Ghost Tour

My MOMS (Moms Offering Moms Support) Group had a Ladies Night Out on Saturday that included dinner and a ghost tour in the historic downtown area of Round Rock. It was a blast! We started out at the Louisiana Longhorn Café (Louisiana because of the Cajun food and Longhorn because almost everything here is named after the University of Texas team) where the menu features frog legs, jambalaya and every shrimp dish you can imagine. I stuck with a salad and grilled fish but most of my friends were more adventurous so I was able to sample some delicious, and spicy, dishes.

After dinner we went to a 100 year old tea house next door to the café. It was here that our tour began. We learned the history of the building and the strange phenomena that has taken place there. Then we went to the building where the outlaw Sam Bass was fatally wounded in a shootout with Texas Rangers in 1878. The building is now a club and there was a band playing on the stage in the exact spot where the shooting occurred. From there we went to another building and learned about the filming of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the real-life case (in Wisconsin) that the movie was based on. Our last stop was at the Palm House Museum. The museum is in a house that is over a hundred years old and was donated by a family of Swedish settlers. The Palm family had eight children and one of them died in the house. Her ghost is reported to haunt it still.

Although I wasn’t too spooked by the tour I loved hearing the history of the area. The downtown area is my favorite place in town. I can’t wait to go there with Jed again and try to spook him with my new ghostly knowledge.

Pumpkin Patch

On Tuesday night I went to church and helped unload 1,500 hundred pumpkins for our church pumpkin patch. It was hard work and really fun at the same time. The church band played and there were about 75 people there working in big assembly lines unloading the pumpkins from a semi. The pumpkins came from a Navajo reservation in New Mexico and all profits go to build a house for a poor family in Mexico. It felt really great to be part of something that would make a huge difference in the lives of one family.

I volunteered to work the pumpkin patch for a few hours today and invited my CA moms group to meet there. Jared and Laine got to run through the pumpkin patch and play with their friends. I got some adorable pictures of Laine and her best buddy Kamryn. The weather was really mild and it definitely felt like Fall.

Laine's first day of school

Today was Laine’s first day of school. She is joining Jared at Sunrise Montessori. Normally a child has to be three years old to attend the school but last week they evaluated Laine and agreed to let her start one month early. This means she is the youngest, and also the littlest, child in the school. When I saw her lined up with all of the other kids and saw that she was several inches shorter than most of them it made my heart ache to think of my little one in this world of big kids.

I know Laine was scared but she bravely went to the playground with Jared and tried to join in with the other girls. She was doing fine until I said goodbye and then she started to cry and I wanted to cry along with her. I left her with her teacher and then secretly watched her through the window. When it was time for the kids to go inside I left.

When I came back at noon to pick them up Laine was as happy as could be. She told me all about her day, her snack of a banana being the most memorable thing for her. When we got home she told daddy about school and when I asked her if she wanted to go back she smiled and gave me a thumbs up.

I am crossing my fingers that she will still remember how much fun she had when I leave her on Wednesday.

Wedding in Austin

Last night Jed and I went to the wedding of one of his clients. I was thrilled to have a night out and Jed was looking forward to relaxing a bit and meeting new people. We hired a sitter and left the kids in her capable hands before heading out.

We drove into Austin and got terribly lost because I gave Jed the wrong directions. Eventually we made it to reception, after having just missed the actual ceremony. We had very interesting people at our table and enjoyed chatting over a delicious dinner and really amazing wine. After dinner we hit the dance floor. I enjoyed singing along to “Dancing Queen” and Jed impressed me with his ability to do the twist. When they started playing YMCA we decided that one would be much more fun to watch then to actually participate in. I have to say, there is nothing like a bunch of slightly drunk Texans dancing to the Village People classic.

Jared's First Day of School

Today was Jared’s first day of pre-school. Although he went to school in Japan and even a little bit in California we still wanted to make his first day special. He wore his new Spiderman shoes and Spiderman shirt and carried his Spiderman lunchbox. I left Laine with Jed so I could concentrate on being with Jared when we got to the school. I took him to the playground and stayed with him until it was time to go inside. He was fine with me leaving and did well the entire day.

Jed and I went back together to pick him up and we watched him threw the window for a few minutes before he caught us. Then he ran to us and talked about the little boy who kept taking his toys all day. He is in the middle of a tattle-tale stage. We went to his cubby (which we decorated with planets and spaceships) to get his lunch box and he got upset because we weren’t taking his cloth cubby home with us. He has been putting stuff in it at home for the last two weeks and he wasn’t ready to leave it at school. I finally convinced him that he would get to see it the next time he goes to school.

On the drive home Jared was quiet and tired. I think it will take him a while to get used to his new routine. Laine enjoyed her morning alone with me but I have a feeling she will soon start to miss her big brother.

Visit to Marcia and Jim's ranch

On Saturday we went to visit Jed’s Aunt Marcia (Bonnie’s sister) and her husband Jim at their ranch about two hours away from us. Darren and Melissa also went with their two kids. We all met up in Fredricksburg, a quaint German town a half hour away from their ranch. The town has a Main Street with cute antique and craft shops. We drove through town and went to a large park where Marcia had prepared a picnic for us. The kids fed our leftover bread to the ducks that were on the stream that ran through the park. It was a lovely afternoon.

After lunch we headed to their 101 acre ranch in the tiny town of Doss. Jed and I thoroughly enjoyed the drive through the Texas Hill Country. We even passed the one room schoolhouse (one of only two in the state) that serves the 22 children that live in Doss. The ranch is located on a windy road and as soon as we pulled up to I knew I would love being there. There is a large windmill out front and cows that graze on the property. The house has wood floors and a rustic front porch with old-fashioned screen doors. Everything about the ranch reminded me of my childhood summer vacations when we would visit my grandmother’s siblings all over Texas and Oklahoma.

We spent the afternoon touring the ranch and watching the four kids play together. After a wonderful dinner and a surprise birthday cake for Marcia (the kids blew out the candles) we left them at the ranch and headed home.

The drive home in the twilight was beautiful. Jed had a hard time concentrating on the road because the sunset and the clouds were so amazing. There were also lots of dips in the road which made it a mini-rollar coaster ride for the kids. Kind of like our beloved “Whoa Hill” in Laguna Beach.

Jared's girlfriend

On Saturday night we went to a party with about nine other couples that one of the moms from our weekly playgroup was hosting. For most of the party Jared played with Jessica, his new girlfriend. Jessica is the four year old daughter of Leila, one of the moms in my California Moms Group. All the way home that night he talked about Jessica and how much he missed her.

On Wednesday I hosted a cookie decorating party with my CA group. Jessica was there and once again they were inseparable. They even spent 45 minutes alone in Jared’s closet reading a book by flashlight. Then today we met up with Leila at another function and the two of them played together the entire time, even ignoring some of Jared’s favorite playmates. I have never seen Jared so taken with another child, especially a girl. I compared notes with Leila and she said the obsession is mutual. Could my little guy be in love? They certainly tell each other “I love you” often enough.

I am looking forward to watching this relationship develop. Will Jared get his heart broken? Or maybe he will be the heart-breaker?

Busy Day

We had a very fun, and full, day. In the morning I took the kids to storytime at Barnes & Noble. They do a weekly story followed by a craft. Today’s book was Puff the Magic Dragon and the kids learned the first verse of the song. It was hilarious to listen to them goof up the words to it!

“Puff the Magic Dragon, lived in a tree and followed in [indistinguishable mumbling] a land called Halloween.”

After we left the book store we went to lunch at a soup and salad buffet. These are great places to try out new foods. I was surprised to find that they both loved an oniony tuna pasta. They also tried gingerbread for the first time. They are familiar with gingerbread because of the “Gingy” character in Shrek. They liked the bread and I made a mental note to make a gingerbread house with them this year.

Then it was time to go home for a short rest. Well, they rested. During that time I passed out flyers for our upcoming block party. I am sure it won’t surprise anyone to learn that I am organizing the block party.

Once the kids were up we headed off to the McDonalds playarea for our weekly playgroup of four year old boys. One of the moms had planned to host it in her house but her son developed a fever in the afternoon so we switched to McDonalds. The moms enjoyed the air conditioning in the indoor playarea where we made plans for our Halloween party. Our group meets every Wednesday and since Halloween falls on a Wednesday this year we decided to do a big celebration with the boys. One of the moms has a half acre backyard and we are going to set up a carnival, complete with bounce house, games and prizes.

When the playgroup split up it was close to dinnertime and I had nothing planned. So we made a run to the market where I picked up a nice rotisserie chicken and some sides before heading home. After dinner Jed took over with the kids while I went back out to pass out more flyers.

I made it home in time to put the kids to bed. This is my favorite time of the day. Not because I am glad they are going to sleep (although I am) but because I love the peacefulness of this nightly ritual. The kids were already in their pajamas and had picked their books for storytime. Laine picked There is a Monster at the End of this Book (a funny story about Grover from Sesame Street) and Jared picked The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. After the stories, a monster-in-closet check, a song for Laine and numerous kisses they were quiet in bed.

Or so I thought . . .

Laine started crying and saying she was scared. This is a new development for her and I think she is reacting to the shorter daylight hours and darker bedroom. I ended up laying next to her bed and holding her hand until her eyes closed and her little hand twitched and then relaxed in mine. As I snuck out of her room Jared called me into his room to blow me a last kiss. I “caught” it and he reminded me not to drop it as I walked out the door.

Laine and Jared

One of my favorite parts of motherhood is watching the relationship between my two kids grow. Laine and Jared are very close and they rarely fight. I have decided this is because we have moved so often in their short lives. We have changed houses and said goodbye to friends (and even family), but they have always been there for each other.

There have been two instances of their mutual affection in the last couple of days that have truly melted my heart. Oddly enough, they both involve food. Yesterday I was in the kitchen and Jared was following me around asking a million questions (as four year olds tend to do). He saw a bag of M&Ms on the counter and asked if he could have two. I agreed and he opened up his hand to receive his candy. Then he opened up his other hand and demanded two for Laine. When I explained that she was upstairs resting and didn’t need candy he looked at me with horror and very patiently explained that if he was getting two M&Ms then she was too.

Then this afternoon I was making lunch and I asked the kids what kind of fruit they wanted. They both said they wanted a pear. I looked in the fridge and saw we only had one left so I explained that they had to split it. They both complained that they wanted a whole one. I ended up giving each a half of a pair and a half of a peach. Jared finished his food quickly and said he was still hungry. He looked over at Laine’s as yet untouched pear and asked me if he could have some. I said no (remembering how much they had wanted their pears) but maybe she would give him a slice of her peach. She said, “Here you go, Jared” and promptly handed him two of her four pear slices.

I know there will be plenty of sibling rivalry and fighting to come. But right now their love for each other is so sweet and so pure that it makes my heart ache and reminds me to be thankful for every moment I have with these two wonderful little people.

Laine had the flu . . .

This last week was a tough one. Laine had the flu and we spent most of the week staying home and canceling events at the last minute when her fever returned. Finally, by the weekend she was completely recovered.

On Friday night my California Moms group came over for Game Night. We played the DVD game Scene It and enjoyed the light-hearted competition (and the Margaritas). On Saturday night one of my other moms groups came over for Bunco and that was a fun, and loud, affair. I have found it is actually less work to plan parties back to back because then I only have to clean and set up once. But as much fun as it was, I was pretty tired by the time the last guest left on Saturday.

On Sunday the kids and I went to church (actually their new favorite place to go) then we went out to lunch at a pizza place. There is a pizza buffet restaurant that the kids love because they can pick out their own food and there are TVs with cartoons all around the place. After lunch we went to an indoor playarea with huge inflatable bounce houses and slides. Jared has a favorite slide at this place and he must have gone on it about thirty times in a row. His hair was sticking up with sweat but he kept climbing up the ladder and racing down the over and over again. By the time we got home they were both exhausted (and I was too!) so we had quiet time before eating a nice big dinner with daddy.

Jed has been working a lot of long hours lately. I know this a natural part of starting a new business but it has still been an adjustment for all of us. It actually really helps that he is at home because he can come out of his office for short breaks and the kids get a chance to talk to him. The hard part is, of course, keeping them out of his office.

Out of the mouths of babes

Yesterday we had our weekly meeting of The Explorers playgroup. The kids have now played together enough times that they are comfortable with each other. The moms are also relaxing and getting to know each other better. The kids might even be too comfortable with each other. Yesterday the boys were playing upstairs and the moms were chatting downstairs when Jared came running down with an announcement.

“Jack just picked his nose and ate it!” he cried. (Some names in this story have been have been changed.)

All conversation stopped. I looked over at Jack’s mom and she looked like she wanted to crawl under the sofa. I wasn’t sure what to say to Jared. We’ve always told him it isn’t polite to pick your nose, but I have also been trying to explain that isn’t polite to say something that might make another person feel bad. Jack’s mom went upstairs mumbling something about getting Jack a tissue and I quietly told Jared that from now on he should talk to mommy in private about things like that. Thankfully, this is an easy-going group of women and we were able to laugh it off. But just in case, I am going to have a little talk with Jared next week about what is polite to say and what we should keep to ourselves.

Laine's Bedtime Story

Tonight as I was putting Laine to bed she said she wanted to tell me a story instead of me telling her one. Here is her story:

Once upon a time I had a trumpet and I would blow to it with my mouth and . . . umm . . . play it with my fingers. Jacob has a Spiderman glove. At Jacob’s house there was a . . .umm . . . guy with no face . . .and, umm . . . his Spiderman gun made noises . . .umm . . . the end.

Date Night

On Friday night we dropped the kids off at Jed’s cousin Darren’s house so Jed and I could go out on a date. Darren and his fantastic wife Melissa have two kids, Dakin (age 3) and Kasch (age 1). They live about 15 minutes from us in a neighboring town. We have truly loved getting to know them better and it is wonderful to have family close by. Melissa is our emergency backup if we can’t pick Jared up from school and I am her backup if she can’t get Dakin from his school. Jared talks all the time about his “new cousins” and all four kids get along very well. We have decided to do a babysitting swap so both couples get a chance to get out once in a while without the kids. Now back to date night. . .

Jed found us a lovely Italian restaurant in downtown Austin called Carmelo’s. The restaurant is in a beautiful old building that was built in 1872 as a “railroad house” to accommodate passengers traveling on railroads or one of the four stagecoach lines Austin had then. It was romantic and the food was delicious. Jed and I skipped talking about his work and my work (the kids) and talked about our future plans and dreams. It was a perfect dinner.

After dinner we really wanted to walk around the downtown area but the weather had other ideas. Wind, rain and lightening caused us to hop back in our car and take a leisurely drive through the area instead. Austin’s downtown area has numbered, one-way streets and we drove down the famous 6th street. Just about every establishment on 6th is a bar, club or hip restaurant. Remember, Austin is a big college town. It seemed the students weren’t going to let the weather ruin their Friday night and their was a definite Mardi Gras feel as we passed people walking down the street carrying their beers from one bar to another.

When we picked up the kids they were both happy to see us and yet sad to leave Darren and Melissa’s house. Nothing could have been a better ending to our date then to take our sleepy, pajama-clad kiddos home and know that their night had been as much fun as ours.

The Explorers

Yesterday we met with our weekly playgroup, The Explorers. The group is made up of seven 4-year-old boys. Thankfully, there are two other boys with younger sisters so Laine has her own playmates at these meetings. The moms take turns hosting the playdates, either in their home or in a public place, and they set the mood for the playdate by deciding if it will be active or more mellow. Yesterday the kids got to make rockets out of paper towel rolls and construction paper then take them outside and throw them. Jared loved his rocket so much that he carried it everywhere with him for the rest of the day and even slept with it. The rocket has fire (orange crepe paper) coming out of the bottom and by this morning it was looking pretty tattered.

The moms in the playgroup come from all over, with only two being native Texans. We all have different backgrounds and came together just because our boys are the same age. This really makes the group a fun mix and gives us lots to talk about. What I love the most about the group is that the moms really are crazy about their boys. We trade stories of embarrassing potty moments, obsession with all things that have wheels and the general amount of mischief that boys get into with big smiles on our faces.

Catch-up Day

Today was one of those “catch-up” days that are never too much fun. I gave the house a deep cleaning, paid the bills and ran to the post office. The kids were great about helping and entertaining themselves while I was busy. In the afternoon Jed took them to a new park that is very close to our house. They had a blast and all three came home with pink cheeks and big smiles.

At dinner every night we ask the kids to name their favorite part of the day. When I asked tonight Laine smiled at Jed and said, “going to the park with daddy.” Jared agreed and then after a minute said he had a second favorite thing. When we asked what it was he said, “playing here on the earth.” Then he asked if earth was the biggest planet and I told him that Jupiter is the biggest. He thought about that and then said, “yeah, but it isn’t as big as the sun.” At that moment I looked at Jared and knew that he truly is his father’s son. I love watching Jared furrow his brow in these pensive moments and say something that I can imagine a four year old Jed saying. Thankfully, Jared doesn’t love the word testicle as much as his father did when he was young. But, that is another story.

A weekend of exploring

On Saturday we went into downtown Austin to look around. The downtown area is famous for its nightclubs, funky shops and trendy restaurants. Austin is known as the Live Music Capital of the World and there is always someplace you can go in the city to hear just about any kind of music.

We strolled up and down the streets and eventually headed to the Capitol building. It sits at the top of a hill on Congress Avenue and seems to look out over the rest of the city. We stopped on a bench in the shade to relax and look at the statues and the gardens surrounding the Capitol before heading into the actual building. Besides the amazing air conditioning (which was reason enough to go there), the Capitol had several small historical exhibits to keep us entertained. The kids stood in the middle of the floor and looked up at the high dome with their mouths open. They walked up and down the huge staircases and counted the stairs (Laine: sixteen, seventeen, twelve, seventeen). Then we found a sandwich shop for lunch before heading home.

On Sunday the kids and I went to a new church. We have been trying to find a church that we like and I think we found it with this one. The music was upbeat and the sermons short and uplifting. Laine actually cried when it was time to leave and I figured that was the best endorsement I could have asked for. Both kids have talked about how much they are looking forward to going back next Sunday.

Today we went to the pool with friends and played for almost three hours. Jared and Laine are both little fish and love swimming. We all have deep tans and the kids seem to get blonder by the day. Afterward we came home and watched their favorite video: Stranger Safety. This is a goofy video (produced by John Walsh) that has Safe Side Superchick telling the kids how to avoid dangerous situations. There is a part in the video where the kids get to yell out, “help, this is not my mom!” when they playact what to do if a stranger tries to get them to go somewhere with them. The kids love it and want to practice this part all the time. Jared even practiced when I was helping him get into the car this afternoon and I had to remind him not to do it in public less I get arrested.

Getting settled into the new house

Rather than continue my previous Japan Blog I have decided to start a fresh one. I think this new chapter in our lives deserves it own Blog.

First, a bit about the move and settling in. Jed arrived in Texas on the morning of Saturday, July 7 with our car and the moving van (driven by my brother). The kids and I arrived late that night. The following morning we went to Ikea and spent four hours picking up our new furniture and the rest of the day unpacking. On Monday we had the cable and phone companies come to set up our utilities, our major appliances were delivered, and professional assemblers arrived to put together all that Ikea stuff. By Thursday we were completely unpacked and settled in, right down to having pictures on the walls. Five days may seem fast to put together a house, but then again we have moved so often that we are pros at it. Not to mention that we have been dreaming about being in our own house again for three years and couldn’t wait to make that a reality.

Jed continued working for Dell through the end of July and I set to work making new friends and getting the lay of the land. I now feel like I can navigate our city fairly well (which can be tough because there are lots of streets that don’t appear on Mapquest because they are too new) and have even figured out the how to use the one-way streets that run parallel to the freeway. I’ve joined several mommy groups and even started one for other California moms.

We absolutely love our neighborhood. All of the houses are brand new or in various stages of being built. In the time that we have lived here there have been seven families move onto the street, four of them from California. There is something really fun about all of us being new and building this neighborhood together. Everyone smiles and waves at each other. I put the sprinklers on in the front yard and the neighborhood kids came over to play with Jared and Laine. I take cookies to new neighbors and go next door if I need to borrow an egg. It is everything we had hoped it would be.