It's already December?

So behind in blogging (and the rest of life)! Is it really mid December???

Here are some photos from Thanksgiving. We were lucky enough to go to my Mom's again this year - full spread, great folks, no work! What a blessing to be THANKFUL for!!!

As we did last year, we tried to get a photo for our Christmas card. I mean, we're all dressed up already and there are other people available to take the picture and jump up and down trying to get the kids to smile and look...it's the perfect opportunity!

But no luck this year. These were the best two...and they didn't make the card. It's really hard to get both of these squirmers to look at the same time, and practically impossible to couple it with a smile.

We had the treat of having Nathan Murray spend the day and night with us...he was a great addition to our crazy little crew - right in between Rebecca and Owen in age. Here he is pulling Rebecca in the wagon.

 Fearless. In a skirt.

 All 3 doing what they do. Nathan the Conductor. Owen messing with Rebecca. Rebecca holding her own.

 One of Mom's beautiful tables.

 Me and the Hostess with the Mostess.

I was asleep for pretty much everything else you see. (Turkey +Other people available to watch/play with kids = Mamma gets a nap!) Thank goodness other folks picked up the camera! 

Here is Owen having a grand ol' time on his glider bike in Mom's driveway.

 Owen with one of my Cantu cousins--Melanie.

 Dadda & Owen.

 This photo pretty much sums up the afternoon. Owen didn't take his usual nap. But sometime early evening he crashed on Bee during "leftovers". Then he was up til we left at 10ish after the Aggies kicked some T-Sipper hiney. (I said that like a real Texan who actually cares, didn't I?!)

I didn't take a picture of it, but we started a new family tradition this year for Thanksgiving (thanks to my uber-creative sister-in-law Melissa): The Thankful Turkey. It's a huge paper turkey on our kitchen wall. Each day in November up until Thanksgiving we write something we're thankful for on one of his feathers. It's like Thanksgiving Advent. It's so fun to hear what Owen came up with. Some of which we wrote down just like it came out...other things we adapted. Examples: 1) Milk and juice. Okay. 2) Tigers. How about...God's creation and animals? You get the idea.

We'll be writing about Christmas soon enough...for now know that we're enjoying the season even though we opted to go for a TINY tree (that sits way up high on a shelf) because Rebecca is such a tornado.....It just sort of seems wrong to not have a "proper" tree, but it was a judgment call that I have to say I'm pleased with this year. Merry (early) Christmas!

Hill Country Camping Society - November Trip

We're part of a very exclusive club called the "Hill Country Camping Society" or Society for short. Basically, a bunch of families take turns planning a family camping trip somewhere in central Texas once a month generally from October through April (as long as its not too hot) that way you only have to plan one trip but you can go on as many as you want without having to do much work! It's awesome. (Remember this from last year?)

Anyways, we (really just Kyle) planned this month's trip. We went to Pace Bend Park on Lake Travis (a Travis County park) - less than an hour from our house. We had a great open campsite right on the water, walking distance to a "bathroom" (fancy outhouse). We headed out around lunchtime on Saturday and came back the same time Sunday. 

Here are some highlights:

Before anyone else got there, Owen and Rebecca playing with our new rocket-launcher set. Hours of fun.

 Right after pretty much everyone arrived, I took my eyes off of her for one second and she was in the water. This photo doesn't capture it - she was sitting in the COLD water (about 1-2 inches deep) just happy as a clam. Not trying to get out, not trying to go in further. Luckily we had a change of clothes, but we had to borrow shoes for the rest of the trip. Even more lucky--this was the only water adventure any of the kids had!

 All our cars and tents. Circle the wagons, if you will.

 Really - he was thrilled to be camping!

 A near miss. Kyle had to chase Bailey down to prevent a "Rebecca episode".

 Nathan and Boone watching their rockets fly soooo high! Seriously - hours of fun!

 We thought we were smart by bringing our little toddler "froggy potty" but Joel WAY outdid us...he created a private little toddler bathroom! Selfishly, I think he just wanted a private spot to go himself!

 Cousins.

From left to right: Owen, Bailey, Ben, Emmy, Ellie, Nathan, Elijah. 

 All the kids except: Rebecca, Boone, Blake, Luke, Claire & Micah.

That's a lot of kids! THIRTEEN!

 "Fishing" and other fun imaginary kid games from the back of Joel's truck. Highlight: Bailey dove over the side suspended by a rope around her foot held by Emmy. What?!?!?

 Rebecca in her camo suite. This is what I get for asking Kyle to see if he could find a little windbreaker or something on his last minute trip to Academy.

 The Hamm family on their first trip with the Society.

 Gotta love the campfire.

 The Foshea Family.

 Kyle and Rebecca - like father like daughter.

 Emmy eating the only natural food on the trip - an apple.

 Our little princess.

 Joel and Emmy caught a fish!

 And it was THIS big!!!

 Okay, so Rebecca didn't exactly sleep through the night. Was it the pack-n-play? The strange outdoor noises? Could she have been cold (I don't think so)? She woke up a couple of times crying and at 1:30 I called it quits. We had a miserable sleeping experience once last year and I didn't want to repeat that, so she and I loaded up and headed home. An hour later we were both toasty warm in our beds and sleeping soundly. We cam back the next morning. Yea for being less than an hour from home!

Sweet Ben.

 The whole fam.

 Claire on one of the two glider bikes we had - the kids did a great job sharing and had lots of fun riding in all the wide open spaces

 Just hanging out.

 Yes, that's a cross bow. And a child. Don't worry, Trey is an expert. :)

 More fun with the rocket launcher.

That's about it. We pretty much all agreed that 3 (give or take) is a golden age for camping. The three-plus year olds were pretty low-maintenance, had a great time, slept well in their own sleeping bags (no pack-n-plays!), etc. They had a great time and let the parents have a great time too! But we're not going to wait 'til all the little ones are three to go back...

Other highlights:
Looking at the moon through Owen's telescope (it was a beautiful, clear night).

Watching the kids run around with their glow-sticks (so we could find them in the dark)--next time we need to somehow fasten them to each kid. Trey even suggested we put two colors on each kid next time (front and back) so we can tell whether they're running away or towards us!

Burgers, hotdogs, marshmallows and s'mores! (Owen wanted marshmallows for dinner and s'mores for dessert...but we convinced to heat a hotdog as an appetizer.)

Owen and Rebecca each drove the minivan for the first time. Now that's good fun. 

Trey's stories...need more time next time.

Trick or Treat

Posting about Halloween this late I definitely deserve a trick, not a treat. But still...here are the pictures I'm sure you've been wanting to see! Wa ha ha ha ha!

I had the brilliant idea of Kyle and I being chefs and dressing the kids up like salt and pepper shakers. I mean, for a reluctant-to-dress-up 3-year-old boy, what could be more fun than being dressed up like an inanimate kitchen object? No batman or astronaut or fireman here. A pepper shaker! (I learned my lesson). It was next to impossible to get a shot with both of them wearing their "lids"...here's as close as we got.

 Here we are at Bee's house. She dressed up in her "crazy witch" costume (it's probably been around for 20 years) especially for us (so sad that someone who loves Halloween so much doesn't get any tricker-treaters other than us!). Do you like Kyle's costume? It's called "the fat chef". It made me smile each time I looked at him.

 Sweaty fun! Owen, Bailey (part of the pumpkin family) and Ben (spider man) at Luke and Mel's famed annual Halloween potluck.

 I love all the homemade family-themed costumes. Here are the King and Queen of Spades (shouldn't that be Hearts)? Katie drew their cards just by looking at the real thing (no tracing) - isn't that amazing!

 Rebecca having the time of her little life in the bouncy-house. Yes, there was a bouncy-house.

 An entire family of chickens - mommy, daddy, and 3 baby chics.

 Nana, the happy Rodeo Clown, with cousin Blake, the smallest pumpkin in the patch.

 Princess Emmy drinking out of 2 sippies. Just can't get enough.

 Crazy Aunt Mel sliding down the bounce house slide. Many an adult enjoyed the slide. (Does anyone remember Mel's costume from last year? She was a large, overstuffed, furry character from Sesame Street. This girl likes her BIG costumes!)

 A happy farmer and his animal family.

 Blue, the pumpkin dog.

 Fat Chef says "bon appetit"!

 Our new friend Yiyi (UT grad student from China who has only been in the States 2 months) - she came to the party dressed as a Hula Dancer!

 Injured football player, his nurse, and their son - Spider Man. Is that how the story goes? :)

 When the Fat Chef got stuff getting into the bounce house, Abby (baby chic) decided to give him a little push. So helpful.

 Here is the entire group. Sorry the photo is so dark. We went right after this to do the actual trick-or-treating. It was a chaotic mess, but lots of fun. Rebecca just wanted to run free throughout the neighborhood. Owen didn't want to actually say "trick-or-treat" but wanted instead to just hold out his pumpkin basket (expecting candy). He finally worked up to telling people Happy Halloween.

A final highlight was getting to see Jupiter through a neighbor's incredibly powerful (fancy!) telescope. The same guy (a retired applied physicist - whatever that is) had his stuff set up last year so we were excited to see him again. 

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Halloween morning we took the kids with the other families/kids from our "Village" (our neighborhood-based small group through church) to trick-or-treat at the Westminster Manor (a retirement home where Kyle's grandma use to live). It was a real treat for everyone. The staff gave the residents candy to pass out and we let the kids just go around being kids.

Okay, that's about it. We're getting ready to go camping this weekend so I'm sure we'll have some stories to tell...Yea for fall!