smashing sunday

Yesterday we all loaded up in the Jeep and went to find grapes. We have wild Mustang grapes that grow along the fences that make delicious jelly, jam, juice and homemade wine. As far back as I can remember late June and early July meant grape picking in the hot sun. We'd hop in someone's truck with a ladder and 5-gallon buckets and pick all the grapes we could find. My mom and Oma would can jelly and juice and my Opa would make wine. Believe it or not I had never even tasted my Opa's homemade wine until a couple of years ago.... it was some strong stuff!

Tim's cousin came out Saturday and picked grapes and left us a good amount and we added a bit from our trip. We found a recipe for making wine (very similar to my Opa's) and decided to give it a try. It warned that if we mashed the grapes with our feet or hands we'd get itchy, but we didn't think it'd be too bad. DON'T DO IT! Your feet/hands will feel terrible.

The kids had a great time (until their feet start itching- I still feel bad about that). I got in there, too. It was fun, but next time we'll definitely use the recommended method of smashing them with a wooden baseball bat.

The first step to making wine is done. It takes around 5 months from start to finish, so we are thinking it might make some fine Christmas gifts. Now we just need to come up with a good name and create some labels. (IF we can actually complete the whole process.)

Go Fly A Kite

Sunday was sunny, warm and windy. The perfect day to fly a kite. After church we had few things to pick up from the store and as we were heading to check out we spotted 97 cent kites and snatched 3 of them up. I didn't expect to enjoy flying kites very much... I thought the lines would get tangled or the kids wouldn't like it. We had an absolute blast. We decided to load up our lawn chairs and head to the hay field (it's planted with oats right now) and try out our kites. Our friend, Carson, came along and helped get the kites going for the kids. It was so much fun and surprisingly relaxing. Afterwards we checked the game camera and got a nice picture of the bobcat that is hanging around back there as well as about 900 pictures of racoons and a few deer thrown in, too. I hope all of you had a good weekend!

last week

Once again blogger won't let me upload pictures so you'll have to use your imagination.
I pretty much abandoned the blog last week so here's what's been going on. First of all, Rose is doing much better. Two trips to the doctor, a chest x-ray, two prescriptions and a nebulizer to get her better, but at least we didn't have to take her to the ER or spend any time in the hospital. (The doc we saw on our first visit gave us instructions to take her straight to the children's hospital if her breathing worsened over night. Thankfully it didn't; it was much better that evening.) So, she's finishing up her medicines and hasn't needed the nebulizer in a few days (yay!!), but over the weekend D started his cough-cough-coughing once again. I hate seeing my kids sick. Plus, it's tiring for all of us.

Thanksgiving was nice. My brother in law made a smoked turkey that was so, so good. I didn't really overindulge. I wanted to, but being super pregnant I can only eat a little bit at a time before I feel stuffed.

Friday we went to the museum like we did last year. We made it through a bit quicker this year, partly because we knew where the cool stuff was and partly because the kids walked faster. I also had Tim take my 37 week preggo picture- you can imagine it looked about the same as the 36 week one. After the museum we went to Maudie's for lunch (just like last year) where I did eat until I was stuffed. I did not regret it at all. In fact, I didn't even get heartburn.

Saturday the kids and I spent the day lounging around while Tim worked on house stuff. It was a very successful day. Yesterday I gritted my teeth and went grocery shopping (it was definitely crowded, but not as terrible as I thought it'd be). D wasn't feeling great, but around 3 in the afternoon we loaded up and headed to the back stock tank where we got real country-fied and took turns shooting our pellet gun. If only blogger would let me upload the pics, they are really awesome.

Today D is still feeling less than awesome so he's home from school (although we are going to get his school work later) and I am diving in to cleaning. This baby could come any day now and I want everything to be organized before she does. Okay so I gotta get things going or it'll never get done!

always exciting

We'll start with our weekend. Saturday night, after playing and running around all day, D suddenly decided it was time to tell us his ear was hurting "really bad". And he "couldn't hear" out of it. OH. This was after 8pm as I was shuttling him into the shower.... So I made him take a shower and then I gave him some children's advil, heated a sock full of rice and attempted to "make it better". I've never had an ear infection and until then none of the kids had ever had one, so I didn't really know what to do besides consult Dr. Google and my pediatric wellness books' symptom charts. I asked D how long his ear had been hurting and he said very matter of factly, "Since I woke up." I don't know why he waited ALL day to say something.

Sunday morning he slept later than everyone. We were already eating breakfast before Tim went and woke him up and then D just sat at the table staring at his pancakes. I took his temperature and he said his ear was still hurting... So one phone call to the after hours nurse line and we had us an appointment for a Sunday afternoon doctor visit. To add to our awesome morning it was our first Sunday as Sunday school teachers and I had to stay home with D. Tim had to go alone and spent the whole time trying to learn kids' names. I felt really terrible I wasn't able to help, but I couldn't really do anything about our situation; I just hope next weekend is better. Anyhow, D has a middle ear infection and is feeling better now that we have our antibiotics and prescription ear drops (that he hates).

Monday rolled around and D went to school while I went to town to visit the bank. Actually I called my mom and we ended up going together and we got to see my dad at work.

My dad is a custom home builder so it's always fun seeing him at work and what awesome things he is doing. The kids wanted to stay and be helpers, but I think they are a little too young to actually be helpful at this point.

Well, I am heading back out the door to help my mom design invitations for my Opa's surprise birthday party at the end of the month. Then I have to come home and make tortillas for taco night.Once you make homemade tortillas it's really hard to go back to buying the mass produced kind.

Adios!

our weekend

Saturday we went to my family reunion. They had a catered chicken fried steak lunch (pizza for the kids) I can't remember ever having it catered growing up. Usually everyone brings a meal and we have a potluck style lunch. This was way better! The place where we have the reunion is an old schoolhouse that my Opa and his siblings attended. The town is named after one of my great grandfathers that came from Germany. It's neat hearing stories about growing up there.

That evening we had to run into town for an errand and ended up taking the kids to the park that we hadn't been to yet. It's even cooler than the park we usually visit. The play scape is about 4x as big, it's surrounded by oak trees and there are plenty of picnic tables and benches in the shade. We were the only ones there, though, which I found odd. It must have been because it was around dinner time.

Sunday we packed the kids some extra clothes to change into after church, picked up lunch and headed back to the park. Again, we were the only people there for about 30 minutes when another family showed up with their own picnic. We left a little while later to check out the pool... there was no one there but the lifeguards so we drove home, changed into our suits, packed a pool bag and headed straight back to town to swim. We had the whole pool to ourselves for almost an hour! I stayed in the kiddie pool (fine with me- I'm not a great swimmer) with the kids while T took them individually to the big pool and tried to teach them some fundamentals. We really had a great time. We left after about two hours, but Ry learned how to go under water and hold his breath! We were really proud of him.

We made it home, exhausted! By about 8pm I was barely holding my eyes open. Rose took a long nap and then I let the kids watch Wild Kratts while I cleaned up the kitchen. (T and D went to help my brother with some hay during that time.) It was a long, but really fun day. We hadn't been to the pool in years, at least since I was pregnant with Rose, so it was a big deal. The kids were kind of mad that we left, but we will definitely be going back!

Today I went grocery shopping and school shopping for D. We got his backpack and almost all of his supplies that were on the list. I'm excited for him to go school mainly because he is so excited, but I'm keeping myself from thinking about it too much. I have a feeling August 15 is going to be a really hard day for me. 

I hope you are all having a good start to your week!

So much for thinking I had problems

Sometimes when I don't make it around to posting (usually on Tuesday) my husband will come home from work and ask, "Did you not post anything today? If you did it never showed up." (He's really sweet and reads my blog every. single. day.) I usually give him this blank look and kind of shrug my shoulders wondering when he will notice that the children are actually climbing the walls. Kidding.... Some days I just don't have anything to say.

Yesterday he asked and I just told him I found where his great-great-great-great grandparents were living in Germany. The exact house. That was in the 1700s, but it was bought by an even greater grandpa in the 1500s, had to be sold and then his great great? grandson was able to buy it back. How intriguing. And then they sold it again and came to Texas for a better life. Here we are today.

I really admire those women who came over, especially his gr.gr.gr. grandma, Johanna. She was one tough lady. After arriving in Texas her husband couldn't find any work in Galveston so he made a deal with some guy for a ride to their destination. In exchange he would work for him for a year and receive a cow and horse. The guy allowed T's gr. gr. gr. grandparents to work a little piece of land and keep whatever they could grow... the owner did this because he knew that piece of land was worthless and nothing would grow there. Obviously he didn't realize that Johanna had a green thumb, she wasn't stupid and she wasn't going to let a bunch of sandy soil ruin it for her and her family. She hauled a ton of pig manure out to the field and planted turnips. They ate a lot of turnips that year. She was able to grow two bales of cotton and sold them making just enough money for them to purchase their own piece of land. The cow and horse they received after a year of working 6 days a week for this guy.... a half blind horse, a gimpy cow and two bum steer. I bet they were thankful anyway. I would have griped and complained. They moved to their own place and didn't have time to build a house or really any sort of good shelter before they needed to plant and clear land. They leaned some boards against a hay stack and called it home. Johanna cooked in the great outdoors every day. When it was too cold for them to do anything they huddled up under blankets and nibbled on corn kernels. Nibbled on corn kernels?? They ate all the rabbits they could catch and other "critters". She had a baby in the wilderness and they finally moved into their house when the baby was eight months old. I love that when her kids would say they were hungry (and I am sure they were) she would simply tell them, "No, you just have a big appetite." My kids eat all day and they are always complaining that they are hungry... I'm going to start telling them that same thing.

I came from hardworking German immigrants, too. Compared to them I live a posh life. I have indoor plumbing, hot water, a bed, refrigeration, instant communication with people around the world, doctors and hospitals to simply get a check up, my children live past the age of two, a variety of food practically at my fingertips... and I still complain about things. My Opa, who is 96, finds it amazing that now days people own so many different pairs of shoes. He had one pair a year and wore them only when necessary, like to church and during the winter. His mom made cornbread every single day from corn they grew and ground at the mill. A lot of days they just had cornbread and some vegetables for supper. Beef and pork were rare, I think they only bought it, from a next door neighbor/farmer, once or twice a year. They only ate what they could grow. Opa says he remembers planting acres of tomatoes and potatoes... ACRES and tending them by hand. I can't even maintain six tomato plants and two rows of potatoes before saying that it's too hard.

I know our times have changed and I sacrifice different things for my kids, work hard in different ways, but can we just pause and be thankful for the hard work of our ancestors, who petitioned their government for approval to immigrate, saved every cent they could for 6 years, made the 13 week long journey with the promise of nothing but "opportunity" to a foreign land so that their children and children's children could have a better life? Because, if you give it any thought, you'll realize you wouldn't be here if your gr. gr. gr. grandparents had said, It's too hard. So... mainly this is all directed at myself so that I will be grateful for what I have and not complain about what I don't, but I also think it's an amazing story to share.

Saturday (picture overload)

Saturday was a wonderful day. We drove into town and picked up donuts and sausage kolaches from the little donut shop for breakfast, indulged in Starbucks frappachinos (such a rare treat!) and took it all to the park for a picnic breakfast.

I told T to get me any kind of coffee with chocolate so he got a white chocolate mocha and chocolate cookie mocha (the latter was my favorite). We spent about an hour playing and then headed back home for a quick lunch and to get ready to head to the fair.

 The kids had the best time. We arrived just as the rides were starting so there were no crowds to wade through and practically no lines to wait in. Rose was just tall enough to ride almost all the rides and as you can see had a blast.

The kids loved the Ferris wheel (I feel quite the opposite since I am a fraidy-cat of heights) and the first time I just stayed on the ground and took their picture. T said the kids were standing up looking over the sides and thought it was great. They weren't scared at all. I was roped into riding it since we needed to use up the last of our tickets before we left and you'll see in the following pictures how big of a baby I am.

 

The first picture is what T called my "death grip" on Rose's leg. In all the pictures of me on the Ferris wheel I'm either looking straight down or straight at the camera. I did take in the view for a few minutes and it actually made me feel a little better.  At least to where I was able to smile. 

top: I finally crack a smile while holding tightly onto Rose's shorts because T is making fun of me.
middle: Laughing at myself and relieved that the toddler will sit down and stop trying to crawl over the sides of the bucket.
bottom: Rose has officially had it with the mother who won't let her have ANY fun.

The boys said it was the best day ever. It really was a wonderful day. I wouldn't change a thing about it. Well, I might apply some sunscreen to my face, but otherwise it was perfect. I can't wait to do this again next year!

our weekend

 Saturday afternoon we decided we had been cooped up in the house too long and we were going somewhere. Anywhere. T was not feeling his best after fighting a stomach bug all Friday and into the early hours of Saturday morning, but insisted on going out. So... we lounged around for hours trying to figure out what to do. Due to a wedding this coming weekend, several birthdays and Mother's Day I had us quite a strict budget and taking a family of five out to eat only happens once a month so we were kind of stuck. The park would've been nice if it wasn't a million degrees already. We headed out right at dinner time (this always happens on spur of the moment outings). I decided we would have to eat somewhere that was cheap and definitely not Taco Bell or McDonald's. Eventually we ended up driving through a parking lot with a Denny's. My super eyesight plucked out the words "kids eat free Tuesday and Saturday". It was Saturday. I hadn't eaten at Denny's since I was in California during Spring Break approximately TEN years ago. T and got burgers. I thought the first bite was surprisingly good, but unfortunately each consecutive bite was worse than the previous one. I left feeling empty and full at the same time. I regretted not sticking with breakfast options. The kids enjoyed their meals though and had a good time which is always what really matters in the end.

Sunday we had a birthday party for me, Ry, my sis and brother in law. Our birthdays are all in a ten day time frame. It was fun! I insisted we have homemade pizza for supper and spent a good deal of time making the perfect supreme pizzas. I also made a chocolate cake with boiled icing. We ate until we could eat no more, opened presents (I got an awesome herb garden from my sister which I will have to get a picture of later) and then took our sugar high kids home to crash in their beds.

Many thanks to my family, T's family and our awesome friends (Holly and CLB) for making our birthday's so great.

P.S. It looks like Ry's fingers are on fire, but fear not, it's just a fancy photography trick.

yes, I'm sharing food pics & where are my advisers at?

The kids loved their "valentimes/balentimes" pizzas and strawberry topped vanilla-coconut cupcakes. I made the cupcakes from scratch, which is something I don't think I've ever done before. The icing finally, after many years and attempts at making it, turned out perfect. It's my favorite icing of all time. My mom has been topping chocolate cakes with it since before I can remember and it was always what I requested my birthday cakes have on them. (Unless my Oma was making my cake and then it was either German chocolate or orange with real orange pieces with cream cheese icing and chopped pecans on top.) Anyhow, I was really, really happy that it whipped up the right way. I would be lying if I said I didn't do a real happy dance.

Shrimp linguine was super easy to make and was delicious. Sorry, I have no pictures because we ate it before I remembered to take any. I gave T his card and he kept asking why I put "intentional" on it. He never questioned "superhero".

(yo, all you people reading this are now officially my advisers and your comments would be really helpful in easing my psychotic research freak out tendencies.) 

I am still figuring out about getting smart phones with data plans (because you can't get one without the other anymore). Does anyone use their phone's service to blog or read blogs? How much data do you use in a month and what do you use it on? I need all the information I can get. So help me out. Pretty please?

Well it looks like I better be going. It sounds like someone is doing some unsupervised and unauthorized demolition in the living room.

what I do all day (part 2)

I believe I left off at nap time. I didn't write anything down yesterday afternoon so I am writing this from memory and it probably won't be as detailed as yesterday morning.

[2:15-3:00] I have to put Ry back in bed 3 times and finally I'm fairly confident that he is actually going to sleep. D and I go outside to practice catching (he is signed up for t-ball) and play in the front yard for about 10 minutes before he gets distracted and want to show me where he planted an acorn in the back yard. We walk around to the back yard and Ry (who is supposed to be napping) pops up from laying down in the swing. I get a little ticked off, but simply pick him up and take him back inside and stay with him until his eyes are very droopy and I'm so sure he'll be asleep in five minutes. I leave his room tell D he can watch Arthur and I clean the kitchen (again).

[3-4] I get the kitchen clean, search coupon websites and print some out, change our car insurance policy online and print new cards. Open the freezer to discover I don't have any tilapia and will have to come up with a different plan for supper. Oh joy. Sweep dining and living room. Ry comes out of his room and joins D because he "can't fall asleep". Rose wakes up, take her potty. Turn TV off, kids complain and then go play with their Thomas trains. I pick up all the dirty clothes in their rooms and put them in the laundry for tomorrow.

[4-5:30] take Rose potty and get nothing, remind the boys not to leave their toys all over the dining room floor or I will step on them, hand out some more snacks, fill up sippys, fix Rose's doll stroller for her, watch the boys play and guess which animal they are being, T calls and says he is on the way home, our plans for going to grocery store and park change to Thursday night, I start supper and find some painters tape to make a hopscotch game on the floor.

[5:30-6:45] pasta is boiling, put frozen green beans in oven to "roast" (I didn't like this method), clear off table and chug some water, take Rose potty and she flips out and tells me to go potty, fine with me so we trade places and she tells me I did a good job and hands me ONE square of t.p. (she is so generous). Oh, man I have to get the pasta out and look, Daddy's home! I dish up our suppers and almost get the hopscotch squares done, but it's hard to accomplish when the kids are already hopping on my hands, try to take Rose potty but she insists she doesn't need to go. Sit down to eat, break up arguments, tell T about our day.

[6:45-7:40] play hopscotch, play "ball in the boot" where you try to bounce a ball across the room and have it land in a boot, send pouting child to sulk in their room for a while, pouty child is back and somewhat happy, (I win our game- 2-0), I wash the supper dishes, Rose still hasn't gone potty even with us taking her.

[7:40-8] announce it's time to get ready for bed, lots of whining and complaining, Rose pees, in the dining room and is not happy about it. Dang it. I clean it up while T gives her a quick bath, get the kids in pjs, find their cups and give them water, kiss them good night, cover them up again, put Rose in bed, kiss, lights off, goodnight! Collapse on couch to watch Wednesday night TV (really the only time we watch TV during the week.)

[8-9] watch TV, laugh, eat. (Every night except Wednesday this chunk of time is my time to read blogs and do whatever without anyone interrupting me while T works out... we have ourselves a nice little system.)

That's it. (Obviously we take showers and go to bed, but I thought you could figure that one out.) Every day is different, but I can always count on cooking, cleaning and lots of coffee. What are your days like?

that time my brother was on the Ellen show

Okay, okay, so technically he wasn't on the show, but! If you watch (which, actually, I don't) then you may have seen yesterday's episode with a phone call from Gladys. Well, Gladys is chatting with Ellen about all sorts of fun stuff and then brings up how people can be so kind and do good things for others.... much like her neighbor, who happens to also be her mailman, which would be my brother.

Anyhow, I'm sharing the video with you all because I can and it's fun. Also, because it's kind of exciting to hear your brother being talked about (in a good way) on national television. Even if it's only a few seconds at the end of a funny phone call.



Get this, I knew nothing of it until my mother in law called saying (barely after I could finsish saying hello), "Gladys called Ellen!" I'm thinking, okay, well that's neat because I actually know who you're talking about...  "She mentioned your brother and said how he was helping fight the wildfire." Needless to say, I was on Ellen's site in a flash watching her talk to my brother's neighbor, Gladys. (Btw, thanks for telling me, apparently my brother had already found out from Gladys and told my mom to watch it....... no one tells me anything.)

making a fire break to save "all the critters"

my bro and CLB

Original link:
 http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2012/01/a_phone_call_from_gladys_0130.php

 I guess I'm just a proud sister.

a typical evening

This was the scene in our house last night for a good hour. Everyone was subject to being tackled, sat upon and chased. Rose wore a baseball helmet for protection (we were glad she was wearing it on multiple trips, falls and collisions) because she cannot not be involved in her brothers' shenanigans.

Unfortunately I didn't have head gear so when Rose decided to tackle-hug me and I tried to hug her back she whipped her helmeted head right into my nose. My nose is fine, but any hit to the nose brings pain and watering eyes. That was when I decided I was no longer safe sitting on the floor and resorted to running around like the rest of them and letting my hair blow in wind. Ha.

I'm having flashbacks from this picture alone.  

(tucks head between knees and curls into fetal position)

They sure did have a good time.

By 7:30 they were ready for a break for a pb&j sandwich (refueling after a big energy inducing pasta supper)

and a nice quiet bedtime story. 

I figured they would sleep in today, but no, they woke at 6:30 and have been eating and playing monster chase and eating some more. They never stop eating... or moving. At least they are keeping me in good shape since they can't exactly fix their own meals yet. I must walk a couple of miles going back and forth to the kitchen in a day. I don't even eat something every time I'm there. I'm sure that would cancel out all the walking.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. I'm excited about mine!

p.s. although I'm not sure when exactly, I will post some before and after hair pictures. I know you are all on the edge of your seats to see my transformation!

the Christmas post

The boys actually heard Santa on our roof on Christmas Eve! T and I were sleeping so we missed it, but he did come! He left lots of Toy Story buddies for the kids and dinosaurs in their stockings. (Um, Santa, that one stocking was so heavy it fell off the mantle!) Christmas Eve we spent at T's parents' house. We had fajitas and tamales for supper and then Pappy G read the Christmas Story from the Bible, we sang a couple of songs and then it was present time! T and I were gifted coffee (they know us so well). D and Ry made off with paint-able dinosaurs, cars, The Polar Express dvd, train set and lots of other goodies. Rose got a doll that walks with her, a purse (debit card included), some play veggies... oh, so many things! We had a great time.

Christmas morning we woke up with, "Santa came! Hurry come see!" so we went to see... The kids made the nice list. D got almost everything on his list and was so happy! Ry got Jessie (from Toy Story). His reaction was awesome. He had been asking for Jessie since before his birthday (April) so his patience was rewarded.

Rose got a doll stroller that she loves. I had my doubts about it being something she would like, but it is a big hit.

I got some pretty turquoise and pearl earrings from T. They are so pretty! I don't have a picture of them, but maybe sometime soon I will. I got him a movie that he opened Christmas Eve and we watched. (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, in case you were curious.)

We went to my sister's house for Christmas dinner (lunch). It was so good. I stuffed my face. We had a great time and they pulled out tamales right before we left so I grabbed some and brought them home... yum, again. We all exchanged presents and lounged around. My dad built Rose and her cousin E (they're the same age) doll cradles. It is beautiful. He made them on Christmas Eve, stayed up until 2am finishing them. My mom made a little mattress, pillow and doll blanket for them. So sweet and you bet there will be some sentimental attachment there. 

he made them out of cedar

Yesterday we had a little vacation day. T was home and we went "shopping". We didn't find much, I got two books and we got the boys each something from Academy. (A football uniform for Ry and a polar fleece jacket for D.) We came home and made pizza and watched a couple of movies (Broken Trail and Bridesmaids). It was way past my bedtime (I think it was 1am) before we finally called it a night. (The kids called it a night at 8pm.) So, that's about it. Too many late nights in a row... I'm barely keeping my eyes open. I figured I better get this Christmas stuff out here before tomorrow or it'd be too late. 

 tomorrow holds another celebration...

lights

We have a little tradition with T's dad. For about 5 or 6 years now our town puts on a "trail of lights" that runs along the Colorado River and we get together and walk it. The kids always have a great time and it's fun having these memories with their Pappy G.



I think I need to make some more coffee... I only got one cup this morning before T took off with the rest in his thermos. I should've just made more to begin with. Lessons for learning abound and overflow lately.

baby in the house

I'm babysitting my nephew today.

very cute. very talkative. very loved. very into eating his hands.

our (sweet) weekend

 Let's start out with the weekend recap, shall we? Okay, Saturday we hung around the house and then went to the lighted Christmas parade in town. We were late to it, but managed to see the last half of it (and Santa). The kids loved it and Rose was waving to everyone telling them "bye bye". 

Sunday I hurried out to do some last minute grocery and birthday present shopping (for our niece). I took the Rose with me and we had a blast making circles around itty bitty small town Walmart. Our options were dolls (already has), Toy Story toys ($$$), Barbies (too young), plush animals (mm, nah). So I grabbed a penguin sippy cup (her theme was penguins and polar bears), a pair of (cute) pajamas and a skirt. While everyone was gathered we drew names for Christmas (the people we got were specific about what they wanted so it makes it tons easier!). 

Later we went to a dessert thing that T's dad had invited us to at his church. I think we were in sugar overdose when we left, but we had a good time. The kids were good for the most part... they were a little tired and 

kids+ sugar+ 60 minutes of be still & quiet!

  two of them had to be taken out. Actually, it was just the very loud, happy toddler, but after it was over Ry had a meltdown of epic proportions (according to T) because Thomas the Train was gone. (Apparently he saw him in one of the play areas and was gone when we went to look? Yeah, I don't know.) D was well behaved, as usual, always setting the standards way too high for his siblings to ever reach. (He takes after his mommy.)

We finally made it back home and sent the children to night-night land while T and I watched the Sunday night game. Okay, I watched until halftime and then tucked myself into bed. I don't know if T watched all of it or not. 

Well, I've been trying to be productive today and I must get back to all the little things that require my very divided attention. I am determined to get the laundry put away... there's nothing wrong with starting the week out with all of our clothes in their proper places. Such a dream. 

Happy Monday to you.

Thanksgiving

We woke up early (as usual), got dressed and headed to my sister's house for cinnamon rolls (I made) and to prepare all the delicious sides: sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, Oma's cornbread dressing, green bean casserole, rolls, gravy and all the little extras. Everything was delicious.

I got to dote on T.J. while my sister took a break for a shower before everyone showed up.

getting my baby fix

T was extremely helpful in keeping the kiddos occupied. They ran around outside playing "prisoner escape" and then came inside and settled down for some Dr. Seuss reading.

There was a lot of "let's take some pictures" after lunch. Always fun!

We headed over to see T's parents and watch some Texas football. His family had eaten earlier so we had the leftovers. Not a bad thing at all. His dad makes one heck of a good turkey! As for the game... It came down to the very last play (Justin Tucker's winning field goal!!). We all sang "and it's goodbye to a&m" when it was over. Best of luck in the SEC, aggies (you're going to need it).

Friday we started a new tradition, but more on that later. (as it involves a hundred pictures and really deserves a part I & II type post.) Hope you all are having a relaxing weekend.