Happy 60th Birthday Mimi!

Mimi is really fun.  Way more reasons to love her than I can explain. -L.E.
I love Mimi b/c she is family and I love her, that's why.  - Boo
I love her, mom. (after he said, stop it, mom) - R2
Mimi- HR (his 8th word to date)

train ride take 3

Do you remember our last two train ride attempts?  One ended in the Grand Canyon being closed by the federal government and then earlier this year we rode the Austin Steam train which ended with us sitting on the tracks and then riding backwards by to the train station b/c of another train having an electrical fire.
This past weekend was our make-up train ride to Burnet and Mimi and PawPaw took the kids so Ben and I could do some home improvements.  This trip had it share of woes too as Central Texas was under flash flood warnings yesterday.  The train ride happened, but when they arrived at the station in Burnet, they had to stay on the train for two hours as it was pouring rain.  Thankfully, we had been on the train earlier this year and we knew to pack snacks and books.  It was a long day, but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

a whale of a tale science experiment

We are learning about Swimming Creatures in our biology class this year.  This unit's lessons is on cetaceans (whales).  We have been waiting for almost a week to get out and measure the whales to see how they compare to each other.  Yesterday afternoon the temps finally climbed into the 50's so we braved the cool to measure.  The girls are at the sperm whale marker (6o ft).  We also measured the narwhal, beluga, orca, dolphin and porpoise.  When it gets warmer we will measure the blue whale.
LE- I say it was fascinating but we did it outside so it was a very cold experiment.

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our first Mommy-Son Date

This morning as we were driving to the gym we passed Whataburger and Read asked if we could go on a date and get some french fries.  I have no idea how he knew Whataburger had french fries, but he did and I was flattered he asked me on a date.  We have already spent our November eating out money so told him we would go on a date as soon as I got some money.  Which he then reminded me he had a dollar that Miss Sue gave him for Halloween.  How could I refuse?  As we were packing up to leave he said he couldn't wait to play on the playscape.  So, we decided to go to Chick-fil-A instead.
We had such a fun time out together, just the two of us.  After our date we made a stop at HEB, which is typical for all of my dates (wink, wink Daddy).  I have been trying to eat clean and stay on plan this week, as I have had a difficult time lately with self-discipline. But, when a four year old asks you on a date, no meal plan will ever deter me from these special memories.

I did it!

In the past nine years, I have never stayed overnight with the kids without Ben or someone to stay with me (my mom or Gigi). But last night I did it.  I also did something else I have never done as a parent, fed donuts to my kids for breakfast.
We stayed up really late (boys 9:45, girls and I till 10:30 reading books).  The girls slept with me and the boys came in around 7am wanting breakfast.  We bundled up and were grateful for a van in the garage that we could sneak into and searched for a doughnut drive-thru.  Which I'm quite certain doesn't exist any longer.  After three strikeouts we found an almost empty doughnut shop and snuck in decked in our pj's and no shoes to order donuts for four.  I was not willing to drive across town after our first three strikeouts, to wait in line for an infamous yellow donut.  (but I should have b/c the donuts we got were not that good).
I  wouldn't cut it as a single mom.  Ben is at a guys night out with friends from church, they are playing paint ball this morning and stayed over night at the Texas Baptist Children's Home.

Operation Christmas Child

We packed Operation Christmas Child boxes for this month's community outreach.   Each child packed their own box (with a little assistance for the boys).  The girls and I had a great time on our shopping spree.
We packed our boxes with a small stuffed animal for the girls' boxes, and a nerf football + matchbox cars for the boys.
Each box also contained reusable plastic cutlery and water bottle, Skittles, rings, bracelets and beaded necklaces, pencils, map pencils, journals, crayons, pencil sharpeners, stickers, wash clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, washcloths, soap, chapstick, brush or comb, a copy of the All About Me letter and picture of the kids and a slinky.

an 8 year old's costume party

Boo did an excellent job planning her own costume party.  She helped pick out the invites, planned the theme, food, party attendees, games, and my one job was to pick the date and time; which I messed up.
She wanted to do an obstacle course in the backyard and games on the playscape.  She also wanted to play Spin the Bottle.  We were unable to do two of her planned activities, one b/c I planned the party for 6 pm a week after Daylight Saving Times ended, it was pitch black at 6 pm.  I also didn't expect for every child I invited to be able to attend, so I was not up for 20 little girls running around with wet finger nail polish.  We were able to do the costume party and the winner assisted Boo in blowing out her candle.  She received so many nice gifts and had such a fun time with some of her favorite friends.  Daddy got in on the action and dressed as Boba Fett, it was like Santa coming down the stairs on Christmas morning when he joined the party.  I thought for sure he would win, but Boo wasn't as impressed.

an eight year old

Granny's surprise birthday dinner

We traveled this past weekend to surprise Granny for her 80th birthday.  All three of my brothers and their families met up at Mom's house and we went to Gran's favorite restaurant.   We gave her some money to pamper herself and my mom got her a new purse to put it in.
On Sunday, we were able to celebrate with our nephew Wyatt, for his first birthday.  Birthday season is still in full force as Ben's brother's birthday is Thursday, Boo's and my twin brothers' birthday are this Friday and Mimi's is Thanksgiving weekend.   Happy Birthday to everyone!