My boyfriend had a birthday!!

Do like my new title for Gav? For some reason it makes it feel like we are still dating when I call him that. For real...he was my best boyfriend EVER!!Here he is:

So...Gav turned 3-2 today!! He was let down by the birthday fairy that forgot to arrange for head-high surf here in COrpus...or at the very least, to allow his surf competition to be running today. Other than that...I think he had a great birthday. It was simple...and lovely (I am sure he won't use that same terminology). I made him a HUGE breakfast then we hit the gym (my boyfriend has to keep up his 6 pack..see:), went to have lunch with Christian at school, got some food for our picnic on the beach, took a 30 minute snooze on the sand while Shane napped in the car, went to a Japanese Steakhouse (Corpus' Bennihanas) for din...which the boys loved (especially Mr."where the fire?where the fire"), came home and ate chocolate cake...and now Gav's at YM doing his magic with the boys.

Happy Birthday My HOT Boyfriend!!

Quick Gas Update...

...that almost sounded funny!! Anyhow...I just wanted to post and write it for posterity that gas here in Corpus is at $2.05. If it goes under $2 I think I will die. Gav and I joked today that we should drain our pool and fill it with gasoline....forget the crazy stock market...if we wait a year until gas reaches $5 again...we will make bank!
Ok--well, whoever is in charge of this wonderful change...thank yoU!

gallon of gas= $2.49

A happy fuel customer= priceless

I am not sure if I quite understand how the fluctuation in gas prices really occurrs and if its legitamate at all or just a ploy to make serious money. But I was a very content buyer to fill my SUV for under $60 this morning...not more than a month ago I would hit the $75 max on my debit card and the pump would stop....not nearly close to being full. That is some serious savings!! I wonder what the price is in CA?? I realize being in oil country we do get a cheaper price per gallon...comm'on there's got to be some perks to living TX=)))

Flying Solo

...well, I am, that is. Gav, on the other hand, is in SD. He flew there on a cross-country to "get in his mandatory flight time"...sound fishy to you? Ya, it does to me too. I am not a fan of spending the weekends by myself. And on this particular one, both of the adults I spend 90% of my time with ditched me! Wahhh!!

So the boys and I are hanging out. Nothing out of the ordinary...isn't this what I do all day every day?!! But, I cannot complain. No major catastrophes, no sickness, we've made it on time thus far...we're survivors. Now...can we survive the next several months of Gav's crazy interview schedule that will mean days, if not weeks, of him gone?? Its still TBD...but watch out for some major weenie whining when the mayhem begins! Fair warning!!!

Coming soon to theaters...

I know the Twilight movie is coming shortly...and I am excited. Hopefully I can get a group of girls together to see the midnight showing! I did a questionaire I linked off my SILs blog here's who I am:

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!
You are intelligent, outgoing & stylish. A true girly girl, you love shopping & makeovers. Although you are a generous friend, you can be coy, tricky & very persuasive in order to get your way. You are known to zone out occasionally during conversations, but your friends forgive you because you are understanding, supportive & know how to throw one heck of a party!
PS...Tracy this post is just for you!!!!

O Canada

Have you ever celebrated Canada Day or a Canadian Thanksgiving? This past Monday, also known as Columbus Day for us Americans, was the day. My girlfriend here in Corpus is Canadian and invited us to have Canadian Thanksgiving dinner at the most Texan, American place I can think of...Cracker Barrel.....good times and hearty food were had. Its so fun to expand our horizons and see life from different angles. That's just one of the many reasons we love to hang out with the Barnes=)

Keep Austin Weird

This past weekend we went to Austin for the first time. Gav had a buddy from high school that was getting married there so it was a good excuse to check out what we had been told was the best city in Texas. The wedding was at a beautiful location on Lake Travis. It was such a good time and a blast from the past to see people Gav hadn't seen since high school. Austin is very cool...however, I beg to differ that has more to offer than some other places in TX. We visited the Capitol Building for quite a while. It was perfect for Christian who is studying Texas government. We also went to a cool place on Lake Austin for lunch. It was yummy food and a fun atmosphere...also included in the meal is losing Shane's flip flop in the water ...then spying it floating in the water after our meal was all done. The good news is it was fished out and salvageable. These type of occurrences are quite frequent when Shane and Gav are left to their own devices! We also visited the Austin Children's Museum...kind of bland compared to some we've been to. Then we went to some big park with a train that circles the park. It was honestly ghetto...but it really didn't matter because Shane LOVED it!! To complete our Austin tour, we sat on the Congress Street Bridge for 1.5 hours waiting for the thousands of bats to emerge for the night....all to vaguely spot a few bats sneak away in the dark. I guess our expectation of a huge migration was a little far-fetched. Good times in Austin. Gavin concluded that we have officially seen everything people had encouraged us to see in Austin and there is no need to ever return! We'll see....it does seem like a pretty awesome place for running...maybe a race still to be had there!!!

Ladies Man

The weather has turned a bit more pleasant and the parks have been calling our name. Shane loves playing with his lady friends. Just a side note...whenever Shane gets on this teeter-totter thing he thinks you have to sing at the top of your lungs "tinkle, tinkle wittle star....you are...up and down the...high".

Growing Pains...

All my friends are posting pics of their painful growing up....here's the only pic I have scanned right now. But funny nonetheless...especially my littlest bro (well, at the time...there was one more after this)....pulling the Michael Jackson move...NICE!!

And if you can't tell..I am the one in the blue dress with hair that looks like it hadn't been brushed in days!

Time Outs

I love, LOVE time outs. My cute little Shane--rascal in disguise- is one of THOSE kids. You can take things away, you can tell him "no", you can remove him over and over and over, you can tell him its naughty, I have even spanked on few occassion....all to no avail. He smiles and chuckles in glee that he has accomplished his mission in life. But, almost without fail, it takes one good LONG timeout in his bed, upset, to have a completely changed little man. Like today, menace man had push me one too many times and landed himself in his bed for about 15 minutes. When I finally went in to get him, a transformation was apparent. He did what I asked, he didn't try to be naughty, he sat and watched a show without pushing buttons and whining. Time outs are awesome.
However, the other side to our family. Christian never really responded to time outs. It really only made him more stubborn. But he responded to scoldings and the look of dissappointment. He is a pleaser and never liked to let us down. So the phrase, "that makes mommy sad" meant a lot more to him than a time out. I have tried that same phrase on Shane as he looks at me and smirks. My kids are COMPLETELY opposite.