Thanksgiving!

Whew...what a week. Hubby came home early from work on Tuesday. Usually that would be a great surprise, but he plopped down on the couch feeling badly and was up to 101.6 fever by that evening! There went our plans to skip town Wednesday morning. Thankfully he woke up fever free Thursday morning, so we decided to go. I dressed, packed and fed everyone, loaded up the car, and off we went with Daddy resting in the passenger seat!

Manah was ready for our arrival with crafts for the girls (a big fav in our house!)


All it took was a little food to score Uncle James some baby Stephen time. Quickest way to a guy's heart you know...





Lil Ag

As a side note...we did watch the Ags BTHO Texas. It was lovely...really, just lovely. :)

The coveted tree swing...the girls have been talking about it for weeks in anticipation






Manah's new buddy - they spent about half our time there just like this - Manahs are so patient like that ;)


Story time with Daddy...


and Aunt Karen


The Great Oak Tree...who needs a tree house when the a family of six fits in just right?




Lots to be thankful for...wonderful family and friends, good health (nobody else got sick - Yay!), nice, safe, relaxing trip (even if it was a day later than planned) and great home to come back to!

Delight

A Lito visit

Lito came into town for a night, and we were able to celebrate his birthday (which was Wednesday) with him as well as some upcoming birthdays with a nice family breakfast.

Shelling "big peanuts" as Gloria called them...otherwise known as pecans.


Birthday Breakfast


Guy Time

Caught him!

I finally caught him on camera waving and saying "Bye"...or really it sounds more like he is trying to say "Hi" here.

Verbal Explosion!

Stephen is talking so much now! He can now say "moe" for more and "bah" for ball in addition to his Boe-ooh for book. He also waves and says "baaah" for bye when people are coming, going or sometimes just driving past our house! So cute!

Little visitor

And a regular sized one too. :)
We had a sweet little visit yesterday afternoon with our new Goddaughter and her Mommy. We all got to hold little Monica, and it was so delightful!

More Baby Steps

Here is my lame attempt to video Stephen taking steps. The problem is that he really likes to walk to me. Right after this, I went and let him walk to me, and he took 13 steps!!! When I tried to walk him back to Austin, he would just pivot himself around until he faced me again.

Happy Baptism Day, Mariana!

We went to HEB so she could pick some candy from the by-the-pound section since this is what I did on Allia's baptism day (because I had to go to the store that day and felt guilty for not being able to go to the park or something more fun!). Then we came home and made caramel apples together. Yum!

Baby steps!

Stephen has made some advancements this week even amidst our illness. He can now take up to four steps on his own, and he is saying two words now...Boe-ooh and Ah-duh. He uses the first one for book and ball (and occasionally other things) and the second of course when he is done eating. So sweet! He is a very expressive little guy and can communicate very well using tone of voice and facial expressions.

A Rainbow

Just when I was about to get a nice video of Stephen climbing the swingset slide (I can only to this when Austin is home because I have to stand there and make sure he doesn't fall!)...it suddenly started pouring huge raindrops. We all bolted from the swingset to the porch only to turn around and see one of the most vivid, beautiful rainbows I have ever seen! There was even another paler one above it.




So hopefully that video will be coming soon...in the meantime send some prayers our way. Why was Austin home today you wonder? Because the stomach bug is running through the house right now. You are so jealous right? ;p

Lick Creek Park

We decided to try a new place this weekend. Sunday we went to a nearby park with lots of trails for biking, walking, horseback riding, etc. It was beautiful. We biked and walked then had a nice picnic lunch together, and the weather was perfect!

Lost tooth, future dentist?

Allia was playing with Stephen this afternoon, and he bonked his head into her, knocking out her loose tooth on top! She thought it was hilarious! :) I think she looks SO cute!

The 4 to 5 year transition

I just had to document this...I remember the same thing with Allia at this age. I am really enjoying Mariana's transition from a 4 year old to a big 5 year old. She has blossomed into such a beautiful girl these last several months. It is so rewarding to watch, especially as we battle the 2's with Gloria! It is quite encouraging to see our efforts pay off. In the last week she has been especially practicing virtue in little but important ways. I catch her doing something especially virtuous at least once a day! Some examples...

We went through the bank drive through and received lollipops. Everyone started shouting out the flavors they wanted. Suddenly Mariana stopped and announced that Allia and Gloria could pick and she would take the one that was left.

At lunch as I was in the kitchen refilling someone's drink, I overheard Mariana telling Allia, "I am going to eat all of my {insert name of food she doesn't like here} and offer it as a sacrifice to Jesus."

Here she is enjoying a leftover caramel apple from our carnival trip.


So proud of my growing girl! :)

The Carnival!

The girls have been asking to go for months now...even though there was no carnival in town. But alas it is here, and we decided to go last night as a combined celebration of the three baptism days we have this month! (me, Allia and Mariana)


After the carousel, Gloria excitedly proclaimed, "That was fun!"



Allia is so excited to be able to ride "big kid" rides!


Mariana is in this one holding on for dear life between Allia and Austin. She was really getting tossed around...and she loved it!


YUM!




Allia and Daddy braved this ride...it made me nauseous just thinking about it! They came out dizzy but smilling. :)

Cold weather play

A little cold spell couldn't keep us indoors this week. The kids were really troopers and looked so cute bundled up! (And I think Mariana just may be even more hot natured than me...I kept finding her with shoes/socks/jacket removed!)

Quite the bike rider lately




This little stinker decided to take advantage of Mommy trying to snap a photo, and stuffed a handful of dirt in his mouth just as I was snapping the picture!


Gloria pushing an empty swing...because we forgot to bring a baby doll and Mariana pushing Stephen in the background


What a climber this guy is!


And little miss has gotten pretty ambitious lately too...maybe a little competitive spirit?

All Saints Party

Little Saints


Notice St. Germaine's little sheep :)...a last minute addition to the group.


The St. Peter fishing game was a hit...it was all the girls' favorite!


(Unfortunately the photo of Mariana came out really blurry)



Lots of little saints learning about lots of big saints


The Saint Parade...let by a very handsome guy ;)


These two were buddies all night