Flag football -- round two

Sequence 1 -- a last second flag removal.

Sequence 2 -- "A" for effort

Ty did not go down here.  I don't know how that was because I surely would have.  He changed directions and kept after this kid keeping on his heels as the boy ran it in for a touchdown.  You'll notice that the two of them met on field on more than one occasion that day.

Single shots:

Longhorns vs Cougars

Our family, along with our good friends, the Smith's, hit up this exciting game back in September.  Neither Kyle or myself attended UT but since we have lived in Texas these last 10 years, they've become our team.  The kids and Kyle take it pretty seriously.  Ty takes it too seriously.  Kyle selected all of our fancy paraphernalia for us.  It goes without saying that we were decked out for the game.  It's fun to have a team to root for.  Just one reason we have chosen UT as our team is because we think their mascot is the coolest ever.  What's cooler than a longhorn for a Texas team mascot?  Nothing.  We had a great time with our friends, Ryan, Brenya, Jake and Chloe.  We want to publicly give our condolences for your loss that day.  :) Thanks for coming with us!  Let's do it again next fall.  Oh, and what's that you're holding, Ryan?  Is there something you want to tell us?

Really?  We had to sit directly behind these guys?  Don't worry, I asked him to take that off so I could have a better view of the Longhorns winning.

October visitors

Before I can post another thing, I need to rewind to October.  We had a whole slew of visitors during that month; all from Kyle's family.

Kyle's only and favorite brother, Ryan, was our first visitor.  He quickly passed through on his way to San Antonio for a golf tournament; he stayed just over 24 hours.  And apparently that was just enough time for these two to become besties.  Reese was in tears as she watched Ryan take his luggage out to his rental.  She thought he was leaving without saying goodbye.  She ran straight to my bathroom where she found me doing my hair, wrapped her arms around my legs and sobbed uncontrollably -- like the incoherent, slurring of words kind.  It was minutes before I understood what was going on.  She pulled it together and leapt into Ryan's arms giving such a sweet goodbye.  (I should add here that this cuddly guy was recently sworn in; Judge of the Third District Court in SLC, UT.  He's not but 39.  His black robe won't intimidate us because, well, I've always been intimidated by the man.  Apparently, Reese is not.)  Who knew those two would click like that?  We rarely see Ryan.  Maybe Ryan reminded her of a younger, less hairy Lynn?  Which leads us to our second visitor.

(This is an old pic from his last visit)

This trip I saw Lynn long enough to exchange a quick hello and hug.  He and I literally passed each other in the airport on my way to spend five days with my sisters in Seattle.  We'll time that better next time.  And, of course, I took my camera with me, so there aren't any pictures to post of their weekend together.  But, by all accounts, it was fabulous!  I'm positive they ate out for every meal, the kids were spoiled rotten, no one immediately cleaned up after themselves and that they basically ran around like barbarians.  But that wouldn't be saying much.  This is what happens each and every time I leave the kids with their dad.  I'm sure it was a similar weekend but on steroids, as I'm sure their dad's dad added plenty of fuel to the fire.

Next up, Kyle's mom came in for a much anticipated visit.  It's always a treat to see her and we are lucky when we do.  She and her husband, Kirk, share eight children and 23 grandchildren (so far).  On top of that she is still acting Principal for Canyon Crest Elementary.  So like I said, we are so lucky to be graced with her presence.  Pat is such a hands-on Grandma.  I'm not sure how restful her weekend visits to see grandchildren are.  I can tell you that when she visits our home every waking moment is spent soaking up our children.

During Pat's weekend here she was able to see Jaden and Ty play in their soccer games.  It was a gorgeous day to be sitting through those.  Her trip was timed perfectly as it was the Children's Sacrament Meeting Program on Sunday.  Jaden and Ty each had a part.  Jaden was the closing speaker and her part included a 5 minute talk that wrapped up the program.  There were pictures and stories from Grandma Patsy and Grandpa Kirk's recent travels to Europe.  We had our very own cooking show, compliments of Reese and Pat; where they made a yummy carrot cake together.  And I'm sure our game of hullabaloo has never been, nor will it ever be played for a longer amount of time than it was played by the three ladies below.  Reese requested that Pat sleep in her room which worked out great as they were both in need of a cool mist humidifier that weekend.  Reese still talks about Pat having slept in her room with her. We loved your visit, Pat.  Thanks for fussing over all of us and showering us with your love and undivided attention.

Hung by the chimney at last!

I am so glad to have this stocking of Reese's finally finished. As of December 3rd it hangs by the chimney with care.  Jaden and Ty's stockings were done within the first or second year of their lives.  And while I got away with not having Reese's stocking completed last year, I knew that if I didn't come up big this year she'd potentially be scarred for life.  I'm, of course, being facetious but when your child is old enough to request that it be finished by Christmas, well enough said.  My excuse for the procrastination?  Older siblings.  I don't sit down anymore.   I remember that I nursed Ty while stitching his stocking.  Thinking back, I can't picture how I did that -- don't really want to.  I'll tell you that it was much more fun to make Reese's stocking, what with all the input she had on colors, etc.  And to say it lightly, she was very encouraging along the way.  Each Friday night we typically have a movie night.  Movie night was my best chance to stitch away and Reese knew it.  She was on my case from the beginning of the movie to the end.  Some weekends I'd have much preferred to watch the movie without multitasking but it wasn't worth the lecture I'd get from Reese.

This past weekend we took a quick trip to San Antonio.  I can't tell you how many times I thought to myself that I should be working on Reese's stocking while driving or sitting around watching movies or just hanging with the family in our hotel.  

For the record, I really do love these stockings -- the finished version.  They are really easy to make, you just have to remember to have it at the ready to work on whenever you have some down time.  My mother-in-law found this pattern in a catalog for a whopping four dollars back when they started their family.  Kyle has a stocking.  And all three of my kids can now say they have a hand stitched stocking.  However, I have no intentions of making myself one -- just not something you make for yourself.  It bothers Kyle that I don't have one.  So, of course, I've told him to make me one already.   Maybe if I nag him as much as Reese nagged me it could actually happen . . .

Thanksgiving and white cabinets

There's no better time to make changes to your kitchen then when your going to be cooking in it for a day and half!  I was so lucky to get my kitchen cabinets painted white for my birthday or for Christmas or because my husband loves me or because he really wanted to put an end to my nagging him for them.  You name it, I'm just so glad they're white.  It was definitely a want not a need.  When we built our house over three years ago I must've really liked dark brown because everything I picked out from cabinets to furniture to hardwood was just that.   Once it all came together there were just too many shades of brown.  And it just so happens that the easiest and least expensive of those things to change is cabinet color.

 After three days the kitchen was ours again, but only after 7:00 on the eve of Thanksgiving.  We had some serious cooking to catch up on.  Thanks to every last family member pitching in (more than usual) we pulled it off, with the exception of the turkey.  We forgot to put it in the oven before we went to bed.  You wouldn't believe how offensive that was to the kids, who had helped prepare the turkey, (injections and all) to wake without the smell of turkey like we so promised.  Luckily, there's more than one way to cook Tom the Turkey.

Sarah swoops in

(I know, don't ask about Ty and Reese's hairdos.  This was just about 30 minutes into everyone's morning.  Reese looks like she's sporting a mullet and Ty looks like Jimmy Neutron!) 

Sarah ran circles around our kids this past weekend. If you don't believe me just read their to-do list below -- keep in mind that the majority of it took place on one day, Saturday. This is the day that Kyle and I typically share the responsibility and we still can't wait to put our feet up that evening. Sarah did it on her own. And beyond that, she added some extra-curricular, out of the ordinary events. Those included removing Ty's stitches from his chin AND driving the back roads of Texas to find an exotic hedgehog breeder to purchase a hedgehog for the kids! Couple that with the fact that the kids thought they were doing it behind mom and dad's back and the weekend becomes even more thrilling! The to-do list was made before I left town that day. Reese made sure to cover up the picture of the hedgehog with her arms every time I walked into the room. Unbeknownst to the kids, I was in on the scheme from the beginning. Sarah and I saw a pic of an adorable baby hedgehog on Pinterest when she first arrived and while the kids were at school. We were smitten and being that Jaden's dwarf hamster had recently kicked the can I told Sarah she should look into finding a hedgehog with the kids. I need say no more. Sarah was on it. 

Sarah claims that she loves to take care of her nieces and nephews and I'm sure she does. I'm also sure that she enjoys when their parents return home too. We think ourselves very fortunate to have Sarah drop in and care for our kids while we go off to play without a concern in the world for them, truly.  But on top of that, we are just really thrilled to know that our kids are graced with Sarah's presence. What a privilege for them.  She is an influence for good on our kids. She's spontaneous and fun (case in point: hedgehog). She's always looking for a teaching moment (which benefits both me and my children). Ideally, she could morph into me, then I'd be a mom with more perspective, full of energy, fair, logical, positive . . . the list goes on. Let's just say if I die guess who's raisin' my kids? I wish we could steal her away more often or that she lived down the road. I know that with that scenario I'd run the risk of never seeing my children but like I said, she'd raise them just fine . . .  

Thank-you, Sarah, for helping us to getaway. No thank-you for a smelly hedgehog that Jaden can barely muster up the courage to take out of its cage, let alone train to be handled often at this point.  See? We need you back already.  I'm not touching that thing!  (I'll post a pic of, Pepper, the hedgehog as soon as I can get Jaden to take it out of its cage.)

This is where Kyle and I took off to for a three night stay in Laguna Beach, CA as he was invited to a Trial CLE.  They definitely rolled out the red carpet for us.  That said, our favorite part was leaving the premises to hit up a whole-in-the-wall favorite restaurant of ours, the original BJ's.  The same restaurant we ate at over 13 years ago.  It was on the heels of that trip that we decided to get married.  (I can't believe I didn't have someone take our picture while we were there.)

The views from our Bungalow.

I got to go on a gorgeous boat ride in search of dolphins and whales.  Yummy food, good weather and beautiful scenery and sea life.   These dolphins are just below my nose.  We chased about 20 or 30 of them before they started chasing us.  I told Kyle I should probably not leave Houston very often for fear of never coming back -- Houston is one plain looking neck of the woods!  What I don't see I won't miss, right?

Literally our only pic of the two of us together on this trip.  The Beach Boys are singing behind us one night on the beach for dinner.  There was no expense spared on this trip.  They bent over backwards.