Happy 70th Birthday, Papa!

Yesterday was Cory's dad's (Papa's) 70th birthday. Papa is not one who enjoys being the center of attention so we knew a big party was not in store, but we wanted to do something really nice for him to celebrate such a big day.

We decided to take him to a nice dinner at Del Frisco's Steakhouse in Fort Worth. Cory's mom was still on vacation, but his brother and sister were able to join us. We had a great evening with excellent food. One of the best parts of the meal was the jalapeno/bacon macaroni and cheese. Yum!


Cory's dad was so worried that we were going to have the waiter sing or do something else that would bring attention to him, so we had to promise him before we left that we wouldn't do anything to embarrass him. We did, however, manage to sneak a candle into his dessert.

Papa- We love you and we hope you had a wonderful 70th birthday!

Gerard Fall Festival

Every year, my school has a fall festival. We took Parker to it last year and it was not a successful evening. For starters, I was 8 months pregnant and could barely pick him up. It was so crowded that you could not walk down the hall without bumping into what felt like hundreds of people. It was hot and Parker was miserable in his costume. Needless to say, we did not enjoy ourselves.

I told myself that we were not going to attempt it again this year because I didn't feel like fighting the crowds or exposing the kids to so many germs after they had been sick this week. But when dinner was finished at 6:00 and we still had 2 hours to fill until bedtime, I changed my mind.

We ended up having a great time together. The crowds were much more manageable this year. It was crowded but not insanely crowded like last year. We also decided to skip the costumes this year which helped so much. Instead, Eden wore her Halloween tutu and looked so cute!

Parker had a lot of fun playing the games, especially the ones that involved throwing balls. We did the football toss (twice), the basketball toss (twice), the bean bag toss, the hula hoop ball toss...you get the idea! He also enjoyed some watered-down-cheese nachos that were so bad that even I passed on them.

Football toss

Hula hoop ball toss

Duck pond

Other exciting news...after we got home, Eden was standing near the island in the kitchen. She all of a sudden started walking toward me and took at least 10 steps before she fell! Her balance has improved dramatically just in the past 24 hours and I really think she will be walking by the end of the week. It's hard to believe she is big enough to be walking. It seems like we just brought her home from the hospital. Where has the time gone?!?!?

How Not to Child Proof

I'm thinking the child proof locks that we bought for our cabinets are not doing their job! It's pretty sad that an (almost) 11 month old can figure out how to "unlock" the doors. I guess we will be shopping this weekend for another way to keep Eden out of the cabinets.

Dinner Guests

We had some unexpected dinner guests tonight!

Let me introduce you to...

LENNY

TUCK

And MING MING too!

They are the Wonder Pets and they will have dinner with you!It was a yummy meal with good conversation. A great time was had by all!

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For those of you who don't know Parker, The Wonder Pets is his new favorite show. He will even chose to watch them over Little Einsteins. The Wonder Pets are a group of classroom pets that go on missions to save baby animals. Lenny is a guinea pig, Tuck is a turtle, and Ming Ming is a duck with the cutest speech impediment you have ever heard!!

Today after naptime we were in the playroom and Eden crawled over and opened the toy box. She found a little stuffed duck and started playing with it. I immediately thought of Ming Ming. I went over to the toy box and found a little turtle too. We did not have a stuffed guinea pig, but I found something that was close.

I called Parker over and showed him what I had found. He was excited and immediately took them and started playing with them. A little while later as I was making dinner, I noticed him putting them in the chairs. I asked him if The Wonder Pets were going to eat dinner with us and he said yes.

It is so fun to watch his imaginative play develop. From playing with the trains on the train table to making "cookies" for Lenny, Tuck, and Ming Ming, he is getting more fun every day!

Stay tuned to see who might be joining us for dinner next... you just never know who might show up tomorrow night!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Today is Cory's mom's (aka Grandma's) birthday. She is on vacation with some of her friends so we will not see her today. Parker and Eden wanted to send her a birthday wish and hope that she has a great day!

Under the Weather

We are a little under the weather at our house today. Parker and Eden both have croup. I knew it last night when their coughing started sounding like barking seals. (Parker had croup two winters ago and you just never forget that horrible sound.) After a restless night, I was able to get them both in to see our wonderful pediatrician this morning. Parker's cough was much worse than Eden, but after two doses of steroids, I am happy to say that they are both feeling much better.
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On a much more exciting note, Eden took her first steps a few nights ago!! She can take one or two steps before falling to the ground. We have been practicing every day, but she can't seem to make it past that second step.

As a result of her new milestone, she has become an accident waiting to happen! Just yesterday, she took two very big tumbles that left two really big goose eggs on her forehead.

The first one happened before we left for church. She was climbing on the step that leads up to our bathtub when she lost her balance and fell head first on the edge of the step. That fall left a knot on her forehead above her right eye.

After church, she was trying to pull up on the TV stand when she again lost her balance and fell head first on the stand. That fall left a knot and bruise on her forehead above her left eye.

I tried to get a picture of her mishaps but the lighting was not that good. Hopefully it will be a few more days before she tumbles again because she is running out of space on her forehead!

Midlothian Fall Festival

Today was the Midlothian Fall Festival. Why is that significant to our family, you ask. Because the eye clinic in Midlothian set up a booth and Cory went after he got off work to help in the booth. Due to not wanting to be cooped up in the house with two wonderfully active children all day by myself, I decided that we would drive over and enjoy the festival with him.


I know that you are probably thinking that I am crazy trying to attempt another festival only a few weeks after the disastrous one in Mansfield, but I figured I needed to get back on the horse and try it again.

As soon as we got there, I realized that I wasn't going to be getting a Mother of the Year award. Being the trusting person I am, I believed the nice weatherman when he told me that the highs would be around 70 today, and I did not pack jackets for the kids. Luckily I had put a blanket in so Eden was able to stay semi-warm in the 55 degree weather.

Eden and Heath

As soon as we got there, Parker's jumpy house radar went off so we decided to get it out of the way first. The jump house was very crowded but it didn't phase him one bit. He loved every minute of it!

After getting something to eat, we decided to let Parker try the pony rides. When I first asked him if he wanted to ride, he kept saying yes. He could hardly wait for his turn and kept trying to open the gate before they were ready for him.

He chose the brown and white pony and still seemed very excited about the upcoming ride.

When it was finally time to get on the horse, the tears started flowing. He didn't go into a tantrum, but he definitely let me know that he wanted off. Unfortunately for him, I had already paid the $4 and I forced him to stay on his horse for the two minutes of fun. He hung on to me for dear life the entire pony ride.

When we were getting ready for bed tonight, I asked him what he did today. He said "I rode horse". I asked him if he had fun riding on his horse and he responded "Yea!". Really? That's funny. I thought he hated it!

Overall, the Midlothian Fall Festival was quite successful today. The kids really did a good job and Cory and I had a fun time hanging out with the other eye clinic employees. We will definitely try it again next year.