feliz navidad--playgroup amigos:)

for christmas this year, in lieu of giving books to patriot's playgroup friends, we donated books to the library my mother-in-law is building in mexico for the school in Chumpon. i waited to publish this post until i had sent out the neat postcards larka had made to announce that the books had been donated-since a few of y'all do read the blog;)

we ended up finding a great deal on several diffent types of spanish books, which can be tricky to locate, in plano. so we wrapped them up, wrote a note to larka listing all of our playgroup kiddos' names, and put them in a giant box for her to open. she was SO excited, like a kid at christmas, looking a each book, and telling patriot about the little mexican/mayan students who would soon be enjoying these stories. her excitement was infectious and soon patriot wanted his own spanish book to read!

there is a book for each friend: tristan, colton, brodie, ella, creighton, bentlee, haylee, hayden, townlin, libby, heidi grace, parker, noah...whew!

pst decided to sit on santa's lap (pronounced senta, by pt!) and read him a story:) hysterical!

ps. i'm hoping to start a blog for larka about the chumpon mayan school in the yucatan jungle, but here are some photos of these sweet kiddos. it's amazing that these students who don't have running water or a library yet already excell in their testing for the state! i can't wait to meet them on my next trip to mexico:)

(ok, the pix keep disappearing, so i'll try to get another copy of them soon!)

viva la San Antonio

it all seemed so easy at first, but then, in true Murphy's law form, it nearly ended before it began...

first, you must know that we waited almost 20 months before deciding to take a weekend trip ALONE (read: without the tot in tow). we had a free weekend stay for a condo in San Antonio that had to be used by the end of january, so we thought this would be the perfect chance for me to bite the bullet and leave my baby(okay, okay...toddler) from sun up to sun down for 2 whole days.

i had stayed up late the night before, tediously typing a schedule and doing some general clean-up and laundry so as not to be too rushed on friday while waiting for our sitter to come over. so naturally, on the day of departure, our sitter for patriot (my sweet sis) came down with the flu & an ear infection.

patriot & i were at the zoo on a mini-playdate with some friends when we got the doctor's report from erin. 'call your mom', the girls said. 'you have to go---it's important for your marriage!' at first i thought, maybe i can get out of this weekend and delay having to leave pst, but then i realized i really WANTED some time off to spend with my man...SO i called my mom. she sweetly packed her bags and headed south for the weekend---- noni to the rescue!

by the time we finally got on the road it was almost 8pm, so we stopped about 40 minutes down the road for some delish BJ's pizza. we arrived in san antonio a little after mid-night and were thrilled at the thought of sleeping in--no baby monitors needed!!

we headed to the river walk that afternoon, amused at the tourists bundled up in parkas, gloves and fleece. but as soon as the sun set, we quickly found a restaurant that served blankets with dinner!

we sat right on the water at boudro's, which came highly recommended by the couple who took our first photo of the evening (san antonio natives:). at one point, i had a blanket underneath me, one over my shoulders and one shared over our laps! the picture of us at the table didn't turn out so stellar (maybe it was josh's swollen eye? sorry, babe!), so instead we snapped a pic of our fabulous waitress, liz preparing our table-side guacamole.
ever had oranges or kosher salt in your guac? me neither, but it was yummy! we ended up ordering a dish called big tails, little tails---shrimp & lobster with an avocado rosoto...Mmmmm.
i have to preface the above pic by saying josh thought this shot looked weird. BUT we didn't have any other pictures of a swanky condo, so i opted for the 'bubble bath gone out of control' pic:) the jacuzzi tub was my favorite feature--i ate breakfast in the bath both mornings:) i decided to try i teeny-tiny bit of bubble bath the second day, and i had 2 feet of bubbles towering over me in a matter of minutes!

of course we checked out the alamo (the b&w photo, does look like we photoshopped ourselves in, however:) and did some shopping on our way back to waco (who can resist the janie & jack outlet in san marcus?) my sweet in-laws took over for mom at lunch on sunday, so they were treating our little man to dinner at the elite cafe when we arrived home.

he didn't seem shocked to see us. he didn't throw his arms around me a gleefully exclaim "mama!", but he let me smother him with kisses and stroke his un-hawked hair, before handing me half of a bite of chicken tender. i certainly missed him, but i'm thankful that we have such loving parents who take such great care of him.

in the end, i'm SO happy we were able to go and spend some time together, just the two of us. we do have the privilege of date night on most wednesdays (thanks eee!) but this time was precious and a new set of memories we will share as a couple.

welcome home, president bush!

tonight we celebrated the end of the Bush Administration---TEXAS style! josh, patriot & i eagerly packed some snacks, cold weather accessories, and headed out to TSTC for the welcome home Bush family party. we arrived a smidge before the 6:30 cut-off, only to wait in line over an hour to be checked in by security inside one of the airplane hangers. patriot played football, ran tirelessly back and forth, up and down the rows while we waited our turn in the COLD. when it came down to the end of the line, they hurried us thru and rushed us onto a bus that took us out onto the tarmac. then more waiting and picture taking took place (see the above pic of pst & the flag...his new luvie) he even learned to say 'bush'--- SO cute. i kinda have it on video, but we will see tomorrow if that really worked!

then airforce one flew over and rolled in...WOW was it breathtaking!

here is my first glance of the first couple, exiting airforce one to a cheering crowd of W's.

the president gave a heartfelt speech, thanking us for our prayers during his time in office. he said he returns to texas with his head held high and is happy to be back for good.

after his speech and a VERY long and emotional day, he walked the line, signing autographs, shaking hands and posing for pix. i was THIS close to the man--5 people away! i could see his little hairs between the cellphones and cowboy hats:)

then it happened. out from the speakers came my FAVORITE patriotic song, Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American". now, i had teared up when the plane rolled up (American flag on the tail lit by a spotlight) ,the door was flung open and out walked President Bush, but this was almost too much for me. i couldn't break down into full-out sobs--so instead, i sang my heart out and focused my attention on trying to snap a pic of marine one (the heli). the pictures didn't really turn out, but the image of my sweet son waving his flag while on his daddy's shoulders made my heart sing even louder. i truly am proud to be an American.

New Year's Eve--Deliciousness

okay, so I started a bit out of order, but this is my favorite pic of the evening:) so the above photo was taken at midnite, me in my party tiara, toasting to an amazing 2009.

josh & i splurged a bit and went to an amazing fondue restaurant in dallas, the melting pot, to ring in the new year while m&d w/ eee kept an ear out for our tot. our reservations were for 10:30pm and involved a 5 course meal: bruscetta, ceasar salads, tomato-basil cheese fondue, seafood & steak entree , and bananas foster white chocolate dessert--whew!

______earlier that evening...

patriot blows mama kisses while reading a fun new peek-a-boo book with dada...my sweet baby boy:)

mom let me borrow mema's gorgeous mink for our rock-star night out!

here we are a little before midnight. i obviously don't know how to pose with the noisemaker, but the props were fun!

this is shot of the main course--fillets, shrimp, honey-dijon chicken & lobster tails, complete with veggies and various and sundry dipping sauces---YUM!

thanks babe, for an amazing date night. i'm SO blessed to be in love with my best friend. happy new year-- i love you, love you, love you:)