Chuys Day Parade

Every year we try to go to the Chuy's Day parade downtown. This year my parents went with us. I knew my dad would get a big kick out of it. The parade seems to get bigger and bigger every year.

Rob found us a great pace at the beginning of the parade so we watch all of the staging.

The girls were anxious to put their toys in the toy truck. Kinley and I went shopping that morning before the parade. She decided to get a Hannah Montana microphone. I thought she might have a hard time parting with it but she did great. All of the toys benefit Blue Santa here in Austin.

Cade loved the parade. He danced and sang the whole time. Despite the cold, he had a great time.

He especially enjoyed riding on Pappy's shoulders.

The girls loved seeing all of the characters. Caden really looked them over. Here the kids are with Darth Vader.

The girls favorite character was Mrs. Claus. She was an absolute doll. I swear she danced the whole parade.

The parade always sets the mood for the Christmas season. Here were a few of their favorite floats. Kinley loved the lady in the pink dress. During the parade, a man came out from under her skirt. She is still talking about that one!

Just another fun day with the family!

Thanksgiving Day

This year for Thanksgiving we went to my sister April's house. She also lives in Austin so we did not have to travel far. The day before Thanksgiving, the girls and I made a fruit salad and a pumpkin pie. They really were a lot of help this year! They loved rolling out the dough for the crust. Kinley was very disappointed that the dough wasn't sweet like cookie dough!

The next day we made Sweet Potatoes. The girls had a hard time not eating all of the marshmallows! They were so proud of their creations!

The night before Thanksgiving, I had the girls write down a list of all the things they were thankful for this year. Maddie wrote her own. I found it rather funny, when I read one that said "Caden my butt." I think she was trying to write brother. At least that is what I hope!

Kinley listed every animal that I think God has ever created along with the name of every dog my parents own. She loves animals.

We stuck the basket out on the front porch for Tom the Turkey to read. He wrote the girls a note back telling them how proud he was of their grateful hearts. He reminded them to be grateful all year long. Tom is one smart Turkey.

On Thanksgiving, we went over to April and Jared's house at around 12:30. We had a great dinner. Then we played a new game in their backyard. It was a lot of fun. Cade especially enjoyed carrying around the rope with the balls on it.

The girls enjoyed watching Kung Fu Panda with Gigi.

After we visited for awhile, my parents and the girls and I went to Wal-mart to scout out purchases for the big Black Friday Sale the next day. Then we went out to the barn to visit the Billingsleys. We all watched the UT game together. It was a great day. We have so much to be thankful for this year.

Our Lil' Indian

For Thanksgiving, Maddie's class had a special performance. She dressed as an Indian. She really wanted to be a pilgrim but volunteered to be an Indian so that they would have equal groups. I was proud of her for allowing her friends to be pilgrims and making a sacrifice! This is important stuff to a five year old girl!
Her class sang a total of eight songs. Maddie's favorite was God Bless America. It gave me chills hearing their sweet innocent voices lift up these songs of praise. They started the program with I will Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving. I am so glad that she is able to go to a Christian school and understands that God is the root of all Thanksgiving!

On the program, each child wrote what they were thankful:
Here's Maddie's answer
I am thankful for Jesus dying on the cross and the environment.
She cracks me up. I swear she is going to grow up to be an environmentalist! I am just thankful that she loves God's creation and the Creator himself!

Cows and Chickens

Grandpa made a special delivery this week. He brought three cows and 12 chickens and one rooster. All of the family prepared a special place for them out at the barn. The kids were so excited. Cade kept yelling "COWS" and "CHICKENS"! Then when Mimi came out to meet our new barnyard friends, Cade yelled "MIMI"!!

The girls named the three little calves, Sally, Lucy and Curly Sue. Kinley chose Curly but Maddie added Sue to make it more feminine.

We have enjoyed driving out to feed the cows and chickens. We can't wait to gather eggs! The rooster started crowing at our last visit which just tickled Cade to death. He is still crowing every time we talk about the chickens.

Here are the kiddos watching their new feathered friends:

Around the Fire

We have been so busy lately that we have missed out on some good family time. So when our friends, The Sitgreaves invited us camping, we jumped at the opportunity. Grandpa Ray gave us the royal treatment by letting us use the RV. Now this is my kind of camping. We had an absolute blast! We are already wanting to go back. I can;t imagine sleeoing in a tent with my three little ones! The kids loved the RV trailer too.
Here is Kinley peeping through the trailer window! Caden made himself at home in no time. The RV was our saving grace. We could at least contain him to an area. Mrs. Daina and Grandpa were a huge help and carried him around outside for a while. He loved sitting on Daddy's lap at the campfire. Here he is on top of the table trying to open a Dr.Pepper. It reminds me of his great grandfather!

Grandpa made a campfire and gave the girls a personal concert with his guitar. There favorite was his impromptu "I dropped my hamburger in the dirt". Kinley is still singing it!

After s'mores, the girls cuddled up to watch a movie in the RV. Aren't they cute? We also watched the movie RV. It was the pefect movie for the trip.

It was super cold on Saturday. We all bundled up and the girls rode their bikes for hours. Caden really wanted to ride a bike. I had him so bundled up that he could barely walk.

It was so great to hang around the campfire and chat. It was a much needed break. Maddie was thrilled to hang out with her best buddy Melody.

We are now converts to the world of RV's. Rob and I can't wait to be that old couple driving 50 miles an hour down the highway with 35 different state stickers on the back. But until then we will cherish moments like this weekend. Nothing beats hanging out with family and friends, enjoying God's beauty.

Family Cooking Night

This week Kinley had a Family Cooking Night at her school. The whole family got involved with our meal. We had apple turnovers, miniature pizzas and a pumpkin pie dessert. They also had a craft and story time. It was great way to get in the mood for Thanksgiving. The girls really got into the cooking while Caden enjoyed playing in the classroom most of the night. I am going to have to remember whet good little chefs I have in the family when Mommy needs a break!

Hang On To Your Hat (and your phone)

Cade LOVES hats. He will go around the house in nothing but a diaper and a hat. It is the cutest thing. When he wakes up in the morning, he will go straight to the drawer where his hats are kept and choose a hat for the day.
He is so smart. Yesterday, I was counting for Kinley. I said "One, Two..." and Cade yelled out "Three." Kinley was especially impressed!
He is a good listener too. I will tell him to go get a diaper and he will take off to his room and then return promptly with a diaper in hand. One day this week, we lost Rob's phone. Rob asked him where it was and he took off and returned carrying the phone. However, the back cover was off the phone. Rob asked him where the cover was and he went back to his room and brought it to Rob. Not bad for a 15 month old!
He carries a phone everywhere, which he often refers to as the "Hello". He carries his walkie talkie around the house pretending to be talking to his daddy during the day. It looks like we have another talker. Wonder where he gets that from?

Centerville Homecoming

My homecoming was this week in Centerville. I have not been to a football game in Centerville in over ten years. It was crazy how so many things were just the same and yet everyone looks so old! haha
We drove in early for the "pepper rally" as Kinley called it. The kids loved the music and the cheerleaders. Kinley was not a fan of the smoke machine and she let us all know about it several times.
That night at the football game, we sat by the band to enjoy the music. Caden loved the atmosphere. He would yell "GO!" every once in a while. He was especially fond of the tiger mascot "Tula". Maddie was busy trying to figure out the rules of the game and why the score kept increasing by six points sometimes and one point at other times.
The girls favorite part was the half-time show. They were thrilled to see all of the princesses in the Homecoming court. They wanted to meet the "Queen" before we left. They were thrilled to meet real life royalty!
The next day Gigi reenacted the whole homecoming show. Here are our two princesses Madison and Kinley along with their escort Cade. Mom had even kept some of my old mums from high school for them to wear. They ate it up!

Another highlight of our trip was riding the paddle boat. Gigi and Pappy just bought this great hot pink paddle boat. We took turns paddling them all over the lake. We got quite the workout.

Cade loved it except he kept trying to climb out of the boat into the water. The child has no fear! Here he is in his lovely Barbie life jacket. I guess we need to purchase a "Boy" life jacket!

The kids love playing hide and seek at my parents house. Here is Maddie in her favorite hiding spot.

Caden was BUSY. He loved being in the country and exploring Pappy's game room. It was a great trip but I came home pooped out from chasing him. Here he is hanging on the gate looking at the horses.

It was great to get away and spend some time in the country. It is a great place to be a kid.

Crowe's Nest

I have fallen behind in posting about school so I decided to highlight a few of our field trips. This week we went to Crowe's Nest Farm in Manor.

We started our day with a picnic lunch. Then the kids watched a video all about the animals on the farm. They had a huge barn full of turtles, snakes and other wildlife. Here is Maddie posing with a painting inside of a turtle shell.




Then they gave a lesson on milking a cow and the milk production process. It was cute because most of the kids were shocked that the milk from HEB came from dairy cows on a farm.

Then we rode on a hayride. We saw lots of other animals. The girls favorite was the Ostrich. Caden was enthralled with everything. This was the first field trip that he got really involved. Here is Kinley posing with one of Maddie's best buddies, Dillyn on the hayride.They had tons of farm animals along with a butterfly garden. Here are the girls outside of the Fairy Garden.

This farm had a ton of exotic animals too. They have rescued several animals and keep them in cages as pets. They had a bobcat which thrilled my girls since they have heard so many stories about our childhood pet bobcat "Tuffy". We had just finished studying a unit on owls. Maddie has been drawing pictures of barn owls everywhere and sharing bits of trivia with me. I thought I would end with a picture of the barn owl from the farm.