Busy Weekend

So, we had quite the busy weekend at our place. It started on Friday. Of course we ate dinner at Gringo's...that's what we do. But we had a special guest this week. Usually Nada is our special guest, but she couldn't make it this week, so we had a different special guest. It was a member of the "cutest baby in the universe club"...Leslie's nephew David.

Saturday, we have a full schedule, starting with the Children's Symphony. The theme for this presentation was Aladdin and the Arabian Nights. It was the last show of this season. I had sort of decided against renewing for next year, but as Henry and I chatted before the show began, he told me how much he enjoys the Children's Symphony. So we ran out to the renewal desk and signed up again for next year. Because we renewed, we got to have a photo taken with the Conductor, dressed in his Arabian garb. Of course, all I had with me was my cell phone, so sorry about the quality.

From there, we ate lunch at a Burger King in "down town city", as Henry refers to Downtown Houston. I am sad to say that we've now eaten enough fast food that Henry has started having a "special order" versus just taking whatever Mommy gets him. We had a few errands to run, including a new haircut (thanks Aunt Leslie!).

And then, we had our first Astros game of the season. Since the Comets are no more, we decided to get a six-pack ticket package from the Astros. Henry really does seem to enjoy any kind of sports. So we were barely home for just a few moments, when it was off to the "ole ball game".

Leslie had gotten Henry a mitt and you would think the thing was glued to his hand. (As a matter of fact, I had to ask Henry to remove it this morning while he was eating breakfast!!). It was a good game, but we only lasted until the 8th inning. It was getting past the little boys bedtime and he had lost interest in the game. So we headed out while we were down 7-4, thinking it was a lost cause anyway.

As we climbed in the car, we tuned the radio to listen to the rest of the game. Much to our surprise, the Astros had rallied and managed to tie the game. It ended up going into overtime and finally ended with a loss for the Astros in the 11th inning. Whew, glad we didn't try and stay for the whole thing!

Here are some pictures from the game:

Sunday, Linda asked if we could go eat with her after the meeting. That's always a treat for us, so we let her pick where we would go. She chose Benihana...a place I would rarely say no to. The kids had a blast! Notice the creative use of chopsticks by Henry and Sara. And you can tell by the leftover rice on Samuel's face that he enjoyed it.

Whew, what a fun and eventful weekend!!

Friday Flashback

Well, these Friday Flashbacks aren't really in chronological order. Oh well, I guess you'll just have to deal with that.

This picture is from the day that I officially received custody of my boy. It was November 4. I had packed the diaper bag that morning for it's first official use. We had finished at court and received a favorable outcome. Then, we had to stop at the store and buy cakes for the caretakers at the baby home.

When we finally arrived at the baby home, we were ushered into the Director's office. I was on pins and needles waiting for them to bring me my son. He finally arrived wearing some kind of pink snowsuit and crying his eyes out. Poor little guy must have sensed that his life was about to take a turn and that must have been very scary for him.

I began stripping him. See, you have to bring everything with you for your baby to leave the baby home. I had a complete outfit for him to change into. As I changed his clothes, I remember whispering in his ear that he never had to wear pink again, unless he wanted to. (Turns out that he does like wearing pink.)

While I was changing him, he did begin to calm down. Not sure how that happened since I was a nervous wreck. I wanted to get him and get out as quickly as possible in case anyone changed their mind.

While we (me and the other family that I traveled with) were getting the kids ready, the Director came in and gave a little speech. At this point, I have no recollection of what he said. All I know is that he gave each child an envelope with pumpkin seeds in it. I'm not even sure what the relevance of the pumpkin seeds were. But you can believe that I still have that envelope tucked away with all of my important keepsakes from that trip.

To this day, I still remember what Henry smelled like when I would visit him at the Baby Home. Later, I would learn that smell was linked to him sweating because of the many layers of clothes they place on the children. It still surfaces once in a while when he is snuggled in and a little warm in his bed at night.

It's hard to believe that little, anxious boy is the same as my grown up boy who is going to graduate from kindergarten in a few short weeks!

Wordless Wednesday