Thanksgiving Week

This Thanksgiving break was much anticipated.  The stomach virus had run through our family and we were anxious for some resting time.

Before the break, I took Grant to the Ag Barn at school and introduced him to the new pigs in town.

After the visit, he let me know that he no longer wants to be a policeman, but a farmer.  He told me he had to quit school at 10 years old to run the farm because he would be too busy.  Also, he may not see me much anymore because he might have to move far away to run the farm.  That's is when I asked for a job on the farm.  Looks like I get to milk the cows.  This is what playing Farmville on the Internet does to a kid's dreams! 

We are officially done with our remodel!  This week we've been putting items back in its places, so no pictures just yet!  Reagan loves our new French doors, though.  She can watch the dogs in the backyard with ease.

Here is Reagan's official 11 month picture, a few days late. 

Grant decided he needed a picture as well.

Daniel and I helped with Children's Church this month.  We had 28 one Sunday.  It was hilarious to hear one sing "What Does the Fox Say?" and then they all joined in.  Here is Grant and his friend, Ryan.

Like I said earlier, we've been busy getting our house back in working order.  Grant decided our cat, Kitty, needed to help as well.  He has gotten his long winter coat in.

By mid week, Reagan was ready for her first Thanksgiving (she was so hungry she was eating her feet!).

We left to visit Daniel's family but first we made a quick stop at the Bass Pro Shop to see Santa.  Once we arrived we knew it would take much longer than expected. 

Daniel went and ordered us some food while Grant and I did some crafts at Santa's Workshop.  

When we meet up at the restaurant, Daniel hands us this:  alligator.

Of course, Grant didn't eat it.  Reagan did though...tastes like chicken!

After about a 2 hour wait, we saw the big guy, himself.  Reagan was worn out and didn't want any part of it.

Wednesday, we went to the movies to see "Frozen" with some of Daniel's cousins and his sister. 

Grant and Braxton enjoyed the video games before the movie began.

Reagan enjoyed her first Thanksgiving.  She was worn out (that is why I got these faces) but she enjoyed dressing and broccoli rice casserole.

This was after a FULL belly!

These 3 kids were getting cabin fever in the house with all people visiting for Thanksgiving, so I took them on a nature scavenger hunt.

It eventually turned into 'lets see how many big rocks we can find'.

Someone enjoyed the cool air and the beautiful sunshine!

Thanksgiving went quickly as it came and we were back on the road home.  I laughed at Reagan using the DVD player as an ottoman.

Friday, we went to our high school football game at Cowboys Stadium

Grant sat with his friend, Corbin. 

Grant was cheering the entire time.

2nd quarter was cotton candy quarter.

Saturday warmed up a bit.  We planted some new rose bushes and Grant broke open his sidewalk chalk.

That evening my sister and her singing group sang at the lighting of a local town's lighting of the Christmas tree.

Santa even showed up for the event!

This is how we ALL felt after this week.

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 1: 
Thankful for early release days and free lunches.  We have both today.  We never have enough of these!

Day 2: 
Thankful for my updated house.  Daniel and I thought it was never going to end, or that we would survive agreeing (and compromising) on so many things, but we did it!  And its so purty!

Day 3: 
Thankful for my church family.  What great, intellectual Christians that we enjoy being around.  Also love the thriving kids classes at the church.  Daniel and I had 24 4-5 year olds in our Childrens Church today!

Day 4:
Thankful for my mild, non eventful upbringing. I see so many sad stories with parents not being parents. I grew up in a loving, supportive household with 2 parents. Not many people can say that these days.

Day 5: 
Thankful for the internet.  With it my students can make cool commercials for their 'business' they created.  I can look up things to prove my husband wrong.  I can share pictures of the ones I love to the ones I love.  So many upsides, I don't care about the bad sides.

Day 6:
Thankful for my brother and sister.  I don't see them as often as I'd like (yes, even my sister) but I can call them whenever for a good laugh.

Day 7:
Thankful for naps.  Everyone should know why.

Day 8:
Thankful for my students.  I may not appreciate every single one, every single day, but I am grateful to have the opportunity to teach them life lessons in my classes.  If they can just learn to write a check correctly, my year is made!

Day 9:
Thankful for my iPhone.  I swore I didn't need one and then I became addicted.  It keeps me well organized and well informed.

Day 10:
Thankful for a job where I don't necessarily have to worry about lay offs or not know if I will get vacation time or not.  If I had stayed in the position I was in before I came to be a teacher, I would have been laid off with tons of bills to pay. 

Day 11:
Thankful for my daughter who is 11 months old today.  Such a big girl with big smiles she greets me with every morning.

Day 12: 
Thankful for manners. We watched a video on the brand "Coca-Cola" and out of 24 students I only heard about 4 people say"thank you" for the can of Coca-Cola I just handed to them. 

Day 13: 
Thankful for my health. We just got over a week of the stomach bug running through our family. I bounced back better than some of the others. "Ain't no body got time for that!" 

Day 14:
Thankful to those who helped us pull off selling popcorn for our local food bank, today. In 3 hours we earned $215 and a handful of canned goods to give, not too shabby!

Day 15:
Thankful for growing up in a 'normal' household.  Or what I think is normal, anyway.

Day 16:
Thankful for my new grocery store in town, Brookshires.  Although the prices may be a little higher, I enjoy the products, service, and cleanliness.  I also love that its not too far from my house, so I don't mind running over there if needed.

Day 17: 
Thankful for my Dad, whose birthday is today.  A quiet guy who works hard and loves his family.  He taught (and teaches) me about location, location, location and planning my work, and working my plan. 

Day 18:
Thankful for my son who will be 6 in less than 6 months.  He greets me every morning with "Good morning, Mommy!" and keeps us laughing daily.  He's a smarty pants who is so cute I can't believe he's mine half of the time.

Day 19:
Thankful for modern medicine.  A few pops of the neck and hip and I'm back to normal and not in pain, thanks to the chiropractor.  One pop of pill and life can be normal again when you are sick.  One nice surgery and I can give birth to my daughter in no time!  All thanks to modern medicine. 

Day 20:
Thankful for those who teach and love on my son when I'm not with him during the day. To the ladies that load him out of the car in the morning, to the lunch lady who makes him feel special by giving him an extra cookie, to his teacher who he doesn't want to disappoint, and to my sister who keeps me up to date on his antics. Thanks.

Day 21:
Thankful for my 2 nieces, Claire and Vivian and my nephew, Fletcher.  Being an aunt is so fun!

Day 22:
Thankful for my husband who takes care of us. Thanks for finding those tacos I left in the car, honey ;) 

Day 23:
Thankful for Dr. Pepper or Spark from Advocare (if I have any).  Its what keeps me going some days.

Day 24:
Thankful for whoever is still reading this.  It is quite long ;)

Day 25:
Thankful its only a month until Christmas.  I love this time of year.

Day 26:
Thankful for those little moments in the car and at bed time that get my sons mind rolling.  Our conversations are priceless and keep me wondering how I got so lucky.

Day 27:
Thankful for my in-laws.  I have a mother in law and father in law who gave me one of my greatest treasures, my husband, and they adore my children.  I have 2 sister in laws and 2 brother in laws that all bring something special to the family.

Day 28:
Thankful for my grandparents who can't be with us on Thanksgiving.  They left this earth with people who adored them and faith that left a legacy.  I love to talk to those who shares their memories of them with me.

Day 29:
Thankful for my co-workers who keep me laughing and sane.

Day 30:
Thankful for Texas weather.  Okay, I will bite my tongue later on this one, but its true what they say about Texas weather:  If you don't like it, just wait a while.  Today is a little break from the very cold days we've been having and we were able to enjoy the outdoors.  I just wish the summers weren't so hot!

November Happenings

November is flying by, as always.  Grant has been busy at school.  He received the math award for the first 9 weeks and enjoyed the recent book fair with Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Reagan is now 11 months old and is getting around, toddling, better every day.  Soon she will be running.  She no longer sits nice in church, she wiggles and wriggles (is that a word?) until she gets down.  She's in love with her brother and Cheerios.

We had a massive cool front last week, with a warmer break this past weekend.  What a good morning for a bike ride!

Reagan (in her trailer) and I followed Grant around the neighborhood.  He's getting better about being fast on his bike when, especially when I trail him on mine.  

My father has his birthday yesterday, and Grant wanted to have a surprise 'cowboy' themed party for him.  We did our best with what we had!

Vivan and Grant hid and yelled "SURPRISE!" when he walked in.  Then they showed off some ninja moves they had.  That was the entertainment for the night.

Grant helped PawPaw blow out ALL 6 candles, haha.

PawPaw and his grandbabies (missing 2 though!)

You can get a glimpse of our remodel in these pictures, but we are not completely done....so close though!  Pictures of that to come soon!

Animals inside out

On Halloween, Daniel and I have "dated" for 10 years. So to celebrate, somewhat, we went to the Perot Museum to see the exhibit "Animals Inside Out". Technically, we went to see a bunch of dead carcasses but it is seriously way cooler than it sounds.




This was a squid. Preserved by the plastication system by this scientist from Germany.


Octopus


Daniel and the skeletal system of an animal.


Ostrich


Sheep. This preservation system he uses even allows the innards to be kept in tact.


This camel's neck was sliced into thirds so you could see all the muscle and bone.


Reindeer.


Filly.


Bull. It's what's for dinner haha.





Pig lung.


Human smokers lung, eww.


It also preserves the capillaries. Here is a dog.


Capillary ostrich.


Giraffe.


Giant giraffe heart.


Now this is where you have to stop and think, "Oh this is a real person who donated his body to science." We saw the last exhibit like this, "Body Worlds" years ago.


Daniel was definitely in his element. I love my biologist!

Afterwards, we saw a 3D film about bugs.


Then as always, lunch at El Fenix downtown.

Halloween: Must be the year of the Lumberjack

This was going to be my first Halloween to dress a girl up.  Call me crazy, but I've been ready for this for quite a while.  What would I pick?   Well I honestly wanted to make Reagan a cabbage patch doll because she is my cuddly doll but my husband brought me back to earth when he heard that one.  So in the middle of contemplation, Grant said he wanted to be a football player for Halloween.  Ah ha!  And what goes with a football player?  A cheerleader!  And that's how this year came about. 

This handsome SFA football player got himself some new football pants, a purple football, and a SFA jersey.  I got some black eye to go with the costume, but he wouldn't have any part of that.

Reagan was going to be in the stroller for Trunk or Treat at our church, so we spruced her stroller up a bit for the occasion.

Daniel and I were dressed up as lumberjacks.  Actual plaid wearing, suspender popping lumberjacks.  We conveniently didn't get our picture taken, haha.

Grant enjoyed the games and the booths.

My niece, Vivian the Fairy Godmother, met up with us.

The last thing we did at Trunk or Treat was the cake walk.  Grant won a dozen cupcakes.  By the way he acted, you would have thought he won the lottery!

On Halloween, our hallway at school decided to celebrate "Duck Dynasty" style!

Here is all those that participated

Mrs. Kay showed up with her puppies and turtle and Si showed up with sweet tea, of course.

Katie and I got in on the action.

Amber and I were "Willie" twins.

 I got this idea while telling Katie and Amber about this first year I was a teacher.  We were "Prisoners of the Pen" because I was in a hallway with English teachers.

Our inmate numbers were our room numbers and we had tattoo sleeves on our arms. 

 

These wanted posters were all around the school.

Fun memories...new and old.  Hope you had a great Halloween!