08.25.10

We met up with the Burks' girls for a quick swim after Skylar B got out of school.  With these 100+ degree days, I had been dreaming of our afternoon in the pool and so, of course, it decided to be barely 80 degrees and cloudy!  Tash and I tried our hardest but it was really David who made the best showing. 

Happy gnomes

Not sure who was having more fun

Piper

Nice attempt at a shoulder stand

Stella

08.22.10

We have had no shortage of good food over the last month.  Good Texas food, mind you.  And while the Tex-Mex photos are noticeably lacking, it is largely due to the fact that we barely stop to breathe much less waste time taking the camera out of my purse.  

Fred's in Fort Worth with Mom and Dad

Big O's at Fred's

Fireside Pies with Casey and Damon 

Scalini's with C, D, and OC

Dinner at the Lewis household 

Babysitting with the Hecklers

Caprese excitement with E

08.21.10

Our goddaughter Piper P turned three last weekend so we set about spending the entire day celebrating her!  First stop, a pool party that involved a gaggle of kiddos and lots of My Little Pony.

Skylar B and her cakeball

The hostess

Post cakeball

Stella girl

After the party, the Burks introduced us to the goodness that is Smashburger.  We took an afternoon break and then spent the evening at their house grilling and laughing.  I only took three random photos the entire night but they do a pretty good job of summing up the general chaos that we created/witnessed.   

Bathtime at the Burks

David's tremendous shot

The set of Skylar's dunny video surprise

The adults ended the night out in the cul-de-sac listening to the new Jimmy song and watching for shooting stars.  

08.19.10

Stephen B and I celebrated the Dunny 2010 series launch in style by buying a sealed box of 25 and opening them one-by-one at Lonestar Comics.  We made DC document the whole thing and were "this close" to convincing ourselves that we should buy a second box.  

Cowboy and Indian.  

Viking guy.  1/100!

Ketchup head.  Quite possibly my new fav.

My line-up.

The aftermath.

08.15.10

Sunday night dinners are back!  When we lived in Dallas, we used to have a weekly dinner at my parents' house that started with my dad's love for making complicated Chinese food and a little Cowboys football.  It soon progressed into multi-course meals and a sporting event was optional.  We decided to recreate our Tuscany adventure with an ambitious tasting of deconstructed vegetable and cheese bruschetta, a marinated shrimp salad, some sausage and smoked cheese risotto, and an herb-encrusted lamb.

If the lamb hadn't been so dang good, I probably would have photographed it as well.  I even thought of snapping a shot of the next morning's seared lamb and fried eggs but that would have involved moving and, really, what can one expect after a meal like that?

08.14.10

Ice cream!  Those two little words illicit a myriad of squeals and shrieks from these two little ones.  Kate has figured out the whole eating from a cone thing while Tori prefers a messier but just as effective method.  

08.10.10

We spent a few days in the Woodlands with my sister where we specialized in all things girly - pedicures, gym time, dress-up, and pink!

Ellie's new room

Tori in her Punky Brewster-inspired fairy godmother outfit

Uncle Dave is always a big hit

Sweet boy

Resting

Pesto + chicken + mozzarella + roasted red pepper sandwich.  Delish.

Lunch at the pool.

Swim time Dave.

A night out with the Froms

08.09.10

We spent our first few days in Houston-town with Megan, Matt, and Caleb (David's sister and her family).  We ate a ton of good food (some of the best Vietnamese soup of my life!), got to see their cute house in Bellaire, and play with Caleb.  We tried to buy him his first dunny but, alas, they were out so we had to settle for his first watermelon-colored munny.  Being all boy, he immediately popped the arms off and asked me for help with the head.  Love it!

08.08.10

Even though I am still waiting on one grade and finishing up one class, we decided to celebrate my impending graduation in style!  DC coordinated champagne at my parents' house, a car to Dallas and back, and dinner and drinks at Javier's with some of our favorite people!  I'm a very luck girl -- he seemed to have momentarily forgotten the freezing cold Chicago winters and the looming Cincinnati move!  

No one has ever been able to leave my parents' house without a few quick pics on the fireplace.

The sweet, sweet Burks brought over six dunnys for me to open before we left.  I got two of the ones I wanted and was able to teach the Rouswell girls the importance of a well-rounded Kidrobot collection.  

The group at Javier's

The ladies (minus Jay-nell)

Rolling with the Burks