Momma's got a new Computer!

So, it finally happened.  The computer that Josh and I built the month before our wedding crapped out.  :(  I still remember the night we put it together, so watching it die has been so sad.  The poor thing just got slower and slower and slower.  And fewer and fewer of the USBs would work on it, until finally none of them worked, and I couldn't even log in.  That coupled with the final  marathon editing session I had on it one evening caused me to go crying to Josh that I couldn't take it anymore.  I decided against a Mac since I never use one and feel rather stupid every time I try to use anyone else's.  A couple of my buddies who have them at home, and not at work, tend to be pretty frustrated by them as well.  So, I decided to build a PC.  Well...not me.  I took a stab at selecting components and sent them over to a computer guru that my Mom knows just to make sure they would all jive, and he assured me that what I was thinking of buying would be an insane amount of overkill.  So, I took his advice and asked him to build it, and voila!  Almost done.  ;)  One of my memory chips is faulty, so I'm currently "limping" along with only 8Gs of memory.  This is such a vast improvement from where I was that I think the full 16Gs will blow my mind once I get the new chip installed!  Anyway...enough about all that!  

The past two months haven't been too crazy, but some fun things have happened.  

Wallace wrote on the Expedition with a red sharpie!  It was all over 3 sides of it.  Thank goodness it was dirty and the grime killed the sharpie before he could do even more damage.  This kid....  And, yes...I managed to get the…

Wallace wrote on the Expedition with a red sharpie!  It was all over 3 sides of it.  Thank goodness it was dirty and the grime killed the sharpie before he could do even more damage.  This kid....  And, yes...I managed to get the sharpie off.  :)

Anna's in fall t-ball.  This might sound bad, but I kind of nudged her toward this over soccer.  Geez, I just hate soccer....

Anna's in fall t-ball.  This might sound bad, but I kind of nudged her toward this over soccer.  Geez, I just hate soccer....

Her first night game!  Oh...and #7 is Anna's doppelganger...but he's a boy, so that's a little awkward.  ;)

Her first night game!  Oh...and #7 is Anna's doppelganger...but he's a boy, so that's a little awkward.  ;)

Still working on my flare.  I've got a ways to go, but Anna's night game gave me a couple of opportunities. 

Still working on my flare.  I've got a ways to go, but Anna's night game gave me a couple of opportunities. 

I know it looks like she's totally whiffing, but this was a practice swing.  :)

I know it looks like she's totally whiffing, but this was a practice swing.  :)

Anna and I went to the Wildlife Ranch with Sarah Faye and her kids.  It was a lot of fun!  They have sooooo many giraffes there!

Look how close you could get to them!

Look how close you could get to them!

There was also a "safari".  I didn't realize what we were going to be doing at the Wildlife Ranch.   I hadn't googled it at all.  So, when I realized it was a safari I was pretty pumped!

The safari was hilarious.  It was a giant traffic jam!  And even though they tell you not to feed the animals by hand, they are so flippin tame....

The safari was hilarious.  It was a giant traffic jam!  And even though they tell you not to feed the animals by hand, they are so flippin tame....

I mean this guy has it made.  Just lay here by the road and people throw pellets all day long.  He doesn't even need to stand up.  Ha!

I mean this guy has it made.  Just lay here by the road and people throw pellets all day long.  He doesn't even need to stand up.  Ha!

There were some idiots there.  I'm sure this sign was necessitated by one of them back in the day.  

There were some idiots there.  I'm sure this sign was necessitated by one of them back in the day.  

It got a little crazy around the ostriches.  They are fairly close to the end, and people's road-rage tendencies were starting to flare by this point...which was just plain stupid because the animals were so tame they were all walking in among …

It got a little crazy around the ostriches.  They are fairly close to the end, and people's road-rage tendencies were starting to flare by this point...which was just plain stupid because the animals were so tame they were all walking in among the cars and forcing them to pretty much stop and wait.

Can you see the pellet flying through the air toward its face?  It actually caught many of these!

Can you see the pellet flying through the air toward its face?  It actually caught many of these!

One of Sarah's boys noticed how much their antlers resembled a rainbow.  :)

One of Sarah's boys noticed how much their antlers resembled a rainbow.  :)

Anyway...Wildlife Ranch...lots of fun.  I recommend it, but be sure to budget like 2 hours for the safari, and leave your road rage at home!

Anyway...Wildlife Ranch...lots of fun.  I recommend it, but be sure to budget like 2 hours for the safari, and leave your road rage at home!

And then there's Halloween!  No more preschool parades for Anna...

but hommie's still in it!  

but hommie's still in it!  

Last year was the year of Elsa's at the preschool parade. 

This was the year of crying preschoolers!  It was like one started wailing and then pretty soon 2 classes were in tears.  Ha!

This was the year of crying preschoolers!  It was like one started wailing and then pretty soon 2 classes were in tears.  Ha!

Poor Spidey...  :(

Poor Spidey...  :(

I continue to crash and burn at getting good pics of all 3 kids at once.  

I continue to crash and burn at getting good pics of all 3 kids at once.  

And I did not realize how much Meredith would look like a boy in her Indian costume.  Probably should have waited until she had enough hair for a pony tail before trying out something like this.  Ha!

And I did not realize how much Meredith would look like a boy in her Indian costume.  Probably should have waited until she had enough hair for a pony tail before trying out something like this.  Ha!

I put some LED lights around each of the kids, and I think I'm going to do this every year.  It made it so much easier to spot them while they were trick or treating!

I put some LED lights around each of the kids, and I think I'm going to do this every year.  It made it so much easier to spot them while they were trick or treating!

And...as all of our mutual friends already know, Jen came to Texas!!!  She already did a blog about how we did our trip to Fredericksburg (which quite frankly was way more fun than I thought it would be...I was a little worried it might be sort of a stiff/dull trip...not so much...), but I thought I would share a few more of our selfies from the trip.  She was nice and didn't share the outtakes, but we each got copies of the pics, and many of them were just too funny.  :)  Sorry Jen.  

Let's do this chronologically...

The day started out well enough.  :)

The day started out well enough.  :)

Stop 2...  

Stop 2...  

he he he...  :)  Good grief 6 wine tastings per vineyard, and a roadie with each one....We were doomed.

he he he...  :)  Good grief 6 wine tastings per vineyard, and a roadie with each one....We were doomed.

Stop 3...We were getting braver with our selfies.  We straight up set our tripod up in front of a lot of people.  Anyone who knows me and Jen knows that would not have happened under typical circumstances.

Stop 3...We were getting braver with our selfies.  We straight up set our tripod up in front of a lot of people.  Anyone who knows me and Jen knows that would not have happened under typical circumstances.

Last vineyard of the day....

I'm surprised my teeth aren't purple.

I'm surprised my teeth aren't purple.

I'm so glad we did our selfie-vineyard trip!  Even more glad I decided to go ahead and take the next day off work.  ;)

I'm so glad we did our selfie-vineyard trip!  Even more glad I decided to go ahead and take the next day off work.  ;)

Well, needless to say, I'm so excited to have a computer again!  Thanks for getting me squared away with it all Andrew!  So glad you accept payment in the form of cookies!

A focus on Meredith

I came to the realization recently that I am not being very good about taking pictures of Meredith.  Most of the pics I find myself taking are of Anna and Wallace and whatever activity they might be having (school, swim, etc).  So, I've been making a point to get more shots of Meredith lately.  This has actually been quite frustrating because I've struggled to find her "good angle".  "/  She's really quite beautiful, but I wasn't capturing that.  I think I've figured out the problem though.  Her eyes must be a little inset or something..or maybe her brow sticks out a little farther than Anna's and Wallace's.  I was never getting catch lights in her eyes.  So they were always dark and beady in nearly every picture.  :(  I think I've finally gotten the hang of photographing her though!  I've just got to be extra careful about the lighting with this one.  So, here are some of my recent favs of Little Miss Meredith!

She's always playing with her two teeth.  Grinding them together and stuff...

She's always playing with her two teeth.  Grinding them together and stuff...

Hanging with her buddy.  

Hanging with her buddy.  

I accidentally blew this one out with the flash, but it's so cute I'll keep it...even if it does look like I took it with an 80's point and shoot.  ;)

I accidentally blew this one out with the flash, but it's so cute I'll keep it...even if it does look like I took it with an 80's point and shoot.  ;)

Well...that's about it for now.  I started this push for pics of Meredith about 2 months ago.  I think it's paying off!  :)

James's Birthday!

Today Josh and I took the kids over to Rachael and Justin's for James's birthday party!  Can you believe I managed to get Josh to go along??  I'm still a little surprised myself.  I'm glad he went along, it was a lot of work wrangling the kids!

What an awesome cake!  HEB rules!

What an awesome cake!  HEB rules!

Rachael and Justin set up a little mini water park in their back yard! 

All the kids LOVED it!

All the kids LOVED it!

...Except for James.  Ha!  Go figure.  He wanted nothing to do with it.  ;)

...Except for James.  Ha!  Go figure.  He wanted nothing to do with it.  ;)

Poor James.  The one bad thing about having a birthday party is having to share all of your toys!  :(  

Poor James.  The one bad thing about having a birthday party is having to share all of your toys!  :(  

They have a truck just like ours!  This is James's buddy Pierce.  Poor guy had taken a pretty bad tumble this morning and hit his head.  Looks like it might scar.  And even though that's really sad, it made me feel a little bit b…

They have a truck just like ours!  This is James's buddy Pierce.  Poor guy had taken a pretty bad tumble this morning and hit his head.  Looks like it might scar.  And even though that's really sad, it made me feel a little bit better about Wallace's scar.  At least he's not the only one...

James pulled it all together just in time for cake!  

James pulled it all together just in time for cake!  

And Meredith photobombed nearly all of his candle blowing.  "/

And Meredith photobombed nearly all of his candle blowing.  "/

She thought this was pretty funny.  :)  You can see where Josh is hanging onto her onesie trying to keep her back. 

She thought this was pretty funny.  :)  You can see where Josh is hanging onto her onesie trying to keep her back. 

Yay!  One without Meredith's head!  :)

Yay!  One without Meredith's head!  :)

Party hats all around!

Party hats all around!

Wallace was so excited about the cake!  

Wallace was so excited about the cake!  

Baby Lauren was there too!  :)

Baby Lauren was there too!  :)

Anna begged and begged and begged to hold her...from like the minute we got there!

Anna begged and begged and begged to hold her...from like the minute we got there!

And she finally got to...  :)

And she finally got to...  :)

Happy birthday dude!  Sorry homegirl's such a photobomer!  ;)

Happy birthday dude!  Sorry homegirl's such a photobomer!  ;)

Wallace's First Day of School

I'm a day late on this, but Wallace's first day of school was yesterday!  I'm happy to announce that he doesn't appear to be crying through the first week of school this year!  Yay!  I tried to get some similar shots to what I got of Anna on her first day last week.

I'm not sure why, but he kept his hand on his face like that the whole time I was taking his pic.  He does this a lot though.

I'm not sure why, but he kept his hand on his face like that the whole time I was taking his pic.  He does this a lot though.

Wallace is the king of receiving hand-me-downs!  It's so awesome!  And everything he gets is in such good shape, I can't believe we're getting this stuff from boys!

Wallace is the king of receiving hand-me-downs!  It's so awesome!  And everything he gets is in such good shape, I can't believe we're getting this stuff from boys!

I got in a pic!  :)  We may have asphalt as a backdrop, but Josh is fairly tall...what do you expect?  ;)

I got in a pic!  :)  We may have asphalt as a backdrop, but Josh is fairly tall...what do you expect?  ;)

He had a death grip on my hand when we walked into the classroom, and I just knew we were in for a major tragedy when we left, but I got him to use the restroom, and when he came out, it was like he was a different kid.  I snapped a couple of pics and we snuck out without so much as a tear from Wallace (or me)!

I'm pretty excited that he got the same teachers Anna had when she was 3!  I think they'll be really good for him.

I'm pretty excited that he got the same teachers Anna had when she was 3!  I think they'll be really good for him.

Bikes and haircuts :)

Today I decided I was going to master outdoor photography on a sunny day at high noon with no shade.  Ha!  I failed.  I see all of these blog posts about how people get amazing images, but it didn't happen for me.  Wallace wanted to ride his bike outside around the circle, so I gave it my all!   Oh, and if you notice yellow on Wallace's face in all the pics...it's leftover macaroni.  I probably should have cleaned it off before I pulled out the camera...

Even with lots of doctoring in Lightroom, I still can't stand the shadows across his face...I got some closeups too, but they're hideous.  

Even with lots of doctoring in Lightroom, I still can't stand the shadows across his face...I got some closeups too, but they're hideous.  

I pulled him into the shade with me, and did a little better.

I pulled him into the shade with me, and did a little better.

After that it was time for Wallace's back-to-school haircut!  Tomorrow is his first day.  :)  

After a couple of failed attempts at cutting his hair, I wised up.  I never realized how annoying little pieces of hair sticking to your clothes could be.  Especially Wallace's hair.  It's very coarse!  One time he got so mad at me while I was cutting his hair he actually threw up!  So, now I tie a towel around him.  I also play whatever his favorite movie at the time seems to be (today it was Cars), and I give him candy!  Preferably non-sticky candy.  With all of that, I tend to get about 15 minutes of patience out of him.

He looks a little pink from his bike ride in 100 degree heat...he turns into a lobster when he gets hot...he gets that from me.  "/

He looks a little pink from his bike ride in 100 degree heat...he turns into a lobster when he gets hot...he gets that from me.  "/

Anna wanted in on the before pics.  :)

Anna wanted in on the before pics.  :)

and voila!  He'd just eaten some of his Nerds here.  

and voila!  He'd just eaten some of his Nerds here.  

Yep, he feels spiffy!  And I think I'm getting pretty good with his hair cuts.  I probably won't do them forever, but for now no one seems to be making fun of him.  :)

Yep, he feels spiffy!  And I think I'm getting pretty good with his hair cuts.  I probably won't do them forever, but for now no one seems to be making fun of him.  :)

I was so sure Meredith would be trying to climb up on Wallace the whole time I was doing this, but she apparently likes Cars too!  :)