The Statler Family Blog

Let me hold you longer

2011-03-27T21:52:00.001-05:00

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

2011-03-17T18:02:00.001-05:00

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

2011-02-10T13:10:00.001-06:00

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

2011-02-09T21:30:00.001-06:00

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!

Easter Pics - Only a Week Late

2009-04-16T21:45:00.002-05:00

I had Good Friday off, and Brian had to work. So he said to go ahead and dye Easter eggs without him. I bet he was heartbroken. By the end of it all, I was wishing I had gone to work and let him dye eggs. How people do it and stay sane and make it seem like a fun experience is beyond me. I was pulling my hair out from tantrums, eggs thrown on the floor, and cups of dye spilt on the table. But, they sure were pretty when we finished. Scotty is at a very creative age. Boyd should have taken a nap during egg dying time. Here are pictures from the egg dying experience.

Scotty actually started Easter egg hunting on Thursday at his preschool Easter party. Then we had a hunt at church on Saturday morning and one at the neighbor's house on Saturday afternoon. The youth group had enough eggs for a hundred kids and there were only about 20-30. Scotty quickly filled his basket, and Boyd quickly lost interest in Easter egg hunting. Scotty was determined to keep piling the eggs on top of his basket instead of stopping long enough to go and get Boyd's basket. Every time he would put one on top, three would fall out. It was very funny to watch even though he was frustrated to the point of tears. At one point he had eggs in the basket, eggs in his arm, and one egg under his chin. I finally talked him into using Boyd's basket and filled it, too.
We went over to Bill and Jan's for the afternoon hunt and Jan had gone a little overboard on buying eggs for the 5 little ones that were there. So, once again, they all filled their baskets to overflowing and some had to use a plastic bag. Scotty conned Amanda into holding his overflow in her lap, and she rode around on the scooter behind him as he collected more.

And one more funny picture to share. Boyd loves baby dolls right now. So I found Scotty's Cabbage Patch and gave it to him. He said, "Nuk! Nuk!"

Soccer Pics

2009-04-05T17:16:00.002-05:00

Scotty had his first soccer game yesterday. His team is the Polecats.They should have already played 4 games, but all of the March games were cancelled for one reason or another. So, the team was in need of some real, live action. For their first game they did pretty well. They are all fairly new to soccer so they have to learn how to go after the ball and to remember which goal is theirs.

We were surprised when we got there to see that Scotty's friend, Emma, was there playing on the other team. They are a great team. I think they have had a lot of practice.

Last week, I went to the TLA Convention in Houston. The best part of being a librarian is meeting all of the authors. Scotty is always excited to see what I bring back from the convention. This year, I knew that Jon Scieska was going to be there. I have always been a fan of his books, but lately I have really been a fan since he started writing the Trucktown series for little guys. He was so cool to talk to. I wish Scotty could have been there!

Here is a picture taken on our camping trip down at the river during Spring Break. Boyd wants to do everything Scotty does.

We had a pretty good time camping. One mistake: We took the dogs and they kept us up all night patrolling for wild animals. See our photo album for more pictures.

Christmas Day

2008-12-25T15:10:00.003-06:00

Well, after many days of counting down, Christmas finally came. The boys are napping from all of the morning excitement of unwrapping presents, although Boyd really didn't understand what he was supposed to do. He was content with playing with the toys that Scotty unwrapped. We promise ourselves every year that we are not going to go overboard on buying presents and each year when we get it all out to wrap we realize that we've done it again. Not really overboard like some people do, but still way too much for two boys that already have more than they can ever play with. Scotty has reached the age that it is all about fair. He thought that surely Boyd must have gotten more presents than him since he still had so many to unwrap. He didn't realize that Boyd never opened one of his presents by himself as Scotty tore through the wrapping paper on all of his in a flash. Oh well, we decided not to worry ourselves too much about it and use this as a "learning opportunity". I guess kids aren't born with gratitude in their hearts. So this is the Christmas for teaching that it is rude to say things like, "I already have that", or "I didn't get very much", or "Did you get me anything else?" Fun stuff!

From 12.08

We went to Grapevine on Monday night to see ICE at the Gaylord Texan. It was beautiful and SO COLD. 9 degrees. They give everyone a parka to wear even if you have your own heavy jacket. It was a good thing. We thought we had the boys bundled, but they had two layers on and still got cold. Boyd's parka was so big that his hands only reached about halfway down the sleeves. The picture doesn't do it justice. He looked like a little penguin waddling around. Scotty was so cold that his eyes were watering. Brian and Boyd skipped the slide, and after waiting in line for 15 minutes Scotty wanted to skip it too, but we braved the cold and slid down the very lame excuse for a slide just to say we did it.

The next day we made cookies for Santa. We used GG's recipe for Sour Cream Sugar Cookies. I could eat the whole plate. I am trying to limit myself to 1 or 2 each time I walk by. After all, they won't be good after a day or 2. :)

Hope Santa was good to everyone! Have a wonderful holiday season. We are looking forward to seeing the family in Lubbock next week.

Happy 2009!!!

Christmas Program

2008-12-14T17:10:00.004-06:00

Christmas is almost here. Hope you are all finished with your shopping. Scotty had his very first Christmas program at church today. He was one of the barn kitties in the stable where Mary and Joseph spent their first night with their new baby. I had never seen a program with so many barn animals before, but I guess it created many parts for the little kids. Not even the bigger kids had speaking parts, though. It was all silently acted out while the adult choir sang their Christmas cantata.

Scotty was relatively well-behaved throughout the entire program, though there were a few instances of monkey-see, monkey-do where he thought it would be fun to eat hay and "shear" the wool off the little lamb's costume. I really don't know how they kept the kids so quiet. They had to be ready and in the hallway at 10:30, church started at 11:00, and the kids didn't come in for the program until almost 11:30. All said, it was cute, and the music was beautiful, although most of the congregation was giggling about the children so I think a lot of the message was lost.

Scotty's Christmas List

2008-11-27T21:01:00.004-06:00

Scotty sat down with Grammy tonight to write his Christmas list. It is too cute not to share.

Camo Airplane (Big)
An eel for mommy (not a Beta)
More cowboys and Indians stuff
Another eel (for my Daddy - not a Beta)
A big blue monster truck for Boyd
A whole bag of peppermint candy
New dog snacks for Hank
Chicken snacks and a hard Texas Tech tennis ball for Rascal
Lincoln Logs for Boyd so he won't play with mine
A big Massey Ferguson tractor
Red and Black clothes for Mommy and Daddy
A volcano toy

Hopefully Santa is reading this, because big Camo airplanes are hard to come by. Let us know if you see one, so we can pass the tip along to Santa. I'm sure the big guy can use all the help he can get.

Halloween Pics -- Finally!

2008-11-24T21:04:00.002-06:00

Well, I tried to get these pictures on the blog sooner, but my electricity went out the night I sat down to work on it. Since then, I have been working on a paper and getting ready for a final exam. So, here are pictures from Halloween. Boyd was a biker and Scotty was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (not sure which one, he just liked the costume).

Maybe I'll get pictures from November up before Christmas. Did I take pictures this month? I can't remember.

New Raider Fan!

2008-10-16T21:39:00.002-05:00

Boyd has started saying "Texas Tech"!!! We are the proudest Red Raider parents ever!
Okay, so he is actually saying "Da Da Da", but he says it when we show him a Double T or put our guns up. Usually we only get one "Da" out of him, like "Da" meaning I want that or "Da?" meaning what's that? So, I would say that he definitely knows what he is saying. Go Red Raiders! Beat those Aggies!

From Colorado Vacation

PhotoHunt: Lazy

2008-10-12T13:12:00.002-05:00

This week's PhotoHunt topic is Lazy. We have definitely not been lazy lately, but I did manage to snap a picture that fits perfectly. On our recent trip to the Ft. Worth Zoo we watched a turtle crawl on the back of a crocodile. The crocodile wasn't to happy to carry the freeloader, as you can see.

This week has been very busy. We are all feeling better, but could still feel a lot better. Allergies have us all coughing and sniffling. On Friday, Scotty went with Brian to the stock show in Waco, and on Saturday he had Zoo School at the Ft. Worth Zoo. He learned about creepy crawlies. He said his favorite insect of the day was a scorpion.

Here are a few more pictures from our trip to the zoo.

From 9.08

PhotoHunt: Sad

2008-10-05T22:15:00.001-05:00

From The Statler Family Blog

Scotty at age 3 sitting in the time out chair. Drama!!!

Photos from Jamie's wedding

2008-09-28T19:11:00.004-05:00

Jake's cousin, Jamie, was married last Saturday at a beautiful garden in Weatherford. We took the opportunity to take a bunch of pictures of the boys all dressed up. Some are worthy of printing, if I do say so myself. We never thought to ask someone to take a picture of all of us, but we did have Scotty take one of me and Brian. It turned out a little blurry and Brian is jumping because I accidentally spilled his drink down the back of his legs.

From Drop Box

PhotoHunt: View

2008-09-27T10:14:00.001-05:00

From Colorado Vacation

A view of the San Luis Valley in Colorado from the top of the "Stations of the Cross".

PhotoHunt - Road

2008-09-25T20:42:00.003-05:00

From Colorado Vacation

Yes, that is a road up there. The Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado.

Scottyisms

2008-09-10T19:29:00.003-05:00

It's been quite a few weeks since I have felt like I could sit down and blog, and I don't know why considering I don't bring work home anymore and my class is fairly easy. Oh, well. I had to take the time tonight to share some Scottyisms before I forget them.

Yesterday, we made brownies for dessert. As usual, Scotty struggled through dinner until we reminded him about the brownies. The dinner was gone in 60 seconds. He had one brownie and then asked for another one. We said he really didn't need another, and he said, "My belly is growling for a brownie."

This morning while Brian was helping him brush his teeth, Scotty mentioned that the toothpaste smelled good. Brian explained that it was because the toothpaste is minty. He showed him the tube and pointed to the words "clean mint". Scotty said, "What does dirty mint smell like?"

His newest thing to say when he forgets what he wanted to tell you is, "My words went 'to the dump, to the dump, to the dump, dump, dump'."

Summer is almost gone!

2008-08-13T20:57:00.002-05:00

Last week of freedom before I go back to school, but I can't say that I am not ready. We have had a very full summer. I took two classes for my library certificate, and may I brag a bit? I made an A in both. Of course, who ever heard of failing a graduate course? We made several trips to the Ft. Worth Zoo, and who could forget the 2-week road trip to Denver, Colorado and back. I need to go back to school to rest and relax.

This week has been uneventful except for a minor stroller accident on Monday and the attack of the deer skull today. On Monday, I came home from a trip to Sonic to see Brian and the boys out for a walk. I got out of my car to the sound of both boys crying. I just thought it was normal until they got closer and I could see their bumps and bruises. The stroller tipped over, but luckily Scotty caught it with his elbow and Boyd with his forehead before the stroller could sustain any damage. No major injuries in that incident. The attack of the deer skull, on the other hand, left me with a gash on my head and my thigh. I was cleaning up toys upstairs when I raised up and hit my head on one of Brian's European mounts. The whole thing fell off the wall and gouged my leg as it plummeted to the floor. I thought I made it through without any injuries because the "scratch" on my leg didn't appear to be bleeding. My head felt like it was cracked in two, but I didn't feel any blood. So I sat in the floor for a minute or two waiting for the little birdies to quit flying around my head and then I went down for an ice pack. As I came back up the stairs I looked at the ice pack and noticed a little blood on it and also noticed blood running down my leg. Scotty noticed all of this at about the same time. I calmly called Brian so he could come home and take a look. I left a message on his voice mail and then started to panic. What if he doesn't get my message? What if I pass out on the floor in front of the kids? What if I need stitches? So I called the school and had Dru find Brian and send him home. We decided that it was probably borderline of needing stitches in both places, but since I am more terrified of the stitches than the gashes on my head and leg, I let Brian doctor me up and I laid in bed for an hour with an ice pack. Here's the sad part. As I lay in bed all I could think about is how dark my roots will be before I can get my hair colored again. :)

Scotty is so into the "E-lympics" right now. We watch them every night, and I have started recording them so he can watch Michael Phelps swim in the morning. We heard about a typical breakfast for Phelps on The Today Show, and now Scotty compares all of his meals to Phelps. He says, "Me and Boyd are going to grow big like Michael Phelps." He's so cute to watch, and so sharp, too. He can pick out the American flag and tell you the lane number for Phelps. Then he yells, "Go American Flag!!!"

Here are a few pictures from the week.

We gave away some baby things, but got this shot before Leslie came to pick them up. I wasn't sure if I should give him a garage sale sign or one that said "H___ no, we won't go!"

Notice the spike. Just enough hair to make it stand up after a bath.

PhotoHunt: Dark

2008-08-13T20:45:00.002-05:00

PhotoHunt Theme: Dark
These pictures were taken by the pond at the farm right before dark. I was playing with the twilight setting on the camera. NOt so great. I definitely needed a tripod.

PhotoHunt: Clouds

2008-08-03T17:51:00.003-05:00

PhotoHunt theme: Clouds

Clouds over Echo Canyon in Cripple Creek, Colorado.

Colorado Road Trip - Days 11-14

2008-08-03T17:15:00.002-05:00

Wow, we are finally home after 2 weeks on the road. Let me recap the end of our vacation.

Day 11: Wednesday
We almost reserved another room in Red River, but decided that we could see everything there was to see and still leave midafternoon. We started with a hike by the river. The water was so cold that you couldn't hold your feet in it for more than a few minutes at a time.

Then, we went for a ride up the mountain on the ski lift. Scotty and Brian rode together on the way up and I held Boyd in his snuggly. Thank goodness for the snuggly because Boyd got restless and tried to climb out of the ski lift. The ride took about 15-20 minutes and Boyd fell asleep about 2 minutes before we got off. We hiked around a little at the top and decided to head back down the mountain before Boyd woke up. Surprise, surprise! Boyd woke up as soon as we got on the lift. Scotty and I tried to entertain him the whole way down.

We ate pizza for lunch and did a little shopping. You can't go to the Rocky Mountains without a trip to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Then we headed out for Lubbock.

Day 12: Thursday

We took the boys to Texas Tech to take pictures. First stop, Red Raider Outfitters, to make sure everyone was outfitted for the pictures. We took pictures in front of the Tech Seal, Will Rogers, and Memorial Circle. After pictures, Scotty wanted to see our classroom. :) We took him into Holden Hall and showed him a lecture hall with students in it. He was very surprised at how big it was.

Day 13: Friday

Grammy and I took the boys to the Texas Tech museum to see the dinosaurs. Like any 4 year old, Scotty was ready to move to the next exhibit after 2-3 seconds. It was a short visit.

Day 14: Saturday

No big events. Visited family and left Saturday afternoon for home. We finally made it home about 8:30 Saturday night to find out that our neighborhood was having a pool party across the street. Of course, we felt the need to socialize. So we scarfed down dinner and threw on our swimsuits.

Colorado Road Trip - Day 10

2008-07-29T23:34:00.002-05:00

We left Grandpa's house in Littleton at about 7:30 this morning. We weren't really in a hurry since the drive to Red River is only 5 hours, but we wanted to be able to stop along the way.

First stop: Pueblo Zoo
Pueblo has a very nice zoo. It's small but had some really good exhibits. My favorite were the native dwellings that they displayed in each section of the zoo. They were almost full scale models of a home that would be found in the area and you could walk through most. Scotty and Boyd enjoyed stretching their legs. I think Boyd walked more than Scotty did. Anytime Boyd got out of the stroller, Scotty hopped in.

Next stop: Stations of the Cross, San Luis, Colorado
As we drove through the little town of San Luis we noticed a hillside trail with bronze sculptures of Jesus and the cross. We decided that it looked so much like the Stations of the Cross in Greece that we had to check it out. It was about a mile hike up a hillside, but it was well worth the hike. The sculptures were beautiful and there was a plaque with scripture for each one. The chapel at the top was amazing inside and out. Did you know that San Luis is the oldest town in Colorado?

We finally reached Red River, NM at 5:30. Our hotel is right next to the ski slope and the go-karts. Brian and Scotty road the go-karts as soon as we got there. We are going to ride the ski lift up tomorrow. We are thinking about staying an extra day here. It's so beautiful and the temperature is nice too.

Colorado Road Trip - Day 7, 8 & 9

2008-07-28T15:53:00.002-05:00

Sorry, I have been out of commission for a few days. Migraines! Don't know if it is the altitude, sinuses, or just traveling. I will post a few pictures later when I have some time to upload from the camera.
Saturday morning we got up and took a trip into downtown Denver. As we were driving, we saw the light rail train and decided to take it into downtown. Good choice as we didn't have to fight with parking. We walked down 16th Street mall which is an outdoor shopping center. We went to the capitol building and then walked back to 16th Street for some lunch. We chose the Paramount Cafe and were very impressed with the food. Brian and I shared green chile chicken burritos and the boys got corn dogs in a fun little cardboard car. The highlight of their day.
Sunday we went to Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park northwest of Denver. We did a little hiking up to Alberta Falls and then drove up to Bear Lake. Then we went for an early dinner. Kristy and Bob recommended Nicky's and we were not disappointed. Great food. The owner is Greek and offers a mix of Greek, Italian, and American foods. I had fried trout, Grandpa ate Cod Florentine, and Brian had Prime Rib. The dessert was also fabulous. I would recommend it if you are in Estes Park.
This morning we were supposed to go to Breckenridge for some family history, but after waking with my 3rd migraine of the trip I decided to go back to bed. Brian took the boys to a water park and then to eat at McDonald's. Grandpa is going to take us to the foothills to see Red Rock Ampitheater tonight. Hopefully, we will catch a glimpse of some deer.
We will leave in the morning for Red River, NM to stay one night and then we will be back in Lubbock.

Colorado Road Trip - Day 6

2008-07-25T21:41:00.003-05:00

This morning we visited The Garden of the Gods just outside of Colorado Springs. It is a free park with hiking trails that wind in and out of massive rocks jutting into the sky. Beautiful! Wish you were here! Not much to say about it. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
We made it to Littleton this afternoon and will be staying with Grandpa until Tuesday morning. Not sure where we will stay on the way back to Lubbock. While in Littleton we plan on going to Denver, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Breckrenridge for a family history lesson.

Colorado Road Trip - Days 4 & 5

2008-07-24T22:38:00.003-05:00

Congratulations Fish!!!

I am going to condense 2 days into one blog because I spent last night doing homework and never got a chance to blog. But the good news is, I am caught up for the week on my homework and I can relax the rest of the trip.

Yesterday we got into Colorado Springs just in time for lunch. As I said earlier, Scotty had a stomach bug but we thought he was feeling better. So we decided to eat at Bennigans. Not a good idea. Scotty got sick at the table before we even got our food. Brian cleaned him up. I cleaned the table up.

After lunch we went to Seven Falls. Beautiful views and luckily an elevator to take you to the top of the observation deck. There are lots of rock formations in the canyon that are supposed to look like famous people. We rode the elevator to the top and took some pictures. Then we spent some time at the bottom of the falls, chased some chipmunks, took some more pictures, and danced with the Native American dancers. We left just as it started raining.

Today we took a day trip to Cripple Creek and the Royal Gorge. On the way to Cripple Creek we turned on the Cave of the Winds Road. We didn't go to the cave, but the view of the canyon from the road was fabulous.

Our whole reason for going to Cripple Creek was to ride the train. So that's what we did first. It was about a 45 minute ride. The conductor told us about all of the gold mines that we passed and then took us to Echo Canyon where he blew the train whistle and it echoed several times through the canyon. Scotty and Boyd both really enjoyed the ride. Brian and I enjoyed the mountain scenery. I think our conductor must be a fan of Pauly Shore. He sounded a lot like him.
We ate lunch at a park in Cripple Creek. The weather was perfect, cloudy, cool, 80 degrees. Not bragging, just saying.

We left Cripple Creek and traveled on the scenic byway to the Royal Gorge, a suspension bridge built in 1929 over the Arkansas River. The bridge is 1,053 feet about the river. It is quite a tourist trap. It costs $23 per person to get in, but once your in you get to do everything there for free. We rode the carousel first. Then, we headed to the tram to ride across the gorge. The tram is about 1,100 feet above the river. It was very windy and I was sure we were going to sway in the wind, but suprisingly there was almost no movement. Thank goodness, because we were packed in the car like sardines. The other side of the gorge had a petting zoo, nature trail (elk and bison), a wild west show, and some other attractions. You can get across the gorge by tram, trolley, or walking or driving across the bridge. We decided to walk the bridge to get back to the other side. You could feel the bridge move with the wind, the people, and the cars, and if you focused on a stationery object you could see it move. Our last stop was the inclined railway, a 45 degree angle railway down to the bottom of the gorge. It travels about 1,500 feet to the bottom. Once again, we were packed like sardines into the cars. It was definitely worth it, though. The view down the side of the canyon was amazing. From the bottom of the gorge the bridge looked like a rope. We got lucky on the way back up and got the front car. Still packed in like sardines, but the view was even better than the trip down.

Tomorrow, Garden of the Gods and then up to Littleton to Grandpa's house.

Here are a few favorite pictures. The rest are at my picasa site.

Colorado Road Trip - Day 3

2008-07-23T07:56:00.003-05:00

Well, here I am writing about yesterday again. Time sure flies when you're having fun and squeezing in some homework at the same time.
Yesterday, we drove in to Capulin, New Mexico to see the volcano. We stayed in a cute little cabin at an RV park that basically consisted of a bedroom with 3 beds and a porch on the front. It was all we needed for one night, and the important thing is we have Internet access. Scotty was really excited about the cabin. He said it was Awesome!!! It's the little things in life. :)

We dropped off the bags and headed straight for the volcano. We wanted to make it around the top before the park closed, and Scotty was dying to see the "hot lava rocks". He was afraid we were going to send him into the volcano alone. He kept asking us if we were going to go with him. We only teased him a few times.

We went to the museum first, and Scotty showed us what everything was. He is very knowledgeable about volcanoes. I'm not sure where he learned it all.
Then, we went to the top for our hike. 8,000 feet above sea level. The hike took my breath away. Maybe because of the altitude, maybe because of the extra 20 pounds I had strapped to my body. I was breathing hard. When I stopped to rest, I heard Boyd panting. We decided that he was just mocking me being that I was doing all the work and he was just relaxing in the snuggly.

The view was amazing. I'm glad we made it the whole way.

Scotty took advantage of every single bench along the trail.

Boyd even got out of the snuggly and walked a bit.

Day 4 started at about 3:30 this morning when Scotty threw up in his bed. Scotty was crying, Boyd was crying, Mommy and Daddy wanted to cry. He seems okay right now. We'll see how the rest of the trip goes. We're off to Colorado Springs this morning. More later.

There's more pictures to see. I just didn't want to put them all on the blog. Go to my picasa site to see the rest.

Colorado Road Trip - Day 2

2008-07-22T09:08:00.004-05:00

Sorry, I am actually writing this on day 3 before we head out to Capulin, New Mexico. I just couldn't find the time last night. Day 2 was spent in Lubbock. Brian spent the day getting the boat ready for Chad to borrow, and Grammy and I took the boys to the park and out to eat lunch with Grandma. The guys met us for lunch and Leona got to join us, too.

Scotty took Sadie down all of the slides, whether she liked it or not! Oh well, she seemed willing.

This morning the cactus bloomed outside of Mom & Dad's house. It only blooms once a year so it was a real treat to get to see it.

Next stop, Capulin, New Mexico to see the volcano.

Colorado Road Trip - Day 1

2008-07-20T22:14:00.002-05:00

Our trip finally began at 10:00 this morning. We were only running an hour behind schedule. Pretty good considering we didn't pack until this morning. We decided to make a stop in Lubbock for a few days to see the family and to break the trip up. Along the way we like to look for the hundreds (or maybe even thousands) of wind generators that have gone up in the middle of ranches and cotton farms. They are so big that a picture could never do them justice.

The view is flat and monotonous, for those of you who have never seen West Texas, but occassionally you see a mesa.

Right outside of Lubbock, we threw the tread on the boat trailer. No damage and we coasted safely into Lubbock. Since we had to drive slowly we avoided the Interstate and drove right in front of Texas Tech. We haven't seen it since they made so many changes. Here is Jones AT&T Stadium. Go Red Raiders! Tomorrow we may have to take the boys to Tech for some pictures. Nothing wrong with getting them started young.

Hopefully Kelsie and Grammy don't have plans for the next few days, because Scotty already has an agenda for both of them. Play, Play, Play!

Love my critters!

2008-07-18T16:20:00.003-05:00

I love our backyard. We have several birdfeeders and I love to keep them full to watch all of the critters that come to eat from them. We have cardinals, tufted titmouse, chickadees, hummingbirds, painted buntings, rabbits, and squirrels. Most people are annoyed by squirrels and the fact that they eat all of the bird seed and scatter it all over the yard, but not me. I keep the bird feeders full just to attract the squirrels. They are so darn cute! My favorite is when they hang from the birdfeeder by their back legs while shoveling the seed into their cheeks as fast as they can. They usually don't have long to fill up their cheeks before they are chased off by cardinals. Who knew squirrels were so picky? We have a mix of songbird seed and sunflower seeds. After the squirrels visit we are left with a pile of songbird seed and sunflower seed shells below the feeders. I guess we should start buying plain sunflower seeds.
Here are some pictures of the cute little boogers and a good shot of a hummingbird from the dining room window.

Who. I. Am.

2008-07-16T13:35:00.008-05:00

I found this photo mosaic activity on another blog. Here's what you do if you want to play along:

Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
Using only the first page, pick an image.
Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into this Mosaic Maker. Follow the instructions, and presto! You have a synopsis of Who. You. Are
Click on the subtitles below the photo to get a closer look.

What is your first name? Shelley Shelley's Francolin
What is your favorite food? Mexican Food Mexican Food
What high school did you go to? Frenship High School team
What is your favorite color? Red Blood-Red Flower
Who is your celebrity crush? John Travolta Staying Alive
Favorite drink? Coke I'm a Mexican Coke
Dream vacation? Any beach Relax
Favorite dessert? Chocolate Chip Cookies 14th August 2007 / Day 226
What do you want to be when you grow up? Librarian, almost there. I wanted to put retired but couldn't find an adequate picture for that one. RETRATO - A LA ARCIMBOLDO - PORTRAIT
What do you love most in life? family The Calvo Family - Holidays
One Word to describe you: driven The Science Of Speed
Your blog name: The Statler Family Blog What's on my shelves?

PhotoHunt: Support

2008-07-14T20:48:00.014-05:00

This week's PhotoHunt topic is Support. These pictures are from the Renaissance Festival in April.

Where would those medieval bosoms be without support?

There was a petting zoo, and for a $1 you could buy a carrot and feed the animals. Unfortunately, the animals were all newly released in the petting zoo. Very few of them cared much about eating. But Scotty did get one rabbit to stop for a little nibble.

Brian, Boyd, and Scotty on a ship.

We were supposed to stick our tongues out for the picture. Scotty left me hanging.

Busy!!!

2008-07-10T21:37:00.005-05:00

Just wanted to share a few photos from this week. Time is flying by with Felicia here for the week and my 2 library courses. I am in the middle of a 10-week course and my 5-week course started on Monday. Check back in 5 weeks to see if I survived.

Nick and Felicia are here for their doctor's appointments all week. Poor Nick is traveling back and forth from Houston so he can stay caught up at work. The big day is Tuesday. Keep them in your prayers!

We got a portable DVD player for the trip to Colorado. Scotty thinks it's his personal TV. Let the couch potato begin!!!

Scotty's first "real" scrapbook page. I gave him the camera and sent him to take pictures of Rascal, and then we printed them. He laid it out himself and I helped with the name. Notice the drool spot on the bottom right picture. I wonder what that's from???

PhotoHunt: Pointed

2008-07-06T09:41:00.007-05:00

This picture was taken in June at Dinosaur World. Look at the sharp, pointy teeth and claws. Scotty loved Dinosaur World. It's a quick little walk through huge dinosaurs and then a fossil dig at the end where you get to keep your 3 best finds. It's pretty expensive to go through, but luckily we had teacher passes and got in free. Definitely worth going at least once, though. Especially if you have a dinosaur lover like we do.

You've come a long way, baby!

2008-07-03T22:16:00.005-05:00

Swimming lessons really paid off. Scotty is a champion snorkeler.

In the kiddy pool, that is.

He is much more comfortable putting his face in the water and he even jumps in now and goes underwater. Well, he'll jump in for Miss Robin, his teacher, but not for us. He says the pool is easier to jump into at the YMCA than at the neighbor's house. Go figure! I thought they were all the same. He can doggie paddle with the best of 'em (as long as he has a floaty of some sort). Looking forward to many more swim lessons to come.

PhotoHunt: Bright

2008-06-28T11:16:00.014-05:00

I couldn't decide which pictures to post for this week's theme: Bright. I am posting all 3.

This photo of a bright rainbow was taken with Brian's cell phone.
The rainbow is God's promise for a bright future.

This ride at the Houston Stock Show was definitely bright.

"His future's so bright, he's got to wear shades."

This is Scotty when he was a little over 1 year old.

And Away We Go

2008-06-27T13:59:00.003-05:00

Boyd has finally crossed over to the walking world. He walks now more than he crawls, although it looks a bit like a drunk man's walk, or maybe even a bit like Igor from Frankenstein (yes, master). He favors his right leg, stepping first with it and then bringing the left leg even with the right.
He is really getting the hang of it, and he even tries to run sometimes. Here we go!!! We are going to be so tired trying to keep up with 2 on-the-go boys.

Brian and Scotty just left for the deer lease with Jake. They will spend the night and then pick up the kids at the YO Ranch and come back tomorrow night. They have big plans to practice Scotty's new swimming skills in Lewis' stock pond. (Sounds fun, huh?) Cindy and I have a night of scrapbooking planned. Hopefully, I can get close to finishing Boyd's first year.

My Little Boy

2008-06-26T09:47:00.007-05:00

Sometimes I forget and think Scotty is bigger than he really is. And then I catch him when he's not looking and he looks so sweet and innocent and like the little boy that he really is.

I snapped this picture while he was watching cartoons. Look at those sweet cheeks and that tiny mouth, and the little turned up nose. I love my little sugar booger!

Our Daddy Rocks!!!

2008-06-25T21:52:00.002-05:00

Check out this playground that Brian built for Scotty and Boyd's birthday present. Hours of entertainment for years to come.

PhotoHunt: Water

2008-06-24T23:08:00.007-05:00

Swim Lessons

2008-06-24T14:49:00.007-05:00

Scotty is taking swimming lessons at the YMCA this week. He woke up yesterday and said he wasn't going to swim lessons because he was afraid they would let him drown. He said he absolutely would not put his head in the water. Yesterday, he was very cautious, but his teacher asked the kids to put their mouths in the water to blow bubbles and he did it. Today he got a little bit braver and swam quite a bit on his own. He even laid his head back and put his ears in the water while floating on his back.

Some of the activities that they do:

kick their legs
bob up and down (yes, he let the teacher put his head underwater!)
throw the rubber ducky and swim for it
blow bubbles
swim to a ring just under the water
jump off the side of the pool
float on their back

Scotty's buddy, Zack, is in the same class. He is much more comfortable in the water, so the teacher recommended that Ivy put him in a more advanced class. At lunch, Zack said that "he got kicked out of swim lessons". So funny!

Scotty's favorite: throwing the rubber ducky and swimming to get it

Scotty's least favorite: getting water in his face

Boyd's First Birthday

2008-06-23T17:15:00.015-05:00

Boyd had a great birthday! We invited some friends over and celebrated with a frog cake and some good old fashioned smearing of the icing. We sang Happy Birthday and then tried to get Boyd to grab a handful of cake, but he did not want anything to do with the sticky green stuff. We ate some first, and he decided that it would be alright to grab one of the eyes. From that point on he loved shoving cake in his mouth. Scotty and Zack even joined in and smeared some icing on themselves. Needless to say, the adults left the frog cake for the kids to eat after all of the little fingers dug around in the icing. But that was okay because I made Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes for the adults to eat.

Boyd really started walking a lot on Saturday. Today, he would rather walk than crawl! What a big boy!