You'll Have to Excuse Me...

Well, you see, the Pate Family Chronicles has been a little neglected lately and I do apologize. Let me tell you why...

All of my cyberspace focus, creative energy, and word crafting magic has been poured into teaming with Chris getting our new website up and running. 15 hours spent yesterday alone. My brain hurt and my eyes were really sick of a computer screen!! For people that have never done that kind of work, it's hard to comprehend, but it's insane. I mean, you can spend at least an hour just finding that font that makes the page magic. For just a few words. On just one of the pages. Not to mention the sometimes endless search for pictures and writing script. And let me tell you, Chris and I are painstakingly meticulous about these matters. There are still a few things that we will tweak and add/fix, but our goal was to get it up by the end of the week and it's gonna go up!

It has been really fun to put together though. Chris and I make a great team. Of course this is true in many arenas, but we flow creatively really well also. We're blessed to be able to work together so well, because some married couples would probably at each other's throats by now! The Lord is good! We're gonna look back on this crazy season one day and it's going to hold a special place in our heart. As tiring and wild as it is to have to do everything and work your tail off, there's also a lot of satisfaction along the way that comes from seeing the fruit of your labor. One day at a time! Or in the case of the site, chunks of days at a time!

Unfortunately, spending this much time on this means that I have a laundry monster in my closet that is taller than I am and a few other domestic things that have been grossly neglected! And we will be starting up school next week so that's something else I still need a little more prep work to get ready for, but again- one day at a time!! I was feeling a little stressed about that yesterday but then Addison came up to me last night, hugged me, and told me how glad he was to be homeschooled and that I was his teacher. And then nothing else mattered anymore and my heart was mush.

So the big unveiling will be today. Such a relief to throw it out there. And a little scary, too. You're throwing your heart, soul, and hard work out to the mercy and scrutiny of everyone on the other side of that screen. That's hard sometimes, but we're always thankful for people that care about us and help us improve and we just won't listen to the haters! Ha!

And now, without further ado....

City Life Church (click on it, go ahead. you want to.)

Peace out from the Pate house.

When the Children Are Away...

The parents will play.

*First I want to take a pause here and thank all of you who read this blog, who come and check it only to see that I have not, in fact, put up a new post, and you still come back. Um, thanks for that.*

Actually, the parents worked really hard first and then played :) We took the kids last week to begin their little excursion with family for a little bit. Friday we headed out to the Woodlands for a retreat with our leadership team. The hotel was super nice and in this really cool little community that had a little miniature riverwalk and tons of restaurants and stuff. It felt like we were far from Houston. We treated everyone to dinner and just hung out that night, and it was so much fun. I must say that these guys know how to have a good time!

I mean, look at us- don't we just look like fun people?? This is actually minus three of our leaders, just so you know.

Such a pretty cake, just had to photograph it! It was his actual b-day on Friday.

The sparklers were a nice touch added by the restaurant!

Then all day Saturday we had a conference room rented out where we planned, strategized, dreamed, prayed, and got pumped up about the future of CLC. We really are blessed with such quality people to build with. They are all so gifted and love the Lord. Despite everything they've all been through, they are moving forward and looking forward to the future with excitement and expectation. I could go on and on about them like a doting mom. And it's about time for CLC to be unleashed on Houston- look out H-town!

I wish I could say that after that (and a very tiring but good Sunday service) that we've just been frolicking all around Houston, floating on our every whim, enjoying our time alone sans children and exploring our cool city. Um, no. Unfortunately, although the kids are on vacation we are not. Too much to do! City Life Church has many plans of awesomeness to be revealed, and there's some people that are going to have to work their little tails off to get it done!! (that would be us) But having said that...

We did have quite a lovely Monday. We slept in- whaaa? (that was said in my minion voice from Despicable Me). That would have been lovely enough. We felt like we had a hangover from the weekend. Or at least we think that's what a hangover would be like. So we did in fact sleep in and then had a late snack lunch, went to our movie theater (we like to pretend we have some type of ownership in it since we have church there) to see Inception- hello- awesome movie, had some brazillian food for dinner, went to The Chocolate Bar for a mind-blowing experience (more about that in a moment), and then walked around the awesome Rice Village for a bit for a little browsing (insert wish-it-was-shopping). And found some awesome letters for the kids' room at Urban Outfitters that I didn't even know were on sale until I got to the check out, perfectly capping off a great day! *pausing for a sigh of happiness just recounting all of that*

Picture of said awesome letters. Yay for room projects!

So, The Chocolate Bar...where every hour is happy hour...it is to be experienced. Alas, I can only relay a few pictures to give you an idea. I feel sorry for you. So you should come to Houston and I'll take you there :) But enjoy the pictures anyway.

Oh, the chocolate covered everything that stretched on and on and on....

Is that chocolate covered cereal? Why, yes it is.

The one we couldn't resist- the chocolate covered pringle.

And not pictured is the extensive collection of chocolate cakes, cheesecakes, drinks, make your own chocolate pizza, rows and rows of chocolate gifts including dog treats, and every flavor of chocolate ice cream imaginable (which of course we got-well, not every flavor). Yeah. I think our kids might just flip out when we take them here!

And speaking of kids, while the break is nice, we do miss those guys. They're currently living it up where the wind comes sweeping down the plain and we'll see them this weekend. And I'm sure they're bringing their entertainment, charm, and big loving hearts everywhere they are.

So if we sneak away for another adventure I'll be sure to give you a peek. But mostly just more working. Not even swimming, because our pool is a broken down green mess at the moment. I know- yikes. It will be fixed, but we're a little upset at the moment because we cannot enjoy it in this 100 degree weather. It's kind of a touchy subject, which is why I've not spoken of it yet. But I guess the good news is there's something legitimately wrong so it's getting fixed- and we don't have to pay for it. So yes, this is good news.

Annnnd it's now too late to be awake. Peace out from the Pate house.

Top Secret

I found Addison sitting on the couch writing in a pad this afternoon. When I walked up to him, he put his hand up to shield what it was he was writing. He says to me, "I'm writing in a journal. You know, like you're supposed to write how you feel and stuff. It's top secret." I can only gather that he's acquired this knowledge from some show on TV or something, but nonetheless I thought it was cute. A couple of thoughts went through my mind. #1 I was wondering just what it was he would be writing about. #2 I was wondering how well he would be able to write what he wanted to say. He hasn't really done a lot of writing on his own in school yet. It's mostly spelling words or sentences he copies. So of course (because he's too young to worry about the whole parental boundaries of privacy thing) I picked it up later on. And this is what I found:

In case you can't tell because he ran out of room and it's all smushed that says "Mommy". Oh yes it does. You can imagine that my heart melted a little upon this discovery.

I will definitely encourage him to continue to write about things he feels. Being a journaler myself (that began at an early age) and a writer, of course I will encourage this. Chris and I both know about our son that at the age of six, he is already a deep soul. We would be so lucky to be able to know what goes on in that mind of his sometimes.

And hopefully, prayerfully, I will be the only female that he writes about who has his heart for a long, long time.

What?

I know. You don't know what to do with two days in a row. Although the date on the last post doesn't say that- it's deceiving because that's when I actually started on that post, and for whatever reason didn't get around to finishing it till last night. For those of you that subscribe by e-mail, your little inboxes were probably confused to see me two days straight! I told you I'm trying!

So it's hot. After practically a whole week of rain, it's really hot. But we braved it anyway. I've really been wanting to go to the Miller Outdoor Theater and back to Hermann park (this is the same park that has the zoo in it), and this week there was a children's play series at 11:00 every day. What would have been super lovely is to have been in enough time to grab a seat, in the shade, under the big dome. I keep thinking surely in the middle of the day on a weekday it's not going to be that bad. I'm just going to quit saying that/thinking that. When you live in a city you share with six million people, not a big crowd just takes on a whole new meaning. And I still am just thinking once school starts back up that it will slow down. Perhaps more wishful thinking, but oh well.

So we got front row seats. On the grass section behind the seats. In the sun. I know our children are for the most part clueless how much we put ourselves through just so they don't have to sit around all day, but I have every intention of reminding them often when they are older and letting them know how amazing their parents are. Because it was SO hot (have I said that yet?). Luckily they obviously built that theater for large crowds so even though it was farther away, we could still hear pretty well and see okay. It was a cute play- a version of Jack and the Beanstalk. It was fun to hear all the kids interacting with the characters and reacting to the play. And how cool is the Miller Outdoor Theater? It's free- every single performance- and they have some awesome productions there. Can't wait to go to a grown up one or catch the symphony or something. Once it was over, we took our beet red faces over to some shade for a picnic lunch and then rode the train around the park. It really is a great park. Houston has some bomb-diggity parks, that's for sure. When it's not 100 degrees anymore, like probably Christmas, they will be even more fabulous! Just a little sampling of our outing:

A view of the stage. The play had songs in it, too, which always makes the kids enjoy it more!

Annnnnnd the view from where we were! It's not as bad as it looks, actually- we could see fine. And there's this whole huge grass hill made just for seating. But again, probably much better when it's not the dead heat of summer...Good thing I brought the quilt!!

So cool!

All aboard! We were glad the train was shaded. I don't think this picture depicts (and I'm glad) the sweat and red faces that were there a little closer!

We will do this next time. You rent these little paddleboats for like half an hour.

We didn't even come close to seeing all of the really photographic spots. I'll have to come just for a photo shoot one day-lots of cool fountains, statues, etc. I'm telling you, this is a massive park!

Enjoying the ride

Addison kept waving to...um...all the people? It was funny.

Of course we had to do a silly pose

And we have been totally zapped the rest of the day! Chris is still doing a little work, but being out in the heat like that really takes it out of you! Our phrase we seem to keep repeating is "We're learning, we're learning..." The first time to visit all these places has probably been a little more stressful just because we don't know what to expect and haven't been as well equipped as we could be. But now we know. And we're learning. We're learning the crowds. Learning the parking. Learning the driving. Surviving the heat (although it's not much better anywhere in the country for that part right now). We're slowly becoming less tourist and more Houstonian. Guess it's like finding a really great pair of shoes. They're the perfect fit and fantastic, but it takes a little bit of breaking in and wearing before they're super comfortable. Yeah it's kinda like that.

Peace out from the Pate house.

Part 2

Something's going awry with my plans for the blog...I'm going to be very backed up with media and great stories if I don't start doing better! The tragedy in me not keeping up better is that the funny little quotes like what I posted last time get lost and overshadowed with the big events that are happening, and I really want both. (Hangs head in shame and big sigh) I will try harder.

This past Friday we went to visit the Children's Museum. It was actually a free admission weekend, so you can imagine it was packed- even in the middle of the day on Friday. So we didn't even get to the whole thing after being there four hours, if that gives you an idea of how big this place is! It was really neat, though, and I'm sure we will be back more than once. Here's some pics from our outing: (Warning- this is a good handful of pictures. And if you know me, you know it's not even close to all that I took :)

Even the outside of the building is colorful and fun! Very iconic and set in the middle of the famed museum district.

Cyberchase is a cute PBS show about math that Addison likes to watch, so he thought it was cool that there was a whole section with that theme.

This was like a life sized Tetris!

A statue made of phones. Funny that we actually had to explain landline, with a cord, phones to Addison like it was some kind of dinosaur. As he likes to say, so old school-ha!

They really loved this outdoor water exhibit. Us, on one of the hottest days yet, not so much.

You filled this big bucket with water then it spilled over, making everything else work so it was all connected. Chris got a sermon illustration out of it :)

There was a section called "Kidtropolis" which was a miniature city where the kids could do everything. You could get a "job" and work it to get money (like the girl pictured below checking out Cadence in the grocery store). Lots of little stores and places. It was super cute. And Cadence was super cute grocery shopping.

Her basket mostly consisted of fruit, ice cream, and cakes.

Anyone that knows my little obsession with the weather would not be surprised that I had to jump in and pretend that I was doing the weather. I couldn't even figure out which camera to look into, so I don't think I missed my calling or anything.

And this is me saying, "And here, well, it's just going to be really hot. For a long time." And Addison's up in Oklahoma somewhere. Maybe he wanted to give the weather to Granna and Poppy!

Weather permitting we are having another outing in the morning. I love the fact that we can do something every week and we will not run out of things to do for a long, long time. We are trying to pace ourselves, because we want to do all of the cool things now! But we actually live here. And don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. So I guess it's all still going to be there. The adventure continues! Peace out from the Pate house.

Pate Children Musings

So, does anybody still read this thing anymore?? Not that I would blame you, considering I've all but abandoned the blog this whole month. I've certainly killed any momentum I had created, which in the bloggy world is not that great. But I guess that's only bad when you have a lot of followers to begin with...

Well I got on to do an entirely different post, but after some funny moments this evening (updated to read last night) with the kids, I decided just to do a random quote post, then tomorrow I'll give the update.

Chris: Addison, if I had a penny for everytime you didn't hear me when I talk to you I'd be a millionaire.

Addison: Why Daddy?

Chris: Cause I have to tell you something like a hundred times before you finally hear and do it.

Addison: Actually, that means you would only have a dollar. (of course)

Cadence: If I have bad dreams tonight, I'm going to come to your (talking to us) room. Cause that's where the good dreams are.

And this is how Cadence decided to do her hair today:

Our quirky little Cadence. So fashion forward.

Truly, if I wrote down everything that the kids said/did everyday that was amusing/funny/strange/thought provoking/sweet/silly/entertaining, I would have very lengthy blogs daily! I actually would like to incorporate more since I haven't done much of that lately. They are definitely spreading their infectious joy and awesomeness to everyone here, and they are already loved by many. One of the advantages (probably the only one!) of not having lots of other kids around is being the center of attention. Pastor's kids get that anyway, but it's heightened being almost the only kids in the church. And you know they don't mind that too much. :) We certainly have two small people that know how to take advantage of opportunities to shine, entertain, and win people over!

Well I will get part two of the update out tomorrow with some pics. Until then, and you know it's coming,

peace out from the Pate house.

So What Else Do You Do...

When it's raining and raining. Not going to go swimming. Can't go anywhere cool. Guess we'll just play in it!

*And just so you know, there was no thunder or lightening present at the time of these pics. So you know I'm a responsible mother. Who got wet, too :)

The lonely rubber duckie floating in the rain

Dancing and being silly!

P.S. Since these pics have transpired the rain is no longer fun! We are looking at our pool and praying it doesn't decide to get too full and spill over! Probably draining it some tomorrow!

Peace out from the wet Pate house.