Texas



Dallas is really far away. There's no good way to make the 15 hour drive to visit my parents. However, I've driven it enough to have an opinion on the matter and much prefer driving through the night. Yes, it's tiring, but I think it's better than putting the kids through an entire day of driving, coupled with listening to them ask "are we in Texas yet?" at least 100 times. And then when we're actually IN Texas, we have to explain to them that we still have hours to go until we're in Dallas. Turns out Texas is a big state.

 

So, we drove through the night. The drive there wasn't awful. Kevin and I split the drive and while one person was driving, the other slept in the third row seat of the van. The drive back wasn't as fun, as we brought home much more than we came with, so there was no room for the third row seat to be put up. The passenger seat isn't nearly as comfortable. So, less sleeping means a rougher trip, but we made it in one piece.

We had a great time while we were there. The first night we got into town, we went to Babe's for fried chicken. It was great. There is no menu - the server literally asks you how many orders of friend chicken you want. That's it. Then they bring out salad, mashed potatoes, corn, biscuits, and gravy until you can't possibly eat one more bite. Delicious.

We did a lot of eating out in Texas. In and Out Burger was a must-visit-destination. In fact, we went twice.

Kevin and I visited Rooster's Roadhouse one night while my parents watched the kids. We tried their "Redneck Sushi" and it was awesome.

We did a few other things besides eat. One day we visited Legoland and the Aquarium. We spent nearly six hours between the two places and had a blast.

The kids raced Lego cars they built at Legoland.

We visited the holiday train display and listened to Santa read stories at the mall.

We also visited my favorite park on a sunny, 70-degree day. It was nice to watch the kids run around, climb, and burn off some energy.

The rest of the time we enjoyed playing at my parents' house and enjoying their company. I wish I had pictures, but both kids got EZ Rollers for Christmas that they played with all week. They're like the old Roller Racers I remember as a kid. Thankfully the weather was warm enough for them to ride around outside most days.

We got to participate in Mom's annual candy making day and the kids enjoyed "helping".

Maren was introduced to the world of Barbies and played with this doll house as well as mine and Meredith's old Barbies from when we were kids. They're not in the best shape but that didn't seem to bother Maren.

It was a great visit full of sleeping in (thanks, Mom!) long runs outside at 9am instead the 5:30am runs on my treadmill I'm used to (thanks again, Mom and Kevin!), and lots of laughs and fun.

Where do I start?

I posted one blog post the entire month of November. Two in October. This is not for lack of anything to write about ... just lack of time and energy on my part to write and post. I get mad at myself about this because this blog is my way of documenting life with our family and I don't want to miss a moment. I want to capture it all. So, I am making a resolution now to take more photos and post more blog entries. And to drink more coffee. 

So ... where to begin? How about Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, or really any holiday, is difficult to plan when we don't live in the same town as any of our family. Add to that the fact that Kevin hasn't had the Friday after Thanksgiving off work in at least 5 years, and it's really tricky. This year we committed to travel to Somerset to celebrate with Kevin's family the Saturday after Thanksgiving. So, we stayed home and enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal with just the four of us on Thanksgiving Day. I can't tell you the last time we were home to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV. And it was so nice to do that. It was a relaxing day, the food was good, and the time spent as a family was precious.

Saturday in Somerset was a whirlwind day, leaving in the morning and getting home late that night. But the time spent with the Platts was wonderful. The kids love being with their cousins, and Kevin and Billy were able to help Joe put up his Christmas lights outside the house and help with a few other items around the house. And I got two pounds of Baxter's coffee to take home with me, so the trip was a major success.

Tuesdays and Thursdays have quickly become our lazy days at home, since the other weekdays are busy between preschool and work. I've come to love these days with my kids. We've spent quite a bit of time working with Warner's new Lego set that he got for his birthday. He can almost build it by himself, which is good since it falls apart constantly. Hopefully Santa will bring him a few more Lego sets to play with this Christmas.

Princess Maren dresses up nearly every day. When she is in full princess mode, I'm not allowed to call her Maren. She insists on Princess Maren, or Princess Belle, or whoever she's dressed up as. Never a dull moment.

 

Dressing up isn't just for Maren. Warner really loves his superhero cape and mask, along with his Hulk costume from Halloween. A few weeks ago he put both of the costumes on together. Then he runs around the house with Maren and they play "Superheroes". This is basically just an excuse to run, scream, and beat the other person with pillows (notice the pillow in Warner's hand in the picture).

The weather has been unseasonably warm the past week or so, and this past weekend we decided to capitalize on this and take the kids putt putting. There is a new course near our home that the kids ask to visit nearly every time we drive by it (which is about every day).

They were pretty good if I do say so myself. It was wonderful to be outside and enjoy the nearly 70 degree weather in December.

We've had a few "book parties" lately with the kids before bed. We get a huge stack of books, a snack (this time is was ice cream), and snuggle on the couch and read until we're either through the pile of books or tired of reading. Usually we're tired of reading first. But it's sweet time with the kids that I cherish.

We're off to Texas this Saturday to visit my parents. Outside of the 15 hour drive, I'm really looking forward to our trip. Here's to hoping I post pictures of our trip before January!

Halloween

It was a cold, rainy Halloween this year. This however did not seem to bother The Incredible Hulk or Tinkerbelle.

We got really lucky with costumes this year. I was going to "make" Warner's Hulk costume by tearing up some of his old jeans, adding batting to a green shirt, etc. But my friend happened to have an old costume laying around she offered to Warner - and the same happened with Maren. Less work and money spent is always nice for Halloween.

The kids really got into their costumes. Warner insisted on this scary/angry Hulk face for most of the pictures, and Maren waved her wand around all night. I'm pretty sure she thought she was the real Tinkerbelle.

Despite the cold and rain, the kids made it up our street and back, and made out with more candy than they'll ever be able to eat (thankfully Kevin and I are good sports and will help them with it). They did a great job saying "trick or treat". This was the first year Kevin and I hung back near the street while the kids rang the doorbells themselves. So we were able to shiver under the umbrella together while the kids got their candy. So we sort of earned some of the candy too, right?

After trick-or-treating there was plenty time left to hand out candy. The kids each took turns passing it out. Maren was all business and if the kids didn't say anything and just held their bag out, she would say (fairly sternly) "say Trick or Treat!".  She would then wait patiently until the kids indeed said "trick or treat" before handing over the candy.

The weather definitely put a damper on the holiday for me, as I always enjoy chatting with neighbors and the kids running around outside with their friends. We still had fun, but here's to hoping next year will be a bit warmer and less wet.

A Day at the Park

 

Going back to work part-time has been tougher than I thought. While I sincerely enjoy the adult interaction and challenge of a business development position, I constantly feel frazzled and behind on everything. Before starting work, I envisioned Tuesdays and Thursdays to be full of the things I used to do with the kids: trips to the park, library, zoo; time spent baking cookies or assembling puzzles. Unfortunately, that just hasn't happened.

Instead, I find myself catching up on laundry, housework, trips to the grocery, and other errands. Although I'm still spending those days with the kids, it's not the same. Last Thursday we finally got back into our old routine and spent the day at the park.

 

We packed a lunch and between bites the kids tortured daddy long legs and other defenseless creatures.

The kids played on the playground and learned that they are big enough to ride the see saw without my help now.

There were attempts at climbing trees, which probably would have been more successful had we chosen a larger tree. Hanging from the tree was just as fun for the kids.

Later, we took a walk and searched for leaves. We did this last year, too: Warner and Maren each got a bag to store all of the treasures they found along our walk. The tradition is to then take the leaves back home and decorate place mats with them.

 

 There were plenty of leaves to choose from and the kids thoroughly enjoyed playing in them.

 

 

  

I'm thankful for days like last Thursday. I'm also thankful for my job. So I'll continue to search for the right balance between work and mothering and the rest of life.

Happy Birthday, Warner

My little boy is five years old. It almost physically pains me to write that. Don't get me wrong. I am so proud of the little man Warner has become. But it feels like yesterday that he was born. I can still smell his newborn baby scent; feel his tiny fingers wrapped around mine; feel the exhaustion that comes with a newborn. It's just going really fast. I often ponder Ecclesiastes 3:11: "He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end". It makes me think when we struggle with time going too fast, kids growing to quickly, not having enough time to be with the people we love ... that's our spirit pointing to God's perfect plan of eternity. We may not understand it or even recognize the feeling, but our hearts are longing for home.

Anyway, I'm getting way off topic. Back to the birthday boy.

Superheros are Warner's newest thing, so a superhero party it was. I was excited because I had seen a bunch of adorable party ideas on Pinterest, so I was all set when the theme was chosen.

This was Warner's first "friend" birthday party. And besides my desire to throw exciting, cute, and perfect parties in general, I actually remember my fifth birthday party. So I added stress for myself thinking about the fact that Warner might some day remember this party, so I had to be sure it all went off without a hitch. I think all Warner cared about was making sure he had a Hulk cupcake topper for his cupcake and not Captain America, Thor, or Ironman. Easy enough.

All of the kids seemed to have a great time. Most of them enjoyed their superhero capes and masks as favors, and wore them around during the party. They "earned" their capes by completing the superhero tasks (games) we had planned. I also borrowed a friend's bounce house and that was a huge hit with the kids.

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The entire party was outside, which I've decided will definitely be a new tradition moving forward for all our birthday parties.

Warner got a ton of awesome presents. Between his friends and family, it was like Christmas. Most of the gifts were superhero (the Hulk specifically) themed. Kevin and I got him roller skates (he has asked for them for months) so that should be interesting.

On the morning of his actual birthday, the kids and I stopped at Dunkin Donuts before preschool for breakfast. Here are Warner's five year stats:

- 46 inches tall (95th percentile)
- Weighs 46 pounds (80th percentile)
- Favorite color: red
- Favorite food: cheeseburgers and candy
- Favorite tv show: Superhero Squad
- Favorite thing to do: ride his bike
- Favorite sport: basketball
- When he grows up, he wants to be a: teacher
- Best friends: Maren, Drew, and Riley

Happy birthday, little man!