March Recap

March was busy with spring break and birthdays, but we also fit in time for books, cooking, and, of course, lots of school activities.  Here's a peek at some of what we did in March:  

Will wanted to read nonfiction so we went to Barnes and Noble.  Henry found the newest Stuart Gibbs novel,

and Will picked out this giant tome about World War I from the adult section. He has been diligently reading it, loving it, and learning so much.  

At school, our first and second graders were treated to an author visit by the amazing Christian Robinson. His new book, Another, came out the day he visited West U.  It's an incredible wordless picture book that I bet will win at least a Caldecott Honor next year.  

Name That Book wrapped up right before spring break, and we celebrated our kids' hard work with cookies and bingo. Henry won the first round of bingo and selected The Cardboard Kingdom as his prize.  

Will and I worked on decorating birthday signs for the Kinkaid 7th grade fundraiser.

Henry and I bought packages of new underwear for West U's last service project, which benefited Undies for Everyone.  

And Will participated in the Ethics Bowl competition at Kinkaid. Ethics Bowl is a little like debate, and the Kinkaid team did really well, bringing home the civility award.  

Henry is my weekly buddy at the farmers market and we love our new rolling cart.  It holds so much and makes it easy to transport our fresh food back to the car.  

Dinner prep with Dad -- wine roast was on the menu.

I promised Henry ice cream after his 11-year-old shots.   

We also made it to the science museum for a members' night and got to see the new exhibit, "The Art of the Hunt." 

 March, as always, was a fun, full month! 

Lately: A September Recap

Despite the lack of blog posts around here, we are keeping busy with full days and fun outings. Here's a peek at some of what we did in September:

We are all huge Astros fans, but we hadn't been to a game this season. Luckily for us, a friend of Gene's had tickets he couldn't use and we were able to spend a Sunday afternoon at the ball park. Our seats were fantastic and the Astros won!

This one isn't a huge fan, but he tolerates the game for the rest of us. 

Another evening, we went to the science museum for a members' night.

Our farmers market changed locations a few weeks back. The new spot is fantastic but we dodged rain storms the first two weekends. You can see the ominous clouds rolling in.

Both boys have a number of activities this year.  Will is doing fall volleyball and viola at school as well as a bunch of clubs that meet during his lunch period. Henry is taking piano and art and has Cub Scouts, Name That Book Club and Crossover (a 5th grade after-school program one day a week at a local church). It's a bit much for Henry but he loves all his activities and won't give any up.

Henry's Cub Scout den chose a patrol name and created a flag. They are the Radioactive Gummy Ninjas and Henry drew the gummy ninja on the flag. 

Such a cool flag!

We celebrated Henry's half birthday on September 21 at Nana and Pop's. 

 

We sure do enjoy our Friday afternoons with Nana and Pop!

Freyja snuck out the dog door one morning in September. She's done it a few times but never knows what to do when she gets outside. Silly cat! 

If you're wondering how Freyja snuck past our guard dog, Ruby was sound asleep and never even noticed the stealthy kitty.

October is here, but it's still 90 degrees and humid in Houston. We're ready for the first cold front of the season so we can cozy up with hot cider, pumpkin muffins, and fluffy blankets! Until then, we'll be watching October baseball and rooting for our Astros.

Lately: May Days!

It is May, and as anyone with school-aged kids knows, everything is crazy busy as the school year is winding down. I definitely have a love-hate relationship with this month!

It's been quite a while since I blogged, so here's a look at what we've been doing so far this month:

Henry's been taking art classes at Monart since March and he is loving them so much! The art school put on a show of all their students' work at the end of April and it was such a treat! Henry is learning so much in his class and it is something he looks forward to each week.

I hosted the annual library volunteer brunch at our house at the end of April. We have over 50 volunteers and are so thankful for all their work. (I also got to attend a luncheon for the Kinkaid library volunteers that same week!) 

Henry failed his eye test at the pediatrician's office and we had to visit the ophthalmologist. It turns out the pediatrician's eye chart wasn't calibrated correctly and Henry does in fact have 20/20 vision. Poor kid went through all that for nothing -- and then his eyes stayed dilated for four days! He was rocking some cool Minecraft glasses, though. 

Doctor's visits (especially unnecessary ones) call for a trip to get ice cream.

We had some scout bees scoping out an area above our entryway. They hadn't made a hive but we are in the process of making that space less inviting!

We love the bees, just not inside our home! They can come visit our new raised bed anytime they want, though! So far, we've picked some peppers and tomatoes and all our new plants are growing like crazy in the early summer heat.  

Henry's piano recital was a couple of weekends ago. He did so well and we were all so proud of him! His teacher confided that he's one of her favorite students because he tells her exactly what's on his mind and where he has problems with piano. He has come so far and is so dedicated. 

Nana and Pop joined us for the recital and came back to the house for dinner afterwards. We were so glad they could come!

Henry also had his final Cub Scout meeting of the year. He earned his Webelos badge during the advancement ceremony at this month's pack meeting.

We celebrated Mother's Day and Pop's birthday recently as well.

There's nothing like getting the whole family together for some fun!

Happy Mother's Day to Nana!

Gene made raivas!

And here's one quick photo of me with my boys on Mother's Day.

Henry has also spent the entire month of May working on his big Texas project. He decided to research the invention of the hamburger (one strong claim is that it was invented in Athens, Texas in the 1890s). This project was SO much work (research paper, tri-panel and a diary) and we are glad to be turning it in this week. (Will had a big research paper too, but I have no pictures of it because it was done at school and there were no huge extra elements!)

We have been spending a lot of our Friday nights lately with Nana and Pop. It's so much more relaxing to pick up Will from school and then head to Nana and Pop's for dinner and a good visit than to fight the traffic back to our neighborhood. 

We even saw a peacock wander by their house one afternoon!

Last week, Gene and the boys had a couple of boys' nights while I went to hear author Aja Gabel talk about her new book, The Ensemble, at Brazos Bookstore and then had my monthly book club meeting. Gene took the boys to Kura, a revolving sushi restaurant in Midtown. The sushi comes out on a conveyor belt and you just grab what you want. It was definitely the most fun sushi experience the boys have ever had!

 

We always head to the farmers market on Saturday, and last weekend, Henry and I found fresh fava beans. The boys helped me whip up a fava bean-green pea salad that was delicious!

Last weekend was jam-packed with fun! After the farmers market, we went to see Sideways Stories from Wayside School at the MATCH in Midtown. Main Street Theater always puts on fun shows and this one was great!

The boys found our names in the restroom at the MATCH, on their graffiti wall.

After the show, we went back to Kura for some more revolving sushi, both because the boys adored it and because they really wanted to show me how cool it was. Will's favorite is the squid with plum sauce.  

Our next stop was Empty Bowls at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. We got there later than we normally do, but there were still tons of bowls and Gene found the perfect one for matcha.  

Even though we had just eaten lunch, Henry still managed to have a bowl of soup and we all tried some iced coffee and iced mochas. Empty Bowls is one of our favorite events because we find beautiful bowls while helping the Houston Food Bank. 

After some downtime at home, Will was off for a huge birthday party extravaganza -- pool party, movie night, slumber party and laser tag the next day! He had a blast with his buddies! Henry, Gene and I went to the members' opening of the new Glassell School of Art. It is a huge space with an incredible rooftop! 

The MFAH recently installed the Cloud Column by artist Anish Kapoor in the plaza outside the Glassell.. This huge sculpture weighs 21,000 pounds and is 32 feet tall! 

On Sunday, Gene and Henry went to MineFaire, a Minecraft extravaganza. The boys went last year and we got two free tickets in the mail for this year's event. Henry had so much fun!

He even came home with this cool new t-shirt.

For lunch, Gene and Henry visited our favorite French bistro, Eclair Paris.

Dessert was an espresso!

 Are you screaming "Mayday!" too after these crazy May days??