January: Beginning to End

I had ideas for posts and they were lost among school projects and just life....here is the short version. :)

We loved New Years Eve in Texas!  The fireworks are amazing here.
We did some fun projects for history.

Fires in London 

We glued a template of the streets of London on poster board.

Getting ready to burn London: the buildings were built close together and the streets were narrow.

The fire started in the bakery...see the ladybug shop?

And there it goes


Blending In

Another project that Caeden was given was to blend in as the Native Americans did in order to successfully attack the enemy.  He had to decide how he could hide somewhere in the backyard without any of us finding him.  Maleiah left a clue (which we thought might be a diversion) so it gave his position away.  However, we couldn't see him and we were standing right in front of him.  Can you see him?

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We discovered a new sandwich shop that we love called Which Wich?  

Did anyone else go through that awkward smiling phase as a kid?  My mom called it "the gun to your head smile"...it must be genetic because Caeden has totally got it going on.

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We said goodbye to our closest friends here in Texas.  They moved to Georgia (which excites me a whole lot! Road Trip!!!!) to take a new job and we miss them terribly.  It was a bit strange to be on this side of the leaving since we are coming up on a year of doing the leaving ourselves! 

 See the piano?  I'm in love...

So January was busy, bittersweet, and full of new beginnings for us and for so many of our family and friends.  

Star Wars

Since we have a boy that lives and breathes all thing Star Wars we would be a sad excuse for parents had we not taken him to see the Star Wars exhibit at the Health Museum in Houston.  How excited were we when we realized as we were walking through the entrance that it was FREE Museum Day!?!?  We still had to pay since it was a special exhibit but we saved 50% off what we thought were going to pay.  Cha-ching!

Here ya go.

Bryan Beach

Pros:


*You can drive right up to the water.
*Hermit crabs!
*The possibility that we could see a sea turtle.

Cons:
*Not a lot of shells.
*No bathrooms.

This hermit crab was with us for most of the day, building sand castles and digging for shells.  We dug a large hole, filled it with water and watched him dig his way down under the sand.

 

"Look mommy!  That car has a house on the back!"  Maleiah thought it was funny.  The driver however was not laughing when they got stuck in the sand.  

A good day as always.  

Get used to the beach posts because we are going to be there, a lot...

We went back to Surfside this past weekend.  We explored a little bit more than last time, eating at a local restaurant.

There really isn't very much there other than the cool houses on stilts and fun people watching.  

Maleiah had her first surf lesson...she rode the waves and even practiced balancing on her knees atop the boogie board.  We found lots of shells, dig deep under the water and it's all you find, shell after shell.

Until next time...

Surfside, Texas

We are beach people.  Justin surfs and I love the feel of sand between my toes and watching my littles {who aren't so little} frolic in the sea.  It's a "happy place" if you will.  We have plenty of these places filled with memories from California:

Oceanside
Encinitas
Mission Beach
Pismo Beach
Half Moon Bay

On Saturday we knew we needed it, so we piled in the car with beach buckets, treasure bags and some lunch and headed for the quickest beach fix we could find.  Surfside, Texas is an hour and a half from us and it is a small beach town.  The houses remind me of a trailer park on stilts but painted in the most delightful of colors so it makes it all better.  The homes are vacation homes and we can't wait to try one out.  I would have pictures but my camera battery died {epic fail!} so when we go back I will take picture of all those fun colors.  Maleiah liked the pink and purple houses; I loved the ones that were lined up in a row in bright colors, as if in rainbow formation.

We collected shells and watched as coquina clams dug there way back into the sand as the waves brought them up to our feet.  Caeden made a friend and they swam and buried each other in the sand.  Maleiah loved the water and Justin wished he had brought his surfboard, swore he would never leave it home again.    So we eagerly await our next trip, possibly this weekend or next, I really can't wait too much longer!

Relocation Tips-Just for Kicks

I am no professional mover, believe me.  If you had been with me while unpacking you would have been so confused.  Most boxes were marked random because when you are packing but living in the house at the same time it all doesn't go in at the same time.  It would start with a theme, like, bedroom and then I would get to the top of the box and have a bunch of room.  So, then I would go for a walk around the house and look for the perfect thing to fit at the top of that box or in a little nook and cranny.  Often times it was a drawer from the desk or some random things from the kitchen.  Here are how a lot of our conversations have gone:

J: Where are the supports for the bed?

M: In a box.

or...

J: Where are the towels/sheets/silverware/telephone?

M: In a box.  I can't tell you which one because the label means nothing really.  I checked KITCHEN but really it could be the sheets!

So, like I said I learned a lot from this move.  Number one being I would very much like to not have to pack anything if we do it again.  But let's not.

Here are a few things I did learn, or things that I could not do without that helped me and might help someone else out there.

1. Lots o' boxes.  Go to Home Depot every week and buy more because you are always out of the size you need
2. Scotch Brand Tape and a tape dispenser.  The generic stuff comes off and you will cry when your favorite dishes go crashing to the floor.  
3. Permanent Markers.  More than one, especially if you share your house with anyone remotely crafty you won't be able to find it when you need it.  This comes with experience, buy a couple, maybe three.
4. More boxes.  Again, if there is a crafty person they may need to build forts, buses, fairy houses, mouse houses, rat houses.  Provide more markers and also promise that when you get to your new house they can build the biggest castle ever with all the empty boxes.  
5. Family and Friends.  You need these like the air you breathe.  They provide a voice of wisdom when you can't decide what to pack next.  They also can provide you with a drink every now and then.  ;)
6. Redbox.  If you have kids and the drive is long and you have a laptop/DVD player then stop at a Redbox, they are nationwide and you can return your selections in New Mexico even if you rented it in California…AH-MAZING!
7. ABF.  For a long distance move we made the best choice in selecting ABF Freight.  Every one of their customer service representatives and drivers has been exceptional!  They were funny, they were helpful, they were just plain awesome! From beginning to end this was the best choice for long distance moving, hands down.

Exploring

Last weekend we went to Outdoor World/Bass Pro Shops which is every boys dream place to go.  It's filled with all things fishing, hunting and camping dotted with some pink so the girls don't feel left out.



On Saturday it was Katy's City-Wide Garage Sale so it was the perfect opportunity to explore.  We were hoping to find a bookcase for the plethora of books we have yet to unpack.  No luck.  There was a sweet tea stand though and I had to take a picture.  I always had the kool-aid/lemonade stand when my parents had garage sales.



We did get to see all the antique stores however and I fell in love with too many things...no worries, we came home empty handed.