Happy Thanksgiving

As we drive around town Carter keeps asking why all the stores and shopping centers have Christmas decorations up but no Thanksgiving decorations.  It makes me think of my friend Joy who feels sort of the same way - Thanksgiving seems to be overlooked.  Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday of the year and I can understand why.  It's all about good food, great family and no pressure on finding the perfect gift.  You get to cook; I say "get" because I do like to cook.  You get to watch football all day and just spend a few days off with family.  Yes it can be exhausting standing in the kitchen all day and then spending an hour or two cleaning it all up.  But its worth it.  We all sit around the table talking about what we are thankful for.   I make everyone tell me what their favorite part of the meal is, and it doesn't have to be what I made.  We all slow down and enjoy the meal and each other.

We might not have a bunch of commercial decorations but we did have some crafts that the boys helped make. Well, mainly Carter, but Cole was on the sidelines joining in with some glue here or there.

These are the finger print turkey place cards Carter made.  His letters are so big we couldnt fit "Grandma" or "Grandpa" or "Grandmama".  We settled for Char, Terry and G-Ma.

 If you look close you'll see the tree branches are the kids hands.  Carter traced his and Cole's hands and cut them out himself.  I traced Conley's fist.  Again, the leaves aren't big enough for full names.  So we have GP GM for Grandma and Grandpa on the top left green leaf.  And Nan and PeePa on the top right.  The bottom says "We are thankful for our Family Tree".  I'll probably laminate this and bring it out as one of Thanksgiving decorations.

The boys celebrated Thanksgiving at school.  Cole had a Sharing Lunch where every child brought something to share.  He had gotten up so early that day (and almost every day since the darn time change) that he actually fell asleep eating his lunch.  His teachers told him to go lay down on the circle carpet where he fell into a dead sleep.  They moved him into the office.  So when I went to pick him up that afternoon they told me he was in the office.  I was concerned he might have been in trouble, which he's never been at school.  But nope - apparently the tryptophan in the turkey got him!

All the four year olds, Kindergarten and Transition classes have a "Thankgiving Experience" where they turn the Fellowship Hall into the first Thanksgiving.  They have corn grinding, butter churning, clay bowl making, dough rolling and more.  I mentioned in a previous post that I volunteered to help and they stuck me at Face Painting.  I was quite nervous considering my last experience with four year olds and face painting.  But when I arrived I was pleasantly surprised to see paint crayons and child height floor mirrors.  They had several poster boards with Indian Symbols and the kids were supposed to draw their own symbols on their face.  I just had to supervise. Yipee! My lack of artistic skills would not be highlighted this time.  As it turns out the four year olds had a hard time writing on their face, so I did end up doing it for them.  But drawing mountains and rivers is ALOT easier than the Circus Days templates of lions and elephants. 

Carter holding the big stick for the pretend fire making lesson.

That's the sign for river on his forehead.  That paint crayon stayed on for 3 days, even after showers.

Carter and Cole both made some Thanksgiving themed artwork.  I'm not going to show it all, but here are their laminated handprints. 

 Our Thanksgiving Day started out like this ... Click on it to enlarge it and really see it's beauty.

It was the most beautiful foggy sunrise in the Hill Country.  We went back up to Austin to Broken Creek (that's the name of Mom and Dad's place) to celebrate with Jerry and Lois and Grandmama.

Mom and I did most of the cooking while Brian and Dad took the big boys on lots of hikes.  Lois and Grandmama got lots of time with Conley.  Here he is "talking" with Grandmama on the porch.

 In his Thanksgiving outfit for his first Thanksgiving. 

When Carter wasn't hiking, he did help out in the kitchen.  He stirred up things, helped measure and here he is cutting the ends off the green beans.

All of the activity and constant entertaining really wore them out.  Cole missed dinner (it was at 3:30) and slept through it.

Climbing in the cedar tree.  Really resembles the "Cheese Tree" we have in our neighborhood.

Jerry brought the turkey and Dad fried it.  It was delicious. Carter went back at least 3-4 times the rest of the day asking for more turkey.  He didn't even try the Honeybaked Ham until the next day because he was convinced it couldn't be better than that turkey. 

 Our desserts.  We made homemade (from scratch, minus the crust) pumpkin pie - Cole's favorite, we tried a new recipe this year - Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars, they were fantastic, and we picked up a Goode Co. pecan pie.  So yummy.

One of our tables, with the carved turkey on it.

 The bar, full of food and a couple place settings.  That's one big HoneyBaked ham ...

 Watching football and eating a second round of dessert.

 The next day we watched more football.  Carter is addicted to football.   He knows how the game works, what interceptions are, touchdowns, extra points, field goals, and first downs even.  He cracks me up when he cheers "Get that guy, Get that guy!" Or "Nice block", but the thing he says the most "Look at this!"  He wants to make sure you see every play.  He makes me pause the game so he can go to the bathroom or get a drink.  He just loves football.

Grandmama's sister (my great aunt) Vicki came over to see the house and the baby for the first time. 

 Before we left Dad took the boys on one last hike down to the pond.  Carter found a deer skull.

 And Cole wants to show off its teeth.

We had a great Thanksgiving.  And hope you all did too.  We ate too much but I'm still looking forward to the left over desserts. 

Now onto the Christmas season ...

This land is your land, this land is my land ...

Some of you may remember that song.  Some may not.  But either way it is the perfect title for this blog.  About 50 years ago my grandfather bought 51 acres near Marble Falls (outside Austin  near Lake Travis).   He and Grandma never built a house out there, but they did have a barn and a great shooting range.  As kids, we would go out there to explore, ride the tractor, learn how to shoot his many guns (I'm a great shot by the way), have weenie roasts and many other fun things.  Before he died almost 3 years ago he split it up between Dad and my Uncle Jerry.  Over the years Mom and Dad have been working out there clearing off where they want their retirement house to be, making a road to the clearing and other stuff.  At the beginning of the year they hired an architect and a builder to start work on what will be their guest house.  And now it's done.  Carter calls it his house.  He tells everyone that it's our house up in Austin and that Grandma and Grandpa haven't built their house yet.  Well he's kinda right.  Like I said, that's the guest house and once Dad retires in 4-5 years, they'll build the main house. THEN the guest house will kinda be ours since that's where we'll stay and they'll have the main house.  So now you know why I titled the post like I did.

We went up there this past weekend and met Matthew and Allison who brought Asher down from Colorado for his first trip to Texas.  Mom and Dad had been up to Colorado a couple times to see him but I finally got to meet him.  He'll be 2 months next week.  Jerry and Lois, who have started the building process on their retirement home, were up there this weekend, as well as Grandma.  It was a great "Welcome to Texas" party for Asher. 

Grandpa would be so proud to see his family enjoying the land he bought.  He'd smile to see all the memories we are making out there.  And it's heartwarming to see my sons make the same memories I had when I was little. 

This photo is of Carter driving on my lap in the car on the what he calls the "Bumpy Road" - the dirt road leading up to the house.  It just reminded me of all the times I would ride on Grandpa's lap on the tractor.  The tractor is still out there, but needs some work.  So the Toyota will have to do for now :)

Grandmama holding Asher for the first time.

He's a sweet baby.  It wasn't a long enough visit - they had so many people to see while they were in Austin.  We are looking forward to their extended stay over Christmas/New Years. Since Alli will still be on maternity leave and Matthew's company has an office here, he can work and we can see them MUCH more. 

The ladies on the back porch rockin' babies...

Aunt Alli and Conley.  This was her first time to meet him.

I like this picture.  Carter just loves to hold Conley.  He asks all the time.

And this past weekend it was double the opportunity to hold babies.  Here he is holding Asher.  Every day last week he'd wake up and look at the magnetic calendar on the wall and see if it was Friday the 18th yet, the day we had the magnetic square for "Visit Relatives."  He wanted to know if it was the day he'd get to see Baby Asher.  He was almost as excited as me. 

Look how blue Conley's eyes look. 

Asher in Conley's bouncy seat.

Cole playing shuffleboard.  As you can see, he's not too bad.  Mom and Dad also have a pool table in the house.  They aren't allowed to play with the sticks for obvious reasons, but with close supervision we let them roll the balls from pocket to pocket.  I'm looking forward to an adult only trip up there so I can play some games without hollering at the kids :)

Cole looking at the beautiful view from the porch.  Mom designed the railing herself.  It turned out nice considering she gave the builder a hand drawn sketch.

I keep hearing I need to cut Cole's hair.  But when it gets this length it flips up in the back and it's so cute.  I'm holding out as long as I can...

We are headed back up there for Thanksgiving.  It's a wonderful place to relax.  The boys hike all around the property and I take every calm opportunity to sit on the porch with a drink and just rock.  I've never been one to sit still and do nothing.  But here I can.  Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma for finding such a wonderful place where family can be together.  And thanks to my parents for building such a gorgeous and inviting house for us to enjoy. 

Pumpkins, Parties and Halloween

Bring on Fall and all that comes with it.  I took the boys to a Pumpkin Patch.  It was a chilly day.  So we werent out there long.  That, and I knew there was no way I'd get all three kids to smile for the camera.  It's funny how you realize (as you have more kids) that you'll never get that "perfect picture." With three kids, a perfect picture is one when they are all even in the frame. 

While it looks like Carter was about to drop Conley - he wasn't and he didn't. 

The big boys.

Carter found his pumpkin almost immediately.

Cole on the otherhand, took quite awhile.  I told them about the size I was looking for, because we were going to make characters out of them with some toys I bought.  Cole wanted HUGE or tiny, not the parameters I gave him (as usual).

Conley in his Halloween outfit.  No good up close ones, he was tired and chilly.

Carter riding a "rocket" pumkin

Cole's Buzz LightYear Pumpkin

 Carter's Yoda Pumpkin - he loves Star Wars these days.  And the warty pumpkin he found at the patch, was perfect for Yoda. 

Instead of celebrating Halloween, his school does a Circus Days celebration where they transform the gym into a circus.  The boys were so excited about it and that I was going to volunteer.  When I told Brian I was helping out at the face painting booth, he said "Can you paint faces?"  Really Brian?  They're toddlers and preschoolers, does it matter? Well, I realized upon arrival what their templates were (lions, elephants, circus tents) that No - I couldn't paint faces.  I stuck to balloons. 

Here is a photo of Cole crying.  He was terrified of the clown.  Which happened to be his Motor teacher (that's what they can Gym/P.E.), Mrs. Cox.  Thankfully I was there helping out and could diffuse the situation.  He still talks about it, "I scared of clowns" is what he says alot.

Pics of a few of the stations before the kids got there.

The scene of my crime - the face painting booth.  Funny side note - Carter has a "Thanksgiving Experience" at school this week and I signed up to help for it.  The only place they needed help during the time I could volunteer was FACE PAINTING.  Are you kidding me?  Maybe I can draw corn or something.  I'll let you know how it goes.

We went to one of the best birthday parties recently.  Their friend Awbrey turned 5 and she celebrated at Itz.  Cole died and went to heaven - seriously.  We were there almost 4 hours and he was kicking and screaming when we left.  We started out at the miniature bowling. One of his favorite things to do, except that he normally doesn't share the lane OR the ball.  But he listened to Joanna and Julie and took turns.

The other happy camper of the night was Brian.  This place has Guitar Hero and Joanna had purchased the package that allows the kids to have unlimited game play while they are there as long as the game didn't spit out tickets.  This game is normally $3 to play, so Brian took advantage :)  Plus Itz serves beer and margaritas - and we couldn't pass that up either!

Cole loved the roller coaster, but he really loved it when Daddy rode with him.

Carter's favorite part of the night is when they all got on the bumper cars.  Technically they are a couple inches short of the height requirement, but the attendant was so nice and let all the birthday party guests on.  They did this for at least 20 minutes since it was empty at the time.

Cole on the Monkey Jump with a random girl.  You think he was enjoying himself?

Conley slept through most of it. 

On Halloween my good friend Julie and her family came over to Trick or Treat with us.  Here she is getting a smile out of Conley before we got his costume on.

 He wasn't too happy about the costume.  Cute pirate though!

 Carter was Yoda and Luke was Darth Vadar. 

 Cole was Luke Skywalker, but I don't have a single good picture of him in his costume.  Julie got some with her camera, and she'll email them to me once she's in her new house with Internet.  Could you imagine not having Internet for 3 weeks!  Not me!

 I didn't get a good picture of Conley the night of Halloween, so I put his bandana and earring back on the next morning.  He slept in his shirt and baby legs :)  He is SO SWEET!  I just want to eat him up :)