The Rootin-est Tootin-est Cowboy in the Wild, Wild West

One of the novelties of living in Texas is Go Texan Day. Growing up, Go Texan Day was always so much fun: dressing up, doing cowboy activities, learning your Texas history, and so on. This event might be just a Houston thing--I'm not sure--since it tends to happen right around the start of the Houston Rodeo.

Well, Noah's Mother's Day Out doesn't forget that we are in the great state of Texas, and they invited all the kids to dress up today. AND they had pony rides. I mean, come on. That is pretty awesome.

Here's my Cowboy Noah.

Did you check out those awesome boots? We bought them last night. Nathan and I were pretty excited--moreso than Noah, although he has really been enjoying them, too.

It's a little ridiculous to buy a real pair of boots for a kid who's going to outgrow them fairly quickly, so we chose a color that would be girl-friendly, too, so Jane could wear them when she's big enough. But we just had to get them. Nathan and I love those boots. (I feel the need to add a disclaimer that, NO, we did not buy the crazy expensive boots that they make for children--I mean, $100 for kids' boots?! No way!)

By the way, I forgot to mention that Nathan's Valentine's gift to me was to take me boot shopping! Yeehaw! We found the perfect pair for me, which I will have to write about/describe/post a picture of later, because they didn't have my size. We keep going back, but they have yet to have my size in stock. Anyway, there will likely be more on my boots later, but suffice it to say that the Beneshes are beginning to look pretty darn Texan.

Recently

Recently, . . .

. . . Jane has fallen in love with her bear and likes to sleep with him.

. . . Noah and Jane have been taking bubble baths together. They love it. Here you can see that Noah gave Jane a bubble beard.

. . . I found my son in our garden plot like this. Please note the distance between him and his underwear.

A New Goal

Once upon a time, I used to run.

For a while in college--about the time I met Nathan--I ran about three miles three times a week. I felt energetic and healthy, and I looked great. I loved it. I'd never been in any way athletic, but I had found a form of (gasp) exercise that I liked and made me feel good.

Then, stuff happened. I got mono and was down for a long time. I got bogged down by my classes at Rice. When I tried to start running again, I got shin splints and had to sit it out for a while. Then, I ran again, ran too far, and got shin splints again. By the time I was totally healthy and ready to go again, I was out of shape and gave it up.

Since then, I've run here and there, a mile at a time. But I've never gotten back to that level, and I'd really like to. Now, let me just put it out there that I am not suggesting that three miles is an impressive distance. Knowing some real runners--marathoners and such, for whom three miles is a warm up--perpetually reminds me what a very small goal three miles is. But that doesn't really discourage me, because I know it's a good distance for this girl.

In addition to wanting to get back to that level for my health, energy level, etc., I have another motivation. Let's face it: runners look good. I cannot seem to shake this last ten pounds of pregnancy weight, and my little girl is about to turn one. I'm ready to step it up a level.

Plus, there are lots of family members who have taken up running these days. Nathan's brother, Matthew, came home for Christmas without telling anyone he had lost 40 lbs. It was simply because he had taken up running. Next, Matthew's twin, Deborah, jumped in. And then Nathan's oldest brother, Andrew, started. Even my brother and his wife--Ken and Meredith--started going to the gym lately after a long hiatus. So we are all motivating one another by all being involved.

Nathan has an aunt and uncle in Austin who love to run. When they became empty nesters, they decided to commit to things that the other liked; he joined the church choir for her, and she started running for him. They actually run a 5k or a 10k every weekend. Is that not crazy?! They actually had a quilt made from the SIXTY t-shirts they got the first year. Nuts! In order to keep up with where there were runs available, Uncle Steve started a website listing all the runs in Central Texas (centexruns.com). When he first mentioned all of this last summer, I immediately thought it'd be really fun to work up to a 5k and meet them in some cute town somewhere for a run sometime.

So a few weeks ago, I went onto CenTexRuns and (pardon the pun) ran across the perfect race: the Blue Bell Fun Run. It's only an hour out of town for us, it's a couple of months away and should give me enough time to work up to a 5k, and it'll be outside during bluebonnet season and in the middle of bluebonnet country. And, come on now, what better motivation is there than free ice cream at the end? Ha! It's the perfect race for us! I signed Nathan and me up immediately. It turns out that Uncle Steve and Aunt Jennifer had already signed up for that race, and now Andrew and Deb are probably coming, too. My parents will likely be coming to watch Noah and Jane for us, and we are all thinking of going out for breakfast/brunch afterwards. It's becoming a big ole family thang. Wouldn't you say that's a great way to start off running again?

So that's my new goal!

Who's the Boss?

A conversation between Noah and Nathan tonight:

N: Goodnight, Buddy. Time for you to go to sleep. I have to go do some work on the computer now.
n: What you got to do, Daddy?
N: I have to go write a letter to my boss.
n: Oh, your boss. [pause] Your mommy?

HA HA HA! The message that "You are not the boss; Mommy is the boss" is obviously sinking in. Cracked Nathan and me up tonight.

What's New

Wow, my posts are getting fewer and further between. It's been a week since I last wrote anything, probably because we are simply busy with life. Here's what we've been up to this week:

Noah had a speech therapy evaluation. He doesn't ever say the consonants "G" or "K," and it's sometimes hard to understand him, so our pediatrician had recommended we get him evaluated, just in case. She said that she didn't think there was too much of a problem, but that if there were, it's better to start therapy early. The speech therapists were great, and after scoring the little test they gave him, they told me that Normal is within the range of 85-115, and Noah scored an 86. Basically, he is technically where he should be developmentally, and he should be saying G's and K's by the time he is four. They said that if he does not improve within the next six or nine months, they'd want to evaluate him again, but that he does not need therapy right now. In the meantime, we can work with him a few minutes every day on learning to hear the difference between T sounds and K sounds, for example. I appreciated and was thankful for the information they gave me. I always feel much better about any situation after I get some basic information.

Yesterday, Nathan hoed up the little garden plot we're preparing next to the house. (I use the term "we" loosely--Nathan is preparing it, basically.) It's about four feet wide and around ten feet long. Next step: buy a hose, soil, and plants! Yesterday I saw a watering can that I'm completely coveting, but it seemed a little overpriced, so I didn't buy it. I loved it, though, and after looking around online, I discovered that it is not as overpriced as I thought, so I think I'll go back and buy it--it was a bright yellow embossed metal one. Wouldn't you think that was super cheerful for a garden/backyard?

So what should I plant in my garden? Any suggestions? Tomatoes are a must. And I think we'll do zucchini, because it seems easy to grow, and I love zucchini in the summer. Sugar snap peas are also on my list, because I think Noah would like eating those right off the plant, and a big reason for planting this garden is to help him love vegetables/fresh food and to teach him about how things grow. I saw a TV show on the Cooking channel about growing strawberries, and I'm kind of mulling that over, but I don't know whether or not they'd be happy in a southern climate. I also have a separate spot for herbs (the winter freezes didn't kill my rosemary!), so we'll have some basil, for sure, along with whatever else inspires me when we go plant shopping. Does anyone out there have any suggestions or tips on gardening or which veggies & herbs grow well here?

There are a couple of women in my life who are pretty much like sisters to me, both of whom have known me forever and know me very well. Sarah is one of them. As luck and God would have it, we now live less than a mile apart. Sarah and I grew up singing together in choir at school and in college. We competed in vocal competitions, took lessons from the same voice teacher, and shared tons of experiences with each other through music. Well, this week we got together with our old choir teacher, Mrs. Crenshaw, who I invited over to my house for a visit. Wow, what a blast from the past! It was really nice to see Mrs. C., who started teaching me to sing 'round about second grade and taught me all the way through high school. And it was special to introduce her to our kids and to have her sing and play games with Noah. We'll have to do that again.

We tried a new church last Sunday, and we meant to try it out again today, but Janey was not feeling well yesterday and I wasn't feeling well this morning, so we decided not to go. We probably should have, though, since everyone seems to be fine now, at 11:30, though Jane still has a runny nose. Nathan and I agreed to listen to a sermon mp3 this afternoon while the kids are napping--hopefully they'll nap at the same time!

I have finally arrived at a point where I don't feel so overwhelmed with life: I'm more used to handling two kids, and although we still have some house projects to do (painting, hanging curtains, etc.), we've already done the bulk of it. Since I've gotten to this more relaxed state, I've been able to enjoy things more, like BSF studies (at first I wasn't too thrilled about adding homework to my harried life), contemplating new big projects like a garden, and seeing old friends, who I've kind of neglected since moving back eight months ago.

Tonight, Nathan is taking me out for Valentine's Day, and I don't know what we're doing yet. Looking forward to the surprise!

Chatsworth

So what is worthy of chatting about today? I feel the need for a chatty post. Most of my blogging lately has been heavy on the pictures and light on the words, and I'm feeling wordy today.

For starters, I can't write a blog post today without giving a shout out to my brother-in-law, Daniel, whose birthday is today! And to his wife, Meghan, whose birthday is coming up in a few days!

Nathan is hanging curtain rods in our living room right now. I'm so glad. We've needed something along that wall of windows for the longest time; until now, it's seemed quite bare. Well, a lot of the walls are bare, to tell the truth. I just don't have a lot of stuff to hang on them, and, as I've mentioned, I'm not one to just throw something up there I don't really love just to fill a space. So I think I might go antique shopping sometime soon to see what I can find. I also need an occasional table. I really like this one, but it's a little pricey for me.
Noah just showed me a scratch on his wrist. He says that he has a boo boo because a bee came and ate his bones.

He has also slept in his closet for the past two nights. He just thought it'd be fun to toss a pillow in there and go night night, so last night Nathan made a little pallet with Noah's comforter and let him sleep there. Tonight, he asked me if he could do it again, saying, "Will you make it comfy, Mommy? Make it comfy for me?" How can you turn that down?

Last night, I spent an hour perusing a catalog of heirloom seeds, and I only got halfway through it. This catalog, a recent conversation about gardening with Courtney, and the English Garden magazine I've been getting is inspiring me to plant a vegetable garden this summer. There is a spot in a flower bed next to the house that gets great sun, but it is currently overgrown with grass. Nathan is hopeful he can prep the soil for me--the greatest obstacle to that happening is the fact that we have two small children who love and want and need his attention. Plus, Noah loves to be involved in whatever work project Nathan is doing, which slows Nathan down, especially if he has potentially dangerous tools laying around.

Anyway, if you are interested in vegetable gardening, you should go to rareseeds.com and request a catalog. It is full of fantastically beautiful heirloom varieties, from Italian artichokes to purple carrots to all varieties of melons to a rainbow of squashes and tomatoes. (They have a ton of flowers, too, but I'm more interested in growing things I can eat, at present.)

Speaking of food, tonight we had beef stew and freshly made homemade bread with smoky cheddar cheese for dinner. Too bad it was downright warm today; stew would have been good on a cold day.

It was a whopping 70 degrees today. It kind of puts it into perspective when you consider that the low on Wednesday was 21. That is very Houston, as I am rediscovering. I have really been missing seasons; not that Houston doesn't have a cooler few months, but something about the temps bobbing around doesn't really feel like winter, you know? It doesn't feel like a coherent season.

That said, I am much more content with the Houston climate right now. There are probably several reasons for this: 1. I'm simply getting used to it here. 2. The New England winter this year has been fairly brutal, so the comparisons are in Houston's favor right now. 3. Getting the kids out the other day when it was about 25 degrees reminded me of how much trouble that really is! 4. I can deal with the cool/cold much better than I can deal with the heat.

While many of you are watching the Super Bowl, I'm blogging. Because I don't care one bit about the Super Bowl. There. I said it. Think what you will; it's the truth. I'd rather have some hot tea and crochet while watching Masterpiece Classic.

I might just go do that now. G'night.

Playing in the Leaves

After we came back from Christmas, all the leaves on our trees had finally fallen off, and we finally got to raking them up a few weeks ago. Nathan and Noah had a grand time playing in the leaves.

Hey, Mom! Do you see me in the leaves? Do you see my stick?

Cover me up, Dad!

Here I am! I love leaves!

It's even more fun to jump out of them!

Such fun!

Eleven Months Old!

No. Stinkin'. Way.

Did my eleven month old seriously just get the animal crackers off the shelf, unscrew the lid, and help herself? Oh yes, folks. Yes, she did.

Today, my Janey is eleven months old. As you can see, she is very curious, active, and darn cute. She either learns quickly by watching or is extraordinarily innovative, as evinced by the fact that she unscrewed that cap--twice--just now. (Going to have to put those animal crackers on a higher shelf!) She is starting to get into everything and is keeping her mama on her toes.

Just as Noah did, Jane likes anything with buttons. She'll lunge for the remote control, phone, computer, or camera before she will even look at any toys. She also loves chairs (somehow it's thrilling to climb into them, especially if they are child-sized, which are still too big for her) and books. If I give her a book in her car seat, I'll often hear her "reading" it as we're driving along.

I think I have a climber child. In the past week, she has climbed ladder-style into Noah's twin bed, using the toe holds between the mattresses and between the box spring and the frame to help her; she's climbed on top of the new children's table I bought by using a chair; and she's tried to climb a folded up step stool like a ladder. Climbing is something Noah didn't really do, and it is scary to find your baby halfway up the side of a bed and clinging on with all her strength!

Despite this newfound adventurous spirit, Jane is still the sweetie we know her to be. One of her Mother's Day Out teachers this week said to me, "Jesus gave her a quiet spirit." I think that's a great way to phrase it. She went through a few short days of serious separation anxiety, but she seems to have gotten over it quickly.

We sure love that Jane Elisabeth!

Noah Lately

Playing in the leaves

He randomly started making this face at dinner one evening.

"Noah, don't put toothpaste on your sister's head."

Playing the kazoo. In underwear and socks, of course.

One of my new favorite pictures.

Sharing

Noah just came over to inform me that the booger I just told him to go wash off his hand is now safely back in his nose.

Just thought I'd share.

Isaiah 40

In BSF last week, we studied the beginning of Isaiah 40, and verse 11 stuck out for me:

He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young. [emphasis mine]

Er, has anyone else never noticed that last line before? Can I get an Amen from any other parents out there? I'm just so thankful for the tenderness of the Lord towards me as a mother. And that he leads me and does not leave me completely to my sometimes unwise devices. Instead, he puts people and other influences in my life (including the Holy Spirit) to help me love and raise my children well. I'll say it again: Amen to that!

I'm also thankful that, no matter how I mess up as a parent, God carries my lambs close to his heart. And that their well being is not dependent on Nathan and me alone but on our kind, loving, and sovereign God.