Let me hold you longer

Bedtime stories tonight. Scotty picked out the book "Let Me Hold You Longer" by Karen Kingsbury. It is such a sweet book about watching your kids grow up and wondering which things they are doing for the last time, like crawling into your bed in the middle of the night or cuddling up with their blankie for a story.





When I saw the book on the bed, I just ignored it and hoped Brian would come back upstairs before I finished reading Boyd's book. He didn't, so Scotty brought it over for me to read. I didn't make it past page two before the tears were flowing. Such a sap!
Brian told Scotty to make me read "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch tomorrow night. I think I might disappear at storytime.




As much as I complain about how my boys drive me crazy, they are growing up too fast. Sometimes I look at their faces and see a baby face. The next minute I see a young man.

I guess that is why God invented grandchildren. You can do it all over again and enjoy it even more.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Spring break 2011

Day 1 - San Antonio bound
Drove to San Antonio, stopping in Lampasas to eat at The Yumm Factory. We made it to the hotel and went straight to the swimming pool. Brian and Scotty were still feeling pretty crummy from their sickness, but Scotty was a trooper and swam with us. Boyd really enjoyed swimming for the first time ever!
Ate at Chuy's for dinner. Since it was almost 9 when we ate, the boys were very crabby, but the food was excellent as always.

Day 2 - Natural Bridge Caverns and New Braunfels
We decided to wait a day for Sea World since Brian and Scotty were still not feeling 100%. So we visited the caverns first thing in the morning. We beat the crowd and had a really great time.






After the cave, Brian took us on a tour of New Braunfels looking for Landa park. He refused to use GPS. We originally went just to see Comal Springs and ended up hiking, riding a train, and renting a paddle boat. The boys loved the paddle boat. We saw lots of wildlife, including ducks, turtles, fish, and a nutria. It was so ugly it was cute. Sorry, I didn't get the phone out at all on this part of the trip. Brian has a few pictures on his phone.
For dinner we ate at The Magic Time Machine. We had to wait for an hour and a half before we were seated. Apparently someone took our table when they first called our name. We never heard it (and we were sitting by the hostess booth the entire time). Our waitress was Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter. Scotty at least knew who Harry Potter was, but he had never heard of Bellatrix. He has only seen the first 2 or 3 movies. We also saw Woody, Ace Ventura, Zorro, Captain Jack Sparrow, Alice, Hannah Montana, and Madonna. It was a good time, but once again it was so late that the boys were tired and grumpy.



Day 3 - Sea World
Wow! $200 for a family of 4 to just walk in the front gate. Unbelievable! We did have a great time, though, and spent the whole day at the park. Boyd was Mr. Serious and hardly cracked a smile during the shows. Azul got his attention, though. He loved the dolphins and the divers. Azul was also Scotty's favorite. They both enjoyed riding Shamu Express. We couldn't convince Scotty to ride the Steel Eel and neither of the boys wanted to get wet. So we didn't ride anything exciting. The boys talked daddy into buying them stuffed animals. Boyd chose a dolphin and Scotty chose a seal.



Dinner was a pizza we picked up on the way to the hotel, and once again it was past 9 when we ate. Hopefully we will be able to get back to a normal schedule when we get home.

Day 4 - Alamo and Riverwalk
Scotty had been most excited about the Alamo. We read a few books from the library to get him ready for it. I don't think it lived up to his expectations. At first he said, "That's not the Alamo." I'm not sure what he expected to see, but I think he was disappointed that the walls weren't blown apart. We didn't stay long. There was a very long line to go inside the museum, and we were not in the mood for more long lines.



We walked through the Menger Hotel and then walked a small part of the Riverwalk. We were afraid Boyd was going to fall in because he stopped every few steps to touch the water. We had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack and headed for home.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The blindside

I had the opportunity to hear Leigh Anne Tuohy speak yesterday at the TCEA conference. She was such an amazing inspiration, reminding us all to not overlook people because of their appearances or our first impressions. Leigh Anne challenged us to find a way to make someone else's life better. Every person has the ability to help another, not matter how small the action might seem. As teachers, we have an opportunity every single day to make a difference. What a calling!

Snow Days

We are not used to getting much snow around here. When we do, we don't know how to act. Everything shuts down. Last week we were out of school for three days due to ice and then one more day when a round of snow came and covered the ice. The boys had a blast. I didn't go out for the first three days except to feed the chickens and get more firewood. By the fourth day we were all stir crazy, and the snow was a blessing. We played outside all day long!