The Boys: An Update

Henry

5 Months, 15-ish Pounds

• Henry almost never cries. When he is hungry at night, he coos to wake me up.
• Henry laughs when he is happy. He is happy when someone smiles at him, when someone sings to him, when he sees something silly, when it is time to eat, when he sees his mama, when he sees his daddy, when he sees his brother . . . so, he laughs quite a lot.
• Henry rolled over for the first time!
• Henry's favorite toy is a little blue stuffed elephant. He likes to chew on its trunk.

Howie

3 years, 30-ish pounds

• Howie is potty trained! Whenever he needs to go to the bathroom he drops his pants wherever he happens to be, even if he happens to be in the middle of a restaurant.
• Howie's newest phrase: "I'm not doing anything!" (Which usually means he is doing something--something bad.)
• Howie says all of our prayers. They usually go like this: Thank you for the day. Please bless me I can buy new cars next week. Amen. Amen. AMEN!
• Howie calls everyone kid. At the park, you might hear him say, "Hey, kid! I have new underwears!" or "The small kid play tag with me!" or "Mama, where did my kid go?"
• Howie likes to talk to people who work at stores. When we go into a store, he goes to the front counter and says, "Excuse me, do you have a potty here?" He also likes to help order his food at restaurants. At the sandwich shop he says,"I want chips, please." At the ice cream shop he says,"I want the blue one!"

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines!

If you know anything at all about Howie, you know that he loves cars. He loves playing with cars, imitating cars, talking about cars, buying cars, watching cars, and reading about cars. When we color together, he asks me to draw cars. When he sees pictures of cars on our junk mail, he asks me to cut them out so he can play with them. When he sees soup cans or yogurt at the grocery store with cars on them, he wants to buy them. At night when the game is on, he is watching car commercials. There is almost nothing in the world Howie loves more than cars.

For a boy who loves cars as much as Howie, Saturday was like a dream come true. We took him to Thunderhill Raceway to watch REAL, LIVE RACE CARS! I don't believe it is possible to describe in words how excited he was. It was like Christmas in June, a second birthday, or a trip to Disneyland. Howie sat glued to his seat for two hours watching stock cars, trucks, mini stock cars, and the like drive around the track. It was probably the best day of his life.

Howie making race car noises. Yes, that is a Lighting McQueen T-shirt he is wearing.

Howie in awe of the awesomeness of real, live race cars. He is covering his ears because race cars are really loud. Later he was wearing some earplugs that we bought for him.

So you know Howie had a good time, but what did the rest of the family think of their first Nascar experience? Matt and I were pleasantly surprised to discover that live car races are much more exciting than their TV counterparts. On TV you know the cars are going fast because the announcer tells you they are going fast. At the race track you see them going fast. And they are really, really fast. And you see how many times they almost crash into each other. They are loud (really loud) and bits of gravel and dust fly into your face when they rush past. And the whole time you are drinking a cold lemonade surrounded by your fellow Nascar fans. (We never knew that you could feel over-dressed wearing a t-shirt, khaki shorts, and sandals.) It is all pretty exciting.

Henry, on the other hand, did not enjoy the experience. Did I mention that race cars are loud? They were much too loud for little Henry. Matt and I took turns being with Howie, who wanted to be as close to the race cars as possible, and Henry, who wanted to be as far away from the race cars as possible.

Since we live with a little boy who loves cars, I imagine that we will become regulars at the Thunderhill Raceway, but next time I will be sure to remember my Dale Earnhardt baseball cap and ear muffs for Henry.

Howie, Henry, and Matt watching the opening ceremonies.  Henry is happy because the cars are not racing.

These are all the cars that were racing that day. They did not race all at once, but they were all lined up together for the opening ceremonies. 

The Green Flag. Time to race!

Even these small cars were surprisingly loud and fast.

We are all kids at heart

File this one under "things you are never too old to enjoy": Building a fort in the living room with the couch, kitchen chairs, and blankets. It is fun for people of all ages! It is even more fun if your completed fort is filled with cookies, milk, stories, and shadow puppets.

A New Job

Congratulations to Matt on his new job! He is now the planning manager for the city's solid waste department. He is very excited to be in the garbage business again!

Memorial Garden

This year for Memorial Day we planted a garden to remember our loved ones who have passed away. We may not be close to any of the cemeteries where they are buried, but we can still remember them through this living memorial, right next to our front porch. These little Snow Roses will grow and get bigger and make the world a more beautiful place--if a Texas summer doesn't do them in. (I have my fingers crossed, hoping they will survive!)

 In memory of my Grandma

In memory of Matt's mom Jean

In memory of Matt's Grandpa

In memory of Matt's wife

A Graduation and A Wedding

There was a lot of big stuff going on for my family at the end of May. One of my sisters was graduating from high school, and one of my sisters was getting married. So Henry and I jumped on an airplane and  flew to Idaho where we enjoyed a jam-packed long weekend full of family, parties, and cake.

First up was Heather's high school graduation. I was SOOOO glad I was able to be there. I am so proud of Heather. She is such a sweet, smart, fun girl! And she is really good with kids and babies--I think she was holding Henry more than I was that weekend.

The noble graduate (with high honors!) and her sisters. And Henry, of course.

The noble graduate (again) with her mom and dad.

The next two days were full of wedding festivities: ceremony, photos, luncheon, more photos, reception, cupcakes, a drive to Boise, an open house, and more cupcakes. I really enjoyed being with Heidi and Scott and visiting with family and friends I haven't seen for a long time.

Scott and Heidi

Heidi is sooo beautiful! I am so cold!

Heather and Henry--isn't he so cute in his little penguin suit?

Me, my sister Erin, her daughter Ava, my cousin Ann.

Henry Thomas and his namesake, Great Grandpa Thomas

Michelle and Henry

Henry and his Grandpa

My sister Heather, my dad, me, and Henry

Garbage Truck Races

Today we went to the solid waste department's garbage truck races. Every year the city's garbage truck drivers compete against each other driving their garbage trucks through a timed obstacle course. The winners go on to compete in a state competition. It is quite a lot of fun to watch.

Why were we there when Matt no longer works for the solid waste department? A good question, indeed. There are several reasons. Firstly, solid waste has the most fun of any department in the city. We have been crashing their parties for over a year and a half. Secondly, if you have ever been part of solid waste you are forever considered a member of the solid waste family. We haven't been crashing parties. We have been on the guest list. And last of all, we have a little boy who loves cars and trucks and anything with wheels. He would spend all day, every day watching garbage trucks drive around if he could.

Howie is a regular at the garbage truck races. He attended his first race when he was only four months old, and he has been to one almost every year since then.

May 2009 Garbage Truck Races. Howie is four months old.  Is it any wonder that he loves cars and trucks?

March 2010 Garbage Truck Races. Howie is 14 months old.

This year Henry went to his first garbage truck race at four months old, the same age Howie was when he went for the first time. I guess you can say we are all full of garbage over here.

After watching the garbage trucks we went to the solid waste department family fun day. We had lots of fun playing volleyball, eating bbq, and playing games. We send many thanks to our solid waste department family for a great Saturday.

Matt and Howie playing the water balloon toss. Of the two, I think Matt got the wettest. 

Henry spent most of the day chillin' and being admired.

Howie got to sit in a fire truck. Matt said, "Do you want to get out." Howie said, "No."