Gigi's Birthday

Gigi's birthday was on Dec. 2nd so we went to eat for her birthday.  Joshua helps her open the box.  He chose some nice fuzzy red socks while Tabitha chose pink ones.

Here are the kids with Gigi and Papa. 

Joshua really enjoyed the birthday cake.

Happy birthday, Gigi!

Josue's Birthday

Yesterday was Josue's birthday.  Unfortunately he had to go to work, so our family festivities didn't begin until he got home. 

It began with him opening his cards and present from the kids.  They got him a pair of slippers.  He was the only one in our home without them so we thought his feet should be warm also.

Here they are posing with him after the gift was opened.

Joshua then took our picture.  Pretty good!

Josue then opened his gift from me.

It was a blindfold.  His gift was waiting for him at our next door neighbor's house, which was a total surprise.  It was a grill.  We've been talking about it for two years, and now he has one.  (I like December birthdays...you can roll Christmas and birthday into the same gift. :-))

Next was dinner at his favorite place, Texas Land & Cattle.  Buela accompanied us also.

The grand finale...our family. 

Birthdays are so much fun with the kids involved.  We are so blessed!

What a week!

Josue was home from work all week, and we had so much fun together as a family! 

We made a couple of trips to the park.

We also went to the Hex Rally against Texas A&M.  The kids are getting pretty good at "Hook 'Em".  They also learned to do "Texas"..."Fight".  If Tabitha leads, they can keep it rolling a couple of times. 

Here she is with Daddy trying to do "Hook 'Em".

She and Mommy in the crowd of college kids.

Joshua watched from Daddy's shoulders.

Joshua's awesome "Hook 'Em".

Josue wanted to take them to Kiddie Acres on Tuesday so off we went.  It was a miniature theme park with rides just the size for pre-schoolers. 

And don't forget the pony ride.

This last picture is my absolute favorite!  We took them today to the Chuy's Parade, and who did we run into?  Shaggy, Velma, and Scooby.  They were riding in the Mystery Machine.  Joshua was so excited, yet wouldn't get close to them. 

What a great week together!

Freaky Friday?

This Friday, the 13th, is far from scary for us.  It began last night with a fun puppet show Joshua and Daddy put on.  Joshua really is quite the artist.  I have found that Josue is also an artist.  Well, he can make really good puppets.

This morning we did a Bible lesson.  We are learning about the virtue of cooperation at KidZone, and this week's Bible story was about Nehemiah, who rebuilt the wall.  Joshua and Tabitha listened to the story again this morning and built their own wall from cereal.  Great practice of cooperation.

Then we got a surprise phone call.  Gigi was coming to visit!  We took her to the park that has butterflies.  I love this picture of Joshua in action chasing a butterfly!

An attempt to catch one.  Actually there were several attempts, and all unsuccessful.  But everyone had a great time!

Tabitha enjoyed her time by having Gigi push her on the swings.

It was a very fun, not so freaky Friday!  Now we wait for Daddy to come home and enjoy the weekend with us.

Happy Halloween!

This was a much anticipated event in our household this year.  It just might be Joshua's favorite holiday.  I'm not sure exactly why, but he was so excited about it.  Tabitha, on the other hand, doesn't like it.  She is scared of all the mummies, ghosts, witches, etc.  She liked the idea of getting candy, but not all the spookiness that goes along with it. 

Their costumes were made by Gigi and were complimented all over the neighborhood.  Here they are posing.

Scooby kisses the princess.

Here is the family.  I dressed up as Daphne in honor of Scooby.  And Joshua had Josue wear his Cubbie jersey.

Now they are ready to go.

The highlights: Gigi and Buela joined us trick-or-treating.  The kids came back with bags full of candy.  Tabitha figured out how to help herself to candy.  Joshua's costume was off the minute he came home.  Halloween is now over!  Now on to turkey!

Just Tabitha

Tabitha has begun dressing and undressing herself.  I really can't believe it.  I say this because Joshua doesn't even do this.  He can, but doesn't want to.  Tabitha wants to.  She likes clothes and shoes.  I noticed her putting on socks and shoes first.  Or maybe it was clothes on top of clothes she was already wearing.  I was completely blown away by her on Sunday.

The kids were in the living room when Josue changed Joshua for church as is the routine.  Tabitha also wanted to change, but Josue told her to wait for me because I was getting ready.  I came out of my room but couldn't find her in the living room.  I asked, "Where's Tabitha?" when I saw her coming up the hallway towards me.  To my surprise or shock, she was completely dressed and finishing up with a jacket.  She had on the dress in this picture and white sandals.  Pajamas were completely gone.  I scooped her up, loved on her, then took her to Daddy to admire what she had done.  The only problem she had in dressing herself was it was on backwards which I quickly fixed.  Oh, and this dress she wore to church the week before, but I didn't bother changing her because I was so proud of her.

Come Monday morning post breakfast  I asked her to pick out her clothes.  I wanted to see her change.  So here are the pictures.  Shorts are already on, but no panties and both legs were through the same leg hole.

Shirt is now on with panties.

Fully dressed from the front.

And fully dressed from the back!

I just helped her turn everything around the right way.  So cute!

Acorns and More Acorns

Fall is here and so are the acorns.  We first spotted them at a park near our house.  The kids were stuffing them into their little pockets since we didn't come prepared with buckets.  I found them in the washing machine a few days later!

Today we were at City Hall to hear some music Live from the Plaza with our good friends Elizabeth, Ella, and Charley, along with Rowen.  We just happened to be sitting under acorn trees.  Here are all the kids collecting the acorns.

The last time we collected them, we placed them on our back porch, and sure enough the next day they had been eaten.  Hopefully it was by a squirrel! 

I just love how easily the kids entertained themselves with the acorns.  No toys needed.