Living in Munchkinland

We had our first sunny afternoon in a long time and we hosted a grand pool party and movie night to celebrate the beginning of summer and the end of the school year. My parents let us host at their home. We had so much fun! We really have wonderful friends and it is such a joy to spend time with them.

We had a terrible and devastating flood on Memorial day weekend. I am very ashamed to tell you that we carried on having a lovely time in Port Aransas on the beach while a tragedy occured at home. We got home on Monday evening, just in time for a terrible storm and a tornado warning where we had to take shelter in the closet. Everyone on our ranch was okay. Even though our ranch is on the San Marcos river just after it merges with the Blanco, our houses and most of our land is situated on a hill above it. We on the ranch, stayed high and dry in our homes. Our river bottom was totally flooded. We lost many more trees and there will be huge clean up of the area when we dry out. But we were very much the lucky ones. So many people lost everything. People lost their lives. For the record, I am including the news report from our local Austin area station. I am also putting up pictures of the debris at our river bottom. Michael and Uncle Larry had to walk the river bottom and ch...

On Monday, Davis became a Webelo 2 and Samuel a Bear. Michael is still Samuel's den leader and is the newly voted secretary of the pack. It is a labor of love on his part and a really special thing he does with the kids. Davis and Samuel both still love cub scouts. This is going to be Davis's last year as next year he becomes a Boy Scout! I have a lot of mixed feelings about the cub scouts especially with all the news I've been hearing today. I should probably make a stand and take the boys out, but they love it so. I think we will probably have a group discussion on it this weekend so at least the boys are informed. Maybe we can make changes from within.

We had a very rainy weekend. This has been a very rainy month! We've had rain in the forecast every day this month. I'm starting to feel like we live in the pacific northwest. Except, of course, our rain is warm. ;) We were home this weekend which means we completely packed our weekend with friends and family. Friday night we were supposed to host a family movie night, but because it was so rainy, we cancelled. Mom offered to keep the kids for a sleepover at her house which the kids LOVE, so I accepted gratefully and made plans for a date night. Michael and I got tickets with Odille and Tom to go see Adaline at the Alamo drafthouse. I liked it very much. I especially liked drinking gin cocktails and eating pizza and sitting with my hand on my husband's thigh while watching it. Yay, date night! After the movie we met Chris and Stacey at Faust Hotel and brewery. It was fun, but really loud inside so we only stayed for one round. It was getting late by then, b...

I'm singing tonight at the local elementary find arts night. I'm disproportionately excited/nervous. I am not blasé, but I hope I manage to act that way in person. I used to think I missed the limelight and thrill of performing, but as I've been practicing this week, trying to grease up the rusty pipes, I've relized that I really miss the act of singing. I miss making music. I miss the explosion of emotion in the form of song. I miss the warm feeling in my throat and the ringing inside my head. I love singing. I need to find a way to put my first love back in my life. I want to do it in a way that doesn't take over my life. My family will always be my priority, but I think there is room in there for something. P.S. My computer has died and has been sent away for a week before it can be reborn. So no pictures for you!

For mother's day, I booked myself a weekend at the Hyatt Lost Pines in a suite with points plus cash and a diamond suite upgrade. I was lucky to get a suite upgrade for a holiday weekend and when I got it, I promised myself we would go no matter what. I love Hyatt Lost Pines. It is a perfect weekend getaway for us. It's 45 minutes away and a total paradise. This weekend threatened to be stormy, but we decided to go anyway, knowing that the resort would have plenty of indoor activities if the weather became inclement. We packed books and board games and scooters and the unicycle and our swim suits. We had all weather contingencies covered. We drove out right after school on Friday. We could tell Bastrop had been recently deluged, but it had stopped when we got there and the resort was gorgeous and lush and green with tons of wildflowers lining the long winding drive. We checked in and I was handed a glass of champagne for mother's day. We went and unpacked in o...