Donut bike ride

The name of this race has changed so much I just call it the donut ride. Originally it was called Tour de Donut but then it changed to The Donut Rally. And now it's called The Breakfast Bash Bicycle Rally. Whatever, it's still the same. It's a 28 mile bike ride that involves donuts, where each one consumed shaves 5 minutes off of your time. And it's not any ol' donut... it's Shipley's!

We're Koopalings!

No, we're not ninja turtles, that was last year. But as we were trick-or-treating, a few out of touch adults said, "Oh neat, ninja turtles" or even worse, "What are y'all?" Sigh. If you don't know, the Koopalings are the bad guys from the Super Mario series, where you would have to defeat each one in order to advance to the next level. And of course there's Bowser, the final boss. Can you guess who was who?

Moonlight Bicycle Ramble

Last Saturday night, at midnight, we participated in the Moonlight Bicycle Ramble. Besides being able to bike at night in the city and dressing up in costumes, it was for a good cause. The proceeds go to Bike Houston, who (according to their website) "is dedicated to making Houston a better place for all types of cyclists." If you didn't already know, I love riding my bike. And if they can make it safer, I'm all for it.

Pumpkin patch: past & present

Halloween is quickly approaching and so we made our annual visit to the pumpkin patch at St. Andrew's. The church has built such a reputation for their pumpkin patch that they call themselves the pumpkin church. Seriously, pumpkinchurch.com is where you can find them. We've done this every year since Jacob. It's our little family tradition. And being that this is a relatively new blog, I also posted pictures from years past, which definitely makes me say, "Oh snap!"

Heads or tails?

Austin City Limits (Austin, TX)

Last weekend, we were in Austin for the first weekend of ACL. Usually a trip to Austin would only be a quickie but this felt like a mini-vacation. Maybe it was because we went without the kids. Or maybe it was because we stayed from Friday afternoon to Monday morning (a tad bit longer than our usual weekend trips). But it was nice. The weather cleared up and the temperature dropped. The weekend was perfectly setup.

Fall sports begins

After being delayed a week due to all the rain (which led to rise of all those effin' mosquitoes), the fall sports season finally began. Jacob moves up to the U10 soccer league which is composed of kids his age and older. These kids, obviously, are on another level. Older, bigger and faster. Now there's a goalie. These kids look serious. By halftime, he was already gassed. And at the end of the game, he was exhausted. Andrew, on the other hand, opted not to play soccer this season and chose T-ball. Why? Because he wanted to try something new. I like that he's willing to try new things. It's a shame he didn't want to play both but his skinny little self wouldn't have been able to handle it.

Date night with the boys

Every once in a while, it's nice to spend one-on-one time with each kid. Full attention. No distractions. Solid quality time. Each kid acts differently when they don't have their brothers around to play with (or to bother them). Looking back, it's been over two years since the last time I've spent time with only one of the boys. It's been long overdue. Just the other day, I got to spend a little time with Andrew. It wasn't anything big, we just spent a couple hours at Barnes and Noble. I worked as he did his homework (and ate a huge cookie). He's a totally different person without his brothers. I feel like he thinks that we always lecture and yell at him. This is partially true since he's constantly fighting with Tyson (or vice versa) and he's always mad that Tyson gets his way. "Of course Tyson can play while you do homework, he doesn't go to school!" So I wanted Lynn to see the true Andrew... the no distraction, lovable, affectionate, wild Andrew, and encouraged them to spend one-on-one time together.

It's not crazy hot anymore (for now)

Boyhood

So we finally got around to watching Boyhood, a movie that followed the life of one boy and his family over a span of 12 years. It was neat to see the actors grow up in front of your eyes in 2 hours and 45 minutes. (Yes, it was a long movie.) And then it made me think, will I be sad once all the kids leave home? I don't know. Probably? Who am I kidding, I'm sad now watching Tyson grow up. Being that he is in all likelihood our last child, every milestone is bittersweet. And yesterday, he started preschool.

Labor Day weekend

On Labor Day, most people don't have to go in for work. And that includes my parents. My mom had asked if the kids wanted to stay over and I said no. "Oh, you guys have plans?" she asked. Not really, but I would like to spend some time with my own kids! Ever since I told my mom of my possible plan of moving, she wants to take the kids every chance she gets. And this weekend was no different.

(Another) Mario Kart tournament

Friday was the last weekday of the kids' summer break so I was looking for something fun for them to do. Looking online for weekend activities/events, I came across the Play Nintendo Tour, which was making a stop at the Houston Galleria. It was an event that showcased multiple games with the opportunity of playing each one. But the main feature (and the main reason why we came) was the Mario Kart tournaments. Being that this is their favorite game, this was a must do.

Sleepy eye birthday

In the mist of all the summer birthdays, mine was some where in there. Just last weekend, we had dinner with my in-laws to celebrate all the August birthdays. There are seven birthdays this month. Seven! And I share the same birthday with two relatives on my side of the family (Nesbitt and Chi La). Craziness. Babies love to come out in August. It's probably because it's too dang hot during the summer and they need to escape.

Tyson's Mario Kart Invitational

My little man turned three this past weekend. Three! Realistically this is probably our last kid so seeing him grow up is saddening. I want him to remain two forever (my favorite age). Being two is awesome because they still have their baby fat (super cute), are able to talk (mixed with some incoherent words), are completely mobile (which might be a bad thing), and are still innocent (sort of). I don't remember Tyson exhibiting the "terrible twos" so hopefully we dodged a bullet with that or maybe he's just waiting until now to show us the new "terrible threes".

Going to church doesn't make you less of an a**hole