Rockets vs. Kings

About a year ago, during the peak of the Jimmer-Fever epidemic, Steve promised me we would go see Jimmer play if/when he came to town in the NBA. At the time Steve was probably skeptical that day would ever come, but when the Sacramento Kings came to town on Monday Steve made good on that promise. Amy and Mark joined us as well. It was the most fun I've ever had at a Rockets game! We had great seats, dined on turkey burgers (sorry Steve, no funnel cakes at the Toyota Center), and checked out the VIP Lexus Lounge at half time. The end of the game got really exciting not only from an athletic standpoint, but both Mark and Steve caught t-shirts, we were featured on the jumbotron for our amazing dance performances*, and we had a perfect view of Kevin Bacon's doppleganger. ha ha! and the Rockets won in OT, btw.

*Steve gets credit for taking the lead on the dancing. I had no idea we had a camera on us, but camera-aware Steve got nervous and the only thing he could think to do was rapidly flap his newly acquired t-shirt. ha ha!

Gardens at Rienzi

Every spring for a few days in Houston there is a beautiful display of azaleas. This year, most of those days were pouring rain so going outside to see the flowers wasn't appealing. When the rain stopped I invited a friend to come see what seemed like a HUGE garden with flowers and azaleas galore. The garden was in fact beautiful, but not as huge as the impression I had in my mind after studying the property map. It took about 5 minutes to walk through the gardens on the property. my bad. 

Picking at the farm

Clark and I went with some friends down to Froberg Farm to pick strawberries. He was thrilled with the concept of having a little bucket to carry around. He did a pretty good job of picking the berries, though a few were squished in the process. I wondered how many times he might dump out the contents of our bucket but he didn't do it once. 

The best strawberry I brought home with me was this one. (A very nice grandpa volunteered to help Clark get his head in the right spot for me, hence the cap poking out the top right corner.)

When we got home I thought we could enjoy some of our beautiful berries together, but judging by Clark's reaction, they are too sour for his taste. More for me!  

3 years together

Steve and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary this week by dressing up and going out on Friday night. We went to dinner at Perry's Grille and couldn't think of anywhere else to go so we went back home to enjoy some fine Blue Bell ice cream. Here's to us for three happy years together!

Houston Rodeo 2012

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo just rolled out of town, but not after we got to check it out one evening. Our little family got gussied up in our Western wear and braved the traffic to see the cowboys and cattle...and The Band Perry!

Steve walked Clark around all the cows and he constantly mimicked their mooing with something that sounded more like boooooooo!

 I'm still not actually sure if it was really Steve or an imposter that came with us since I turned around and "Steve" was holding a funnel cake. My husband Steve would never have occasion to pay for a fried confection--like a funnel cake--at an event where concessions have a reputation of being overpriced. My Steve is much more sensible. and health-conscious.

 My hat was the only toy on hand for some time during the rodeo so it came out a different shape than how it started. Clark got a bit antsy towards the end, but he held on for most of the concert. The Band Perry did a great live show. yee-haw!

Sweetie on the stairs

I love this picture of Clark so much, including those wispy curls I can't bring myself to cut, that playful little look, those clothes he had just been wearing to play outside. I could do without the lid to his blender, but he loves it, as well as the rest of the blender so I guess it stays. Clark recently discovered the stairs are a perfectly-sized seat for him so he likes to sit down then wildly kick his feet. It makes us both smile. 

Catching up on the Highlights

Before I forget, I wanted to recap some of our Utah trip highlights that I haven't covered already. We did a lot in one weekend! There was so much snow:

As I've said before, Clark loved the snow. Throwing it, eating it, and jumping in it.

Clark and his cousin Sam caught up on some work in their fire truck uniforms.

Wade shared his toys and books with us.

We took our kids to the top floor of the Church History Museum in downtown SLC where they have a childrens' exhibit. The kids had a ball!

Caden and Eric went fishing while Clark computed in the technology pavilion.

This truck was a hit with all the boys.

Kara and I couldn't resist the chance to make a spectacle of ourselves dress up in Mexican dancing skirts and learn some traditional Mexican dancing from a video.

Steve flexed his muscles for us while lifting up some gold plates and we all got a kick out of watching Clark and Caden build towers out of huge plush blocks. Caden was doing the building while Clark was focused mainly on jumping into his creations and laughing as they came crashing down. Caden didn't find it as amusing...or at all. 

And finally...Grandpa let Clark drive his forklift. Clark was in heaven. He gave the steering wheel and all the levers a good workout.

Happy St. Pat's

Clark doesn't have any green in his wardrobe right now but wanted to celebrate St. Patrick's Day anyway. He was thrilled to borrow my Scottish (but pretending it's Irish) "See You Jimmy" hat. Below are Steve and me in the same hat 5 years ago, looking simply stunning. (I guess that's one way to put it.)

Gimme that wink!

I love that he figured out how to get his tongue involved in a wink. so cute! 

It's like Neal McCoy sings:
In this complicated world
It may sound absurd
But simple little things are the miracle cure
All [he's] gotta do is just give me that wink!

Is this thing on...?

Clark is really great at pulling faces and will usually do it on demand. I thought it would be funny to capture a few faces with him. Here we are getting set up: 

and go! serious. tongues. little smile. big smile. wink (my favorite!). eyes closed. 

This little guy makes me laugh!

The Best Kind of Restaurants...

...have tablecloths. and not just for the aesthetic. I avoid taking Clark to restaurants because as soon as he touches the table or high chair (which are inevitably greasy) + uses his hands to eat anything = allergic reaction. It's mild--some hives around his mouth--but still unsettling for me. Tablecloths, though, get a thumbs up from me. Lazy susans on the table are fun, too, for spinning flatware, china, and toddlers.

This was at the Mandarin, in Bountiful, UT, to celebrate Grandma K's birthday.

Blushing for With Rapture

One of my all-time favorite photographers--Brooke of Blush Photography--is offering the chance to win a seat at her With Rapture workshop in April. I started following her 4 years ago when she took some headshots for a musician friend of mine. She is amazingly talented and her work is stunning, beautiful, and addictive. Attending her workshop would be a dream come true for me.

To enter the contest, I had to blog my favorite photo. Asking me to choose a favorite anything is like asking me to run a mile under 4 minutes--it's nearly impossible. However, I narrowed it down to a few choices and very nearly posted one from a session I shot for someone recently because I liked its artistic quality. But then...I kept coming back to shots of my son. For me, those evoke the most emotion because I'm a proud MWAC (mom with a camera). I especially love this photo because he's wearing an outfit that my mom dressed my brother in as a baby and saved all these years so I could love it too. I can also see patches of ezcema and little scratches on his skin that were ever present in the early days of dealing with his food allergies. We've come a long way since then.

I hope to win the chance at the workshop so I can learn not just how to snap a photo but how to capture special, beautiful moments in others' lives that will be cherished like I cherish this image and this boy:

Slidey Friday

We went sledding (or sliding, as the kids said) on Friday as part of a quick trip to Utah. We were lucky to have a huge pile of fresh snow to enjoy at my parents' house...

...which also meant we had to push the "Blue Spinner" out of some trouble before the sledding could begin.

My mom showed us how to ride her new sled

then we all trudged around back to have some (cold) fun!

Sledding isn't just for the kids, of course.

Grandma took a break from sledding to make us a snow angel.

This was our view as we slid down the hill.

Clark LOVED the snow so much I wish we could have brought some back with us.