T-ball time!

 
 
 
 

Marco had his first t-ball game this past weekend. His team is the Rangers, and he had alot of fun. It was so cute to see the kids drag the giant bat in the dirt up to the tee and try to muscle a hit. And the running to first base with a huge batting helmet obscuring their view was classic too.

Day at the park

Today we went to check out the blooming flowers at the Grapevine Botanical Gardens. The flowers were beautiful. Unfortunately the boys really were not into taking nice posed pictures next to them. So we went on a scavenger hunt and explored the compost corral they have. Needless to say, most of the pictures are action shots. But we had a great time with friends exploring the gardens and playing on the playground.

You could smell the sweet aroma of flowers as soon as you entered the gardens. Marco had to get an up close and personal sniff of course.
 
The only picture I got of a boy and the flowers.
 
Joaquin looking at the fish.
 
Joaquin was not really into taking pictures today. This was just as well as my camera battery died shortly after this was taken.
 

Call me frugal or thrity... just not cheap!

Some of you may scorn at the idea of buying your children used clothing. Not me, I have not a problem with it at all. Kids (especially boys) usually don't treat their clothing like a fancy fur coat. And why should they? It is more fun to play in the mud, use your shoes as brakes to stop your bicycle, and slide into home base after hitting a home run over the backyard fence. One day a month the local Goodwill has a half price day. Although this means that it will be very crowded and you may have to wait in line a few minutes to pay for your goods, it is well worth it. I frequently find brand name jeans (Old Navy, Gap, Children's Place, Gymboree) and shirts that are hardly worn and have no stains or holes for $1! Now you can't beat that. The only downfall is that I sometimes buy too much and we have limited closet space. And this is so much easier than looking at garage sales because all the clothing is separated by gender, size, and season. Although I usually try to shop without the boys (their attention span quickly dwindles during our shopping escapades), they had to tag along during my last trip. I got Marco interested by telling him he could pick out 2 items. So as he sifted through the racks I had to instruct him on what was "junky" and "good". After awhile he got the message and would hold up a very faded shirt and state, "This one is junky, right?" That's right Marco, now you've mastered the Goodwill eye. His 2 selections were not exactly what I would have picked, but that is the beauty of it. It gave me insight to what he thinks is "cool" and would probably prefer to wear. But since he is still only 4, Mama gets to make most of those decision for now. ( I cringe at what he will want to wear at 8 yrs old) And as for Joaquin, he entertained himself by hiding in the clothes and jumping out and scaring Marco ( and a few unsuspecting passersby) NOTE: Of course I wash all clothing with 2 rinse cycles before wearing.

 
Some of my findings this month. I was so happy to find Marco a nice winter coat for next year from the Gap-$2
 
Marco modeling one of his favorite picks.... a Yu-Gi-oh shirt (I don't even know exactly what that is)

I'm not sure we are in Texas anymore...

I can hardly believe it. Here it is the middle of March and we get snow in Texas!! On top of the snow we have already suffered through this winter season, I say enough is enough. I live in Texas for a reason! Bring on the 100+ summer days. I'm ready to defrost.

Don’t call us city folk just yet…

playing at Trinity Park

Marco, Gabe, and Matthew

What a proud moment for me to see Marco reading a book. HA! (this picture cracks me up!)


On Friday we went on a crazy train/bus/train/park/train/bus/train adventure. Thank goodness we went with our good neighbor and her 2 grandkids. We started at the Hurst TRE station and took the train to Downtown Ft. Worth. From there we tried to get on the special bus they had running directly to the Ft. Worth Zoo, but it didn't start running until 11am. We decided to hop on a different route that would take us to University. We were lucky (or maybe unlucky now that I think about it) because we took the absolutely last standing room only spot. I really had to work those glutes while trying to balance a 30lb 2 yr old on my hip and keep a 4 yo from falling over with the sudden stops and starts. (5 bus stops later we made it to our destination) Finally we made it to our second train ride to Trinity Park, via the Forest Park Train. After playing and eating lunch it was time to ride the train back to the depot so we could catch another bus to the main train station. Here is where the funny part comes in... We see the bus we want parked up the road but we first had to make our way through the crowd walking to the zoo. (People trying to go to the zoo during Spring Break are just plain nuts. If I had to walk 1-2 miles just to see a bunch of caged animals, I would say no thanks!) As we are nearly sprinting to the bus, we finally get on and notice we are the only ones on it. So much for hurrying. By now we are really short on time to catch our train home so we ask the bus driver how long we have to wait. ( she is sitting there reading the paper by the way) She states, "oh 15 minutes or so". After telling me that it will take 13 minutes to get to the TRE station I do the quick math in my head and realize that if her "precise" time estimate is correct we will have exactly 2 minutes to get on the train home. As I continued to make comments to my neighbor about how I "sure do hope we get to the train before it leaves" and others like that I think she took pity on us and started the bus a few minutes early. And let me just say that those TRE trains don't go against the stated schedule. It was right on time, and thankfully so were we. As the boys took a quick catnap on the ride home I concluded that although it was a little stressful timing the bus and train schedules, the adventure was well worth it. But I don't think I want to visit New York City anytime soon.

Who doesn't love Rainbow cake?

 

As a faithful subscriber to Family Fun magazine, I decided it was time to try another recipe from this wonderful bunch of glossy paper. We have not fully utilized all the crafty ideas that this mag has to offer, but it is entertaining to look at and think, "now why didn't I think of that", or " I would try that one day" or every so often the "no way in hell would I spend my precious time on that project". But this rainbow cake recipe in honor of St. Patty's Day looked just right for a rainy Tuesday morning. The only downfall is all the dishes you have to clean when you are finished. (but when you are 2 and 4 y.o you don't consider the clean up involved) So of course the boys were all for cake making. I was pleasantly surprised that dry cake mix didn't fly everywhere when they started stirring the batter. But I knew not to get too relaxed, as I would be pulling out the food coloring next. And Joaquin missed out as he abandoned ship too early and didn't get to partake in the bowl-licking like Marco did. The finished product didn't quite turn out like the pictures in the magazine, but that didn't bother Marco one bit as he dove right into his slice. Joaquin must be more particular to perfection as he refused his piece. But not to worry, it didn't go to waste. Marco quickly inhaled Joaquin's rejections.

And today's injury is...

This would be the picture of my poor, swollen, bruised, rightfoot big toe. Wonder how long it will take to grow this out?