just pics

@ the gap

No we weren't at the store, but in Buffalo Gap, Texas, where they have a historic village, all sorts of buildings filled with ancient relics. Unfortunately, we were missing an older generation to enlighten us. Before when we've gone, we've been with the grandparents and find out all sorts of interesting things. Well, now it was our turn. With a new generation in tow, we got to tell Ivan and Dominique about houses with no electricity or running water, outhouses, old phones, record players, teeter totters... Of course not all this knowledge was from personal experience, but some was. While it can seem poetic to imagine living in a day with horse drawn carriages, I'm glad I don't have to potty train in an outhouse, that we have running water and sprinklers and pools even. I enjoy the internet and blogging, cell phones and airplanes to get me quickly to those I love.

Ivan really liked the old phones and the piano, but his and Dominique's favorite part was running and screaming in the buildings that created such great echoes.

We got caught in a good downpour. You can see the rain streaking across the pink crepe myrtle flowers and cactus. Rain is just gorgeous. It thumped and danced on the metal roofs creating it's own impromptu symphony, doused everything in delicious coolness, softened the landscape, refreshed the earth and made great puddle lakes on the pathway. Ivan ran out into it several times, but didn't like the mud. He thought it great fun to be hidden under our picnic blanket when we'd had enough of waiting it out and decided to make a mad dash for the next building. Dominique didn't like her cocoon out of the rain and hollered in protest.

Sleepy heads

We all snoozed the first day John and Jenn came- which was to be expected. They got in at 2:30 am after traveling by plane and car to get here. We did manage to get to the kids' library time where Ivan showed auntie his dazzling skills. He spun and screamed loudly through most of the songs again.

The next day, we got to see a special performance by the Ballet Folklorico which has nothing to do with ballet, except that they did dance. They perform traditional Mexican dances in traditional dress. They were awesome. My camera battery went out though, so I only got these two pictures- the old man dance (which was hillarious) and the flamingo dance. I found out a lot of cultural things, like the yells I've heard from different hispanic people (usually once they are pretty lit at a party) is actually a common thing in Mexico to show that they are happy. There are different yells for different regions. Also, Cinco de Mayo is not their independence day celebration, but celebrates the defeat of the French army by the common people. One amazing dance was done by the founding couple of the dance group. They managed to tie a huge sash in a knot with their feet. This dance is traditionally done at weddings.





Despite the pictures, John is here, more or less. He's been drugged- on purpose. He's had an allergic reaction to something (since before he came here) and has been sleeping off benadryl as well as the jet lag). He put some cream on yesterday, and that seemed to help. We should get him all mended up before long.

The auntie and uncle couldn't have come at a better time. Last week, Dominique discovered that she likes books. Actually, she likes 2 books and wants us to read them over and over and over. So now the auntie has had the privilege of giving the mommy reading relief. ha, ha, ha. Did you notice how the pictures of Jenn reading are all of the same book?

Did you have a favorite children's book as a kid that had to be read over and over?

Siblings ;)

Brian is picking Jenn and John up in about 20 or 30 minutes in Dallas, so I thought it would be appropriate to save these pictures for today. The theme of course is siblings. I'm not sure what school the 2nd child goes to to attain the adoring the older sibling look, or I guess it comes naturally...
















Ivan on the other hand, loves being the big brother. He often wants to hold Dominique or pick her up. He imitates what she does (not always good) and even wants to do the bad things she does (definitely not good) and even wants to get spanked when she gets spanked (???). If I am watching another baby, he wants to hold that baby too and sometimes tries to care for this little doll that he says is a boy.







I couldn't believe it when I saw how these two pictures came out. People don't always guess that they are mine, but they definitely belong together! Little twinsies, down to the expression.


















In a pair of glasses that were in the treat bags for Dominique's party.

Do you remember?

I had read somewhere that if asked early enough (before age 3 or so) a child could remember and describe their experience in the womb. As the child grows older, these first memories fade away. I've asked Ivan a few times if he remembers being in mommy's tummy. In a rare moment that I have failed to reproduce while the camera is rolling, he explained that:

"I hear your heart. It was very dark. We're going. Tunnel. Stay a long time. There's my feet. Had to turn around"

It was not all in that order necessarily and some of it he repeated. He said "tunnel" several times. When he said "we're going" I recalled how I used to tell him and reassure him that the Holy Spirit was with him in the womb and that when he needed to leave that he should have peace and just follow the Holy Spirit out and cooperate with what my body was doing. I also prayed all of that over him. So that may explain the "we".

Also, after he said "there's my feet", he told me he wanted the sheet on his feet, so I'm not sure if that was a memory or in the present- although in the present, his feet were under the cover and he couldn't see them nor was he touching them.

A friend suggested that I video tape his explanation, this is what I got:



It's hillarious too, because now he asks everyone if they remember being in his mommy's tummy. He asked Smacky and Saba, Brian and me- do you remember being in mommy's tummy? None of which flatters me. Brian said he was in Nana's tummy and that really through Ivan for a loop.

We were looking at a picture of him from his first entrance into the world. His back was turned to the camera and all covered in blood and goop. You couldn't tell from the picture that he was crying, but Ivan (today) explained to me that baby Ivan was crying. When I asked him why, he said that it was very noisy.

Here are some retro pics to compare with now- crazy how much has changed.

Ivan and Myka, from their early year- in 2005.








Not only have the kids changed, but both families "added on". Myka got a sister Alyx just after Dominique joined Ivan in our clan.









A year may not seem long, but it was to these three! Aug. 2006- Isaiah, Dominique and Trinity.












July 2007, Dominique, Isaiah and Trinity.

Phone solution

Phones have gotten so SMART! They are becoming more and more indispensable. They are not just a phone, they are your phone book, text messager, day planner, camera, map, game, accessory, radio, tv... But the one problem they have not solved is how to keep you from losing the thing and thus losing not just a phone, but all of the above mentioned paraphenalia. The best thing to hands free is those ear things- like who invented that star treck groupies? We have a much better solution and it came from Ivan's interpretation of his teddy bear's battery source.



So all we need is a long cord, maybe a curly one? that is surgically implanted on our person- then you can't lose it, or drop it in a washing machine or toilet, lake or puddle- (none of which has happened to me personally), one happened to Brian and another to a friend (ok, the first two), all of which are highly plausible unless you have our nifty implant- with pocket of course- also implanted and available in many interchangeable colors ;)

Her song

I think Ivan and Dominique look far more grown up than their actual ages in these poses. Pretty crazy how much Ivan has grown in just two years!







A fun time in our pool.














If there is a will there is a way... Dominique toots her horn by sucking in air.

Park time

We went to a park recently so here are some of the pictures from that as well as Ivan and Dominique decorating our back porch.



Dictionivary:
front back (the front yard, not to be confused with the back yard)