TTT: Season 3, Episode 34

1. The hubs and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary this weekend. 2,190 days and we're still in love. Toot, toot! We snuck out to have dinner at a favorite restaurant of ours, Brio. (ok, it's probably more mine than his but when you're married what's mine is yours and that includes favorites!) We were reflecitng on the past year(s) and how, though we've certainly been through our share of ups and downs with life, our marriage has always been a strong and steady constant. There are certainly things in life that I'd do differently, choices I'd change, and actions I'd take back. But without a shadow of a doubt I know for certain that I made the right choice in marrying Mark. I'm sure you've all seen those "tips for a happy life" posters that all start with "Marry the right person." Thank God I did.  I love my husband.

2. Before our anniversary dinner we snuck over to the mall to make a large purchase. As of Sunday, we have officially joined the world of Mac owners. Both our desktop and laptop computers have been on the skids for quite some time. Our laptop was even giving us the "your battery has reached the end of it's usable life and though it may work while plugged in, it must be replaced" message. We've been saving up for a while to purchase a Mac so when the laptop decided to give up on life even when plugged in, we decided to finally pull the trigger and get our new computer. Can I just say... ouch! These puppies are expensive! I know some of you may be rolling your eyes and thinking Dang, Mark is a PA, Laura has her own little business...it shouldn't be that big of a deal. Our student loan payment is just a few bucks shy of our mortgage payment, people. I kid you not. Sure, we may be making pretty good money now, but we're still living tight for the next eight years or so. And knowing me, even then... But I digress. With this investment, we're trying hard not to let the boys get their grubby paws on our new iMac. At least until they know how to respect it properly. Which means it is not upstairs in the game room. And which also means that I have not had the time I'd like to sit down and figure it all out. (there's almost always at least one urchin hanging over my shoulder) But I'm determined to learn the whole Mac system and use it to its full potential. In other words, I don't want to invest this much in a computer to only use it for web surfing and word processing! I need a guru to just come over here and give me a full demonstration. (yes, I know they offer that at the store but let's get real people...)

3. My youngest brother, Dave, came to town this week and we had a blast with him! Dave and I have always been close. Heck, I was eight when he was born...he was my real life baby doll! He will be graduating from Tech in December which makes me feel oh, so old. And should make my parents feel even older. No kids in high school is one thing...no kids in college? Yikes. (I kid, I kid... Kind of.) He came over on Monday night and helped us with the new computer. Oh, and uploaded all of his MP3s to our hard drive. Gotta love free music! We had lunch and dinner with him on Tuesday and then got to spend a ton of time with him yesterday. First we went to the Rob Fleming Pool which is like a mini water park here in The Woodlands. Grant stayed with a neighbor friend of ours so that we could really take the whole swim complex in with the bigger boys. (Grant has reached that impossible stage at the pool.) Afterwards, I took Grant home for a nap and the older boys got to stay and hang out with Uncle Dave. They played games and explored the old toy closet at Pinkie and Pa's. Then Uncle Dave took them to Toys-r-Us and spoiled them with a new Cars racetrack. They've only been begging for one of those for months! Dave is such a great uncle, brother, and friend. His patience with the boys is actually pretty remarkable for a guy his age! We're looking forward to seeing him again at Christmas. (I got no pictures while he was here! What's wrong with me!?!)

Mark brought me the prettiest roses for our anniversary

Enjoying dinner at Brio!

Aaaaand the annual trying-on of the ol' wedding dress.  Still "fits!" (read: I was able to get the zipper up, had to cut the sewn in cups out long ago, and could only keep it on comfortably for a few minutes) The boys love seeing Mama's wedding dress and it has become a special little tradition for our family. I think it's important for them to see how special our marriage is to us.

My little Rudy up to bat

Kolbe had is annual check-up this week. He's 39" tall and 34 pounds.  Tiny little fella, I know! He passed all of his tests (vision and hearing) and is a healthy, happy little guy. I can't believe he's almost five!