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This year, my mom, threw a huge bash at her house for Easter. There must have been 50 people there, even though the weather was horrible, and we were all wet and cold

Everyone that came (lots of family and friends) gathered inside where there was plenty of warmth, thanks to the gas fire place and heaters scattered about. And food, oh, boy, talk about food. It was a huge potluck… chicken, meat trays, veggies, pasta, and more…

And, then, to top off all of the good conversation, the Easter Bunny showed up and treated all of the kids to photos on his lap, and gifts from his basket:

There are lots more photos from Easter Saturday here.

On Sunday, we all went to church, and when we got home, we took some family portraits in the front yard (the weather was perfect for family photos on Sunday)

I also took some random photos of Grayson and other things. Those photos are here.

And how can you not fall in love with this photo of Grayson in pure amazement at the wind blowing on his face:

Hopefully next year the weather will cooperate, and the other 50 people that didn’t make it (the weather was that bad folks) can make it too!

This is too funny not to post:

Tuesday was a crazy snowy wintery weather kind of day. I don’t think it got above 32° here at the house.

I stayed home and worked from the home office, instead of trying to drive into work, although, I bet I could have driven to work in the morning, but by mid-afternoon, there was no way I was going anywhere.

Jack and Christine played outside a little in the snow (it’ll never snow when he’s two years old again) and had fun. It was crunchy and slippery on the icy grass and concrete.

Here’s a quick movie Christine shot of the front yard when it was really snowing:

And here are some photos I took in between phone calls (you should have seen me outside in my sandals and shorts trying to take photos without shaking… stupid, stupid, stupid). Yes, Jack is eating an icicle in one of them… ha!

And yes, this is one of my favorite songs of all time! Baby It’s Cold Outside, by Dinah Shore from back when music was real music, and people could really sing. If it’s cold outside, it’s a great pick-me up song.

So, I’ve postd a video every day this week, and I figured I should treat you all to something really special today.

Here are five photo galleries I haven’t linked to yet:

• Jack Playing - photos from this week, of Jack and his mom playing (they were “camping” in Jack’s room in a home-made fort, and then Jack was “taking photos” with his camera, and then playing with cars).
• Furniture by Stan - Cyndi’s uncle refinished some antique furniture that my mom gave us a while ago. The furniture looks awesome now, and all the drawers work perfectly now mom! Now our guests (and the new baby) will have a place to put their clothes when they come visit.
• Aggie Jack - the photos from our weekend Aggieland trip.
• Jack by Erin - Erin took some photos of Jack with her mom, sister, Chrstine and I after church on 8/27. Too fun!
• In the Sandbox - just some photos of Jack in the sandbox one afternoon.
• Ben and Jack at Serranos - After church one day, we met Murphy and Amanda at Serranos by accident. We ate inside while Murphy and Amanda (and their guests) watched Jack and Ben, then we came outside and watched the boys while they ate. The boys had sooo much fun playing together.
• Levy Party - Lori and Herbert threw a party for the kids one weekend afternoon. Lots of water splashing and playing outside.
• Lakehouse Swimming - We went to visit Debbie and Raymond on August 19th, and I took these photos outside around the pool. Jack just loved swimming this summer!

And, here’s the double whammy… another video for today:

Have a good weekend folks! (We’ll be nesting!)

Look at the forecast for this week:

It’s not even July yet.

updated on 6/13: It got up to 104 today. This is rediculous:

For those of you expecting, or that have small babies, you’ll get a kick out of this video:

Josh’s mom emailed that to me, and Christine and I died laughing watching it over and over. Enjoy.

My mom hosted the family Easter get together this year in Bellville. We decorated the yard and the house with decorations to get into the spirit of the holiday (and so the kids would have something fun to play with).

It was a fun weekend for us for sure. The weather was perfect, it was probably 80 degrees, sunny, and the breeze never died.

Frank, Mary, and Michael drove down from Dallas. Christine, Jack and I drove in from Austin. And lots and lots of other family members and friends were there… must have been 40 or 50 people in the house and yard throughout the day on Saturday.

I took a few photos throughout the day: Roland and Cheri having a conversation. Roland telling a story. Rodney posing for me. Helen on the swing. Two ladies on the deck. Mother and Son. Roland and the girls. Laura and Clay. Jacob hunting eggs. Christine on the deck. Where did it go? Jessie Otis Boyte. Nicky and her pearly whites. Nicky’s Jack. Clay, Laura, Drew and Cannon and the second shot. Jack after his nap. A rusty rooster. Doughboy. And a great laugh.

The kids did what kids do when they’re outside… the played and played and played and got dirty and then played some more:

The adults chatted inside and outside and outside and inside.

Everyone ate around 2:00 (and some of us kept eating… there was a lot of food, and some yummy deserts - thanks to everyone that brought something).

After food and drink aplenty, we all took turns taking photos in the bunny cutouts my mom had made:

Then we had an egg hunt. Jack and Ella were both taking naps, so all the other kids hunted eggs, and around 6 p.m. after everyone had left, Jack and Ella got up and hunted for their eggs… Frank forgot to bring his shotgun with him, so we had to let the big one get away.

Then on Saturday night, Michael, Evan and I headed out to Rose and Rodney’s house to play poker with them… I lost a little, Evan lost a little, and Michael won a little… but we all had fun getting caught up on what our cousins have been up to for the past few years. Good times!

Happy Easter everyone.

So, in case you guys didn’t realize it… Josh and Elise should have a baby in about a week…

I came across a website today that I think Josh needs to make a few orders from:

PottyMouthShop.com.

They make onesies… but not the cute little onesies that everyone else has… great “alternative” ones that make me think: “This onesie would get Josh to say the word ‘onesie’”.

Josh, aren’t you going to order a few?

It’d be too cool for him to get a few of these in the mail from his friends… lol. I’d love to see that kid wearing this one (warning this one’s pretty explicit).

Found that site here: BabyRoadies.com.

A few weeks ago, I spotted a Rocking Duck on sale from Playsam in Skandanavia (oh the wonders of the internet). I ordered one on impulse, because it was so damned cute. It arrived today, so I put it together tonight, and Jack gets to try it out tomorrow:

Cool, huh?

This year, for Valentine’s Day, Christine and I got up early (ok, Christine got up really early, and I got up at my normal 8:00) and gave Jack his Valentine’s present. It was an Elmo is sick doll. Ok, it’s really called a “Check up on Elmo” doll, but it’s the same thing.

We got this little doll for Jack because he’s been sick lately, and every time we take him to the doctor’s office, he hates it more and more. Hopefully playing with this Elmo will teach Jack that it’s okay to take your temperature, how to blow your nose, and that bandaids are fun!

Hopefully. Because if it doesn’t, I’m going to ring Elmo’s annoying little neck. Elmo has to be the cutest, yet most annoying doll we’ve had… mainly because of that little lispy voice he has… thankfully I don’t have to spend much time with Elmo. Poor Christine has to spend all day with him

Then I went to work.

I knocked off around 4:00, and we headed to Central Park. Jack and I played on the playground, while Christine went to the store. She couldn’t find what she was looking for, so she came and got us. We went to the Bookstop and found my Valentine’s present: The Complete Photography Manual. Too cool.

I gave Christine her Valentine’s day gift at home. It was from Jack and I, so we opened it while Jack ate dinner.

She got a set of flip-flops, a stick of lip-balm, some Aloe Vera lotion, and a card from each of us.

We decided to keep the gifts pretty reasonable this year, because:

We’re going on a 6-day Carnival cruise next week to Progreso and Cozumel! That was our real gift to each other, and we are soooo looking forward to it.

Hope you had a good Valentine’s Day.

update: Photos from the park are here.

Jack’s getting bigger, and older, and smarter every day.

One of the toys Jack got for his 1st birthday is a collection of 5 or 6 animals, all on a neat little playscape, and these animals all sit on little buttons that make the noise of that animal when pushed down.

There’s a little birdy (sings a chirpy little bird song), and a lion (Rarrr!) and a monkey (hoo hoo hoo hoo), and a seal (hmmm, can’t remember that sound, I think it’s water splashing) and a polar bear (Roar!!!), and an elephant (brbrbbrrbr!).

In the course of playing with that toy, Christine taugh Jack that elephants trumpet by holding their trunk up and away from their body. Jack also has a few Baby Einstein DVDs that have elephants in them, and he loves watching the elephants…

One day, while I was at work, Christine asked Jack a question:

“What sound does an elephant make?”

To which, Jack responded by raising his arm in the air (like he’d seen Christine do) and trumpeting, in his best imitation of an elephant.

We were tickled pink.

Since that day, we’ve been trying to capture it on video, and we finally did the other night.

Here’s the answer to the question “what sound does an elephant make?”

Just in case you were wondering

Got this as an email tonight, figured I’d post it here, so you all know where I’m from:

39. I’ll take Shakespeare for 1000, Alex.
38. Duct tape won’t fix that.
37. Lisa Marie was lucky to catch Michael.
36. Come to think of it, I’ll have a Heineken.
35. We don’t keep firearms in this house.
34. Has anybody seen the sideburns trimmer?
33. You can’t feed that to the dog.
32. I thought Graceland was tacky.
31. No kids in the back of the pickup, it’s just not safe.
30. Wrasslin’s fake.
29. Honey, did you mail that donation to Greenpeace ?
28. We’re vegetarians.
27. Do you think my gut is too big?
26. I’ll have grapefruit and grapes instead of biscuits and gravy.
25. Honey, we don’t need another dog.
24. Who’s Richard Petty?
23. Give me the small bag of pork rinds.
22. Too many deer heads detract from the decor.
21. Spittin is such a nasty habit.
20. I just couldn’t find a thing at Walmart today.
19. Trim the fat off that steak.
18. Cappuccino tastes better than espresso.
17. The tires on that truck are too big.
16. I’ll have the arugula and radicchio salad.
15. I’ve got it all on the C drive.
14. Unsweetened tea tastes better.
13. Would you like your salmon poached or broiled?
12. My fiance, Bobbie Jo, is registered at Tiffany’s.
11. I’ve got two cases of Zima for the Super Bowl.
10. Little Debbie snack cakes have too many fat grams.
09. Checkmate.
08. She’s too young to be wearing a bikini.
07. Does the salad bar have bean sprouts?
06. Hey, here’s an episode of “Hee Haw” that we haven’t seen.
05. I don’t have a favorite college team.
04. Be sure to bring my salad dressing on the side.
03. I believe you cooked those green beans too long.
02. Those shorts ought to be a little longer, Darla.
01. Nope, no more for me. I’m drivin tonight.

Watch this video from Google Video:

Totally reminds me of something my buddy Josh and I would have done back in highschool. And probably isn’t that different from some of the stuff Brad Patak did in highschool in Ennis to hear his buddies talk.

I’m reminded of the old Dinah Shore and Johnny Mercer tune tonight:

Yes, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside“.

On Wednesday night of this past week, Christine and Jack drove to Bellville for the Austin County Fair.

Oh my gosh, did they have fun.

They stayed with Grandma, and got to spend a lot of time playing with Ella and Aunt Shadel.

On Thursday morning, they all got up, and headed to down the road to the Austin County Fair Parade. They found their spot on the side of Highway 159 near Mrs. Payton, Jennifer, and their bunch of kids, and settled in to watch the parade. They were also sitting next to Mrs. Hueni and Brian was there (Haven’t seen them in forever and I’m sorry I missed them).

The parade started, and soon, there were firetrucks and ambulances from all of the towns in the county driving through town, making all sorts of racket. There were a few bands, and the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts paraded through town. The fair queen candidates rode in on a trailer, as did all mannner of cheerleaders and mascots.

The kiddos were getting tired towards the end of the parade and ended up falling asleep in their strollers.

On Thursday evening, the family got dressed up and headed to the fairgrounds. The saw the opening of the rodeo, and met some goats, and pigs, and cows, and other animals, before heading over to the carousel for some fun. (The animals scared Ella just a little).

Christine finally got to meet Dixie Haverlah, who babysits Ella for Aunt Shadel and Uncle Evan. They all had lots of fun on the carousel.

Jack got to taste ice-cream at the fair for the first time ever… bad mommy… she gave in to temptation…

Ella and Jack got some whirly light toys and had lots of fun playing with them, before eventually heading home. On the way out of the fair, Christine plopped Jack on a tractor. Jack was totally in command of his element.

Now that you’ve looked at all of those photos, here’s a quick video from the Fair photos and videos that Christine shot:

See all of the photos from the Fair in this gallery.

On Friday, they all headed towards the pumpkin patch in Sealy to take photos with all of the pumpkins. Evan told them that there were plenty of pumpkins out, but the Great Pumpkin must have liberated them all, because when Peggy met the girls and kids there, there weren’t but two pumpkins left…

So they took lots of photos with the two pumpkins that were there, and then Aunt Peggy and Christine drove back to Austin.

Sounds like they all had lots of fun at the Fair this year… I’m gonna have to make sure I go next year.