OKC

The weekend before Thanksgiving was the one weekend of the year that Patrick would be out of town. (He was in a wedding in Bainbridge, GA.... aka: his "guys" weekend.) So, Charles and I decided to go visit the Leclercq's. We hadn't been there since mid summer when they had just moved into their new house. This time around it was like walking into a larger, much cleaner house. It's amazing what paint will do! Julie had a list of projects for us to work on which included painting some rooms, making a chandelier, making a wreath and rearranging objects in the house. In between all of that we took the kids to the park and on some shopping expeditions. I only got a few pics...

Thankswigging

Every year my TCU friends and their families get together for "Thankswigging". We originally started it about 5 years ago and all wore wigs for the big event. This year not one person showed up in a wig... I think we should pass it along to the kids to wear wigs every year. This year was at our friends, the Horsch's, gorgeous new casa. Instead of cooking our traditional turkey and sides, we grilled steaks, had some roasted winter veggies and other various sides and drank some yummy wine. (The wine somehow always makes its way to the table no matter what we are celebrating.) I did a sub-par effort of getting pics of all the kids...
Jack (4 yrs)

Sam (2.5 yrs)

Lauren (15 mths.)

Oliver (9 mths- right A?)

Nathan (2.5 yrs)

Charlie (20 mths.)

I LOVE this tradition we have with our friends. It marks the beginning of the holiday season and I look forward to it year around!

Milk and Cookies

This is the theme this semester in Kindermusik (KM). It is all about learning how to help out around the house. Charlie has learned how to do laundry, go to the supermarket, clean up his spills, etc... all along with songs. It's great! Last week it was rainy and cold one day, so I decided to break out our KM book and make a batch of cookies. First, we read about how to make cookies. (And we suited up in mommy's apron):
Then, we got to work. Lots of adding and stirring.


Charlie's favorite part?

Waiting is hard work, too.

The Chocolate Chip/Captain Crunch/Heath Bar cookies are now gone. It was a great first-cookie-making experience. And, we learned a little bit about having to finish most of our dinner before getting a cookie! We'll be doing it again soon.

Halloween Weekend

We had a full weekend of Halloween activities. It started off on Friday with the annual Halloween party at the Hamiltons' house. Charlie didn't really want to wear his fly fisherman's costume (thank you to the Hamilton's for letting us borrow it!) until we got to the party and he saw everyone else dressed up. He then requested, "Outfit, outfit, outfit" until I changed him. He was too busy to stop and take a picture, but I did get a pretty good picture of all the babies. (There were about 7 toddlers who didn't particpate in the picture.)

On Saturday we went to a Halloween carnival. Charlie had fun doing games, winning prizes and bounce housing.

After the carnival, we went Trick or Treating at Babo and Pop's house. No pictures were taken, but Charlie really enjoyed his cookie treats he got from his grandparents!
On Sunday we carved a pumpkin. Charlie had fun scooping out the seeds. (Notice Charlie's shirt... he was really so proud of it and his new baseball that Patrick bought him.)

That afternoon was our neighborhood party. Always a good time!

Sweet Rhodes and Drew:

Just a year ago:

And now:

(I'm thinking Charlie might be a fireman next year... just sayin)

High five, dude!

No Trick or Treating this year... mommy and daddy decided to go to the World Series instead!