Today I hear shucking...

...at Dr. Chang's annual crawfish boil today! Jason and I overdid it on crawfish and Cajun potatoes. The kiddos enjoyed the brownies and chocolate chip cookies! We all enjoyed great company...and tolerated the heat and cicadas!

the entree.

the feast!

"Laissez bon temps rouler!"

If this post got your mouth watering just a little, you might be interested in ordering your own live crawfish and hosting your own crawfish boil!

Oh, and Happy Birthday, Mommy! I threw a few extra down for you!! :)

Today I hear rhymes...

...at the Poetry Jam, kinder-style!

Nate was selected as one of ten kindergarteners to read two of his poems at the Barnes & Noble Poetry Jam. He did great--he was confident, clear and even got a chuckle or two!

His poems on display

"Ocean"

The ocean is not a potion

It's motion.

It's not lotion.

It does not have a shin.

It is not thin.

--By Nate, Kindergarten, Ms. Thelen

"Sea" (yes, there's a theme!)

Fish are swimmy.

Jellyfish are jiggly.

Sharks are chompy.

Sea horses are hangy.

Whales are blowing.

Dolphins are jumpy.

--By Nate

Arghhh...Blurry!


Amelia waiting patiently

I'm Back!

Call it what you will--a resolution, a new focus or a basic desire--but after more than a sabbatical year I'm returning to this blogosphere. Yes, it's a new year. I'm back.

How did our l'il family celebrate the turning of the calendar you might ask? With hot cider, boggle, those noisy horn blowers that our 5YO son found oh-so-fascinating, some Fleetwood Mac mixed with They Might Be Giants on the playlist and DH's peppermint cheesecake. Nate was so excited about the New Year then surprised us at bedtime (8:30--we're mean parents...they're just both so worn out from the Holidays) when he started crying because he didn't want to say goodbye to 2010. "I really liked 2010," he sobbed. "I don't want to say goodbye!" So we reviewed our year month-by-month and said goodbye. We're ready for the adventures of 2011!

All was well in the morning when he jumped in bed to wish us a Happy New Year! Later, we went out to lunch to celebrate. Hah! Not too many places here in the ol' college town were open for lunch on NY day! Oops. We found one (after three other attempts, but one is all we needed, right?) and rang in the new year with portabello burgers. Then we hung shelves in the garage in 30 degrees. Organization...another resolution? How cliche!


- Posted from my iPhone using BlogPress

My One-Year-Old Nearly Beat Me Bowling

Today was discount Family Fun Day as we tried to get rid of some of the promotional "free whatever" coupons we've gathered in a pile over the past few months. On our nature hike this morning at Friedrich Park, we finally took a right at the initial trail fork and made it up to the old windmill. Both the kids enjoyed watching the big blades spin and the little goldfish in the water well play hide and seek in the weeds. Our four-year-old enjoyed identifying the numbered plants on the trail with the corresponding names on the map. Our 16-month-old was content to eat rocks and walk across the plank-bridges over and over and over again! We returned home in time for PBJs and Amelia's nap (oh, how I wish Nate would've taken one today. After his 6:00 wake-up and a long day, he just couldn't make it until bedtime. He started what would be an impressive meltdown just as we were finishing dinner at EZ's...but I get ahead of myself.)

"I found number 12 again, Dad...mountain cedar!"

Yup, there's the bridge...again!

After everyone was refreshed (and Jason and I finished our pm shot of espresso!), we loaded up the Sebring for an afternoon of family bowling! This would be nearly impossible for me to do alone with the kids at this age, but a perfect filler with Jason's help on a hot Texas afternoon. They had shoes down to a children's size 6. Amelia's in a 5, so what the heck? We let her try too! Nate an Amelia used the bumpers and the ball ramp. Nate's very first ball had to be retrieved by the attendant because it didn't make it down to the end of the lane. His second ball was clocked at 1.3 mph, so for future attempts, we had him use the ramp. He thinks that's a pretty cool physics experiment in itself--sometimes he just taps the ball off the ramp, sometimes he shoves it with a heave-ho! The end-point of this story, glossing over the chaos of having two kids under four with exploring personalities in the lanes; is that Nate bowled a 101, I tied Amelia with a 102 and Jason got a "lucky" tenth frame to jump ahead and win with a 121. Basically, Amelia nearly beat everyone!

Aren't these just the cutest bowling shoes ever!

She had fun with the cause & effect of it all...and she loves balls; so she was happy!

Nate celebrating after a STRIKE!

Pick Up the Park, Please!

We made a morning of visiting Jason at the hospital today. We wanted Nathaniel to have a visual of where "Daddy" works, so I loaded up the kids and headed to the base. I needed to pick up one thing from GNC, so we stopped by the BXtra (and I bought Amelia her first baby doll--her eyes light up whenever she sees one of her babies, kitties, teddies or monkeys these days. At 16 months, I think we've officially entered the baby doll phase It's amazing. I've certainly never demonstrated how to "properly" play with dolls, and yet she took the baby bottle accessory that came with it and held it right up to her new baby's mouth. Then she laid baby on the couch and gave it kisses! These kids never cease to surprise me.) OK, but back to base. Jason was in a morning surgery, so we had another hour to kill before we could meet up with him. I took the kids to the awesome park behind the commissary--it's a giant, shaded (oh-so-important this summer) 3-part park. Nate and Amelia explored all the sections--the 0 to 3-year-old section with a play train, car and ramps; the 3 to-8-y-o section with bigger steps, a tower, a twisty slide and suspension bridges; and the 9 to 12-y-o section (or smtg like that) with just every little bell and whistle a playscape could have--tunnels, bridges, climbers, towers, slides, twists, hangers, etc. About 30 minutes into play time, Nate found a plastic shopping bag and shouts, "I found trash, Mom!" I thought I'd put the candy wrapper that Amelia was about to put in her mouth inside the bag and throw it away. But for those who know how task-focused my son can be, we proceeded to play "garbage man" around the park for the next 30 minutes. I was a little disgusted when he brought used band-aids to the pretend "garbage truck," but I had enough when he ran up to me holding...a used tampon. Arghh. Seriously. I have no idea. I'm guessing (or hoping) some stray animal hauled it out of the park restrooms and tried to bury it in the wood chips. Needless to say, I tried to keep my composure while simultaneously disinfecting my child and ending this altruistic game of make-believe.



Oh, lunch in the hospital cafeteria was uneventful (minus Nate spilling my full cup of lemonade onto my tray). And both Nate and Mia enjoyed running circles around Dr. Dad during our tour.

GRADUATION!! WE DID IT!

This week was One Big Celebration--sangria included!

I think the governor called and declared this "Jason Goodwin Week!" Between the graduation festivities and his birthday, we did a lot of celebrating in his honor! It was a super, fantabulous week! I'm still waiting for the mayor to call offering him the key to the city! ;)

After a trip to the zoo and our fancy (probably-once-in-a-lifetime) dual-birthday dinner at La Reve on Wednesday (my birthday), the party continued...even spilling into the following week!

Ready for the CMDA Grad Banquet
(And yes, it's hard to keep grass green in a drought!)

Thursday, May 21

Taking full advantage of my mom being in town to help during graduation week, we left for another night out. Our CMDA chapter held a dinner banquet for the graduating seniors. The meal was a home-style spread of Roger's barbecue, Kelly's potato salad, and Scott's beans. The practicing doctors brought an assortment of potluck desserts. Many of the graduates gave a testimony as to how CMDA influenced their lives during medical or dental school. Then the soon-to-be docs were presented with the Doctor's Bible and devotional book by Dr. Wayne Grant (also Nate and Amelia's pediatrician--through no coincidence).

Jason receiving his gifts from Kellie and Dr. Grant

Friday, May 22

Nate making Daddy's dino birthday card (and Mia jockeying for chair position)

Nate watching "The Magic Schoolbus" in his shark costume...everything's normal at the Goodwin house!

Amelia trying on big brother's hat

Tonight, we took mom out for some Tex-Mex! We tried Caralis, a relatively new Mexican restaurant down the road. The enchiladas were good, but the $1 margaritas during Happy Hour were better! Mike and Todd joined us. Then Jason and the boys had Guys Night Out at the newest (i.e., the other) microbrewery in town, Freetail Brewery. J wanted to introduce them to their tasty non-traditional pub fare, well-crafted ales and watch an exciting Game 2 of the NBA semi-finals (LeBron hit the buzzer-beater to win).

The new picture of "socializing"--everyone on their electronic somethings

Amelia got a hand-delivered birthday present from Uncle Todd--her own pink All Stars

Saturday, May 23rd, Jason's 35th Birthday!

All gathered around for "birthday pancakes"

It was a dinosaur theme--Nate decorated!

We started the morning with a dinosaur party. Nate was intent on one of us having a dinosaur-themed party. He decorated the plates with dino stickers, hung balloons and placed his dinosaurs on the table as a centerpiece. We had pancakes for breakfast and Jason got to blow out the birthday candle on his pancake.

Later (when Todd rolled out of bed--around 10:00 or so!), Jason and Todd went to shoot hoops at the park down the street. They ended up playing a pick-up game of basketball with a father-son duo. You'll have to ask the boys who schooled whom! This afternoon, my dad landed from MN and Jason's family came down New Braunfels. The whole family came to town to watch Jason coach Nate's soccer game. As luck would have it, the game was cancelled due to rain (again, all for a 20-minute thunderstorm). So we chatted and Jason opened presents (an ice cream maker, GPS for his car, Willie Nelson T-shirt, gourmet cooking syrups and red & black Nikes). We all drove to dinner at the India Palace--great food but mediocre service today (this was our first time sitting down for their buffet, normally we order off the menu for take-out).

Opening birthday goodies!

The Happy Fam during Celebration Week!

SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2009! UTHSCSA Med School GRADUATION!!!!

He DID it!

Our house was up at 6:00. We were showered, dressed, fed and out the door with 2 kids and 2 grandparents by 7:30! We had front row seating for the ceremony.

Waiting in line for the doors to open.

The little kiddos waited, too...just not quite in line!

The kids did great...we were in our seats for 3 hours (doors opened at 8:00, but the ceremony didn't start until 9:00 and lasted until 11:00). After a break outside after we found our seats and before the ceremony began, Nate sat the entire ceremony. Amelia made it until about 10:40. (She still takes a 9:00 nap, so she was a trooper! She stayed awake long enough to see Daddy walk across the stage--clapping every time somebody clapped!) She fell asleep in Grandpa's arms at the back of the auditorium shortly afterwards.

"Does he see us?? Hi, Daddy!!!"

Me? I had tears in my eyes nearly the entire ceremony! I didn't think all the graduation hoopla was affecting me, but as soon as the processional began and the grads marched in, my eyes welled up and I couldn't stop it! The ceremony was very nice. After the processional and introductions, Dr. Jones (the Student Dean) gave his keynote address. This was his first 4-year class, and you could tell he was very emotionally tied to them. It was a very personal speech. The diplomas went as smoothly and quickly as possible with almost 200 names to call. The student class president spoke about their ties to "Gray's Anatomy" for about 5 minutes at the end.

There was a small reception after the recessional where we took photos and said goodbyes. I was glad we'd said most of our personal farewells earlier, because it was so CRAZY in there!

Jason and his biggest fans!

Jason's cheering section (minus Mike, who's taking the picture!)

Jason and "Da Boyz"

I'm just a little bit proud of him, can you tell?!

So are his parents!

We got home around noon. Jason cooked pork tenderloins on the grill and the cousins got to run off some energy after sitting around for 3 hours. It was a great dinner--the pork, corn on the cob, salad, and chips & guac. We went back and forth, but finally decided for everyone to eat outside as planned. It was SO hot--about 90 degrees. We'd been outside for about 5-10 minutes when a thunder cell blew in from nowhere and dropped the temp about 15 degrees! It ended up being a very comfortable dinner. The rain stayed off until we'd cleared the tables--then it DOWNPOURED!

Proof.

In the afternoon, the ladies went shopping and the men took naps (well, all the boys got a nap except Jason, the man-of-honor, because Amelia woke up earlier than expected)! When we returned from our rainy shopping spree, Jason opened his presents from the family--he received a diploma frame and matting, a pair of custom-made cowboy boots, hiking boots, and a fine bottle of sipping tequila from his proud papa.

Jason's mom gave him a cute certificate for a custom-made pair of cowboy boots

Amelia, being Amelia (exploring & being silly)

Nate & Skyler played in the pool in the rain.

To cap off the day, most of us went to go see the new "Star Trek" movie while my mom & dad stayed with the kiddos. It was a great flick (and the first "blockbuster" movie I'd seen on the big screen in some time)! I thought it more of a character introduction and special-effects show than real ST plotline; but a good movie.

Monday, May 25, Memorial Day Hill Country Tour

Everybody's somebody in Luckenbach!

We gave Amelia a morning nap, then set off for a long afternoon in the Hill Country. Our first stop was The Dodging Duck Brewhaus and Restaurant in Boerne. Jason and I had the salmon burger and a Quacker Oats Ale and Darkwing Dunkelweizen, respectively. We continued on to Sistercreek Winery where my parents enjoyed the fact that you could tour "behind the scenes" and see how the wine is produced. Nate and Amelia thought is was fun to hide in the barrel rows. I think we bought their 3-blend, Meritage.

Grandma & Grandpa in Texas

We made an unplanned stop in Luckenbach to replace Nate's T-shirt. He's getting too big for the gray one, so he picked out a nice red one. They were packed with bikers for Memorial Day and an employee fund-raiser. Nate could've watched the bikes (especially the loud Harleys) all day. We walked around the grounds awhile, took some photos with a longhorn, then piled back in Big Blue.

Nate & Grandpa posin' with a longhorn in Luckenbach

Amelia exploring the bridge

We continued on to Fredericksburg to walk and window shop down main street. Dad wanted to compare the DD ales with Fredericksburg Brewery so the men sampled a Porter. It was getting late, so we picked out two new wineries we hadn't tried before--Woodrose and Pedenales Cellars. Woodrose was neat because they had restaurant-style sampling (where they come to your table). We enjoyed their wines, and bought a bottle of Seven, a specialized blend. Pedernales Cellars was then right down the road. The grounds were beautiful. It had panoramic views of the entire valley. We were really inspired by their fruity and floral Stonewall Viognier, so we picked up a bottle (thought the port was oh-so-nice as well).

The kiddos on the swing at Pedernales

Finally, we meandered over to New Braunfels to say good-bye to Todd. He left the next day along with my mom and dad. And just like that, the party was over. ;)

Congratulations, Baby!!