Cooks

The Taj Mahal

2011-03-09T05:57:00.001-06:00

On the same weekend that we visited the Agra Fort, we also toured the Taj Mahal. We had an awesome tour guide that made sure we got there early before it got crowded. We were able to enjoy the serenity of the 7th wonder of the world aside from all the craziness that was going on all around it. When I say craziness, I mean the traffic of India and the hustle and bustle of the streets next to the entrance. (If you are curious to see a glimpse of light traffic here, check out this youtube.com video. It is older but still fairly accurate on what to expect. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjrEQaG5jPM)
It was an amazing opportunity to be able to experience the Taj Mahal.

Entrance to the Taj

Looking back from the Taj Mahal toward the entrance

I was listening I promise - tour guide telling the history of the Taj Mahal

Just proof I was actually there! :)

Hand carved stones and marble created the walkway to the Taj

A current day active mosque used each Friday - the Taj Mahal is closed to tourists on Friday to allow for worship in the mosque.

Closer view of the mosque

It was a little hazy, but still beautiful!

I can't even describe how large this structure is in person.

It took 22 years to complete due to the workmanship that was involved.

Huge arch over the main entrance

So breathtaking when you know how much went into the construction of this!

Beautfiul inlay and carving work around the entry doorway to the Taj Mahal

Intricate patterns carved into the marble surround the replica tombs on the first floor. The real tombs are underground, but the replicas are directly behind this wall. It is too dark to get a good picture of the replicas up close.

Of course, you have your guards on duty standing around observing everyone.

Camel ride anyone? They were taking people back and forth on the short walk from the street to the Taj Mahal's entrance.

Up close and personal

"Wild" monkeys along the pathway - they can be aggressive, but these particular ones are use to people feeding them. We still steered clear of their immediate path!

I am very grateful to have had this opportunity to see such an amazing structure and to experience a little more of India while I was here. It has been an eye opening experience for me being in this country for three weeks - away from family and friends. It has helped me put my life into perspective and to realize all the many things I have to be grateful for in my life. I am truly blessed to have the life I have and to have all the amazing and wonderful family and friends that provide love, friendship, and support for me and my family. I can't wait to be back home and to see everyone! Only a few more days to go......

The Agra Fort

2011-03-06T13:41:00.002-06:00

The Agra fort is more commonly known as a walled city due to its size. Akbar, the third Mughal emperor, began the construction of this fort made of red sandstone on the banks of the Yamuna river in 1565. The fort was completed in 1571 with additions made later. During Akbar's time, it served mostly military purposes, but Akbar's grandson, ShahJahan, also used it as a palace and court.
The fort spreads over a triangular area measuring 1.5 miles. The structure is crescent shaped with colossal double walls 20 m in height and 2.5 km in circumference. The fort is surrounded by a 9 m wide & 10 m deep moat. It was an amazing structure to visit, and it is still in pretty good condition after all these years.

Going to the Agra Fort

Entering the fort

One section of this massive fort made of stones

Marble design that was hand carved for the Agra Fort.

One of the ruler's rooms overlooking the river valley

Common grounds where they would hold parades of the concubines for the ruler!

This basin is a huge bath that was transported to different locations that the rulers stayed when not at the fort.....it was HUGE!

Entry way to another section of the fort

Intricate designs carved into the marble facade

Those doorways led to the concubine rooms - as many as 700 concubines lived in this fort during one of the ruler's time. If you look closely, the section directly below the people standing is a 'soaking area' for the women. Those spaces are seats where they would sit.

Beautiful archways in the common ground area

A double moat surrounded the fort for protection.

The Trip to & from Agra

2011-03-04T06:11:00.003-06:00

We travelled the long journey to Agra, India from Bangalore to visit the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort. Let me just say it was quite the weekend!!! We were only gone from early Saturday morning to late Sunday evening. We had a 6 am flight from Bangalore to Delhi which meant leaving work around 2 am and loading into a car to drive a minimum of 1 hour to the airport. It normally takes 2 hours no thanks to Indian traffic. :) Our flight to Delhi was about 2.5 hours long, then we loaded up in a car again to drive to Agra. The distance is around 150 miles, or 250 km, one way roughly. Now, when I say loaded up, I mean we loaded up! There were a total of seven adults in a car the size of a small American minivan, so it was a tight squeeze (mostly for those in the back row)! It took us 7.5 hours to get those 150 miles with an hour or so for lunch. That had to be the longest day of my life!!!! We checked in and met up with our guide to visit the Agra Fort a short distance from the hotel.
Along our ride, we have many interesting experiences. First, on the way from the hotel to the airport, the driver did not see a pothole in the road, and he hit it going somewhere between 80 kmph. It was like jumping hills in a car, and my head hit the ceiling along with several of my co-workers doing the same. Off to a great start.........the flight was uneventful, but the really fun part of our trip was about to begin. Our driver was one of those people that punches the gas then lets off then punches again, so you can imagine how we all felt after spending 7 hours in the car with him that day and lots of traffic in the smaller cities along the way. I was exhausted and wanted to take a nap, but I could not peel my eyes off what I was seeing outside my window as we passed through smaller Indian cities, mostly rural type ones. We had to stop about half way and pay a tax for the two day visit, so our driver hopped out and left us in the car. While parked, we had monkeys on leashes jumping on our car and sticking their rear ends in our faces as well as a child carrying around some type of cobra in a wicker basket with a lid. I don't have pictures of these things because apparently if you take one, they start beating on your window wanting money. They try to trick you asking you to take one, but someone in the care knew the scam and alerted us. Whew! We also saw other things that words won't do justice, but I will try. As we are watching these animals and people outside our vehicle trying to make a quick rupee, we look up just in time to see a man dressed in makeup and Indian woman clothes (tunic, leggings, and a scarf). He walks on past us, but we see another one right in front of us making goo goo eyes at us!!! Then, this person lifts their tunic up and rubs its belly while doing dance type motions. It was a VERY distrubing picture that I am not sure I will ever forget. Shortly after this extravaganza, we pass through something similar to a toll booth, and we start to hear a funny noise! A flat tire on the side of an India highway......not exactly my idea of fun! Luckily, we happned to have our flat tire and flat spare right next to a tire 'shop' on the side of the road. (see pic below) The return trip was just as eventful with yet another flat tire expreience. This one was worse because we were not as lucky to have a tire place right next to us. The driver took the flat tire off, and he proceeded to put on the spare. The spare did not have enough air in it to make it to the airport. In fact, if we all got back in, the tire would be on the rim - it had maybe 3 inches from the ground before the rim would hit. We all refused to get in the car, so he was stuck trying to figure out what to do. He wanted us to get in on this tire to travel 1 km in the OPPOSITE direction. There was no turn around, so that would have meant into ONGOING traffic. Yeah, we told him he was crazy! Instead, there were two natives with a child walking in the wheat fields off the highway. Our driver goes to talk to them, and the man walking knows the person running a tire 'shop' down the road. They call up this tire guy, and he shows up on a motorcycle to take our two tires back and fix them. So picture this: a motorcycle with a driver, then two tires (rims and all), then the other man riding and holding them on. They fix tires the old fashioned manual way still (chisel and hammer type removal from the rim),so it takes them some time. All I can say is: WHAT AN ADVENTURE!!!!!! (sorry for the long post, but I had to share all the fun with those reading this)

A pictorial recap for those who did not make it through the written part, but this does not do it justice at all.....

We ate at this place on our way to Agra, and the guys are snake charmers sitting by the entrace!

Coke Zero

When is the last time you use this pull tab to open a soda can?

Any guesses on how many people are in this rickshaw going down an Indian highway where the speed limit is at least 80 kmph? (I think we decided between 10 & 12).

Common Scene: Cows pulling carts through the streets and making their own way through traffic!!

You don't see many people in the US balancing a big bag of something on their head this easily.

On the way to Agra, we passed many of these.

Right after we went through a toll stop, we had a flat tire - thank goodness for the tire repairmen directly on the side of the road! Best part: spare was flat too. :)

These vehicles are what we would call dump trucks in the US.

Street vendors and random wandering cow!

Typical traffice near the street stands and through smaller cities alog the way there and back.

Vegetable cart

Remember legal limit is 5 on a two-wheeler!! (side view)

Front view - I love that the child is in the front. The law is for the driver to be wearing a helment, and they are the onle one required on the motorcycle to wear one.

Not sure he wanted his pictre taken - Do you like the small child sandwiched between them?

Indian version of Elvis!!! They wanted us to take their picture!

Common housing building and section of the street below.

Empty dumpster, garbage filled street, a cow, and a pedestrian!!

Heavy Indian traffic - talk about congested and lots of emissions.........

Flat Tire #3 and #4 - Allison and I made the best of it and read our books by the side of the road. :)

We saw lots of make shift tents/homes along our drive as well.

Earlier a cow was in the middle of the garbage, and now, a man sits in it sorting out things he can use.

Watch out for the cow crossing - herds of cows will just walk into the street, and traffic stops until they are passed you!!

Our hotel in Agra and the doorman!

Flower ceremony - they do these flower ceremonies to welcome valued guests. These were not for us, but I think there was a wedding or something at the hotel when we arrived.

Infosys Campus

2011-02-24T03:53:00.072-06:00

Last week, one of my co-workers and I went to take a couple of pictures of the place I have been calling work while here. The campus is very, very large, and as a result, they have bicycles in various areas around the sidewalks. We grabbed a couple of bicycles and took off to our buidling. The journey begins with some pictures of my walk into work! We walk about 15 minutes to gate #6 where we have to obtain our 'badges' and have our laptop bags inspected by guards. Once we get through this fiasco, we walk about 5 more minutes to our building.

Leaving the hotel and beginning our journey!

The first two-wheeler parking area we pass on our walk into work each night.

A corner intersection we cross daily which is about half way through our walk to the gate. As you can see, there is a motorcycle and a barely full rickshaw. We have seen up to 10-12 people in one of those rickshaws!!! It was packed as you can imagine. They will stand on the back or even ride on top of them if they have to.

A second spot to find parked two-wheelers (motorcyles). India uses motorcycles a lot because they can weave in and out of traffic so quickly. I have not been able to get a picture, but I have seen as many as 5 people on one. 5 is the legal limit here, and only the driver is required to wear a helmet. Some passengers wear hard hats rather than a real helmet. :)

Shops along our walk to the gate - there are always quite a few people hanging out. Down the street to the right of this picture is a Baskin Robbins. :) I have not been there amazingly enough.

Arriving at our building after taking the bicycle route to work.

The Pyramid building - this building is next to ours where we work. Our building has been nicknamed the Titanic, but I have not been able to get a good pic of it yet.

This view is from the front of the building where there is a sidewalk up to the door with shallow water pools on either side of the sidewalk.

The building has been nicknamed the washing machine, because it reminds us of a front loading one. When coming into Bangalore from the airport, you can see the other side of this building from the road. It is a very interesting design. These fountains are not always on, but when they are, it is a pretty sight on campus.

My Co-worker, Allison, and I in front of the fountains.

The Casa - an eating/cafeteria location on campus. Infosys subsidizes the food costs for employees, so I have been able to eat very inexpensively for dinner most nights. One night I spent a total of 20 rupess, which is about $0.40 US.

Birds of Paradise can be seen in various locations on Infosys campus.

Next up our travel to Agra, India to see the Taj Mahal.....stay tuned! Trust me when I say this was an ADVENTURE in more ways than one!!!! :)

Still adjusting

2011-02-22T18:12:00.000-06:00

So after a few days here, I am getting more adjusted to things. It is odd to work at night and be sleeping for part of the day, but I am doing a little better at it. (Now if I can figure out the best time to get to the gym!) We go into work around 6 pm India time, and we are usually there until 3:30 or 4 am India time. It makes for a long work day, but the time goes by pretty quickly right now. I am sure that will change some since things are still pretty new to me, and I am still learning my way around. I have not had much time for sight seeing since I have been here a short time, but that will soon change as well. I may be going out this week before work some time to see a few things in the center of town. There will be some pretty interesting stories from this experience I have been told.....more to come on that one. We are also travelling to the Taj Mahal Saturday and coming back on Sunday. We have to pay out of our pocket, but I am pretty sure I won't have this opportunity again! :) Can't pass that up - stay tuned for pictures of that!!!!

They eat in different locations throughout the Infosys campus, and I have been to two different ones so far. The first night I spent 50 rupees which is about $1 for my dinner, and the second night was 20 rupees which is about $.40!!! Here are a few pictures of my adventurous eating habits I have developed while in India. (The first night I had Curry with Chicken, but I did not have my camera with me.)

This is an ice cream very similar to a Drumstick. They call it tri-cone. This one has butterscotch flavored ice cream! Yummy. I had this my first night at the office, and we all went back again tonight for another one!

This Indian meal is called Aloo Paratha. (more info below) :)

Yes, that is me eating Aloo Paratha!!! It was pretty good, but you have to be careful with the spice because it is HOT!

If you don't know what Aloo Paratha is (because I didn't until today), here you go:

It is one of the most popular unleavened flat-breads in Indian cuisine, Pakistani cuisine and Bengali cuisine and is made by pan frying whole-wheat flour on a tava (the griddle). The paratha dough usually contains ghee or cooking oil which is also layered on the freshly prepared paratha (literally means layers of cooked flour). Parathas are usually stuffed with vegetables such as boiled potatoes, leaf vegetables, radishes or cauliflower and/or paneer (South Asian cheese). A paratha (especially a stuffed one) can be eaten simply with a blob of butter spread on top or chutney, a spicy sauce made from yogurt and fresh herbs, but it is best served with pickles and yogurt, or thick spicy curries of meat and vegetables. Some people prefer to roll up the paratha into a tube and eat it with tea, often dipping the paratha into the tea.

I had the paratha stuffed with spicy potatoes, and the red portion in the picture is spicy pickle dipping sauce. The white cup is a type of Indian yogurt to dip in. Usually, you dip in the pickles then the yogurt. The yogurt is often used to cool the spices down. :)

The Journey to India

2011-02-22T05:35:00.000-06:00

It all started a few months ago when work approached me about going to India for business. My job is moving some functions to India, and I had been involved in training some of those people. It had been somewhat of a joke about me coming since I have smaller children, but after some arm twisting and convincing, I am here in India about to start my 'first day on the job'!

I left Dallas on Saturday, Feb. 19 and arrived in Bangalore, India on Monday, 2/21 very early in the morning. We flew from Dallas to London on a 9.5 hour flight where we boarded another plane within an hour or so to fly to India. The flight to India from London was also 9.5 hours, and it was a little more difficult than the first leg of the journey here. We arrived at our hotel around 6:30 am Monday morning. (India is 11.5 hours ahead of Dallas time - so right now, it is around 5 pm Monday afternoon.) Needless to say, I was exhausted and ready for a real bed to sleep in. The drive from the airport was quite interesting!! It is 55 km from the airport to the hotel, and it took about an hour. India traffic is VERY different than US traffic. They don't stop for stop signs or lights unless the intersection is blocked by other vehicles. I thought a couple times we were either going to be hit or we were about to hit someone. There were several times I could have rolled down my window and touched the car beside me all while going 60 -80 km/hour!!! Only 3 times did I find myself grabbing on to the door handle or my bag in front of me a little tighter. :)

After settling in some, I laid my head down to sleep, and it was much needed. For now, here are some pictures of where I will be 'living' for the next three weeks. Enjoy!

A view from the door into my room - after 30+ hours of travel to get here, that bed was the most comfortable thing I have slept on!!!!

The desk area and front foyer

The restroom - yes, the toilet is square! It is a little odd to sit on needless to say. :)

The shower - you can't see it, but above the removable showerhead is a ceiling mounted shower head.

Clever sayings

2009-04-06T15:32:00.006-05:00

NR #1 thinks he is pretty smart and can slip stuff by us. He also says some things that make us laugh. Below are a couple examples:

He is potty trained except for night time, but recently, he has had a couple accidents at nap time. We told him today that if he kept his bed/clothes dry he could have M&M's. JR set the bar at 3 M&M's to which NR #1 replied, 4! Ok, the deal was made. It would be 4 if the bed and clothes remained dry for nap. NR #1 accomplishes the dryness and upon asking him how many M&M's he receives, the number magically increased to 5. LIKE WE FORGOT HOW MANY WE PROMISED!! :)

The night we were going to the hospital to have NR #2, NR #1 was acting up some before we took off. He was aggravating the dog and was 'kicking' her in her chest. (not hard, but just enough to annoy her) I got onto him: If you did not stop kicking her you are going to the naughty chair. Do you hear me?

To this he replied: No, I can't hear you. Speak up, Mommy!!!

The other day after getting home from the hosptial and having baby sista (as NR #1 calls her) NR #1 looks at me and says: Mommy, you have a baby belly. As if I did not already know this.....c'mon kid, give me a break. It has only been a week. LOL

I love this little boy! How much cuter can you get.......

The Arrival

2009-03-30T15:22:00.006-05:00

NR #2 has made her arrival. She was a little less anxious than her brother to come into this world........The story goes something like this!

We headed to the hospital Wednesday evening, Mar. 25th to be induced since my doctor did not want me going full term in anticipation of a larger baby. It was only one week early, but this little girl weighed in around 7 lbs 11 oz at 37 weeks and wasn't slowing down on weight gain. :) We arrived, did the paperwork junk, then waited to go to my room. As of this point, I had not had more than 4-5 strong contractions in a row. They get me into my bed, hook up the baby and mommy monitors, and without fail, contractions. I had begun laboring on my own, and the contractions were consistently around 3 minutes apart. The nurse contacted my doctor and told him the story as he anticipated seeing me the next morning before a baby arrived. They held off on any medication and gave me sleeping meds to relax and get some rest. That killed the contractions, and the next morning brought the inducing part. After about 6 hours, she arrived.

Date: 03/26/2009

Time: 1:22 pm

Weight: 8 lbs 14 oz

Length: 19 1/2 in

(Don't look at how tired I am in this picture.....)

We are still alive!

2009-03-19T21:40:00.012-05:00

We are still here and busy, busy, busy. We have been trying to get things ready for our new little arrival that will be here any day. Some things we have been working on: our master (tiny) bathroom and getting her nursery ready. Work has been hectic trying to get things wrapped up and my foot out the door! Well, here are some pictures of what we have been up to. :)

More pictures when our new little one arrives. Stay tuned.............

NR #2's room....we have a few decorating things to finish up, but the bigger things are all complete. Finally! :)

We still need to find a cover for the little nightstand, but at least things are functional, right? :)

NR #1 'helping' Daddy with tile cutting. Safety first, as he says, with his earplugs and goggles.

This is the detail accent strip in our bathroom remodel. It is my favorite part of the tile job that JR did. (He did a good job on all of it, but I like this peice the best!)

Tiling all done....now, we just have to wait for our cabinets to come in before it can all be completed. Major room renovations = complete!! YEAH!

Spending time with Uncle J! NR #1 likes to snuggle when it is time for bed. All other times, pretty much forget it....he is way too active for snuggling.

Christmas Decorating & Baking

2008-11-29T21:49:00.010-06:00

Yesterday was the day....not that it takes us long to decorate. We don't do much around here since we have a two year old boy that loves to touch things he has been told not to! We did put up some decorations around the house and of course the tree. NR and JR 'fluffing' the tree while I grabbed a quick photo. NR was actually trying to do the tree fluffing...it was cute. :)

NR helped some, but he was more interested in just bringing me the ornaments. He was funny....when asked where to put each ornament, he would answer exactly the same each time:'UP TOP!' Good thing I did not listen, or we might have had a toppled tree by the time we were done.

He found one thing he enjoyed out of all the stuff we unpacked.......

BEADS!!!

I tend to get more into baking this time of year. I opted to try a new cheesecake recipe that I got out of a magazine. We will be sampling it tomorrow night, but NR helped me prepare it tonight. If the taste test passes, I will post an after picture and give some reviews of it. :) In the meantime, here are a couple pictures of us in the kitchen together. He LOVES to help then, of course, he wants to LICK the bowl. Typical male, right?

The Verdict is in........

2008-11-13T21:07:00.005-06:00

We had our sonogram today. We are 21 weeks into this pregnancy, and we were able to see with much confidence the result of the sonogram. We asked NR last night whether he wanted a baby brother or baby sister. His answer with no hestation was baby sister! I guess he got his wish.

Since I did not post anything about Halloween, I guess I can do a quick update on that too. NR was a skeleton for Halloween. He was so cute, and after the first house, he got the hang of it and wanted 'more candy, mama'. I don't know where he picked up the mama thing, but my name has officially transitioned from mommy to mama. I think it is cute the way he says it. Well, off to finish up some things around here.

"I love you, punkin!"

Catching up! :)

2008-10-25T22:38:00.009-05:00

This one goes out to Shari as requested on my previous blog...... :0)

First off, I have been waiting on some pictures from my mother to post a blog, but since that apparently is not going to happen, I guess you get to see a few of NR instead!

After returning from vacation in August, we went dreadfully back to work and our normal routine. Then, I remembered that I needed to get seriously busy planning a wedding for my sister. You see she is not exactly the get things done kind of person that I can be if I have to. I like to plan, organize, etc.........SHE DOES NOT! I knew I had to step in to make my family's sanity a little easier to maintain. She did ask me to help out so I did not totally take over. :)

So a little background...my family members nor most of the people where I grew up are members of the church. A wedding to them is lots of people in a community center being catered by the local restaurant and lots of alcohol.....not my style of wedding. Thank goodness my sister did not want the typical hometown wedding either. She and I did some brainstorming prior to my vacation......she was getting married in September, but not much had happened since engagement in December. (another reason I had to step up some) She wanted an outdoor semi-country wedding. After much work and efforts to keep costs down, we had a wedding that went pretty well I might say! If I EVER get the pictures from my mother, I will post the outcome. We had haybales covered with cloth and bandanas for seating during the ceremony which was around 7 or so in the evening. Then, the dinner and dancing area had wooden chairs, mason jar candles, horseshoes, more haybales, and daisies. All in all, I think it turned out well. Only a few minor hiccups.....mostly family conflict with the MIL. She likes things her way and my sister likes things HER way. :) So up to September 20th, my weekends and nights were completely consumed with helping my sister get through this rush of planning and preparing. When all that was finally over, I needed to revive myself. Phew-after a day off work, I was half way caught back up on sleep and rest.

One other thing has been going on in our lives, but this one has to be figured out. There are two clues on my blog.....scrambled letters in this blog and an added feature. Good luck guessing!!!!!!!!

In the meantime, here are some pictures of my little boy growing up too quickly............

NR with his helicopter that daycare gave him for his birthday. NR thought he would try to climb out of his bed at daycare...he paid for that decision with this nice little ouchy on his nose.
Little I think I am a stud on daycare red day!

Now, off to bed...way later than my normal bedtime. :)

Vacation - Did it have to end already?

2008-08-09T21:20:00.020-05:00

We went to Hot Springs, Arkansas for a week on vacation with JR's brothers and parents. We enjoyed ourselves and had plenty to keep us busy most days. We took it easy some of the time we were there. When we were not out doing vacation type stuff, we stayed cool indoors. Here is NR cheesing it up for the camera while playing.

JR's brother brought his Wii, so we played Wii Olympics to gear up for Bejing 2008. This was the 400m relay, and we were perfecting the hand-off. :)

On Monday, we went to this cool putt-putt golf course called Pirate's Cove. The course was really nice and some holes were pretty difficult. NR, of course, loved this boat being nearby that he could see.We had to split into two groups to golf since there were 7 adults and 2 little guys. This is the second group working on the 6th hole. It was bloody hot out already, and it was only around 10:30 or so in the morning.

After Pirate's Cove that morning, we went back to the condo and napped, then we got greased up and geared up for an afternoon on the lake. This is NR after we got back on safe ground. He liked the boat when it was going slow or stopped. He was not a fan of the faster speeds while pulling the tube behind. He did enjoy watching us fly off the tube though!

Tuesday was an all day event at the local amusement/water park. We started the day in the ride portion called Magic Springs and then relaxed in the water park, Crystal Falls, for the remainder of the day. It was so hot that the water was a nice way to end the day. During the water park portion, NR must have gone done one of the slides in the kid's pool area at least 40 times without getting bored with it.

JR and NR riding the spinning police car.

Grandma, me, NR, Lisa (James' girlfriend), James, and Ethan (girlfriend's son) on the carousel.

Since we were pretty drained on Tuesday night, Grandma helped with bed time by reading a book to NR. He loved having Grandma nearby to play with and give hugs and kisses. On Wednesday, we visited a local alligator farm and petting zoo. NR fed the goats and saw tiny alligators and full grown gators. I don't have any good pictures of that day, but when I get them from others on the trip, I will post a couple. NR was a little nervous being in a pen with a bunch of baby and mama goats, but he adjusted quickly when they started nibbling on his shorts pocket. He thought it was hilarious.

For Thursday's activity, we went to the Mid-America Science Museum with the kiddos. They had a blast playing with all the discovery type stuff....I think the adults enjoyed it as much as the kids did.

Learning how burps are made......lovely to teach your son right.

Learning about snot....as you can see the boys were the only ones in the picture. Enough said?
The Telsa Coil demonstration.
NR and Ethan (JR's brother's girlfriend's 3 yr old) in the gravity pit. Family shot after the museum.

In some more of our down time, everyone enjoyed being a kid again by playing in the sand.

NR also enjoyed the see saw right outside our patio door when he was not playing in the sand, feeding the ducks and geese, or watching boats come in to dock for the evening. It was a good location for having little ones to keep busy during the afternoon and evening hours. We enjoyed the time with family and away from work. Too bad it is over and back to work on Monday. :(

Where is NR? Where is NR?

2008-07-08T22:09:00.005-05:00

Here I am! Here I am! How are you today sir? Very well, I thank you....Run away. Run away.

So we don't exactly sing this song as we play hide and seek, but it seems to fit. NR will go hide and wait for someone to come looking. When you find him, he will run to the living room and jump up on the couch or chair. He thinks this is the best game ever on most nights. Usually, he is pretty impatient; however, Sunday evening was a different story. Armed with a water bottle, he looked at daddy and ever so sweetly said, "I go hide, Daddy." JR, Uncle D, and I were watching television, and we had not completely realized he was going to hide. Normally, he will hide for less than 30 seconds and then come out. Not this time....he was in there for a little bit. When I realized he had not returned, I went looking for him. He was perfectly content 'hiding' behind the curtain in our bedrooom and drinking his water. Honestly, it might have taken me longer to find him if he had not been taking drinks and making the curtain move. It was not a hiding place he had gone before. JR and I had hid there while he was searching but never him. When he realized I was in the room looking for him, he peeked his head out. HOW CUTE IS THAT PICTURE! He amazes me everyday with how quickly he learns new things.....oh, and he repeasts EVERYTHING you say!!! :) What a fun age this is.

It is SUMMER time!!

2008-07-03T22:14:00.006-05:00

It is officially summer in TX, and it is HOT! We will be spending a lot of time playing in the water this summer. NR loves water so much that sometimes it is very hard to pry him away from it. He would play in the water all day if we let him. Today at daycare, they had water play day with a new 'toy' that she purchased for them. It is an oversized beach ball that sprays water. NR had a blast playing with his friends in the water.
He is growing up so quickly. He loves to 'say prayers' at night before bed. If JR or myself try to start the family prayer before he has said HIS, he will stop us and say Heavenly Father and wait for us to tell him the next thing to say. So cute!! He also likes to use the phrase: "I do it mommy/daddy, I do it!" He is Mr. Independent for sure. NR also tries to tell the dog what to do, but of course she does not understand and/or listen to him when he gives a command. This causes him to be frustrated with her. :) He is so much fun right now with all the learning he is doing I can't believe in a few weeks he will be an official two year old....does not seem like it has been 2 years already. I love him very, very much and am so happy to have been blessed with him.

Well, here is another fun pic of him playing at daycare today! HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYONE............

Catching up.....

2008-05-24T23:31:00.008-05:00

So we have been busy once again......NR is growing up so fast, and things change so quickly. Since the last time I posted, I have been promoted, I started helping my sister plan her wedding in September, I got a new church calling as nursery leader, and I am trying keep a good balance of everything else in life. :)

My promotion has brought a lot of stress to life, and it is more challenging than the last position I had. I was getting a little bored with my last position. This new position has quite a bit of pressure that comes along with it. I think it will slow down soon and that will make it more enjoyable. I am thankful I still have a job though since my company laid off about 10-15 people on May 1st.

NR has started really talking and repeating everything you say. He thinks he is so funny when he repeats something and you chuckle at him. He melts my heart each day, and it makes me wish I had more time to spend home with him. I was off work with him on Friday (daycare was closed and I needed a break from work), so we hung out and played and shopped for groceries. He is such a good boy and he does really well listening and doing as told. I can't complain.
My sister's wedding is only 4 months away, and we got her a dress last weekend. That was exhausting and we only went to one place. She tried on about 8 dresses and ended up getting the very first one she tried on. It was one of my 2 favorites on her, and she was beautiful in it. She has a lot of work to do still to get her wedding planning done or at least up to speed. She just wants a small, simple wedding, so we won't be overloaded with intricate details. :)

This will be my second week in nursery at church. I am hoping things are a little less chaotic this week since I 'got my feet wet' last week. I had about 8 kids excluding my own in there. We had fun but I never realized how exhausting it could be. I have lots of fun ideas for the kiddos to do for activities and things to help them learn and stay entertained while mommy and daddy go to classes. :)

Well, I have a couple new pics of NR to post since last time.......so ENJOY! I love him so much and can't imagine what it would be like without him around everyday.

Playing with his cups that he got as a gift when he was just a baby. Recently, he has learned how to play with and enjoy them.

Playing with the water hose after swimming with his friend across the alley. He loves to play in the 'pool' in the backyard. (He has one of those little kid pools you can buy.)

It is a little blurry, but it was the best action shot we got of him with the water balloons. He loves them. :)

Last but not least, his newest talent. He likes to turn on the CD player in his room and 'sing'.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2008-04-18T14:03:00.012-05:00

We have been pretty busy this past month or so. We have done things around the house, visited my family for Easter, had some friends over, had some family come visit, and just trying to keep up with everyday life.
In the meantime, NR is growing up so quickly. He is talking so much more and asking for things instead of demanding them as he points in the general direction. That helps to make all of our lives much easier. :) He loves to say Mommy, Daddy, puppy......He is learning that things have possession. For example, when I pick him up from daycare, he sees other parent's cars as they approach. He is then quick to identify that is _____'s car! How cute and smart is that?!?!

We have had some storms recently, and NR has discovered that he loves to play in the rainspout in the backyard. He was just stomping and splashing in it right before this picture. He is watching it drain from the spout onto the guard he is standing on.

NR and I participated in a walk to raise money for Asthma research. He was such a good sport about it all...he sat in his stroller for the first part of the day and walk. Then, he walked with me or rode on my shoulders while someone else pushed the empty stroller. Needless to say, he was pretty tired when we got home. It was nice to get out and enjoy the weather as well as get some jogging/walking in!

That is a little bit of what we have been up to lately. I love this time of year...I feel so much more productive because of how beautiful it can be outside. Well, off to grocery shop and do some cleaning!

Husband Tag

2008-03-17T17:05:00.003-05:00

What is his name? JRC (I don't use names on this blog, otherwise I would put it)

How long did you date? About 2 years.....I know, and it seemed like forever!

How long have you been married? Will be 6 years in May

Who eats more sweets? That will always be me. I have a huge sweet tooth.

Who is taller? Him for sure (6'5")

Who is the better singer? He is (my family is not musically inclined)

Who does the laundry? Mostly him, but I help if I get to it first.

Who pays the bills? Me

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does

Who mows the lawn? He does, but I have done it a couple of times. :)

Who cooks dinner? Usually me unless I have had a really bad day at work or am running around still when he gets home.

Who drives? Always him

Who is more stubborn? Me for sure

Who kissed who first? depends on which of us you ask...he will say me and I will say him

Who asked who out? I did.....a friend of mine back in college had the biggest crush on him, so I had asked for his number for her. He had absolutely no attraction to her and never did. He was not really my type, so I had no intention of using it for my benefit. The more I was the liasion between the two of them, the more I started to like him. We talked for hours on the phone one night, and the rest is history. :)

Who proposed? He did but not the way he wanted to....he had a romantic proposal planned out-I was too impatient!! We were headed to my parents for Christmas eve and day, then we were flying out to WA to visit his family and attend his sister's wedding. He had not asked my dad if he could marry me, but on our way from Lubbock, he pulled into a pinic area. I did not believe him of course since I had no idea he had a ring with him. After telling him that it was not funny and pretty much refusing to believe him, he got out and got down on one knee in the dirt and asked if I would marry him. He felt bad because the ring was not complete since he hand picked the diamond for me. The center stone was set, but he did not have time for the baguettes to be placed in the setting. (A little less romantic than a walk along the Puget Sound waterline and a proprosal overlooking the water.)

Who is more sensitive? Me

Who has more siblings? He does (5 to 3)

Who wears the pants? We work as a team most of the time. :)

I tag Stephanie, Allison, Lisa, and anyone else who would like to.

Say Cheese!!

2008-03-15T10:38:00.004-05:00

NR was giving his best 'cheese' face.....this is the first shot I got of him! Pretty good right?

So then I thought I would try again to see what he did.......

Guess we still have some work to do on smiling! I am know I am biased, but isn't he just the cutest? :)

Is it really March?

2008-03-06T17:06:00.006-06:00

Shouldn't it be getting warmer? Spring break is coming up for most schools in this area but instead it is snowing. I am thankful that I got to leave work a couple hours early to avoid the mess on the roads. Unfortunately, I was in traffic for 1.5 hours when it normally takes about 25-30 minutes to get home. I still was able to spend more time with my little man this afternoon. He was so excited to go out in the snow and could not wait to play in it. Daddy made him some snowballs to throw into the puddles of water in the yard. :) We also decided to let the dog out since she had been in the house all day......she loved it, but she is now in her crate because she got all dirty and wet.

Home Improvements and my boys

2008-02-16T13:49:00.007-06:00

NR is so funny. He loves to help out with everything we are doing. I was cleaning windows last weekend, and he got upset when he did not have his own sponge to use.

The second picture is from him building his legos while JR and I were cleaning and doing things around the house today. He was so proud of it, and then he knocked it down and all over his room.

The last picture was a shock to me. I was in the kitchen while JR was taping the ceiling off to paint in our second bathroom. He was not using the ladder, so NR decided he would try it out and help Daddy with the tape. JR yelled for me to come in there and this is similar to what I saw. JR said I turned around and he was all the way to the top. :) What a boy! He wants to be just like Daddy.

Spinning

2008-02-03T20:41:00.000-06:00

NR learned how to spin, so he was showing Jeff and I last weekend. He is so cute!

DAY OFF!!!!

2008-01-25T13:29:00.000-06:00

NR had his 18 month checkup today, and I took the day off to spend at home with him and get some things caught up. I just wish it was not so cold and rainy. He is getting so big and growing so quickly. He talks nonstop and is learning to repeat EVERYTHING we say. He can't make some of the sounds that are more complex, but he tries anyway. He is so cute and funny. I took him to work after his checkup to see some of my coworkers, and they were shocked at how big he has gotten and how active he was. Now, mommy gets some time to herself while he naps...I figured I would post a couple new pics of him for now.

The first picture was him trying to get away from us at bedtime. He was not in the mood to go to sleep so he did not want to take off clothes to put on PJ's. The other picture was taken on a weekend morning when we all slept in some and then lounged around in our PJ's before taking care of our normal Saturday activities. Lately, he has really liked to 'draw' pictures. If I am at the computer, he will come over and ask for papur and peh which is paper and pencil of course. :)

Winter Fun!

2008-01-05T09:55:00.001-06:00

Computer Nerd?

2008-01-05T08:54:00.000-06:00

NR got way too many fun gifts for Christmas that he can't decide which ones to play with. He loves his little activity table and chairs that he got from my mom. We set it up in his room so he would have a place to play with his little computer she got him as well. NR also got a fun little tent from his aunt. So many toys, so little time. He is a lot of fun at this age. :)

Christmas in WA

2007-12-27T22:06:00.001-06:00

We flew out to WA state for a week for Christmas with JR's family. We had a ton of fun and were exhausted when we got home. While we were there, we got to hike up the mountain to chop down our own Christmas tree, go to a movie while G-Ma watched kiddos, and several days of sledding down the golf course hills. Of course, we also ate more than we should have as G-Pa loves to bake. He was up at 6 am the day after we arrived with 5 recipes in hand to prepare. We opened gifts on Christmas morning, and NR immediately fell in love with his airplane toy. What a cute kiddo we have. We are back at home and trying to get back into a normal routine. I will post a couple more pictures later when I have more time to play around with this new creation. This pic is of JR and NR in the mountain where we got the tree.