Mary Poppins Goes Home

At least for a little while. :)

As I type this, my sisters, Green Bean Niece, and I are squishing on the sofa in a darkened living room; the rest of the home is tucked snugly away in bed and the only sound is the keyboard and our cuckoo clock. Yes, the Webbs and I arrived in Houston earlier today and plan to have a nice, long visit!

It is such a sweet blessing to be home again.

Especially with almost all of my dear family home as well (We miss you, Dad and Chris!!); we've been doing a vast amount of laughing, giggling, joking, talking, and--of course--eating. The exact time of our stay here is yet to be decided but I've relished being home again! It truly feels like ages since I was here and thoughts of Rip Van Winkle have floated through my mind but those were only fleeting, as the essential things of my home haven't changed.

{Lunchtime activities: finger people!}

This week we have some delightful social engagements, one of the benefits of having a new baby in the home--everyone wants to meet, greet, kiss, and cuddle the new Little Green Bean. Naturally, we can't blame them, as it is our personal opinion that Eva is edible.

The girls--and Dom, in his way--have been especially helpful with the extra work around the home; the above shot is of them bringing in the diapers from drying in the sun. Yes, my superwoman sister, Nicole, is just that: Superwoman. Cloth diapers are no easy task, though they help to save money and the environment, they're quite a load of work (no pun intended)! Both my sister and Aunt have made the brave choice of cloth diapering (three children at a time in one case!), each with slight variations but both with a few extra laundry steps. I think it's marvelous that they're so dedicated and I'm so glad I have my share of experience with cloth diapers (let me tell you, rinsing a dirty diaper is a character building experience).

So, for the next week or so, I look forward to bringing you the happenings of our time here and this part of my "Mary Poppins" season. :)

True Grit- The Real Thing

This was an estate sale find earlier this year. I had immediate plans (in my head, that is) to sell it! But, as you can tell, I have only recently put time and effort to accomplish this. Amusingly enough, I managed to have time to read it and review it within the first couple months I got it.

Unlike most books that I find, this one has no fade marks

Dust jacket has taken a great deal of the wear and tear.

The book itself is in great condition!

There is a interesting side-story about what I found in this book after purchasing it, but I'll save that for later!
:)

{Eva Christine Webb}

2, August 2011

1:29 pm

19. 75 inches

7.1 lbs

Our Bun in the Oven is now a Wee Little Bean.

We were blessed with this Sweet Girl in record time!

Nicole was induced around 10 am Tuesday morning and it was a quick ride from there,

as she went from 6 centimeters to pushing in about ten minutes;

our Sweet God was very gracious to Nicole,

just when she thought she couldn't do it anymore the

labor was a push away from being over.

Praise our sweet God, from whom all Dear Blessings flow!

{funny hospital story}

So the day Nicole was induced, I stayed home with the Chicklets and the plan was for Chris to call us when it was time to come to the hospital. Well the time came, everyone was in a flurry of excitement to throw every "necessary" article of clothing on, and Mia grabs my face and says,

"Elena! We're going to go see Wall-E today!"

I just looked at her.

"What Mia? Wall-E??"

"Yes, Wall-E! We get to go see her today!!"

"Mia, her name's 'Eva', not 'Wall-E'"

(Laughs hysterically) "Oh!"

I guess we shouldn't have watched that movie so close to actually seeing Eva.

Today is their first full day home from the hospital and they're both recovering swimmingly!

Though I may have to get bungee cords to keep Nicole in bed, she wastes no time in sleeping; she really is a wonderful mother and bears things very nobly.

(Even the power outage on her first evening home! In our 117 degree heat!

But that's a story for another time.)

Eva is precious.

The Stickies have taken to her so well, even Dominic is quickly

learning to keep an ear out for her.

Now you know the reason for the slight break in our "Mary Poppins Writes" series;

be looking for more pictures when we return!

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.