Ages

I haven't posted in ages, because I've been up to my ears in busy-ness. We started the hectic season with a lovely trip to Texas$ and returned just in time to begin a tenure of celebrating new babies and new marriages. By the end of summer, we (meaning mostly me) will have officially helped to host one baby shower and fully hosted another, assisted hosting one bridal shower, attended another, and fully hosted a third, hosted two bachelorette parties, been in the bridal parties of three very important weddings, and done everything in between for these events. And to top it all off, we both work full-time, have summer projects around the house to attend to, and I'm taking my final course for alternative certification, which means writing six lovely papers, taking two Praxis subject-area tests, getting in 20 hours of pre-student teaching experience, and finishing Portfolio I. Ugh - it makes me tired (and somewhat cranky) just thinking about it. After all is said and done, I'll definitely need a vacation from summer.

In any case, here are some fun Texas$ photos to catch ya'll up with everything.

Texas$ brisket at a Texas$ Wal-Mart (only $0.97/lb for these fat slabs)

Texas$ cattle (a.k.a. future brisket)

Texas$ Chick-Filet waffle-cut fries (for Heather and Dave)

Houston rush hour traffic

hey cupcake! in Austin (mmmm!)

What you look like after eating cupcakes

Poor tree didn't get any cupcakes

The official Texas$ Longhorn at UT Austin

Davy Crockett in the capitol building

The Alamo (where Davy met his untimely end)

Cheery umbrellas on the River Walk

The river runs through it (San Antonio, that is)

Hot

My big brother, the Texan$ preacher!

Katie, her two young Texan$ nuggets, and me

Bona fide Texas$ blue bonnets in full bloom

Texas$

In T minus 4 days, B and I will alight in the land of the Lone Star. Yeehaw! Needless to say, after waking up to a not-so-funny snowfall on April Fool's yesterday, my 'Reynaudic' body is thrilled to be heading for the sunshine and heat. I am also quite excited to see my middle-big brother and his family. I hope to frolic with them in the countryside and enjoy time spent with their resident armadillo, whom I've taken to calling Stewart (although I like Snouty too, Mom)!


The rest of the Grube brood will be joining us for Easter weekend, and I predict our time spent together will be filled with jocularity, delectable viands, and felicitous amusement. I can't wait to be with everyone together at last (and in Texas$ too!). As seen below, Nugget 1 and Nugget 2 are very excited, indeed!

Thanks to Martha

Thanks to the one and only Martha Stewart, I was inspired to create a lineup of fantastic treats for a themed baby shower I'm attending tomorrow. Needless to say, I didn't factor in the 'putziness' of these little delights (i.e. a whole days worth of artistic creation), but they turned out rather well, and I am thrilled. They also taste pretty scrumptuous too (well, after I switched out the frosting, that is.....her recipe called for chocolate buttercream, but it was awful). So with no further ado, I present, my lastest and greatest 'birdies in a nest' cupcakes (note the cheery spring hues tailored specifically for the colors of the shower).

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

March Madness

Although much of my family (including me) has been born in the month of March (which affords it great joy), weather-wise, these 31 days are still some of the worst of the year for spring-thirsty Wisconsinites. For instance, we can go from this:











to this:











in a matter of days. And just when the birdies and bunnies come out of hiding to bask in our shared hope of spring, mean ol' winter puts a freeze on the fun for all of us - literally. That's when backyard ponds become frozen obstacle courses once again:

Thunder snow

The great snow storm of the week is falling as I type, and with it came the extra surprise of lightning and thunder! I was talking to B on the phone when it happened, but since lightning is not something I typically expect during a snow storm, I thought our power was on the fritz. However, those thoughts were quickly contradicted when the thunder rolled in and surprised us both. Only in Wisconsin!

Our pup is also excited by all the recent wintry developments. She particularly enjoys being chased around by the shovel :) What a little goon!

A nice story

Yay! These people are good friends who happened to fall in love and get married a few years back. Now they take pretty black and white pictures together. By the way, soon their birthdays will be here, because it's almost March. The boy will turn the big 3-0 and the girl, 27. And to think, just one blink of an eye ago, they were mere babies. Little nuggets who knew nothing of one another - not one speck. Then they grew up, crossed paths, and the stars aligned. Now they are partners in crime for LIFE! What a sweet little black and white story, indeed.

Greetings, earthlings

Once upon a time in Japan, we ate these.

And true to their form, they squiggled and wiggled as they went down. Nah, not really. They were actually packed into neat little dough balls and plopped into the fryer.

Only after their steamy grease baths did we buy them and gobble them down. What nice little octupi to have for a treat!

Tada

We were welcomed guests at the units' house last eve. So welcomed, in fact, that a photo shoot was arranged for all of us in their very own green room. What a fabulous looking troupe, wouldn't you say? Even the pup got in on the picture. Our family isn't one to miss out on any fun cuz of the winter blues. Ground Hog's greetings to you from all of us!