A Blessing

Family dinner begins with Brian or me asking who would like to say the blessing.  Usually Elizabeth volunteers first.  Lately she's been singing it for us.  It's one of the prayers her class says before snack at school.  The other night, I surreptitiously recorded her.  Below is about 20 seconds of wonderful.  (Just ignore the visual.  I couldn't point the camera at her or she would've been on to me.) 

"The Lord is good to me.
And so I thank the Lord
For giving me the things I need --
the sun and the rain and the apple tree
The Lord is good to me.
Amen.

The Mermaid and the Movie Star

Evening, Oct. 30:

Amanda:  Mom, can I go to bed early tonight?

Me: What's the problem?  Are you feeling okay?  Let me take your temperature?  Do you need to blow your nose?  Do you have a tummy ache? Why do you want to go to bed early?

Amanda:  Because I want Halloween to be here FASTER!

 ****

We spent our Halloween this year in our easy breezy well-established way.  Not a lot of fuss, but just the right amount of fun for a school night.  Pictures with the Iversons, trick-or-treating with them around the block, then handing out candy at the Brantley grandparents' house.  (Except this year Brian couldn't make the trick or treating portion of the festivities because of work.  And also because I start trick or treating way too early.  And also, let's just tell the truth here, Brian hates Halloween.  He hates watching our kids knock on our neighbors' doors looking for a hand out; he hates the spooky decorations; he doesn't even really like candy!  So, he's basically the Ebenezer Scrooge of Halloween.) 

The Iversons and I had great fun shadowing our kids around the block, reminding them to be polite (even though they didn't need too many reminders), and making sure they skipped that one house where that one guy lives who gives us the creeps.  God bless him; I hope he's got a bright future ahead of him; but there's no way we're letting our kids knock on his door.

The Iversons and I joked about how our kids have definitely entered the gender-identified phase of costume wearing.  Miles and Silas were a Ninja and Thomas the Train, while Amanda was a movie star and Elizabeth was a mermaid.  Girlie girls, my two were.  And that's ok.  

What I savored this Halloween:  That they both still want to hold my hand while we walk around the block for trick or treating; that they still love to dress up; that they are old enough to remember trick or treating with the Iversons last year and that they looked so forward to doing it again; that they are no longer afraid of scary Halloween decorations, so we were able to put up a spider web and a fake spider this year, while the girls gazed at it and shouted "OOOOH, SPOOOOOKY!"  

So, all in all, another successful Halloween!

The Bottom of the Ballot

I now interrupt my regularly scheduled postings of cute pictures of my cute kids to bring you this probably unwanted public service post...

Despite my high school government teacher's lectures to the contrary, my vote in this year's presidential election probably won't mean much, no matter which candidate I vote for.  As we all know, Texas is firmly red.  By a wide margin.  I'm neither celebrating nor bemoaning this.  I'm merely stating a fact.

So I decided -- why not take all that energy I've been wasting focusing on that race and put it towards an item on the November ballot that my one vote actually does have the power to influence:  The Metro Referendum!  I promise it is not as boring as it sounds!  And it potentially has far-ranging implications for the future of the quality of life for those living in Houston and Harris County.  Well, at least for those of us who regularly traverse Houston area roads in a car or on a bus or by rail and like to make it from Point A to Point B within a reasonable amount of time and without succumbing to road rage and shouting strings of vile profanity within earshot of our carseat-strapped kids that they inevitably repeat at school and cause an immediate parent/teacher conference and possibly a lifetime of therapy.

So what's the referendum about?  The GMP (general mobility plan).  Here's the GMP in a nutshell: Metro collects 1% of the sales tax revenues in its service area (roughly all of Harris County).  Under the GMP, it then turns around and allocates 25% of that 1% back to its constituent entities (City of Houston, City of West University, Katy, Humble, unincorporated Harris County, etc.) to be used for road maintenance/construction.  That 25% is a lot of money (about $2.4 billion since the program's inception, according to Metro's website).  The GMP is set to expire in 2014.  Voting YES on the referendum will continue the GMP to 2025 with a slight wrinkle to its current form which will allow Metro to keep approximately $400 million more in tax revenue going forward, provided that none of that $400 million dollars is used for anything except paying down debt and initiatives to increase ridership (i.e. no funds for rail projects).   Voting NO on the referendum will end the GMP and (theoretically) allow Metro to keep all of its 1% sales tax revenue.

Those in favor of voting YES on the referendum are Metro itself, Mayor Parker, the West University Place City Council, Harris County Commissioners Court, and several other local politicians.  It is easy to see why Mayor Parker and other local governmental entities would be in favor of the GMP:  it sends them money.  These governmental entities have been getting this money since around 1988 and they have become dependent upon it. 

Those advocating a vote of NO on the referendum are those who believe that by ending the GMP, Metro will finally have enough funds to continue the rail lines that the voters approved back in 2003.

The "NO" camp has done a fairly good job of painting this referendum as being about rail for two reasons:  (1) the provision in the referendum that Metro's additional funds cannot be used for rail, and (2) Rail costs money; the GMP is causing Metro to lose a lot of money; ergo, end the GMP and we'll get our rail projects back on track. 

But if you look closely at it, The "NO = more rail" argument doesn't exactly add up for a few reasons.  First, Metro itself has not firmly committed to a timeline to completing these rail projects in the event that the GMP is voted down.  Secondly, and more alarmingly, the Metro board isn't even publicly in favor of receiving the additional money.  Metro believes those governmental entities are not going to look at a "No" victory and just passively accept the loss.  They will fight, going to the state legislative level if necessary.  This fight will be a threat to business as usual, which is something that Metro, like all bureaucracies, tends to fear.  Thirdly, if past is prologue, it's not like Metro has shown itself to be a bastion of progress, good judgment, and sound transportation policies.  So will more money solve the institutional problems that have contributed to the agency's lack of effectiveness?  Or might the additional funds just get swallowed up by an inefficient bureaucratic behemoth? 

The "Yes" camp, on the other hand, has done a fairly good job of saying, don't worry, Metro still loves rail, we just can't afford it right now.  Hang tight until 2025.  But that doesn't really add up either.  Why would Metro agree to a restriction on the use of its own tax revenues?  The only possible explanation is that Metro believes that this referendum represents the best deal it can get with these governmental entities, whose real world political influence outweighs its own.  

So here we, as Houstonians, sit.  I personally am firmly pro-rail.  I think this city desperately needs to finish the plan it approved in 2003.  Our booming economy has caused massive inner-loop and suburban growth and, as a result, traffic.  And you just have to drive for a few minutes in the inner-loop area to see massive new apartment complexes going up at breakneck speed.  Traffic is only going to get worse.  "Would you ever actually ride the rail?," you may rightfully ask.  And the answer is and enthusiastic "YES!  I have and I would! My kids love trains!"

"Business as usual" when it comes to our public transportation system simply isn't cutting it.  But which vote will bring about the most positive change?  A "NO" victory would send the symbolic message -- "We don't want business as usual when it comes to this city's dismal public transportation!  We want to improve it!"  But would it improve anything in reality?  It strains credulity to believe that after all the fighting, Metro will end up keeping all of that 1%, and that even if they do keep it, that they'll do great things with it.  But a "YES" vote would mean that we will continue to trust Metro's current leadership to slowly but surely work its way towards making this very sprawling, bustling, booming city that we love into a place with a workable, user-friendly transit system.  Do they deserve our acquiescence to their business as usual approach?  Or is drastic action necessary?

Sitting here, today, I am inclined to vote NO.  Let's get the ball rolling towards positive change.  A YES vote feels like a stamp of approval to the status quo, and I do not feel one is deserved.  Will a NO vote mean that these rail lines get built in short order?  No, I don't think it will.  But it will send the local government a message that Houston is ready for improvement (any improvement!) in the transit arena, even if it means West University Place (where I live) will have to put its decorative street light initiative on hold or Katy (I love Katy!) will have to wait a while before it gets another new road.

As the saying goes, all politics is local, and it doesn't get much more local than this.  How will you vote on this issue?  The decision is of course yours to make.  And as a bonus, fighting about it over the dinner table will be highly unlikely to result in bloodshed.  (So, Dad, if you made it all the way through this post, read up on this issue.  Let's fight this one out.  It'll actually be fun.  And possibly even productive.)

Bravo to those of you who made it through this.  This post goes under the heading "It's my blog and I'll write about what I want to."  And now back to our regularly scheduled pictures of cute kids...

Miami Wedding!

A couple of weeks ago Brian and I went to Miami for the wedding of two of our very favorite people in the world -- Elizabeth's godfather Danny and his beautiful bride Jen.  As Brian said of Danny at his and Jen's rehearsal dinner, Danny is the very best kind of friend.  He is even more excited than you are when things are going well for you, and he is right by your side when things go south.  We would've gone to his wedding if it had been in a Russian Gulag; that they chose Miami was just the icing on the cake.

Our kids would have loved to come to Miami, especially because of Jen, who my kids adore as much as we do.  But instead the girls stayed with my in-laws in Houston and had lots of well-documented adventures.  The day we left, Amanda was chosen to keep her class mascot for the weekend, a plush bluebird named Blueberry.  Her homework was to take pictures of Blueberry all weekend and then write little blurbs about what he did while he was away from school.  My mother-in-law was of course game for this little assignment and ended up doing a better job with it than I would have.

Blueberry at the 59 Diner

Blueberry at the IMAX movie

Blueberry loves chocolate milk!

Blueberry at the dinosaur hall at the Museum of Natural Science (I guarantee you've never seen so many dinosaurs.  It is an amazing exhibit.)

And Elizabeth just being Elizabeth.

Beach Trip With the Cousins!

At the tail end of the summer I packed up my kids and my nieces and headed to the beach.  Think I had a good time?  How could I not have a good time with this crew?

New Beginnings!

Please check out this beautiful and heartfelt post from my sister-in-law Caroline about how her nieces' first day of school coincided with her last day at work at the National Gallery of Art.  She is so talented and beautiful and she's about to move back to Houston!  Her sense of style is seriously the only thing standing between me and a pair of mom jeans, so you can imagine how ecstatic I am that she is coming home!

Kindergarten is here

It is requiring every ounce of self-control that I can muster to sleep in my own bed tonight.  A big, big part of myself wants to crawl in bed with Amanda and hold her close all night long.  Please, Lord, give me the strength to let her out of the car in the morning. 

Young Love

My Dearest Husband,

On this, our eighth anniversary, I believe that a salute to the mature and considered nature of our proper, indeed, practically Victorian, courtship is in order. 

If you will peruse the pictures below, I'm sure you'll agree with me that they convey the message, "Here are two young adults who clearly have their futures and their own best interests in mind."

 

With a beginning as purposeful and pensive as ours, it is no surprise at all that our marriage has endured for eight whole years.  Happy Anniversary, my dear.  What d'ya say we go for nine?

Love,
Your First Wife

Tah dah!

You have been on pins and needles about my front porch problem, am I right?  Well it's time for the thrilling conclusion of that domestic saga.  Thanks to a morning of sunshine and free babysitting from my mother-in-law, I was able to paint the porch myself.  Sweat equity always makes a home improvement project more satisfying.  Of course now I've caught the painting bug and am thinking of tackling the interior next.  (I guarantee you my husband just broke out in a cold sweat after reading that last sentence.) 

What have we done lately?

Time for another edition of "What have we done lately?" according to the following random photos from my iPhone.

Peekaboo!

Pinkalicious!  The Musical

The Main Street Theater is a wonderful community theater here in town.  They regularly perform productions based on children's books.  The shows last an economical one hour (perfect for little kids), and they include a fifteen minute intermission.  When I found out the theater would be performing one of my daughters' very favorite books, Pinkalicious!, I knew we had to make an event of it.  Each girl got a special mommy/daughter date for the show.   Amanda and I invited two of her good friends from school and their moms, and we had a girls' night out on a Saturday night:  a 5:00 show at the theater followed by dinner.  It was a very grown-up date befitting three young ladies preparing to matriculate in Kindergarten.  Elizabeth and I attended a Sunday afternoon matinee with her very good friend Eileen.  I don't think I have ever seen Elizabeth sit still for that long.  She was transfixed by the action on stage and clapped enthusiastically at every opportunity.  Afterwards both girls got autographs from the star of the show, Pinkalicious herself:

(PS Tickets at Main Street Theater are only $12 each!)


The Saga of Painting a Bookshelf:
Dad and Linda generously gave us a very big bookshelf.  The girls and I decided to paint it, and I let the kids pick the colors.  I think the finished product is pretty cool:

So the project probably looks finished, eh?  Well, this may surprise you, but the girls and I managed to get just a smidgen or two of blue and pink paint on our front porch while we were painting.  I thought, no problem, I'll just paint over it with this half can of touch-up paint I've got in my garage.   Turns out the paint doesn't match anymore, even though it did match a little less than 9 months ago.

Obviously now the whole porch needs to be repainted.  I refuse to pay someone to do it, because then our free bookshelf would end up costing about $200 or whatever it costs to pay someone to paint the porch.  So I got busy taping off the porch and removing the rocking chairs when it started raining last week, then I ended up going to Austin for the day, and now we're about to leave town for a few days.  It is quickly becoming one of those half-done home improvement projects that happens to be on display for the entire block.  You guys might be surprised to learn that this current state of our front porch absolutely thrills my husband.  Truly, nothing makes him happier than coming home to find two rocking chairs parked on our driveway and two cans of unopened paint sitting on a splotchy front porch bordered on all sides by blue painters tape.  So what will end up happening?  Will I give up and hire a painter?  Will I finally just lock the kids in a closet for six hours with a carton of goldfish and two juiceboxes while I do it myself?  Will we get a nasty note from the city for having a house that looks like a "before" segment on HGTV?  Will Brian eventually spontaneously combust?  Stay tuned...

Dinosaurs!
The girls and I went to the Museum of Natural Science to see Tornado Alley 3D on IMAX and see the new Dinosaur Hall.  The IMAX show was good, but the Dinosaur Hall was infinitely better.  The girls were so scared and awed by all the bones (not just dinosaurs, obviously) that they refused to stand close enough to any of them for me to get a good picture.  Below is the best one I got. 

So that about sums up the last few weeks at our house.  More news in the next installment.

The Little Mermaid

For a great description of one of the fun outings we've had this summer, check out this post on Kelly's blog.

Overheard on my Front Porch

Neighbor girl, age 9, is telling my girls' fortunes.

Neighbor girl:  Name three jobs that you'd like to have when you grow up.

Amanda:  Hmmm.  A tree climber, a mountain climber, and a gardener.

Neighbor girl:  I don't think you'll get any money for a some of those.

Amanda:  Aw, c'mon, I've got LOTS of money in my piggy bank.

Neighbor girl:  Elizabeth, name three jobs that you'd like to have when you grow up.

Elizabeth:  hmmm.  Build.

Neighbor girl:  what else?

Elizabeth:  And I want to be when I grow up . . . a driver.

Neighbor girl:  okay, one more.

Elizabeth:  And I want to be a grown up.

Guess how many Catholics are in this Blurry Picture

TWO!  I was Confirmed on Sunday at St. Anne's. 

I was overwhelmed by all the support I got today.  Thank you so much to everyone who came!

Ballet Recital

The girls recently had their ballet recital.  It was Elizabeth's first and Amanda's third.  After Elizabeth's less than enthusiastic performance at Grandparents' Day this year, we figured that the chances of her actually dancing at the ballet recital were slim to none.  But she surprised us!  She danced!  And she clearly liked it!  Amanda did a lovely job as well.  I don't have the video yet, but here are some pictures of the girls before we left for the show.

School's Almost Out...

The girls are in their last week of preschool before summer vacation.  Back in August, they adopted a routine that they have stuck with the entire year.  After they hop out of my car in the carpool line, Amanda grabs Elizabeth's hand and patiently escorts her to her classroom.  Then she walks around the corner to her Pre-K room.   I saw them do this for three days a week, every week, and after a while I even started taking it for granted. 

Then Brian would have one of his occasional free mornings that would allow him to drop the kids off, and his joy at seeing Amanda taking such good care of her sister would remind me to enjoy this fleeting little ritual while I could.  As a big sibling himself, Brian sees it as his responsibility to impress upon Amanda that the considerable privileges of "big sister" status come with equally considerable obligations.  First and foremost, he tells her, you always look out for your little sister.  When you're in a place that's new to her but old to you, you show her the ropes.  "Okay, Dad, I get it," she says, and so far it seems like she really does.

This was my view from the car for nine months.  I will miss it:

Next year Amanda will be on the opposite end of the building in Kindergarten.  No more holding hands while they get out of the car; no more waving at each other when they are both playing in the courtyard; no more pretending that I still have babies, or at least, toddlers.  These two are children now; there's no denying it anymore.  

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!  Church + Brian's perfect eggs Benedict with homemade hollandaise sauce + a nice long family walk this afternoon = a perfect Mother's Day.  Have I mentioned lately how unbelievably blessed I am? 

My own wonderful mother is of course at the front of my mind and heart today.  Everything I know about what a mother is supposed to be, I learned from her. 

Mommy Confessions

• Sometimes when my kids' socks don't match, it's not because I let them dress themselves; it's because there are no clean matching socks in their drawers.
•  I throw away 99.99% of my kids' school art projects.  (There are just too many!)
• My girls keep asking me if we can have a bake sale in our front yard, and I keep saying, sure, sure, we'll do that, even though I have no intention of actually having a bake sale in our front yard.  Lemonade, fine.  Hot chocolate, great.  Bake sale?  I. just. can't.
• When I got a car with a DVD player for the back seat I told myself I'd only use it on long car trips.  Now anytime we drive further than a 3 block radius I consider it a long car trip.
• Our playroom is so messy right now, it's nearly impassable.

What Have We Done Lately?

My iPhone and my computer talk to each other now.  I'm not sure how it works, but now the pictures I take on my phone automatically appear on my computer.  It is an awesome feature that deserves a new recurring blog post:  What Have We Done Lately?

So.....here are a few fun things we've done:

Rock Climbing at Texas Rock Gym with Linda.  This place is awesome and will be even more so with the arrival of 100 degree days this summer. 

 

Feeding the giraffes at the zoo. This never gets old.

Pink lemonade stand! And let me tell you, this was some seriously goooooood lemonade. The kids juiced about about two pounds of lemons. We made a simple syrup. Then to make it pink (because Elizabeth said it HAD to be pink), we pureed half a pint of strawberries, then, to get out all the pulp and seeds, ran the puree through a very fine mesh strainer called a chinoise (one of my favorite kitchen tool splurges -- you can see it in the sink in the background of the first picture), then poured enough strawberry puree into the lemonade to make it pink. Seriously, this was so incredibly good that the girls' price, "25 cents or free," was a serious bargain.

And thanks to our neighbors and Uncle David and Joan, they got a lot of customers! 

The girls dressed up like angels for the St. Joseph's Day dinner at our church. (This was way back in March.)

And just last week we went to the Fresh Beat Band concert with their dear friend Miles!  The girls have been shouting like Rock Stars ever since.
 

On Being the Little Sister

When Amanda was around two and a half, I decided it was time for her to give up her pacifier.  So I first read several articles about this momentous occasion in a toddler's life, searching all over the internet for the world's most gentle and sensitive pacifier weaning method.  After much deliberation, I settled on a course of action.  I wrote her a book called, "Bye Bye Paci."  It took several days to put together on my computer, then I sent it off to Apple to have it bound with a hard cover and mailed back to us.  It included pictures and captions of Amanda as a newborn and slowly growing into toddlerhood, and slowly growing out of baby things like cribs and crawling and diapers and, of course, pacifiers.  We read it every night for about three weeks, while I very sensitively acclimated her to the idea of not sleeping with her beloved paci anymore.  Finally when there was no more doubt that she was ready, we made a special trip to a newborn baby's house and gave all the pacifiers to her.  We came home and when it was time to go to bed for the first time without her paci, Amanda cried and cried and then pretty quickly got over it.

Fast forward two and a half years.  We couldn't find any of Elizabeth's pacifiers one night at bedtime.  So instead of sending Brian to Walgreens for yet another package of pacifiers, I said, "well, sorry kiddo; I guess there'll be no paci anymore."  No book; no acclimation period; no nothing, really.  And she cried and cried and then pretty quickly got over it. 

Elizabeth loves to read Amanda's Bye Bye Paci book.  One night recently she started pointing to the pictures of Amanda and asking, "Is this ME?"  "Is this when I was a baby?"  I'd reluctantly admit, "No, honey, this is Amanda.  I made this book a loooooong time ago, when you were a tiny baby."  She furrowed her brow and stared up at me, long and hard.  Finally I asked, "Elizabeth, would you like for me to write a Bye Bye Paci book about you?"  "YES!" she begged with an edge of anger in her voice, "DO THAT!"  "Of course I will," I sputtered, after recovering from the swift punch to the gut her words had inflicted on me.

I am working on that book now.  Hopefully she will enjoy it as much as the one about her big sister.   Sorry it took me so long, Itty Bit. 

Heard Around The House

Amanda
"Mom, will you take my picture before I go to ballet?"

Elizabeth
(rubbing her belly) "Mom, I still have my stomach ache."
"Hmm.  How about some milk?"
(raising her finger in the air)"No, I have an idea!  I need milk AND another cookie.  That will make my stomach ache go away."

So, did I ever tell you about the time...

...that I ran a 10K with a friend in her 30th week of pregnancy, and she kicked my a**?  Darn right I didn't tell you about it -- it's embarrassing!  Seriously though, when your friend in her 30th week happens to be an Ironman, it really isn't all that surprising that a little thing like incubating a human being wouldn't slow her down much.

This weekend was my annual pilgrimage to Austin for the Capitol 10K and my reunion with my girlfriends from law school.  I love this tradition, and I love these amazing ladies!

Spring Break

Spring Break 2012.  The beach + happy, healthy kids + happy, healthy husband = one lucky mama. 
  

Putt - Putt Golf

The beach!

Moody Gardens Rainforest Pyramid

The view from the condo balcony on our last day

Buckaroos, Dr. Seuss, and The Elderly

I've been one happy mom lately.  On Friday I watched both girls ride off to school with their dad for the Buckaroo Breakfast at their preschool.  It was Elizabeth's first and Amanda's last (sniff, sniff).

Last night the girls and I went to see Sarah's second grade musical, "Seussical the Musical."  Amanda took her time choosing the perfect outfit for Sarah's big night:

Sarah sang and danced like a pro, and afterwards we got to take her picture and tell her how fantastic she was.  (No, Sarah's hair isn't always green.  The kids were encouraged to spray their hair crazy colors for the performance.)

Which brings us to this morning: Grandparents' Day at ROBS!  The head of the preschool welcomed the grandparents to the show by mentioning that the Bible says that little children are a crown for the elderly.  "Elderly"!!! 

This day is old hat for Amanda, who has performed in this show for three years now.  She confidently sang and danced through the entire show.  Elizabeth, in her Grandparents' Day debut, stood on the front row, shoved her hands in her pockets, and refused to sing or do any hand motions for about 90% of the performance.  We would have taken a picture of it, but we were too busy giggling.

Amanda is waving in this shot:

Elizabeth after the show -- This is the same look she had on her face during the performance.

Afterwards, we came back to our house for donuts, and Amanda assembled her parents and grandparents for this group picture.  She was very specific about who was to stand where. 

Grandpa Ron bonds with Amanda and shares a donut with Elizabeth, who may appreciate donuts even more than he does.

Thanks for these good times, girls.  Your young and vibrant parents and your elderly grandparents love you very much.