Picnic in the Park

Uncle Evan John and EJ were nice enough to invite us on a picnic today. It worked out to be absolutely perfect weather today, which is crazy since SNOW is predicted tomorrow! EJ took us to a park that he used to visit when he was W's age. It had a bridge with a stream, a "forest", and tons of play equipment. W was a big fan of the swings today, but didn't want me to do it, "only EJ". Good for me, bad for EJ. 

Learning the ins and outs of eating with a toothpick!

Whats in there?

First ride on a swing! Appreciate it!

What are they talking about?

Big boys!

Hanging out on the picnic blanket. Getting some vitamin D!

SO much prep work that had gone into the picnic. It was amazing!!

Uncle EJ had a picnic basket filled with all kinds of fruits: balled honeydew melon, a peeled clementine, fresh pineapple, an apple with pb, a container of blueberries...and neat little toothpicks to spear it all with. W loved it. There was hummus and pita, sandwiches, and delicious cookies!! 

We were very spoiled today, and we enjoyed the heck out of it! Thanks for such a great afternoon outdoors.

A Visit With Grandma & Grandpa

Gabby and I took the kids to Bullard today to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa. It was such a cold and dreary day - we couldn't have used our time any better. 

The drive down was great - all sorts of planning and organizing took place. 

Then at Grandma and Grandpa's, W treated everyone to some delicious felt pizza -taking orders and making up some inventive pizzas. Grandma played hide and seek with Wyatt.

 It was VERY HARD to find where he was hiding. 

Ev enjoyed attention from everyone, something W rarely lets him do! Grandma got to feed Ev for the first time - some delicious banana mango and some turkey dinner. Ick!

Aunt Donna stopped by - look at everyone giving this boy some love!

 

What great company!! So glad we made the drive.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

It took an hour and a half to get W down for nap today. He was hopped up on sugar and pink hearts.

 It has been a busy week with Mardi Gras and Valentine's all rolled into one. 

We've done a lot of activities to prepare. We've had friends drop by bearing gifts. We've consumed enough sugar for a small nation...

Monday, we hosted a playgroup party with the only other boy in playgroup, D. D and W put together a video invite - hey girls, come to our party! Worth a laugh. We had a precious hand print craft ready to go (thanks to D's crafty mama), and heart shaped Krispy Kreme. That set the bar high!

W's handprint is in light pink and Ev's handprint is in white. 

This sure captured W's heart!

Tuesday, W had a Mardi Gras parade at school that involved beads. Uncle Brad's mom found some pretty awesome light up beads that were the hit of the parade. Our neighbors also brought W an authentic New Orleans bead - featuring pirate ships - a favorite around here. After the Mardi Gras parade, a few of the mom's stayed on to help decorate boxes for Valentine's day. A throwback to our elementary days, we covered shoe boxes with stickers, glitter, and hearts of all kinds. 

Thanks, Langfords!!

Thanks, Bev!!

Wednesday, I took W to get a haircut and some new shoes. He wanted a hot dog, so I took both boys out to lunch at Purple Cow. W had his first taste of a purple vanilla milk shake. Though I was apprehensive about managing both boys in a restaurant, it turned out to be just fine. W was a real sweetheart...but it's not something I plan on frequently repeating.

First Purple Cow Milkshake. Approved!

Thursday, we celebrated Valentine's at W's school. I blew up sixty balloons for his class party. #exhausting. We created Conversation Heart bar graphs. Then we played ring toss and kicked around the balloons. Since they ate the conversation hearts while graphing, the end of the party just involved toddlers running in circles saying crazy things. Entertaining - until you try and get them in the car. :)

Our Valentine's French Toast this morning. No crusp on it. (W has decided he doesn't like crust. Since I don't either, I can't really fault him there...)

W's decorated shoe box

 

Downing a handful of conversation hearts.

Now we are just waiting for daddy to come home and celebrate with us!

Happy V-day, everyone! 

We sure do have a lot of love today!

The Valentine W made for us at school. Love it! Thanks, Ms. Amanda!!

Happy New Year!

We had a very Merry Christmas, but it went SO quickly! Seems like we just had Jason's holiday party, and now we are in 2013. 

Ev has started eating foods. So far I have made him carrots and pears. He is getting much better about swallowing and keeping it in his mouth vs the bib...and actually seems to like chomping down on that little rubber spoon. Wyatt likes to regale him with tales of  "when I was a baby, I ate...". Whatever he is saying cracks Ev up. He just smiles and laughs at Wyatt. I guess he likes those stories. 

W has started potty training. That's all we will say about that. Potty training and I HATE each other. 

Jason made partner at McKoolSmith. yay!! ...and then decided to live the American Dream and strike it out on his own. CassadyCurry will start up work on Monday, and we are all very excited about the prospects in the year to come. Wow!

We have had a lovely break, but I am looking forward to getting everyone back on a schedule. Jason to work, Wyatt to school, normal dinners, normal hours. It has been a topsy turvy holiday and we all lived in the Palace of Excess. Time to come home. 

I asked Jason what his new year's resolutions were and he told me (in a superior sounding tone) that he didn't make resolutions. I forgot that he was already perfect. :)

So I've been thinking about what I want to be resolute about. I'm not going to say: I'm going to lose weight because I ate 3 cherry cordial Hershey kisses in a row today after Wyatt pooped on the floor and Everett threw up on my sweater. But I am going to say these things:

1. I would like for the whole family to eat healthier meals. This requires a bit more preparation on my part...so I need to go ahead and do that. We could all stand to eat more fruit, veg, and dairy. And I would like to get Ev started out on the right foot. 

bacon is the right foot, right?

2. I would like to run a 5k every other month. Except in the summer. It's good to have a goal to keep you active. My first 5k is at the end of this month - the Doughnut Dash. Doughnuts are provided by the magnificent Hypnotic Doughnut, so my motivation is somewhat sketchy, but...whatever works. I am running this with my friend Erin, and that is the thing about running. I originally did it to get more involved with my friend JP and found myself entangled with Katie M, Playgroup ladies, my cousin Laura, and all sorts of surprising folks. Its the gift that keeps on giving. 

3. I am going to commit to seven random acts of kindness each month. Seven seems like a small number, I know, but I have to start somewhere and 7 is the number of perfection. I am hoping it will be like the butterfly effect - my deeds will start change in the world. I'll keep you posted.

4.  I am going to plan more learning activities with Wyatt. Truthfully, since I had Ev, my parenting has been a little less than stellar. Sometimes Team Umi Zoomi teaches W more than I do (although, it taught me what a dodecahedron was - and now I have mighty math powers. Mighty, mighty math powers). Mostly, however, my daily effort is sad. I have five teaching certifications and a whole lot of ability. I am going to see where I can plug in a little more pizazz, and then I'm going to make it happen. I planned lessons for other people's children for almost a decade. Surely I do it for my own, right? Right. 

making a fall leaf collage - back in November

And I'm going to stop there. Just reading this list makes me tired. That's quite a bit to accomplish and so little time to do it. :)

Cheers to you, 2013! I have a feeling we are going to get along swimmingly.

Thanksgiving+

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. We celebrated Thanksgiving Day with J's family. I made a ham and the mashed potatoes. I tried out green bean bundles from Pinterest...and they were a success. A cherry pie from Whole Foods with homemade whipped cream that Wyatt and I put together rounded out my plate. Delicious!

Saturday we had Griffiths family Thanksgiving. We couldn't have asked for nicer weather as we celebrated lake -side. Wyatt loved exploring the beach with his cousins, and Sue set up a scavenger hunt for the little ones. I was sad to have to leave Saturday night, but I'm already looking forward to Christmas at DJ's. 

 Wyatt and I read Gingerbread Pirates last week (we checked out a slew of holiday books from the library). Since reading it, Wyatt has been interested in gingerbread men. Tonight, he suited up in his Chef Wyatt gear and we baked and decorated cookies.  

 Jason helped me get the Christmas stuff down. The house is very Christmas-y. Bing is playing in my CD player and on Pandora.  It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

Ev's Halloween Photo Shoot

Ev didn't do much on Halloween except take a ride in the stroller. 

He dressed up as a baby...because 3mo costumes seemed kind of crazy to me. 

So - here are some pictures of just Ev. It seems like he is still so tiny to me, but I was looking back through some photos of last month's activities, and it does appear that he has grown. :) Whew!

Happy Halloween!

As I write this, my little monsters are both asleep (but for how long is anyone's guess), the Halloween decorations have all been taken down (OCD alert), and I feel pretty pleased with how the last few days have gone. 

Crazy Halloween Glasses

Halloween? I LOVE candy!!

On Tuesday, I spent all day at W's school. We started the day with a Halloween costume parade. Then, I volunteered to read a story and do a craft. We read the Big Pumpkin and everything that I remember about teaching pre-k was revisited. They are so wiggly! As room mom, I also put together a party for W's class at school. We did some Halloween bowling and some pumpkin decorating. 

It was such a busy day, and I couldn't have done it without mom's help watching Ev. 

It was a great fun to see how Wyatt acts in his school setting. (Like a Boss.)

Steg at School

Clip Art Bowling that I made with cranberry juice containers - thanks, Pinterest!

Bowling at the Halloween Party

Halloween day - another whirl wind! Gabby and Pop Pop came over with some taco soup and corn bread. We had a great dinner, then we took our Stegosaurus trick-or-treating. Ok. He doesn't get manners yet. When he got candy that he didn't like (like Milky Way), he had a melt down. With stomping. It was very dinosaur-like behavior. I just stood on the sidewalk and asked folks "Hey - who's kid is that???". Katie and Brad dropped by for dinner, too - just in time to witness another candy induced flip out. 

Whew. I better go ahead and eat the rest of his trick-or-treat candy before he wakes up...

 

As fun and busy as things have been, I'm glad to see October draw to a close. 

With November at hand, W and I are going to spend some time focusing on being thankful. I am already looking forward to some time together with family and little Houston cousins.