He Has Redeemed Himself

Artem and I are home from Houston and we had so much fun at Aunt Amy and Uncle Bill's house; we really didn't want to leave the big city. We went with Amy to the Houston Zoo on Friday and Artem seemed to enjoy himself. He oohed and aahed at the animals. The reptiles and turtle house were his favorite although the random pigeons that were walking around the zoo really intrigued him too. All that money for admission and he wants to go after the pigeons? We can get pigeons anywhere! The Houston Zoo is really nice and after 3 hours we decided to end it on a good note and head for lunch. I got to spend time with Amy in the pool while Artem napped. It was nice to float around like a princess and talk girl talk. I coated myself with sunblock but apparently missed my stomach and sitting hunched over in the raft gave me little "rolls" and I got a nice sunburn on the exposed skin. However, once I stand up straight and my stomach goes flat again I have streaks of tan and white across my stomach and it looks like I've got spray-on abs done by an employee still on their 90-day probation period. For obvious reasons, there will be no photos of that posted. Speaking of swimming, Artem is turning into quite the little fish. The first few days, he was very reserved in the water and didn't want to leave my arms but on the last day he had progressed to jumping off the top step while holding onto my hands. We taught him how to kick in the water and splash and get water in his face without panicking. He really did a great job. This is a big deal for us, since Randy and I love to spend our time on the lake playing on the jet ski and boating. We are hoping Artem will love it too and are breaking him into the water slowly to make sure we do it right.



As you know, I am a shopper. I.love.to.shop and I rank it right up there with breathing and eating. I refer to myself as an "economic ambassador" and I was so excited to take in the Houston shopping scene and do my part for the Houston economy. Amy went with me to the Galleria, which will satisfy the most die-hard shoppers, my debit card was freshly polished, I was wearing my "shop-till-you-drop" shoes, and Artem had a week's worth of goldfish crackers stashed in the diaper bag to keep him happy while I made my rounds. Artem made out like a bandit; new shirts and hat from Janie and Jack, nine new outfits from Strasburg Children's clothing, and a new pair of shoes. Randy got some new skivvies and while underwear shopping is not exactly fun, he did need them and asked for them, so I obliged. And what did the die-hard shopper of the family get??? A new outift? New shoes? New purse? Nope, a bottle of shower gel and some lavender mist to spray on the bed linens. That's it. I'm so disappointed in myself. Oh the times, they are a changin'!!



I bought some Converse sneakers right after we met Artem in February and have been holding onto them until he could fit them. The time is finally here and I got to dress him in them for our shopping trip this past weekend. I have to say he looks pretty dog-gone cute in his Converse. Even the little old ladies at Talbots were fussing over Artem's shoes and said they had to come back for one more look at him. And you know, I really think Artem knew he was cool in his shoes and enjoyed posing for pictures in them. I don't think you can wear Converse and not have a little attitude about yourself. I think this clears him from the fashion disaster of last week.