What's up Wednesday

Hiiiii!!! What's new? The biggest news around here, at the moment, is we are back in school! This is a different year for us because H & H are at different CC campuses.  This wasn't an easy decision, and honestly, we're still not adjusted. Sniff sniff.  Another fun development is Henry has started working on dual credit.  He's currently taking Western Cultural History.

Jon has been working SO hard on our kitchen!  He's closing in on building an enclosure for our vent hood, then we'll order our open shelving, then begin work on the pantry, which is the final step!  I am thrilled to have a working, functioning kitchen again after 4 years of working with a 2 square foot section of countertop, and all walls torn down to the studs. Yuck.  I'm on cloud nine, y'all, and can't wait to share more in the coming months.

November at a glance

November started off with a trip, with our homeschool group, to the Texas Renaissance Festival.  These sort of festivals are always interesting (IMHO). But, the kids love it, so that's what matters. ;-)  Fortunately we went on "kids day," so things were, ah, tamed down a notch, shall we say...?

I will say that the bird show was fantastic!  Cute Dwarf Owl.

Dissecting a crayfish. This brave boy didn't even use rubber gloves. {{Shiver}}

I had help using a Starbucks gift card that I received for my birthday.  Love sharing with these two darlins.

Around the second week of November we flew up to Seattle to visit Grandpa and Grandma for a few days.  Grandma baked this yummy (giant) cookie, which was ready and waiting for us. Yuuumm!!

We were itching for some fall color.  

G & G's beautiful yard.

We loved seeing some old friends during our visit.  These four were babies together.  We begged and pleaded for them to reenact a photo we have of them all gathered around this toy, when they were toddlers.  They weren't having it.  Boo.  We even offered them money! Ha!

How special to soak up an evening with these two hilarious kids.  I love you guys. Thanks for always making me laugh until I cry!

Sweet little Simon was so good to let us invade his space for a few days.

Christmas shopping and lunching at the mall with Grandma. So much fun!

 Making a wish!

Ohhh, how I've missed the University Village Glassy Baby store.  I was giddy to get to spend a few minutes there picking a two new colors.

Those babies came home with me :D

The way to my heart ;)

Come to Houston already, Glassy Baby!!

A view from above.  How pretty is this?  No filter!

And finally, a peek at our Thanksgiving table.  We loved hosting Grandma and Grandpa (and Simon)!

October at a glance

October always starts off right with Mr. Henry's birthday!  (He deserves a post all his own later on.) To add to the October fun, this year we also had a visit from Grandma Judy!  It was a busy busy BUSY month :)

If you come visit us, we will most likely take you to Galveston.  Grandma Judy is a bonafide beach lover, so to the beach we go!

This girl knows just what to do.  I've always told her she is part mermaid :-)

This little Scottie girl loves the sand!

Jon and Henry's new favorite thing to do!  

Only two days to go!

Henry's cake!  He requested chocolate with orange frosting :-) More about Henry's birthday to come in a later post...

I had to take a few pics with the birthday boy!  He's so full of energy and craziness! I love love LOVE him.


One of Henry's presents was to go to Kemah Boardwalk, home to the Boardwalk Bullet roller coaster.

This is literally what his hair looked like after getting off the Bullet!  Ha ha ha!

Henry's latest Rubik's Cube - in a heart pattern. ♥

Some of you know that my Dad spent a few years living in Texas as a little boy.  His father, who was an Army band leader, was stationed in Brownsville, Texas.  My Dad had many wonderful memories in Texas, including visiting San Antonio.  We felt it fitting to take Judy there to tour the Alamo and walk around the city a bit.  What a lovely time we had together reminiscing about my Dad.

I love you, Judy!

Always a stop at Buc-ee's on the way!

Something you need to know about Havalah. She has wanted to run her own business since she was about six years old.  By the age of seven she was begging for her own Etsy shop.  She has run every single garage sale we've had for the past five years - from organizing to selling.  This fall we finally started a little mother daughter business, making and selling embroidered necklaces.

We are a week away from our first craft fair and everyone is helping out.  The kids hate it (times a million) when Jon wears these reader glasses that his Dad gave him, but Havah *allowed* him to wear them since he was working so hard with the jewelry findings.  

Our first Craft Fair! Yay!

It went really well!  It was a great learning experience and now we know the ropes a little bit.  We are trying hard to get our Etsy shop fully up and running.  Thank you SO much to those who have purchased a pendant for yourself or for a gift!  XOXOXO

A few years ago the kids took over my holiday decorating.  I love seeing what they come up with. It is way more creative than anything I do!

And right at the end of the month, we squeezed in a trip to the pumpkin/animal farm. Sweet lil pumpkin's! We are heading back there this month to pick strawberries.

Jon's birthday! With a chocolate chip calzone to celebrate.  He's pretty adored around here.

I had a lovely birthday as well.  I managed to get up early to see the sunrise.  Pink!

And another Halloween on the books :)  This year we had a wolf princess and a gorilla.  It ended up being a very hot, muggy Halloween night, so both kids were ready to peel off their costumes after about an hour of trick or treating.

Which left PLENTY of time for candy trading!