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23
Mar

Springtime in Texas

posted by rachel, March 23, 2011

Ohhh how I love this time of year! The grass is colorful and alive again; the trees are such a pretty shade of new green. In Dallas, things are much greener than they are in Oklahoma. On Saturday night, after an enormous dinner at Buca di Beppo, we went for a family walk in Turtle Creek to the Bear Park.

Can you imagine living in such a beautiful place?

Cousins. Love these boys!!

Isn’t it idyllic?

After you cross the bridge, there’s a tiny park against the water with giant (granite?) bears to climb on.

I totally love this one –

I have zero idea why Simon is kneeling in ths photo. Or why Jude is holding a big stick that came dangerously close to my eye numerous times. Thank you, Lord, for my (intact) eyeball.

Whooooo those are some white legs, girlfriend! Time to see some self-tanner on those puppys!

I love these photos of mom and dad, too.

I am so glad spring is here!

Let's Chit-Chat { 8 }

3
Feb

Snowmageddon 2011

posted by rachel, February 3, 2011

I read somewhere that over 1/3 of the US is covered in snow. In a move of mass hysteria, our weathermen implored us to gird our loins and fill our pantries. ::sigh:: And so today, I have zero idea what day it is. It’s like that movie Groundhog Day all over again.

Snow days are starting to seem overrated. Remind me about this next year when I’m thinking how fun(!) a snow day sounds.

All I’ve done for days is work on designing invitations, updating the blog’s links and my main site, photographing projects, and drinking loads of iced tea with Simon and Jude. I’ve been sitting in the kitchen, wrapped up in my warmest blanket (below).

But the boys were bundled up really warmly. We finally let Jude go outside after two days of begging and pleading. The wind has been like nothing else I’ve seen here when it comes to snow. So so frigid.

Sad story: we have a set of mittens that were passed down to us, but one of the mittens has gone MIA. So I had to ghetto rig up a poor man’s mitten for Jude out of two socks and two ziploc bags. SHAMEFUL.

It was way too cold to stay out for longer than 15 minutes. Silly since it took 15 minutes just to get dressed to go outside.

Are you a part of the 1/3rd under snow?

Let's Chit-Chat { 7 }

24
Dec

Merry Christmas Eve

posted by rachel, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas! We’ve started our celebration early over at my parents’ house with my brother and sister and all their families. This is what Christmas is for me – everyone hanging out, opening presents on Christmas Eve, and eating yummy food.

The anticipation of the kids as they’re begging to open presents is great. I remember being like that, and my older brother and sister taunting me that maybe we’d all just go to bed and wait til the next day. NOOOOOOO!

Jude got a pirate raincoat and matching pirate boots from my folks. He’s in love – I had to peel it off of him to get him to bed last night. It even has an eyepatch on the hood!

Me in my Christmas jammies/robe. Feels good to be a gangsta. :)

Look at what my mom got for all the kids – this was genius. For $20, this was an excellent gift. It’s a little cardboard house that is completely color-able. Throw in some washable markers, and we’re all happy campers.

We have a whole little village of houses – hours of endless entertainment!

Tonight we’ll go to Christmas Eve Candlelight service at church and then go to Simon’s grandmother’s house.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Let's Chit-Chat { 2 }

21
Dec

Snow Tubing @ The Brick

posted by rachel, December 21, 2010

Today I went with my sister and my nephews to go snow tubing at the Bricktown Ball Park, affectionately known as “The Brick.” Every year, Chesapeake Energy sponsors a giant snowy slide set up in our local ball park. I’ve always wanted to go, but this is the first year I’ve been able to swing it.

It’s kind of a ghetto rig, if you ask me. But it was a LOT of fun! There’s two different runs – the regular ol’ fast one there on the left and then the kiddie one on the right. For $10, you can tube as much as you want for an hour and a half. There were quite a lot of people there, and a really long line, but it was still a ton of fun. Then, when you get to the bottom of the “hill,” you haul your inner tube all the way back up the bleachers to the start of the line again.

Here’s the line when it was relatively short.

Cuties.

The tubes all stacked up, waiting to ride.

But wait, before you get to the top, you have to pick up your inner tube and haul it up another couple of flights.

Uploaded with Skitch!

Then, when you get to the top, whoooo hoooooo! It was really fast – you definitely feel like you’re going to wipe out at the bottom into the bales of hay they have set up, but somehow, miraculously, you do manage to stop. It’s really fun.

The view from the bottom.

We stayed for an hour and got to ride four or five times. It was a ton of fun – definitely can’t wait to bring Jude when he gets a little taller!

Let's Chit-Chat { 0 }

9
Dec

Christmastime Fun

posted by rachel, December 9, 2010

Woo hoo! Let the Christmas celebrating begin! I am thrilled to pieces this year. I really am. It is such a different year than last year, and I am so grateful.

Our tree is in the family room this year, and I am really enjoying it. It’s just so cheerful. I wish I could leave it up year round, except then I’d be one of those ladies. And then it’s just a slippery slope to having a dozen cats, you know?

Look at these cute star lights I got at Ikea. They’re good indoor or outdoor – I envisioned them hanging in the tree in the front yard, but I like getting to see them every day indoors.

I keep forgetting to show you photos of the night we went to see Christmas lights with Amy & Eric and the boyz. We went out to Okarche, Oklahoma, a teeny tiny town whose only claim to fame is Eischen’s, which is basically a bar that serves the most amazing fried chicken ever. They were even featured on FoodNetwork’s Diners Drive-Ins & Dives. A dive, well, yeah, it kinda is. Because we went on the night of the OU/OSU Bedlam game, we were able to walk right in and get a table. They told us later that it’s usually a 2 hour wait on a Saturday night.

But mmmmmmm … that fried chicken really was good. It’s legendary for a reason!

A little Guitar Hero. FYI, my nephews totally kicked my rear at this. I thought I was so cool … I am not.

Then we made our way back towards OKC, stopping in Kingfisher to see their lights, and then in Yukon. It was frigid!

But wait! First, we passed the Squawk & Skoot! HA!

We rode on the tiny train in Yukon at their lights. We were soooooo cold but it was fun to all be together. We laughed a lot that night. My nephews are hilarious.

Look at Eric in the background of this photo. That nut!

Hmmm. Like father, like son. Luke is in the next one. I cracked up when I was going through the photos. Jude just looks stunned in both photos.

The other day we went to see Santa and to the movies. Rudolph came, too. ”Tangled” was really cute even though Jude screamed bloody murder when the wicked witch cut off a lock of Rapunzel’s hair. I about jumped out of my seat. Here’s Jude looking like a little blind child with his 3D glasses on: