Birthday, Shower, Crawfish and Some Sewing

Ok, running a bit behind- oops. Last Tuesday was my birthday. Chuck took the day off and we went to a Texas gun store, and when the kids got home we went to Taste of Texas. Yum! Happy Birthday to me!

My apple dumpling dessert

Chuck's Tomahawk Steak

The guys finished our shower - we're only waiting for the glass to be installed but that's a different group and they come on the 29th.

There's another shower head and handheld on the other wall,too. 

Last weekend, our neighbors had a crawfish boil to celebrate their anniversary. Chuck wheeled over the kegorator and had good food, cold beer, fun times with friends. For their anniversary gift, I appliquéd a couple of personalized kitchen towels.

Crawfish kitchen towels

Chucks plate of crawfish and bowl of butter

This week has been spent getting ready for our visitors- the Cohen's and my parents will be visiting the great state of Texas soon. Yay! In addition to the towels I was able to get some other stuff made- some is a secret still. So glad to have some time to be creative!

For my Mom's birthday - a Texas potholder

Texas quilted placemats for me

More after this weekend with Easter stuff happening. I'm making a Peeps Trifle that I found a recipe for on pinterest. Should be fun. Plus all the other Easter goodies. Have a great weekend!

Armadillos!! Real ones this time!!

Finally! Armadillos! That's this weeks big news- for me anyway.  Today, we went to the Pearland Crawfish Festival.  I bought a Groupon for it, knowing that Chuck is really excited about the start of crawfish season, and on the website they listed Armadillo Racing as some of the entertainment-bonus! We headed out this morning in spite of the wet weather and drove the 45 minutes southeast to Pearland. On the way, Chuck read some reviews and actually decided not to get any crawfish- instead he ate all kinds of other cajun food- alligator, boudin, and shrimp meat pie and I had the jambalaya. 

Then it was time for the races! The kids were finishing up a bungee bounce ride so I headed on over. I met the dillos and got to pet Van Gogh, and watched the other racer wander around the track. The kids and Chuck made it over and enjoyed the company of the critters just before race time. They are so freaking cute! At race time- they asked for volunteers. Yes, I did! W did, too. We got to go in with the armadillos, hold them by the tail and then herd them to the finish line. My race buddy, Quesa-dillo, won! Bean was racing Speed Bump and the other volunteer had H. Ross Burrow. Then, I petted all the armadillos. I really love those little guys! Totally worth the time, money and rain to go see them. 

The company that does the armadillo racing, The Sparks Agency, also does other Texas themed events for parties. I think I need a whopper of a 40th birthday party complete with armadillos and longhorn. Got that honey? You have a year to prepare. Friends and family- you have a year to make your travel arrangements. There will be armadillos. Now for the pictures...

W and M pet Van Gogh

Seriously- How cute is that?

He peeked in my boot

On your mark..

Get set

Go! Ok, so Quesa-Dillo got a little turned around. 

Van Gogh officiating

 In more mundane news the shower is coming along slowly- hopefully it will be done Tuesday. Most of the wall tile is up- just a few trim pieces left and they still need to do the floor tile. We tried a new Italian restaurant, La Parmigana, the food was really good and fresh, service could have been better. We also had some Chinese delivery, Hunan River Bistro. Our neighbor recommended this one and it was very good. We had some neighbors over to the patio for beverages, Chinese food and we even roasted marshmallows on the fire pit. The kids played out in the yard and on the playset till the wee hours. It was a good night.

This week is my birthday week! We're going to Taste of Texas for my birthday dinner, YUM! Chuck is getting me big tires for the Jeep on Wednesday. The shower should be done, and we're going to Collectors Firearms one day! Woot! Now that I have my license…. YAY!

It's not long before Casa Herrin will have visitors! We're really looking forward to showing everyone around and sharing Houston with you- and we MISS you!

I'll leave you this week with a picture of naughty Butter, caught in the act. Nope, not getting food, but balls. The kids got balls for their birthday and Butter needed them. Silly bulldog.

April Already?

Time flies- we've been Texans for 3 months now. I am documented- I have my Texas drivers license! Now we can file for homestead exemption on our property taxes and get our Texas CHL. Yay!

This last work week was more on maintenance than adding new. I did get a low fence added to the back yard to keep the dogs on their side to do their business. Makes scooping easier and Great Danes poop a lot.  All the plants are doing well, the weather has been great- spring is here! Hopefully it will stick around for a while before letting summer in.

I did find a couple of garden shops with yard art- this time I went with concrete. I added a grumpy frog, an armadillo, an alligator, an otter and a Texas shape. I need to get some landscaping fabric down, some mulch and a few more plants- maybe this weekend.

Texas

Otter and my blooming peach hibiscus

Frog sitting by the lemon tree

Over the weekend, the kids had their birthday party at IT'Z. It went very well. There are rides and arcade games and bowling and a buffet -and on and on. The kids have already said they want to do the same thing next year. Soooo much easier than the parties I throw them myself.

After the party, we went to the German Heritage Festival in Tomball. It was a very large event with rides, games, vendors, musicians, food and of course BEER!  We didn't stay very long, but had a good time. Chuck and I got our beer boots, he had sausages, I had strudel. The girls had ice-cream, root beer and got their faces painted. They even tried to ride a bull. 

Oh, no! An empty boot!

M's design

W's fire breathing dragon and a root beer

Sunday we tried a another Mexican restaurant recommended by our neighbor called Gringos. We got an appetizer sampler- the southwest rolls were my favorite and the empanadas were really yummy, too. Chuck got fish tacos that he really enjoyed, the kids got nachos and I got a combination with an enchilada, nachos, and a taquito. It was really good, I think Lupe Tortilla is still my favorite, though.

On Monday, Chuck got his present of a kegerator.  While set up was a little more involved than I had planned for, we now have fresh beer on tap-woot! Currently, it's a super frothy pour but hopefully after getting the pressure set right it'll be more liquid and less foam.  It was later than expected when we went to get the C02 tank filled so we stopped at another Mexican restaurant, Chuy's- since I was starving and we had heard good things and there was no wait.  First, they have really good sweet tea- not all that easy to come by here, next their salsa fresca is amazing, and they have a jalapeño sauce to dip in thats great as well. The enchiladas I had were good, Chuck got a giant steak burrito, M got mini tacos and W got a hamburger. Everybody was happy with their meal.  We'll definitely go back- just the chips and dip assure that!

Ready to go!

Today is an exciting day, too! It's shower remodel day! The guys from Statewide Remodeling are here and currently they are demolishing the old shower/tub. Hopefully, they'll be done in time for the plumbers to get in today, too, so we can keep this along. The dogs are doing pretty well with the intrusion- some noises get them barking, and Butter is a bit scared of the trashcan they keep rolling in and out. 

Bye-bye, tiny shower!

On another interior decorating note- I got my birthday present from my parents in the mail last weekend- 4 bulldog pillows. They go great in the round chair! 

Best chair ever-complete with bulldog pillows and real bulldog!

This week is pretty much reserved for babysitting the workers, but this weekend we have a Groupon to the Pearland Crawfish Festival. Yum! I'll be back to share...