days 20 and 21

 day 20... before and after

  I saved both Kate's and Ian's Christening outfits. Oliver wore Ian's when he was Christened and now Amelia will wear Kate's for her Christening. I embroidered Kate's and Amelia's initials and the years of their Christenings to the slip layer of the Christening gown. I need to do this with Ian's/Oliver's Christening tuxedo. This way of other children wear the outfits over the years those initials can also be added and an heirloom will have been created. Hopefully they will embroider better than I do.

day 21... delicious

You can't go wrong with a box of animal crackers and a cute Lilly Pulitzer box is all the better.

day 19... funny

 

Patrick was sitting on the couch today flipping through a magazine. The magazine had several adds for cologne and perfume in it. I watched him turn the page to find the first of these advertisements and instead of lifting the magazine he leaned way over and sniffed the ad. I quietly got up and grabbed my camera thinking that maybe he would repeat this exercise on the next perfume advertisement. He did! I managed to grab the shot before cracking up. I know, not that funny but it made me laugh.

day 18... a corner of your home

 The music corner of our home.

day 15, 16 and 17...

 day 15... car

I pulled an old photo out for this one. Lilly and Chloe were visiting Texas and stayed the night with me. After they left I wasn't feeling well so this photo didn't get taken. I love this one of Oliver checking out his toddler sized Lightening McQueen power wheels.

day 16... sunglasses

This shot just happened. I sat down on the couch and saw the great reflection in my sunglasses right where I had left them on the coffee table. (This is shot is SOC)



day 17... something green

We hit the rodeo again today with Kate, Matt and Amelia. It was packed and almost everyone had green on. then I remembered this adorable pie shack.  It is called Pie in the Sky and they have stores in The Heights and in Conroe. Patrick and Kate had pie I had a bite of Kate's Bumbleberry pie and it was yummo!

day 14... clouds

 

the big Texas sky

lilly and chloe

 The girls are visiting their grandparents and me for spring break. Yesterday I got to spend the day with everyone at the rodeo. Today the girls came over shortly after lunch and are staying all night. We colored, had a play date with friends,ate junk food, bounced in the moon bounce and just hung out together. I kept the camera out and after a while they relaxed in front of it. 

Chloe was happy with the camera today!! I am hoping she will be as cooperative tomorrow when I dress her up (and wash her face) to take some planned shots.

 Not to be out done. Lilly began posing for the camera. 

 I LOVE my girls!!!

Just  a few more that I really liked. I love the reflection of the Ferris wheel in Lilly's glasses and the girls just look like they are having a blast in the moon bounce.

  

day 12 ... fork & day 13 ... sign

 day 12... fork

I was actually able to find vegetarian food at the Rodeo this year. The was a very yummy spinach and bean burrito from Tad's Bodacious Burritos at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Yummo!

 

 day 13...sign

 Also taken at the rodeo. What can I say?! This east coast girl enjoys a little rodeo.

day 11... someone you talked to today

Another quiet rainy day. I finished the quilt top I was making yesterday, paid the bills, pulled together the tax documents, folded some laundry, etc., etc. I also spent some time Skyping with my friend Marika and my daughter Kate. I forgot to take a picture of my earlier Skype calls. I am sure Marika would have allowed me to take a photo had I remembered even though she is seven hours ahead of Texas time and was ready for bed when we spoke. When Kate called (on the phone) this evening I told her I needed to Skype with her again today since I had forgotten to grab the photo earlier. She obliged and this is the result.

day 10 ... loud

 Today's subject was a difficult one for me. Our new life here in Texas is a quiet one, made even quieter by a rainy day. The Burtons visited this morning and while that added a great deal of happiness to my day they were not loud. After they left we ran to Patrick's office to pick up some papers he needed and the remainder of the day was spent in quiet rainy day activities. Patrick read and I pieced a quilt. The loudest thing about our day besides the occasional rumble of thunder (let me know if you figure out how to photograph that) was my sewing machine which, while it was the loudest thing in our house today, really just hums beautifully.

day 8 ... window & day 9... red

day 8... window

One of the things that I love about our new home is the amount of light that pours into the rooms from the many tall windows. The living room has a 23 foot ceiling and 2 stories of windows and a southern exposure. It is rainy and grey outside but still bright inside. In the spring we will have plantation shutters installed to replace the blinds. I am also thinking about hanging 104 inch tall robins egg blue silk curtains. The curtain rod would be at the same height as the library ladder bar. I will make my final decision after the shutters are in. What do you think, curtains or not?




day 9... red

Lunch today was a firecracker roll. It wasn't as spicy as I had hoped but it was yummy none the less.

day 6... 5pm & day 7...something you wore

day 6...5pm 

 

 At 5 PM it is time to feed the dogs. Max starts reminding me at 4:30, every few minutes he will poke my leg with his nose until I feed him. His dog food is made from fish and sweet potatoes. Dog food never smells good but his smell particularly bad.

day 7... something you wore

  

Today I wore my new red pants. I wasn't sure about buying red pants but I keep seeing them in magazines, the newspaper and television and they always looked cute. I decided to give them a try. 

day 6... 5pm

opps. Today at 5 pm I was not able to take a photo. I was out to dinner with Patrick and someone from his work. Tomorrow I will post a 5pm picture and my day 6 photo.

day 5... smile

I prefer to not take photos of myself. Try as I may to get a good shot of Max smiling I just could not get the darn dog to cooperate. I was stuck with only myself here to smile for the camera.

 a Max smile ( but it is a bit blurry)

day 4 ... bedside

 My bedside table and the surrounding mess. I decided to take this photo as things usually are. I did not tidy the area this morning before I took this photo I only made my bed. We still need to buy new night tables. These small IKEA nightstands were bought for our apartment when we first came to Texas. There is room and need for a larger table with hidden storage. The books I am currently reading or am about to read, my kindle, and tablet live here as well as all of the chargers you need for the gadgets in your life ( laptop, kindle, tablet, cell phone). I would love to find a night table that had a charging station built into the drawer or cabinet so that the messy web of cords would be hidden.

day 3 ... neighborhood

 

I have said it before and I will gladly say it again. I love our neighborhood. It took me six months to find a house, I love it and the neighborhood it is in. It is a planned community in its infancy. Once completed it will have 900 acres of water way and 60 miles of trails among its many amenities. The neighborhood is dotted with these magnificent old growth Live Oaks. This one is on a small peninsula in the middle of one of the lakes that we walk past on our evening walks.

day 2... fruit

 One of the things I have enjoyed about Houston is that you can grow things year round. I planted this tomato plant in October and have been enjoying it's fruit all winter. Apparently someone else has been too.... the bottom tomato has a bite taken out of it. (I think Sophie did it... silly dog.)

day 1... up

Taken at the fair grounds of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo .

march project

Well my new year, new start plan flopped. I just couldn't decide where to jump back in with so many things happening. We are still settling into our new life Texas and our new home, we have a new son in law and two new grand daughters. I kept going through photos and was just overwhelmed... where should I start? So instead of playing catch up I am just going to start a new project. Hopefully this, a vacation and lots of visitors expected over the next few weeks will get me back in the blogging habit.