BIG (D) Weekend!

We had big fun this weekend with Big D...but also with Uncle Matthew!  What a treat to have them here for a winning Friday football game and some gorgeous weather!

Snuggles:

Talking about very serious pigskin matters:

Fun uncle (funcle!):

Funcle Part 2 (old instruments at a Nature Center display):

Taking in the natural beauty:

And a school (PTA) party to boot!

Neither of the kids wore their actual Halloween costumes so....stay tuned for those!

Halloween Preparation

It's "Wear Your Costume to Dance Class" Week-- but I'm not really a fan of early wearings of a costume.  (Plus, we tend to end up with costumes that aren't so multiple-wear-friendly like last year's cotton candy!)  Instead, Miss C raided her dress-up bin and wore this to class; it wasn't twisted at the start, but I kinda like how it ended up!

The funnier thing, however, is what she decided to put on upon returning home:

 
It's always dress-up time around here!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

PS:  A very special blog lurker is getting married this weekend.  I imagine she's a *titch* too busy to be reading today but, just in case she does some retroactive reading later-- BEST WISHES TO YOU, C.R.!!!! 

Finished Product

Remember this spontaneous woodworking project from earlier in the month?

Well, it's now positioned high in its perch.  Be sure to enlarge the photo so you can see what Miss C wrote on the front!  HA!

Wayback Wednesday

Ha-- apparently I've been lamenting the lack of things to post for at least six years!  And how funny is my commentary about the Baylor Bears football team?  We had NO idea six years ago how "up" things were going to continue to go!

Seeing Red

Yesterday was "wear red" day to kick off Red Ribbon Week.  It was easy enough to get the kiddies dressed:

Full length for the full effect of Miss C's outfit:

I just took them to the bus stop in (some version of) sweats for "Life is no sweat!"-- and tomorrow is something about sneakers.  Hooray for easy themes.  And reminders to stay healthy and drug-free or, as B likes to say, "Don't get caught in the web of drugs!"  [Man, I should have recorded him saying that and inserted it here.  His intonation is classic!]

All Wrapped Up

Somehow, I ended up as a room mom for Miss C's Kindergarten class.  I am SOOOO not a party planner and I'm pretty sure that's the sum total of the room mom's responsibility...but alas, the teacher asked and I couldn't say no.   With the Halloween class party right around the corner, we thought we'd better do a test run last night to see how much toilet paper it takes to wrap a small child like a mummy:

Going...

Going...

GONE!  (And I can't stop laughing!)

Foodie Friday

I ended up with some time to spare at Trader Joe's and decided to put information from this article on chip & dip pairings and this article on cheese into action!  (I am nothing if not prone to taking suggestions.)   So, imminent visitor Big D-- know that there are lots of tasty treats to try in your near future!!

Not pictured:  4 different kinds of crackers and chianti salami because, DUH-- gotta have some cured meats to go with all this goodness!  (Per the article suggestion, the beef jerky pictured above is considered a "chip" but yeah, I guess we already have some processed meats here...!)

Relief

I was summoned into the city yesterday.  Okay, it wasn't really ominous like that sounds.  I've been doing some contract work for a research firm based locally and they had a professional photographer come to the office to take pics for an updated website.  While the process of figuring out something appropriate to wear for photos (as it turns out, I wear a lot of prints) was relatively depressing (I need to stop eating) and difficult (records were shattered here yesterday with a high in the mid-80s)-- I do enjoy a little urban sojourn every now and then.

My main concern is always parking at the metro stations.  The station nearest to us has a ton of spots that are always empty in the morning...but they are reserved until 10am.   Great if you don't need to leave until 10am; not so great if you are supposed to be in the city at 10am.    So this time, I trekked to a different station and, thanks to intelligence from a friend who commutes from there regularly, had this view from the train platform while I was waiting to hop onboard:

Sigh of relief-- lots of parking spots still open at 9am!

Wordless Wednesday

Artistic Spirit

Miss C entertained herself during Friday's game by doodling in a composition book her brother used at school last year (and, obvs, didn't fill with very much writing-- ha ha ha!).   She had me help her spell the label for this drawing:

And then I found this one later:

If one (cheerleader) is good, a whole squad is better, right?!

Fall Football Friday

I took this pic to show you that the trees are starting to turn!

The game Friday got pretty cold pretty quickly.  Of course, now the high is in the low 80s for the first few days of this week-- STOP IT.  Can we just settle into autumn without this bouncing around?!

The game was crazy and, even though the other team had more than 500 yards of passing offense (um, they completed some realllllly long passes), the Rams won 46-45.   Whew.

Yay for getting to see a happy daddy!

Friday Randoms

I've started a weekly habit of going to the grocery store next door to the dance studio each Thursday afternoon during Miss C's dance class.  I never remember to park in the grocery store parking lot, however, so I always find myself hauling tons o' bags across and around to the dance studio parking lot.  The B-man was with me yesterday and he carried two very heavy bags, not without complaining about their weight most of the time.  During the "grit our teeth and get it done" walk, I thought to myself, "this would be the perfect pic for tomorrow's blog" but alas, I was too busy strengthening my arm muscles to dig out my camera.

If that wasn't a random enough start to the morning, here's some more:

• The BG has gone back to setting his alarm for 4:00am because he feels like he always has so much more work to do than time during the day.  [Does not help that his teaching schedule this semester is periods 1-5 straight without any planning/off breaks.]
• Because he now gets up at 4:00am, he pretty much is done for by 9:00pm. As a Never Night Owl, I'm all about crashing then, too.  I've long felt that the secret to my "success" (that's in quotes, people) is lots of sleep.   I usually stay awake until 9:30 or so but, given my interest in 8 hours of sleep, that means I can be up and productive at 5:30am.
• Buuut-- then I find myself awake at 4:00am.  And bitter.  There's no way I'm getting up that early.  So I read for awhile until I finally fall back asleep....and sleep until after 7:00.  Zut alors!   Now I'm behind for the day and have to scramble to get the kids ready. 
• Sigh.
• I really should make the lunches for the kids in the evenings but I can't make myself do that.  Kinda like flossing.  (ssssshhhhhhhh!!)
• This is Week 7 of football.  Really counting on a HS W tonight (gotta win out to end up 5-5), but wouldn't you know it, the one activity we have tomorrow is at 4pm...and the Bears play at 3:30.   So yes, this is 7 weeks of not getting to watch a full game.  And there's another Bye next week.  It's kinda becoming comedic.
• Baylor Homecoming is this weekend, featuring the longest collegiate homecoming parade in the country.  (You know-- we keep quoting that but it's not like I ever check to see if anyone has surpassed us.)  I think the last time I was there was.....2009?   Wow.   That second kid does really complicate life/schedules/financial situation, huh?  ;-)
• Oh, also--being married to a football coach makes fall travel difficult.  It makes a lot of things difficult, actually.  But he's cute so we'll keep him.  GO RAMS.
• It's 7:56am.   Bus comes at 8:40.  Best go get breakfasts and lunches put together.  Sure would be nice if I'd gotten up at 5:30 this morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Getting Crafty

Do you guys remember when the #1 thing the B-man would complain about re: preschool was "doing crafts"???   And his sister just filled out an "About Me" for Kindergarten where she wrote in her favorite activity as: CRAFTING!

Everybody got in on the game yesterday.   As you can see, the bird house constructed with Grandma has taken on a decidedly Rams-spirited color scheme, although that's mostly because those are the only paint colors around!   B is "working" on his Halloween costume.  Any gamers out there have a clue?

Wordless Wednesday

Wheeeee(ling) Around!!

It's official.  Miss C is riding a bike sans training wheels after working on it for a combined few hours.  Girl is amazing.

I realize this is the 3rd blog post in a row that features the girl so I will concentrate today on snapping some pics of the B-man...   I actually have some photos of him from our mother/son (along with another mother/son) adventure to the HAUNTED TRAIN on Sunday night, but I don't want to SCARE you with the blood spatters and zombies!   Suffice to say, however, that while his friend was practically sitting on TOP of B in the train seat, the B-man loooooooooooved it.  He might not have the gene to accomplish athletic feats like his sister, but he sure can stare down "scary" things and find the joy in everything!

Some New Bling

While today is a holiday for many folks, it is not a day off for the school system.  (That's possibly because we get off Wednesday for Yom Kippur.)   I have acquired some sort of cold/allergy funk and am not feeling my best, but get to go to school this morning and man a PTA table for an Open House that is always held on this day since many parents have the day off but kids are at school.

This is not the time to ask me how I feel about so few parents volunteering to help out with things.

In any case, I think I shall fancify myself with some baubles purchased from the Very Creative Miss C, who walked downstairs on Saturday after quiet time and set up this "booth" in very short order:

(And yes, she's still wearing her pjs at 3pm.  It was a rainy day and we didn't leave the house-- comfort for all!)

Hope Your Weekend Allows You to...HANG AROUND

This is Week 6 of college football season.  Due to our own busy schedules, I have not been able to watch more than one half of any one Baylor football game-- and only two halves total.  This weekend, we have NOTHING on our agenda, for which we are quite thankful...

...and it's a Baylor Bye Week.    Sigh.   Well, hey, we'll be watching other games, then-- and maybe with nachos?!

It's also Week 6 of high school football season.   The Rams' schedule was set up in such a way that, of our first 4 games, we were definitely going to lose 2 with a 3rd one a likely loss, as well.  Last week started the stretch of 6 games that we expected to be able to win.  Unfortunately, we didn't win last week and, as it turns out, it's a huge bummer to lose 4 games in a row.  Here's hoping the team comes to play tonight and we bring home a W!

Happy Friday!

"Hey Guys-- It's Me!" (A Thursday Throwback)

I just took a spin through my online photo library and found this pic, taken on October 6, 2011:

Doesn't it look like he's presenting himself with a big ta-da?!  Or maybe calling a touchdown...

Three-year old B-man wasn't yet in his "doing reviews" mode where he would create spiels about his favorite toys, each presentation starting with "Hey guys-- it's me!" [this was around 6-7 years old], but maybe this pose was a warm-up for that.  At any age, he has loved shadow fun.   This video from January 2015 is a family classic.

He's not the only one.  I just caught Miss C the other day in the car trying to make shadow puppets on the door, and then, when we were hiking on Monday, the BG found a very camouflaged frog in a creek and helped us see it by making shadow-puppet "pinchers" to "grab" the frog.

Sunlight and shadows:  entertainment for all ages!

Early Morning Wake-Up Call

We left the house this morning at 6:00 to take Grandma to the airport.  It's possible the backseat passengers were in pajamas and under blankets.  Here they are with their surprise reward (whaddya mean, emotional eating?!) from the drive-through on the way home, with warm and cold chocolate, respectively:

We Followed the Yellow Brick Road

It wasn't just any park we trekked to yesterday-- it was one with a fabulous Wizard of Oz-themed playground!  We just marveled at all the cool details that were transformed into equipment for play.  (And these pics don't even show all of it!)

Ruby red slipper slides:

All kinds of things to do at the Barn-- here, there's some wall-climbing!

Doing some hanging & spinning in front of the hot air balloons and The Emerald City:

In/on the tractor:

Crossing the corn conveyor belt!  (If you look in the background, that big arch is made of different rows of colored panels so indeed, you go under a rainbow, if not over!)

A view of half of the playground (if you look at the very left of the pic you can see someone hanging from that green spinning thing so that will help you place all this across from the hot air balloons/Emerald City/ruby slipper slides).  The white building on the right is Auntie Em's house and I love the poppies in the back!

From the playground, we took off on the path:

Our next stop was an amazing Nature Center, with tons of displays and live creatures to see.  Then we finished up with a trek on the "Wetlands Trail" which got us a lot of steps for the day!  

Later in the afternoon, after quiet time, I heard a bunch of pounding.  When I went downstairs to investigate, I discovered that this crew had been inspired by all the wildlife and totally built a birdhouse from scratch:

As you do...

Still On Weekend Time

There is no school today--for students or teachers--which is why Grandma came this weekend in the first place.  As it turns out, she kinda likes to spend some time with this guy:

You can juuuuuust see a bit of pink over the head of Grandma in that pic.   After days and days of rain/gloom, it finally cleared up yesterday afternoon and this girl wanted to get outside in all of her pinkness:

Be sure to appreciate the sparkly shoes.  I picked them up (in great condition) at Goodwill for $4.99.  I figured that a) she'd love them (and I'd NEVER actually pay full price for such a pair) and also b) she could practice shoe-tying with them.  Um, she pretty much had it down in 5 minutes.  #problemsolverlikeherdaddyandnotlikemomorbrother

We're off to a park this morning that happens to be near THE PLACE WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE.  Yes, we DO go to grocery stores on our day off....if it's Weggies!