Señior Oso

Addie’s in the Bear Class at her preschool and was trusted with the responsibility of bringing the class pet, Mr. Bear, home one weekend.  He was supposed to go everywhere with our family that weekend, while we documented his travels through photos.  His first adventure was getting to ride home from school with Addie in her stroller.  Addie’s preschool is close enough that we try to walk during the two weeks a year when the weather is not too hot or too cold.  Addie fell asleep on the way home, but enjoyed having Mr. Bear to cuddle with during the ride.

That night we read one of Addie’s favorite bedtime stories with Mr. Bear.

We tucked him into his own special little bed beside Addie.  She does NOT like for anyone or anything to invade her space at night which is why he had his own little basket.  She gets very distressed when one or both of the dogs try to sleep with her.  Silly girl!

Mr. Bear was also able to enjoy Addie’s final ballet class of the session with our family.  Here he is with Addie and one of her best friends.  The girls are just 3 months apart in age.  Just another piece of evidence we are raising a giant.  I’m pretty sure she is going to catch up with her big brother soon!  I always wanted to be 5’10’’.  Perhaps she’ll make it there.

Mr. Bear also had the opportunity to visit our church with us on Sunday morning.  He went with us to drop Addie off in her class, but then had to come to big church with Blake and me so he wouldn’t get lost.  Addie was pretty sad that he wasn’t able to stay and play with her the entire time.

Once Mr. Bear was safely returned to the class, Addie and I set off to make some scrapbook pages to add to the class book.  Here is Addie helping me sort through all of our supplies.

I love that her teacher often assigns “homework” for us to work on with the family.  Life can get so busy that it’s nice to have to take a break to do something fun and educational with the kids. 

Fiesta Farms

A few weeks back the family headed out to use a Groupon we had purchased to a place called Fiesta Farms.  It’s a quaint little family run farm just outside of San Antonio were the kids were able to enjoy a variety of different farm animals and even a pony ride (well Dalton did anyway).  That may not seem like a big deal knowing Blake and I both grew up in West Texas where farm animals are plentiful, but well for our little city slickers we want to make sure they know the difference between a goat and sheep. 

Feeding the bunnies.

Feeding the pigs.

Photo-op with Bevo’s cousin.  Addie, being a true Aggie, was not a fan.

Petting the goats.

Mustering up the courage to pet the sheep.

Enjoying a pony ride.

Enjoying the horses from afar.

Of course, a trip to the farm in not complete without the customary picture on the hale bales. 

Girls Weekend

While the boys were off hunting for the weekend, Addie and I enjoyed some girl time together.  We started off the weekend with a quick trip to DQ for some ice cream Friday evening…..shhhh, don’t tell the boys!  We stopped by RedBox on the way home to pick up a movie.  (On a side note….When did RedBox go up to $1.20?!?  A movie for a buck….that made sense.  Now saying a movie for a $1.20…..that just seems strange.)  Finally we were headed home to put on some pj’s and snuggle up.

My little Angel. 

Saturday morning we were up early to join some friends at the San Antonio CureSearch Walk hosted by Sea World.  It was  a walk to raise funds to help find a cure to end all childhood cancers.  Such an inspiring event to see all those families out there who have been touched by cancer.  It reminds me to be thankful daily of my healthy, happy and even a bit ornery children.

 

Walking with the Green Family.  Maddie, their 2 1/2 year old, is in the stroller on the far left.  She was diagnosed with Leukemia this past March.  The continued strength and grace displayed by the entire family through this difficult time is an amazing testament of their faith.

Addie and Kadee enjoying the “walk” together.  Allison (mom of Maddie) and me posing for a picture after the walk.  Maddie and her family were recognized as the top individual fundraiser of the entire walk.

After the walk, Addie and I decided to hang around Sea World and enjoy some shows and rides.

Enjoying her favorite ride….

…and her favorite show!

After spending a few hours visiting our favorite marine animals, we headed home to see our favorite cousins.  Cousins Clayton, Asher, Sophie and Aunt Misty came over to spend the night.  I forgot to take pictures while they were visiting, but Addie enjoyed having them here even if it was just a quick trip.

We finished off the weekend with a quick arts and crafts project for Addie’s preschool class.  She was given the task of creating a disguise for her turkey so he (or she in our case) could escape being the main attraction of the Thanksgiving meal. 

Painting her turkey pink because no one would suspect a pink turkey right?

Adding some ballet shoes.

Give her a tutu and viola…A Ballerina Turkey!

Boys Weekend

Blake and Dalton headed up to Angelo for opening weekend of deer season earlier this month.  I think it may be the first time since married life that Blake has made it out for opening weekend.  Needless to say, they were both excited.  Poc, Blake and Dalton went out early on Saturday and shot a 9-point, 18"-spread buck.

Field Day

Dalton’s school hosted a field day a few weeks back.  It’s a day dedicated to get kids up and moving with the hopes of showing kids that being fit can be fun.  Here are a few pictures from some of the wild and crazy activities they classes were able to participate in.  Some of the stations were quite entertaining to watch.

Frisbee Toss (more likely to tag a friend than make it in the hoop)

Tug-Of-War (the team of mostly girls won)

Bean Bag Toss (showing some promise of decent hand-eye coordination)

Push Ups (which is apparently NOT a skill mastered by many first graders)

Hula Hoop Toss (those things are harder to aim than you would think)

Sack Races (complete with a silly face)

Jump Rope (aka “Tie Yourself Up in Knots” station)

Race (Dalton won most of his heats)

Tire Pushing Relay (aka “Tire Chasing Relay”)

Teamwork Challenge (Dalton seems to have a knack for getting paired up with the cute little girls in his class…strategy perhaps?!?)

The school did a great job implementing Field Day again this year.  I am always so thankful for the opportunities  to go up and enjoy some of these sweet childhood memories with my little man.  After all, he isn’t so little anymore.

In the kitchen: Homemade Cinnamon Roll Bread

Addie and I have been continuing our “In the Kitchen” tradition each week.  She loves to help and I really enjoying spending the one on one time with her.  A few weeks back, we tried out a new homemade cinnamon roll bread recipe.  The presentation is lacking a bit, but they were yummy.

Ingredients….check!

Measuring carefully.

Time to stir.

Some “hands-on” experience.

Almost done…time for the oven.

Drizzling the glaze.

Time to sample our creation.

These were a big hit with the entire family.  We’ve actually made these a few times now because they are so simple and quick.  Too simple and too quick perhaps because I’ve had way more than my fair share.  We made need to retire this recipe for a while.

Pumpkin Project

Each fall, Dalton’s school has held a pumpkin decorating contest.  Last year we made Frankenstein.  Sadly, we didn’t win but it was still fun to work on a project with the family anyway.

This year we decided to really try to think “outside the pumpkin” and came up with this:

Still no prize winning “pumpkin” but we were pretty proud of our idea.

Catching Up

Be prepared to be bombarded with blog posts.  I’m doing my best to catch up before I’ve forgotten all the fun times we’ve been enjoying lately.