a date with kate

We had a lovely Spring Break and I have posts about the rodeo and Go Texan Day and the beach to put up here.  But I had a really special (and unexpected) day with Kate today and I want to write about it while it is so fresh in my mind.

During Mass this morning, Kate was looking at a book about Angels and Saints that I bought her for Christmas.  She still gets a little bored during Mass and although she pays attention pretty well, she likes to have a spiritual book or two to glance through if things get long.  As she looked at the art in the Saint book, she whispered to me "Mama, can we go to the Art Museum today to see some of the religious paintings?"

Truthfully, it was kind of the last thing I wanted to do today.  Kate and I have been pretty inseparable for the last week.  We have spent loads of quality time together.  And while I thoroughly enjoyed every second, I had grocery shopping and laundry and ironing and other things to get caught up on.  I actually like getting caught up on Sunday afternoons.  It makes the week start off smoothly.

Anyway, I started thinking about my boys and how they really love museums (all kinds).  And so many people tell me that their kids do not.  We have spent a lot of time in museums as a family.  Our kids have gone since they were infants and so they have a real appreciation for art. And honestly, I think it is a learned appreciation.  The peanuts know how to behave in a museum and they actually get a lot out of them.

So, I decided that I needed to take Kate today.  She LOVES art and I want to continually expose her to culture.

I looked on the web and learned that the MFA had a family day today which means they have "family activities."  Today was a lesson on John Singer Sargent, Italian watercolorist.  They also had "pop-up" concerts by Rice University Shepherd School of Music students playing the violin and cello.  So, it seemed like a greta day to go...

The azaleas have all just bloomed here and so it was gorgeous all around. (all I-phone photos)

Yes, Kate wore her beret to the Museum.  She cracks me up!

When we were standing in line to get it, Kate could see something "sparkly" off to the side and she told me that she wanted to go look at it first.  So, that is what we did!


It was a really cool installation by a modern artist from India and made completely from stainless steel.

After that we stumbled onto Art of China and Art of Japan.  Kate was fascinated.  

Many of the pieces were B.C. and she loved reading the history.

Kate said the funniest thing in the Japan exhibit.  There was a Buddhist sculpture and she said, "he looks like he is medicating."  I know she meant meditating but I had a good giggle.  She says things like that all the time.

Next we went to the hands on part where Kate could learn about and paint like John Singer Sargent.



This docent was so fabulous.  She spent so much time teaching Kate all about the artist and his techniques and life.  Kate loved it and I loved watching her.





John Singer Sargent used to sit outside under a white umbrella and sketch and they had little areas set up for the kids to do so as well.

After that, we went over to the other building for the religious paintings and the "pop-up" concerts.

This is the underground tunnel to the other building.  It changes colors.



We found the musicians right away.  They were quite good but they were quite loud for Kate.  She really enjoyed the music but she actually covered her ears.  People looked at her and smiled sweetly.  I think they thought she did not like the music but she really did. Ever since she got tubes in her ears (years ago), her hearing is very sensitive and she does not like anything loud.  That was a shame because I could have listened to them all day.  And Kate plays violin so she would have liked to listen longer too.






Since it was too loud for Kate, we went and looked at some impressionist paintings and the religious art.



And finally, we went to another station to create some more John Singer Sargent art.
 At this station, the lesson was about vanishing points.








 Smartypants Kate already knew about vanishing points and got right to creating a Venice scene.
I however got quite lost and messed up my vanishing point badly.  I am not artisitcally inclined.
 But Kate is.



It was such a delightful afternoon (much better than laundry and ironing) and I got such joy out of just being with Kate.  She is the sweetest little being. I wish you all could get to know her scrumptious little personality.  I am so blessed that she is our daughter.


  Today reminded me of a Sunday date I had with Will 5 years ago at the museum.

Dave and I are off to the airport to pick up Harry now. I can't wait to see him!! It sounds like he had an amazing trip. Sadly, two girls in his travel group were injured in a car accident yesterday in Barcelona.  One girl broke her knee and the other girl is more seriously injured. Please keep them in your prayers.

Rollerama {and a bunch of unrelated stuff}

{Iphone photo}

As a marriage and parenting coach, I am always telling my clients how important it is to "date your mate."  With the busy schedules of a teen, a tween and a kindergartner it is a challenge for me to follow my own advice sometimes.

Anyway, last week was a blue one for me.  I am feeling so very lost.  I have perspective and realize my problems are small but nonetheless, they felt very overwhelming last week.  Dave saw me crying one day and realized we needed a date night ASAP!  So when Dave asked me where I wanted to go for dinner, I said..."I don't want to just go to dinner. I want to go do something fun! I want to laugh."  He said, "like what?"  I immediately said, "Rollerskating!"

Well, Dave had never roller-skated or rollerbladed in his whole life.  He had never been on wheels. Ever.  But my sweet husband tracked down a roller rink about 40 minutes from our house and we went roller skating!!!  We I had so much fun!  I was very shaky at first.  But all those Friday nights at the Rollerama in Bucks County, PA came rushing back to me.  Seriously, I spent a lot of time roller skating in my tween years.  

Dave and I really did have a great time.  It was just what we needed. He did great too. He did not fall once. I have a few seconds of video from my phone but I don't think he wants me to post it even though he looks awesome! In fact, I am going to try to come up with some more "fun" dates for us.  Let me know in the comments any fun date ideas you have.

On Sunday we went to the BEST Superbowl party!!!   Our friends have recently built the MOST amazing Mies van der Rohe style house.  It is huge.  It is stunningly gorgeous.  They had the most food I have ever seen anywhere from sliders and wings to steak and shrimp.  There was a fabulous frozen margarita machine and just about anything else you might have wanted.  The kids had a blast too.

{Kate just before we left for the party (outfit Zulily).
I just got instagram but have NO clue how to use it!}

I curled my hair for the party ( who knew it would match Madonna's?)...

Great tutorial for curling hair here.  This is a darling blog too.

(an I phone snap at the party. My I-phone stinks. It is old.)

I was outside by the fire and the outdoor kitchen watching with my friends on the big scren.  My kids were in that room beyond the glass.  A HUGE media room with a movie screen, a flat screen, a pool table, a shuffleboard table, and a fireplace.  It was perfect!


I know a lot of people did not like Madonna's half time show but I did.  I was taken back to the 80's driving around in my shiny red pinto listening to her!  I LOVED Madonna's music when I was in high school and college.  And I can tell you this.  There were about 100 people at this party and the only time everyone was staring at the multiple screens was when Madonna was on.  People were mesmerized.

Okay so back to my hair.  It is getting so long and it looks awful down.  So, I have been trying new things.  Here is the messy sock bun.  Yup there is a sock in there.  Tutorial here and here.

(This one was the first one I did but I have gotten much better at it)

I am getting my hair hi-lighted on Thursday and I might cut it shorter too.  What do you think? I wear it up or curled everyday.

We are hosting an early Valentine's dinner party Saturday night for four couple friends at our house. I am really excited.  We have not had a formal dinner party in a long time. I am in the process of menu planning. Any suggestions?

I might make this centerpiece.  I am not sure I love it.  It might be too cutesy for me. What do you think?

And I cannot remember where I got this image below but doesn't this look like a yummy comfort dessert?  If anyone knows the source or recipe, let me know, please:)

See, I told you this post was all over the place!  Okay, here is what I want to know:

Any fun date ideas?  (keep it clean people.  This is a g rated blog)

Any menu suggestions?

What should I do with my hair?

What do you think of that centerpiece?

Okay, that is all for now:)

A Christmas Party

Dave and I decided to take a year off from hosting our big Christmas party and I am so glad we did.  I honestly cannot imagine if I had added one more thing to my plate this week.  However, my friend and neighbor decided to have a party this year and it was last night.  We had a great time.  It was nice to be the guest and not the hostess.  I was not planning on buying a dress (trying to save money and all) but I fell in love with this dress at the last minute. It screamed Jackie O or Audrey Hepburn to me.  I had the perfect very pointy black satin heels and a fun ivory cocktail  ring.  I was feeling very 1960 and very "Chicago-ish."

{Dave wore a navy blue blazer to the party but did not have it on for the photos}

When we got home, I peeked in on Kate to see if she was asleep. She said,  "Mama, did your friend say anything?"  I said, "Say anything about what Kate?"  She said, "Like did she tell you how beautiful your dress and coat were?"  I replied, "Oh yes, sweetie she did."  Then she asked, "Mama, were you the most beautiful girl at the party?"  I could not really answer that as everyone looked beautiful but Kate sure made me feel like the most beautiful mama at that moment in time.

Our Valentine's Day 2011 {Sunday Snapshot}

I have been hesitant to share what Dave did for me for Valentine's day for a few reasons.  The biggest reason is that while it was an extremely grand and romantic gesture to me...to us, y'all probably won't get it.  Which is fine. I decided that does not matter.  I want my kiddos to read this one day (and their spouses) and remember what a thoughtful and romantic Dad they had!

So we do not buy our kids things except on holidays for the most part. Our kids generally get gifts on their birthday and Christmas.  They get an Easter basket too.  Sometimes they each get a little something on Valentine's morning and they were so excited this year.

You might remember how Kate was coveting a beautiful box of chocolates?  I posted about it here. She talked about those chocolate boxes every single day for a month!  So, of course, that was her little surprise.  As you can see, she was delighted!   The only problem is that we re-discovered that as much as Kate LOVES chocolate, it makes her CRAZY.  Seriously, every single time she eats chocolate she has an emotional breakdown (which she is not prone to when not eating chocolate).  So, mostly she has admired the box and the chocolates and we change the subject when she asks to eat them.  She has had  a 1/2 of chocolate here and there. She loves the pretty box.

So excited!

Harry got a small hex bug maze.  He was thrilled.

Will got a nerf gun and was also thrilled.  Just little tokens to show some love.

We got the boys off to school.  Took a few photos with Kate and then took her to school...

(my friend Lori made this cute flower and ribbon belt:)

Dave took a vacation day on Valentine's day but he did not tell me where we were going. We grabbed a quick breakfast and took off heading out of the city and into the country.  This is where I need to give a little background.  Last September, you might remember that we went to Roundtop.  Roundtop is an enormous antique/decorative/designer outdoor show.  It happens twice a year in Texas and people come from all over for it.  Well, we went and wandered into this big tent.  Honestly, I remember going in there because it was so darned HOT and this tent had air conditioning and free margaritas.  Anyway, they were selling luxury bedding.  Specifically, they sell these Hungarian goose down feather pillows.  So, we cooled of and they propped us all up in these beds and pillows.  They adored Kate (and Will too). Harry was at a sleepover.

{these are with my point and shoot from back in September}

They want you to get in the beds.  They insist on it.  And we know why.  It feels like absolute HEAVEN.  Dave and I both have bad necks and backs.  Dave has had back surgery and I spend a lot of time and money at the chiropractor.  We felt like we were floating in these pillows.  We wanted them badly.  But they were out of our price range and we were not planning on buying them.  The "system" calls for 3-4 of the pillows in order to give the correct support. And they are odd sizes too so you need to purchase the shams as well.

We went back home and looked up these pillows on line.  We were sold.  We wanted them but we knew it was not something that was going to happen anytime soon (if ever). Every night when we got into bed, we would fluff our company store pillows and sigh and say, "Ahhh...Hungarian goose down" and laugh.  It became our little private joke.  We talked about them all the time.  "Hungarian goose down" became our private joke.

Well, there is a little store out in the town of Roundtop that sells these pillows.  They are normally closed on Mondays and they were closed on Valentine's Day.  But Dave called and told them our story and that he took the day off and wanted to surprise his wife with one or two of these pillows to start the system.  The manager generously offered to open the store just for us.

Some photos of the European Luxury Linen shop

They also carry beautiful antique linens

So, my sweet husband bought me three enormous Hungarian goose down pillows and shams for Valentine's Day! I feel so special that he planned this all and had them open the store for us. Dave knows that this is a frivolous but romantic purchase and he hopes it will help my neck which is so bad from the car accidents. I love that my husband really thought about something that I would never buy for myself and that he wanted to make me happy.  I am so blessed.  He is the BEST husband.

Trying out the various pillows in the "system"

And I feel really bad because we don't usually give each other gifts for Valentine's day (we usually do a  special dinner).  I made him a card/love letter. I even put a doily and glitter on it.  But I did not buy him something.  And I feel bad about that.  We are trying to spend less money so I thought I was being fiscally responsible.  Which to my husband is actually very romantic:)


**I know there are always more photos of Kate.  There is a reason for that.  My boys literally roll their eyes and the sight of my camera.  They do not like me taking their photos right now.  Kate hams it up for the camera.

What a week!

I am so glad it is Friday!!  This week has been a bit of a tough one. We have had so many activities and doctor appts.  I cannot even get to it all in one post. I think I'll do bullets:)

~ Will wrapped up swim season with a big zone meet where he and some teammates won a medal for 2nd place in the boys relay.  We are really proud of your hard work on swim team this year Will!  The team also had a party this week at a local restaurant.  It was kind of funny.  The coach specifically asked parents to stay at the restaurant for the party but Will SO did not want me there. When I pointed out that every other parent was there,  He said, "I love you Mom and I think you are a great Mom but when you are my age, you just don't want your Mom there." I sat far away with another Mom:)

Will loves the backstroke and it is definitely his best stroke too.

~ Harry had a brutal week.  He has had a cough for 4 weeks now.  And I mean the worst cough you have ever heard.  So this week (after weekly visits to the doctor) he had a TB test, he started an antibiotic (in case it's pneumonia) and he is on an inhaler.  We are praying that whatever it is, it goes away.

~We also discovered that he is getting migraines.  He has had 2 this week.  It was so awful.  He was vomiting and could not hold his head up.  He was white as a ghost. I have never seen my son in such pain.  I had tears in my eyes just seeing him like that. We went straight to the pediatrician and she was concerned about an aneurism, brain mass etc.   I have also never seen our pediatricina so concerned about him.  That made me even more nervous. Then we realized that it is migraines.  My Mom got them. I get them. My sister gets them.  Will gets about one a week!  And now Harry gets them.  Needless to say, I have beaten myself up pretty bad this week for both being the genetic link to my children's migraines and also not recognizing that Harry was getting them.  He has had recent episodes of extreme headache and vomiting and I have chalked it up to other things (dehydration, the cough, etc).

~I went into Kate's school to teach about Chinese New Year yesterday.  It was so much fun.  Kate really had a lot to share with her class. In fact, she barely needed me there. I wish someone had video taped it because she was incredibly confident and articulate explaining the customs to her friends.  I read a book to the class.  We brought props.  We brought in dumplings, oranges and fortune cookies to share. Kate gave each of her classmates a red envelope with gold chocolate coins and the cutest Chinese erasers!  And we made Chinese lanterns.   I loved it and so did Kate and her class.

We brought our banner that I made from home:)

Kate just LOVES arts and crafts.  I wish I were a more artsy crafty Mom for her.

~ Tomorrow I am attending a retreat with my Mom's group at church.  I am so excited to have a short day of quiet reflection and peace.  Thank you Dave for taking over all Saturday duties for me!  They have this retreat every year and I have never gone before even though I have been in the group off and on for 11-12 years.  

~On Monday (Valentine's Day) Dave took off from work and he has some sort of little surprise  adventure planned.  I have no idea what we are doing but I am really touched that Dave took the day off to be with me.

I hope y'all have a great weekend.