More favorite pics - just for grins

I'm kinda bored, so I thought I'd post some more of my favorite, more recent, pictures.


We took this one at my Dad's surprise 60th birthday party. We took one like this in 1999, too. In 1999 we were celebrating my Tech graduation AND his birthday that day. My mom had both up in her house. I hope we keep this picture tradition up.






This was the picture from Santa Fe Jennifer mentioned in her blog. I really like this one, too. That was such a fun weekend. I am kinda getting a fever - I wonder if I need more cowbell. I also like the picture of us girls from Kim & Matthias' wedding. We all look so pretty all dressed up and we all look so genuinely happy. I think that is why I like these 2 pictures the best - we all look so genuinely happy.















This was from the Tech homecoming pep rally & bonfire this year. I just love Patrick's super grin and the fact that he insists on wearing eye black to all Tech events!
We took this one at my Dad's 60th party, too. It's great in color, but I like it even more in b&w. My mom has become one of my best friends lately. My dad was SO RIGHT all those years when he said I was like my mom - in SO MANY ways. I am glad I can share her love of family and cooking and good times. I love you, Mom!

Pictures by Patrick

Patrick has decided that HE now needs to take pictures, too. These are some of his recent attempts. He holds his fingers over the front, and doesn't wait for the flash - he moves the camera as soon as he clicks the button, so he doesn't actually get what he sees in the viewer. But it doesn't bother him. He is SO proud of his pictures.

On another note, he is telling us when he needs to go to the bathroom. And he is wearing his "big boy underwear" when we are at home in the evening. One step closer to being potty-trained! YAY!!!

Happiness is Homemade

For Valentine's Day I made Paul General Tso's Chicken, one of his favorite dishes when we get Chinese food. I had never made it before, but I had a tempura recipe and found a bottle of General Tso's sauce at the new Target. I also made homemade fried rice. It turned out really yummy and we even had leftovers for lunch today! You know what they say about the way to a mans' heart. . .

(Yes, I was cooking in my jammies. I was tired and wanted to be comfy. That sweatshirt makes me look huge, too, but it's my favorite comfy shirt.)


















And Paul brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers that he made (with a little help from my mom.) He picked out the flowers and she helped him arrange them. I love that we were able to give each other gifts that we put a little ourselves into.

Patrick's "Valentimes" Day - part 2

For some reason it will only let me post 4 pictures at a time. This is the picture of me and Patrick playing in the snow.

Patrick's "Valentimes" Day

These are all of Patrick's buddies at Jean's - his sitter. Patrick gave them suckers with their Valentine cards and so they all got to eat them on the floor in the kitchen. Jean liked it becasue it kept those boys quiet - at leats for a while. Jean has been such a blessing to us and to Patrick! And I love that he has these other little dudes to play with every day.


Patrick and I also got to have breakfast together. I made fish-shaped cinnamon toast - get it CODD. . . fish. . .
Patrick hit the jackpot with V-day gifts from Doodah & Papa J (my parents). He got Spiderman and baseball chocolates, this cool new safari hat (but he thinks it's a Bob the Builder hat) and a bag of Play-Doh! And when I tell you he wears his Spidey suit all the time - HE DOES!
The 3 of us went outside to play in the snow after dinner. Patrick had to make snow angels all over the backyard.

My favorite pictures

This week's Friday Blog Topic was another challenging one - your 5 favorite pictures. Thank goodness for digital pictures, but I had too many favorites to choose from. Here we go. . .

We took this picture after the Family Day game this past football season. SaddleTramps (and their advisors) can take their families up into the Bell Tower. Paul had taken Patrick up there several times, but I had never been up there with them until Family Day. We also took my folks and Rick & Diane Jackson. This is a shot of Patrick singing the Fight Song with his "guns up" like the "big Tramps" standing underneath the Victory Bells. If this kid decides to go somewhere other than Tech, it will break my little red and black heart!

I have sent this picture to everyone I know at Tech - Athletics, News & Pub, Alumni Association - you name it! This was taken at the autograph party at the beginning of the 2006 season. We were walking up the ramp to leave and these 2 players were in front of us. I told Patrick to run up there and hold their hands and he DID without a second thought. And the players just grabbed his hands, too. What a shining example of what a student athlete can be.

This picture was taken at the Tech Homecoming Parade in 2000, the year I was Miss Heckler - hence the sash. The guy in the Raider Red costume was one of my favorite Red's - he was Red when I was traveling with the cheers & poms. I printed this off for my grandma in Slaton, and she hung it on the "married grandkids wall" - you know, the one with all the grandkids engagement and wedding pictures. I guess this is as good as grandmas thought I was going to get. Funny that Paul turned out to be a Saddletramp. . . maybe she knew something. I was also have a good hair day this day.

This picture makes me think of "NEW LOVE." We took this the day Paul and my Mom were "Team Grass" and helped me landscape, plan flower beds and sow grass seeds for the lawn. This was when Paul and I were just dating so he got SUPER POINTS for helping out. After we had worked in the yard, we went to a 50th birthday party. That's where this picture was taken. I love our smiles in this picture. We were truly happy at this moment and looking at this picture reminds me of those feelings when we first were dating. And I love my hair in this picture.

I love this picture for SO MANY reasons. The innocence of a sleeping baby. His perfect little face. His tiny little nose. They grow up TOO FAST! He is sleeping on the quilt my grandmother gave me and Paul as a wedding gift. She gave or made a quilt for all her grandkids. She had TONS to choose from, but we liked this pattern - I think it's something like Devil's Puzzle - and the fact that it was a patch work quilt. It also reminded me of one she used to keep on one of her beds. She said she had hoped we picked this one because it made her think of me, too. This picture is still up on the wall at my grandma's house, too, on the great-"grandchildren's section."

Trust me, I'm a Science Teacher

As part of my work with the TTU Howard Hughes Medical Institue science education program, I went to the Texas science teachers convention and I got this button that says "Trust me, I'm a science teacher." That's funny because I DON'T DO SCIENCE! Susan, my boss, is trying to tell me "I am more science than I give myself credit for." I think have her fooled because I drop words like "endoplasmic reticulum" and know why flamingos are pink (because I read it at the Ft. Worth zoo.)

Did you know Raider Red likes science, too? We took this picture of the HHMI students, me and Mandy in one of the chemistry lecture halls. I might not be able to bring much "science" to this group, but I am certainly adding some silliness.

Last Friday the science education scholars and I visited a kindergarten classroom at Guadalupe Elementary. We took a bull snake snake and dry ice to do some experiments. I got to handle the snake some. I actually like handling the snake.