It's A Girl!!!!!

We've done it again and added a new member to our family! It's a girl and we've named her Macy. Ok, I told you all I am done having kids so don't go there. No, this little girl is of the feline species. When our kitty Bailey died in March, I promised the kids that when we moved into our house we would get another kitty. But.... we didn't quite make it that long! My girlfriend Corrie (sucker #1) called me about 5 weeks ago when she rescued a stray cat that had just given birth under a hot, dirty loading dock and her husband's warehouse. She's a vet tech so she took care of the whole brood for 5 weeks (while recovering from surgery to remove a cancerous thyroid, God Bless her.) So now here is an available kitten that needs a good home. Enter sucker #2- me. We picked her out a couple of weeks ago when we went up to Mansfield to visit and we got her today. The kids love her and Brannon and Tierney think the only way to communicate with her is to meow as loud as they can, in her face.

How appropriate that today was Friday the 13th and we got an all black kitty with the most beautiful blue eyes!

Everything in Life Starts with a Solid Foundation

The house is slowly (well, too slow for us) but surely coming along. The frame is on it's way up but here is a picture of my family (Wes is standing behind Brannon) on our foundation (taken last week.) The view can't be seen from here but you can see the plethora of trees in the back yard. Also, the back of the house is about 8 feet up from the ground- all solid foundation. It's exciting to watch our house being built!

Secondly, take some time today to be thankful for the foundation you've been given. I think we all know how fleeting and fragile life is, but sometimes it just has to slap you in the face. A friend of mine, Meredith Hatch was killed this past Sunday. She was training for a race (cycling) and riding with her trainer on a neighborhood street Sunday morning when she was struck by a truck going over 60 mph, driven by a drunk driver. This was a senseless, stupid tragedy. She was the director of the preschool Wesley went too in Mansfield. She knew every child and every parent that walked through that door. She always had a smile on her face and she made every child feel important and special. She was a mom of 3 young boys and only 38. I think the one thing I can do to honor her life and make since of her death is to be so thankful for everything I have been given, because everyday is a gift.

"Here comes the bride...."

Yeah! I am so happy for my cousin Christy who got engaged this weekend! I don't have sisters so my aunts and cousins are very special to me! Christy is my closest in age female cousin. She's smart, beautiful, generous, kind and most importantly, Tierney's Godmother! Jacob finally popped the question and we are happy he will be part of our family. Congrats to both of you, we are so very happy for you!

All this wedding stuff these days is getting me in the mood to get married again. I don't think anyone will want a 32 year old- mini van driving- part time zookeeper- part time maid- part time chauffeur- mother of 3 so I guess I have to stick with the husband I have (sorry Ben!) When I brought to him that up for our 10 year anniversary (this October) that we could have another wedding, he told me to forget it-we have our hands full just planning birthday parties!

Cheap Wine of the Week (posted a couple of days late)

Well, there's no picture of the Cheap Wine of the Week because this wine is so cheap I guess it doesn't even have a website. I found this wine when I was in HEB on Friday and they were doing a wine tasting over in the gourmet cheese area. They were sampling a $5.89 bottle of wine and a $37 bottle of wine. I took a sample of both along with a taste of Aged Irish Cheddar Cheese (oh so good!) The cheap wine was "La Di Da" White Zinfandel. It was described as a fun, social, sipping wine. I liked it, I bought some, and it's perfect for a sipping on a summer afternoon.

Cheap Wine of the Week

Ok, I didn't post a cheap wine last week because the wine we tried was yucka. I guess that will happen when buying cheap wine. But, I did find a good one this week. This one was a whopping $6.29! Hold on to your wallets! It's Night Harvest Merlot. It was very smooth (again, for a cheap wine, we gotta keep this in perspective) and it has some berry undertones, which I like. It's a great "drink while you cook" wine. I liked it so much that I want to try the Shiraz next. Here's the website, just cause it's a cute one: http://www.nightharvest.com/wines/

And, for extra coolness, the cork is black. Let me know what you think if you try it!

Celebrating the wedding of our great friends

I jsut wanted to do a quick post in honor of our good friends Michael and Brandy Yeargan who got married last night. It was a great wedding here in Austin and we are so happy for them. Michael is one of Ben's oldest friends, his roomate in college, a fellow Marine, the Best Man for our wedding and a GREAT guy. We are so happy he found his perfect match in Brandy. We are excited to be in the same city together, after all these years, and we wish them all the wonderful things in life they deserve. Here's a picture of them and a picture of Ben and I, we were so excited to be out without the kids (for the first time in months and months!!)

Pictures

Things have been relatively quiet here this past week (i.e. no Brannon mis-adventures) mostly due to me being very sick (fever, chills, migraines, etc) and so we've all been trapped in the house (Ben is traveling more than he is home these days.) Anyway.... I haven't emptied pictures off my camera in awhile so I am doing that now. I thought I would post a few cute ones.

The 1st picture is Wesley at school last week on Pioneer Day. The kids and teachers dressed up as pioneers and went through the entire day as a pioneer school. They made candles, ate pioneer food, wrote with a quill and ink, played pioneer games, learned to square dance, made things with yarn, etc. He had a blast and it really gave him an idea what it was like be a child in the 18oo's. We love Wesley's new school and teacher, she is so creative. And, of course Wes has adjusted well. He's so social and outgoing this move hasn't really slowed him down!

The 2nd picture is Brannon digging in the dirt with...you guessed it... his dinosaurs. I know we have a ton of pictures of him doing that but that really is all he does (besides get into trouble.) And with that grin on his face, who could ever guess what that little boy is capable of! He always has at least one dinosaur, if not 5 in his hands so we don't have any pictures of him without them!

The 3rd picture is Tierney in our Octopus Chair. She loves that chair and loves to sit in it and "pretend" to read or just suck her thumb. She making progress towards walking now- she's almost got it! Just in time for her 18 month milestone! (The orthopedist said last week that she is hyper flexible and she's having a hard time training her muscles to get them to do what they are supposed to. She said that she will get it very soon and then to put her in gymnastics!) She loves to toddle across the room just to get over to the octopus and sit on it!