(another) last day of music class...

After a great experience with music class this summer we signed up for Fall.  It was so fun and such a joy to get to see sweet Hannah and Miss Kendra each week.  The kids really grew and improved throughout the semester.  We actually laid out for a few weeks because the kids had not yet had flu shots so we got a chance to do some make-ups.  The make-ups were in the older kids' class (3-4 years) and as every mother knows, her own child is far advanced from other children their own age, so the 3-4 class seemed a perfect fit!  They really did seem to enjoy it and it was a nice change of pace.  I am including a video here because my mom insists on calling this "singing lessons" to show that there are no singing lessons here; it actually looks more  like a free-for-all! But really, it was just lots of fun!! 

Christmas is in the air!

And in our house! And everywhere!! I love it!  Friday after Thanksgiving we did a little shopping (I personally do not want anything badly enough to get up at 4am to go to Kohl's with every other mad woman in town) but we wandered out to the mall around noon and found none of what we were looking for.  So our next outing that evening was to the Christmas tree lot! And we found just the right tree! This is our second year with a real tree.   I am not sure I am sold on the idea, but as long as Chris will do the lights, I am happy!

Black-eyed P

Price, that is.  So both of my kids ended up with black eyes within 3 days of one another.  First for each of them.  Charis was healing nicely, when Sunday, as I sat just a few feet away from Price as he was standing on the little twin bed in their play room (notice I said "standing" not jumping or acting crazy like you'd expect) he just fell and hit is eye brow bone on the chair-rail molding that goes around that room.  It was swollen immediately.  It actually did not bleed, which is surprising since it later scabbed over.  I have never actually seen a black-eye first-hand, so I took daily pictures watching the progress of this deal.  Turns out day 2 is the worst!

So come Monday, it was time for us to go to music class, and I have 2 kids, each with a different stage of healing black eye.

I assumed people would not think the worst, but still you never really want to take your kids out in public like that.  It's just kind of embarrassing.  But the kids did not seem to mind, so the show went on!  Both kids were happy to pose for a daily progress picture, and now, only a week later are totally healed! 

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!!