Mima's Vist.

My mom, Mima, left this morning after a long weekend visit. It was really cold, so we didn't exactly get out and do a lot. We did some shopping, but it proved to be fairly unproductive, aside from some turtlenecks. Mainly we enjoyed HGTV, and watching Mateo run around.

The big college football BCS game was on Thursday, and while Rafi went downtown to watch it with friends, Mom and I stayed in and watched it together with our new best friend - a bottle of the most delicious wine either of us had had, Saracco 2009 Moscato D'asti. The game had its ups and downs (still can't believe Colt McCoy's poor luck), but we had a great time. We had prepared for the evening by making some slow cooker Mexican posole paired with Asiago cheese bread and garlic bread. Oh, and bread in the shape of a football from HEB. The wine went perfectly with everything we ate.

Rafi and I took both Mateo and Mima to their first UT basketball game. She agreed with me that their burgers and fries are really good. We also enjoyed a most delicious bag of kettle corn together. Hmmm, are we going for the game or the food? Let's say both.

Mat was excited to pick out his own foam hand, which we put in his room later. He loves to say "Hook 'em, Horns!" and gives his own version of the horns sign. Rafi will definitely have a fellow game goer as Mateo gets older.

Mateo especially enjoyed his time with Mima. She made special pancakes for him with sprinkles! She also gave him a new book to read and awesome Buzz Lightyear pajamas (not to mention the laundry and dishes she did for me!).

On our last evening together, we all watched an episode of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives where he visited a hot dog shop where they fried the hotdogs. When the host bit into it, it had an insanely appetizing crunch. So off Rafi went to HEB for some hot dog buns! We were slightly disappointed in our fried hot dog results, as they tasted just like they had been grilled - no real crunch. Perhaps we used too good of a hot dog? Ours were organic, all natural, and uncured. Maybe you need the cheap ones with the fat and fillers? Oh well. It was worth a try.

Thanks, Mima, for your visit! We all had a lot of fun!

Cadle Christmas

This weekend we celebrated Christmas with my side of the family. My parents came with their two dogs, and we opened gifts and ate... and ate... and ate. (I'm still eating the leftovers.) Ham is so delicious!

Mateo was very excited about his Handy Manny workbench. We had to build it immediately after it was opened. Thanks to Mima and Papa for gifting it to him! And thanks for Rafi's and my gifts, as well. I think I'm set for kitchen gadgets - can't wait to use the garlic slicer. Rafi's new iPod alarm clock was MUCH nicer to wake up to compared to his old one.

Rafi with hair.

This is my niece Nicole, aka "Rafi with hair." She is Rafi's brother's oldest daughter. She is also Rafi's goddaughter. Rafi thinks she hung the moon, and I think she thinks the same of him. :-) And now she's graduated 6th grade. Amazing. Time really does fly, as they say. Felicitaciones a Nicole!

First doughnuts.

Mateo had his first trip to the doughnut shop this morning. First he drank his own milk. Then he drank Daddy's orange juice.

Yummm!!!

Some people (who shall remain nameless) can get a little testy when the the camera is turned on them. First they try to ignore it.

Then they get annoyed and give you the stink-eye.

And then they hide.

Sleeping hard.

If ever there was evidence of sleeping hard, this would be it.

Austin Ice Cream Festival.

Last Saturday we checked out the Austin Ice Cream Festival. It was hot. Therefore I needed, NEEDED this green apple Italian ice. I figured if I pronounced it "Eye-TAL-yun" it counted as being a Texas food item. Mateo wouldn't eat one bite of ice cream or Eye-TAL-yun ice. He's weird.

They had popsicle sticks to play with.

Our friend Connor met us there.

Mat enjoyed fanning the ground.

He worked up an appetite.

Abuelos' visit.

Mateo's abuelos (Rafi's parents) visited us this August. Strangely we neglected to take very many photos, but I really liked this one.

Also odd, Tita didn't make her famous arroz con leche this trip - per our P90X request. Sniff, sniff. There's always December...

Yay, Mom!!

About a year or so ago my mom joined her local Lion's Club. From the start she jumped right in there, even serving as treasurer. And here she is now holding her Lion of the Year award. Go, Mom!!

Can you believe it?

I've had the same email address since my senior year in high school. I remember someone teasing me about having the words "hot male" in it. (Get it? "Hotmail?") That was about 14 years ago. Ouch.

More importantly it dawned on me that I've been keeping a blog/website for almost 7 years now. For a walk down memory lane, check out the old website and the "What's New" page. At the top you can click to view various years. I guess I was blogging back then before I even knew what blogging was!

http://www.campanas.net/

Awww, youth.

Fire.

This weekend there was a fire, actually three of them, near and on my parents' property. Thankfully the really big fire (seen in the smoke photos) moved away from them, but their front gate area was burned in a smaller fire. The pipe fencing was filled in with cedar stays, but most of them are gone now. Mom said that neighbors kept the fire from spreading, and the fire department put out out the blaze. My father and others stayed around to put out flare-ups. The big fire was so large that multiple fire departments came to put out the conflagration (always wanted to use that SAT word!). Rumor has it that the fires were started by a truck that was on fire and pulled over somewhere, but I don't think there's an official ruling yet.

Below are photos of smoke from the large fire at noon and then again later that evening. My mom took them from their backyard.

This is the front of my parents' property. I wonder if their solar gate is working now?

And this is my dad in his 15 minutes of fame. He was on the front page of the Stephenville Empire Tribune that Sunday.

Back from Stephenville.

So last week Mateo and I were in Stephenville house sitting for my parents. They were in Fort Worth while my dad had surgery for his prostate cancer. (Everything went well.) Mateo and I kept barely any schedule at all - sleeping and eating whenever our hearts desired. Mat was definitely spoiled with having a tv in our bedroom, something we don't allow at home. It was a nice break actually, as I'm usually pretty schedule driven, as most of you already know. I especially enjoyed having my friend from high school JoBob and his wife Caris (also a friend, not just the wife) over one evening.

We returned home in time for the weekend, during which we didn't work ourselves too hard. Rafi worked on the sprinkler system (he's been tweaking it lately), and I barely worked in the garden. Gosh it's so hot lately! And summer has only just begun.

We did managed to take our amassed recycled goods to Texas Ecology Action downtown. It's really easy and quick, so if you live in the area - even the surrounding ones - it's totally worth the once a month (or less) trip to recycle your goods. And if you don't live near Austin, find out what's available to you in your area!

Nice weekend.

Well, I was sick most of last week, and it caught up to me on Saturday. Thankfully Rafi took full parenting duties so I could sleep most of the day. I really needed it. Mateo had a blast because his daddy took him to have bagels for breakfast and then to the park. I have to fess up that he came into the house all red, sweaty, and stomping around throwing his water cup down. He had run out of water and was taking it out on Rafi. (The park is a 1 minute drive from our house.) Humorous to watch.

Sunday we found a new swimming pool for Mateo, as his old one was a baby pool. He ended up spending 2.5 nonstop hours in it after Rafi and I mowed, edged, and weeded the yard. We also enjoyed a nice outdoor dinner of steaks from the grill and mashed potatoes and peas. We chased it all with juice popsicles. Sadly we took no photos of anything.

And in other news, or non-news I should say, we're still doing the fertility thing with the Texas Fertility Center. Every month we cross our fingers, so this month cross yours, too. It's getting tiring, but I know what happens or doesn't happen is how things are supposed to be. So I'm learning to be at peace with it all.

Mateo is getting funnier and funnier. He really cracks me up every day. Today he was pointing out the moles on my neck. And then in front of company (thank goodness it was just our good friend Andres) he proceeded to point out the " pink mole" on my face - a pimple. How can you not laugh at that?! Like I said, he's my little funny man. :)

Austin Zoo

This morning we had an enjoyable visit to the Austin Zoo. Mateo was like an animal himself - hard to restrain at times. He really enjoyed the huge tortoises, feeding the goats, and the train ride. I enjoyed feeding the goats and visiting a certain pig best myself. The blind jaguar was really a sight to behold, too. Mateo took a really great nap when we got home. Several times during the day he told us he was happy. This makes me happy, too. :)

Visiting the tios.

This Saturday morning we took Salma (our new futuristic and unbelievable car) to San Antonio to visit with Rafi's aunt and uncle. We beat the rain there, but boy the rain pelted us when we went to lunch. Salma handled it beautifully, of course.

Mateo quite enjoyed their electric piano/organ and their dog Glory. Glory didn't care for Mateo so much, though. Mateo was also more than happy to chat with Stella and Frank. He was shy only for a minute or two. And of course Rafi and I enjoyed the afternoon. Their backyard garden is so lovely and full of flowers. Thanks to them also for the really good pie and recipe for said really good pie!

The Oasis

Every now and then you need to take a mini vacation. We did that this Saturday by taking Salma (the new car) to The Oasis. The weather, the food, and our attitudes were perfect. Mateo gobbled up chips with ketchup (strange boy), while I enjoyed a piña colada. Rafi enjoyed his key lime pie. Mateo liked watching the birds - "Hola, birds!" It really did feel like we were at Gamboa Rainforest Resort in Panama.

When we left Mateo was all over the sculptures - especially the "wocket ship" and the "gator." He was pretty sad when we had to leave.