Texas Ice!

Last Thursday we had freezing rain and a light snow on top that froze to the ice.  Work was cancelled for Tyler on Friday so we got to spend some quality time together. That quality time lasted allllll weekend since everything was shut down.  We even had church cancel on Sunday!  We definitely have been getting stir crazy, and I'm so thankful we have a big truck with 4-wheel drive so we could drive around on the ice just fine and get out of the house for a while on some of the days.  In Texas they don't even bother de-icing neighbors or even some of the main roads.  In fact they don't even use salt to melt the ice on the roads...just dirt...Many people couldn't even get out of their driveway.  Tyler went to Wal-mart and had to help 2 people get out of their parking spot since it was an ice rink.   When we drove around Saturday night there were cars here and there abandoned after getting stuck.  Truck drivers lined the highways and Interstates for the night since cars and trucks were stuck everywhere even on the slightest hills...

It was fun to see all the posts my friends had of their kids' sledding.  I didn't see a single sled, but I did see cookie sheets, cardboard, laundry baskets...etc...we used a boogy board.  

 This is a must see.  Tyler gives Austin too fast of a push on the sled toward our house and I dive in front of Austin to keep him from slamming into the brick...Both babies are safe!

 Tyler's explanation...

It was fun seeing the boys enjoy sledding so much!  We didn't even need that big of a hill to get them going fast on the ice/snow!

I Love Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving day started out with the Fort Worth Turkey Trot with this gal, Cynthia, my past running partner.  We stopped running together once I got pregnant and it was Super Duper hot outside, so she convinced me to do the Turkey Trot since we did it last year.  I have been exercising regularly but not running long distance so I was a bit nervous, but it ended up being a great experience!  We started in the walking group which was incredibly tight (There were SOOO many people) but after a mile or so of that we started picking up the pace and ran and weaved in and out of groups of people.  We laughed every time someone pointed out how pregnant I was, and running.

After I rested up from the run we got our house ready for our guests coming over.  In reality I'd been cleaning my house for the last 3 days here and there, felt like I was already nesting.  We had 3 families and the missionaries over for our feast and ate some delicious food. 

 Tyler's mom sent us this cute little Turkey Table Runner that I love! It was so fun to make a festive table.  It was also great sharing all the food assignments with my other friends and NOT cooking the Turkey!  My friend Bonnie made the best Turkey I have ever tasted and that just made my Thanksgiving right there.

 After some great food and pie we turned on Elf and everyone loved it.  Especially Tyler. haha

 This is our little Thankful tree.  We had everyone write what they were thankful for on the leaves.

 A few days later we busted out the Christmas Decorations. Blake was in Crrrrazy mood! He was bouncing off the walls.

 This is a great shot of him hitting the branches together.

 Austin got really into it and helped Tyler the entire time putting all the branches on.  What a good helper!

He lasted until we started stringing the lights and that's about as far as we got that night.

Austin's first bike ride without training wheels!

Tyler helped Austin try out his bike without training wheels and he picked it up incredibly fast! Check out the video.  Austin has been riding a balance bike since the end of July and that helped him figure out balancing.  I highly recommend them!

 We also had another fun playgroup of horseback riding at the Plummer's Ranch.  They also had a pony to ride but both boys opted to ride the big horse.

Blake rode like a champ as well.  We also got to see some cows, chickens, turkeys, ducks, pigeons, and pet the ponies.  They had two 3-month old miniature ponies that were adorable!  I want a pet pony!

Countdown Begins

Here I am at 32 weeks and 2 days......If you saw a picture of Jamie, my older sister, pregnant with her 6th kid at 40 weeks you're going to be in shock since her belly was sticking out about half as far as mine is...But trying to stay positive.  Here comes the holidays!!!

2008

Did you know that today is an awesome amazing day???!!! I had not a clue until I left the gym after a great RPM workout and had a text on my phone from Tyler.  The text read,"Where were you 2,008 days ago today at this very hour?!"  The 2008  caught my eye since that was the year we were married and sure enough I did some math in my head (I mean on my phone calculator) and sure enough 2,008 days is 5 1/2 years and 5 1/2 years ago we were married! 2,008 days ago we were married in 2008! Isn't that the coolest thing ever?  Tyler is so good at reminding me of special dates from the past and I usually have to think hard and guess a few things before I know what he's getting at.

Here's a little throwback picture from 2011...I don't have any older pictures of my computer sadly...from 2008...so we'll just pretend!  Happy 2,008 days! Love you Tyler!

Halloween 2013

 We started off the Halloween month a few weeks ago by attending our annual adult Halloween Party that my friend puts on every year.  Last year it was at my house, so I was grateful she took over the tradition again.  It was a lot of work!  I am a belly dancer and Tyler is a snake charmer.  Look closely and you can see the snake in mid air while he's playing his flute!  I'm glad Tyler was nice enough to go along with my idea.  At this angle it looks more like I have a beer belly hanging over!

 We also carved pumpkins, although it ended up just being me for a while since neither Austin or Blake wanted to help scoop out the seeds.

 At least it looked like they participated since they are in the pictures! haha.

 After the carving was done Tyler pulled out his drill and Austin came running to help.

 Our cool batman pumpkin!

 On Halloween night we went trick or treating with the Simmons.  It was fun to watch the kids go from house to house. I mean run from house to house.

 Kai and Blake riding in style!  It was so nice having them in the wagon!

 Austin was a 80's style ninja turtle.  He was just a little excited to get started

This cat was outside someone's house and the head moved back and forth.  Austin decided it needed to be attacked and Makayla told Austin that he was her hero!  So cute!  And now we have a HUGE bowl of candy that looks like it will last a whole year.  We'll see.  Happy Halloween!

Possum Kingdom Lake Camping Trip

 Tyler earned a half day of work last Friday so we headed out just after lunch to snag an good campsite.  The drive took about two hours thanks to our GPS that led us through no man's land...Two other families camped with us as well.

 We took the kids to the lake for some rock skipping and fishing before we started dinner.  Even though the tumbleweeds make the lake not so inviting this was the clearest water I've seen in Texas!

 We set up the tent in the boys' room the whole week before to get them used to sleeping in a tent and that was the best thing we could have done for this trip! The boys went right to bed and slept all through the night.  We were grateful for that when our other friends' kids took a long time to fall asleep. :)

 The next morning we woke up and found this guy outside our tent...Isn't that lovely?  Good thing I was not sleeping there another night!

 Here is the view from the tree. He was massive.

 Before lunch the following day we loaded everyone up in the truck down to a hiking trail to go exploring.

 Austin and Tyler led the way.  Doesn't Tyler look like a future scout leader?  High socks and all!

 Blake wanted a ride after a while

 He got a little tired so he rested on Bonnie's huge ponytail.

Kids making a funny face at the end of the hike

 After lunch we took the canoe and kayak down to the lake.  Here's the Watsons taking the canoe out for a spin

Austin doing some hardcore digging

 

Blake and Tyler returning from their kayak adventure. We did it!

I got to relax on the shore with this little cutie behind me while I kept my eye on the other kids in the water

 Blake is getting the hang of throwing the frisbee

and catching the frisbee!

Camping was a lot of fun and took more out of me than I thought it would.  Maybe it was lack of sleep from tossing and turning all night.  But it was well worth it to get our kids out there and spend time with friends.

Horseback Riding

 For playgroup today we went to my favorite place, Nancy's house! She let the kids ride on her horse Beau and led him around the corral.

 Austin was first to go and loved it as usual.

 To my surprise, Blake was really excite to ride the horse.  Up to this point in his life he has hardly wanted to pet horses because he was afraid of them. Not today!  He didn't want to get off.

 He even insisted on an extra turn after everyone else had gone.

 While Austin was off playing with all the other kids, Blake stayed and watched the horse give rides. 

 He liked to climb up and down the fence too.

By the end of the day, Blake made a new friend.  He wanted to feed the horse an apple too.