Buddy Bucks

Kids who shop at H.E.B. are rewarded with Buddy Bucks.  Fox likes to insert the Buddy Bucks into the machine and "push the button" to stop the wheel and find out how many points she will win.  The points can be traded in for prizes.

The giant fork

Jade loves the "giant fork" at Hyde Park Bar and Grill

Taking in the giant fork

Mugging outside Hyde Park Bar and Grill

Watching House Hunters on HGTV

I'm pretty sure we were all watching the "House Hunters" marathon on HGTV.  Just about my favorite TV channel; turns out Ryder and Brandy like it too.  After they went to bed, Tom and I caught the "House Hunters" devoted to a couple searching for a place to live in Central Austin.  Wow!  A 700-square-foot apartment rented for $2,400 a month.  I guess it isn't surprising.  Austin proper is now the 11th largest city in the USA.  We'll be getting a second area code as of July 1st--737.  That means we'll all have to dial the area code and number even locally.  Our area code will still be 512.  Phone numbers assigned as of July 1st will have the 737 area code.

Congratulations, Emma: again!!!

Emma was among the Texas Duke TIP honorees at Texas A&M on  Thursday, May 23.  Here she is in front of a sculpture outside the J. Earl Rudder Tower, where the ceremony took place.

Emma, showing Joyce her medallions:  one from her Grand Recognition Ceremony at Duke University and the other from the ceremony at Texas A&M.

Emma, hamming it up after the ceremony

Grand-nephew Jim

Nine-month-old Jim stayed with us while Mommy Sarah and Daddy Kirk went to the Paul McCartney concert on  May 22. He fell right to sleep in Papa's arms. 

Lulu Grace's rose bush is blooming

This rose bush is for grandgirl Lulu Grace.  It's the "Grace" rose bush, described as "lovely pure apricot rosettes with a delicious , warm scent."  I've found "Foxy Lady" for Jade and "Ivy Belle" for Piper.  Just have to find out where to order them. from and get them planted.

Congratulations, Otis!!!

Otis at his Head Start graduation on May 13, 2013.

What a handsome young man!

A fire in the 'hood: nobody was hurt, thank goodness!

The house down the street caught fire on May 22, 2013.  Nobody was home, thank goodness.  Lots of first responders!  Can all of them be a "first" responder?

Firefighters take their equipment back to the firetruck.

The fire was put out very quickly with no obvious damage to the outside of the house.  But Papa said firefighters brought out shovels full of ashes.

Equipment on the firetruck

Emma is recognized at Duke University

Al, Emma, Joyce, and P. Tom after the Grand Recognition ceremony on May 20, 2013, at Duke University.

Emma and Shanana after the ceremony.  The head football coach was the keynote speaker.  He advised the kids to leave places better than they find them and to step outside their comfort zones to take on new challenges.

Emma, after accepting her medallion.  

Daddy and Piper

Daddy and Piper on Saturday, May 18 ( I can tell by the Mountain Play Lodge stamp on Daddy's hand).  Piper's going to town on Daddy's pinky finger.

Lessons from Survivor Men: Papa and Ryder

Papa and Ryder showed us what we should take camping with us for kindling.  Cheetos  burn for 30 seconds or more.

Almonds burn even longer.  Be sure to take a push pin and matches with you!

Or take a lighter.  Peanuts burn well too!

Saturday with River and Mya

River peeled a boiled egg

Mya prepares for our visit to the Mountain Play Lodge

At Isabel's birthday party on Saturday, May 18, 2013

River in the foam blocks at the gymnasium where Isabel's party was held

Mya and Papa

River: Friday, May 17, 2013

River at the water table.

Finding quartz in the backyard

Papa used Daddy's shovel to dig up a piece of quartz in Mya and River and Piper's back yard.

A giant piece of quartz!

River washes dirt off the quartz.

Power washing!

An afternoon at the park: May 16, 2013

Mya monkey!  Brandy played here in Asheville when she was a little girl.  But then, the park was a swimming pool.  The pool has since been filled in and a playground built in the space.

Papa swings River high in the sky, while Mya pumps her legs to swing herself.

Mya showed River how to make a castle by turning a pail of sand upside down and  decorating the top with a twig.

The Zoomer and the General Lee

The Zoomer met the General Lee at a gas station in Longview, Texas, on our way back from celebrating Mother's Day with Great-grandma Hogan and Great-grandpa Hogan on May 11, 2013, in Shreveport.  You can see the General Lee in action on the "Dukes of Hazzard."  The owner told me he doesn't have to jump through the driver's side window to get inside; the door actually opens.

Happy Birthday, Anjanette!

We celebrated Anjanette's birthday and Mother's Day on May 12th at Hyde Park Bar and Grill.  Jade put on her "happy face" just for Mama's photo.

But you should see what he did to the sidewalk!

Poor Papa Tom!  He was out jogging and distracted by a car accident long enough to trip over a break in the sidewalk.  He had to walk several blocks home with bloody knees.  :-(   He used some cotton pads as Band-aids until he could get to the store for real adhesive bandages. Luckily we had hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin on hand.

Sarah and Jim

We got together Monday for yet another Mother's Day celebration.  Happy First Mother's Day, Sarah!  We're excited because we're going to get to take care of Jim on May 22nd, while Sarah and Kirk catch the Paul McCartney concert here in Austin.  And Sarah's flying out at 5:50 a.m. Wednesday, to LaGuardia, just 10 minutes before Papa Tom and I leave for Raleigh-Durham.  Maybe we'll wave "bon voyage" to each other at Austin-Bergstrom!

Will wonders never cease?

So now, at least in Longview, Texas, you can order a shake while you pump gas!

Mother's Day celebration in Shreveport

Great-grandma Hogan and Great-grandpa Hogan, after our Mother's Day lunch in Shreveport on Saturday, May 11, 2013

Here I am with Great-grandma Hogan, Great-grandpa Hogan, Great-aunt Donna, and Great-uncle Martin. 

Two of the Sistas

The menfolk

Destry, Colton, Papa Tom, Great-Grandpa Hogan, and Great-uncle Martin after our Mother's Day lunch on Saturday, May 11, 2013 in Shreveport.  My Dad always has the most beautiful flowers!

My Dad's nasturtiums.  He used to always have nasturtiums in Peru, where we lived from the time I was 3 until I was 8.  Seeing these on his patio brought back the rhythmic roar of the Pacific Ocean, naranjas (oranges) in my mother's giant canasta (shopping basket), two-hour school lunch breaks: we kids would walk home, grab a peanut butter sandwich, head to the beach, then back to school, with wet hair from swimming. We had no television.  The next-door neighbors had brought their television set with them from the U.S.; I asked what it was, and they said you could watch moving pictures on it; I asked them to show me and they couldn't (because there was no television station).  So I didn't believe them.  Maybe why, to this day, I still prefer National Public Radio to television?  BTW, I still have the canasta; it's my laundry basket.

Papa Tom, Great-grandpa Hogan, and Great-uncle Martin

Parrot Food

The sunflowers are blooming,  but we haven't seen any wild parrots yet

I didn't thin these out and they didn't grow as tall

Happy 5 and 31 to the May 8th birthday boys!

I wish I could have been in Portland to celebrate with this year, just like in May 2009.  

Happy 5 Mya!

Our Cinco de Mayo girl turned 5 on the fifth day of the fifth month!