I snuck away from work for a little while last Thursday to go see Caleb's Thanksgiving program at school. They all looked so cute in their grocery bag vests, paper feather headbands and macaroni necklaces. (Why change a good thing, right?) They sang several songs, but my favorite was the one that ended with "Save the turkey, eat more pizza!!!" I couldn't decipher the rest of the song, but they got the pizza point across for sure!
Last Saturday, Caleb's Bronco White team celebrated the end of the season by attending the University of Houston game. Chris had to work, so Cole stayed with Nana and Pop while I took him to the game. Unfortunately, it was incredibly cold, but we survived. They boys had so much fun. Coach Brad presented them with their trophies before the game. Inside, Coach Cal made sure to teach the boys how to do the Cougar hand-sign, took them to get free Cougar t-shirts and made sure they got to be at the entry ramp to high-five the players and see the band run on the field. Caleb's night was also highlighted by getting to buy his own nachos at the concession stand with the money Nana had given him that day. We stayed through half-time and then decided to call it a night. Since I was still limping a bit, we rode back to our car in a pedicab, which Caleb thought was "awesome!"
Saturday, November 1st was Caleb's last football game. It was the first "playoff" game. Although they quickly scored two touchdowns in the first quarter, they ended up losing the game. They definitely improved a lot over the season. I was happy to see that Caleb was finally starting to understand the concept of playing as a team. He also learned a lot about expressing emotions (frustration) properly. I'm so proud of my Lineman!!! Nana, Pop, Aunt Sarah and her "man-friend" (LOL) Steve came to watch the game. Check out the great pics Steve took!
My favorite part...the entire team went out as the "team captains" for the coin toss. Adorable.
So, I just finished uploading a ton of pictures on the computer and it only reminded me how desperately behind I am in almost all aspects of my life. Blah.
Without all the wordiness (mostly because I need to get the boys bathed and in bed), enjoy my Halloween Superheroes...
So, I'm at home alone with the boys today learning to walk again (yes, it's a slow healing process for my foot...sigh) and watching them play has reminded me. As the gift-giving season approaches, I feel the need to (once again) talk about how my children ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY DO NOT NEED ANY MORE TOYS. I know, I know. Cardboard boxes, paper towel tubes and other "unwanteds" do not seem like perfect gifts. BUT THEY ARE! My angels are currently repurposing our living room into their "office"...full with laundry basket desks with tupperware desk accessories. Guess I need to go fold the clothes that Caleb just dumped on my couch...
But, before I go...
Last Saturday, I mocked our friends down the street because they were pulling out Christmas decorations for their yard and their home. Yes. It was the day after Halloween. Okay, so I *do* have family members that have done this before, but I honestly don't think John and Mary Ann are pulling off the whole 12 different Christmas trees with coordinating full room decorations. Why, why, why were they doing this?
Anyway, why am I talking about this? Because every day since then, I have been OBSESSED with wanting to start my own Christmas decorating. I hobbled through Hobby Lobby AND Wal-Mart to hunt down a new Christmas tree. (Really, I NEEDED a third one because neither tree at home was pre-lit - GASP!) So now, I'm the proud owner of a 9-foot pre-lit tree. But I'm concerned that there still will not be enough lights on it. (I like my tree to SHINE y'all.) I also have the menu for our second annual Friend Christmas Party (I'm thinking I need a new name for this...leave your suggestions in the comment section) planned out. Not sure of the exact date yet, but at least the menu is planned. And I'm seriously thinking about breaking out the Paint Your Own Nativity set for the boys to decorate today. Chris (Mr.-hate-holidays-because-I-work-at-Wal-Mart) might strangle me when he gets home tonight.
October 11 was the beginning of our Second Annual Mother-Daughter Weekend. Mom and I got up at o'dark-stupid to meet the Edwards' ladies before we drove down to the airport. We had a lay-over in Atlanta, where we met up with Sarah. From there, we flew in to Charlotte, NC. The weather was so nice! We promptly picked up our luggage and jumped on the shuttle to pick up "Smurfette". You'll meet her later.
Our first stop was in Charlotte at the Billy Graham Library. We weren't really sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a fabulous stop! We had lunch, saw a singing cow and toured the museum/bookstore dedicated to Billy Graham. The whole place was just stunning. Check out the picture of the beams inside the barn-museum!
We then started our 2+ hour "Road-Trip" to Asheville. I say "road-trip" because NC includes some very misleading road signs, so we had a slight detour along the way. The drive was nice, though. "Smurfette" proved to be very reliable and accomodating to our comfort needs. I think we hit NC just prior to "peak" leaf-changing season, but, to us Texas girls, it was still pretty impressive. As we got closer to the mountains, you could definitely see more vivid color.
We got checked in to our hotel and quickly learned that we would be sharing space with an "Expo". It was for postcard and stamp collectors, though, so they were pretty tame as far as Expo-go'ers are. ;0) That evening, we made our way over to the Moose Cafe for some comforting Southern cooking. Yum.
Sunday morning, we readied ourselves for the all-day Biltmore extravaganza. Words cannot describe. They don't allow pictures inside the house (more like castle) itself, so enjoy the pictures I took from the outside, the gardens and the farm. Oh, and the electric blue minivan? That's Smurfette. Yep, we were cool.
After our Biltmore-marathon, we decided to try something "different"
for dinner, so we headed down to downtown Asheville. Our first stop was to load up on some chocolate at Kilwan's Chocolates (I think I bought Chris $26 worth of chocolate-peanut butter goodness). And then we made it over to Laughing Seed for dinner. Here's what Mom and I had:
Yes. We ate vegetarian.
On Monday morning, we ate a quick breakfast and then made a run-through at the Farmer's Market (you can see links to this from the Moose Cafe website that I linked above). We drove back to Charlotte, returned Smurfette and jumped on our flights back home. North Carolina was beautiful. I can't wait to see what the 3rd Annual Mother-Daughter weekend holds!
