today's pic.

diapers drying in the sun. mailman making the rounds. a beautiful morning in the 'hood.

guitar lesson.

yesterday's photo~




 Hazel's onesie was too plain yesterday, so i sewed a little felt to it. i think she liked it.

i'm here trying to keep Hazel balanced on my lap while she eating so i can type this out real quick before Brian gets home.

we just got home from the park. we met us with Karen, Keegan, and Jewels. K and i always have such a good time together. she's a good friend and i intend to keep up the relationship if we move away from this neighborhood.

school wrapped up early today. the kids have developed some self discipline and don't have to be reminded over and over to do their work.

Hazel was baptized at Redeemer yesterday.

LOL. i'm giving someone the evil eye here.

 

even though neither Brian's parents, nor my mom and stepdad are of the infant baptism persuasion, they showed their support by attending. Daddy is "all about" infant baptism as he was raised Catholic, but i didn't expect him to come as he's been really sick lately (he's taking meds to kill off hepC which make him feel like the walking dead). after church, Brian's parents left to head back home, and my mom and stepdad took all of us out to lunch at Trudy's.

Margaret and i did a Girl Scout cookie booth at the Walgreen's in Hyde Park for a couple of hours that afternoon along with Sherry and her daughters, Marissa and Brienna. we did really well. i think we sold about 75 boxes in the two hours we were there.

i was exhausted last night and headed to bed before 8.

i've been feeling "off" lately. i feel kind of like i've drifted. i guess i'm letting the busyness of life get the best of me. i'd appreciate prayer.

still trying to catch up with pictures.

yesterday we ran the Vern's No Frills 5k up in Georgetown.

it was bitterly cold. ok, for us native Texans it was.

we went straight from there out to the old family farm house in Manor for a work day. this old farm is going on 150 years old. no one lives in it, but the family uses it for get togethers. we've started having work days out there to try to keep the house from falling apart too quickly.

i love when the kids "have a mind to work" as Nehemiah put it, and finish their school work quickly, as they did yesterday. they were done around lunch time, so we had the afternoon to clean house, play wii, play dress up, and watch Ramona and Beezus. days like that feel as near perfect as they come. while the kids watched the movie, i finished up Hazel's christening gown. i am really happy with how it turned out. sewing is very therapeutic for me.

last night the kids put on a play for Brian and i, one they'd been working on for awhile. here was the set up.

it was cute. they're such creative beings and i love them so! the play ended with the villain getting saved, which i thought was really cool. may all the villains in the world be saved! =)

tomorrow we all will be running Vern's No Frills 5K up in Georgetown. maybe i already mentioned that. we've been kind of training for it for it, running around the 'hood. i wouldn't be surprised if Margaret beats the rest of us, she's been running really well.

i've been having fun perusing the real estate listings. i've found the beauties. wonder what it would be like to move to a small town after living smack dab in the city for the past 9 years?



for an unbelievable $299K


also for $299K


for $295K

well, Brian is almost here with a car full of hungry basketball players, so i'd better get dinner warmed up.

happy friday night, folks!

i love this woman's blog. maybe everyone has been reading her forever, but i've just recently discovered her. i really enjoyed this most recent post of hers.

catching up on pictures.

school day.

 Margaret and Samuel out in our school room.

finished product

 Hazel's christening gown, slip, and bonnet

well, i already bombed on the daily photo thing. i'll try to get back at it today. here are a couple from last week~

friday

Hazel trying to roll over from back to tummy. she can do the other (tummy to back), but hasn't perfected the back to tummy. silly arm kept getting in the way!

saturday

the girls - fixin to go shoppin. i should've got Margaret in the pic, too, but she was still getting beautified, i think.

Margaret worked on friday. i took the boys to the store and then over to Target so they could do a little shopping. Margaret and Samuel had a basketball game friday night. another loss.=( we drove down to Matt's El Rancho after the game to use a gift card we got for Christmas, but the wait time for a table was over an hour, so we opted for Taco Cabana instead.

we worked around the house most of saturday. we girls went to Hobby Lobby and i bought the fabric for such for Hazel's christening gown, and Margaret got stuff to make an Easter dress, and also some art supplies. she is really coming a long in her art even without any instruction. she is so talented.

i worked on cutting out Hazel's dress most of saturday afternoon, went out and ran, and then did the grocery shopping for the week. we watched football saturday night. i think.

went to church on sunday, then tried Matt's again. this time there wasn't a crowd. it was delicious, as usual.

we decided to drive out to Taylor to look at a house i saw online. they were having an open house, so we toured the place. we all fell hard for this beautiful 1898 house.



it's just about within reach of what we could afford, if only we were ready to buy. so for now we wait and pray. it is really our dream house. if God wants us to have it, He, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, can provide. it's been on the market 9 months already.

i'm been running regularly for more than a week now. it feels wonderful to be back in shape! we're running the Vern's No Frills 5K on saturday.

Girl Scout cookie sales start tomorrow. we've got cases of cookies piled in the living room ready to go!

well, time for school to start.

this is yesterday's picture -

Hazel really gets into movie night at our house.

this will be a short blog post since i'm in the midst of cooking dinner - tilapia, homemade wheat bread, fresh lemony green beans, spinach salad, oh, and new potatoes. kind of a springy dinner to go along with this springy weather.

i took the kids hiking at barton creek greenbelt yesterday afternoon after we finished schooling. we didn't stay out there too long since the sun was starting to sink behind the hills and we were getting cold and hungry. i took the kids out for dinner since Brian was going to a deacons' meeting and dinner would be provided. since he'd be out late, i tried to make the evening  fun by letting the kids have a movie night even though it was a school night. after picking up a few dvds at the library, we came home, made a fire in the fireplace, popped popcorn, and watched Monsters, Inc.

Hazel actually slept in her pack-n-play for half the night. hurray for progress! she's also making progress in her disposition. she sits and smiles now, even if she isn't being held.

after we finished up school today, i took the kids over to Mueller and we walked the two mile loop. the weather was so delicious i could've eaten it. sadly it will all change tonight when we get another cold front.

here's today's photo

lettuce from John's garden

two school days down so far in this semester. today turned out much better than yesterday. i threatened to drop the boys at the nearest school because of their fighting. the day was cold and rainy so they couldn't go out and play which made them stir crazy. we did eventually get out to the neighborhood library in the late afternoon. a trip to the library always makes the day brighter.

Brian took Margaret and Samuel to basketball. i had planned to get out and exercise, but i was tired and decided to stay home and do weights instead. after Brian got home we watched some of the BCS championship game together, but turned in before it was over.

this morning we all got out and ran the neighborhood. i think i'm going to start running with Brian and the kids every other morning. i've been going over to the trail at Mueller every day to run/walk, but it would be more convenient for me to just run over here. Brian, Margaret, and Samuel run 3 miles every other morning, William and John are currently running a mile, but should be running more like 2. we're all going to run the Vern's No Frills 5K in a week on the 18th again (they have one every month). i have no idea what pace i should shoot for. i haven't run a 5K in a year.

it's a beautiful day today even though it is cold. i think i'll take the kids hiking this afternoon.

i'm a bit late getting started, but i want to do like many of my friends have done, and post a picture a day here on my blog.

here's today's ~

i'm two months old today!

last night Brian and i (and Hazel) enjoyed some patio dining at Paco's Tacos around the corner from our house. we did some curriculum planning over dinner, and i feel a lot more confident going into this next semester. 

 i thought we had matured beyond this, but i guess not: Hazel was up all night. she wasn't really fussing, just squirming and wanting to eat, and so i was up all night as well. i still got up and took Hazel out for some exercise this morning. i'll get rest later on this afternoon (hopefully).

Hazel had her two month well check. she weighs 10 pounds 6 ounces and is 22 inches long. that puts her between the 25th and 50th percentile, but has a head that is in the 75th percentile. i guess she's really smart.

mama and Mike brought the kids back this morning. they had a wonderful time out there wandering in the woods and building forts, but were ready to come home. they're all such home bodies.

basketball season for the kids starts tonight. Brian is coaching Margaret and Samuel's team which makes it even more exciting.

i've been meaning to put down some new year's goals, but just haven't had the time. stay tuned.

i bought three packages of Starbucks Via Christmas Blend at target the other day. i tried it for the first time this morning. it ain't half bad. and it was like an instant pick-me-up to this worn out body.

well, off to conquer the world. or at least the laundry room.

Pessimism is a waste of time. - Norman Cousins

the big kids are at my mom's in Burnet, and Hazel is in her crib napping, so i've got a few minutes to myself.

my mom came in to Austin and took the kids yesterday afternoon. she wanted to get them out there for a couple of days before we started back to school. i'm giving them this week off since i made them do school the week of Christmas and so that Brian and i can do some planning. last night we went out to El Chile. they have half price apps until 7, and $1 off drinks, so we shared an appetizer and then split a plate of enchiladas. i also got a cactus apple margarita, i think that was what it was called. it was yummy. i love how you can drink down a frozen margarita like it's a slurpee, and think, "ok, that was good, but where's the kick?" and then suddenly it hits you like a load of bricks. we walked around French Place for about an hour after dinner, then came home and watched some of the Orange Bowl.

this morning after Brian left for work, i took Hazel down to the town lake trail and ran the 7.2 mile loop. well, i mostly ran it. i took a few walk breaks to make a couple of phone calls. the weather couldn't be more beautiful today. thank you, Lord!

have i mentioned how much i love these 80's inspired fashions that are in now? well, i do. they make me feel young again, and they remind me of all the cool outfits my sister had when we were growing up. see, i was 5 to 15 in the 80's, and didn't fully get fashion yet. my sister, being three years older and very cutting edge, wore all the latest styles. i have restocked my wardrobe using Christmas money and gift cards. it's nice to be out of maternity clothes, by the way.

speaking of clothes, i found these jeans at the thrift store a few weeks ago for $10.



if you go to the True Religion site you'll see that they go for $319. i feel kinda smug when i wear them. LOL.

here's a promotional video about Austin made in the 1950's. the cool thing about it is that it features our neighborhood Windsor Park as it was being built.

well, i've been sitting here with olive oil on my hair (trying to moisten it up - it's so dry!) and better go wash it out before Hazel needs me again.

oh, before i go, i have one more link to share. a friend of mine put this on FB, and i thought it was good.

sweet Hazel is over in her swing starting to cry. she just realized that she was put down after she fell asleep. she has to be touching a warm body at all times. i don't mind so much. i guess i've bought into the attachment thing. it just seems more natural to me. so she gets worn or carried just about all day. and sleeps with us at night. i know she'll grow out of it eventually, but i like giving her as much security as possible while she's just starting out.

we stayed around the house today. it's all cleaned up now. in theory i like to keep my Christmas decor up until Epiphany, you know, observing the 12 days of Christmas, but this year i brought everything down a few days early. the house suddenly feels so clean and fresh.

we're all big Peanuts fans here in the Wells fam, and William gave Brian this book for Christmas -



as Brian is busy reading something else, i asked to read it. it's really well written and awfully interesting, but then i just like biographies.

the kids are going to go out to Burnet tomorrow. i'll have two days to plan out the second half of the school year while they're away. i really hope i can use my time wisely and do what needs to be done.

well, i'm fading away. off to bed i go.

highlights of 2011

this has been a strange year. it's really hard to believe that the first half and the second half are all in the same year. they're that different.

january saw Brian and i training for the Austin Livestrong Marathon. when we discovered that a student at our childrens' school had been diagnosed with leukemia, we turned our training into a fundraising effort. Run for Ricky raised nearly $2000 to help the Zamora family. Margaret started Girl Scout cookie sales mid month and basketball season started for the kids at the YMCA. Brian turned 38 at the end of the month.

february had us running a lot, finishing up our marathon training. thankfully neither of us were ending the season with injuries. i gave a bridal shower for my friend Jess, and also helped her with wedding preparations. Brian and i celebrated Valentine's Day with a dinner at Eastside Cafe. a few days later we witnessed our friends, Chris and Jess say their wedding  vows. two days later we celebrated Samuel's 10th birthday, the same day Brian and i ran a marathon together, my 6th and Brian's 5th. the highlight was seeing the Zamora family sitting on the curb at mile 23. the last week of february we had a good amount of snow and the very rare snow day from school. it was all fun and games until memorial day rolled around and the kids realized that they had to go to school that day to make up for the snow day.

march blew in and i spent all my money on pregnancy tests. Brian and i had discussed on Valentine's Day how cool adding another person to our family would be. i was pregnant by the end of the week. i took a total of ten pregnancy tests until i got three positives on march 9th. i'll never forget riding my bike across town to Dollar Tree and buying a handful of tests that morning. when they showed up positive, i took a picture and texted it to Brian. we took a trip out west to Big Bend for spring break. i continued my work at the church on tuesdays and thursdays, and also teaching sunday school in the 4 year old class.

april was the month of daddy's birthday, and Easter, and Margaret's 12th birthday, and the birth of my third niece, Anni Noble. april also ushered in morning sickness like i'd never experienced before.

may came in hotter than usual. little did we know what extreme temps lay ahead for us! we made a trip down to Galveston to celebrate William's 9th birthday and stayed in our neighbor, Dan's cottage on the island. the kids skipped out on their snow makeup day while we splashed around in the gulf.

june brought the last day of school and John's 7th birthday. we celebrated by going to Schlitterbahn with Karen, Keegan, and Jules. we swam a lot in June. we also decided to make a drastic change and homeschool the kids for the next school year. once we decided that, we ordered our materials and got busy. Brian coached Samuel's little league baseball team, and William and John played baseball at the Y. Margaret had a great season swimming with the Patterson Pirhanas.

july was hot as a fire cracker. Independence Day celebrations were cancelled all over the state because of the extreme draught, and everything everywhere was dry and brown. we took the trailer out to Pedernales State Park where we met up with our friends, the Simpsons. we managed to find some water in the river there, water that wasn't stagnant, which made our camping trip way more enjoyable than it otherwise would have been.

august started out with a trip down to the gulf with my family. it was such fun to have all the cousins together, as well as Leah, Thomas, and i. that doesn't happen so much these days. the next week, we took a road trip east through the deep south, ending up in Gulf Shores, AL. where we met up with Brian's family. once we got home, we began schooling in earnest.

september brought more heat and hundreds of wildfires in central texas. it seemed like the whole state was burning up. Brian and i took a babymoon the weekend of my birthday and went up to Jefferson. i turned 36 this  month. the kids started soccer at the Y.

october came and so did a little rain. i ran in the IBM Uptown Classic 10K at the beginning of the month. Brian and i celebrated 14 fabulous years together on the 11th, and then we all began to get more excited about Hazel's arrival. the kids all dressed up as pirates for Halloween and i dressed as a pumpkin.

november brought Hazel Jane. we celebrated Thanksgiving with my family and then went up to Kilgore to celebrate with Brian's family. Margaret and Samuel ran their first 5K and did remarkably well.

december was filled with school, shopping, cooking, and crafting. we all got sick and were out of commission for a couple of weeks. we celebrated Christmas with as many relatives as possible and spent the last week of the year up in Kilgore with Brian's family, including his sister and her husband who came down from Nashville.

this has been such a full and beautiful year for me personally. God has been so merciful to me. words fail me.

i look forward with great hope and anticipation to the new year and what He has in store.

2011
1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before? give birth to my 5th child. never given birth to my 5th before.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? i need to look back through my blog and see what resolutions i made this time last year. sadly i can't recall what they were.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? me! and most of my cyber friends and many of my real life friends. it was so exciting to count down to their due dates with them!

4. Did anyone close to you die? yes. Jackson Boyett and his wife Barbara were killed in a car accident right after Thanksgiving. Jackson was Brian and my pastor when we were dating and to whom we went for marriage counseling. he married us and was a big influence on us in our first year of marriage. also, my step-grandmother. she and my grandfather divorced many years ago and he remarried, but the family remained close to Naomi and her children, my aunts Laura and Carol. Noami passed away right after Thanksgiving as well.

5. What trips did you take? Big Bend, Galveston, Port Aransas, Gulf Shores, Alabama, a camping trip to Pedernales S.P. with our friends the Simpsons. there may be some more in there that i'm forgetting.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? a larger home or larger lot for my kiddies to roam.

7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?  march 9th, the day i knew for sure that i was pregnant (after taking a total of 10 tests over 2 weeks).

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? running my 6th marathon and giving birth to my 5th child, although that doesn't seem much like an achievement as i kind of sat back and let God work His miracle.

9. What was your biggest failure? not keeping my mouth shut


10. Did you suffer illness or injury? nothing serious

11. What was the best thing you bought?  baby things!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?  my children. they've adjusted really well to all the changes we've had this year
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? not sure14. Where did most of your money go? mortgage, food, church, medical/dental bills

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? seeing Hazel Jane for the first time

16. What song will always remind you of 2010? not sure
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder? happier. this has been the best year of my life


18. What do you wish you'd done more of?  invite people over

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? spend time on the computer


20. How did you spend Christmas? with all sides of the family


21. How will you spend New Years? here at home with my little family


22. What was your favorite TV program? college football

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? no

24. What was the best book you read? The Help

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? can't recall

26. What did you want and got? a healthy baby girl

27. What was your favorite film of this year? i didn't go see a single one

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?  i was 36 an Brian and i took a babymoon - a three night stay at a b&b in Jefferson.

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? spending more time communing with my Lord
31. What kept you sane? daily exersize

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? huh?
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010? boho maternity



33. What political issue stirred you the most? i guess i don't pay enough attention

34. Who did you miss? old friends that i dearly love, but that i don't get to see very often

35. Who was the best new person you met? some of my cyber friends, especially Courtney.

36. Tell us some valuable life lessons you learned in 2010:  "don't sweat the little stuff & it's all little stuff" is true.