San Angelo and so on

I have been soooo behind on blogging, lately. Sorry! Trying to get back to it!

Last weekend we made a quick trip down to San Angelo. Grandpa Dick hasn't been doing well, and we wanted to visit him, GGB, and Uncle Skip while he is in town. Plus, we always love staying with our gracious hosts, Uncle Greg and Aunt Tracy, especially now that they have the luxurious trailer "Boo"!

Aarika and Sharon were also down there Friday night and Saturday

Sisters!

Papa Drew and Uncle Greg make themselves useful ;)

Sunday was also my sister's birthday, so we celebrated together with dinner and HOMEMADE red velvet cake on Monday evening. Yum! Despite my indulgences, I lost another 2.2 pounds last week, totaling 10.2! I have really noticed a difference in how my clothes fit, and I'm feeling much more confident and not worrying about "muffin top" and other such problems that have crept up on me over the years. Anyway, we had a good time celebrating with Diana, and my parents and Mark got her a really nice Nikon DSLR, so I'm hoping she'll let me play with it soon... and maybe will ask for some tips, now that I'm such a pro, haha!

This week has brought some crazy weather in Texas, but we have just rolled with it! Noah was the "shining star" in school, so he got to be the line leader and bring show-and-tell items and books to share with the class. He brought his rock collection on Tuesday, which was a huge hit! Thursday was the Valentine's party, so an extra-busy day, but he still got to share his shark puppet from Aunt Kay-Kay and a shark facts book he got from Nana. His valentines this year were gummy candy bracelets (yuck), but I think they were a hit!

Yesterday, of course, was Valentine's Day, and the kiddos woke up to some fun gifts from Mommy & Daddy. I remember being in about 6th grade and hearing that some of the kids got these elaborate gifts for holidays like Valentine's and Easter, and just being amazed that people got gifts like that for more than just their birthday and Christmas. I think that has influenced me a little, and I'm not sure if it's a good thing... my kids are pretty spoiled, but I just love having a fun surprise gift that is unexpected! If they start to expect things, maybe I'll back off, but it was fun to see their faces light up when I handed them gift bags yesterday, and Noah was so grateful and genuinely thrilled with it all. That said, I still am a bargain shopper and most of the gift just coincided with some great clearance deals I found at Target--I just added that stuff to the gift!

Side note: Yes, I realize he's wearing Christmas jammies. That is all.

Audrey is OBSESSED with Minnie Mouse, so she was fascinated by her Valentine!

Noah received: soccer ball chocolate candies and Sweethearts (all from the dollar store!), two dinosaur books from the clearance section of Half Price Books, and two "awesome" shirts that were on clearance at Target! Oh, and a candy-coated caramel apple.

Audrey received: Princess chocolates and Sweethearts (Dollar Tree!), two books (clearance at HPB), two sparkly headbands from Target's dollar bin, and a super-cute yellow/white striped hoodie from Target (clearance again! Score!).

Audrey testing out her chocolate candy. It passed!

We had lunch with my dad yesterday, then dropped the kids off at Jamie's so Chris and I could go out for Valentine's Day! Our strategy: forget reservations, we'll just show up super-early and beat the rush. Plan A was to try a little Italian place in Fort Worth called Nonna Tata, as recommended by Jimmy & Courtney and a coworker of Chris. Well, we showed up at 5:30 (when they typically open), but they were doing a special limited menu and not opening until 6:00. We decided we'd like to come back on a regular evening to get the true experience, so we went to Plan B: a favorite lunch place of Chris', a Mediterranean restaurant called Chadra Mezza. Two thumbs up! They were offering their buffet, and I had to use a lot of willpower not to go crazy! They even had their pizzas on the buffet, which were irresistible. I tanked up on salad to help me fend off all the other deliciousness, but the tomato basil dressing on my salad was UNBELIEVABLE. They also had "Heavenly chicken," crab cakes, roast leg of lamb, tilapia, falafel, garlic knots, and much more. Chris chowed down and I sampled a little of everything. We will definitely be coming back! We were finished by 6:30 and went over to a really cool bar that was suggested by another of Chris' coworkers called The Usual. It is supposed to be kind of like a 1920's speakeasy, and it is very laid-back--no loud music, nice seating, and really friendly bartenders. Hilariously, we were there early enough for happy hour! They pride themselves on using natural ingredients and measuring everything precisely, and you could REALLY tell, even if you're not a connoisseur by ANY means. We were on our way home around the time all the Valentine's Day rush would have been starting, and we snuggled on the couch to watch the Olympics. I was asleep by 10:00, which wrapped up one of the best Valentine's Days I can remember!

Oh, in case you're wondering, Chris did bring home a beautiful, fragrant flower arrangement done by a coworker, and a sweet card... that had Mickey and Minnie on it... that he said reminded him of Audrey. Hmm. So, was the card for me or for Audrey?

I got Chris a Butterfinger-coated caramel apple and made him an entire batch of chocolate chip cookies. Success!

Happy Valentine's Day!