Music at the Zoo

We had a great Thursday night at the Abilene Zoo. They stay open late and have live music on Thursdays. It was one of my best nights in Abilene. The breeze was perfect for letting us just sit on a bench watching the kids dance. The music was perfect. It was just a guy and his guitar. He played James Taylor, Jack Johnson, Van Morrison....I was so glad to hear my favorites in the middle of this Gretchen Wilson loving town. Much needed.

The Great Vegetable Divide

I was informed (via a looooonnnng conversation) by Lucy today that she doesn't like "mean broccoli". Owen and Mommy like mean broccoli but Lucy and Daddy only like nice broccoli. The teams are realistic because today the mean broccoli was found in a sesame chicken Lean Cuisine. Only mommy and Owen like those. So, what makes broccoli so mean?

The same 3 pictures

Every time I try to get a good picture of my kids I end up with these same three poses. What's the deal?

Here we go...

Forget Underoos (the underwear that's fun to wear). My little Wonder Woman can save the world in Olivia's Belle dress.









Forget Spray n Wash. My little man made sure that the fudgepop wasn't coming out. Yeah, we tossed the shirt after a sturdy washing.





We had a great visit with Kevin's parents. Lucy and Nana got to make a special plate together at The Potter's Hand in Buffalo Gap. We went to the new children's museum at the Grace and walked in the park downtown to watch a butterfly and a water fountain. We ate some of the fine Abilene cuisine and I finally got to play Mexican Train dominoes. It was a lot of fun.

Owen's Jewelry update!

The chain has broken. I repeat, the chain has broken.

It was a sad day yesterday when we realized that although Owen had his beloved chain hung around his neck it was incomplete. Poor little Owen. He recovered quickly by stealing Lucy's newest necklace, a jingle bell on a ribbon that she made in Bible class on Wednesday. The good thing is that we always know where he is. He also used his charms to get one of my friends to give him a chain with a heart pendant. I usually am offended when people don't know he is a boy but today I was more forgiving. Between the long blond curls and a heart necklace, he didn't stand a chance. Love him.

Ba Da Bling

Well, Nana Wanda probably gave her necklace to Lucy thinking that she would wear it with her princess dresses while sipping from her tea set and playing mommy to her collection of babies. Little did she know that it would be hijacked by her grandson. Owen hasn't taken this off for the past three days (except at bedtimes, of course). If you take it off, he gets pretty fiesty. MILESTONE!!!!!As I am writing this Owen said the word "bird" loud and clear. It is his first word other than "mom". I am cutting this short to call every one I know.

The Wilkinson "It" List

Lucy has several. Bug-stomping boots(as seen in the picture), bandages, Lady and the Tramp II, swimming in our "his and hers" pools, drawing pictures of her family, getting someone to chase her.

Owen has a few. Drinking out of a straw, dancing, playing in the pool and sand, getting 6 new teeth, climbing on furniture.

Kevin's is simple. Grilling and our James Bond Marathon.

Mine is sooooo interesting. Finishing our house projects after living here for a year already, finishing the 2nd and 3rd season of Arrested Development, and keeping tabs on Paris and La Lohan (kidding).

I want the kids' lists.

Back from Nashville (by Kevin)

We had a great trip visiting my family. Needless to say, we ate a lot of food. Also, we watched my 2 nephews play soccer. Growing up in Florida, this was a 7 year ritual for my childhood. A lot of great memories were born on soccer fields. Our vacation movie was Spiderman 3 (Jenny did not watch). I wasn't crazy about it. I'd choose Superman or Batman any day of the week. Also on our trip, we visited the campus of Vanderbilt. I'm considering applying there for doctoral work. Jenny and I spent a little time there in the Hillsboro village and grabbed a snack at Panera Bread. If you ever go, we recommend the Ham & Swiss Souflee. Or, check out Fido's, a hip restaurant down the street. Finally, we spent time at my grandmother's house, which is always memorable. Here's a few pics of Lucy and Owen sitting on my grandmother's bench in her garden. Thanks to my sister Noelani for sending them.

Road Trip!

We are taking Owen on the road with his new snorting trick. Straight to Nashville. I can't give out exact dates because one of you might rob us.

She used to look like this

Today we were driving toward Buffalo Gap and Lucy yelled,"Look mom. There's mountains." I knew that we had been in Texas too long if she thought that the plateaus in the distance were mountains. These are similar to Table Rock near Medford, OR. Then I started thinking about how we have almost been here 2 years. She has spent most of her life here. That's a strange thought. Here's what she looked like two years ago. It's hard to remember. I am so glad for pictures.


Here's my baby now.

Southfork

My dad was the happiest man alive on April Fools Day. My parents are watching the show "Dallas" as I am writing this post. They DVR it twice a day on SoapNet. My dad's dreams came true when he was able to walk on the ranch where they filmed the show. We walked along the pool that Kristen fell into, the lounge chairs that Sue Ellen laid out in, the balcony that JR watched and plotted from.

This is the table that the family gathered around to eat breakfast. Many people have stormed away from that table. But my family sat proudly, my dad in Jock's chair.

Most of you probably have no idea what I am talking about. If that's the case you must rent this show on DVD. It's a classic. JR is really the best villian of all time. Plus the movie is coming out either this year or next with John Travolta playing JR. So it wouldn't hurt to get the real version under your belt first.

Angelina Ballerina

Lucy is officially a ballerina. She is in a class with two of her dearest friends - Olivia (here) and Brileigh. They are so cute. The class is at our church and is more than a dance class. It is so sweet and yet so funny to watch 3 and 4 year olds show off their moves which aren't even close to the ones they are trying to learn. So far Lucy has spent more time picking her nose and readjusting herself than in 1st position. We'll see how this goes.

Birthdays give me a rash!

Mr. Owen is a year old. The kid knows how to party. We started off with a trip to the doctor for an ear infection and ended up also seeing his sweet little face swell up and his ears turn purple. He had the hives most likely because of a virus. By the time we actually saw the doctor they had pretty much gone away.
My mom flew in from Oregon for less than 48 hours and spent all of those hours wishing she would have gotten some Airborne at Costco before she came. Lucy and Mommy are also sick.
Due to the amount of germs in our house we decided to cancel the little party planned for our little man. I am sure his friends were really disappointed.

We didn't give up all the way. He still had a good time shoving cake in his mouth and opening presents. Lucy really liked his presents so we'll see if he ever gets full ownership.

Finally Christmas is here

Well, I had some trouble getting these pictures on since it took me over a week to unpack and find the card reader. Sorry family. So here is the question....Why do we work so hard to lie to our kids about Santa?

Although it was quite useful as far a bribery goes, I felt guilty thinking "she's going to be able to validly say that I lied to her for years." I don't like giving her that kind of ammunition and it is hard to come up with explanations. Kevin really likes the Santa routine and I don't want her to ruin it for other kids in the next couple of years but it takes a lot of effort to lie through a whole season about Baby Jesus coming to the earth to forgive our sins. Any thoughts?

Lucy's Three

After 5 or 6 costume changes, some frog kissing, digging for jewels, eating a castle and singing her heart out.......Lucy turned 3 years old. Her three closest friends from church came over and we had a great little party. They were very pretty little princesses.

So it begins.......

We tried to hold off Santa Claus and gift requests as long as possible and apparently it is 3 years. Now we have to talk about Santa and what Lucy wants for Christmas as soon as the first set of lights go up in town until who knows when. I am sure many are saying 'welcome to the club' but I was pretty optimistic about thinking that she wouldn't care that much this year since last year she couldn't get far enough from him.
These pictures are from a breakfast with Santa that we went to at the mall and both kids actually enjoyed it. Lucy talked to him like she knew what she was doing...'I would like My Little Ponies, Barbies, Movies and lots of candies'. It couldn't have been clearer. At least Santa might be able to pull these off this year. If Owen could talk, I would imagine him saying 'I'll have what she's getting'.

Winter Wonderland

We had our first, and probably only, snow of the year. It is still a flurry outside as I am writing this.

As Lucy and Kevin were outside playing, a local news channel stopped and interviewed them and just taped Lucy playing. They asked her where she had seen snow before and she answered "Princess Jasmine". Duh. She was watching Aladdin just before going outside.

This was Owen's first snow but he is getting over some sickies so he didn't get to play for very long.

We're in trouble!

While we were in Oregon for Dawn's wedding I had the opportunity to look into the future. Lucy likes to party. She was the first one on the dance floor at the reception and the last one to leave. She officially has a crush on Dylan Hackett and all the kids were like a little clique the whole night. The grown ups are already outsiders. They wouldn't let us in on what was going on and I started to feel like I was losing my grip on her. She is growing up and she hasn't even reached three yet. At least Owen can make me feel like I still have purpose.

It was a great visit. It wasn't always good times. My cousin was in an accident the night before we arrived and so we balanced some pretty big emotions, constantly going back and forth between wedding and funeral planning. Even though it was for a sad reason, it was good to have some extra time with family coming together. I could blog about at least 20 different things that happened on this trip but I don't know if that will ever get around to that. Hopefully I will be able to do more before Christmas.

I Heart Fall - Even in Texas

These are the cute ones at the Cedar Creek Pumpkin Patch. Even Abilene has a pumpkin patch (although she had to import many of the pumpkins). We had a great time of pumpkin bag toss, swinging, wagon rides and watching Lucy show us up at wiffle ball. It was like a little oasis in this flat, dusty town. We are about to do lots of grandparent-seeing soon so keep us in thoughts and prayers for safety and that Lucy and Owen aren't ruined by the amount of spoiling that will take place.

Mushy food makes me sleepy!

Here is the latest photo of our young man. Within about a week's time he started crawling and pulling himself up. Now he likes to disappear and walk along the furniture. Look out Harry Potter. Lucy is getting ready for American Idol tryouts. She sings about 13 hours a day. (She sleeps 11 hours so you get my point). When she isn't doing that she is making sure that Owen doesn't do anything. She personally blocks him from crawling anywhere and not-so-kindly pulls him down when he stands up. It's hard to tell where the good intentions are sometimes but I am sure they are there.

It's nice to be back in the blogger world.