We had to go undercover to get footage of Reed playing in the backyard with his new cowboy hat on.
Category: Videos
Alison loves dirt and sand
Alison loves to play in the dirt or sand. Her brother on the other hand, would always whine if there was any dirt or sand in one of his Crocs, and insist that we help him get it out… or heaven forbid he get his shirt dirty or wet, he would insist on a different shirt. No, Ali is far from a “dirt-phobe”, and loves to sit down in the middle of it and move it around with whatever tool she can find.
Reed’s 3rd Birthday Party
Randy posted some pictures from Reed’s party, and then I never wrote any text. Sorry about that.
I have the hardest time throwing parties for Reed because I still have no idea what to do with boys. I had been asking Reed for weeks and weeks what he wanted for his birthday party. All he ever said was that he wanted a blue party…with pink. It was rodeo time in San Antonio and we had been doing lots of cowboy/boots/horses things, so I decided to make it a cowboy party. My favorite thing about the party was the food. It was the easiest (and probably cheapest) food I have ever done for a party because it was all done in advance. I made slow cooker pinto beans, and then the next day turned the beans into baked beans (this was my first time to make pintos from scratch and they turned out great!). Then I made pulled pork sandwiches (again, in the slow cooker the day before). Reed has decided he LOVES coleslaw (seriously, who IS this kid??) so I made some of that too. The fun part was that I served the meal in aluminum pie tins.
The desserts included cow patties (Oreos covered with brownie), individual s’mores and a cow cake. Reed couldn’t get enough of the s’mores. I think I will be making those again, they were so fun and so portable.
Decorations were simple but fun. I used cowboy hats and bandanas, that were also favors, to decorate the dining room wall. Table tops were covered with burlap and this lovely blue paisley fabric that I found. I used mason jars filled with sand from the sand pit and white candles. I also used some purple flowers from the awesome mountain laurels trees in the neighborhood to fill mason jars for the centerpieces.
The weather was horrible for his party, so we didn’t get to play outside at all. I had ideas about stick horse races, or something with bubbles…but it didn’t happen. It was storming and freezing cold, so we stayed inside and just played. We did pull out the racetrack from Reed’s second birthday and it was a hit again.
We had a great time at Reed’s party this year. Hopefully next year he will give me a little more input besides ‘a blue party’.
Alison’s First Birthday Party
Ali’s first birthday party was a delightful hit. I’d say it went off without a single hitch. Julie loves planning birthday parties for the kids, but I think this one was her favorite. She kept talking about how happy all the colors made her.
The theme was “rainbow”, and that assimilated itself most obviously in the cake and desserts. Julie made a rainbow-colored layer cake, where each layer was baked individually and colored. What came out was both beautiful and tasty!
As for the Birthday Girl, she was in the best mood the entire afternoon. We strategically timed the party for late afternoon, when she is at her best (when fully rested). She had a great nap and we fed her as soon as she woke up. She was primed and ready to be social when everyone came over. Reed, too, got a great nap and was very helpful and compliant for the most part.
*This post was obviously written by Randy and I will write a separate post with party details. I really loved this party and want to share all the fun stuff I did/found.*
Below is a sample of the pictures we took and a video of Ali getting into her first birthday cake (beautifully colored, I might add). Check out the Full Photo Album for more.
Christmas 2011
Estes Park, Colorado
We have been home from vacation for over a week and I am just now getting around to writing a post about it. Life is just busy…which is why we needed a vacation in the first place!
Vacation was truly vacation this time. We packed up the kids and got on a plane with my parents and headed for Denver. The 6 of us rented a house in Estes Park for 5 days and went with no plans and no agenda. It was wonderful. We stopped at a grocery store on the way into town and bought all of our food for the trip and then headed for the house. The day we arrived Estes Park got 6 inches of snow. Awesome. Neither of the kids had ever seen snow before. (As you would expect, they weren’t that excited about it. It’s wet and cold).
Aside from taking a day trip to Rocky Mountain National Forest, there really was no agenda. Randy and I got to have a date night while my parents watched the kids, but the rest of the time was pretty free-flowing. The only thing on the schedule was to take a dip in the hot tub once the kids were asleep every evening. 🙂
Here are some pictures below, but check out the full Picasa album for more.
In the front yard with the Swayzes
Boy Big Bed, Part 2
Reed got his twin-size bed today. We are still shopping for a headboard and so forth, but the mattress and frame are in place to see how he does. Fortunately he has already learned not to roll very much in his sleep from using the crib as a daybed. We felt he would do just fine and not fall very much on a bigger bed.
He was super excited to help me move his crib over to the other side of the room, and then bring the parts of the new frame and the bed into his room. Once we got it set up, the steps to get up and down that he got from Aunt June (a loooong time ago), work perfect to for climbing back up.
Labor Day Weekend
We descended upon Blanco, Texas for the weekend, along with 5 other families from around the state. Six families, most with multiple children, and ALL of them under 5 years old!
We needed a LARGE place to accommodate such a big group, and I give credit to Summer for finding this place. The property is right on the Blanco River, which under normal circumstances, would have been a great place to hang out. Given our extreme drought conditions, the river had dried up to nothing more than a few large ponds in this area. However, the house, pool, and accommodations more than made up for the lost river time.
To summarize the weekend’s activities, it went something like this:
Wake up, eat breakfast, play, swim in the pool, eat lunch, nap, play, swim in the pool, eat dinner, play, get the kids to bed, relax (Women=chat, Men=watch football), sleep… repeat.
We had a few significant events that made for a great weekend with friends. First and foremost, it was opening weekend for college football. This house had a bonafide “Man Cave” with a projection screen TV, wet bar, bathroom and wine cellar (empty). Every night seemed to provide a great game match-up to get excited about (Fri: Baylor/TCU, Sat: Oregon/LSU, Sunday: SMU/A&M). Second, on Sunday morning, a cool front blew in that gave us a nice change of pace from the 100 degree weather we had been experiencing for months. It was literally a breath of fresh air for everyone to just hang out outside and enjoy. And finally, it was my birthday on Sunday, and this trip allowed me a great place to just spend it with my family and celebrate with friends.
-RB
