I'm Dreaming of a White...Wednesday Night...!!

We had a nice surprise this past week...it snowed in Houston late Wednesday afternoon and in to the evening! The flurries actually started in our area late in the afternoon. If you stood real still and looked in to the bushes with the darker leaves, you could see them in the air. The girls thought it was great...in fact, Emerson proclaimed that it was "the best day of her life!"....miniscule, intermittent, snow flurries that didn't even reach the ground...she cracks me up!

A friend of mine and I went to a spin class that started at 6:00 p.m. that night. I dropped the girls in the kids center around 5:30 and it was misty and cold, but nothing exciting. An hour later, as we walked out of the gym, the area was blanketed with snow and it was coming doing pretty heavy. It was actually pretty fun to drive home in it!

Emerson of course, loved it....Kirby loved it for about 15 minutes and was then ready to go inside. Scott and Emerson switched to the backyard and stayed outside for about an hour!

Snow or no snow...as always...Trapper just wants to play!

Scott and Emerson's...uh, snowman...looks like a duck, huh?!

Look at our house...isn't it pretty?

The snow lasted throughout the night and melted away by mid morning the next day. It would be nice not to have to wait another 4 years for a little snow....

Radio J-O-Y

The children's choir at our church put on a Christmas program last Sunday evening entitled "Radio J-O-Y" (FM1225 on your radio dial! Get it?!). It was a cute talk-radio style show that told the story of Jesus' birth. The Cherubs (Emerson's age group) did great in the chorus...lots of fidgeting around on the stage, but great vocals!

Emerson has enjoyed being a part of choir this Fall and has asked to do it again in the Spring. Here's hoping she has more musical talent than her parents! :-)

It was also family Christmas craft night. Doesn't the gym look so cute all decorated?

What Turkey?

Emerson's class had a "disguise-the-turkey" project before Thanksgiving....you know, so the turkey wouldn't get eaten. You could disguise your turkey any way you wanted. At first, Emerson seemed stuck, so we tossed around a bunch of ideas: a pilgrim, a princess, like a Santa, in camo, a UT fan, a flower, etc. Here's what she picked:

Emerson colored the little guy and traced his belly to cut out the "shirt". She cut out shoes and the hat and pasted them on. I helped her make little pom-poms for his hands and Scott, the Longhorn drawing master he is, drew the Bevo for us. Good job, honey! :-) We saluted our turkey with a rousing rendition of "The Eyes of Texas" before sending him off back to the school.

Hook 'em Horns! (Gobble Gobble!)

Happy 6th Birthday Emerson!

Our little Emerson is now a 6 year old! Yep, that's right...the little sweetie pictured below is now a chatty, sassy little 6 year old!

BEFORE

AFTER

Isn't she beautiful? And if you look closely, you may be able to see that cute little gap in her smile! What more could a little girl want for her birthday than her first-ever visit from the Tooth Fairy! That little tooth was wiggly FOREVER...since early September! It finally decided to fall out on the school cafeteria table at lunch the day before her birthday. Luckily, Nana had made a tooth pillow and given it to us a few weeks before. Isn't it pretty? Thanks Nana...it will be treasured for many years to come by both girls!

On the Town with Nana & PaPa

Both Nana and PaPa Clark have birthdays in November (as do Emerson and Scott!), so we thought it would be fun for them to come in and have a day "out on the town" with them.

We started the day at Emerson's soccer game and then headed home for a quick lunch. We made a Starbucks run and headed Downtown to ride the Metro Rail from one end to the other. They really enjoyed it and were amazed at all the changes from Downtown through the Medical Center and on to Reliant Park. It was fun to point out different points of interest to them and to hear their take on how things have changed. They were both born and raised in Houston and the Sugar Land area, but have been country bumpkins for the last 8 years....and ALOT has changed in Houston over the past 8 years. Hearing their stories and memories was priceless...it was my favorite part of the day!

After the rail, we took them to the Aquarium for dinner. If you've never been to the Downtown Aquarium, you really should go! We go several times a year and the girls always have a ball. The food, though a tad pricey, is wonderful and the whole experience is just an all-around great value. After a great dinner, we treated Nana and PaPa to a night-time ride on the Shark Train...the girls' favorite! We headed home full and happy, and so blessed to have spent such a fun day together!

Whose Child is This??

Kirby doesn't like chocolate. Let me repeat that...Kirby...a child of mine and Scott's...DOES NOT like chocolate. While I understand this is technically a good thing at this age, it just seems a little strange given my and Scott's love of all things dark and delicious!

So, Kirby has decided that almost anything "brown" must be chocolate and said yucky-chocolate apparently shows up in the most unexpected places...

*The other night we had pizza. There were a few spots of burnt cheese and she shrieks, "Yucky Mommy...chocolate!" She refuses to eat the rest of hers until it's removed.

*One of her frozen mini waffles got a little charred in the toaster...."Oooo, Mommy...yucky chocolate on my waff-a!" Mommy gets a knife and scrapes it off. All is well.

*She was eating an apple the other day. The apple had a few teeny, tiny discolored spots..."Mommy, apple is yucky...look chocolate!" Mommy peels the discolored skin. The poor apple didn't stand a chance though. She takes a bite and gets close in to the core, which exposes a few seeds..."Oh no Mommy, apple has ANTS!"

She really cracks us up, the little cutie!

When the Cat's Away....

The mice...will sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed!

The girls and I have started this little tradition that the first night that Scott is out of town on a multiple night business trip is "Girl's Night". This night usually includes a fun, bad-for-you dinner - McDonald's or Sonic - and the "treat" of getting to sleep with me. The girls love being able to watch cartoons in our bed, and I love that once I get them up there and settled, they stay put. Once I'm done getting the house shut down, I climb in and we all snuggle up.

It's a very sweet, peaceful time...until the heavy sleeping and the tossing and turning begin. There's your usual cover stealing/hogging issues. There are arms tossed about, noses bashed. There are knees to the stomach and Kirby seems to always end up completely inverted on top of the covers near the end of the bed. That situation requires getting completely out of bed to bring her back "in to position", which of course wakes Emerson up...then everyone must go to the bathroom and get resettled. Once resettled and I let out a sigh, thinking we'll all drift off back in to pleasant slumber...someone needs a drink. We all get drinks and resettle again. A few more half-asleep cover renegotiations take place, a few little feet are repositioned and all is well. Before I know it, the alarm is buzzing, and though I should feel exhausted...I bounce out of bed, make a cup of coffee....then lay on the couch in complete, untouched peace, with my very own blanket and savor several minutes before it's time to rally the troops for the day.

I know what you're thinking....why on earth would I subject myself to such an irritating, sleepless night? Well, take a look at the sweeties below....I wouldn't miss Girls Night for anything!

~ But thank goodness it's only for ONE night! :-) ~

Sentimental Sunday

We weren't able to make it to Dewberry Farm in Brookshire this year. It's a really fun place and if you've never been, you should check out their site and make plans to go some time. Here's the website http://www.dewberryfarm.com/ It's a short drive out of town, but well worth it!

We've been two years with the Jones Family and our kids have always had a blast! Time just seems to have blown by since Hurricane Ike. Everyone's schedule was disrupted, events were cancelled, rescheduled and rearranged (oh, yeah...and the Jones' went to Mexico. JEALOUS!) It was hard to find the time before Halloween to fit it in, and our weekends are full this month as well. We certainly are a busy family!!

So, for your viewing pleasure...here are a few quick photos of our trip last year.

Emerson (with Scott and Kirby close behind!) on the roller slide.

The grilled corn is the BEST!

The Forbes and Jones Kids...E-I-E-I-O!

Can you see us? That's me and Emerson in the middle of the Corn Maze.

A family picture on the Corn Train.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We hope you have a frightfully wonderful day!

Love,

Daphne (from Scooby Doo!) & the Silly Witch

Pumpkin Patch

We visited the pumpkin patch at the local Episcopal church again this year. I'm not sure if we hit it a little late, or if the pumpkin batch wasn't so great (hey, that rhymed!) this year...they were light on their inventory and the good ones were few and far between. We managed to get a nice sized one for carving though, and will set it out by the front door with our store-bought ones.

This picture of Emerson cracks me up!

Who's your Mummy?

She's Good!

We heard from our doctor this morning and everything from the echo looks normal and fine. According to Scott, Kirby apparently has the "good Forbes genes"! :-) Obviously, we're thrilled and thankful!

Sentimental Sunday

This week's Sentimental Sunday post has me looking back on Emerson, and specifically her heart condition and our stay at Texas Children's Hospital (TCH) from New Year's Eve Day 2002 in to the new year of 2003.

On Friday, we took Kirby to TCH for an echocardiogram. Given Emerson's heart defects, I had a fetal echo while pregnant with Kirby and we've listened to her closely since her birth. As you all know, she's a healthy, active little one and we've never had reason to worry. When we unexpectedly found my heart valve defects last Fall, our pediatrician thought it would be best to check out Kirby as well, to see if she joins the "Mommy and Emerson Bum Valve Club".

Before we look back, Kirby did great! Scott went back with her and she watched Shrek while the echo was performed. Afterwards, we took the girls to the Avalon Diner on Westheimer for dinner. Every one should experience an Avalon Diner chocolate shake...though I suppose after having her ticker looked at, drenching it in saturated fat may not have been the best idea!

We should hear something about the echo this week and I'll let everyone know.

So, here's our little Emerson at TCH on New Year's Eve 2002....

That's me sleeping in the background. I didn't leave the hospital once in the 7 days we were there. In fact, I think I only left our room and the floor two or three times. Scott and I felt so scared and helpless. She was just so small...our first baby...it wasn't supposed to be like that. God is GOOD though!! After a rough start, she is our smart, active girl...wonderful in every way. In fact, if her heart issues ever do arise in conversation, most people are shocked...I mean, come on...we've all seen her energy, exuberance and can attest to her volume!!

She is due for another echo and clinic visit in early 2010. While we know she's healthy and doing well, we always wonder when and if they will want to repair anything. We'll worry about that later though. We thank God for blessing us with such a wonderful and amazing daughter and trust in His plan for her!

Sentimental Sunday

I thought it might be a cute idea to revisit old pictures each week. I hope you'll enjoy taking a look back with me. It's fun (and amazing!) to see how the girls have grown. For my first sentimental post, I thought I'd look back and see what it was we were doing around this same time in years past.

This first picture couldn't be more fitting...did anyone happen to catch that AWESOME game between Texas and Mizzou last night? Here's Emerson at around 11 months checking out a Longhorn game at MeMe and PopPop's....HOOK 'EM HORNS!

Here she is painting pumpkins with friend, Ashley Jones in October of 2004. I remember we spent the afternoon at their house, and later, we took pictures in the neighbor's pumpkin patch. Ashley looks so little in this picture too...can you believe she's about to turn 7!?

Look at our sweet girls in October 2005~ Emerson at almost 3 & Kirby at 1 month. They look so cute and innocent, don't they?

From 2006, here's Emerson at almost 4 years old having fun at Bounce City. And look at little Kirby, already a year old, digging in to her dinner! I think everyone has those "messy eating" pics.

Here's our little Clan cutting up at a local pumpkin patch last October. We'll be heading to the same one next week, so watch out for new pics soon!

Leapin' Lizards!

Super Leapin' Lizards that is! After a few weeks of delay due to Ike, our Fall soccer season is under way. Emerson, 5 of her team mates from last year, and one sweet new girl are all fired up!

We are thrilled to be with our friends from last year...the girls play so well together and get along great. We have a fantastic, friendly group of parents and it's made it all the more enjoyable. I think Scott and I look forward to Saturdays just as much as Emerson. The girls are going to ROCK this season!

Super Leapin' Lizard action shots coming soon...so stay tuned!!

Our Family "Hurrication"

As I stated, our power went off at 8:00 p.m. on Friday...well before the brunt of the storm. Sunday afternoon, we decided to pack up the truck and head to my parent's house in New Ulm. While air conditioning was the most welcome treat, I think Scott and I were more anxious to get to the TV and see what was going on in the rest of Houston, Galveston, and surrounding areas. We were pretty much glued to the TV for the first several hours after arriving.

So, we knew our house was fine. We were re-energized. The girls were certainly out of school for several days, and Scott was off of work for a few days too. What else to do but make the best of the situation!

First thing....our precious little Kirby turned 3 years old on Monday, September 15th!! Nana made a birthday cake and she was able to open her presents from my parents. Kirby's favorite gift was an old-fashioned red tricycle. She just loves it!

The next day, we decided to take a trip to the Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham. The girls and I have been several times, but Scott had never been. Blue Bell proved that day that they don't just have the BEST ICE CREAM IN THE COUNTRY...but also big hearts. The tours were free and they gave us extra free ice cream tokens. It was a pretty busy day for them with all the hurricane evacuees/refugees...and though a small gesture, a pretty stand up thing to do none the less. We had a great time!

We also managed to slip up to Austin to visit with MeMe and PopPop and attend the Texas/Rice football game. It was big stuff, as it was the girls first ever Longhorn game, and they got to sit in a suite! (Sometimes I wonder if they'll start expecting too much....!) They had a fabulous time and were very well behaved. And of course, the Horns won! Emerson has already asked when she can go to another game, and Kirby has perfected her Hook Em Horns sign. Thanks MeMe and PopPop...we had a blast and love you!

While in Austin, we were also able to attend cousin Jade's 5th birthday party at The Hoppin' House. We always have a great time with cousins Jade and Trevin and we were so happy we could be there. Kirby and Trevin loved playing in the ball pit and Emerson's favorite was climbing the rope ladder and jumping into the red foam blocks. Sadly, we didn't get a picture of all 4 cousins together. Bummer!

The rest of our hurrication at Nana and PaPa's was spent playing outside, visiting Katy Mills Mall, helping NaNa in her yard, and relaxing. We had lots of good quality time with them and can't thank them enough for letting us crash for 10 days. We love you both so much!!

Hurricane Ike

I suppose I would be remiss to not include a post about Ike. Ah, Ike, Ike, Ike....

Emerson was off of school and Scott was off of work the Friday that Ike was to hit. We spent most of the day securing the outside of the house, replacing batteries, monitoring the weather...and eating the "hurricane food" stash. And before Scott can jump in with an objection...FINE!...I was the one eating all the Oreos!

We settled the girls in for the evening, made cups of coffee, and had just settled on the couch to watch the weather reports around 8:00 p.m. when our power went off. 8:00 p.m.!? We were a tad ticked off to say the least. Around 10:00, we hunkered down in our "shelter" (the dining room) and listened to the radio play-by-play of the storm coming in.

The girls did great...slept right through it. Scott snored off and on. Trapper was a tad nervous and glued to my side the entire night. Me...I didn't sleep a wink...AT ALL. For me, that night was the scariest, noisiest night I have ever endured. The sound of the wind whipping around the house, hitting the glass, and the swaying of the trees was incredible. I don't think I'll ever forget it, and I certainly do not need to ever go through it again.

Thankfully, we made it through just fine. We had large limbs and debris in our yard, but no real damage. I figure we lost two trees with Rita...we had our turn! Several neighbors lost large trees and fences. The damage and destruction in Kingwood was substantial. To this day, there are still debris piles, hanging branches, fallen down trees, left over tree trunks, downed fences, and blue tarps on roofs. Still, we feel very blessed that our good friends and loved ones made it through just fine.

TRI-ing *IS* Living...

I am thrilled and proud to announce that this past Sunday, I competed in and completed my first ever triathalon!

The event was a mini-sprint (perfect for first-timers) and consisted of a 200yd swim, 6 mile bike ride, and 2 mile run. I placed 21st out of 51 women in my age group (35-39) with a finishing time of 49:23. Can you believe it? While I knew my practice times going in, my real goal was to just not stop at any point, and to at least not finish last. Obviously, I smashed both those goals!

I can't thank Scott enough for all his love and support. He has had faith in me every step of the way and was my wonderful (and loud!) cheerleader through every step of the race. I have also had a wonderful trainer, Shannon, this summer who has helped me so much. He's helped me push myself more than I ever thought I could.

Just a little backgorund:

The event was started last year by Greg and Stephanie Johnson. Stephanie was a healthy, stay at home mother of three when she was diagnosed with stomach cancer at age 35. Given only months to live, Stephanie fought a courageous battle and beat the odds over and over. Her cancer and seemingly limited time made her step outside her box to experience and try many things she had always wanted to. One of those things...a triathalon. So Greg and Stephanie started their own, in their neighborhood, with the support of friends and neighbors. Last year's event was a huge success, allowing Stephanie to achieve a dream, and help raise funds to fight cancer at the same time.

She was preparing for another great event this Fall. But sadly, having beat the odds and fought the fight for 4 years, Stephanie passed away on July 21 at the age of 39. She left behind Greg and three young children. I will admit to breaking down in tears upon reading Greg's email. Though I had never met this woman, I was inspired by her spirit, and moved by her story and the pictures of her and her family.

Greg made sure we knew on Sunday that Stephanie would not want the race to be about crying (though he had many of us in tears!), but about living life to its fullest, trying new things, exploring new places, dreaming new dreams, and going for them. It's not about crying and dying, it's about TRI-ing and living....

I was honored to meet Greg and to be a part of such an amazing and beautiful day. I can't wait to do another one!

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Here I am early in the morning setting up my transition area. Check out my rockin' new rode bike...I love that thing! Thanks, honey!

The swim was a "snake" swim in an 8 lane pool. We were aligned by submitted swim times, with half the participants starting in Lane 1, and the other half starting in Lane 8 at 10 second intervals. It was a fun and efficient way to move 400 competitors through the pool.

The bike ride was an up and back 6 miles through the master planned community of Gleanloch Farms in Northwest Houston. Did I mention how much I LOVE my bike? It's beautiful!


The run took us through a small part of the neighborhood, then along the back edge of the community along a drainage canal and then around the little league fields back to the aquatic center. It was a quiet and peaceful 2 mile run. I spotted a few deer back along the drainage fields, and you could see planes take off and land at Hooks Airport. Unfortunatley, the pictures of me running aren't so close up...which may be for the best anyway...I wasn't looking too pretty crossing the finish line! I'm that little blob coming up the middle...

Me and My Man post race!