the rest of your foot causing you to bash into the mailbox and nearly dislocate your right shoulder? And then look around, praying none of your neighbors saw it happen? Well let me tell you, it's exciting.

Have you ever been nearly stampeded in the rain by 3 goats with horns and a miniature horse because you didn't know they DO NOT like open umbrellas? Well let me tell you, it's exciting.

Have you ever consumed entirely too much wine while watching the Emmy's that you stand in front of the TV in your bedroom pretending that you've just won Best Actress in a Comedy Series? Me neither.

What Could POSSIBLY Go Wrong When You Take Your Dad's Car Out Without Him Knowing?!

Brittany and Brenda were in charge of planning September's GNO. They decided to switch it up a bit and chose Nuevo Leon down on 7th, and then booked us tickets for Esther's Follies!

Pre-evening prom pose.

The eight of us hopped into two cars and hit the road. Melissa drove Brenda, Rachel and me to the restaurant and we searched for a parking spot with no luck. Then boom! We found an open spot along a curb. Then boom! Melissa backs into a huge rock next to the curb. Everyone screamed upon impact - except Melissa... who honestly didn't realize anything had even happened. I opened my passenger door and heard whiizzzzzz. I know whiizzzzzz is a pee sound -but that's all I can think of to describe a tire that is losing air at a very. rapid. rate. Melissa threw it into drive and said she needed to find a spot with more space to change the tire. CHANGE THE TIRE?? OMG! Is she crazy?!!? We needed to find a boy. Boys change tires! But no boys were around. So Rachel saved the day and whipped out her Triple A card and with one quick phone call, the tire was fixed in no time flat. I said flat. heehee. Now we could sit down and have dinner and margaritas with time to spare before the show. I said spare. heehee.

They're smiling, but after I took this, they kicked my ass in the parking lot.

Dinner was delicious and the stories that were told were delicious too! You girls crack me up with the stuff we talk about. Just when I think I've heard it all, someone has something jucier than the last time. LOVE IT!

The show was of course, hilarious! They are always coming up with new bits, revolving around recent news or politics and even the bits they've done for years, still had me laughing outloud! For $25, you can't beat 2 hours of lol'ing with your girlfriends!

Oh. And one last thing. We stumbled into a crime scene while walking back to the car. And I of course had my camera ready to take pictures of any and all possible CSI activity. We did what anyone else would do and ducked under the yellow and black crime scene tape to check things out. Unfortunately, during our investigations, we didn't come across anything exciting. So we did the next best thing and committed our very own crime. Melissa, Tracie and Brenda re-enacted what they thought happened. And for some reason, they imagined a fist fight occurred, so Melissa punched Brenda while Tracey laughed. I'm pretty sure that's exactly what went down that night. We don't have very long rap sheets, so a fist fight seemed pretty crime-y to us. We were having a grand old time until a cop rushed over telling us to get the eff away. Evidently it was an active crime scene. Well excuuuuuse us. We ran off across the street, only after touching a whole bunch of stuff cuz, I mean come on... who gets the chance to say they've tampered with evidence at a crime scene. You should try it. It's lots of fun.

Brenda shows how it helps to squat prior to a punch.

Tracie: Are you sure he didn't he say "get IN the van" ??

I Wish I Knew How To Quit You

I'm almost finished with her book and um... I'm pretty sure I've read more of it out loud to Terry than quietly in my head. She's so damn hilarious I make him pause football or Chopped and read bits and pieces to him. And yea.... he loves that. But I feel like I have to share her hilarity with the world! And I don't have the world - so he's hitting pause a lot. Every night I laugh so hard I spit out my wine. I mean my ice water. And that's a lot of wine. I mean ice water.

She's got priceless Andy Dick stories, maaaaajor family drama, encounters with whack-job celebs and just good old fashioned Hollywood gossip. I loves it. I loves her. What must I do to make her love me?!?

I hope for Terry's sake there's nothing good on TV tonight...cuz he won't be watching much of it.

August 2009

The girls were enrolled in a summer session of preschool during June and July. All of August they were out and we were able to do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted! August is officially over and tomorrow at 9am the 2009-2010 school year begins for my little girls. This is Ava's third year of preschool. THIRD! It's hard to imagine how I ever dropped her off with diapers, wipes and a sippy cup. Now she rules the hallways like a teenager, chilling with friends in the hallway and talking about what she did over the weekend.

This will be Grace's second year of school. Last year she started off a little unsure, then became the class bully, then the class clown, and now she basically runs the toddler classrooms. Her teacher jokes she's the student council president. She's a take charge kind of kid.

She will have her very first school picture taken in October, I cannot wait to see how that turns out. It will be her very first school picture ever. And I'm sure the one I will remember the most.

August has been a month full of play dates with their favorite friends, swimming parties, arts and crafts, and all around good old fashioned summer fun.

August '09

Tidbits.

It's been a while and we've got lots to catch up on, so pay attention.

1. An Australian cockroach noted as heaviest insect in the world: If my real friends know one thing about me - it's that I'm deathly afraid of roaches. Dead or alive. Babies, adolescents, adults. Whatever stage of life they are in, they are disgusting little creatures. They have shimmery, greasy wings that want nothing more than to fly into curly hair and lay frothy eggs. Guh-ross. When I lived with my grandma in my early 20's, (don't laugh, we had fun) I ran down the stairs screaming there was a roach in my bathtub. She came upstairs and took one square of toilet paper off the roll, reached in the tub, grabbed its crunchy exoskeleton and ran toward me with it. I squirted her face with a can of aerosol hairspray and told her I would push her down if she came any closer to me with it. She laughed. I was serious.

2. My friend Laura: She just gave birth to triplets. TRIPLETS. GIRLS. THREE OF THEM. AT ONCE. God love her. She's accepting Tylenol PM gift baskets.

3. Jon Gosselin: He's still a dirt bag, just wanted to keep you in the loop.

4. Quentin Tarantino: HOW can people stand to listen to this annoying babbler?! His movies tell amazing stories themselves, but when he was on Conan last week, he attempted to tell a story about him and Brad Pitt in Pitt's living room drinking 5 bottles of wine together and it made NO SENSE and OMG I was so embarrassed just listening to him. I couldn't bear to watch. He might be creative and brilliant, but from 1 to 10, his dork-o-meter reads at an 11.

5. HBO Series, Hung: I love it!!! Because of the acting. Perverts. And because of Lenore.... she's such a bitch! But she's a witty bitch, who's smart. Everyone loves a smart, witty bitch. She cracks me up. I love Ray too. Cuz he's way hot. And his show is called Hung. And I might dream about him at night. And Honey, if you're reading this, the previous statement is pure fiction.

6. Chris Brown: He's still a dirt bag, just wanted to keep you in the loop.

7. Grace's name for muffins: "Nuffins." I pretend I don't hear her ask for them, and make her say it a bunch of times. Nuffins might be the cutest word ever.

8. The Duggar's are having their 19th child: Obviously, she's addicted to the Demerol drip after labor. I mean REALLY? 19 children? How whacked is her uterus by now?! How does her body even know when "it's time?" Does her uterus even contract anymore? I doubt it! After baby #13, I think she just hears crying and looks down to find a newborn squirming under the covers.

9. The Fresh Beat Band: If I have to hear that damned song one more time I'm going to throw myself onto an old rusty paring knife. For serious.

Tiny Dancer from Kara on Vimeo.

Circus 2009 - Hooray!

It was a great day for The Circus!

Circus 2009

Come In! Please Excuse The Rotting Pumpkin In The Livingroom.

I love a good train wreck. I love a good, hot mess. I really do. I love reality shows, confessional shows, intervention shows, all that stuff. Anything showcasing people who are screwy, unbalanced, whatever, I love to watch. Who doesn't? Oh hush, you know you do too.

Ok. So. On Monday night, Terry and I caught the premier episode of the new A&E show Hoarders. And hot diggity dang you guys, these people are freaks!! I've heard of hoarders and seen Animal Planet episodes of people that have houses overflowing with hundreds of cats and there's fur and feces and crazy-eyed cats leaping from counter to counter, but this show actually lets you in on the fruitcakes themselves.

And speaking of fruitcakes y'all. Keep a bucket close by, because the episode we watched had us gagging and dry heaving on the couch. One lady was a food hoarder. She lived alone. She bought food, mostly fresh vegetables and fruit, and just never used them. Or would use a little bit of something then stick it in her fridge in the vegetable drawer and leave it there. For months. And months. And months. And it would decompose and basically melt from it's own rotting juices then she would go and peel off the outside 'bad part' and eat the rest. I will pause while you throw up a little bit in your mouth. Or throw up a lot. Cuz that shit's gross.

She also was a completely filthy person who had all kinds of crud in her house, furniture everywhere, and you should have seen her kitchen. There was not a 1/4 of an inch of empty space on her kitchen counters. It was all old food and rotted bananas or tomatoes. She had 2 year old sour cream in her fridge and when they asked her why she'd kept it, she responded with, "What's it gonna do? Go SOUR?!" B.A.R.F.

She had a clear plastic container of cornmeal or flour or something, and showed how she would only get rid of it after she saw traces of bugs inside. She added that anything that needed refrigeration was good indefinitely, because as long as it didn't "puff up", it was still okay to consume.

The camera crew came across a year old pumpkin that had been decomposing on her hardwood living room floor. They picked it up (while wearing gas masks and gloves) to show it to her, as it was dripping rotted liquid onto the floor, she attempted to pick a few seeds out of it - saying it was such a beautiful pumpkin she couldn't bare to get rid of it without keeping some of its seeds.

Grodie to the max.

I love it.

Mel's Bachelorette / Birthday Celebration

Melissa rolled into town this weekend to celebrate two super exciting events! Her bachelorette partay and her birthday! F-U-N! When Toni and I met her for dinner at Maria Maria, she had quite the entourage in tow!! A lot of the girlies had spent the day with her at the Hilton, and played in the pool until the sun went down and evening came to life! :)

Maria Maria is Carlos Santana's restaurant, and the vibe was definitely interesting. Lots of glowing candles, loud music, pretty cool. We noticed a few tables over from us, Brad Womack (the Bachelor) was having dinner with a bunch of guys - which struck us as odd... where da women at? Never the less, he was there. Whoopdy do.

Renae hooked Mel up with a cake, and it was adorable! Not to mention, delicious!

After din din, we walked over to Six, and hung for a while before Toni and I decided we would call it a night. We were home at a decent hour like good girls. :)

Melissa, you are either smiling or laughing, and you go out of your way to make people feel comfortable and happy! You are such a sweetheart! I've had some really fun times with you girlie, and am glad I was able to make it out for your exciting adventure!

Congratulations! November will be here in NO TIME! Costa Rica betta look out!

(mini) Baldwin Family Reunion

Early last week my mom (quickly) organized a mini family reunion lunch at The Salt Lick and we were amazed that even with the short notice, almost 30 of us made it on Saturday! We were only short 6 or 7 peeps, and you can't beat that! This side of my family stays in touch frequently for the most part, but I was able to see a couple of cousins that I haven't seen in a really long time! We all enjoyed catching up and laughing, the afternoon was perfect!

Kudos on the location and corralling everyone together so fast! Job well done Momly!

I even brought my camera. I know! How odd! :)

The Salt Lick - A Mini Baldwin Family Reunion

Brenda, A Bra and Brooklyn Pie

Wednesday night a bunch of us girls tucked our tiny tots in bed, then met up at Z Tejas for a few celebratory drinks in honor of Brenda's birthday! It was such a fun time, we found out that one of us is pregnant again too!!! Yay! Another baby! That makes 29! We are some baby making fools!!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENDA!


Brandey and Rachel prove that our crowd can make anybody do anything.


The Z Tejas crew.

After drinks we were still very much in the mood for fun and popped on over to Brooklyn Pie Co. to sit on the back patio and chitty chat.


Brenda channels her 21st birthday and shoots grape cough medicine. We are proud of you for actually finishing it Bren!


It wasn't long before I craved a slice of pizza, I just didn't know it would be enormous. We are pointing at its enormous-ness.



Accidentally turned on the 2-second self timer. Who actually uses that one??


Happy Birthday Brenda! We all had a blast ringing in your big day! It was a great night!