Thanksgiving Play

Lexi's class did a Thanksgiving play.
The kids had memorized their lines and it seems that ALL of them didn't tell their parents until the night before or the day of! So,... it's pretty impressive how quick we can all pull together a costume! ha ha....

A HUGE thank you to Lexi's friend, Kaitlyn,... she brought Lexi a Pocahontas head band that came in handy!!

Here are the kids. Cooper really enjoyed watching the play.

Here are Lexi and some of her friends showing off their "warm fuzzy's"... they were "caught" doing something good.

Our Thanksgiving

Well,... our Thanksgiving was a little different and NO pictures taken :(
On Thanksgiving day I worked the Shining Stars concession at the UT football game.
But, before I headed out, I was invited to my neighbor's house and enjoyed YUMMY food with ALL of her family!
Clarence took the kids to South Austin and got to see all of the cousins and extended family.

We all had FUN!
(Even though the Aggies didn't win!)

Later that evening, Clarence went to a friends' house and fried us a turkey - YUMMY!

I didn't get home until 10:30pm-ish, but still got to see the kids.

We made some yummy sides on Friday and had "Thanksgiving" then. We were ALL healthy - the FIRST time in 3 years!! Hooray!
We have SO much to be thankful for!!

Sweet berry Farms

Clarence had off this weekend - YAY! So,... we got to play as a family!
Saturday was pretty tied up with birthday parties & football - Texas, A&M :( , LSU :( ,....
So, Sunday we decided to have a SUPER FUN FAMILY DAY!
We headed to Marble Falls!


First we went and ate at the famous "Blue Bonnet Cafe"!
It was SO yummy & we even brought a pecan pie home!

Then,... it was off to Sweet Berry Farms!

One of the best things that we did was go inside a Texas shaped corn maze!
Here is a picture of the maze from a few years ago.

Crazy, RIGHT?
On our tickets we had 11 small towns in Texas. We had to go around the maze and find where the cities were. They DID have a map outside, so you could look at that for a reference.
It was crazy and fun,.... it only took us a little less than a hour!!
It was SOOOOOOOOO fun!
We are going to try to do it every year!

We had to jump on a hey ride to get to the maze:

We even had to walk in an "under-the-road-tunnel" to get to the maze.

Here are the kids - get mark, get set, go!!

We found our first town!
We were on a ROLL!!

Once we go back, we tried some of their homemade ice cream.
Lexi got Strawberry/Blackberry:

Cooper got pumpkin!!

Then, we go to feed some goats!

I am SHOCKED that Cooper did it!
YOU GO BOY!

We got to get up close & personal to some horses.

Then, we walked the grounds and got VERY picture happy!
We just couldn't help ourselves!!


Lexi driving a boat-full of pumpkins:

Cooper the Cowboy:

Lexi and Clarence being VERY serious farmers:

A look at the pumpkins:

Cooper the scarecrow:

Lexi the scarecrow:

Cooper the farmer:

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere!!
It was a GREAT DAY!!!!

My First Pic!

Here is my very first picture as Co-Director of Shining Stars!!
How Exciting!!

pictured from L to R: My Co-Director, CP; Assistant RRHS Director, Gerri;
Director of RRHS, Jonsey; & me.

When Mommy's Gone...

It is apparently time to GET CRAZY!!!
I had to go to a football game with the dance team on Friday night. Lexi had a stomach bug on Thursday, so she missed school on Friday, which meant NO football game for her on Friday night (yeah - I AM THAT strict mom!). She was feeling fine & Cooper was good.
When I came home, I found the kids to be all hyped up on,.... I am assuming sugar.
Lexi made me pinky promise to not post the video of her, but here is Cooper's video!

OK - he & Lexi were crazy like this fora while!
I wish we could bottle that up and sell it - I'd take it!!

Big Daddy's Company Bar-B-Que

While we were visiting my parents, it just SO happened to be my dad' company bar-b-que.
We were VERY excited, because it's always a good time and the kids have FUN!

One of the most amusing activities (at least to me), was letting the kids dig around in some hay for money. Of course they were divided by ages, to make it fair.
The kids LOVED it - it just made my eyes itch!


There goes Cooper. He's in the gross burnt orange jersey.

Here he is, showing off his loot!
He was SOOOOOO excited!

Now, Lexi's turn.
You Go Girl!!

Here's her $$$$

They have carnival-like games set-up.
Cooper throwing a ball trying to know over some cans.

Lexi got her face painted. After I took the picture, I asked her what she was doing with her face. She said, "I'm trying to look sad, but I can't because I'M HAVING TOO MUCH FUN!"
Very cute!!

We had a great time! Saw lots of people I haven't seen in a while, and got to enjoy some GREAT brisket, hot dogs, beans, coleslaw, apricots, & cobbler!!

Halloween

This year for Halloween, we were lucky that it fell on a Friday
& we got to go to my parents' house!
Halloween is a blast there!

For a late lunch, we made the kids some "Snake Bites". It is a Snake looking sandwich filled with ham, turkey, & salami, cheese, & mustard.
It looks gross, but it is SO yummy!

OH MY.... who is that?
Looks like Buzz Lightyear & Hannah Montana!!

Here are the caramel & chocolate covered apples the kids made!
YUMMY!

My parents set up so that we could bob for apples.
Big Daddy is giving Cooper a little help.

Lexi's turn! Big Daddy is holding her hair back!

Time to trick-or-treat!
First with Grandma Cissy,....

Then with Big Daddy!

Cooper wanted out of his costume.
I was glad because when he licked all of the chocolate off of the apple, he was pretty messy!!

Hannah Montana was pooped out by then end of the night!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Sorry - I can't figure out to change it to it's side!

The Keese's go Boo'ing!

We have a fun tradition, where we go and "BOO" our friends before Halloween.
We have a "BOO" poem & we leave them a bag of treats!
It is all supposed to be done "secretly"... and I think we were only busted one time this year!!

Lexi wanted to be the one this year to do all of the running! YAY!
Cooper refused!
We all had so much fun and we were laughing so hard at Lexi!



Here's Lexi getting ready for her first run!

Cooper enjoyed chillin' in the back seat!

Look at Lexi run!!
I think she's ready to join the track team!

Oh yeah.... fast as lightning!

Carving Pumpkins

This year, we decided to carve 4 pumpkins.
Lexi was SO excited - she wanted to carve her very own!
Cooper just wanted to pick out the pattern and let us do all of the work...

Gotta get the guts out!

We all had a good time!
We even roasted the pumpkin seeds - thanks Clarence!


Here is Lexi & her pirate. Arrrrgh.......

Cooper next to his "Iron Man" pumpkin.

Joyce's Halloween Bash

Me neighbor, Joyce, has a yearly Halloween party that ROCKS! I was there without Clarence, but as you can see -
the neighborhood ladies had a great time hanging out! BTW - I was the "Tooth Fairy", Cooper's idea. I had a purse filled with floss, sugar-free gum, toothbrushes, pliers, gold coins, & fairy dust (of course).

I even got "Sarah Palin" to floss!
She was scared of my pliers!

"Sugar Free Mint, Anyone?"