4.18.2012

its that time again.

those cute little birds are looking for a new home.

yesterday colin & i spent the day on the patio

swooshing them away

each time they landed on the molding

on the patio ledge.

at 8am this morning, they were back

in full force with a couple buddies.

i had to get creative.

i had to get out the big ladder.

i had to get out the duct tape.

i had to laugh at what the backyard neighbors must of been thinking.

i had the thought that they might actually use the paper in their nest.

i had to take pictures.

-

but, it worked.

who knew birds could read!

-

and yes, the boys all got a big laugh out of this one.

i can hear the sippel stories they will tell their children already

about the birds and the sign i hung to scare them away.

4.17.2012

happy 19 years together!

can you believe it?

3 boys, 2 guiena pigs, 1 goldfish.

buffalo to austin.

days filled with central air & minivans.

heres to the next 19 !



4.16.2011

match the pile with the picture from last weeks library visit:

three dollars of words at book sale.

one sippel boy has made the texas history debate team.

four new novels to dive into.

-

heres to the love of reading & the joy of discovering new

sections at the library!

(yes, 12 shelves filled with nothing but texas books. who knew?)

4.14.2012

saturday in pictures.

no words needed.

you know what we were doing & where we were!

smile!

4.13.2012

a new found treat.

 a new reason to add an extra block on our evening walk.

a new sugar high.

a new replacement for the almost empty jelly bean jar.

a new reason to eat all your vegetables at dinner.

a new partner for milk after school.

a new temptation that calls my name all day long.

a new dessert all three boys can fight over.

a little everyday memory supplied by steve!

4.12.2012

thursday night date

with a field, a football, a water bottle,

a mouthpiece and one handsome 10 year old!

4.10.2012

tuesday night on the green lush practice fields

under white cotton ball clouds

with a light warm breeze

with bluebonnet flowers along the fence line

as a hazy sun slants her rays on us.

we gather on the sidelines

to chat and to cheer in our portable chairs

all lined up in order of arrival

with sunglasses pushed up

with flip flops dangling off our toes

with water bottles tossed carelessly on the grass around us.

its our tuesday and thursday night dates

packed in between dinner, laundry and homework papers

that gives us a chance to sit for a minute

away from chores and to-do lists

that allows us to focus for just a minute

on our wonderful offspring

as they run the fields,

learn the plays,

support each other on both the great plays

and the almost interceptions.

as they encourage each other during the drills

and the running laps around the track.

we sit back for just a moment in time

to capture our boys growing up in front of our eyes

turning into conscientious team players.

because thats what life is about.

we are all members of a team,

of many teams.

we pick each other up, we support each other,

we work together

like pieces of puzzle.

we take a knee when one of us is injured,

we cheer when we stand up and jog off the field

we celebrate the big plays.

we cherish the small plays.

we take in all the work put into practice

to be a part of a team, part of a family

and part of life.

heres to each of us being a team player in life!

4.9.2012

special international mail delivery.

two mini mags by my favorite artist.

you can check out andrea josephs blog here.

i love her talent and gift and now i own a small piece!

4.8.2012

last night at bedtime, colin said

"and make sure you tell the easter bunny to hid my basket

in a really hard spot!"

-

i had not planned on the easter bunny still stopping by our house this year.

i had not planned on the easter bunny hiding plastic filled eggs around our house this year.

i had not planned for a ten year old to notice.

i had not planned a thing.

-

so, i did what any good mom would do in this situation after tucking colin in to bed.

i dug out the easter box.

i filled 25 eggs with money.

i dusted off the basket.

i filled it with some candy.

i had some late night help.

i had one happy boy on easter morning

who was 25.00 richer and found 22 eggs.

i had to help with those last three eggs after work.

(double side tape was involved with those three!)

-

lesson learned the hard way.

no one wants to grow up earlier then they have to!

4.8.2012

hoppy easter !

and yes, the boys and steve were in the crowd here today.

i could actually see the stage from work.

nothing like a little tebowing at our church today.

easter cookout with burgers and dogs.

making easter memories with rose. jim. leah. charlie & tim.

what a way to remember this easter day!

4.7.2012

sunny saturday memories.

rudy breakfast tacos.

flag football & suntans.

cheering buffalo fans.

dinner at maggianos.

evening walks thru the domain.

happy easter eve!

4.6.2012

nothing better than a friday night texas bbq on the back deck.

nothing better than salmon & salad on a hot spring evening.

nothing better than a room full of cousins playing xbox.

nothing better than a trundle bed sleepover for colin.

nothing better than hanging out with the biddle family

on a friday night.

4.6.2012

city field trip.

one presidential library.

one ut campus view.

one state capital walk thru.

one lunch at whole foods.

one austin skyline.

one austin traffic jam.

welcome to austin biddles!

4.5.2012

a true texas dinner at the salt lick.

tims request after watching man vs. food.

brisket, ribs, beans & potato salad for all.

lots of laughs, lots of catching up and

only one spilled coke!

happy austin day one y'all!

4.5.2012

thursday photos.

welcome to austin.

round rock donuts, 85 sunny degrees and pool time hanging.

mexican chuys lunch with leftover boxes!

football practice fun.

off to dinner!

4.4.2012

i keep on selecting books that are only 14 day loans.

i keep on reading more than normal to avoid those fines.

i keep on reading everywhere.

i keep on finding great reads.

the world we found was another good book.

4 out of 5 stars.

deep characters with heavy political tones played

out among 4 college friends 25 years later

on two continents.

worth the read.

4.3.2012

just because i don't want to forget

how hard colin works at football practice every tuesday

and thursday night from 6 - 8 pm.

just because i don't want to forget

that look on colins face when he connects with the ball,

when he intercepts the ball and when he makes the fingertip catch.

just because i don't want to forget

how he does not like eating dinner at 4:30pm.

just because i don't want to forget

that he is always ready and waiting to go to practice.

just because i don't want to forget

the little things of this wonderful life.

4.3.2012

and the dog chain just keeps on getting heavier.

and five more tags today.

and i can't believe the school year is almost over.

nice job colin.

heres to perfect attendance, start student, A/B honor roll,

birthday and tiger pride tags today!

4.2.2012

nothing better than walking in the front

door after a long day at school & finding

a big box addressed to you!

heres to monday surprises!

4.2.2012

its 7:30 am and i just wanted a quick

picture of nathan with his stinger award he received at

school last week.

so i can file this award away

in his 7th grade binder book.

so i can check "take picture of nate with award" off

my evergrowing to - do list.

so i can document the little everyday memory.

so i can laugh when i look at this photo -

it looks like he's being booked.

4.1.2012

top 5 items i can't live without:

iphone {how did i survive without this?}

moleskin weekly diary {still love to write a daily to-do list}

dell xps13 {so thin, so sleek, so fast}

kindle {love getting my ebooks from the library}

mont blanc pen {borrowed!}

3.31.2012

saturday umbrellas out despite big blue cloudless texas skies.

saturday umbrellas out to keep us cool.

90 and hot today.

we had to finally turn on the central air for the

first time this season.

good bye sleeping with all the windows open.

good bye fresh air.

good bye birds chirping in the morning.

hello cool air.

hello cool sleeping.

hello to the a/c humming.

hello electric bill!

-

saturday was filled with early morning 4:30am drop-offs at hopewell middle school

for nathans field trip, neighborhood walks, target runs,

afternoon sidleline football charger cheering, sleepovers and taco market dinners.

goodbye march.

hello april!

3.30.2012

no words needed.

{school dance tonight at teravista elementary - "team" theme as you

can tell by the attire - crazy 4th graders drinking dr. pepper & cokes - colin, miles and leland}

3.30.2012

just finished.

ebooks from the library prompt one to read a little more

each day - they are only 'kindled' for 2 weeks instead

of the usual 3 weeks.

loved this book.

great review here.

just heavy historical fiction so beautifully written

that you want to keep reading.

why didn't i pay more attention in history class?

ida, george & robert will remind one how

strong the human mind, will & life really are.

3.29.2012

school projects live on.

i could never save every project,

nor would i want to -

but i can take a photo of each one !

this week the poison frog research project

& the ark angel shoebox book report returned home.

wonder if i can put a poison frog in a shoebox?

pictures taken.

recycle bin filled.

memory captured!

heres to all the memories that

will arrive home between now and the end of the year!