Pre Thanksgiving Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesdays

nearly Wordless Wednesdays

I'm going to try something new, Wordless Wednesdays!  Lots of pictures of the cuties, not many words from me, win for everyone!

I'm not trying to exclude Jason, he just didn't want to come out to work on my photography today, so I took the cutie I could get!

Hand update

Since the last two comments have been requests for updates on the kids hands and to encourage audience participation, I guess I will give an update.  Last spring we went back to the doctor for a check of how the kids hands were healing.  The doctors said that they all looked pretty good and that we didn't really need to come back until the kids were much older.  So how did everything shape up?  well their hands don't function like yours or mine do, but they are better than they were.  Most of the issues come with bending the middle and ring fingers.  They are able to bend each hand at various levels.  I was concerned that it would make learning to write more difficult, but Jason seems to be handling it well.  I asked each of the kids to spread out their hands then to make tight fists.  You can see that for the most part they can only make fists with 3 of their fingers, but they make it work.  The doctors said that unless we did some really advanced surgery this was probably as good as we were going to get, which we are okay with.

Jason:





Elizabeth:




And a cute picture of the kids for those not that interested in their hands

Faith, Trust and a little Pixiedust!

Elizabeth with her pixiedust

I'm not dead and I didn't forget about you guys.  I'm sorry I've ignored this blog for so long.  I just keep getting distracted and not posting much.  There are a bunch of things I want to write about and I hope I don't forget anything, but I guess if I do I can always write another post.  Sorry this is a little disjointed.


Poor Jeff had a hard week last week.  He was so sick he came home on Monday and stayed home on Tuesday.  We got a ton of rain last week so when he got back to work the mine was flooded and one of the roads was washed out and a bunch of other issues were going on that he is working on fixing.  He worked so late he almost missed trick or treating with the kids on Halloween and worked most of the weekend.  I've almost forgotten what he looks like!  Poor guy is working so hard!

This year for Halloween Jason decided he wanted to be an Astronaut.  Elizabeth had been telling us for months she wanted to be Cinderella, then about a week ahead of time she saw me get her a pair of dress up wings as part of her Christmas present and decided she wanted to me a butterfly.  I was finally able to convince her she was going to be Cinderella and she happily went trick or treating.  We started at the town's "Boo on the square"  which was kind of a bust because it had been rescheduled from the night before so there was only one person there handing out candy.  So we headed back home to trick or treat around our neighborhood.  Jason practically ran from house to house and I had to tell him a few times to wait for Elizabeth and I.  After we got home Elizabeth was mad that I was handing out candy thinking it was from her stash.  We did finally get them back to bed a little late.


Dressing up has been a theme for Elizabeth lately.  She loved to wear her Cinderella dress before Halloween and is pretty excited for the wings and pink dress she saw me get.  The day after Halloween went to the Target in Waco to get discounted costumes.  I got her Belle, Minnie Mouse, a Doctor, a Cowgirl, a Fireman and some heeled shoes.  All those things are going to make an amazing dress up stash she will get at Christmas.  When we were looking around for Jason's astronaut costume we were in a Halloween store and Elizabeth fell in love with a bag of pixiedust.  She has worn it for about the last month and always wants to know where it is!

I had another stint there where I tried out a bunch of new hairstyles on Elizabeth.  Some looked cute at first then fell out after a few hours and some just didn't turn out the way I thought they would.  At least it was something new to see.



We have been exploring Texas a bunch over the past month.  We went to the Aquarium in Austin and Camping near Temple.  We visited a military museum in Austin with Aunt Michelle and visited the Zoo in Waco with cousins that moved to the area.  One of the most exciting trips was one I took in the middle of the night.  Jeff has cousins that moved to Fort Hood, about 3 hours from us, and the wife, Sarah, was pregnant with their second daughter.  I agreed to watch their older daughter, 3 year old Rachel, when she went into labor.  I got a call in the middle of the night one Sunday that it was happening and I had nighttime adventure picking Rachel up.  We got to meet the new little baby, Riley when we were most recently camping near Temple. 
Waco Zoo with Rachel:




Austin Aquarium:

Jason said this was his favorite

I thought this one was my favorite until I read that it was a Piranha



We pet the stingrays

Military Museum:







Baby Riley:


does he look like he is ready for another one?

I'll try to make sure it isn't so long before I post again.  By the way, it's only 50 days until Christmas, YAY!

birthday, school, sewing and hair

We are getting into the swing of fall even if the weather is still in the 90s.  It seems like Jeff and I are always ringing in our birthday at his parents house and this year we were in some good company.  Jeff's cousin was graduating from basic training in the area so his wife and their precious 3 year old little girl came down to see him.  The kids also had a great time seeing Great Grandma, who came in from Florida.  They will actually be moving closer to us soon so I hope we will get to work out some play dates.  I completely forgot to take my camera out except for when we opened our gifts from each other so I didn't get many family photos.

When we got home the kids were ready to get out some energy and dance!  Good thing we received the gifts from my parents.  Jeff hooked up this nifty gift (can you tell I don't know the name?) to the stereo and was able to play music from his phone where ever he was in the house.  I got a rapid strap for my camera so I could zing my camera right up to my face to quickly capture the moment.  Jeff doesn't understand why it's so great, but I am in love!

 

 

The very next day Jason was off to his first day of preschool for the year.  I can't believe this time next year we will be getting ready to send him to kindergarten and Elizabeth to preschool!  They are growing up so fast!  He was so excited to be going back and thrilled he had the same teacher as last year.  Mrs. Ashley has 4 boys of her own so she knows how to handle a class full of them! 

A little while ago I told Jeff that I thought I might be putting sewing on the backburner because I wasn't feeling the urge to do it right now.  Of course he knows me so well and got me new scissors anyway and he was right.  The first week we were back I finished up 5 projects I had been thinking about for a while.  I finished a pillowcase dress and bandana skirt for Elizabeth, a new water resistant apron for both Elizabeth and I and some Mickey Mouse shorts for Jason.  I will need some more fabric for the next few projects I have in mind so I am taking a little break now to tidy up the craft room and organize, but I'm sure I'll be back at it soon! 

 

The final bit of news is we had one of Elizabeth's last firsts on Saturday!  Elizabeth got her first haircut!  Her hair was starting to look a little ragged at the ends.  Although you can't tell from the photo below the front was a few inches shorter than the back and when you're only 3 feet tall a few inches makes a big difference.  I cut it myself and it isn't even lopsided.  She was so good and sat very still talking to her Daddy.  It seems to not really have phased her in anyway, but I think it makes her look so much more grown up!

Whew!  New ages, new school year, new clothes and a new haircut!  I guess we have been going through a ton of changes in the past couple of weeks and we seem to be adjusting well!  I'll leave you with another adorable photo of our pretty girl.