No, it's just the photo shoot the girls did for Bill's father's day present this year. He wanted this picture frame from Target that looks like computer memory. I had the girls dress up in nerd wear and put a picture of them in the frame. But it was so hard picking just one picture. So, here's the montage of them all....
Bill's brother Steve recently celebrated his 40th birthday. His wife Keri threw him a small suprise party at the Downstream Casino near where they live. Bill and I were excited to actually get a grown up night out! The bonus was getting to spend time with Steve and Keri, too!!
We celebrated Bill's birthday with his mom, Joel and Aunt Net. He picked Buca di Beppo as the restaurant of choice. We had so much yummy food....and yummy leftovers. We also had a great time visiting and soaking up the atmosphere. We even got to sample the free birthday cake. Good stuff!
This is what happens when impatient drivers don't pay attention at RED lights! Your pretty little car ends up with $6200 in damage to its rear-end!! And the impatient driver?? Took one look at Leo's damage and sped away! Yeah, as if we needed anything else going wrong right now, right!? Luckily, Bill was alone in the car and only had minor aches and pains the next day.
...the parents will eat out and try those restaurants that the girls never want to try!
Sunday night, we went out with our dear friends the Marchals. We dared to try Cafe Malaga in downtown McKinney. It is a Mediterranean Tapas Bar, and we actually enjoyed trying the different Tapas available. We sampled: Artichoke Tapenade, Mojete, Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus, Goat Cheese-Stuffed Piquillo Peppers, Wood Grilled Hanger Steak, Pork Tenderloin, and Chicken Kebabs.
On Monday night, we went to Aparicio's Mexican Restaurant again in downtown McKinney. We had actually been here, but it was nice to go without hearing any complaints and whining! Bill had the Bandera Plate which is 3 Chicken Enchiladas with 1 red, 1 green, 1 sour cream sauce with Rice and Beans, and I had a Spinach Enchilada with sour cream sauce, Cheese Enchilada with Queso along with Rice and Beans! YUMMY!
Tuesday took us to Boston's where we both sampled some of their yummy pasta: Bill had the Mama Meata® Bow Tie Pasta and I had the Chicken Milano. It was really good, but the service was horrible.
Wednesday was New Year's Eve. We both had to work and decided to wait to decide where to eat until that day...it is hard to make reservations when you don't know what kind of food you will want to eat that day! Anyway, we managed to find availability at Mama Emilia's in downtown McKinney. Oh, my, I really think this was my favorite of the week. The atmosphere was very nice and the food was delicious...well, once we adjusted to the marinara being sweeter than we are used to. We can't wait to take the girls here and let them sample the Mac & Cheese. Bill had the Chicken Casesar Salad with Lasagna, while I had the Mama's Italian Salad with Manicotti.
Thursday, we went with a family tried and true favorite, the Texas Roadhouse. Can't go wrong with their salad and sweet tea. Throw in a couple of steaks and you got a great meal! It was fantastic as usual!
And finally on Friday, even after the crushing blow about Bill's job, we decided to continue our quest and ended up at Cadillac Pizza Pub in downtown. We were there too early for the evening entertainment (thankfully), but we did enjoy some yummy food: nachos and a really good pizza that I can't recall the name of, but we liked it and the crust was great! If only our girls liked pizza, we could take them and try something else...like Tabasco Hot Wings or the Escalade pizza (the works in laymen's terms)!
Finally, after working for Alon for 5 years, we got to attend one of their Christmas parties! We took the girls up to Nana's for the weekend and were able to do some shopping and go party! What a treat!! The party was held at the Studios at Las Colinas and was Seuss themed. 
We enjoyed a great dinner of steak, chicken and salmon. For entertainment, there was a live band, card games and 4 Wiis set up to play...including a Wii Fit. We had a lot of fun and it was cool to get all dressed up. Oh, and there was a photographer that took our picture in front of a green screen and we were able to choose from a Christmas, Snowy Bridge or a cool Cat in the Hat Background. We had fun with that!
Bill, Hayley and Emyley headed to the Dallas Museum of Art on Sunday to catch the King Tut Exhibit. They really enjoyed the exhibit and had fun trying to figure out what certain egyptian words meant. They finally figured out that Tut-Ankh-Amun = Living image of Amun. They also enjoyed the rest of the museum which is where they took these pictures that I liked. 
Bill and I celebrated our 14th Wedding Anniversary this past week. His sister, Annette, asked for a chance to spend a weekend with the girls, so we were able to spend some alone time together. It was so nice! We planned an outing to Frisco with some shopping, spa, dinner and hotel. Our first stop was IKEA. We needed a few things and actually spent a good hour and a half there!
Next we headed to the Stonebriar Spa for our "couple's" pedicure....which was actually a good thing after walking so much through IKEA! Anyway, this was Bill's first pedicure, and he already has said that we will do this every 3 months! LOL!! He really liked it a lot. It was a fun experience for us to share together.
After the spa, we headed just down the street and checked into the Westin Stonebriar Resort. It was a very nice hotel on a golf course. I was surprised at how many families were there since the resort isn't really in the middle of things. I guess that was the point....you really felt like you got away.
We had reservations at 6 for Buca di Beppo which actually turned out to be a good thing. We got there right around 6, and in the 5-10 minutes that we had to wait for our table, the wait time for walk-ins increased from 30 minutes to 1 hour! Crazy! Anyway, for those who don't know, Buca di Beppo stands for Joe's Basement. It is a family style italian restaurant that has no windows, so you feel as if you are in a real basement. The decor is very eclectic and the dishes/utensils didn't match. And the food.....AWESOME!!! I have recently started liking Portobello Mushrooms, and they have an awesome grilled musroom appetizer....yummy!! We ordered the Quattro al Forno which gave us a sampling of their baked pastas, including: cheese ravioli, spicy sausage stuffed shells, spicy chicken cannoli and manicotti. It was all delicious!! Can't wait to go back!
After dinner we headed to Super Target and picked up some pints of ice cream. We went back to the hotel, rented a movie and ate our ice cream. Sunday, we woke up and enjoyed the restaurant's breakfast buffet (yummy omelet) and then went on back home. Well, after we stopped at the car wash because apparently the front parking space at the hotel comes with the steep price of bird droppings....if only they had posted a sign before we joyously pulled into that spot the night before! ugh!
But, it was a great anniversary for us!! Thank you so much, Annette, for taking on our girls!! And thank you, Nana, for taking them all shopping!! I know it isn't easy having all 3 at once....you guys are great!!! Love you!!
By Guest Blogger Bill Mullen
As gas prices rose to $4.00 per gallon and beyond, my daily commute got more expensive everyday. It got to the point that I would feel guilty every time I had to fill The Cap'n up, costing around $85 every week. I knew a change was needed, so I went to see my friends at Nissan of McKinney. They were so helpful! They took one look at The Cap'n and closed the doors. They said they would not take it if I gave it to them. You see, everyone else is aware gas prices are high too! Nobody goes in to a car dealer this summer and asks "Hey, you got any used Titans with a V8?". Everybody is trading their trucks in on the low mileage vehicles which is exactly what I needed to do. So I leave thinking I am out of luck. A few days pass and I see Bankston Nissan of Dallas has a few Versa's. Bankston is right down the road from where I work. The Versa is the best mileage car Nissan has, and we are a Nissan family. Even if my father-in-law recently bought a Toyota, I know where his allegiance truly lies. Anyway, I digress. I went to Bankston Nissan on Thursday the 3rd with every intention to get a Versa, and I was not leaving until I did.
Turns out, when you buy a truck in March, and then try to sell it in July, when gas prices have nearly doubled, you end up with NEGATIVE EQUITY. Oops. Turns out the bank won't loan me enough money to get a Versa and bring in the negative equity that I had in Cap'n Jack. But the finance guy, very slick he was, says the bank would give me more options if I get a little more expensive car. Turns out they got a brand new Sentra SL off the truck that day. It still had the protective covering all over it. My Salesman, Karl, said lets go look at it. Okay, I say, beats going back to work!
Before I tell you about the Sentra, I should mention what the Versa came equipped with. It had a sunroof, upgraded Stereo, black paint, alloy wheels, and beige cloth interior, but it was a sedan, and the hatchback gets better gas mileage, but I would have been happy with it getting about 30 mpg. So Karl takes me back to look at the Sentra, and sure enough, it still had the protective covering all over it. I did not even sit in it, or could I tell what color it was. Then, I look at the options. Sunroof, XM satellite radio, upgraded Rockford Fosgate Stereo, 6 disc changer, hands free bluetooth, intelligent key, and wait for it, LEATHER seats, and it gets nearly the same gas mileage as the Versa Sedan. I personally have never owned a car with leather seats. Steph had a Quest and now a Pathfinder with leather (told you we are a Nissan family). But all 3 Sentras and my Titan had cloth seats. So I tell Karl, let's do it. So we go in, sign all the papers, and voila. I am the proud owner of a 2008 Nissan Sentra SL. Yep. My fourth Sentra. I have owned a 94 E, a 96 GXE, and a 2006 Special Edition. This one beats the others hands down. I thought Boomer (my 06 Sentra) was awesome, but nothing can beat the intelligent key system, handsfree bluetooth, and saddle leather. The leather is called saddle, because it is kind of brownish and makes the interior look very expensive, I joked it looks very Italian. So I named it Leonardo, after my favorite painter, Leonardo Da Vinci. So I present to you, Leonardo, or Leo for short.
....the parents will: eat where they want, go shopping without hearing "can I have" or "I want", relax in a very quiet house, play wii without fighting over whose turn it is, get hair colored & cut (Steph), sleep 'til noon (Bill) and most importantly go see an R rated movie...wait for it...in the theater! LOL!
Seriously, our girls spent the weekend in Okla with my parents so they could go to a Missionette Retreat with my mom. They had a ball, and we have had a relaxing and quiet weekend.
The movie we saw was "The Strangers" with Liv Tyler & Scott Speedman. It was pretty creepy, if not a tad predictable. I think Bill and I were just glad to have a date. Our last one was 2 or 3 years ago, so this was nice!
Thanks Mom and Dad!!!
You've read all of our mentions of Cap'n Jack in the past, and now you can finally meet him! This is Bill's new ride, a 2006 Nissan Titan. It is a little scary on the gas mileage, but we all comfortably fit and all the cars get out of his way on the commute to and from work. ;o) Side note: Any fellow McKinney-ians recognize where this picture was taken????
Since Easter fell so early this year, I had Good Friday off from work, and I wanted to do something special for the girls. So Friday comes along and I start looking at the listings for the theater. The only movie showing on Friday was Horton Hears a Who, and I took the girls to see that last weekend. Plan foiled. However, I was not giving up so easily. I started looking at stuff to do and decided on a train trip to the West End in Dallas and a trip to the Dallas World Aquarium. I had errands to run, and one including getting some stuff that I left at my Office on Thursday. There is a train station not far from my office and since I got my truck (blog to come), I am always looking for a way to save gas. After I planned out our route, I told Steph the plan (she thought I was crazy, [I told you last time she thinks most all of my plans are crazy]) and kept it a secret from the girls. I told them we had several things to do, and that two of them were secrets. So here is our plan:
· Drive by my office
· Drive to the train station at Forest lane
· Walk to the Dallas World Aquarium where we ate lunch and toured the Aquarium
· Walk back to the train station
· Take the truck to Toys R Us – Emyley wanted to look at Weebles
· Stop at Target to get some dog food
· Take the girls to Starbucks for a snack
· Go home
Piece of cake.
I won’t write everything about the Aquarium since I am having all the girls write a story about the trip, but I will hit the high points for me, and put some pics I took with Steph’s new camera!
The train: was very fun for the girls despite the fact it was packed and we had to stand most of the way.
The trip route for the Aquarium that I printed off had us taking a bus from the train station, to the aquarium, but it was a nice day and I thought we could walk to the aquarium. It was not far, but I led us on a big circle that forced us to walk further then we needed to, and the girls let me know they were tired of walking. So we get to the Aquarium and we see the education entrance, and a line that led around the building. I figured it was just a short line, since we were right by one of the entrances. The line moved quickly and as we made our way around the first wall I noticed a small laminated sign on a tree. It read: “NOTICE: Remember it is spring break and the Aquarium is busy, it is a 45 minute wait from this point”. Great! We were going to stand in line another 45 minutes. It didn’t take that long and we quickly moved to the entrance. It was very crowded. It was all of us first trip so we had no idea what to expect. I bought our tickets, and we were ushered up the stairs to the Aquarium. When we got to the top of the stairs, we had a choice of which way to go, right was the rainforest (yay!) or left was the restaurant. It was lunch time, so I thought it would give us a chance to rest our legs, recharge our batteries, and get some food in us to power our trip through the Aquarium. It was probably the best Idea I had all day. We sat right down and the restaurant was not crowded at all. So we ate lunch, since the Aquarium is Mayan theme, we had Mexican food. I had a very good taco salad, Hayley and Emyley both had chicken strips (very Mayan btw), and Sydney had some chicken nachos. Now everyone had a full tummy, and we were able to rest our feet. The restaurant overlooked the shark tank and part of the rainforest. It was very cool. We paid our tab, made a pit stop and were on our way.
Like I said, I will let the girls tell you all about the aquarium so I will just touch on some highlights.
The rain forest was first, I saw a beautiful reddish orange bird taking a bath in the waterfall.
There were monkeys and lots of birds to look at.
As we were leaving the rainforest we noticed a young couple taking pictures of a bird on the railing. I had the girls go stand by it so I could take a picture. As I was getting the camera ready, it pecked Emyley on the head causing a minor freak out on her part. The picture of Hayley is after the pecking incident, notice she is not too close to the bird.
We saw some tiny monkeys
Some neat turtles (Emyley loves turtles and frogs)
We saw a huge crocodile.
Then we were looking at some hammerhead sharks and sea turtles when a young lady arrived with a bucket. She started feeding the sea turtles whole squids. It was very cool.
Sydney loves penguins so we headed to the penguin habitat.
Sydney had heard from her friends that there was a tank that you could walk under. We found that and walked in. The tank was huge, crowded, and awesome! There were several very large sharks swimming right over us, very threatening and very, very awesome!
One of the coolest animals was the Jaguar, and Steph loves cats, so I tried to take a picture, but none came out because the flash reflected on the glass, and the jaguar was pacing quite rapidly.
However, I got a great little movie so here it is.
That’s about it for the aquarium. So we walked back to the train and headed to Toys R Us. They had their Easter candy on sale, so we stocked up, everybody got some and we were on our way to Target.
We got the dog food, and some other staples, and were off to Starbucks.
Thursday at work, I went to a lunch and it had a March Madness theme. At the start of the meeting, they asked several trivia questions for Starbucks gift cards. I got two correct and received two $10 gift cards. So we had never been so it was quite an adventure for us. We got a couple cinnamon rolls, I got a slice of banana chocolate chip coffee cake. Sydney and Emyley got chocolate milk, and Hayley and I got hot cocoa (I don’t drink coffee). We relaxed and enjoyed our snack and talked about our big day. Lots of fun! Here's a video of our day!
The table on the left is a table I fabricated out of a pallet that I salvaged from work that a server was shipped on. (Editor's Note: I get most of my stuff out of the garbage, because I fancy myself an environmentalist. {I am actually really cheap}). The table in the middle is a loaner table saw from Joel. Shout out. The table on the left is a piece of plywood on a pair of $14 saw horses.
handy at measuring the wood and installing into the case. I anticipated screwing through the back into the wall studs. However, the new shelves added some weight to it, and when we start filling it up, I was worried about the cardboard holding the weight. So I measured out a back plate to put on the back of the box to screw into the wall stud. This would give the box some much needed support.
cabinet into the stud. It was surprising how sturdy my support made the shelf. You can see the screws in the middle of the back of the cabinet.
Thanks Steph for letting me post!
Check out my blog at WPMDataSystems (I hope to post more often soon!)
First things first....Bill and I both grew up in a small town in Oklahoma called Chandler. It is located on Historic Route 66 about halfway between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. When we lived there, the population was around 2000 people, that has since grown to over 2800. I plan to talk about the landmarks and events that marked our lives, so I made a map to help you follow along. I am sure there are many, many things I left off that map, but it will get us started.....
I have also found a few links, if you are interested in learning more about the town:
I hope you all enjoy this trek through my hometown!
So why shouldn't we do it, too? Remodel something in our house, that is! ;o) My parents are finally doing a major overhaul in their way too small kitchen and dining room. My in-laws are totally redoing a house. My friend, Danielle is installing wood floors. My friend, Stephanie just redid her hallway. And can't forget Joni's new wood floors last spring! So, why shouldn't we join in on the fun, right?
and
All in all, though, we really do like it. It definitely needs a second coat applied with a nice roller brush to even it out. We still have one nail strip down where the family room meets with dining room. We re-arranged our furniture and then re-arranged it again once we put up our Christmas tree. A lot of our spots are hidden now. Hopefully after the holidays, we can get some more stain, send the puppy off for a day and get it evened out. Chloe is doing really well now, and the doggy door we added helps, too, but that's another blog for another day....
