A visit from Ganny & Grandpa

This weekend we had some very special visitors. =) Jerry's parents came to see us after a work trip to Nashville.

Not too long after they rolled in, the snow started falling. And falling. And falling.

We got about five inches on Sunday. But we didn't let that dampen our fun.

We read books and played monster trucks, played in the snow, and had a little pre-Easter celebration.

The boys also built a snowman. Even though we've had several snow showers this year, this is our first snowman of the season. It was just about Roo's size – with a real carrot nose and everything.

We enjoyed every minute of our visit, and, while we were sad to see them go, we were so glad that the snow cleared up on the roads before Ganny and Grandpa had to head back to Texas today.

We've got a busy next couple of days as we gear up for Easter and a visit from Noni and Pop Pop. Lots to be done! See you soon!

Block construction.

Alex loves going to school on Tuesdays. Well, he loves going to school period, but on Tuesdays, he gets excited because it's "blocks and lunch day." Apparently, he likes when his teacher pulls out the blocks for play time.

The boys got a little Duplo set for Christmas that comes with a pattern for how to construct a giraffe, an elephant, and a toucan. I showed Alex how to place his blocks in the pattern and then look at the picture to put the pieces together in the right order. I was so proud of him – he built the giraffe all by himself! And at one point, he even removed a couple of the "neck" pieces to make it shorter and told me it was a baby giraffe.

Of course, Roo-bear was not to be left out. He was busy constructing animals of his own. And as far as he was concerned, there was no need for a pattern. ;-)

Return of the frog boots

There was a day when these were the only shoes Alex wanted to wear. Roo has entered the same phase. I think his favorite part of wearing the frog boots is that he can put them on and take them off all by himself. And this one definitely likes to operate with a great deal of independence. Teeth. Hair. Eating. Will no longer use a high chair. Yes, he thinks he's all grown up.

Favorite pasttimes

Back in business!!

After nearly a month without a camera, we are back in business!! I practically pounced on the UPS man who made the delivery with the new camera last week! I don't think I've ever been so excited to receive a package in all my life!

I'm still fumbling through all of the buttons and settings, but it won't take long to figure it out. Just need a little practice, and I happen to have the perfect test subjects, not to mention some family visiting us over the next couple of weeks. ;-) Yeah, baby!

Stay tuned...

More fun from Texas.

We had a couple of days after the wedding to visit with Noni and Pop Pop before heading back home.

We visited the zoo one day. It was a chilly, dreary Monday, and we had the complete run of the zoo to ourselves! So much easier to keep up with kiddos that way. ;-)

We also got to take the boys to visit a pet Kangaroo named Thumper. Pop Pop is friends with Thumper's "mom."

Thumper and Roo-bear could have been fast friends. They were about the same size. Once while we were there, Roo started crying, and immediately Thumper hopped over to him as if to console him and show his concern. I guess the two little Roos felt a connection. ;-)

Alex kept wanting Thumper to play with some of his toys. Much to Alex's disappointment, Thumper wasn't interested.

After our zoo trip and before the Thumper visit we had lunch at Chuck E. Cheese.

The boys went through about, mmmm, ten times as many tokens as I thought they would. I think the "family value meal combo" is the way to go next time. I thought we'd be wasting money buying a boat-load of tokens as a part of the pizza pack, but notsomuch. Live and learn, baby...live and learn.

The wedding travel.

Traveling from Roanoke to Texas makes for a looong day. Especially when doing it with young ones. If traveling by plane, there's always a connecting flight – nothing flies direct to Texas from here. :-( Boo.

This trip, we flew through Chicago with a 45 minute connection. That's tight, even without kids. Leaving Roanoke, we had a delay, which put us in Chicago late, which...you guessed it...means we missed our connection to Dallas. Fun times.

Booked it to guest services. Waited in line to try to get on another flight. Prayed to get on one that was going straight to DFW and not to DFW via Houston which is what the confirmed flight showed on the automatically updated itinerary from the airline. Praise God that He answered our prayers for a direct flight - yay! Raced to eat lunch. Raced back to the gate. Noticed there was a delay for that flight. Finally boarded and got to Dallas safe and sound. Woohoo!

Now for the rental car. In Jerry's work travels to Dallas, he's learned that it is significantly cheaper to rent through Hertz at the airport Marriott that sits just off of the airport premises. And the pick-up/drop-off has been more convenient at that location for him, too, saving a little bit of time. Winner, winner chicken dinner! I'm all about shaving off some time and some dough!

With all of our delays getting in, we got to the hotel to pick up the car just after the rental car desk had closed. But not to worry, they had our keys all ready to go. For the only. car. left. on their lot that day:

That's right. What you're seeing is a TWO DOOR Camero – "Jessica Rabbit" as my friend named her. We have FOUR people who needed to squeeze into this thing. Plus luggage for a week and one umbrella stroller!! OH. MY. GOODNESS!

This is what I wanted to do when I saw that car...

But like so many things in life, sometimes you just have to grin and bear it...

...and count your blessings that you're safe and sound back in the great state of Texas! =)

Oh, and if you're wondering, Jerry did manage to get every bit of our stuff crammed – and I do mean crammed – into that car without even one square inch to spare. We managed for a day and a half before trading it in for something a little...roomier. Ah, the adventures.

Photos from Syl's wedding

A couple of weeks ago we traveled back to Texas to celebrate Sylvia's (Jerry's older sister's) wedding.

Sylvia and Scott got married in Ft. Worth at a really neat restaurant called Los Vaqueros. Their wedding was such a joyful celebration and a wonderful time spent with family.

At the rehearsal dinner, Lisa (Jerry's younger sister) took several pictures, so I kind of stuffed my camera in my bag so that I could try and keep up with the Little Men. I'm hoping I can mooch off of her photo stash – I could tell she had several good ones. Between not having the camera out and then the camera dying about an hour before the wedding – right when I was trying to get pics of the Little Men in their tuxedos – I only have these few pics to share. Maybe I'll get a chance to post more if I get some from Lisa.

Sylvia and her dad at the rehearsal. Her smile really says it all. I've never seen her happier.

My niece Isabel – Roo takes to her immediately each time we see her. ;-) Isa was the flower girl. Her dress was so pretty and looked very similar to Syl's. Alex kept referring to Syl and Isa as the "two princesses" on the wedding day.

Daddy helping Alex with his tux. Alex was the ring bearer. He did a pretty good job, but what he really wanted to do was throw Isabel's rose petals. You know boys and throwing things. When he didn't get to, he burst into tears of heartbreak – while he was walking down the aisle. Poor thing. The audience took pity on him. And so did his daddy who handed him a handful of petals from the aisle to throw just before his Aunt Sylba walked down.

These two boys were so handsome. Their daddy, too.

One of the few shots I got of the boys all dressed up before the camera died.

Sweet, silly boys. :-) By the end of the night, Alex was cutting a rug on the dance floor and Roo, who had found his pant pocket, was walking around with one hand in his pocket and giving a little swagger on the dance floor himself. They had a grand time. And so did we.

Roo-bear portraits and camera failure.

I had taken these photos a couple of weeks ago and am just now getting around to putting them out here. Isn't this little Roo-bear a cutie patootie? Not to put you on the spot or anything, but come on! I wish you could see him in action. He really is such a delight. I can barely stand the sweetness. Even if it is interspersed with the occasional temper tantrum. (Speaking of – Lord, help me! I know what's coming this time around. And you all should know that I welcome any and all prayers for my patience. They are much needed and appreciated.)

I'm hoping I may have one or two more pictures from the last couple of weeks on my camera that I can share in the next few days, but, after that, I'm in a holding pattern for a while. My camera has up and died.

Apparently, "Err 99" is the equivalent of the computer blue screen of death. My camera decided that Jerry's sister's wedding would be the perfect time to flash that error. Hello?! Important event here! Did that camera not know that there was a stunning bride (or princess, as Alex called her) and two of the. most. handsome. boys. in the world dressed up in tuxedos that begged (not literally - please!) to have their photos taken?!

So now we are trying to figure out whether or not to fix the camera or bite the bullet and get a new one. Whatever it is (um, preferably a new camera), I'm hoping we come up with a solution soon! ;-)