HappyBear at Play

Go, go, LittleBear!

A fun family weekend in Galveston!

Wow - it's been over a month since our last post?? Yikes!

Before any more time slips away, we should recap our first family vacation as a trio to somewhere other than grandparents' houses -- a long weekend in Galveston with the Brown family!

Thanks to Aunt Sue and Uncle Vic's generosity, Jeff's whole family -- the three of us, Aunt Sue and Uncle Vic, Grandma B, Kim, Josh and their four kids -- were all able to stay together in a house right on the beach at Galveston for four days (three nights). It was beautiful weather -- couldn't have been more perfect, really, with highs in the low 80s and cooling off at night. The house was amazing -- plenty of room for all 12 of us, and Bethany especially enjoyed the decks off the back that overlooked the ocean.

The water stayed pretty shallow until you got really far out, so that worked well for all the kids. Being just out of peak season, the beach was almost empty besides us. We think we saw a bit of oil around, presumably from the big oil spill this summer, but not enough to affect us in any way. We were just a few minutes from the Sea Wall, too, which pleased Bethany's historical side and provided an opportunity for us young parents to conveniently get away for a date one night.

The three of us also got to share lunch one day with our friends Tim, Jenn and their new baby Emma from Pennsylvania, who moved down to Galveston to help those who suffered (and are still suffering) following Hurricane Ike. It was fun, guys, and so nice to meet Emma!

Back with the family, the kids all really seemed to enjoy playing together. LittleBear spent a lot of time admiring what the bigger kids were doing (esp. Little J), and I think Little J and E had fun doting on LittleBear, too. Us parents appreciated having a few extra sets of adult eyes to help watch all the little ones, too!

Lots of fun times were had by all! Here's our round-up of pics from the weekend (including quite a few shared by Aunt Sue and Kim), and here's a video of LittleBear and Little J playing in the house one afternoon.

Embedded below is another video of LittleBear during his first foray into the water. He seemed to generally enjoy it, until he was hit in the face by his first wave of salt water. That pretty much did him in at that point. We went back out again the next day, and he again bravely walked into the water right alongside us until he got another taste of salt water. That was enough for him. We'll try again when he's a little older.

All in all, a very fun weekend with family!!

Bethany's Latest Project: Sofa Slipcover!!!

This year I've been on a mission to simplify things around the house and try to make our home work in a more efficient and comfortable way for us. I also decided that I wanted to try to get the place looking the way I had always envisioned it (especially since we've been here three years). So, I started in the Living Room. No worries, all of these changes were discussed with the Mr. of the house and thankfully, he was fine with it :)

We had a great sofabed and loveseat that were functional, but not very large and just didn't seem that comfortable anymore. The sofa wasn't long enough for either of us to lay out on and they just seemed a bit bulky in the room. So, I sold the sofa and loveseat on Craigslist and then bought a "new" sofa. I say "new" because it's definitely from the early 70s, but was in impeccable condition (really, I don't think the previous owner ever even sat on it). The only catch was that the fabric was all velour stripes in varying colors. So, I got a wild hare to sew a slipcover for the couch. After finding a great e-book on the how tos of sewing a sofa slipcover from Pink and Polka Dot, I took the plunge and went to Walmart to buy my white duck fabric.

Thanks to my friend Sarah for her help and encouragement to make the first few cuts, we now have a sofa that not only is a better fit for us, but everyone agrees it's more comfortable. It seats more people and definitely gives a more cozy and comfy feel to our Living Room. I also found some great tables at a yard sale, which will give us tons more storage too!

Ok, enough rambling...here are the pictures :)

Here's the way it was when I started:
This shows the "new" sofa with slipcover underway:
Fabric Close-Up:

And here it is completed (LittleBear left the turtle there for scale- Thanks Auntie Diane, he really loves those turtles!)!!
Without the turtle:

There are some parts of the Living Room I'm still working on, including throw pillows for the sofa and the wall art behind it. I'm scouting Craigslist and garage sales for two arm chairs that I can tinker with as well. I'd also eventually like to get some different, brighter lamps, but that will have to wait for the time being. Still, it's a lot more efficient and functional than it was before and we spend a lot more time in this room now. I'm definitely getting closer to that vintage, cozy feel I've always hoped for!

LittleBear's first football game!

We took LittleBear out to Floyd Casey Stadium for his first football game Saturday, as Baylor hosted Sam Houston State in the 2010 season opener. (The Bears beat the Bearkats, 34-3.)

LittleBear did great! It was a 6 p.m. kickoff, so we left the house about 4 in order to have time to walk around some of the tailgating and such before finding our seats. That, in turn, meant LittleBear's afternoon nap was cut short, and then with the night game he was out well past his normal bedtime. Thankfully, our seats were in the shade, and with a high temperature of 91, the day was about as cool as a day this time of year in Texas. (We left early in the fourth quarter, as LittleBear really was starting to fade, but overall we think he did really, really well.) Here's a shot of the three of us before the game (and here are some more of our pics from the game, if you're interested):

He wasn't very interested in what was going on down on the field, but boy did he love the band! Just about every time the band started playing -- which was often -- LittleBear started bouncing or dancing or waving his arms (see video below for a shot during the halftime performance). We knew he loved music, but this was fun to see. Perhaps he'll be a drum major in that band someday!

The rest of the time, he was kept occupied looking around and enjoying his snacktrap full of Cheerios (which Mommy had to fill up three times!). In the third quarter, he made friends with the two young boys sitting in front of us, who took a great deal of interest in him and started playing "catch" with LittleBear, as he would toss his water bottle to them and they would hand it back. That made him laugh and laugh. Very cute!

We look forward to enjoying many more Baylor games in the coming weeks and years!

Sic 'em, Baylor football, and sic 'em, LittleBear!