A busy life, but what can you expect with four children!!!Enjoying the sun, loving the rain when it comes and so happy to be receiving visitors in Austin.
These are koosies, they allow you to have cold beers or soda's when the air temperature all year would not allow that to happen, and they keep your hands warm, because the bottle or can temperature is way too low for you to hold..or is your body temperature higher so the cans/bottles feel colder..
Allan kindly went and got himself a beer to show how they would look, and then drank it..the things he has to do for my blog!!! we have more koosies since this photo, Allan came home with two more yesterday from the Vets Open House day!!! my collection is increasing
Ben's first grade classes all had an alphabet day last week, they had to dress up with their letter which had been assigned the week before so us parents had time to create. This is Ben's outfit, I used T-shirt markers on his shorts and T-shirt transfer for his top. I had to go on the web and pull up pictures of things beginning with E. A big thank you to Abi who helpped me all the way from UK to texas, my technical support!!! As a family we had put together a list of things during the week, it had become a tea time activity..what can have a picture of that begins with E.. The results you can just make out..not sure why the photo is so orange..my camera skills have always been dodgy!!
No photo's sorry...Allan took the younger boys up to our vets..Star of Texas yesterday because they had an open day. jack and I were being good and ironing, strimming, cleaning the yard etc... The walked the long way to the vets, it would have been about a 2 mile walk straight up Brodie lane, but they chose the back route passed as many play parks as they could..They had Tex with them and Allan said it was a slow but fun walk. in the end they did 5.5 miles When they got there it was lots of fun, all parts of the vets was open, they could see the surgery, back of house, jars of organs the vet has removed, they were serving hot dogs, candy and there was games to play. There was a pet dressing up competition..which we did not do..Tex was just a plain old black lab for the day...the boys both got goodie bags filled with 'stuff'..pens, pads, paperclips shaped like bones, magnets, dog food samples...and the goodie bags were Halloween themed...what a day..home they came, happy and content, not a penny spent, all exercised and happy...
Saturday October 3rd......So off we went to this years marathon for kids, they enjoyed doing it last year and it seems like a good idea to get them out there and walking. they are already at 18 miles, and we have until February to achieve the 26.2 miles. we were in the first group and right at the front, so off they went, ran really well and got there place mats on eating healthily, water bottles and had big smiles on there faces.
They had a great time, and we had promised them breakfast at IHOP after wards, so that is where we went.... Cara it was the one you made dad and i walk to after running the Austin marathon in February this year, so now you don't have to feel guilty about using their car park..if you were...we of course have fond memories of walking all that way after running 26.2 miles..i think there is many more years mileage out of that story!!!!!!
A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." He continued, And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. " As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden." "So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can." So, my friend, why not take a while to just simply RELAX. Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while. Life is short. Enjoy it! Here are some great ways of dealing with life: * Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue. * Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them. * Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it. * Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker. * If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague. * If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it * It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others. * Never buy a car you can't push. * Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on. * Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. * The second mouse gets the cheese. * When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane. * Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live. * You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person. * Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once. * We could learn a lot from crayons... Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box. *A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
Now you are hopefully relaxed
I know this is nothing to do with Texas, but i thought it was relevant to so many of my friends out there..we all carry a lot of burden, and it is worth putting it down when we can...I think coming to Texas was a way for Allan and I to do just that and change the burdens..I think we did that and have for now, greatly reduced them, so i wish you all the same.
So off we went to the Old pecan street festival, it is help twice a year to raise money for 6th street regeneration. 6th street is in the heart of down town and when any of you visit us, I can guarantee you will visit 6th street..it is alive during the day but amazing at night, so much live music, restaurants, clubs, bars etc. Now 6th street use to be Pecan street so that is why the festival is called what it is.
It is a mass of local artists who sell there wares, promote themselves and is a fun family time during the day and i would say an amazing event in the evening..it runs from 10am until 11pm..I have not been at night so will have to sample that next spring for you.
I have tried to take photo's of a variety of stalls and us just to give you an idea. lots of alcohol and food flowing, live music on 5 different stages, and soda galore.
We tried to be green, so went Downtown by bus, it was easy and fun , the younger boys enjoyed the ride!!
They had a Play Station 3 trailer, which my boys managed to find, and were captivated by the games, noise and i was happy as I got given a free tote bag..who cars that is says play station on it. I was also on the look out for koosies,, as I am collecting them for our cans and bottles, I got two free ones yesterday..so my collection is growing..
we have had a lovely family weekend with not a lot of stress which is great, I was at a craft convention on Friday and Saturday with a friend, Jo Ann, which we enjoyed, it was down at San Marcos. Allan collected both sets of children on Friday from school, and Jo Ann eldest Bonnie (3rd grade like Alex), was very impressed that he cooked fresh chocolate chip cookies when they got in from school...i will not ruin her image of him by telling her truth...she has made her dad feel quiet inferior..Jo Ann and I are still laughing..kids, got to love them. The kids had homework over the weekend which they did with out too much stress and they all enjoyed their games consoles..which are banded from Monday to Thursday nights...my way to focus them during the week. We enjoyed a leisurely time with lots of meals, walks and slobbing out, the weather was wonderful and it was one of those weekends that you start the week feeling like you actually had a weekend of relaxation. Cara is settled in to Uni curtsy of Alison, so thank you very much Alison...i think she is having lots of fun getting to know her new flat mates and the reality of lessons I think starts tomorrow, but not actually sure...just letting her roll..this is her time to branch out and have some freedom in a very different way...in the all American way...Go Cara ... next weekend is the Pecan festival down town, the following weekend is ACL..Austin City limits, which i am going to with a friend, and Alex and Bens launch of the Marathon for Kids..all go as normal..Austin is great for things going on and now we are cooling down..many more things are happening.
