San Antonio Trip

The weekend before Thanksgiving we made a quick trip to San Antonio to meet a new little Bowling.

 

That's her.  Pretty cute, right?

Before we did that though, I finally got to take the kids to SeaWorld.  SeaWorld is not high on Kim's list so he was especially delighted that our admission tickets will allow us free entry through all of 2012 as well.  Yeah!

 We went on a puffer fish, spinning, rocking sort of ride. I was a little concerned it would be too much for Emery.

 Guess not.

 Then we went to see the shows.  Emery was mesmerized by the Shamu show.

 It was pretty cool.

 Emery with her hero, who was a little frighteningly big in person.

On the way out of the show, we happened upon the Sesame Street gang, out promoting their Christmas show later in the day.  Emery was so excited she held onto her stroller and jumped up and down while we waited in line, shouting "Momo!  Momo!" and pointing the whole time.  Finally it was our turn.  She ran within three feet of Elmo before realizing that he was actually a little scary close up and erupting into tears.  Kim saved the day and we did get one picture without complete hysteria.

Alastair enjoyed a little hysteria of his own when he went on a viking water boat ride with Kim.  If you enlarge the photo, you can see the big smile on his face, but his hands were firmly wrapped around the seat restraint.

 He was all smiles on the way out, although a little damp.  

SeaWorld was completely decked out for Christmas.

There was a pretty candy cane forest that was especially nice after dark.

The kids did great hanging out with no naps or schedules to drive us. 

We rounded out the day with some yummy barbeque and then headed back to our awesome hotel:  The Hyatt Wild Oak Ranch, which I would recommend highly to other families.  We had a two room suite so the kids could sack out while Kim and I got to watch a movie and chill a little after a full day.

Sunday morning we popped by Stuart and Jen's house to meet little Elena. 

 Jennifer was ready for their impending move to Savannah and looked phenominal for having a baby this small.  No, I wasn't at all jealous.  

 And look who loves the babies! 

Alastair told me recently at the park, where one of our friends had a newborn, "Mom, we should get a baby just like that one."  I think we're all stocked up here for the time being, son! 

Soccer 2011

Meet our Purple Dragon.

This is where he liked to be in relation to the ball last year.

This is where he likes to be this year.

 

And here.

Miss that?

 

Just in case.

 

Alastair started the season off with a bang, scoring two goals in his first game.  By the second game, he scored 5.  With one or two exceptions, he scored at every game and really was excited to be a part of the action this year.  What we've learned from this experience:  Alastair does really well with the format of this new league.  There are only six kids on the field at a time and being one of a team of three means lots of opportunity to get the ball and build confidence.   Oh, and the enthusiasm starts to wane the closer the season gets to the last game.  He was fairly trotting along by the end, although he rallied for the last game to get a few goals.  That said, he says he loved it and wants to play again.  Soccer is SO much more fun than t-ball to spectate!

Emery was watching and learning (and collecting acorns.)  I'm curious to see how she'll do in a few years time.

 

Go Dragons!

Happy Thanksgiving!

shirt from That is Sew You

From our littlest turkey and the rest of us here, we hope today finds you surrounded by family and considering all you have to be thankful for.

It's spooky how fast Halloween went...

I love Halloween.  The only thing that makes not personally dressing up tolerable is getting to design and outfit not one but two little trick or treators instead.  

Without further ado, I give you:

The Big Bad Wolf

and

The sweet and innocent Little Red Riding Hood.

So far I have been able to steer my brethren away from major commercial costumes like Spider Man, etc.  There just isn't much a mom can do with that, you know?  This year Emery was old enough to fully participate in the holiday with her brother and that just cried out for a team costume.  I hope I can get away with it for a few more years before they put a stop to it!

Before the big day, there was a costume parade at school, a costume party at the park, and our annual Rowdy Rebels Halloween bonanza.

Look how big these kids have gotten.

And the little miss who wants to be a part of all the big kid fun.

Alastair's costume, which I consider to be a kinder gentler wolf than the masks available for purchase (all of which are gory and really frightening) still scared a little sister and even his friend Ella wasn't so sure about it.  "That's still really you, isn't it, Alastair?" she is asking him here.  "Really, it's you in there, right?"

Alastair got to "mummify" his Daddy in a race which he was proud to finish first.

Someone has to take the picture and I volunteered to sacrifice my participation for the greater good. 

Look who even got a turn at the pinata!  

 

Onward to Thanksgiving!

Emery's "Favorites" Party

 

Emery's party this year was centered on one of her very favorite things:  balloons.  On the Wednesday before her actual birthday, we had all her playgroup pals pop on over for a perfectly toddler sized birthday bash.  As the guest arrived, a bubble blower was going full blast at the front door with bubbles floating out into the neighborhood. 

 Did I mention that Emery loves bubbles?

We had slightly under-inflated balloons on the ground for the kids to play with, balloons hanging from the ceiling, and balloons attached to another of Emery's favorites:  touch and feel books for her friends to take home with them. 

Mixing Halloween and birthday decor is a little tricky, but the rainbow color theme seemed to work.

 

Alastair was home for the day so he was able to take part in his sister's special day.  While there were a few moments that were a little hard for him, overall he enjoyed the party and was a really good sport.  All the little boys in attendance made sure to take a turn following him around and playing with whatever he was working on.  

 

 Another of Emery's favorite things is story time at the library.  There aren't actually any stories at story time, but there is a lot of singing and dancing and fun for all.  We borrowed a parachute from Colin's mom (who also took some of these pictures for me and made Emery's beautiful shirt) and recreated story time with the addition of balloons on the parachute.

 I think it was a hit, don't you?

There were allergy safe treats in a rainbow of colors to enjoy for our luncheon including egg free cupcakes with strawberry frosting.

Emery is an excellent candle blower and got it done so quickly that we relit the candle to get pictures.  She didn't mind in the slightest.  Emery has been practicing her candle blowing technique on every Christmas tree we pass in the stores as she tries to blow out the lights.  She also walks around the island while I cook puffing up at the stove in little bursts saying, "hot!  hot!"

Happy birthday to our little sunshine!

Pumpkin Patch 2011, in pictures.

 

Ch, Ch, Ch, Changes

This summer's end was far from the snow cone and field trip filled week we had planned.  The stomach bug unpleasantness kept us on house arrest instead, including missing both the first day of school and meet the teacher day for both kids.  

Alastair's first day was the morning after his party.  As evidence of my frazzled state, his annual first day picture was taken as we sat in the carpool line awaiting drop off.  Don't worry, I put the car in park. 

On Thursday, Little Miss finally got to go too.

Here she is, trying to get at the food she saw me put in her lunch box.

On her first day, she marched right into the classroom and started playing with zero hesitation.  I got all of her stuff put away and then had to get right down on her level and say her name several times before she would look at me.  I think she was afraid I was going to make her leave.  Emery couldn't be bothered for a hug, so I went on my way with a high five.  What an amazing feeling to walk out of that building knowing this child, who I was so convinced would have trouble when she started preschool, was playing happily right where she wanted to be.  To date, the teachers tell me she hasn't cried at all.  "She's so good we forget she's here sometimes," they tell me.  The word "perfect" has even been used.  I swear!
 

Although it took me an extra day or two (thanks for the temporary loan, Audrey) I made Emery her own nap pad to take to school.  I made a few improvements since making Alastair's:  it is a more manageable size than his and fits nicely in her bag.

This year we have two carpools going during pickup and I couldn't be happier.  Emery gets to enjoy her day at school and is still getting to nap on the days she's home with me.  Having a child who is old enough and big enough to be in a booster seat makes that possible.
 
This year Alastair is going to school three days to Emery's one.  On Thursdays they overlap and I get a well appreciated break to run every errand that might prompt whining or just to enjoy a little time to myself. 

With Alastair in school three days a week and several friends who have started kindergarten, this fall has marked the end of our Tuesday staple:  playgroup.   We have seen these people at least once a week since he was four months old when I was lucky enough to stumble onto a group of girls who were going through the same things I was.  We have shared joys and sorrows as our kids grew from parallel playmates to true friends.  These kids were Alastair's first friends and they have taught him how to relate to other kids, a lesson that he'll use for the rest of his childhood and life.  We don't let things go easily though, so we'll be meeting for monthly playdates and the ever important moms night out.  Seemingly overnight, our kids have grown from infants to 5 year olds, and all of our families have grown from 3 to at least 4, with a few 5's and even a 6 on the way.  Wow.  What a privilege. 

Let's pretend it's still September, shall we?

So I have this kid.  This delightfully silly and squirrely kid.  

That's him.

He is into Legos.  Really into legos.

Super Family

He loves them with all the passion he has devoted to blocks in the last few years.  His Lego creations stay together better and are harder for his sister to knock down. Not that she can't do that, but they do have a slightly higher survival rate.

In our house, Legos become a myriad of trailer/car/camper vehicles and even superheroes. This set is BatBaby, Ironman (that's Kim), Super Girl (me!), and "CorbinBoy, who shoots bombs from his feet."

I choose not to read into Super Girl's decidedly, ahem, low center of gravity.

So when this boy had a birthday coming up, it was natural to choose a Lego theme.  A full week before his party, everyone but Kim (lucky sod) got a horrible stomach bug.  By the weekend before the party, we were all past the point of contagion and worked hard to make sure our house was ready for company.  Did you know you can wash Legos in the washing machine?  Put them in lingerie bags, dump in some bleach, and wash those germies right down the drain.

 

Post disease birthday party:

1.  Make house smell strongly of bleach

2.  Rent bounce house with slide

4.  Dress up store bought cupcakes

5.  Add friends.

 

For an activity, we built small Lego airplanes and Lego Land Rovers.

This boy, let's call him Alastair, decided immediatly that the little Legos are even better than the big ones.  Vacuuming will never be the same.

His little sister loves building with the really big ones:  blocks that don't topple.

Lego chocolates on Sam's finest.

One big birthday wish.  

And a very happy sis munching on her special cupcake.

A great start to a fantastic fifth year.