Flashback {Goodnight Nobody}

I'm so glad I take the time (even here and there) to record memories with pen, camera, or keyboard because, otherwise, I tend to remember more of the feelings and lose too many of the fun details. This story has been saved in my computer files since January 8, 2007. At the time, I was teaching jr.high, H was our only child, and she was 1 month shy of 2 years old. Each of these children bring so many smiles, so much joy. May I hold onto the sweet details they add to our life:

Hanna gets goofy when she is tired, and little things can set her off. She was set off last night in the cutest way. There's a popular baby book out there called Goodnight Moon. Hanna knows it pretty well. However, we hadn't read it for awhile when we picked it up last night before bed. The story begins like it always does..."In the the great green room there was a telephone and a red balloon..." She's lovin' it, just soakin' it up. Then I start reading, "Goodnight room. Goodnight moon..." Then I read, "Goodnight nobody," with the page that's blank. Hanna laughs; she gets it. I say it again, and she laughs more. By the time I put her to bed, we read through the book three times, and repeat the "silly" page quite a few more times--every time followed by Hanna's laughs. This morning driving into work with Hanna in the back seat, I am driving with a smile on my face thinking of Hanna laughing like she did last night. Then I ask Hanna, "Do you remember reading Goodnight Moon last night." She nods. "Remember when we read the page, 'Goodnight nobody'?" Hanna laughs again.

{glimpses of H and us around the time of "goodnight nobody!"}

Mounds of Blankets, Curls, and Worms

While washing sheets this morning, this is where I found the whole mini crew. The girls are in there somewhere.



And sometimes photos communicate messages loud and clear. Follow top then bottom row: "Mooom! Just because I have cute curls doesn't mean you should let them grow and grow and grow. Brings these curls down a notch soon please!"

Do you see how he is expressing himself so well already!?

Today while AD napped, H ventured out into the pasture to explore and AF was determined to find worms in the garden as I planted more spring seeds. And she did. On her own, she found a "baby" worm, and soon I overheard her talking softly to it as if it was lost and far from family. She was thrilled that the worm didn't want to scurry out of her hand--so proud of the moment, she even said she wanted to show Abuela in Texas. The "conversations" with this worm continued for at least 10 minutes! It was at this point that I felt that I am not sure I am ready for our middle to move beyond the 2s into the world of 3s in a little over a week! I imagine these years to come are plenty sweet, too, but the innocence and imagination in these moments are precious. It was time to pack up seeds and head inside. As AF knelt down to let her friend loose, she excitedly shared, "Mom, I think I found its Daddy!" pointing to a long, fat one near her shoe. The reunion was made, and we both left pleased and sure we hadn't seen the end of those two.

Spring in Texas [4 of 4]

I write about Garner when today we had rain, sleet, hail, SNOW, and cold. I am missing those 90 degree days!

Because of the hot temperatures during our stay at Garner State Park, we did very little hiking and spent as much time as possible in the river...and napping in the A/C. And because we were all in the water so often, this trip included a lot fewer pictures.

On our first afternoon in the water, we played in a deeper portion of the river. For all of us except AF and AD, this is the place to really play, get soaked, and swim. But, even so, it's a gradual decline; so the water on the edge is perfect for little ones:




Each day here, we saw an inch worm appearing suspended in air actually climbing its thread up into the leaves of the tree next to our camper. What a cool, funny sight it was!


The extent of our "hiking" was taking a roadside path to the pavilion to see some overlooks and visit the gift shop:


[H asked: "Oh, Mom! Can we get these??" My response, thinking of all the water bottles we have at home and two more we just brought back with us from Abuela's: "Not this time, but you can have your picture taken with it!" So, her face. The girls did find some cute bracelets and tasty rock candies instead.::::Also, sometimes parks surprise me with interesting, attractive architectural details. This painted tile was the flooring for all of the concessions and gift shop.]

We stayed in an extra shallow portion of the river on our second day, hoping the youngest ones would explore more in the water. However, the two Littles enjoyed staying on the shore throwing rocks most of the time. H had at least 3-4 feet depth to practice her swim moves:




[Can you spy the rocks being tossed? AF tended to go the route of multiple, pebble-ish sizes; AD went for mini-boulders.]

[AD tried his first taste of Daddy's favorite: Big Red. It was bound to happen.]

[After two days of swimming and a bit of Big Red, it looks like we've had it! or had tons of fun.]

[And shortly after the girls were cleaned from head to toe, they got stickied up with their rock candy. Nice.]

So right now, I am a bit dreamy-eyed looking at these shorts-and-tank-top weather days as I am typing here while our fireplace blazes! And to top that off, I started our spring garden earlier today before the sleet, hail, and snow came in. It's feeling wrong! The warm will be here soon enough, but I could do with a little more Texas right now!

Spring in Texas [3 of 4]

The big plan for this final week was "finish the projects that we started." Top that off with the normal work week and fitting in some more sweet times with family and friends, and it was pretty eventful. We went into San Antonio one night to watch our friends' daughter sing and dance with a talented group of children ranging in age from 3 to 17. The young set of cousins spent the night with us a few more times. We lounged outdoors in the pleasant evenings just visiting with friends. We saw Espi's brother's new home where he, his wife, and 6 children live snugly and sweetly. Espi's cousins, also, invited us over for a delicious dinner which included homemade tortillas; H enjoyed more than her fill of them and was even given a take-home bag with a few more for later--lucky girl.


[At Don Pedros for dinner, the cousins had to eat the exact same thing, and note the order of hamburgers at a Mexican restaurant.]


[We watched the sun set in my brother and sister-in-law's backyard, while the children played in the chilly evening air.]





[After dinner at Espi's cousin's home, the children ran loose with the dogs until bedtime called.]




[It was a sweet treat to enjoy casual time with 3 of the 5 sisters. Berlinda, on the right, hosted the dinner at her home; she just had her second daughter (sleeping in Isabel's arms) 6 weeks prior. Dee, in the middle, is one Espi has kept in touch with the most over the years.]


[This was our last night before having to leave. My mother-in-law just got back from work, and the girls had just recently stepped out of the bathtub. Espi, soon after, came in from a big day of finishing up projects outdoors. I think the tired is seen in almost everyone's eyes (and maybe a bit of sunburn on someone's face), but they are precious moments.]


[Then came nighttime nuttiness again. I'll blame it on the homemade lemonade we made and taste-tested just 30 minutes before. These were some very gentle "blows to the face," thus H's smiles.]

I don't know at the moment exactly how many projects were completed. I can tell you that new siding and a garage door were installed, carpeting was laid, fencing added, about a 300 feet long-2 feet deep trench was dug and water pipes and electricity were laid before the trench was filled in again, several water hydrants were put in, a window, light, and faucet were installed. An old picnic frame was restored to make a new table. There was caulking, lots of caulking! It's amazing what love will do!

These show a taste of the transformations:







["See you later, Abuela!"]

Who knew 3 weeks could pass by so quickly!? But it was time to leave and time to fit in one more camping stay at one of our favorites, Garner...

Jesus Lives

Only You can save me
When my hope is fading and I'm losing the fight
And when the world wears me down
You're my life's love
You keep my heart alive...



Thankful today for being risen from the dead with Jesus, for grace, for forgiveness, His intimate presence each day ready to show us the good life, His promise to never leave us, and His promise to return to make everything sad come untrue. Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?


Jesus, keep our hearts alive for you.

Spring in Texas [2 of 4]

In the midst of this unusually long trip, the plan was to take mini "vacations" over the course of the weekends and visit some places we rarely get to see pretty close to Abuela. Our first weekend was set aside for "the boys" (Espi and friends) to bass fish. That fishing trip didn't workout; so time was dedicated to tackle big parts of our project list for "Mom." A fishing day trip did get squeezed in by the end of the weekend though.

The next weekend, we took off for the Gulf of Mexico to spend one night at Mustang Island State Park. We rarely have been disappointed in our state park stays, but this park was added to our short list. All it had to offer was the beach, but theirs had no water access without drudging through at least 20 to 30 feet of seaweed. We were surprised to not find even a small portion of their beach cleared away for visitors to easily enjoy the water. We drove up the coast to Port Aransas and found a beach that still had some seaweed but much more accessible. The kids had a blast in the windy, 75 degrees weather. They played in the water close to 3 hours, longer than I expected, and were very sad to know we "already" had to get back to the camper for dinner and bathes.

[The girls were so eager to get playing when we got out at MISP's beach and were so confused when we soon after told them to hop back into the truck because beyond these small sand dunes we discovered the masses of seaweed up and down the shoreline.]

[off to the water in Port Aransas]


[mini-Espi: Longhorns, curls, Big Red. AD is just posing with Espi's empty can this time, but he gets his first taste of Daddy's much-loved-drink later in the trip.]




[The next morning after breakfast we did a little more shell searching right there on MISP's sand before heading off to our next destination.]

After the mass seaweed exposure and the pockets of sand found inside the girls' swimsuits folds, Espi and I were both pretty eager to head inland aways. We headed to Goliad State Historical Park, the site of an old mission with a fort and battle ground nearby. The history of this area is fascinating, sad, heroic; it's tied to the Battle of the Alamo and the several other missions in and around San Antonio. I am a sucker for Spanish architecture; all the simple, thoughtful details in practical beauty make me a happy girl. This small and peaceful park was a pleasure.
[Upon arrival to GSP, H spotted this little guy. The catepillar hunt never stopped. She begged me to take a picture!]

The walk through and around the mission was a highlight. It was a hot afternoon, though. Probably upper 80s. We stuck to the shade as much as possible.






[Waiting outside after seeing the church and a small museum of artifacts. The girls already looked sweaty and tired. I teased them that I was going to take a picture of their exhaustion. Then she gave me this pose. She said she was a statue.]



[The girls take a close look at a horned toad found in the courtyard.]

Next we toughed out the heat some more to see an old fort a couple miles down the road. A massacre took place in this area, and we visited the graveyard and a couple statues honoring military leaders and a herione of the time, too.

[walking the wall of the fort]

[notice the sweaty forehead, poor guy, but I couldn't resist capturing that sweet face]

Secretly, the next plan was ice cream and finding a great park everyone was talking about for the kids. The park was called Sunfort, and it was next door to Dairy Queen. How fortunate! The surprise was a success.

[The kids had such a ball at the park, we came back to play more the next day, too.]

Espi and I were both taken in by Goliad's history and small town charm and made time to walk the town square in the morning before heading back to "Mom's." One must-stop was the Markethouse Museum, which we heard had great local artifacts, and it did! Here, H asked me to pretty much record the whole museum by photos. "Mom, take a picture of this, too!" We all really did love seeing all the "old stuff."


Next, we took a walk around Goliad's town square. Many buildings have been restored or are in the process. It's quite charming and filled with lots of sweet potential. Most of the time we just peeked in windows, but we did find one shop we really enjoyed. There, Espi wished we could take a $5,000 handcrafted, dining room table home. We both, also, really liked a print of a black and white painting of Mary, Jesus' mother for much, much, much less. With no surprise, we went the route of the print instead.


[Goliad's courthouse and shops]


[Here the girls are waiting outside while Daddy buys our print. Love these sweet, fun, silly, little people.]

The drive home from Goliad was beautiful--rolling country, overcast weather with cattle grazing. A really lovely way to finish our special weekend "away."

And to Abuela's we returned to start our last work week in Texas...