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!!

Current Favorites

I thought I would dedicate a blog post to Henry's current favorites. As expected, his favorites can fluctuate greatly as time goes by, but here are his current faves:

Breakfast, which he gets to pick himself:

• Cereal, likes every kind he has ever tried
  
• Oatmeal with blueberries
  

Favorite beverages:

• Milk, always the number one choice
• Lemonade
• Root Beer (only allowed as a special treat)
• Water
  

Favorite lunchbox items:

• Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich
• Bell pepper slices (red and orange this week)
• Clementine oranges

Favorite television programs:

• Curious George
• Super Why!
• Arthur
• Go Diego, Go
• Syd the Science Guy

Favorite outdoor activities:

• Basketball
• Hockey, Baseball, Football, Soccer, Golf (and any other sport you can think of)
  
• Climbing
• Sandbox

Favorite games:

• Sorry
• Uno
• Chutes and Ladders
• War (card game)

Favorite books:

• Curious George
• Berenstein Bears
• Joke books

Favorite restaurants:

• Gringo's
• Sweet Tomatoes

Favorite treats:

• Root beer floats
• Starburst candy
• Bubble gum

Favorite phrases:

• Guess what?
• Mommy?

Favorite things to draw:

• Happy faces of his family
• Houses damaged by Hurricane Ike
• Abstract art
  

I sneaked on you

We are home from the beach. Arriving home is always bittersweet. We LOVE our time at the beach, and we LOVE coming home. So we're sad that our fun is over, but glad to get back to our lives.

Last night was capped off by four rounds of Uno. I seem to be the only "loser" of the weekend. Leslie won three rounds, Nada won one. Add Henry's Sorry win and Nada's Sorry win, and I got nothin'. But great sportsmanship abounded, so Henry went to bed watching Nick at Nite or Noggin or some kid's programming channel. We finished watching Emma, that we had started two nights earlier and called it a night, ourselves.

When I woke this morning, Henry proudly announced to me that he had a loose tooth. Now, this has been his heart's desire for quite some time...ever since watching the episode of Arthur where Arthur has a loose tooth. He asked me when he would get a loose tooth and I told him after he was five. Well, the day he turned five, he started looking for his loose tooth. And today, he found it. It is one in the center bottom, on the left (looking at him). He had to talk to both Nana and Papa tonight to share the news with them. Papa's hoping it holds out until he arrives next week.

This morning, as anticipated, we enjoyed crepes with nutella and fresh strawberries. They were tasty. Even Henry ate one for the first time, although he insisted on "no chocolate".

Then we started on the hustle and bustle of cleaning and packing. Between loads of linen laundry, we headed down to the beach for a photo shoot. Henry was most cooperative even in the face of biting flies that we were all swatting at.

Back at the house, we finished up the laundry, lugged everything down to the car and headed for home. It was a quiet trip home and Henry occupied his time playing his new "first day of school" gift of the Wall-e game for his Leapster. There were parts of it where he just giggled and giggled, so now I want to play it to see what's so funny.

After unloading the car, Henry and I headed up to the carwash to de-sand the car. He was a great little helper guy, pretty much vacuuming the back of the van all on his own.

We decided to cap off our holiday weekend by having dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Gringo's. On the way there, Henry requested sitting next to Aunt Leslie. As dinner was being served, he kept kissing her cheek. He was trying to surprise her with his kisses and kept telling her "I sneaked on you". Neither of them was too happy when I told Henry he would need to stop kissing Aunt Leslie so everyone could eat their dinner. So he used our temporary distraction to pluck the cilantro off of Aunt Leslie's enchiladas and stuff it into his mouth. He then demanded that I give him mine, which I thought was only fair.

We ended our evening watching a few minutes of the Astros/Cubs game. Henry was rooting for his cubbies, but during the inning that we watched, the Astros tied the game at 3. I had to promise the boy that we could check the score in the morning in order to get him off to bed.

Your first Concert - Justin Roberts

November 12, 2007
We had such a great weekend. On Friday of course, we went to Gringos but Joyce & Hailey, and Allison, Megan and Lane joined us. You and Megan and Lane were cute after dinner playing and looking at the water and stuff. Then on Saturday, You, your mom, me and Jack went to the Woodlands to the Children’s Festival. We had a good time. You guys got lots of stuff and got to spin prize wheels, make craft projects and you went to your first concert – Justin Roberts. You and Jack would dance and do all the arm things Justin Roberts would ask. It was fun. You have been having a little trouble with your attitude at home and at school. So Mom asked Br. Bill Thomas to speak with you guys. After the meeting on Sunday, you all went into the Library and talked about having a good attitude and how happy that would make Jehovah and you need to listen to your Mom. It went very well. Hopefully it will help some. Your Mom is in Atlanta on a business trip and so we always say that we make a good team while your mom is gone. I know it is hard for you because you have to get up a little earlier and stay at school longer but you are a trouper. I love you so much. Whenever we watch a football game you always want to get your football and throw it around. You are pretty good throwing it – you have a little more trouble catching. You are quit the sports fanatic – just any sport and you will watch and try to imitate. It is cute and we are thankful for that. On Sunday afternoon, I went to the movie with Nada and I gave you a kiss before I left (you were not down for your nap yet) and you were so concerned that I needed to be back before you woke up and I was.