So, the problem with being super busy with fun things is
that there’s no time to write about them.
But with a little down time comes an update.
We left off our adventure with Todd’s 3rd place
win at the pinewood derby. Well, Carl
came home after 5 weeks of training to three people VERY happy to see him. It was great to spend time together as a
family before he had to leave again.
This time, we knew well in advance about this trip, which was only one
week long. A week seems like a short
trip after coming back from a 5-week trip, right?
Sometimes, my husband has the coolest job in the world; even
if takes him away from us too often. He
traveled to Louisville, Kentucky to provide protection to the Dalai Lama. Carl got to be the limo driver, which was
pretty neat! He said it was really
surreal to look in his rearview mirror and see the Dalai Lama. Of course, he also said he felt a little
guilty skipping out on church to drive the leader of the Buddhist
religion. He got a really cool picture
with him too…
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| Sometimes my husband has the COOLEST job in the world! |
While Carl was gone, Mimi and Pawpaw came to town for the
barrage of big events lining up. It was
great to hang out with them. Carl made
it back Wednesday afternoon just in time for Big Event #1 on Thursday… Todd’s
Kindergarten Graduation (it doesn’t hurt that I’ve been threatening him within
an inch of his life if he missed this big event for months now). Can you believe it??? Our little man
graduated kindergarten. We’re so proud
of him and how well he’s done in school.
Todd loves to read chapter books now does so whenever he can. At graduation, the teacher picked a character
trait that best described the child and spoke about it. Todd’s trait was Respectfulness. She couldn’t be more right!
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| It took 100+ pictures to finally find one where he was smiling (and not picking his nose) |
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| The Graduate |
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| Family Picture |
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| With Daddy |
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| With Mommy |
Saturday brought another big event… Katelynn’s 3rd
“bur-tee” party. In years past, it
hasn’t been such a big deal, but this year, you’d think it was going to be
covered by all the major news outlets the way Katelynn was excited. We tried to keep it low-key so we reserved a
pavilion at a local park and grilled hot dogs.
It was great to let the kids run around and play while the adults spent
time together. Katelynn had a blast with
her friends and definitely enjoyed her “bur-tee” party.
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| Ready for the party!!! |
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| The "bur-tee" cake |
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| A very pretty princess |
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| (Look at Katelynn's handful of gummy worms - right before cake!) |
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| Ready for cake! |
Although Katelynn’s birthday was actually Monday, it was a
fairly quiet day with everyone trying to recuperate from the busy weekend. Tuesday, Carl took the day off for my
birthday, surprising me with a nice quiet dinner just the two of us at one of
my favorite restaurants – Maggianno’s Little Italy. We used to go all the time in Dallas, but
there aren’t any close by in Houston. It
was really nice enjoying a nice meal with the man I love.
Todd also got to experience a “first” on my birthday… Carl
took Todd (along with Pawpaw and me) shooting for his first time. Before he was allowed to go, Carl made Todd memorize
the 4 Rules of Gun Safety, which he can still recite. Carl’s reinforced gun safety with the kids
from an early age, and it was great to watch Carl as he introduced Todd to one
of his favorite hobbies. Overall, it
definitely ranked up there on the “best birthdays” list!
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| Todd shooting (and Carl making sure the rifle is pointed in the right direction!) |
Wednesday, Carl had to go back to work and Todd left with
Mimi and Pawpaw for a special trip to Colorado… Rocky Mountain National Park
and a family cabin. Todd’s been
fascinated by the outdoors and nature for as long as I can remember, so he had
a blast. The pictures say it all…
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| Don't worry... Todd can run faster than Mimi! |
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| Now that he knows how to read, he loves to read ANYWHERE! |
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| Panning for gold |
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| Future Scientist?? |
While Todd was out of town, we learned that life is
exponentially easier with just one kid as opposed to two. Katelynn was so calm and tame while Todd was
out of town we thought she was a different person! Over the weekend, we went to Galveston to
check out the beach. It’s a trip that’s
been on our Houston “Bucket List” (i.e. things to do before we leave) and we
had a great time… especially Katelynn.
The beach was nice, but I figured out I’m totally spoiled having grown
up with the beautiful white sands of the Northwest Florida coast.
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Lookout Pamela Anderson... here's the next future star of "Baywatch"!!!
(over Daddy's dead body!) |
Not to waiver from the craziness of our life (especially the
craziness of Carl’s job), Carl got pulled for a last-minute trip to California
and had to leave right before Todd got home.
Carl’s flight left 6 hours before Todd’s landed… so they just missed
each other. Carl hated missing all the
excitement and Todd’s stories, but bent over backwards – taking a red-eye
flight Saturday night/Sunday morning – to get home sooner so he could hear all
about his trip. Carl may have to travel
a lot for his job, but he really tries hard to minimize the time away from our
family… even if he literally has to lose sleep to do so! And in true DS fashion… Carl was gone again
48 hours later on another short trip.
He returned home just in time to spend five days with us, pack, and leave
us for the summer to work at one of the U.S. Embassies in West Africa. Come to think of it, we’ll have made at least
one trip to the airport each week since the beginning of May. At least we get to have dinner at Rudy’s BBQ
every time we drive by (YUMM!!!)
It’ll be a rough summer without our guy, but we’ll make due…
as we spend lots of time at the beach in Florida!
