Happy Thanksgiving - 2009

Well we had a wonderful Thanksgiving and managed to get virtually zero pictures of the whole thing (save this one cute one to the left)! It was at our house.  I did the turkey and apple pie; pretty much everything else was provided by other members of the family.  This potluck style is what we always do and it is great to minimize the work done by each family!  I brined the turkey for the first time and think it maybe made it more tender.  I also had this great table cloth and table decorations, but alas no pics!  We had 8 adults and 4 kids.  After the meal the kids all went downstairs to play.  The cousins all play so well together; I think we are very fortunate.  Savanna is almost 7 and is like a little momma taking care of the other kids.  It is very cute!  But some accidents simply cannot be avoided and we heard a scream.  Charis was playing with one of those little old-school toys that you put to your eye and turn the handle to see the pictures "moving" and she ran into the wall.  Thank goodness the cut was not very deep and was at least a little removed from her eye.  We decided not to go to the ER and the ice seemed to help a lot.  But you hate to see your baby girl with a black eye (it is not swollen shut by the way - she is posing)...and on Thanksgiving no less.

101 Dalmatians

Saturday, November 14, 2009, I took the kids to Artie's Playhouse to see 101 Dalmatians.  This little theater in Hurst is a perfect place to see a play (for big people too! My mom and I saw West Side Story there on my birthday this year!).  It is really small, there are seats all the way around the stage and the seats only go about 6 rows back.  Basically every seat is good! This little play had all child-actors and it lasted about an hour.  It was interactive too - at two separate times, children in the audience were invited on to the stage.  It was really cool. Our sweet friend Adley came with us too!

another baking post

I know I just posted one of these but I could not resist these cute faces! Today I was baking bread for the second time, and Price was able to tell the difference between this and baking a cake! He saw me kneading the dough and came over and said "I want to make bread!".  I was so impressed that he remembered (I let them help knead the dough last time).  Price, especially, loves to help! Charis will participate...a little...sometimes.  But Price really likes cleaning with me and cooking with me. To her credit, Charis really likes shopping with me :-)

Happy Halloween!

Hard to believe this was the kids' third halloween! They are so not in to getting dressed up yet.  We had a few costumes for them to choose from but each choice brought a new level of melt-down.  We finally offered the cheerleader and football player outfits, which were basically regular clothes, and that was deemed acceptable.  So with their costumes set, we had to decide what to wear ourselves!  We usually try to go with something current (last year we were Jessica Simpson & Tony Romo), so we decided on Jon & Kate Gosselin.  I think we actually pulled it off pretty well!  With the glasses, I think Chris actually looks a little like Jon (don't tell him I said that!). 

The weekend before Halloween, Chris' parents had a party.  We took the kids and it was great fun!  On the actual weekend of Halloween, Chris and I went to Austin; another 1/2 work 1/2 play weekend! We revisited the spa, went for sushi and then watched the people go down on 6th street from a rooftop bar - it was some crazy people watching!  The kids got to go to their little party at My Gym, but they've still not been trick-or-treating...maybe next year!!

ABC's and potty training

This video is from about a month or so ago, so Charis has gotten better with the ABC's.  As usual, Price is not nearly as clearly spoken as Charis, but it does not stop him from trying! Funny thing though, both of them at the end of the ABC song, say "now, no more ABC's..." we just laugh because it is so logical!

I figured I'd give a quick potty training synopsis; we started with Charis at the end of May, Memorial Day weekend to be exact.  She caught on quickly but had a tough transition to panties.  Price brought me his empty little potty asking for a "tweet" about 5 times before he decided he did not want to be turned down again and basically just started going on his own! I know I am both blessed and a little lucky :-) He was showing zero interest as of May but by his birthday he was just about there.  They are in underwear over night now, so I felt like I could reasonably post that they are both fully potty trained and I cannot remember our last accident.  I figure summer training makes things easier.  But they just were both "ready".  It was not a struggle and I am SO glad it is done! I have not bought diapers now in probably 2 months (at least) and how great that is for the grocery bill!!

Look out Emeril!

One of our new and most favorite activities is baking! I let the kids help me make brownies one day and the rest is history! They are so cute - and good little helpers! They say almost daily "we need to make a cake."  My mom brought home a friendship bread starter back in September and since that stuff multiplies, we have been making friendship "cake" about every 10 days!  They're just so smart and if you ask will tell you what goes in cake: flour, sugar, eggs and milk...not bad for a 2 year old!  And of course they like to get a little taste before it goes in the oven too!

Update!

Wow - this semester has really gotten off to a busy "start" - funny to say since the semester is actually 1/2 over by now.  I am teaching an extra class this semester so it means 4 nights a week, while I usually just teach 2.  The difference is way bigger than I had anticipated!

We are pretty busy with scheduled activities Tuesday (My Gym), Wednesday (BSF, or as we call it Bible class) and Thursday (Music class at TCU).  Unfortunately we have been shut down for the last couple weeks because of flu season and the kids have yet to get their flu shots.  Better safe than sorry, right?

Here's a couple final pics from summer; just a pretty shot in our neighborhood and then the kids 2 year pics.  They just would not hardly smile for some reason! But they're still my little cutie pies!