Silence of My Lambs

I worked from home today, Emma was sick. Picked up Lauren and let them watch TV while I finished up with work and got dinner ready. I came out of the office to this. From the title of the posting, you see what my first thought was of the situation. Thankfully, we are not having fave beans and a nice chianti tonight for dinner or I'd be worried.

Elmo Live

When we were at our romantic dinner with the girls on Valentines day, Taco Bell**, we saw a poster for Elmo live. It was this weekend so we didn't say anything to the girls. When we got home I checked to see if there were tickets for Sunday and there still were so we went on Sunday afternoon. We had a great time and then went to Huts Hamburgers for dinner. -Bill

**Taco Bell was where Jessica and I had our first date , on Valentines Day, 11 years ago.

Valentines Day

On valentines day we enjoyed playing guitar hero with the girls. They loved dancing to the music. -Bill

First day at Paypal

Today was my first day at Paypal. I left creditcards.com last week. There are 6 other people that I know in the office who used to work at DFS. It was nice to see all the familiar faces. Top picture is my new cube and my first view of something other than a wall since I worked at Comerica 10 years ago. Bottom picture was my 1/2 cube at cc.com. -Bill

Cowgirl hats

While Jessica was trying on boots the girls tried on a few hats. -Bill

Back on the trails

Lauren, Emma and Carter (our next door neighbor) went on a trail last weekend and tried to fish for a little while. We didn't catch anything but had a good time. -Bill

My New Boots

I finally did it. After almost 8 years in Texas, I purchased my first pair of cowboy boots. I am so excited about them, that even though it's raining today, I wore them anyway, and planned my day to not leave the building.

Volcano Part II

After all the talk about making a volcano, Bill wanted to try a Mr. Wizard moment at home with the girls. It was so cool - he pulled a Macgyver maneuver, finding all the necessary components to make a mini-volcano. Dixie cup upside down, paper on the base, tape around the base (Scotch of course), baking soda (or as Lauren calls it Bakin' soda...she is a Texan), food coloring, and vinegar. We were a little unsure about the vinegar because we only had the fancy apple cider vinegar and didn't know if it had to be the plain old white distilled vinegar...and no it doesn't matter.
Lauren wanted a red volcano and Emma wanted an orange one. They poured the vinegar in and watched all the bubbles pour out. It was really fun.

A normal day at our house

I sometimes think that these blog postings have to be earth-shattering and profound, but I realize the normal days are just as interesting as the unique ones. So, here we go, a recap of a normal Monday with the Clarks (and yes, I realize today is Tuesday - I have not gotten the run down from the girls on their school activities for today, so yesterday is as real as I can get).
Emma got a woodchip in her eye at school. They called me saying Emma would not let them look at it, that she was crying a lot, and could I come to take a look? I frantically left work, but in my mind was thinking "Ha, if they think for one moment that I will have any more influence to get Emma to open her eye, they must be fooling themselves! She is the most stubborn little girl I know". She was fine when I got there - no woodchip, just a Nemo ice patch and a laughing little girl.
Lauren and Emma learned about a volcano and colored the flag of Hawaii. I asked Lauren where a volcano was and she said they were in the ocean, then came up and exploded. Emma said her teacher made a volcano and bubbles came out all over the tray.
The girls came home and it was so nice out they played in the backyard...all by themselves. I mean, what harm can happen in an enclosed space?!? They decided to turn the sandbox lid into a pretend pool, and the sand in the lid was now turned to water. Lauren poured "water" all over Emma - ugh. It wasn't even supposed to be a hair-washing day in the bath.
We played Monopolytown (a young child version of Monopoly). I still should not be allowed to play this game - I take it too seriously :-)
Off to bed and there ends the day in the Clark house.