10 more days!!!

It seems like we have been going non-stop since Thanksgiving was over!  Between Christmas shopping (mostly done) and parties it has felt like we have been going like crazy!  Just this past weekend I had a party on Friday night, one on Saturday night and one Sunday afternoon.  You throw in birthday parties one of the kids are attending, Christmas pageants and the normal things like school and Awanas and I will be happy for a break when the kids get out of school. 






One thing I wish we didn't have to miss was Jason's school Christmas show.  Jason has had a little cold with a runny nose and cough, but this morning he complained about an upset stomach so we kept him home.  By mid-morning he was up and running around so I think it was just all the nose junk going into his tummy and hopefully he will be all the way better by tomorrow morning.  Unfortunately the rule is that they have to be better for 24 hours before going to school and since I hope other parents would keep their sick kids home, Jason will not be at tonight's performance. 







It really does feel like we will be getting a break as soon as the kids do.  I will have to find things for us to do together during their school breaks.  Before we head down to San Antonio I think we will do some Christmassy things like bake cookies and watch Christmas movies.  The question is what are we going to do for the week after Christmas when we are back home.  I know from experience, if we don't have outings planned the kids will go stir crazy.  Of course they will have new fun toys to play with and that will entertain them for a bit, but not for long enough that they won't start bickering.  So hopefully I will have some fun and interesting things to post about in the new year, but if I don't post before then we wish you a very Merry Christmas!





Jason has been giving us this funny smile lately.  I hope we can convince him to give us nice ones again soon!

November doings

There are a few reasons I've been remiss in my November postings:

Hugging brother goodbye before school

I have been really bad about picking up my camera this month.  I only have about 10 photos in my November folder where most months by this time I have close to 100.  I really have no explanation for this except laziness. I plan to correct this next week while the kids are home all week and we with family for Thanksgiving

Watching the bus go

At the beginning of the month Jeff was being considered for a move within the company.  For a few different reasons we thought we would probably be moving near Austin.  We did lots of yard work and home repairs in preparation for selling the house.  I was excited to live in a more metropolitan area with more opportunities for me and the kids.  Jeff would also get to network better in the company and get to show more people what he could do, but alas it was not meant to be.  As always we remember that our lives are in God's hands and he is leading us in the best way for our family.  Of course there are great things about staying also.  We love Elizabeth's preschool and she is loving her ballet class and we can't wait for their recital in the spring.  Jason has been blossoming in Kindergarten and Awanas.  He even memorized all of the books of the New Testament in one week!  I had also planned out how we were going to combine the kids birthday parties at a local bounce house place towards the end of February or beginning of March

Elizabeth dressing her doll

Lastly, Jason shares.  Jason got a terrible stomach bug last Tuesday that zapped his energy for most of the rest of the week.  As often happens, we all ended up with it, Jeff and Elizabeth had it on Monday and I had it on this Tuesday.  We are all slowly recovering and hope to feel 100% soon. 

I'm sorry I haven't updated much lately, but hopefully you will be appeased by the photos I have included from the kids Thanksgiving feasts


Jason with a buddy at school


He has been giving me this strange smile lately, I can't wait for the normal smile to come back


Elizabeth was so excited for Daddy to have lunch with her!


My wild little Indians!

Wordless Wednesday Fall Festival

styling hair

Elizabeth is so excited about her Aunt's upcoming wedding and we have been playing around with her hair to figure out what I'm going to do. 

This one was pretty but too simple I think:



This one we did for church and it was pretty for an hour or so, but like her Mommy's hair, Elizabeth's hair doesn't like to hold curls


I think this one is my favorite so far.  We did it using curl formers in her pony tail and then pinned up the curls.  It stayed all through the afternoon, even playing outside as you might have seen in Wednesday's post

Wordless Wednesdays picking flowers

Long weekend!

We had an exciting Columbus Day weekend.  As a side note: in Canada they celebrate Thanksgiving during that weekend and the best part it is socially acceptable to start decorating for Christmas right afterwards!  For us in the US it was only a 3 day weekend, but it was kind of special for some of our family members.  Karen, Jeff's oldest sister who lives in Virginia, asked us to join her in going down to San Antonio.  When we agreed we didn't know we would also be meeting her boyfriend!  Jeff's cousin's baby was also having her early first birthday celebration down there.  

 

On Friday the kids had a dentist appointment in Waco so we all decided to head south a little early.  The kids teeth looked great and they were both so brave.  I can't believe that Jason is almost at the age where we are looking out for wiggly teeth!  We continued south and stopped at the San Marcos Outlets.  At the beginning of the month we headed up to Dallas to get the kids new shoes.  By the time we got around to looking at shoes Jason was done!  Elizabeth got light up princess shoes, but we couldn't reward Jason's poor behavior.  Fast forward to Friday and Jason was so excited to find Darth Vader shoes that light up both blue and red!  After a little lunch we finished our drive down to San Antonio.  Grandpa had been watching lot of online classes with new Frisbee Golfing techniques so Jeff had to take him to try them out.






Saturday started with a trip to the doughnut shop and the kids really loved the free samples!  The rest of Saturday was filled with games and getting to know John, Karen's Boyfriend.  The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and going to the park with Grandma! 







Going to a small church gives a great sense of community, but the kids really like going to their Grandparents' church since they provide a wonderful Sunday school.  That afternoon we had cake and finished opening baby Riley's gifts.  We have found that with little ones it is much nicer to spread out the gift giving because they want to play with the new toy and get overwhelmed opening too many things at once.  That afternoon Karen took John on a tour of San Antonio Missions and the River walk.  The Grandparents offered to watch the kids so Jeff and I went to a movie and dinner.  We are so lucky that our kids normally behave better for others then they do for us.  Later that night we got a very exciting text: Karen and John were engaged!

Jason and Elizabeth breakfast selfies

Jason's ready to play laser tag

Monday morning we were all excited to discuss the engagement over pancakes at Magnolia Pancake House (I recommend the Munchener Apfel Pfannekuchen if you are ever in San Antonio!)  After taking a few photos, playing a game, and packing up we decided to go and play laser tag.  Elizabeth was a little too small and hung out with Grandpa, but Jason was so excited to play.  Even a week later he is recounting who got whom.  Before we knew it we had to start heading home.  What an exciting whirlwind of a weekend!