02-29 Message

Josey wasn't pleased with our post workout aroma.

02-28 Kids

Just our goofy kids.

02-27 Taking a Photo

I got a photo of Gabe taking a photo.  He was trying to take a picture of some birds in the sky.

02-26 Bible Tails

Yep, it's a day late. But really for yesterday......I got nothin'.

02-25 Weatherfest

Went to Weatherfest in Austin this morning. Couldn't get Mic to go with me so I went alone.  I missed the 10 am lecture about storm chasing but I was able to hear a lecture by my favorite weatherman Burton Fitzsimmons.  Really wish my phone took better pictures. It has great settings but the photos always come out fuzzy.

Met some of the storm chasers that I follow on Twitter.

I think I'll be needing one of these weather systems for the top of my car.

02-24 Movie

After weeks of Michaela begging to us to take her and her friend, Nancy, to see "The Secret World of Arrietty" we gave in and took them.  This is truly a G rated movie.  Cute and sweet.

02-23 Ready to go!

“Hurry it up human. Put that phone down and take me on my walk !!” -Josie

02-22 After Jog

I made the kids do a jog for P.E. today.  This is Mic afterward. A VERY unhappy camper.

And poor Gabe ended up with a blister.

02-21 Clover

Josey is almost lost in this ridiculously tall clover patch. Not sure why this area in front of our neighborhood is never mowed until the area looks like a jungle.  A chihuahua would be lost forever.

02-20 Cuddle Time

Brian, Michaela, and Josey chillin' on the couch before bed time.

02-19 Flip Flop Art

I have labeled Mic's art as 'Lola's Crafts" because she didn't want me to use her real name, she wanted me to use her internet name, Lola.

I think she got this craft idea from a show she watches.  She wanted me to go out and get her a new pair of flip flops for this project but she really didn't need a new pair.  All of our leftover material from her dresses helped to make this a free pair of "new" shoes. =)

02-18 Lego Town!

Here is Brian’s Lego Town that he has been ‘off-n-on’ working on since last summer. Only 3 buildings in the back are Lego kits but everything else is his own custom designs.

The cool part is each floor of every building is furnished  & nests into the lower floor.

It was almost finished Tuesday but Michaela complained that one toilet in an upstairs apartment wasn’t enough for a whole town. Brian lost the “Lego biology’ debate that ensued and had to make an office building with two large public bathrooms. But with that & a last minute addition of a central park, it is finally done.

(At some later date he’ll make & post a photo album of close ups of each building & all the inside furnishings.)

02-17 Mad Scientist

I enjoyed a Friday off of work today.  Awesome day full of rain.  We could use more but we almost have an inch.  Too bad most of the rain will fall to the east and not the west where it would fill up the lakes.  Oh, right.  You want to hear about today's photo.  Couldn't get the little scientist to smile.  He wanted it to be a creepy photo.  He began another science project today.  He is holding the knife for creepiness. The chicken bone in the jar is the experiment.  Michaela can't wait for this experiment to be over and done with.  She freaks out every time she sees the chicken bone.  It has been out on the kitchen counter drying.  But now it's in a jar of vinegar. This experiment will show Gabe what makes bones strong.

02-16 Sleeping Preacher

Look's like Michaela was playing with Brian's Lego church.  She said, "Here's what happens with the kids when the preacher & teacher fall asleep."

P.S. There is a lot more Lego awesomeness to come.

02-15 Titans Valentine Party

Mic and a few friends hanging out after passing out some Valentine cards and eating some goodies.

02-14 Valentines

Special Valentines and a Valentine breakfast for the kids.

02-13 McIlroy Lego Stores

Here is Brian's Lego tribute to his Grandparents stores they ran in the 50s & 60s in Dublin, TX. These two models are part of his larger model town he made.

Here is what the Ford dealership 'looked' like. There is Granddad in the window !

The garage in back

.

The T-Bird in the showroom.

There's Grandmother at the grocery store down the street.

The well stocked inside of the store.

And the happy couple in their heyday.

BTW, here is what the real buildings looked like. 

02-12 Sleet...and then a little snow

I was about to post this picture because I thought that would be all the winter precip we would get. 

However....

A few minutes later Mic ran in and said it was snowing.  I tried to capture the huge flakes that were falling.

It won't last long. Supposed to turn to rain.

02-11 Strobe Light

Mic's eye caught a strobe light today and just had to have it. =)

02-10 Eagles Teens

Gabe and I went to an Eagles Teens Fellowship last night.  It was a game night.  I got a picture of one group playing a board game here.

Gabe preferred his electronic game and the company of Ethan. =)

02-09 Michaela's Paintings

Today Mic got busy with the paint.

02-08 Kids

Here is Gabe doing what he usually does,  gaming and/or chatting with friends.

And here is Mic doing what she does as often as possible and I'm not talking about the emptying the dishwasher part. She is, most of the time, on the phone.  So if you try to call and we don't answer, it's probably because she is chatting with one of her friends. ;-)

02-07 Drain Pipe

We do not know why but Michaela always goes over to this drain pipe during our walks.  She is usually sitting and looking into the pipe.  During one walk Brian and both kids explored several feet into the pipe with flash lights.

02-06 Field Trip

Today we went to Inner Space Caverns in Georgetown TX.  Met our Eagles homeschool group there.

When we first arrived we had a picnic lunch and played on the playground.

And finally we headed down into the cave.  There is usually a train that carries everyone down but the car was undergoing repairs so we got to walk down. Walking up was the work out part.

We enjoyed our one hour tour in the cave.  Saw many stalactites and stalagmites and even a few bats that were hanging around.

02-05 Robot Battle

The boys robots are built and Gabe programmed them.  You would see on the video that Gabe needs to do some reprogramming but I can't get the video to load. I'll have to work on that later. 

02-04 Josey's haircut

We stayed home today.  I did something that I have been putting off for many months.  Got all the clots of hair off of Josey.  I watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and had Josey on the couch with me. (Now I get to watch the two Harry Potter movies I have yet to see)  Pretty much had to cut all the hair off.   She really doesn't look like a schnauzer anymore. I'm sure once we shave her she'll look more like  her cute self. =)

02-03 4 Leaf Clover

It's hard to see but those are two 4-leaf clovers.  Brian and Mic found them on our walk this evening.  Those clovers are popping up all over everyone's yards.  They even found a clover with 5 leaves.

02-02 Baking

Last week I received a bag of starter dough from someone at work.  It's called Amish Friendship Bread.  Yesterday was baking day.  I had two bags of the starter so I got to make 4 loafs of bread.  The first two were the original recipe, cinnamon bread.  The second two I made into Lemon bread.  Currently I still have 4 bags of starter is anyone is interested.  I have learned that it can be frozen to use at a later date.

Cinnamon bread was yummy. Crusty on the top because I didn't dust the top with sugar and cinnamon. I poured. ;-p

The Lemon bread kinda stuck to the pan but you can see all the poppy seeds! :-D  And again, I should have dusted the sugar on the top but you can never have too much sugar!