Through My Eyes: February 28, 2007

Hello Everyone,
Spring has finally arrived in Central Texas. Last week and this week have been beautiful. I have the windows open in my front room right now and it is lovely.
I'm not sure when I wrote last, but I think it has been a shamefully long time. So I will briefly go over what's been going on here!
Last week Rosalynde came out to visit us. It was so great! She flew into Dallas (about half the price of flying in and out of Austin at short notice), so last Wednesday morning Mosey and I woke up before dawn and drove up to Dallas. I was up just in time to catch the Dallas morning rush-hour, so Rosalynde had to wait quite a while for us. Plus I got lost in the airport. Dallas airport is the MOST confusing airport I've ever navigated. But I think I now have a good handle on Terminal A. :-) Mosey was perfect on the way up and down. It is about a 3 hour drive, barring traffic and accidents, both of which we encountered on our trips, but it doesn't really matter when you have a sister to talk to the whole time. On the way up Mosey and I listened to the first part of an Audio book called "The Starcatchers" (I think), narrated by the same guy who narrates the Harry Potter book.
So I tried to show Rosalynde a little bit of Austin while she was here. We went down to the State Capitol building, mostly because Brigham lost his crystals he bought last time at school, and he earned money to buy more, and then drove the scenic route through some of the old Austin hill country to a Barbecue place on Lake Austin. We went to the park on afternoon, and then to Lake Travis on another, drizzly, afternoon. Rosalynde helped me out SO much, doing chores, cooking dinner for us one night (Ratatoullie-- I'm sure I spelled that entirely wrong, but it was entirely delicious), getting the kids in and out of the car (funny how doing little things like that is SUCH a pain with my bum legs), taking Mosey out on a long walk to the grocery store so I could have some uninterrupted time to pay bills and clean off my desk. On Saturday morning we drove back up to Dallas, hoping to be able to catch a Temple session before Rosalynde's flight left that evening. But we got a late start (had to figure out what to do with our dog), and then got caught in quite a fierce wind storm whipping across the open plains north of Austin. When we finally arrived in Dallas the cloudless sky was a dark brown/grey with dust. It was very strange. We walked around the Temple for a short while, but we didn't have time for a session before Rosalynde's flight, and the weather was no good for the kids to hang out at a park. So we went to our Hotel, and I drove Rosalynde to the airport. I should have realized there would be problems with all the wind, plus I should have noticed the lack of any planes taking off or landing, but we were blissfully ignorant until Rosalynde got into the airport and discovered that all flights were grounded. She was in line for a VERY long time, I think 3 hours. American Airlines was so overburdened, their phone system was just hanging up on everyone. But she managed to get her flight changed to the next day, which I'm sure was more than a little distressing since she was expecting to be seeing her little ones in just a couple of hours. We met some friends from Florida who moved up to Dallas last summer at the Galleria mall downtown and ate pizza and watched the kids play in the play area for a while before going back to the hotel.
On Sunday Rosalynde got up with the boys and took them on a walk through the hotel, and got some hot chocolate from the lobby. Then we got up and ready for Church, and I took Rosalynde to the airport. It was a beautiful, clear day, and the airport was open and running smoothly. She had been upgraded to first class, so she got right through the check-in line and security and was finally on her way home.
We then went to church, only to find out it was stake conference-- actually a large regional/area conference-- Oklahome, New Mexico, and Texas. We only made the last hour, since we thought it was regular church that started at 11:00. But we were able to hear Elder Haight and President Hinkley, so it was well worth it. After church we drove through the downtown, up through the Highland area north of Downtown (beautiful old mansions, gorgeous parks along the river-- we walked along the river for a bit and let the boys play on these enormous sculptures of, of all things, teddy bears), and then up through Plano. Plano is where we would have relocated if Ben had stayed with American Southwest. We then drove down through Rowlett (where we might have moved if Ben had accepted another job he was looking at last year), and to Forney where our friends from Florida live. They are out in the country, and it is very beautiful farmland, but VERY different from South Florida. It has been an adjustment for them! We ate dinner and then back to the hotel by which time all 3 boys had fallen asleep. Phew!
Monday I drove Ben to where he was working for the day (he had to meet with the underwriters in the Dallas office), and the boys and I went to the Dallas World Aquarium. It was amazing. You should all go if you go to Dallas. Joseph saw 2 displays of bats, flying around and hanging upside down. There was a great shark tank with a large plexiglass tunnel going right underneath it, so we could see the sharks swimming around and above us. There was a huge freshwater aquarium with a viewing area from floor to ceiling with enormous fresh water fish and 2 rescued mannatees. After that we ate a late lunch at Wendy's, drove over to Ben's office, and fed the ducks in the neighboring lake until Ben was done. Then we left just in time to get caught in a terrible traffic jam due to an accident, and THEN just in time to get stuck in the Ft. Worth rush hour. Oh well, we made it home in time to watch 24, which was the important thing anyway. :-)
Yesterday Brigham was not feeling well (actually he wasn't feeling so hot the whole weekend), and I was exhausted and Joseph was whining that HE was sick too (he wasn't) and couldn't go to school, and I just couldn't get the energy to get Joseph up and ready, so I had both boys stay home. It was a long day. Mosey has gotten accustomed to my undivided attention (or at least his undivided right to play with any/all the toys he wants), and was acting up all day long and earned several time outs. He dumped out the cat's litter box and scattered it pretty much all over the bedroom floor during one of these time outs. Ben was a hero and cleaned up the whole house when he got home. It was a mess. When Ben got home he said, "It looks like a 3 year old went on a rampage around here," which was pretty much what happened! LOL
Today was back to business as usual. Brigham and Joseph went to school without a problem, and Mosey and I did chores and errands. We were planning on going to the park this afternoon, but when I picked up the boys from school, Brigham was clearly not feeling well again. So he is napping and Mosey and Joseph are watching "Carebears" and building lincoln log creations.
Mosey and I went to Hancock Fabrics to get some flannel for the newborn blankets we're making for enrichment tomorrow night (to be sent to Africa in newborn kits), and the ladies cutting the fabric were thoroughly impressed with him. He was discussing what they were doing-- "Mom, what is she doinog?" "She's measuring the material." "How is she measuring the material?" "With the ruler over on her side of the table." "Oh, like this ruler here?" "Yes, just like that one." "Is she going to cut the material?" "Yes, when she's done measuring it." "Where are her scissors?" "In her pocket." "Oh, now she's cutting the yellow material!" "Now she's folding the material into a square!" Etc., etc. He is really cute how he talks with his very high pitched voice and sweet little inflections, and one of the ladies said I need to for sure record his voice. I think Mosey had both of the ladies wrapped around his finger by the time we left. So now I have 18 yards of flannel that I just washed and dried, but still need to iron and cut before Enrichment tomorrow night.

Ok, I'm leaving you with some pictures I took of the boys at the park last Monday-- the first warm day in FOREVER. Also some of Mosey in the tub with his crazy hair before I gave him a long-needed haircut. All of my boys were pretty shaggy that day. I finally cut Brigham and Joseph's hair last night and they don't look like little ragamuffins anymore!

Silly boys making faces at each other