good luck lee and rebecca

It is hard to believe that something good could come from Hurricane Katrina but lucky for us the Hurricane sent Lee and Rebecca to Austin. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and so we are very sad that they've decided to move back to New Orleans. Here are a few shots of their last day here as we helped (okay mainly Rick helped, the boys and I just hung around and provided entertainment) them pack their Uhaul.



We can't wait for our first visit to NOLA and some time to hang out with Lee and Rebecca.

zach's birthday

Here is the delayed play-by-play of Zach's birthday. I took the day off to help Zach celebrate being three. We started with a donut cake. We then moved to an activity of Zachy's choice.
I love that they make bowling shoes in his size.
Doesn't it look like he bowls with one hand (he really doesn't - it is more of a granny toss).
Celebration dance.
And a shot of JT bowling.

After bowling we came home for lunch and a nap. We ended with a trip to Target to spend some birthday money from Aunt Paula and Uncle Ed and then some dinner at Pei Wei. It is hard to believe that Zach is three. JT is already in planning mode for his 6th birthday party.

becoming a true flisakowski

Looks like Lauren is a perfect addition to the Flisakowski clan. Only 3 months old and she already has a beer fest under her belt.

New Lauren Photos

Cakes

We have had many discussions about which cake is cooler, JT's spider cake or Nora's and Zach's princess/train combination cake. I am not sure the debate will ever be settled. This one was truly her biggest challenge as both Nora and Zachy had very specific yet differing cake requests. I think you can tell what those requests were from the final product.

JT has already asked Suzette to make his next birthday cake a replica of Rangers Ballpark. Good luck Suzette!

Zach's and Nora's Birthday Party

I didn't get a chance to capture very many photos but here are a few. The party was this past Saturday evening. Besty and I tried to keep it low key which is easy to do since the Sunstroms have a very cool tire swing and tree house in their backyard. We added some water balloons, squirt guns, bouncey, hot dogs, beer, and cake. I am not sure what else a 3 year old or an adult could want on a hot July evening. It was a fabulous time and we want to thank all of our friends for coming and helping us celebrate.

Click on the contact sheet to enlarge and see the photos.

Hurricane Dolly

Okay, this post really has nothing to do with the Hurricane. It made landfall and it just rained here for about 5 minutes, which is better than we've had for the past month.

This post isn't really about Dolly but since there is no way for me to "hide" photos, I thought I'd go for the element of surprise for those true followers that are willing to read almost anything I post, then they would be happy to see that I am finally posting the images of my recent $170 purchase. No it wasn't a Rock Star for the Wii or new bikes, it was the Batmobile, no it was a new clubhouse, no it was a toilet box. Ok, I didn't actually buy the box, I bought the item in the box but the box became the ultimate toy for the three days that it lasted. The box started out as Batmobile, became a clubhouse, a roller coaster, and a fire truck. I am contemplating another toilet for three more days of adventures, sharing, and fun.






Sorry SNJ to disappoint. You will be the first to know if I ever have an extra $170 lying around and I opt to buy Rock Star.

Updates Are Coming

I have lots of photos to post: Zach's and Nora's bday party, Rick's latest project, and the best $170 I ever spent on two kids; however, I decided that while Rick was out last night I would rearrange the bedroom furniture.
It always throws Rick for a loop when I start moving furniture around. I have fond memories of Judes always moving furniture at least seasonly and letting us rearrange our rooms too. Rick on the other hand says that furniture at his house was always in the same place except at Christmas when they needed to make room for the tree.
My hope last night was that he would get back really late from DNO, the house would be dark (minus the one light I do leave on) and he would have no clue where the bed was (okay the room isn't that big, he would have quickly found it) but he came home very early. I don't think he was too surprised as he knew something was coming when over the weekend he found me sitting in the middle of our bed with his tape measure.

Stay tuned. I promise once I get in a run this morning and tackle a work lunch, I'll get to blogging.

Weekend Update

Nothing too wild in Texas this weekend. We went to see Beauty and the Beast at Zilker Park. They do a new show every summer out in the park. There is a big hill that people start gathering on around 6PM and then the show opens at 8:30. We loaded up the cooler with some yummies (including the coolest invention ever - those little wine juice boxes from Target). I was worried the boys wouldn't make it through the show and we would end up with a crying fit and need to leave at intermission. Of course, they always surprise me. Once the show started, both boys were mesmerized. I think JT liked it the most and at one point we caught him clapping before the song ended.
Sunday we went to Craig and Sally's beach by their house for a picnic and swimming. The water was very cold and not what JT expected. He spent 10 minutes complaining about the water before he finally got in. I think the lure of hunting for shells made him forget the temperature. It was amazing how good it felt after you got out; it took about 30 minutes to feel the heat again. The boys loved the rope swing. JT actually dropped in the water a few times but he and Eli mainly liked to pretend like they were monkeys. Zach really wanted to try but couldn't figure out how to get his noodle on the rope with him. JT's "safety net" for swimming are his fish goggles; he will tackle any scary swimming event as long as he has his goggles. God forbid I ever loose them. I tried to buy a new pair that were plain blue but he doesn't like them. Zach doesn't have the same attachment but prefers to use a noodle if possible.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Our daily temps range from 90 -100 degrees. Our grass is dead, we limit our outside playing to early morning or anytime after 7pm, we constantly cover ourselves in sunscreen, we often seek the comfort of a pool yet for some strange reason JT decided that he wanted to pretend that he was playing a baseball game in the snow. Imaging snow flurries and cold temperatures wasn't enough, he had to put on his favorite sweatshirt while playing baseball with Zach and Eli (who did not participate in the sweatshirt wearing).

Cornholio

For all of you that were concerned about Zach's welfare (see Request for your Help) and offered to take him and provide a more loving home, please be advised that he has recently taken to this new look. It was a look that was created by himself; it occurs at home and in public despite our constant refrains of "don't to that to you shirt" and "put your shirt back on." Enjoy!

updates to my updates

the blog tracking tool doesn't seem to work for all my sites - some people don't use blogger, etc. it just got messy so i put it back to the old way. i did keep my most viewed sites (although i had to take that off the tracker too). send me any cool ones that you find.

The Deck

After months of hard work, I am pleased to announce that Rick has finished the deck and it is beautiful. Construction took a bit longer than anticipated since for some strange reason freelance work and the associated money took precedence! All the same, we are thrilled to have our new deck. Thank you to everyone who may have fallen prey to endless deck building discussions. Thankfully that will now cease and you can instead listen to me talk endlessly about my hunt for patio furniture.

Come visit, hang out, and have a beer or two on our new deck!

Hanging with Eli

Our buddy Eli is going to be a big brother soon. Pregnancy has been a little tougher on Sally this go around so we've gotten the pleasure of having Eli come over and hang with us. These photos are from a few weeks ago. Eli is heading over tomorrow so hopefully I can catch a few more shots maybe with his eyes opened.

blog updates

I've spent the morning adding some new photos and trying the new blog feature that provides update status of your favorite blogs. I added this to the blogs of all of our friends but I also decided to list separately the blogs that I get sidetracked at. It is a total random selection with probably one common thread and that being these people are all doing something creative. As things calm down at work and the boys start to get just a little more independent, I am finding small periods of time to finally dive in to all the "projects" from scrapbooking to sewing that I have stored in my closet. I hope to get working on a few and maybe posting about one or two.
All that said, here is a brief description of the blogs I've posted:

Photography - I've posted three links to photographers whose work I am fascinated by (Ben Chrisman, Vlad Photo, and Sanderson Photos). I know all three are wedding photographers but I still find their work inspiring. Now I just need funding for a new DSLR camera (I am taking donations or willing to trade a child).

Crafty things - One lazy day I clicked the "next blog" link that appears on the top of the blog page. It led me to Homemade by Jill which then threw me in to a crafty blog spiral, which if you are not careful can end up with you losing hours of your life while reading about others. I don't know Jill but she is a crazy crafter and has some cool ideas, an obsession with Martha, and lots of cool links to other people's craft sites. See how easy it is to lose hours! She is on a baby kick right now but it is still fun to see what she is up to. I randomly (probably from another blog) found Lisa Leonard's jewelry which resulted in two things: 1) I sent Rick a note requesting one of her necklaces and 2) I found her blog. She blogs about her life as a mom; one of her sons has CdLS, which I had never heard of before. Lisa's blog of course links to others like Flip Flops and Applesauce, which has random musings and interviews with women who are find time to be creative along with being moms.

Finally, I tried to add this blog (wendi-aarons.blogspot.com) that a friend had passed on to me. There are some funny posts here but for some reason everytime I add her link, it lists out some other website.

So there you have it. The blog world feeds my inner voyeur. I'll update, delete, add blogs as I find them or get bored of them.

Enjoy getting lost.

Request for Your Help

Clearly someone is being horribly mean to this child and refusing him something. If any of you would be willing to help this child, perhaps by letting him live with you for a few months, sending him mass quantities of sugar, or maybe letting him hit his brother with a baseball bat.

We welcome and appreciate any help you can offer.

Swim

Random swim photos from the Jones' house.

Baseball

Our house is 24/7 baseball. If we won't JT out in 100 degree heat to play, he plays inside. JT and I hit some sales this weekend to stock up on school clothes and every shirt he picked out was baseball related. Zach is cacthing on too although some days he likes to be Tiger Woods. If only his parents would buy him golf clubs so he wouldn't have to use an old, beat up plastic hockey stick.