Sweating it Out at the Zoo

This morning we ventured into town to go to the zoo with a new friend -- what excitement! She's the wife of Dear Husband's co-clerk, has a three-month old little guy and is also here for a year without family or friends. We had lots in common! ;-)

The zoo was a bit of a blur, what with the abundant foliage, 90-degree heat and Boo-Boo running to and fro, so we're not sure how it compares to the ones back home. Highlights were a swimming tiger, a snoring warthog and pigeons in the parking lot (how exotic!).

We also loved a super cool glass tunnel in one of the aquarium tanks that BB could crawl through and be surrounded by fish.

We'll see if we make it back before it "cools off"; supposedly it's going to drop to the 70s in October. But for now, we have plans to go to another museum next week. Very exciting to have something to do and someone to see! =)

Something to Smile About

I can't stay mired in self-pity and fear of pre-historic insects for long with BB running around the house.

While I was sitting the recliner, icing my lip, he put on his boots and declared, "I am Goliath; the biggest giant ever. Choose a soldier to fight me!" I got to be David and use the slingshot (DH's scapular) to throw a stone at him. Then, "Goliath" would fall over dead.

And yesterday, he got into a laundry basket and said, "I'm Jonah in a boat. Throw me out to calm the storm!"

At least someone is enjoying himself around here! =)

Not a Good Start to the Day

Today has been one of those days when it might have been wiser to stay in bed (as if that were an option).

First, I dared to go grocery shopping at Wal-Mart with the boys before we went to storytime at the library.

As I was reaching for a can of soup, a can fell off the shelf and hit me right in the mouth. I started bleeding inside and out of my lip and crying spontaneously from the pain, just when Boo-Boo decided to start screaming for me from the cart at the end of the aisle and X-Man starting wriggling in his sling. And I was only half-way through my shopping list...

When we got home, I put X down for his morning nap and took BB out back to play. And guess what was floating in his kiddy pool? Our first cockroach, of course. Mercifully, it was already dead. Not only are cockroaches grotesque and scary enough to send shivers up my spine, but BB is allergic to them, of course.

I'm just about ready to call it a day... =(

Hands-on Learning

Just a quick pic of X-Man, really getting into his Baby Signing Time video. He's starting his love affair with Rachel Coleman pretty young!

New Video Capabilities!

When I logged onto blogger today, I found out that now I can load VIDEOS on Humble Utterings! I was thrilled, because recently I attempted a small video on my camera while the bells were pealing at Our Lady of Walsingham. Hope you can hear them! And forgive my amateur camera-handling -- just crank your head to the right! =P

Ride 'em, Boo Boo!

Out of Grandma's munificence while visiting, Boo-Boo has one of the prized possessions of his young life: real cowboy boots! We went to a Western store (staffed with lots of gentlemen wearing cowboy hats) and he chose these from the vast selection.

Originally, I had some classic, kiddish red ones in mind, but he was quite certain that these were the boots for him. My baby's all grows up!

We'll Miss You, Grandma! =(

We had to say goodbye to Grandma this morning, as she flew back to the North Star state. We celebrated a landmark birthday for her (I won't say how old!) with my cousin's family at a MUY BUENO Mexican restaurant and had lots of quality time together.

The boys will miss her tremendously: she's the kind of grandma who gets down on the floor and plays with them (my least favorite thing to do!) for hours. God bless her for that!

P.S. We're hoping that by posting the photo of Grandma and the boys that everyone will finally realize who Boo-Boo resembles most. (Hint: It's not Dear Husband!)

A Taste of Minnesota

Grandma Lisa flew into town Wednesday and is spending the next few days with us, much to Boo-Boo's excitement. Even X-man has adopted her as his second favorite person (#1 is Dear Husband!). We're quite happy to see her and are enjoying having a familiar face around.

Today we spent the morning at the local children's museum, which was overrun by other moms and kids also trying to escape the heat. X-Man snoozed in his hammock-like sling, and Grandma did her best keeping up with Boo-Boo.

When we got home, we asked BB what his favorite thing was at the museum. He said, without hesitation, "Painting myself!"

Our New Church Home?

Today we attended Mass at Our Lady of Walsingham (our second time this week, due to the feast of the Assumption) on the other side of town. It takes us about 30 minutes to drive there, but it seems to be worth it.


It is an Anglican-use parish and has chant, an incredible choir and a gorgeous liturgy. (In 1980, JPII issued a pastoral provision so that Anglicans who converted to Catholicism could preserve the Anglican liturgical traditions within the Roman Catholic Church.)


Boo-Boo is enduring the hour-plus Masses fairly well, and X-Man and I have been enjoying the state-of-the-art crying room, which is always packed with moms and kids.


I think we'll visit one more parish before we make our final decision -- Holy Rosary, a Dominican church with a Latin novus ordo Mass. We are blessed with such choices!

All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go

A few days ago, we were all sitting around (as DH hasn't started work yet) looking for something to do. I suggested that we go to the splash pad up the street for some family fun.

We all suited up, which took us about a half hour (kind of like getting ready to go outside with kids in the winter) and jumped in the car. We drove a few blocks to the splash pad, and it was CLOSED because it was TOO HOT outside. Then we drove a few blocks more to the outdoor pool. It was closed, too, for the same reason.

Can anyone explain why someone would close a pool when it's 98 degrees (heat index of 108) outside? Don't these people want to ever leave their air conditioned houses and enjoy a cool pool?

Defeated and puzzled, we headed back to our house to play in the new inflatable pool we bought. I pulled it out of the box, only to discover that it was missing the caps to seal the air in.

We didn't even have a sprinkler for Boo-Boo to run in. So we resorted to hosing each other off. Not the most exciting afternoon, but memorable still.

Not Swept Away ... Yet

We've been getting phone calls from concerned family members up north who've been hearing about tropical storm Erin coming our way. They know more than we do, as we don't have a working TV yet and undependable internet access. We're at the mercy of the local public radio station.

Yesterday we heard some thunder, the sun wasn't shining the entire day (like usual) and it got "cooler" (only 95 degrees). And today, after lots of ominous rumblings, it finally rained with tons of thunder and lightning. (Now it's a "chilly" 85 degrees !) Now we just heard over the radio that there's a flash flood warning for this afternoon. No big whoop.

On the indoor front, I am pleased to say that we've successfully eradicated at least this wave of ants -- thanks to some child-proof ant lures/traps and corn starch. Thanks for all of your helpful suggestions!

Buzzed Boo-Boo

Last month, we seriously trimmed Boo-Boo's hair because he was pulling it out in his self-soothing efforts. Now, the day has come to shave it all off. He was still tugging on his cowlick and "sweating like a fat kid" (as Dear Husband likes to say) in the heat. DH took him to a barber, and the last of his glorious tresses hit the floor.

We're enjoying Boo-Boo's fuzzy head now, but I'm resolved to let it grow back as soon as his habit is broken ... and it gets below 90 degrees! =P

An Action-Packed Weekend

We were blessed to host a dear friend this weekend, the universally beloved "My David" (as his wife calls him). He drove over from San Antonio where he has been in Air Force medical training, and spent the last few days helping us run errands and playing with the kids. (Both boys are in love with him, of course!)

After Mass today at Annunciation (Latin novus ordo -- pretty good!) downtown, Dear Husband and David escaped for an afternoon to take in an Astros game. What fun! Of course, at the seventh inning stretch here, they sing "God Bless America," "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and -- you guessed it! -- "Deep in the Heart of Texas," complete with claps.

I enjoyed seeing the city center for the first time since we arrived. It's not as big as I had feared, and not a problem to navigate, thankfully. Strangely, it feels like we've been here a lot longer than less than a week!

The Ants Go Marching

In what used to be our peaceful, spotless kitchen has become a corpse-ridden battleground of man vs. ant -- or at least, woman vs. ant. This morning I was appalled to find an entire army of ants on the kitchen floor, feasting on the crumbs of yesterday's meals. Now kids and their table habits are a natural attraction for ants, but I've never dealt with such an onslaught. Any ideas for non-toxic ways of killing the little buggers?

And while we're on the topic of bugs ... I used to peacefully co-exist with spiders, only killing them when absolutely necessary. But here, I see many a day in our home, and I am a pacifist no longer. These spiders are the small jumpy kind that propel themselves out of the way of any swatting device. I've taken to attacking them with big pads of paper and slamming it multiple times, to catch them when they jump. My Texas cousin tells me they don't bite, but still -- any advice on eliminating them effectively and safely?

On Our Way...

to Texas we experienced a few things that made us laugh, smile or just wonder:



* The six flags that fly over Texas: United States, Republic of Texas, Confederate, Mexican, Spanish and French


* Gas for $2.60 a gallon (unleaded)


* dead armadillos, belly-up on the side of the road

* store outside of Muskogee, OK: "Crazy Debbie's Fireworks"


* sign outside of Pryor, OK: "Concealed Weapon Training"

* front yard "store" in Wainswright, OK: "Bob's Junk"


* the town of Anna, Texas


* Billboard in Dallas: "Condoms to Go"


* Stores outside of Houston: "Guitars, Guns & Gold," "Bible Factory Outlet Center" and "Little Dude Mini Storage"


* "All My Friends Say" by Luke Bryan -- quite possibly the most quintessential country song of all time


* On the "Welcome to Texas" sign: "Proud Home of President George W. Bush"


* The only radio stations we can find are Spanish, country, Christian and rap


And the new-to-us- restaurants are fascinating:


* Sonic, in every little town, on almost every corner


* Whataburger


* Chick-fill-A

We Made It!

Howdy, y'all! ;-)

We've made it to Texas and are back online after our 1,200 mile, five-day trek across the country.

First, we stopped in Iowa for the weekend to celebrate Grandma's 90th birthday party with relatives from Minnesota, Virginia, Hawaii and Texas.

Then we caravanned with our Texas relatives southward, stopping for a night in Oklahoma. We finally arrived Tuesday night and have been busy unburying ourselves from the moving boxes.

(I'll be posting lots more photos on our Kodak site. Email me if you need the username and password.)

The boys did beautifully in the car -- not sleeping much, but not giving us much grief, either. Miraculous! Boo-Boo went through a stack of books and X-Man stealthily acquiesced any tossed aside.

Upon arrival at our new house, Boo-Boo took to racing around its great expanse (compared to our old house) and hiding in the many closets. He has already been to the splash pad (our neighborhood's waterpark-playground) and has even decided to sleep in a twin bed (which was a shock and a delight to his parents!). X-Man, of course, is just happy to be wherever we are.

Yes, it's hot. Highs of 97 degrees, with heat indexes of 110 degrees (kind of a converse of our windchill!). Natives tell us this is the hottest week of the year, of course. But it's just as well. We stay in the air-conditioned cool and unpack all day anyway!

One Last Look ...

... before this blog goes dark for a few days. We're leaving this afternoon for an extended move to Texas and will let you know when we reach our new home safely -- probably sometime late Tuesday night.

Please pray for our safety, health and peace of mind! X-Man is congested and coughing, and Boo-Boo is always a wild card.

Before we leave, we want to extend a huge THANK YOU and big love to all of our family and friends who have helped us in large and small ways these last weeks in preparation for the move. From watching the boys to making us meals, we absolutely could not have done it without you. We'll miss you more than we can say!

Lucky to be Alive

This morning we're thanking God that we're safe and alive in the aftermath of the 35W bridge collapse in the Mississippi during rush hour -- about five miles from our house. Dear Husband drove over that bridge every day for three years to go to school.

As I was putting X-man to bed last night, all I could hear were the rescue and television helicopters flying low over our house. Grandma called from Detroit, and even an old friend emailed from Poland to make sure we were safe.

Please pray for the victims, their families, the survivors and the rescuers.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithfully departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.

Thank you, Lord, for every minute of our lives!

One Last Hurrah

We thoroughly enjoyed an intimate, enchanted evening last night, dining al fresco with a few close friends. Dear sister-in-law watched the horde of children while we adults could have deep conversations (the ladies), thought-provoking debates (the gentlemen) and continous trains of thought -- what a treat! Of course, such a memorable time made it even harder to say goodbye, and some tears were shed. But thanks be to God for such blessings as friends!