Save me from the M's!!!

I have an odd addiction to peanut M&M's. I suppose it's not that odd - they are soooo nice and sweet and peanuty and tasty that it's hard NOT to have an addiction to them, however, I think it's odd that they're the only thing I cannot force myself to stop eating. When I was in high school, the entire volleyball team loved "male M&M's", as we called them. You know, 'cause they've got nuts. Aren't pubescent girls something you just looovve... to hate?

Anyway, in an attempt to prevent myself from eating even more M's, I'm having a cup of hot tea and blogging. Hopefully this will help.

My weekend was really very nice. I had the day off on Friday, so the husband and I went off to explore a bike trail that everyone keeps raving to us about. We checked out the Terry Hershey Park and it was definitely something we'll go ride again! We rode about 20 miles and were fairly tired afterwards, I'm ashamed to admit. (We used to go riding every weekend and if we didn't ride at least 40 miles, we didn't consider it worth the trip! Ugh.)

Anyway, to reward ourselves for such a long bike ride, we decided it would be nice to eat at Chuy's without the kids tormenting us! And it was actually nice weather outside. No kids, sitting outside, drinking a margarita, and eating chips with their creamy jalepeno dipping sauce (which is actually salad dressing, we found out one time!) - it couldn't get much better.

On Saturday, we took the kids to Hermann Park. The boy rode his bike for awhile and the girl was very excited to ride in the single stroller for awhile. (I think the girl loves the opportunity to ride in the single stroller because most of the time, she has to ride in the double stroller with her big brother. So, getting to ride in the single stroller by herself is a big treat!)

Anyway, of course, the kids soon tired of this parental-friendly arrangement. The boy stopped riding his bike and wouldn't get back on and the girl soon wanted out of the stroller to run - I mean if big brother is running around, then she should be, too, shouldn't she?!! This is where our plan works out somewhat decently, though. You see, we can put the bike on top of the stroller and still be able to do a little child-wrangling. Ah ha! You kids only THINK you can outsmart us!! :)

We rode the little train at the park and by that time, it was almost past naptime and we knew we had missed the window for the boy. The girl still took a nap, but the boy played in his bed for the entire time.

Sunday started off quite nicely, however. My husband decided he was going to get up and get me breakfast, etc. while the kids were still sleeping, so he set his alarm for 6am. And while he was off acquiring breakfast and a plant for me (mother's day gift from the kids), I was able to spend an hour of quiet, uninterrupted time reading my book.

When the kids finally woke up, he got them to come in and give me my present and tell me Happy Mother's Day. It was very cute. And it was still cute when the little girl then started singing Happy Birthday to me. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to burst with the adoration I feel for them...

And then we were off getting ready for my second very special treat of the day: we rode our bikes up to the Sam Houston Park where the start/finish line was located for the Houston Grand Criterium - a bicycle race in Houston! Isn't that what all mother's want to do on Mother's Day? Well, it made me happy. :)

We were able to see just one of the races - the Men's Masters 35+ (which husband is excited he would be able to compete in soon - um, if we were in any kind of shape for that kind of thing!), but it was still fun. The kids really liked seeing the race.

And then we were off to have lunch with Grammy and Papa at the Chinese Restaurant - home of the Lion Dance. (Yep, we still had to convince the boy that there wouldn't be any "lions" there. And we've been there at least 5 times since Chinese New Year!)

The rest of the day is a bit of a blur since the kids, wanting so much to be with me for Mother's Day, both ended up not taking naps and then running amok for the remainder of the day. The good thing about that was that we could put them to bed early and enjoy a nice quiet meal alone. Not a bad way to finish the weekend.