Christmas Teaser

Christmas card teaser...

Tripod + timer + 3 kids = can we do just one more??? (says mommy)

 

These kids are getting too big for this!

These after shots pretty much sum it up: Maggie with her cheese face. Rebecca doing a dance that requires she stick her tongue out and look anywhere but at the camera.

And Owen being silly, but only after smiling pretty like a good obedient first-born.

They're not in the mail yet...but we're getting close. Merry Christmas!

(PS - 3 new posts below: Thanksgiving, Carlos, Football.)

1621 to 2013

At the beginning of November the kids and I started keeping a little list of things we're thankful for. This is what it looked like right before Thanksgiving Day.

 

A lot of what we're thankful for can be summed up in this picture - all the friends and family that came to our house to give thanks and eat way to much food!

Ali's dad Stan, his better-half Pam with one of her sons, Hunter. Melissa and LUke w/ Blake and Bailey (Blair was sleeping). Nana and GGrandpa Robert w/ Owen. Rebecca and Kyle (Maggie was sleeping too). Our international friends Toni (from Belfast) and Sally (from China). Deidre and Alex (Ali's brother). Ali's mom Becky and her better-half Sid. Ali's cousins Meghan and Melanie with Aunt Debbie. And Ali (because someone has to run to the end after setting the timer).

Here we are again showing our school spirit - because that's soooo Thanksgiving-y.

Toni, Ali, Shally

And while I know that what the meal is celebrating really has nothing to do with the meal, I really enjoyed the hosting part of the day - especially since I only cooked a few of the things we had (thanks to all the wonderful women (mostly) in the photo above)!

The kids table - crayon centerpieces

My kids made 6 paper turkeys (for the 6 kids at the meal) beforehand - they each had a name: Foofoo, Cuckoo, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, and two more but I forgot their names (they'll reappear next year I think). And a turkey to color.

This is the big turkey they made out of our last pumpkin - totally Rebecca's idea. Owen added the feat. He also made the head (traced and cut) based on a photo we looked at. Kept the pieces and hope to turn a pumpkin into a turkey again next year! They named this one Mom. I was honored.

19 people and 6 kids means borrowed china. Some of my mom's.

Mine.

Fun flowers - stock and crazy kale flowers - in spray-painted mason jars. Thank.You.Pinterest.Again.

I actually had a cornucopia. And if you're spray-painting mason jars, why not the little pumpkins still hanging around since Halloween? (Just remember - they're real, so you can't save them til next year. Yuck!)

The grown-up table

Overflow seating at the bar

3 kids watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while we got things ready.

People putting up with me and doing the Thanksgiving Quiz I found online. Not as easy as you would think...we had a 3-way tie. And one of the winners was not from this country!

How did I manage to not take any pictures of the food? I am telling you we had it all - and twice of all of it!!! A deep-fried turkey (the only way), ham, dressing, potatoes, green beans 2 ways, butternut squash salad, cranberry sauce, rolls, pink stuff, 6 pies (apple, apple-cranberry, pecan, pumpkin). A wonderful day. Seriously - we're so thankful we have all of these people, and that they would spend their day with us in our home. Hope to definitely do it again.

ARLO!!!!!!!!!!

This week we are mourning the loss of our 3rd parent or 4th child (depending on the situation) - Carlos has moved on to his winter gig in Aspen. We are having to finish Battlestar Galactica without him. The kids have no one to play with (except each other and us, which they are not satisfied with). Rebecca has no one to rival her sleeping-in abilities. Maggie thinks every silver car is Arlo's. She also misses her daily "baby 'sage" (baby massage). Owen has no older brother to teach him the ways of the world - business, girls, football, star wars, pushups - general manliness. Kyle has no one to debate with. I have no one to save my dinner-disasters with an arsenal of spices I would never have thought to combine. And we only have 1 brisket left in the freezer. What.Will.We.Do?????

An ode to Carlos' last days with us...

Letting the kids prepare the 64 pounds of brisket to be smoked in our back yard.

Rebecca's glamor shot

Rubbing in the rub

Post rubbing in the rub

Post post rubbing in the rub

Stoking the fire

Let the cooking begin!

Carlos in his element

And some goodbye photos...why is Maggie crying?

That's better.

Someone is always crying or looking away. But Carlos is a professional - he knows that when you take photos with kids you just keep smiling and look at the camera!!!

R & C

O & C - see what I mean about the manliness? (If Carlos had stayed any longer I'm pretty sure Owen would have had a matching beard.)

Blurry Maggie giving Carlos a fist-pump

Carlos was a great first more-than-a-day house-guest. He was part of the family. And we miss him! Happy skiing man!

Gigem' Aggies! Go 'Dores!

According to my sports-savy sources, one of the big topics the last few years in college football has been the changes in conference among teams in Texas (and elsewhere). Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC. What will happen to the age-old rivalry against TU/Texas/those awful Longhorns? Can we still saw varsity's horns off? Will we have anything left to be thankful for on Thanksgiving??? All sports-politics-talking-head-commentator stuff aside, I have been glad about the move because now Kyle and I can hate on some of the same SEC teams! If we're not on the same team, at least we have some of the same enemies. As much as a non-sports-enthusiast can...I hate BAMA, LSU, TENNESSEE (who actually used to be good)... you get the idea. 

So when it was time to plan our one trip to College Station for a game this fall, I pretty much strong-armed him to make it the game against Vandy. (Plus the tickets were significantly cheaper than the ones against BAMA). We were able to get really good seats - we were basically on the front row of the lower deck (alumni side - which basically means the side where you don't have to stand up all the time) at the 30(?) yard line (I sort of forgot exactly where).

The weekend before, the Aggies lost a tough game to Auburn and Vanderbilt beat Georgia, so I was cautiously optimistic that a win was possible. I said possible, not probable. :)  But just like the games of ol' that I remember from undergrad* Vanderbilt didn't show up until a good ways into the first half, made some good strides evening the score, and then pretty much didn't show up for the 2nd half. (*That's why I only went to a few games in college - too much studying to do to waste an afternoon being disappointed. I know: fair-weather.) The final score was 56-24. Ouch.

Next year I think we would both like to go to a game that we can cheer for the same team. I think Kyle felt like he had to temper his excitement (although he still got his touch-down kisses) and I had a hard time cheering (loudly) for Vandy because I was the ONLY black/gold wearer in a very intimidating sea of maroon. Scary! 

I do need to point out that both teams ended their season with 8-4 records (both 4-4 in conference games). And there you have it. 

13 Years

It's our first year at a new school and with that comes lots of new things - mostly for Owen, but also for me! There are SOOOOO many things to potentially get involved in it can be a little overwhelming. And coming from a co-op preschool where our presence on campus was very much a given (in fact mandatory and very scheduled) its hard to know how much to be around and for what. Luckily for me at the very beginning of the year a wise friend who is ahead of me down this path told me unequivocally that the one field trip I had to go on was to Crowe's Nest Farm. There were lots of reasons to make this one a "have to." First, it's a great little spot not far from Austin that we had never been too - it's a farm and a zoo all in one (faaaaar better than the quote "Austin Zoo"). Also, the time of year (weather-wise) is great. But mostly because this is the kindergarten field trip where the seniors at the school who have been there since Kindergarten get to come too! 

Here is my van of kiddos: D, O, B, and D

 I had the great pleasure of having Mrs. Adams ride with us - not only great for car "classroom" management (she had them counting by 5s in a round)! - but also because I got to chat with her about all sorts of other things! This lady is a true gem.

 There are 12 kids in each class - so this times 5, plus teachers, parents and seniors. Crazy!

 Sweet class and teacher.

 With some of the seniors that were in her class 12 years ago!!!

On the tractor-pulled trailer to see some of the more exotic animals.

Cold kindergartener + senior with roomy fleece = so sweet!

 I could tell that moments like this were bittersweet for the senior moms on the trip. Their babies are all grown up!

 In the diary learning about how milk is processed.

 My dear friend Melissa - whose 3rd youngest of 4 - is a senior. So thankful for this lady and her friendship.

 A very docile owl that let the keeper show us all his crazy body parts - fuzzy feathers, giant ear holes, weird eye lids.

 One of these would make a cool pet. The other will make a great dinner.

 Turtle friend eating his salad. Ahhhh the self-discipline. :)

 Sweet times with my boy. Wouldn't miss these moments for anything.