Ready for Thanksgiving

I was in charge of Avery's Thanksgiving party at preschool on Thursday. One of the projects was to make these Indian headdresses. I will post more pictures of what we did later. The headdresses were a huge hit with Avery and her classmates...and James :) Avery referred to herself and James and Indian Avery and Indian Jamie for the rest of the day.

We are starting to get ready for the holidays! It finally dipped below 80 degrees last week...so it's starting to feel more like the season ;) Palm trees with lights is a weird combo. Al helped us put up the Christmas tree the other day. It is a little early, but I needed to do it when he had a day off so he could help us lug the box in.

Tonight is the ward holiday dinner. They are having a huge, fancy dinner with turkeys and hams and all of the trimmings. Al is on call, so I will take the kids and go. It sounds like they are going to do a really nice job with it. And on the big day, Thursday, we have been invited to my visiting teachers house for Thanksgiving. At first I kind of declined because I know they are having a lot of family in and I didn't want to crash their big family dinner, but she talked me into it :) And then Saturday, when Al is home, we will have our Thanksgiving dinner.

San Antonio

This past weekend the kids and I went to San Antonio to visit my friend Becky and her family. Becky and I have been best friends since 6th grade, and even though we've both moved around so much we have found ways to get visits in over the years. It is just so fantastic that we moved to a city that is just 3 1/2 hours away from her.

Becky knows that things are a little tight for us right now, and so she and her husband graciously offered to pay for our way up and back. We accepted, only on the understanding that one day I will return the favor and treat us to a fun outing on our dime.

It was so much fun being back in a city where I lived for four years. It has been over 16 years since I'd been there, so I didn't recognize a lot of things, but some of it was very familiar.

Becky and Jon have a great house and darling kids. As soon as Avery walked in the door she and Alison were best friends. It was so cute watching them play together. They have similar personalities and interests and honestly did not have a single spat or squabble for the entire four days we were there. I don't think you can say that about too many 3 and 4 year olds. Having our kids play together was something that Becky and I used to talk about years and years ago, and so it was really special for both of us to watch it finally happening.

We had a pretty low-key visit. A lot of the time was spent in our pajamas :) But we did venture out a few times. We took the girls to the zoo for a couple of hours. And one day Jon watched the girls while Becky, James and I went to Fredricksburg. Fredricksburg is this quaint, little German town about an hour out of San Antonio. It is full of cute little shops, bakeries, restaurants, etc. We also made sugar cookies with the girls.

We spent most of our time crafting. It has been so long since I've done anything like that and it was great!! Becky is super talented and makes hairbows and customizes t-shirts for her daughter. Before I got there she had gone out and bought Avery tons of shirts and then we worked together on the fabrics and the creating process...well...I just kinda worked on them. I named myself the apprentice. Becky was really patient in showing me the ropes and towards the end I was able to work a little faster.

The only downer of the trip was that both of my kids came down with colds and so did Becky. James slept horribly because he was so congested. And now I am coming down with it too. Tonight I started getting achy and a sore throat/scratchy voice, earaches. Ugh. It's just that time of year I guess.

Anyway, we can't wait to go back for another visit! The kids were wonderful in the car. The only thing is that we hope that next time Al can go with us too.

Six Months

Baby James is already 6 months old. I can't believe it! He is getting so big. These past few months have seemed like some of the longest I've known, but at the same time James seems to be growing so quickly.

Six month stats:

Weight-- 21 lbs. even-- 90th percentile

Height-- 28 inches-- 90th percentile

He sits up very well on his own now, for long periods of time. He cut his first two teeth last week and is still getting up on his hands and knees a lot. He stays up for quite a while, kind of rocking, and sometimes scooting backwards. James, or Jamie (as Avery has taken to calling him fairly often now) continues to be a great eater. It is normal for him to eat 2 big bowls of oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. He slaps the tray in excitement when I walk towards him with the bowl. He is a funny little guy. He is very interested in what other people are eating around him and really follows you with his eyes whenever you put something in your mouth.

We went to the pediatrician while Avery was at preschool. The doctor said that James is super healthy. He got 3 shots today, and one oral vaccination. He handled it very well, only crying for a few seconds. One of the shots was the H1N1. The doctor said that the regular flu vaccine is not available and they don't know when it will be. The company that makes H1N1 vaccine also makes the regular flu vaccine and they have focused so much on H1N1 that there is a big shortage of the other. He asked me if I wanted the H1N1 while I was there and I said I might as well, so I got it too. Then he told me to make an appointment for Avery, for later that afternoon to get her H1N1.

So this afternoon we went back to the Dr.'s office and Avery got her H1N1 and then Al got his too. The kids' shots were covered by insurance and mine was only $15. Al got his for free...a little hook-up from one doctor to another. He said that the $15 I paid earlier that day covered Al's too :) It is nice for Al to get looked out for by another doctor, since it's a far cry from what he experiences every day at work.

These pictures were taken today. James just playing and then James doing the touchdown! I wish I had gotten a better shot of it, but you can get the gist of it.

Trunk or Treat/Halloween

Friday night was the ward Halloween party. They put on a big production: dinner, lots of games, and trunk or treating. The weather was perfect and they served dinner outside, but there was really nowhere to sit, so it was a bit challenging juggling hot dogs, chili, salad, a baby, and trying to reign an excited Avery in. I was super happy and relieved when Al finally showed up after work.

After dinner we headed inside for the games. They had a fishing booth, donut on a string eating, pumpkin bowling, a fall scene where they took your picture, and a cupcake walk. Avery's favorites were the cupcake walk and the fishing booth. They also had a silent auction to raise money for cup scouts. I signed up to bring Halloween sugar cookies. Last week they sent out an email to all those who signed up and then the item that they said they would bring. It was crazy!! A new bike, gift certificates to various places, a spa certificate, photography, a webkinz gift basket, etc. I guess next year I'll know what I'm getting into before I sign up. I don't know who ended up with the cookies or how much the went for, but I hope it at least brought in a little for the scouts. My kitchen still hasn't resumed it's normal state :)

The trunk or treat was fun. It is still a little lonely at these types of things. Most of the people in the ward have been here for years and have built really strong friendships. We are still lucky if we know a few peoples names, but we are trying.

Al worked on Halloween, so I took Avery and James out. Avery was still thrilled to get into her costume, even on the third day in a row. She would flick her wand to "cast a spell" and as she flicked it she made a sound effect that was something like "Fwee-wee-wee-wee! Fwee-wee-wee-wee!" And it was like an echoing effect, where she would let her voice fade with each "wee." It's pretty amusing :)