Our attempt at the splash pad

There is this awesome splash pad less than 5 minutes from my parents' house.  We took Violet there today hoping that she would have fun and play in the water.  Instead, she clung to me like this the entire time:

 This was the only water feature she agreed to play in.

 She did end up having fun on the playground.  There was a cool zipline thing,

 and more fun toys.  But I'm still a little disappointed that she wouldn't play with the coolest thing there.

Birthday bliss

Our family clebrated my birthday today.  Mom and I stayed up late last night making this cake.  Isn't it beautiful?  Let me just tell you what went into it.  First you make two delicious coconut cakes.  Then you brush them with a lime glaze that I licked out of the bowl more times than I care to admit.  When that is set, you frost it with a cream cheese-coconut frosting and top with toasted coconut.  I almost cried when I ate it.

 Dad made us all bleu cheese burgers while I took a nap.  After dinner, Brandon started an amateur rugby league in the backyard.  He even got Mabel to kick the ball.  That only lasted until she accidentally kicked it into Asher's face, and then she (not Asher, he was fine) ran off crying.  Poor girl, I guess the guilt was just too much for her.

 When everyone had recovered the kids played ring around the rosie. 

 And everyone loved their pixie stick magic wands that I made for them.

After that, we took a nice bike ride around the neighborhood.  Despite the previous pictures, Violet LOVES riding the bike now.  It was a perfect day, and it's not even my birthday yet!

What we've been up to

Today is our last full day in Idaho. I know I haven't been posting much, but the beginning of our trip was dominated by vomiting and 40 degree weather, so it really wasn't that fascinating. The last few days have been nice and I feel relatively good, so we managed to squeeze some fun in before we head home.

Violet loved playing with her favorite aunt. I'm not trying to cause jealousy; there really is a clear favorite here. Within a day she was saying "Mia" and squealing every time she walked in a room. Most of the time she will pick Mia over Mommy.
Running around naked in the dirt is always fun.We also played 9 holes of golf.
And sleeping in the pack-and-play gave Violet some really awesome hair.

For the love of rocks

Rice approved Brandon to change from the master's program to the Ph.D program!  That means 1.5-2 extra years of schooling, but when your husband loves rocks as much as mine does, the decision is a no-brainer.
AND since we will be living here for 3 more years and saving on rent this summer, Brandon gave me the approval to start looking for a nicer place to live.  So if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!  (One with a washer and dryer would be nice!)

Just keeps getting better

Remember how in my last post I mentioned that Violet threw up on Saturday?  Apparently she gave it to me.  On our flight into Salt Lake I started getting really nautious.  When I got off the plane, I promptly went to one of the airport restaurants and asked for a bag.  It's a good thing I did because at baggage claim I sat down on the floor and threw up.  I thought I was better after that but at my grandparent's house I threw up 4 more times, and by the time Brandon's mom came to pick us up, I could hardly walk.  I then got into a cramped, bumpy car for a 3-hour ride up to Idaho. And I threw up every 20 minutes for the first 2 hours of it.  Luckily the worst is over and I now only have flu-like symptoms, but I still feel like crawling into a hole and sleeping all day.  Thank heavens for the 8 babysitters I have at my disposal here.

Highs and lows of my week

Highs:
Talking with Brandon until 1 AM
Seeing Violet DIVE into a pool at play group
Having my parents come to my rescue and help me move
Having a pediatrician with me when Violet got sick
Taking a bike ride with Violet (she likes it now)
Seeing a man in full camouflage (bushes hanging off his back and all) pop out of a field and scare my pants off while I am biking
The miracle of actually getting this all done

Lows:
Taking Brandon to the airport at 6 AM to go on a 5-day field trip, then babysitting until 5 PM when I get back
Being a single mom all week/weekend
Having to clean and pack our apartment while watching 2 kids because we had to move out this weekend
Realizing what a crappy place I have been living in for the past 9 months (stairs aren't evenly spaced, the toilet doesn't work, the tub doesn't drain, the closet is so poorly designed that you can't take your hangers off the rack, mosquitos wait for you outside the door, and it looks dirty even when it's clean)
Seeing poor little Violet throw up all over herself in the car and not being able to do anything about it because we are on the freeway
Getting news that Brandon's flight is delayed and he doesn't have a ride home
Realizing that I will get home from picking him up at 2 AM, and then I have to wake up at 3:45 AM to catch our flight at a different airport (So pretty much not being able to sleep at all tonight)

Well I guess that's it.  Eventful, huh?

Why me?

Want to know something about me?  I never really planned on working after I had kids.  I had spent my whole life up until then trying to avoid work at all costs and I figured, why start now?  I'm so good at being lazy.  I can just raise a child and sew and paint when I want to and life will be good. 

But now I am starting to think that some force in the universe wants me to work, because people keep offering me jobs that I don't ask for.  "Can you manage our storage facility for two weeks?" Sure!  "And then every weekend after that?"  No problem!  When we moved here, I casually mentioned to one girl that I would like to babysit, and the next day she had a job lined up for me.  (That was actually pretty awesome.) And the day before my last day of that job, I randomly get offered a tutoring job while I am at the park with Violet.  (Yes, that was last night.)

Okay, I'm really not complaining about any of this.  They have all been great jobs that have allowed me to bring Violet with me.  And let's face it, we need the money.  But I'm starting to wonder what it is about me that makes people offer me jobs.  Do I just seem like I would be a hard worker?  Because if they think that, they obviously don't know me very well.  Or maybe it's something much less glamorous, and I just seem like the kind of person who has nothing better to do.  Whatever it is, I guess I should be thankful for it.

Violet's first bike ride

It was a big hit.

Why Wednesdays are the best

Today we had an Easter egg hunt at playgroup.  There were so many cute moments that the only way I could get them all on was to make a collage. After that we went to TCBY, and Violet and I shared a waffle cone.  It was so precious that it could only be recorded in black and white.

 And last, but not least:  I caught Violet sneaking some food from off the counter.  Can anyone guess what's in the tub?  It'll make you laugh.

Being a mom is officially the BEST JOB EVER.

Thai festival

This weekend our friends invited us to a Thai festival in Houston. I was crazy about the food. Violet and I shared an enormous plate of green curry, and it was only $3!!! I was pretty excited about that. You could pay $10 for something less authentic at a restaurant. And can I just say how proud I am of Violet for liking spicy food?

Sexy picture of me, I know.

My favorite things were the kabobs. I don't know what they put on that meat to make it so good. Probably LSD or something. Anyways, they were amazing.

We had a great time with our friends, and Violet had tons of fun running around. And we never lost Violet, because her blonde head stuck out like a sore thumb. It was great.

I don't normally blog about food....

But this week I was feeling especially inspired. I took a chicken breast, stuffed it with cheese and salami, and wrapped it in bacon. It was too pretty not to take a picture.

Much better now

Okay, I am done being sick. Phew. This weekend turned out to be much better than the week. I finished making Violet's Easter dress, and besides being a couple of inches too short, I think it turned out REALLY cute.

On Friday, Violet and her friend went to the zoo. Actually I went to the zoo with my friend, and our babies came along for the ride. Either way, it was fun. They really enjoyed the petting zoo.

On Saturday we went out to Asher's birthday party, which was a blast. Violet felt so big getting to eat at the kids' table.Later that night I threw a panini party for our friends that were in town. Sunday was not as fun, however, because Brandon had class and meetings from 8 AM to 8 PM. Yes, class. I was not happy. But at least I'm not sick anymore.

Sick days

This week has been pretty disappointing. The weekend was fun-- we got to go to lots of parties and watch conference-- but Violet developed a 103 degree fever on Sunday. Which I got a few days later. And Brandon has been working nonstop on a poster that he has to present on Monday. Miserable.

Guess what we had for dinner?

Brandon's department had their huge annual crawfish boil. And by huge, I mean 900 lbs of crawfish. We got to help sort the live ones from the dead ones, which involves sticking your hand into a kiddie pool of angry crawfish in attack stance, picking up the ones that look dead, shaking them to make sure they're dead, and throwing them into a pile. It's a lot more fun than it sounds.

At first, Violet didn't want them around her. She was a little scared of all the people and loud music. After awhile she warmed up and had a really good time. She even got a strand of beads just for being cute.

Ta-da!

You may have heard me mention that my sister and I are starting a sewing blog. Well, it is finally up and running! It's still a work in progress but we have tons of ideas, so we will be posting more soon. Check it out and follow us!

pintucksandruffles.blogspot.com

Trapped

Yesterday morning, just after baby #2 came over for the day, our management informed me that they would be replacing our stairs. Then they told me not to worry, because they would put replacement stairs in place while they were working. And here is their idea of replacement stairs: Anyone want to carry 2 babies down this? These stairs are literally the only way to get to my aparment. So I was inside, all day, with 2 babies. And I had to send baby #2 home in our hiking back pack, because that's the only way her dad would take her down that ladder when he picked her up.

Luckily, I have no problem scaling a ladder with a baby. I went to say goodbye to Bradon for the night, because he was staying in a hotel for his competition the next day. And after that, I had the best time ever with Jennifer. We ate awesome barbecue, shared a seriously enormous slice of chocolate cake with Violet, and watched a movie at my house. I almost invited her to sleep over but she needed to spend some time with her boyfriend before she moves. Crap. I'm going to miss her.

Bluebonnets

This weekend we went out to Mom and Dad's to try to find some bluebonnets. The ones out there weren't spectacular, but Brandon got to come, so it was fun. Last night I stopped at a bluebonnet field at Rice that was much fuller. The sun was going down, so I had to hurry and snap some pictures of Violet.

Totally worth it.

How to be crafty (freezer paper style)

Since Bexie asked, and it's St. Patrick's day, I thought I'd post the shirt I made for Violet. Being a non-Irish, non-Catholic, non-drinker, my relationship with St. Patty's day is strained at best. But I am a lover of the color green. And last night when I went through Violet's wardrobe, I didn't find a single green thing. So for today, I skipped the four-leaf clover and did a green Celtic knot on her onesie instead. And if that's not Irish, then I'm not Mormon.

First step: draw (or trace, I won't judge) your stencil pattern on to the papery side of freezer paper. You can get this at your grocery store-- it has a plastic side and a paper side. Then cut it out. This is where an X-acto knife comes in handy.
Step 2: Iron the stencil, plastic side down, onto the onesie. The plastic will melt and stick to the shirt. Make sure all the edges lay flat, because they can get caught and cause problems. Then dab tons of acrylic paint on the cut out part. Check that you aren't missing any spots.

Step 3: When it's dry (or before, if you're impatient like me), peel up the freezer paper and see how cute it is. Then put it on your kid, because it looks even cuter that way.

GRRR!!! Why does blogger mess with my pictures?

This semester I have been making a big deal out of day-to-day things. Because maybe, if I occupy myself with enough trips to the zoo, and visits from friends, and craft projects, I will forget about the missing 1/3 of our family. Too bad it hasn't worked. But who am I to complain; I'm not the one going to school on Saturdays, or waking up at 4:30 to do homework. Brandon has been nothing but a hard worker; I have been nothing but a hard whiner. I totally don't deserve him.
Moving beyond my frustrations, this "keep busy" mentality has resulted in a couple of fun things. First of all, we now go to the zoo so often that I made Violet an official Zoo shirt. And for some reason, blogger decided that the picture needed to be vertical. Drawing the stencil was easy, cutting it out was a different story. It was also supposed to be purple, but I guess the zebra wanted to be anatomically correct and it came out black.

And let it be known that I took my punk rock husband and baby to a country music concert at the Rodeo. Thanks for taking us, Mom and Dad.