Gymnastics Exhibition

Aidan had a gymnastics "showcase" tonight and he did such a great job! He started gymnastics several months ago after expressing an interest, and has done really well. Lately he started saying he wants to quit because it's hard (too bad!) and he's not good at it (not true!). For now we are making him suck it up. I had to convince him to sign up for the exhibition and I'm glad he did it. There were dozens of girls but only 5 boys. The boys did all six apparatuses (apparati?), and the high bar and pommel horse were ones that Aidan just started working on in class...but he still did fantastic and we are SO proud of him!

Northpark Santa: Continuing the Tradition!

I took the kids to see Santa at Northpark Mall this past week, something I have done every year since Aidan's first Christmas! I love that they get to see the same Santa every year, and Northpark is such a great place to be at Christmas. Kaelyn and her parents were there too since it was her 7th birthday! Her dad actually jumped through hoops to get me a ticket (you have to get a ticket starting at 9am and that determines your order to see Santa) so we are very appreciative of the Denneys! We saw a puppet show, and then got heckled by Scrooge, another puppet who has been around for years. He's hilarious! He bantered with Avery and Kaelyn, then had a LONG chat with Aidan. I think he really liked him. The kids' Santa visit was great and when asked what they would leave for him on Christmas Eve, Avery said a jelly sandwich :)

This and That

Today Aidan marched with his fellow Cub Scouts in the City of Wylie Christmas Parade:

We kept Logan and Ellie last night while their big sister Sage had a dance recital. Avery had fun taking care of Ellie!

Cookie and Jeff were in town earlier that day, so we got to see them (Aidan was in school and had to miss them).

A few weeks ago I went to Paint & Party class with my friends. Three of the girls had November birthdays, so we decided it would be a fun way to celebrate! My painting of the Eiffel Tower (which I'll get to see in person in less than two weeks!) is pretty lame, but it was a fun night :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving is usually pretty low-key, and this year was no exception. It was the four of us at home on Thursday, so I made a small ham (I don't go to the trouble of a huge turkey when I'm just cooking for our small family!), dressing, potatoes, salad with homemade ranch, fruit salad, rolls, and a cherry cobbler! We watched the parade, football, and just enjoyed being together and counting our blessings.

On Friday my parents came to town (they had been visiting my family in West Texas). We hadn't seen them in several months and were so glad to spend some time with them! They always come bearing gifts for the kids...this time my dad brought two Nerf guns for Aidan, and they used Avery's princesses as target practice. She didn't mind, in fact she helped set them up! I should have taken more pictures during their visit but I'll have to make up for it when they come back for Christmas.

Otto, our Elf on the Shelf, has come to visit for the holidays! He's hidden in all sorts of funny places, and one night even got a little tied up by Aidan's Lego guys :)

I took Avery to see The Nutcracker on Sunday! It was her first time to see it and she loved it so I think this will become a yearly tradition for us :) Our friends Tracey and Kaelyn were also there so it was fun to see it with them!

Fall Break

Avery had her last day of Soccer Shots last week:

Aidan finally got the "spiky" haircut he's been wanting. I think he looks so cute!

Aidan's Thanksgiving party at school was this past Friday so Avery and I went to help out:

Also, this happened! Our Baylor Bears beat #1-ranked Kansas State 52-24! I had stayed home but the kids and Daniel were there. Actually Avery didn't make it to the second half...she complained she was feeling sick so Daniel took her to the Brooks' house near the stadium. I'm SO glad he made it to the last quarter, I would have felt terrible otherwise! And turns out Avery was fine. It was nice to have an evening to myself but what a game to miss!

School Pics and miscellaneous

Here are the kids' school pictures. I think both of them turned out great! Aidan really wants to grow out his hair and make the front "spiky" so that's why his hair looks a little fro-ish. Daniel has buzzed his hair since he was a baby because it grew in all sorts of crazy directions...so this should be an interesting process :)

A few weeks ago I took Avery to see Pinkalicious the Musical. It's a book character that she really likes. The show was very cute and we got to enjoy it with some of our friends. During intermission they even recognized all the kids with October and November birthdays, so Avery and her buddy Lynna got to go up front!

We went to Waco for another Baylor game and went to a birthday party for our friend James.

Aidan started Upward Basketball practice with his friends Ryan and Cade (go Little Owls!)

He also raked some leaves for me :)

Halloween Extravaganza!!

Here's a recap of our activity-filled Halloween! First I took Avery to our MOMS Club trunk-or-treat on Friday. It was absolutely freezing so we literally ran from car to car, posed for a quick group picture, then jumped in our own car and headed to the Starbucks drive-thru.

On Saturday my friend Ginny and her hubby threw their annual grown-up party, so Daniel and I went as Katniss and Peeta from Hunger Games (mainly because Aidan had a bow-and-arrow set, and the shirts were easy to make!). We had a blast hanging out with unimpressed Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney and The Most Interesting Man in the World (Tracey and David) and watching "Psy" and his crew dancing Gangnam Style :)

On Sunday our church had its annual Fall Festival where we got to hang out with Kaelyn and other friends:

Avery had dress-up day at MDO on Tuesday...here she is with her fellow princesses Sage, Becca, and Hailey:

Daniel's office had a trick-or-treat at their office Tuesday afternoon. They had never done it before and it was SO fun! The kids trick-or-treated on two entire floors, then had Chick Fil-A, made crafts, and watched It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Isn't Baby Ellie a cute ladybug?

By this point the kids had accumulated an insane amount of candy, and it wasn't even Halloween yet! Most of this was put into the bucket to re-gift to trick-or-treaters:

Here are Michaelangelo and Rapunzel before leaving to trick-or-treat on our block:

Happy Halloween!!!