my Lone Star boy

Well, we're back. We've been back for a week. And I haven't updated. Sorry!

The trip to Corpus went as well as can be expected. I didn't have to go to the beach (YAY!!), and the aquarium and the USS Lexington (an aircraft carrier that's been turned into a kind of museum) were awesome. So. That's all I have to report from the trip.

And this week. has. been. insane!! My oven went out a few days ago, and it's probably going to cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of $5000 to replace it. $300 for the actual oven, and $4700 for the rest of the kitchen that'll be remodeled. I'm very, very nervous, and incredibly excited at the same time. I've not been crazy about my kitchen since we've moved in, and we've been planning on remodeling before we move (probably in 3-4 years), but this is just a little sooner than expected!

The weather here has been absolutely wonderful. We could really use some rain (I think we're something like 20 inches under the average amount), but we've practically been living outside. I don't think we've been higher than 92 in the last two weeks, and the nights have been getting in the low 60's/high 50's. You can all laugh at me, but it's like winter here! :) Not really, but it's been awfully nice.

And last week, Sam got out of bed and went outside to bring the newspaper in for John. He went out wearing a t-shirts and no pants. Underwear but no pants. (Look, we live in the country. We can get away with this kind of thing, ok? Just be glad he was wearing any clothes at all.) It was 62 out. I know, because this comment prompted me to look and make note of the temp. He ran back inside, shivering and telling me he was freezing cold. Then he asked me the question. The one that proved something to me.

"Mom, do you think it's going to snow today? Because it feels like it's cold enough for snow."

It was at that exact moment that I knew.

We're from Texas. There's just no two ways about it.

What Have We Done?!?

Evie and Sam love to spend their free time drawing on any scrap of paper they can find (those spiral-bound sketch pads are pretty much the best gift they can be given right now!) with crayons, colored pencils, or markers. Being the parent that is usually home when they are drawing, I have been given a rather large stack of some beautiful and very interesting art. Many StarWars pictures, several knights with shields and swords (and daggers and lances and arrows, oh my!), a whole myriad of monsters, castles, horses, birds, insects, cats, dogs, and let us not forget the self portraits. Yes, the pictures are wonderful, and I cherish them all.

And I thought I was doing a pretty good job of raising well-adjusted children. Until yesterday morning.

Evie was coloring at the table, and Sam came by to check on her progress. Normally, this small act would have started WWIII, but the whole morning had been surprisingly peaceful. I was at the sink doing dishes, so I could hear that they were talking, but I couldn't hear the conversations. I did catch pieces, thought, like 'ant' and 'shrew' and 'trail' and 'cat.' I thought maybe Evie was drawing the backyard or an area of the trail out back that does indeed have ants and those mole mounds. Oh, if only ...

She came up to me a little bit later, and said, 'Mom, I have a picture for you!'

'Oh, wow, Evie. That sure does have a lot of colors. Why don't you tell me about it!'

'Well, that's a shrew. The cats killed it and it's dead. And that's all the ants that are eating it. See their trail going back to their home?'

'Uh ... um ... Yeah, I see it. Uh, Evie, why does the shrew have a circle in the middle of it?'

I got the why-does-mom-take-so-long-to-figure-these-things-out look. 'Because that's where the cats ate the guts, Mom.'

'Oh. Well, where's the other foot, hon? Shrews have four feet, not three.'

Repeat of the above-mentioned look. 'Because the ants already took it to their home, Mom.'

'Oh. Well, why didn't the cats eat the whole shrew?'

'Because they caught a copperhead and ate it first so they weren't hungry anymore.'

'Oh, ok. Anything else?'

'Can I have a cookie?'

'Yeah, sure. Why not?'

Man, what kind of strange, strange children am I raising? At least her husband will thank me when she doesn't scream and jump on a chair if she sees a spider, mouse, or snake ...