Thanksgiving 2015

Author's Note: I've been neglecting the blog for a variety of reasons (including, you know, busy season) and I was mentally drafting a post about Olivia's 2.5 milestones and idiosyncrasies blissfully unaware that I left off last at.....HALLOWEEN!!! I really thought I had caught up through Christmas before the new-year work fest, but alas, I'm way more behind that I imagined. So, I'm going to keep this relatively brief. 

This past Thanksgiving we had the extra-special treat of having Aunt Ashley and Miguel come down to South Texas from Hawaii for a visit. Thanks to modern technology (read: Facetime) we get to see her through video-chat about once a week or so, but the distance and expense keeps her mewed up in paradise most of the year. The kids were super excited to see her, although a little disappointed that she didn't bring her dogs, Prince and Jude (okay, really just Jude...Prince doesn't do little people). Because we weren't going to see her again at Christmas, we brought her Christmas present with us, and she gave the kids theirs early too. We painted her some Russian nesting dolls (monetary bonus hidden within). I don't remember what she got Olivia (shoes, I think) but she won Aunt-of-the-Year with Nathan's present: Black Lagoon books. The kid is obsessed with the Black Lagoon series right now (even still as I type this in May) and he had been begging for more of the series. Well....she came through with 5 of them and he was over-the-moon excited. I don't remember how many times I read them over the Thanksgiving break, but rest assured each time we had to read all of them, including the one we brought with us.

Painting Aunt Ashley's Christmas present.

Just hanging out with Aunt Ashley and Miguel.

Yay books! And Rescue Bots!!!

Ashley and her mini-me.

Mommy and her biggest precious angel. I'm pretty sure he'll still fit in my lap when he's 22. 

Nathan's expression says a lot about how he felt about this photo shoot.

The whole family.

The love this family has for Popo is incredible. I can only hope to have such an impression on my own family some day.

The youngest generation adores their Popo just as much.

After spending a few days in Sinton, we headed up to my Uncle Skipper's ranch for the Bryan-side Thanksgiving. The weather was wet and I was worried about keeping the kids entertained while cooped up inside at my cousin's house. Fortunately, Nathan kept occupied with his books practically the entire time and Olivia entertained herself with the three big Labradors that were at the house. She's an expert at getting people and animals to do her bidding, and the suckers  Bryan family (and pooches) did not disappoint. I was nervous about the dogs at first, but they all let her hang all over them, which was a huge relief. I wish I had a picture of her being rocked back and forth while holding on to one of their wagging tails. She was barely taller than they were.

It didn't take long to get cousin Tommy on the floor playing a Disney matching game.

Reading with Uncle Cantrell.

Nathan, Melodie and Grandma Bryan.

Look, Daddy was there too!

The after-dinner coma at work. 

Cousins Shirley and Cynthia.

"I sit in your lap." (followed, I'm sure, by, "What dat? I want some.")

"Color dat [minion]!"

Hugs for the puppy by Uncle Skipper.

"Nite nite puppy. I pat her." [followed by beating the puppy]

She really had cousin Tommy falling in line. He had to go nite-nite with Katy-dog.

Zoo Boo and Halloween 2015

Halloween has never been one of my favorite holidays. I don't like scary things and I don't like being scared. I worry about people in costumes that are too scary (or risque) for my kids and/or people jumping out of houses to shout "Boo!" and give me heart failure. My son, however, has no such concerns. He loves to be scared (you know, for a four year old) and of course has a love of villains.
In the late summer we started sourcing a Halloween costume for him. At the time he was big into Transformers Rescue Bots and the character Heatwave was/is his favorite. Heatwave's partner, Kade, is a firefighter. I was flipping through a Chasing Fireflies catalog and came across a really good quality firefighter costume that looked almost exactly like Kade's outfit. Nathan was on board so we went ahead and made the purchase. This thing was basically a miniature version of a real firefighter's uniform and he got a bunch of compliments on it wherever we went (not that he cared).

For Olivia, I wanted to find something that went along with a firefighter theme and set about looking for a dalmatian costume. While there are approximately 543 dalmatian costumes on the market, none of them were quite cute enough for my little Livy-bug. That's when I remembered her slightly-too-big ladybug costume from the year before. Girlfriend hasn't really grown that much in a year and the dress and even the leotard still fit her. I remember being a cat for multiple years in a row as a child and reasoned with myself that she would not be scarred for life by a) not getting a new costume b) not coordinating with her Bubba. The fact that I spent enough on Nathan's costume to buy three new costumes for Olivia wasn't lost on me, so it didn't take much self-convincing to go the thrifty route with the little one. Of course she looked stinking adorable and no one cared, least of all her. She loved her "pretty dress" and swished and twirled to her heart's content.

The weekend before Halloween we did our annual pumpkin painting (for the kids) and carving (for Daddy). This year's jack-o-lantern was the Autobot insignia (the "good Transformers" for those of you unlearned in such ways). Nathan loved seeing it lit up!

On October 30th, Nathan and I met his little friend Noah and his mom, Wendy, at the Houston Zoo for Zoo Boo! We went last year (must have been a Saturday) and Nathan had a good time. I figured this would be good practice for trick-or-treating the next night. Well, let me advise you not to go to Zoo Boo during the weekdays. While the crowds are considerably fewer, so are the number of candy booths. There were probably only three with actual people handing out candy and the rest were un-manned. That was a huge let down to Nathan, who was really only in it for the candy. But he had a good time running around with his friend, so all in all it was a good time.

Candy at 9 o'clock in the morning? Yes, please!

"Mommy, I'm sitting on hay!"

The next morning we packed up and left for South Texas so the grandparents could see the kids in costume and go trick-or-treating. We also went to the "carnival" at the county fair grounds. Think small-scale folks. This is Sinton we are talking about. But truthfully that suited me right down to the ground. In a small town I wasn't worried about the kids getting lost in a huge crowd or someone trying to snatch them. After all, everyone (literally) knows my mother-in-law and she was gleefully showing off her grandbabies. I just followed along behind with my sister and snapped a few pictures.

Just a girl and her Hop, her Minnie and Optimus Prime on the way to South Texas.

We saw my mom and Tyley before the kids started trick or treating at the carnival. Kelley and Chris had not yet arrived with Tyley's costume. 

The fully decked-out Dalton family featuring Captain America.

Much to my surprise (given his aversion to tall costumed things) Nathan went right up to H-E-Buddy and gave him a big hug. Then he took off his helmet and gave him another (proper) hug. 

The kids both had a good time trick-or-treating. The aforementioned connections of Lolo came in very handy at the beginning of neighborhood trick-or-treating when Olivia announced she had to go potty. Fortunately, Lolo knew the people at the first house on the corner and they let her go in to use their facilities. Only one melt-down occurred (Nathan) but really who can blame them. Tired and over-sugared, I would melt-down too.

We dropped Lolo and Olivia at the house, picked up Popo and our last stop of the evening was the Fire House. They had the truck lit up and Nathan got a really warm welcome from the staff there. They let him sit up in the truck (which he loved) and gave him a bunch of little things off of their goody table. Before he got out of the car when we got there he wanted to make sure he had his coat on and buttoned up and his hat so he would look right. It was so adorable (sorry, future Nathan, but it was).

The next day Lolo wanted to make a Halloween pinterest-y snack with the kids involving apple slices, peanut butter and marshmallows. The marshmallows were a hit. The rest....not so much. But the kids are cute, so they were forgiven.

Nathan found another use for the marshmallows... 

...and what Bubba does, Sister must also do.

It was a short weekend with a long time in the car, but worth it to spend time with the grandparents and do some fun trick-or-treating.

Finity's Bridal Shower (October)

In early October I flew to Denver to host a bridal shower for my best friend, Finity. She is getting ready to marry the man of her dreams in a few short weeks (18 days from this post, to be exact) and I wanted her to have a shower as beautiful as she is. This was intended to be primarily her close friends and colleagues in Denver since family was throwing her showers in their respective home towns. Her mother-in-law-to-be also came (since she lives in Denver) and we had a truly great time. Because the wedding is a destination wedding and both the bride and groom are very well traveled, I used a travel-theme for the games and invitations. I picked a venue that would do all the work for me since I was hosting from out of town and had a very busy schedule at work. The Denver Tea Room did a lovely job and I recommend it very highly. The decorations were primarily fresh flowers and the tea service accoutrements. I also set up a small table with the games and sign-in sheet (advice hearts). Even the small amount of work I was responsible for was more time consuming than I expected, so I'm very glad that I went with a no-fuss venue. The bride-to-be was gorgeous and everything went perfectly.

The night before the shower we went out to dinner with a few of her friends to Ophelia's Electric Soap Box. A restaurant as interesting as its name. 

While I was in Denver, Finity also put me to work in her wedding craft sweat shop. We are collectively now experts in embossing. I'll save pictures and descriptions for after the wedding so nothing is given away in advance. I love you, Finity, and I can't wait to celebrate with you in paradise soon! xoxo