You Know You're in Texas When...

...there are stars on everything! One of J's favourite things to spot is stars. He sees them on license plates, signs, buildings, highway pylons,... You name it, there's probably one here somewhere with a star on it!

...the average main meal at a restaurant is enough to feed two hungry adults. It is considered 'normal' for half your meal to remain on your plate and be whisked off to be put in a take-away container as you pay the bill.

...the majority of billboards along the highway are advertising either lap-band surgery, or heart surgery (or other such serious procedures) at Hospital X, or some form of Christian advertising.

...the State Fair features competitions in deep-fried food. Deep-fried bubblegum anyone? (This year's winner) Check out the rest of the finalists.

...every form you fill out is bilingual (Spanish or English). Makes a change from Maori or French for us!

...in the supposed coldest month of winter, today it is warmer to have our door open than closed. At 2pm it is 80*F/27*C outside and 71*F/22*C inside.

Odds and Ends

This is a post of the various bits and pieces that have kept me away from this blog for the last couple of weeks. There's another post in the wings, but it's taking its time in coming together! So here goes:

1. Our biblical scholar in the making. One of J's favourite things at the moment is pulling multiple bibles of our shelf and sitting down to read them. The commentary is quite funny to hear, too!

2. J has had a fever on and off for the past couple of days. :o( But it does show how curly his hair gets when he's all hot and damp. Reminds me of some other McLellan boys I know!

3. Our friends, the Hunters, came for lunch on Superbowl Sunday. Completely coincidentally we had soup for lunch (a traditional Superbowl offering) and we had fun catching up together. Here are the 3 J's reading a story.

4. I've signed up for a food co-op for produce here. This was last week's swag - all for $15! And today's collection included Jerusalem artichokes, so we are having a culinary adventure this week.

5. C has tried out the Jolly Jumper for the first time... and seems to like it already.

6. Discovered J's first 'word' with the foam letters in the bath. Maybe Daddy's reading list is having more of an impact than we thought!

7. My blokes. Don't they look sweet?

A House Guest

Look who wandered into our house today while J napped. (Apologies for fuzzy focus - I didn't download this until it was released.) There is a 1cm gap under our front door and I saw it sneaking across the carpet out of the corner of my eye. I think it may be an aptly named Mediterranean House Gecko. This one is only about 3-4cm long so it must be a juvenile. He or she sure is cute though! We've seen this lime green anole in the gardens here, but this is the first lizard to make a visit.

St Brigid's Day

Today is Saint Brigid's Day. It brings fond memories of my years teaching at Holy Family School, founded by the Brigidine sisters. When N and I were in Ireland we visited the church at Kildare. This year St. Brigid's Day also brings a tinge of sadness, as I heard this past week of the death of my former principal at HFS, Barbara O'Reilly-Nugent. I haven't been able to pin down details yet, but when we visited NZ in 2010, Barbara was ill and not expected to live long then. I was fortunate to have visited her and said my farewells, but my grief isn't any lesser at the moment. Barbara was a strong, Godly woman, whose faith, leadership and compassion were exactly what I needed at that time of my life. She was part of the reason I decided to study at Regent, and I will miss her.

A Type of Anniversay

This marks the day, 13 years ago, when N asked me to marry him. He might be down on his knee for other reasons today (feeding ducks with J, adjusting C's carseat, picking up toys in the lounge, praying for sanity) but he's still the love of my life!

Getting Up to Mischief

A certain 2-year-old has been getting up to mischief today. In the spirit of Olivia imitating Jackson Pollock, he expanded his crayon art to the walls...twice! And he gave C his first solid food, sharing his snack with him. I turned around just in time to see him with a stray finger almost up C's nostril as he tried to reinsert a fruit jube into C's mouth. Thankfully, C's natural instinct is for his tongue to push anything solid back out! Let's just say there have been a number of 'discussions' about sharing, being bigger, and the purpose of paper today.

In other news... C has discovered 'Ollie' the elephant on the change table...

...I made these biscuits. They have a packet of cherry jelly/Jello in them, hence the colour. Yes, they really are this pink! I am not sharing the recipe because despite being the perfect colour for a Valentine's gift they taste like a Valentine's prank!

...And keeping with the Valentine's theme, N & I watched I Hate Valentine's Day recently. It is from the star/writer/director of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Not quite as good, but better than we expected given the reviews. A bit of fluff, which delves into the 'less-Disney-fied' meaning of romance.

3 Months

C is 3 months old today. He is a big boy, and weighed in at 15lbs at his checkup 3 weeks ago. Compare that with J at around the same age, at around 12.5 lbs. (C grew out of the outfit J is wearing about a month ago!)

From May 2010

So now that he is nearly too big for the sleeper that sits on our bed, he is transferring to the crib tonight (in the sleeper until he is transitioned).

And not be upstaged by his brother, here is J with his friend J2.

And shooting hoops