The Older-Baby Sister...

Yup, that's me in the middle. And I have been constantly reminded these past few weeks (actually, this past year) of how much I'm the older-baby sister. Since "Mary Poppins" has been gone, and the receptionist has been busy, I've had to do more things then I'm used to around the house.
I don't normally have to vacuum the entire house, cleaning the kitchen, babysit dogs, do school with Emmy, crack jokes, prepare food, and be co-pilot in the car, all of which I did by my self.
I can already hear Nicole, Elena, and Mica laughing out loud and saying, "Oh poor you!".

Yes, I'm the old-baby sister.

Yup, I'm glad God made my family the way He did, otherwise this would be a very different post.

With all that said, I might as well give y'all a peek of the past quiet weeks.

A recent estate sale find (but sadly unprofitable on Amazon).

They are in excellent condition!

Mia's watermelon plant has been taking advantage of the trellis.
It was trying to wrap around my bluebonnets, but I dealt with them.


Emily being...Emily. :)

My new fancy fossil watch!


A visit to the Hoods!

Their eyes are glued to the screen, can't you tell?

Notice Nate biting his blankie cause he was a bit scared at this part of the movie. :)


Almost irresistible.


Sadie.
She is one of three Boston Terriers that we are babysitting.


Beading with Emmy.

This one is really for Elena and Nicole to admire the new couch cushions!

And that's all the pictures I've got for now.
Love,
Caro :)

Mary Poppins Writes Day {12} Yep, today it really is!

So, I double counted and I've been off on my numbering! So sorry for the confusion, I think that not posting on Sunday's is throwing me off. : )

Well, yesterday we spent the morning at Cabela's (the outdoor person's haven), which is actually quite a beautiful store; the displays are interesting and well done and they have a mini aquarium with local fish/turtles! The kids were fascinated and thrived on every bit (they also had donuts for breakfast, hence the thriving. ;)
The rest of the day was devoted to lunch, napping, and grocery shopping (all very necessary and fun). I made a batch of Hearty Beef Stew, with the help of America's Test Kitchen, and popped it in the fridge for later.

Chris took us out to a place down under (i.e. Outback) for dinner; it was my first time to eat at this Aussie place and though I was a wee bit disappointed that no one there had an Australian accent, I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent out with the Webbs! It was also my first time to have Ahi Tuna, a little bit chewy but the flavor and sauces were nice. What really made me smile were the signs for the bathrooms: Ladies became "Sheilas" and Men were "Blokes", I'm thinking that would be neat to incorporate at home...somehow...
Also, Chris and I came to an interesting observation: Mica should be here instead of Mia and Chris should have been named Dominic. It's true, I'm beginning to make a habit of calling Dom by Chris and Chris by Dom; and Chris keeps calling Mia "Mica". We're both getting old, I just didn't expect this to happen in our twenties (why, yes, I am being liberal with my age, or generous with his--pick one). Poor Dom has also been affected by our loss of brain cells, he's been calling me by "Nani" ever since I arrived ("Nani" is the Chicklets affectionate name for my Mum), not sure what to do about it aside from correcting him each and every time he says it; I personally think it's pretty cute. : ) I think he must be confused by the hair and the fact that "Nani" and "Nena" sound pretty similar.

No, Mum, I don't think he'll confuse us when

we're both in the same room.

You're the "Nani", I'm just the nanny.

At any rate, I think we all need more vitamin D and sleep.

For those of you that are not on Facebook or our "recent calls" list, Nicole and Chris have opted to schedule an induction sometime tomorrow morning; so we'll be posting lots of baby pictures soon! Due to my love and adoration for fresh babies (especially my sister's), I can't promise a post tomorrow night but know that I'll be posting as soon as I'm able!

We're all very excited to be meeting this wee lassie and covering her with kisses; may God be praised for protecting, caring for, and providing for this little one and her mamma thus far!

Dear Baby Webb

Dear Baby Webb,

We all can't wait to see you, kiss you, and take many, many pictures of you!

But until the timer goes off, and you come out of the oven, I'll entertain your Mommy and Elena with these pictures:

{Picture Taken: 6-17-94}
This is when Elena was 4 years old, and Mica was 2!

{Picture Taken: 04-01-11}
Now, over 15 years later!

I know, cute, but naughty!
The End.


Love,
Caro :)

Mary Poppins Writes {Day 12}

Yesterday's high was 105 degrees...so, we went to the splash pad! Which accounts for the lack of pictures of the day, I thought it a little too dangerous to pull out the camera while dozens of dripping children were running past me. It was a grand time, we met our cousin and her two little girls there as well, it made for a nice time as the girls all played together very well. Dominic was very opposed to all of the water everywhere but in the end he was running around and and filling his hat with water. :)

Also, Nicole washed and folded the rest of the baby items--so cute! I have a few wee surprises in my bag and everything is all set and ready to go. Tomorrow is another appointment for Nicole and while her and Chris are out, the girls and I will be making some "Welcome Home Baby" crafts (I think another banner is in order).
Oh, and for dinner we had grilled chicken with lacto-fermented carrots (we got ours from this fun place); lettuce, slivered almonds, cucumbers, leeks, and lots of fermented carrots were in order as well as some pepper and olive oil!

After supper, in order to help the Yet-to-Be-Seen-Offspring, we went for a long walk through the neighborhood and played for a bit at the park, that is, the Chicklets played at the park while Nicole and I people watched at a picnic table. Despite the heat and Mia's wee legs, it was a wonderful way to end the day; walking is one of the best ways to enjoy this part of Austin, the steep hills give a great view of this area, it just takes a bit of time to walk them. : )
And just for some special random tidbits (mostly for my family in Houston); this is what Dom keeps playing over and over again on Nicole's phone, this is the second most frequent song he plays. Yesterday I listened to them while everyone was taking a nap, mostly because I hadn't listened to them all the way through. :)

Mary Poppins Writes {Day 10}

Saturday was our first full day with Chris; he had driven home in the wee small hours of the morning and was recovering for most of Saturday morning, so I took that time and went to an estate sale with the girls (Head over to my art blog to read about our finds!); I was inspired by my Mom and sisters who told me about their fun finds the day before. We also went to our favorite Austin consignment shop; the girls were so patient and did a wonderful job at both places.
When we came home from our thrift shopping, Chris took us all to Costco for lunch! Their pizza and gelato is actually quite tasty and presents a perfect place to people watch; I say perfect because you can sit, enjoy your lunch, and within fifteen minutes observe at least 150 people.

Nicole and I have just finished watching a few renditions of Sherlock Holmes, so I was in a deducing frame of mind, it was difficult to restrain myself from wanting to ask people for their life's story, a developing habit that I rather enjoy. I think some people just want someone to listen sometimes.
It's very sweet to see how much the Stickies change when their "Daddy-O" is home.

Sophie and Mia always have something to show him and look to him for so much approval and applause; and Dom, well, lets just say that there is an increase in the amount and volume of truck/crashing sound effects. Another thing that I've noticed is that with the high esteem and affection Chris has, comes authority; Nicole and I could chide and discipline Dom for an offensive action (For example, take this mornings throwing-the-fork-across-the-table-at-Mia incident, thankfully it was a plastic fork), but when Chris sternly scolds him, Dominic bursts into tears, Chris may as well have thrown Dom across the table.

Back to Saturday.

After taking a nice rest, we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening with Chris' family. We had a delightful dinner at an Italian restaurant, Nicole, the Chicklets, and I had already eaten so we got the Chicklets sundae's for dessert and Nicole and I shared a cappuccino and truffle sampler (that was the delightful part). As usual, by "sharing" I mean that I stirred in the sugar to taste and dipped my half of the biscotti and Nicole had the rest. ; ) Which is really all that I needed to keep me up the rest of the night! It ended up being a bit of a late night, but contrary to our expectations, the Stickies didn't fall asleep in the car. After wiping down the Chicklets, we dressed them into their clothes and tossed them into bed,
then we all rested.

Mary Poppins Writes {Day 9}

Yesterday was a perfect combination of being busy and still getting things done around the home! For some reason, I didn't end up taking very many pictures but as a supplement, you can see Dom in action in this funny video, a few days ago, we were on our way out to run errands and Sophie was in a very playful mood. :)

Baley spent the day with us again and more games of dress-up were played; all three of the girls get along so well together. Baley's a champ and hangs well with us and our day. :)
For lunch we met Tita and the Apodaca's at one of our favorite burger places! It's always bustling, especially around lunchtime. It's all about the atmosphere and the french fries here, well, for the Chicklet's it's all about the onion rings but I have a distinct opposition to such things so they have those, just a small burger and fries for me!

(To my Dear Family: I savored the flavors just for you--it was just like you remembered it.)

When we came home it was bedtime for Dom and schooltime for the Girlies; Baley colored and muched on apple slices while Sophie and Mia finished their work.

I hopped over to the Apodaca's home to have a wee nanny session while they had a date night. It was just like old hat, the kids and I ate supper and romped around a bit before bedtime. Here's a bit of our dinnertime conversation:

Abby: (Said very quickly) Elena, how old are you??

Me: I'm twenty.

Abby: (gasp) Momma's twenty too!!

Noah: Abby, Momma's __, not twenty.

Abby: (carelessly shrugs her shoulders) Oh!

My Aunt and Uncle came home early and I did some quick shopping at HEB before heading home. Nicole and I began our nightly ritual of quickly getting ready for bed and cozying up on the sofa with our kombucha; well, she rocks out on her pilates ball and I snuggle on the sofa, Nicole doesn't really do the whole snuggle thing but she does know how to relax and unwind!

Last night we finished a mysterious, funny movie and headed to bed.

Mary Poppins Writes {Day 8}

{The Herb Bar}

I love downtown Austin.

It's all a hustle and bustle of people, bikers, and dogs; there's a certain relaxed feel about the place. Never mind the hundred degree weather, much can be done along and in Lady Bird Lake, even biking around town, it's very doable when you have your own bike lane.

A popular slogan, which you'll probably see on a plethora of Austin bumper stickers, "Keep Austin Weird", is certainly true in all areas--especially downtown!

The natives love supporting local farmers, artists, and entrepreneurs of all kinds; a great place for a budding, creative seller who wanted to get her stuff out to her audience. :)

Like New York is for the actress, Austin is for the artisan, people just love buying local there and are willing to stay loyal and supportive.

One of the places we visited today was what we call "The Soap Place"; a great place to go for natural soaps and all around natural healing stuff. The staff is very helpful and friendly too!
Now, it's not called weird for nothing! Austin certainly has it's share of tree huggers, environmentalists, homosexuals, hippies, bikers (yep, they can be weird too), and animal lovers; most big cities have those, it just looks different here. Perhaps it's the different flavor that makes me see their need for Christ in special way; they're all people and many of them are godless and as lost as can be. Truly, they are blind and deaf to their spiritual condition, and it's so sad.

But I also see little ways how God is working in individuals lives, sometimes the softening of a heart begins with a conversation and an example of a different life.

My sister tells me that Austin in one of the largest places for food trucks. All along south Congress, we saw bunches of them here and there. They even have their own web site; and let me tell you, there was a plethora of food choices, everything from taco shacks to crepes to Thai to cupcakes! It's all there, the question lies with where you want to park your car, but I'd get there early, these places don't exactly have covered parking. ;)

{This one's for your benefit, Nicole.}

{And this one's for you, Mum.}

We had a delectable lunch at the Whole Foods plaza! It's right on top of the building and it even has a playscape for the Chicklets. Nicole brilliantly planned rolled lunchmeat, cheese, and peaches (we snagged the salt and vinegar chips from the store), as well as root beer and some bakery items to finish! It was so refreshing and we were able to sit in a breezy, shady spot (which was so nice for my sister).

I'm just glad I haven't started waddling yet! Yes, it's true, I'm a flexible person to the point that I might just pick up other people's mannerisms with just a day of being with them.

A few years ago I spent a week with a friend who had just had her baby; she was still tenderly waddling around the house and after a few days I found myself waddling around too!

It's dreadful I know, but at the same time, it's kind of fun to imitate the little ways that make people unique. :)


The Apodaca's joined us for dinner, promptly afterward--amidst the bustle and clamor of the room--my Aunt and Uncle started arm wrestling. A part of me thinks that it's just an excuse for them to hold hands and look deeply into each others eyes (yep, they're that sort, and I love it!), but who knows. :)

While the above was going on, I got to work on baby booties to match the sweater dress for the Bun in the Oven; I was giving my wrists a break for a few days but now I'm back to work!

I love little projects that travel well; do you know, I have yet to see another person knitting in public? I'm not sure why but I was kind of expecting to see more of that here...

Ah well. :)