Loving the weather!

We've been having beautiful weather, so when Isaac got home from school today, we decided to take advantage and go hiking by Belton Dam.

Our friends, the Hadley's, went with us and the boys had a great time. My boys were "so starving" until they realized that we were headed back so we could get something to eat and they suddenly changed their minds. On our hike there was a little pond that we stopped at to throw rocks. We started with skipping rocks and ended with "who can get the biggest rock and make the biggest splash." I wish the camera hadn't been in Eric's pocket when he and Jeremy were carrying the biggest rock they could hold together to toss off the cliff into the pond. It was pretty entertaining. The boys were asking when we could come back before we ever got to the car. Hopefully it will be soon. I'm so glad we can do these kinds of things in February!

Getting Fancy

I finally made it to the Dollar Store to buy some curlers for Ashlyn's hair. My main motive for it is to stick them in her pigtails so I don't have to curl them later, but I had to try the whole head, just to see. She loves it!

They're a little big for 'curls', but I thought she looked pretty with her waves. Maybe with a little more practice of me putting them in (I have two left hands when it comes to doing hair) and her leaving them in (I chased her around the house re-rolling curlers all morning) we can do it more often.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Our day of love started the weekend before when Eric told me to dress nice and be ready at 5:30p. At 5:30 the doorbell rang and there was the man of my dreams (without any kids!) with a bouquet of roses, just for me. Our first stop was Pignetti's, a nice Italian restaurant. We always laugh at the poor waiter who has to be nice to us regardless of how much our 15% tip is. He just doesn't make as much on no appetizer, an empty bread basket, a split entree, and - since it was a special occasion - a split dessert. I'm sure he would have preferred to serve the cardiothorasic surgeon a few tables away! After dinner, we went to the Cultural Arts Center to watch "Fireworks," a chamber orchestra group from New York. It was fantastic. They're not your ordinary chamber group and their instruments consisted of a violin, cello, electric bass, electric and acoustic guitars, saxiphone, oboe, flute, drums, and keyboard - regular and electric. "Dance Mix" was the title of their performance and they played dance songs from all over the world, ranging from the waltz, to the Tango, to disco. They also included pieces from several musical eras. I loved it. Thanks for the AWESOME night, Eric!

We started Valentine's morning with strawberry and whip cream crepes and strawberry milkshakes. Yum! We then headed to Isaac's last basketball game. He did great and had fun. After the game, we went to Mazzio's for his post season party. We got there a little after 11:00, but apparently we missed some vital communication because the party didn't start until 12:30. Good times in the car! We did take them to the pet store for a minute, but didn't want to miss the team, so we didn't stay long.

Ashlyn has a special knack for sneaking candy. She waits until we're distracted and then she works fast. We had hardly turned our heads before she busted into Isaac's V-day bag from a team mate and had a sucker in her mouth while she worked on the wrapper of another candy. If I carried my camera around all day, you'd see several of these guilty, but pleased pictures of Ashlyn. I don't know where she finds it all. I chose not to take a picture of the tears when the sucker was taken away!

Here is Isaac with his coaches and beloved trophy. We think that the trophy is the main reason he plays. I wonder what will happen when he gets older and they only award trophies to the winning team?

After the party, Nana called and invited us to Lexington to make pizzas. I grabbed some pajamas and as soon as Ashlyn woke up from her nap we headed over.

Ashlyn has stepped up to fill the position of "Nana's helper." I'm not sure who had a better time - Ashlyn or Nana. Carter still helps a lot, but we have lost Isaac to the Wii.

I think Ashlyn wanted to make sure that nobody ate her pizza but her!

Carter didn't want his cut, but preferred to take it down how it was.

There's Isaac!

The pizza was delicious and it was a perfect ending to a nearly perfect day.

Taking Flight....for awhile!

Some of Eric's favorite memories of his grandfather are of his model planes. He was sad when his grandmother sold them to her neighbor after Poppa's death, but was ecstatic when the opportunity came to buy them back, plus some, for a killer deal. We've had several huge airplanes scattered around our house, his parents' house, and Meemaw's house for the last several months. After much practice with a simulator and a few outings with the modeler's club, he finally had the confidence and the time to fly his planes on his own. He had several successful flights and surprisingly to me - I actually enjoyed watching - along with several neighbors lined up on their porches. Eric's a natural, with loop-de-loops and all, whereas I'm not allowed to come anywhere near the remote. I can't keep a plane in flight for more than two seconds on the simulator. We took it out again last week and I finally remembered the camera (it would have been nearly impossible for me to walk the 100 ft back to our apartment to get the camera the other times I forgot it! :))

Here they are ready to take flight.

It was a beautiful day. A little Cessna kept flying low over the field where we were flying. We think he was trying to figure out what was going on. Can you tell which plane is real and which is the model?

Everything was going great until we decided to refuel and take it up again. When the plane was barely taking off, it veered hard to the left and was headed straight for an apartment. Eric corrected it and we thought we were out of the woods when it veered again and clipped an electrical wire, which sent it crashing straight down on a wrought iron fence. We're not sure what happened. Maybe a gust of wind? Anyway, I forgot to take a picture at the scene and I really wished that I had the video camera, but I still got a picture of the aftermath. The nose split open and the engine and battery are on the ground. The wing is damaged, but not too bad. Eric is anxious to fix it. A part of the engine cracked, but besides that, we're mostly worried about the integrity of the nose and it's ability to support the engine once it's all put back together.

Eric is still mourning and I'm sure he will be for the next several days. Wish him luck with his repairs!

Bringing down the Spirit

In Primary on Sunday, they were trying to teach the kids about the Holy Ghost. Everyone was being reverant - the Spirit may have even been there - until they brought out some sort of dove to symbolize the Holy Ghost. Carter excitedly raised his hand.

"Yes, Carter?"

"My Dad SHOOTS doves!"

And then it was gone...