Thanksgiving holiday

 We stayed in town this holiday. We stayed home (well, except for the Wal-Mart run) this year as well. We ate at our own house this Thanksgiving. It has been a long time since we spent turkey day with just our tiny family. It was a fabulous day. We did miss our families, but we found joy in our situation this year.
Dan got on the roof to put up holiday lights. I know it is early, but since we will be gone for the end of the holiday season I wanted to get a jump on it. Ryan snuck on the roof and got put in roof time out until Dan could supervise him down to the front of the house.

 Our yummy dinner. When we went to set the table Alex asked if he should get out the china. To tell you the truth, I didn't plan Thanksgiving very well this year. I didn't even shop for it until the last minute. (Next year I will not buy the turkey the day before!) No china, no full length table cloth. No one showered (and a couple were in their pj's).

 But we did have each other and a delicious meal otherwise.

After our turkey lunch the boys went back up to finish the lights. After Dan got all the lights turned on, a fuse blew. He had to change those tiny fuses at the top of a TALL ladder that was shifting in the crooked side yard. An extra extension cord fixed the problem.

 Our neighbors also stayed home this year. The kids went and played in the evening over there. We women made pies and shared them. Yum!

 Something I had planned to do was build a puzzle. We started it after our pancake dinner (thanks Dan for cooking). We didn't finish until the next day. But we all worked together; a fun, simple activity!

 Here is Dan and Alex putting away the dishes. A clean kitchen at the end of the day... awesome.

 Now we hit the highlight of the weekend. A new science museum opened in downtown Dallas. IT IS AMAZING! We are members and good thing too because it is entirely too huge and fantastic of a place to see in one visit. I didn't get any pictures from the other 4 floors, but these shots are from the children's museum.

 The kids were happy to play in this one tiny section for an hour.

 Alex was heading up the construction crew.

This is a beautiful building and a fabulous experience. I can't wait to go back... by myself!

Happy Halloween

 Pumpkin Math Day. Dan drove this wagon load down to school to help weigh, carve and count seeds of Ryan's monster pumpkin.

 Dan said the other kids had 7-9 pound pumpkins. Ryans topped the scales at 18 pounds. Nice.

 Ryan counting his seeds. I love this picture because of the Dad in a shirt in tie. Maybe he doesn't know how messy pumpkin carving can be?

 This is Ryan with his teacher. She is super nice and he loves her.

 Dan drug this beast home and I finished carving for Ryan.

 Our ward only does a Trunk-or-Treat on Halloween night. All 3 wards meet at 6pm for easy candy swapping.

 Here is our Ninjago crew. Another year without us in our complete costumes. Oh well, we had a good time anyway.

 We made it by dark to get out for neighborhood t-or-ting. We brought Asher with us and were joined by the D's and another family. We were a long line of kids, parents, and one Chinese Santa (as Dan was labeled).

 Macey has the shortest legs and the slowest walk, so getting her caught up was a big part of Macey patrol.

 Here is our crew spread far and wide.

 Nice.

 Ahh, what a cute couple.

 Some of our neighbors really get festive.

 Here is one cul-de-sac with the neighbors grouped together.

 Getting home to see the goodies.

 Our gourds all a-glow.

The candy haul. I sorted it all this morning before anyone could get into it. Yikes, that is a lot of calories and cavities in one spot. The stuff in the bowl is free reign pretzels, fruit snacks, etc, even an orange.

October round up

Here are some random photos from around the house this month.

Macey is wearing her dance dress, princess shoes, captain America shield and sword. Awesome accessories!

Painting.  I try to always say, 'yes' when asked to paint. There are a lot of reasons to say, 'no', but I try to push those aside!

Here is a beautiful example of why I should say, 'yes' more often. Macey is a careful painter. She likes to fill in all the white.

Here is Ryan with his buddy Asher. Playing video games. Again, this is something I like to say, 'yes' to when I can. There are a lot more reasons for me to say, 'no' and I use those as much as possible! However, since I like to play video games with Ryan, it really isn't fair for me to deny him practice time.

Alex is faithfully working on his history fair project. It was lacking a bit, but he did well for the effort he did put in. Next year we won't wait 10 days to start and we won't go away for a long weekend, (or, I won't encourage him to do a project...)

Pumpkin carving. Alex avoided the insides of the pumpkins this year.

Macey was excited to help.

Alex posed for a picture!

As I was watching Max and Ruby (Dan's least favorite children characters), the kids drew their faces on the pumpkin and then Grandma took them to the other room to carve them. Maybe that is really the best way. Dan must get tired of having rascals climbing on him and asking if he's done yet. Hmmm, I may have learned something from a children's show. However, Alex does have his Whittling Chip, so next year I'm thinking about a real carving endeavor!

I coaxed Macey into drawing with me. I drew the tree and she drew the family. The pink one is obviously her. If you want to psycho analyze the image... the persons mostly have eyes, legs, and hair (in that order). Ryan is the tiny fellow to the left of Macey, with Alex squeezed in between Mom and Dad.
The other day Macey was playing with a doll and said, 'These eyes look just like Asher's mom's'. She has green (hazel) eyes and she was right. They did look just like Dani's eyes. Eyes and Legs. Note to relatives for the holidays when we visit. If you want to be friends with Macey, reduce your legs and show off your friendly eyes. :)