The Prattfall

Caitlyn's First Concert

2010-03-11T13:23:00.001-06:00

Astronaut!

2010-03-08T10:20:00.001-06:00

James and Caitlyn played memory Sunday afternoon. She did great. It was really cute. When ever she would get a match I would sing 'go caitlyn. go caitlyn. go. go. go caitlyn!" and she would smile and roll her eyes and and dance and then tell me to stop singing. and then she would say thank you. she wanted me to do it every time but she tolkd me to stop everytime. i started just mouthing the words and we did a little silent dance. she is really a funnny sweet girl.

cute things

2010-03-04T10:28:00.003-06:00

So it was bound to happen. on the car ride home from swim lessons toby nailed caitlyn in the neck with a huge blow using his......come on - i know you know ....if you answered SWORD you would be correct. Caitlyn was upset, i yelled, caitlyn was fine, and toby felt bad. then in a sad little voice toby said, "I want to make catie feel better. I want to be a doctor for her so she feel better" It was pretty sweet. and very cute. i guess the dr kit Grandpa Hamp and Grandma Sue got toby is paying off...

In other Caitlyn related news, this morning she was watching cartoons and some of the girl cartoons were being mean or rude or whatever to another little girl and caitlyn marched over to me and said,"mom those girls are not being nice. they are mean and they will never be allowed to have a dog." she is so fond of our Pearl and she is reminded daily that having Pearl is a big responsibility and requires a lot of love and patience. clearly the mean cartoons didnt fathom this and therefore should never be entrusted with a dog. So there you have it. if you need a character reference, just see if the person has a nice dog. Caitlyn, you are a wise young lady!

Big sky country

2010-03-03T13:03:00.001-06:00

I took this while driving home from Houston the other day. It's a pretty country drive. A storm was rolling in. I love it when you can see the divide between clear and dark skies...

Setting the table

2010-02-26T17:51:00.000-06:00

our kids are going through a phase where they love to set the table - plates, forks, napkins. it is really great. even pearl was getting in on the act!

Thanks Nana and Grandbub!

2010-02-26T17:49:00.001-06:00

We love toby's new shirt! he got lots of compliments! he is starting to look grown!

Sorry Longhorn Fans

2010-02-25T12:28:00.003-06:00

Swim lessons

2010-02-25T12:24:00.001-06:00

Caitlyn and Toby have been going to swim lessons and it has been very exciting to watch them progress! Toby always fought to get in the water except this past time we had them play in the sprinklers before lessons - i think being soaked to the bone and being so happy and having such a great time made toby forget that he was supposed to be grumpy. he is one of the top swimmers in the group! they all where little life vests but he is showing a lot of strngth out there! very cute! caitlyn is really working hard and hopefully will graduate to the next level - she just needs to kick with straight legs instead of trying to 'run' but she looks like a ballerina out there when she gets it done right. so cute!

Snow Angels!

2010-02-24T09:38:00.004-06:00

It was snowy yesterday! The kids got to play in it even though it is almost all gone. They tried to make snow angels and they threw snow balls!!
Snow day photos here!

It's SNOWING in Round Rock!

2010-02-23T11:26:00.009-06:00

Can you believe it! We had HUGE chunks of snow fall. As the day progresses it's gotten a little more slushy. but parts of our grass are covered! Caitlyn said it was magical! I couldnt agreemore! Toby looked out the window but he was more interested in getting one of us to cook him eggs. Caitlyn went out side to run around in it and she wanted to play with Pearl in the snow but alas it was getting late and traffic was going to be rough today so hopefully we still have snow this evening so Caitlyn and Pearl can have a snow ball fight! More snow pictures here! The pictures are mostly of Pearl just because she is home with me and the kids are at school but hopefully I'll add more tonight!

Happy Chinese New year!

2010-02-23T10:46:00.002-06:00

Toby was nervous around all the dragons (this one actually breathed fire!) but after some Vietnemese Pho he had a full belly and was ready to get cultural (p.s. pho is just chicken noodle soup that uses vermicelli noodles) It was areally fun and a beautiful sunny day!

Dog whisperer

2010-02-23T09:43:00.002-06:00

last night caitlyn went with me for an evening walk with pearl. pretty amazing because she had a full day at daycare, 45 minute one-on-one swim lesson, and then she set the table, cleaned up after dinner, and then - seriously- she wanted to feed and walk the dog. she is the hardest working 4 yr old i know! The walk was priceless! she told me stories the whole time. she was a little nervous by the darkness but she loved seeing the stars and she told me a story about a witch and then a story about a little girl who visits a fox's house and make s a birhday cake with lots of other animals. tooo cute. in unrelated news, but just as-cute-news, Toby wanted me to read story after story last night and during one of the stories, while we looked at a picture of slinky-linky- jazz cat, i told toby he was a crazy cat. "I'm not a crazy cat! i'm a crazy toby!" it was so funny. he is so sweet.

Blue Eyes and her Bee

2010-02-22T17:02:00.002-06:00

Beth visits!

2010-02-22T16:58:00.003-06:00

My college friend beth came to visit! it was wonderful! we went spelunking in Georgetown. It was pretty great - we saw an underground coral reef because texas was once underwater! we went to the outlet mall, a chinese new years festival that had fire breathing dragons, and we went to 6th street for some Alamo Ritz and Iron Cactus. It was really great! but much too short. Can't wait to see beth again! to see more of the georgetown caverns and of our visit click here!

Pearl of a Girl!

2010-02-19T09:24:00.003-06:00

So how did she get the name Pearl, you ask? Caitlyn - when she decided we were getting a dog - said she wanted to name our dog, Blitzen. I liked Chomsky. Toby liked Charlie. James thought it would be best to keep the name the dog already had. When we found out our girl's name was Pearl, we all thought about it, and for different reasons we all decided it was the best name. It's easy to say, we can call her The Black Pearl like the Pirate Ship in "Pirates of the Caribbean", it is a family name (james' Aunt was named Pearl), and it was the beverage of choice for Paul Newman in the movie, HUD. Need we say more. She is our Pearl.

A new addition!

2010-02-18T14:27:00.006-06:00

Introducing PEARL! Yes, we have a new family member and SHE is GORGEOUS! Caitlyn had been asking for a dog for a long time now and last Monday her wish came true! She has taken pearl for walks, put fresh food in her bowl and sneaked her many many treats. They are buds. Even Toby loves Pearl. Last Tuesday night during our evening walk we stopped in a field to pet her and toby was giving her HUGS. And saying I lobe you Pearl (which I think means love, but in cutey dog speak).
So who is Pearl? She was born to breeders who accidentally cross bred a collie and a lab. After 4 months Pearl and her 7 siblings were put up for adoption. Pearl had been living with a foster family when we met her. Once we decided she was our dog the foster family dropped her off at Southern Star Ranch to receive 'boot camp' training. She had a great disposition for our family but we thought her working with professional trainers would only make her transition into our home easier. She is 2 years old (born Jan 30, 2008), she is house broken, she is not a barker, she is shy and very sweet. She knows how to sit, lay down, stay and come. and she loves treats, peanut butter, and long walks around our neighborhood. My legs are sore from all the fast walking we've done together. SHe doesnt chase balls yet but I think her instincts will kick in once she gets comfortable. So far she doesnt have any bad habits - hopefully we can keep it that way - she has never begged for people food, she doesnt jump on people, actually when new people arrive she heads to her crate-home where she likes to hang out. We are very excited to have her. It's been so fun to walk with her, and to see Cailtyn love her. Last night Caitlyn and I were outside looking at the stars with Pearl and I thought to myself this was the best decision we've made as a family! I sure hope this honeymoon phase continues! Because right now everything is great!

We visited a Farm!

2010-02-18T14:23:00.003-06:00

Lat Monday we headed out to the COUNTRY and visited the prettiest farm. Lots of calves, hiefers and 'short' horns (not quite Longhorns). Due to drought conditions the cows had no winter grass to eat. But they got to munch on food pellets Toby and Caitlyn fed them. Why were we at this farm, The Southern Star Ranch of Georgetown? They train dog trainers and dogs. Our dog Pearl was a resident here for a month. She seemed to really love it!

Toby's 3rd Birthday Party!

2010-02-15T06:08:00.003-06:00

For Toby's 3rd birthday we rented a big Pirate Ship Bouncey in the back yard. Toby loved it! Toby and Caitlyn raced to the store with me at 8am and got purple, blue and red balloons, ice, and then to Round Rock Donuts for 24 chocolate glazed round rocks (toby's fav) and 6 plain round rocks, the we went to Rudy's BBQ and picked up 30 breakfast tacos. Mmmm, love their homemade salsa. Once we got home I glazed the ham and put it in the oven, and James watched the kids bounce. Several friends form the neighborhood and a couple from Toby's school attended. It was a really fun. Toby had so much fun. He was so happy and when everyone sang him happy birthday he was exploding with happiness. He got a big spiderman ice cream cake with M7Ms embedded in the icecream. it was very tastey. After most of the guests left my neighbors stayed and we watched the olymics and grazed on all the good food. With the left over ham I'm going to make the famous Kramer Corn Chowder. Yum! Happy bday toby! (we are going to need an umbrella stand or something for all these swords!) CHeck out the party pictures! p.s. we took more video than pictures so i will post those soon)

Happy Birthday, Toby Bear!

2010-02-10T12:33:00.003-06:00

toby's birthday fell on a tuesday. james baked a red velvet cake and had the kids help decorate it. toby and caitlyn really enjoyed the delicious cake. toby opened a couple of presents but will save the remainder for this weekend when he has his boirthday party!

Cinderella Story...

2010-02-10T12:28:00.002-06:00

Sometimes toby will aks to dress up in caitlyn's play clothes. sometimes i'll help im put on a princess dress, and then he'll instantly want if off. othertimes, he wants matching shoes....he is so cute. last week he dressed up and caitlyn teased him. i told her it was okay for toby to 'play pretend' and there werent any rules when you are using your imagination. so this time catie laughed when she saw toby but she didnt tease him, she let him enter her imaginary play land where she was santa clause, the pillow was her sled and the toys were for all the good boys and girls who listened to her words and did exactly as she said. she also controlled the sun's rising and setting. it was quite a rigious schedule. playing with her is hard work - she demands a lot. but toby and i managed to play along. even in heels we kept up!

I want to play Hungry Hippo... With my sword!

2010-02-04T15:38:00.005-06:00

Ursula gave catie and toby gift certificates for christmas. yesterday i let the kids shop for whatever they wanted but they had to stay within the price range of the gift card. it was fun to watch them shop. we had all sorts of stuff swapping in and out of the cart. a movie, no playdoh, no a soft plush stuffed horse, no .....A SWORD! Toby dropped everything to have the GI Joe kit - sword, mask ninja starts, and accessories. Caitlyn got hungry hippo and the princess and the frog book and stickers. it was very fun. they love their gifts so much. thanks ursula! they love their presents!
Of course, it lead to the funniest comment of the night - Toby said "I want to play hungry Hippo. With my Sword!" the game will never be the same!

Wild West Night!

2010-02-01T10:04:00.002-06:00

James and I went out on a date and it was so fun. We went to Fort Hood for Wild West night! It was so great! We both rode the bull. played blackjack. and had a fun time watching the live auction. all money went to charity - fort hood was donating the money to the community which i thought was awesome.

More dress up!

2010-01-20T15:46:00.002-06:00

Toby loves his Jolly Roger flag - he uses it as a cape! always asking me to append it to his shirt! He has so many 'swords' these days. He loves to protect us - whenever a bad part of the movie appears - a witch or a dragon in sleeping beauty for example, toby charges the tv, roaring and pointing his sword. he'll never hit the tv, just freeze - standing with his sword pointing, his arm extended - so adorable.

Dressing up!

2010-01-20T15:45:00.002-06:00

Caitlyn in her hannah montana and toby in fireman pjs! they are cuties!

Like Daughter like mother :)

2010-01-20T15:43:00.002-06:00