Poppi's Birthday Celebration

This year Poppi's birthday falls exactly on Thanksgiving Day.  So in order for him to feel like it was his own special day, we went out to celebrate at Scalini's. 

Our whole crew was there--all 11 of us--and we enjoyed good food and good company even more.  On a side note, for all my mommy friends, I would not recommened Scalini's on a Sunday evening.  Apparantly they only have one cook or that one cook only has one arm, not sure, but something made it take FOREVER to get our food.  As in, two hours!! Which really feels more like five when you are trying to corral and entertain a 19 month old busy body, 3 year old tired girl and 4 year old boy!!  Thank goodness for iphone games (that phone is worth it's weight in gold some times!) and a partly empty restaurant that Lila Lou could explore a bit.

In all fairness, they did great!  The girls played so well together--they really are starting to become friends, I think,  and love being together, which makes my heart smile.  And makes a two hour wait much more bearable.  Happy early Birthday, Poppi!  We will see you tomorrow and celebrate some more:)

Gig 'em Owls!

The Owls were in the second round of the playoffs last night and the game was at Cowboys Stadium.  Since we had so much fun last Friday night, we decided to go again last night to try and cheer on GHS to another victory.  

We got there just in time to see the Owls run out onto the field.

Gigi and Boom had never been to Cowboys Stadium, so they were in awe of it.  It is really nice!

We were so excited that they had the jumbo big screen on for the game, complete with instant replay and everything!  It really made it feel like we were at a college or pro game.

The game was so close--we scored a touchdown with 2 seconds left and that tied it up at 21.  But it was not the Owls night, and even though we hollered as loud as we could, they lost in OT.  Oh well, it was still a great way to spend a Friday night and now when we watch the Cowboys play tomorrow, Jackson will know exactly what it's like in person.  The kid has had a big year!

Turkey Time

Oh so thankful are we for the wonderful school that the kids go to.  Yesterday we went to a Thanksgiving Feast with Jackson's class.

Here's our little indian with his blue feather on his head.  He's holding the placemat that he made all by  himself.

We are also thankful that Daddo got to come home early from work in time to make the feast. 
What a treat!

We are a little less thankful that there were no tables on which to eat lunch--floor sitting is not Daddo's forte!  The teachers thought it was important to show the kids how the first Thanksgiving meal was eaten, so we all took one for the team and ate on the floor:)

After lunch was over, we got a real treat and watched the kids perform all of their Thanksgiving songs. 
I love this little Indian so very much.

I especially loved watching him do the "Turkey Tango."  It was too cute!

When the show was over, it was time to head over to Maddie's class for her party.  When we got there she was just finishing off not one, but two cupcakes, and had a huge grin on her face. 
Maddie is very thankful for cupcakes!

It won't be long before this little turkey goes to school.  And that's hard to believe!

For now she is content to help the big kids with their projects and sit at the table just like them.  And that's just fine with me.  I'm so not ready to even think about her going to school!

Three precious little turkeys--what I am most thankful for!

Friday Night Lights

This past Friday night, we went to cheer on our Alma Mater at Williams Stadium.  It was the Owls first playoff game this season and was the perfect night for some football.

We began the night with a little tailgaiting.  Jackson played lots of bean bag toss and even beat his Uncle Scott, I do believe!

Lila Lou ran around for a bit before Memaw took her home.  She did good at the tailgate, but she's not quite football watching material just yet!  All in good time...

The rest of us enjoyed some good BBQ and then headed on into the game.

Thank goodness Poppi and Boom went in ahead of time and saved us some seats.  It was packed! 

Our group had three former GHS football players,  two former cheerleaders and one very enthusiastic little boy.  How could the Owls lose with that kind of support?  We cheered them on to victory, sang the Alma Mater while pointing at Ollie the Owl and then headed home.  The Owls play this next Friday night at Cowboys Stadium, and you can bet that we will all be there again.  Gig 'em Owls!!

Dallas Zoo

This past Saturday we were finally baseball free, so we decided to take a trip to the Dallas Zoo.  We went with our good friends, the Rachavongs, and everyone had a really good time.  When we first walked in, the kids found these cute little kangaroo statues and ran over to them.

They were so excited to be there and ready to go see some crazy animals.

Lila was stylin' in her shades--too bad it never got warm enough for her to take off her jean jacket.  She still rocked her pink ruffles, though:)

The first animal we saw was this monkey.  He put on a show for us by swinging all around his little house-



Which got lots of laughs and big smiles from our whole crew.  Little girl just kept hollering, "Monk! Monk!"



After watching the monkeys, we walked over to see the cute little sea otters.  We could see them swim under water, too, which was cool, although they did look like rats from that angle. Eeek!!

Our crew--not fans of being still for a picture.  Just look at their discomfort!

They were much happier when we let them just run!

Probably the most exciting thing the kids got to do was ride a camel for the first time.  For that matter, it was Daddo's first time, too.  He said the whole time that they were riding, Madison just kept telling him how he didn't need to be on there with her and Jackson.  She is so brave.  Notice Jackson hanging on for dear life!

After the camel ride, we went to see the rhino.  Jackson rightly pointed out, "It's a boy!" and said it loud enough for about 50 other people to hear.  Oh, dear. Yes, Jackson, it is.

Then we went to see the reptiles and encountered this enormous, very scary snake. 
Seriously, it could eat Lila for lunch. 

And we got to see this albino aligator.  Such weird creatures, I think.  I look at them and can't help but think that there is no doubt that their cousins are the dinosaurs.

After lunch, we got these four to somehow sit still for two seconds! 

And even got a whole shot of both our families, too!

On our way out we got to ride the merry-go-round.  Lila and I were on the tricertops, J was on the elephant and Maddie was on the pony.  It was the perfect way to end the afternoon.

$21 for zoo admission, $3 for a dr. pepper, 3 kids who slept the whole way home - Priceless!

Tis the Teason...

for hot chocolate and bundling up!

It was our first chilly day yesterday, so the girls and I celebrated by making hot chocolate. 

Lila settled on cold milk, but Maddie tried the hot chocolate deliciousness with me. 
J was our cameraman.  I think he did a really good job!

 Love this look--stripes and all--and I especially love her hands in her pockets.  She kept them in there for a while, too, while she bebopped around the yard.  It was cold for this little Southern Belle!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween finally arrived on Monday and the kids had a spectacularly spooky day. They began by getting dressed up as Batman and Tinkerbell and heading off for a fun filled day at school. 

When we arrived, The Red Crayon was reading a Halloween Tale to all the kids.

After the story was over, it was time for the kids to enjoy some yummy snacks.  Jackson passed on the pumpkin shaped rice crispy treat that had candy corns in it--way too crazy for him!  No worries, I happily ate it for him:)

The whole kooky class.  One of the dad's came dressed as Mr. Incredible.  How cool is that?!

Maddie's class party began thirty minutes after J's, so I was able to scoot over there just in time to snap this fun class pic.  Maddie and her sweet friend, Bryn, were both Tinkerbell this year.

Their class got to ice and decorate big sugar cookies.  Maddie decorated hers, took a small bite, but then decided that she would really rather just eat the icing straight off the knife.  Oh dear!

We love Madison's teacher!

A few short hours later it was time for the real deal.  Trick-or-treat!!

I was so excited that Baby Tinkerbell decided to wear her costume!

"Enough with the pictures, let's get this show on the road!"

The grandparents walked around the cul-de-sac with us and got to see the kids run up to their first few houses.  They were a bit timid at first, but very soon got the hang of it.  By the time we got out into our neighborhood Maddie and Jackson were running up to the houses, ringing the doorbells, hollering "trick or treat!" and most of the time even remembering to say "thank you" after receiving their candy.

Forty-five minutes later their candy baskets were full and they were exhausted! 

About half-way through trick-or-treating Lila decided she had observed enough and told us that she wanted out of the red wagon.  She walked the rest of the way, carrying baby in her right arm and her candy basket in the other.  Such a big girl!

The three musketeers with all of their loot.  They got an extreme amount of candy this year and the smiles on their faces say it all.  Best day of the year.