It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

I am tired and happy! This crazy busy week has finally drawn to a close after we packed in about as much excitement as humanly possible. Thursday was Colin's last day at school before Christmas break and they had their big PJ party and book exchange. He was both excited and confused about wearing PJ's to school. We started talking about it a week beforehand so that he would be accustomed to the idea...you just can't surprise Colin with a major change like that. :-) He was back and forth over which ones to wear, but finally decided on Santa for school and Reindeer for his playdate on Friday. He was so cute as he seriously mulled this over on the days leading up to the party. The theme of the party at school was "Jesus' Birthday" and the kids also had a wrapped book exchange which Colin thought was super cool. After their special lunch and present opening, they all watched "The Polar Express" with popcorn and hot chocolate! What a wonderful day! We also brought Miss Gina and Miss Keli presents of Starbucks gift cards and mugs after getting great advice from all my teacher friends. Here is my little Santa's helper delivering his presents to his teachers.



Yesterday we finished up our giant week of fun with our official Christmas playdate with all our friends. Eren hosted at her house and we had the best time! She had a big spread of food, coffee, mimosas, and the whole nine yards. I spent about 5 hours making homemade cinnamon rolls the day before...mainly because I felt that I could not live without them and therefore used the party as a good excuse to make them. They turned out delish and I hope to make them a holiday tradition from now on because honestly, there is no way that I am making them more than once a year. ;-) The boys had not all been together in one place in forever, so the playdate was extra fun for them (and the moms!). I am always reminded of the little reasons that I am grateful for my friends and yesterday was no different. Eren's big activity for the kids was Christmas cookie decorating and I realized instantly that she was brilliant. She used a muffin tin for all the decorations! Now, that probably sounds like something insignificant, but I NEVER would have thought of that on my own. I have tried to have cookie decorating afternoons with Colin before, but it always ended up being a confusing mess. Eren's idea was genius! She filled each tin with a different handful of sprinkles, sugars or candy and it was perfect for the boys to access and kept them from dumping whole cans of sprinkles onto the floor cookies. She also separated the icing into plastic cups with plastic spoons and there was no mess at all! I swear that I get all my good ideas from my best friends! :-)

Sitting at Eren's table with a big group of handsome boys!

Colin was very proud of his creation!

The boys were in heaven! Icing! Candy! Sprinkles! JOY! I also noticed while I was going through the pictures from the party that the boys always sit in the same spots when they do stuff at playdates. I have this identical picture from the 4th of July and Halloween. They always sit in the same order on their own! ;-)

Keegan, Colin and Jack being super cute!
This is how I found Colin and Jack watching a movie. I guess it worked for them! :-)
Christmas is drawing near and I am both excited and a little sad...I don't want the season to be over! We have a book exchange to attend at Heather's house on Tuesday, we are hosting a special Christmas dinner for Jer's parents on Wednesday and then we are heading to my hometown on Thursday. Colin is so excited about Santa that he can barely see straight and I can't tell you how much I love it. This is the first year that he REALLY gets Santa and the whole concept makes his eyes sparkle with joy. I am just trying to soak it all up!

Colin's Christmas Show and The Northpark Trains!

When I gave birth, there was a moment when Colin's life flashed before my eyes. Or maybe it was the life I imagined he would have. Regardless, in the matter of a heartbeat, I saw thousands of moments...his first day of school, his first dance, giving a corsage to his prom date, graduations, watching his bride walk down the aisle...it was as though a giant master list of precious moments downloaded itself into my brain and I began a lifetime worth of countdowns until all of these things happened. On Tuesday, one of those milestones occurred in real life and I knew as I was watching it that I would never forget it as long as I lived. Colin performed in his first school Christmas program. It was his first performance of any kind and the first time that I found myself sitting in a giant audience, clutching a program and reading it to find out when Colin would arrive on stage. It was the first time that I charged the video camera, put Jer in charge of still shots and perched nervously in my seat waiting for the lights to dim and the show to start. It was the first time that I felt my heart literally swell out of my chest with pride as I watched my son perform. It was the most magical moment and there are not enough words to explain how much I will cherish the memory.

I have never been so proud of my sweet boy. He was so brave, despite being nervous around big crowds. He was clearly in his element and I shouldn't have been surprised. It has seemed from the very beginning that Colin is more comfortable "performing" for people than anything else. His shyness seems to drop away when he does anything in his performance mode. He genuinely enjoyed himself during the whole show and he was on stage performing for about 15 minutes! It was amazing. I cried, of course, and spent the whole show marveling at how big and strong and beautiful and talented my baby is. It was truly one of the best moments of my life. He has come so far since he started school in September. It is hard to believe this is the same boy who wouldn't get out of the car to go in the building just a few short months ago. Here is one of the video snippets...my peanut is in the brown and white stripes.

Here are some of the still shots...I have decided that there is nothing more adorable than a preschool Christmas program!

Colin knew all the dance moves! :-)

This is one of my favorite pictures ever...Colin looks so sweet and his little friend in the red was not exactly pleased. :-) I also ADORE Arthur, the little boy on the very end in the suit. Oh my gosh, he was SO CUTE! *more about Arthur at the end of the post*

Wednesday we woke up and got ready for another big day...a trip to Northpark Mall in Dallas to see the model trains. This is a big event every year and I had been dying to take Colin. We met our friend Kayrene and her sons Ryan and Jake. Colin loved it, since he loves all things train related. He was especially in love with the conductor hat they had for sale, so we picked one up for him. I will say that he is not the biggest fan of displays that he can't destroy are not interactive, so he was rather unimpressed that he couldn't touch any of the trains. After we finished up there, we headed out to eat lunch at the food court and saw a high school orchestra getting ready to play Christmas music in the atrium. Colin was so excited! He is very serious about music and instruments and immediately asked to go down and watch them up close. We were on the 2nd level at the time and we told him he would probably have a better view from above, but he was not having it. He wanted to be right there in front of them. Kayrene stayed up on level 2 with her stroller and baby Jake and I took Colin and Ryan downstairs to watch the music. It was wonderful and Colin was absolutely mesmerized. It was blowing my mind...he was utterly still and just staring with his eyes like saucers. After each song he would burst into applause! He even pointed out to me at one point that the trumpets were playing and he loved those the most. I didn't even know he knew what trumpets were! I had a great time watching him and immediately began wondering what instrument he might play when he gets bigger. We had a great afternoon all the way around!

Here is Colin at the train gift shop...this was his kind of store! ALL TRAINS! It should also be noted that I got in trouble for letting Colin sit on that blue train. Now, the signs did clearly say "Do Not Ride", but I wanted a picture and so I fudged the rules a bit. An older man who clearly ran the place came up and told Colin to get out and then told me that I needed to do my job and keep him off the train and "make him mind". YIKES!!! I am not easily angered or confrontational in the least bit, but I came close to beating him up. I stopped myself when I realized that a) I had my child watching me and b) I technically did totally ignore his sign and let Colin climb on it. ;-) He was still a huge jerk about it, so I contented myself with imagining myself beating him up. LOL!

Here is a shot of Ryan and Colin watching the orchestra play. SO SWEET!


Finally, we have Colin back home and playing with his Thomas while rocking his awesome new conductor hat. We have been having the absolute best build up to Christmas!

*on Arthur...he is a new little boy who just joined Colin's class about a month ago. He has been VERY upset about being dropped off at school. Miss Gina pulled me aside last week to tell me that Colin took him aside that morning and put his arm around him. She snuck up to listen and she said that Colin said, "Arthur, it's okay. I used to cry a lot, too. I will be your friend. Let's go look at all the books!". Miss Gina even got teary telling me about it. She said that Colin went and got his best friend Keaton and took him over to play with Arthur, too. I just love how sweet and caring he is and I am so proud that God choose me to be the mother of such a special soul. I LOVE HIM!

DECEMBER IS AWESOME!

I think I may have just finished the busiest holiday weekend of all time. It was festive and wonderful and I am happy to report that I am more than making up for my solid month of illness. I feel great (knock on wood) and we are having a blast!

Let's start with something that just screams Christmas. Enchiladas. Okay, maybe it whispers Feliz Navidad, but still. I made these glorious things last week:

They were AH-MAZING. Seriously. Jer said they were as good or better than any that we have ever gotten in a restaurant. As is typical with Mexican food, they were a bit tedious and time consuming to make, but also super easy and soooo worth it. Not to mention that we had leftovers for days and they even got better as time went on! You really must make these. They will make you MERRY.

Now, let's talk Santa. Jer took Colin to "Breakfast with Santa" last weekend while I was recovering from the plague strep throat. Jer's mom is a member of a group of ladies who put on the breakfast out at the clubhouse of their country club. I wondered how Colin would react to meeting the big man and the story did not disappoint! Colin waited in line for 40 MINUTES to talk to Santa. He was serious about this. Jer was blown away because waiting in line for anything is not exactly Colin's strong suit. For Santa, he made an exception. Also of note...Jer's mom was Santa's elf. She looked SO cute and all of 12 years old. Seriously. Anyway, when it was Colin's turn, it will come as no surprise that he was NOT okay with sitting in his lap. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with that. He stood in front of Santa and told him very seriously what he wanted. He only asked for 2 things (despite telling me 2,345 things he wants) and they were a remote controlled car and his own house. His own house. What the what?!? He had not mentioned this to me once. We quizzed him when they got home and it turns out that he was referring to a giant playhouse that he saw in a Little Tikes catalog that came in the mail. It was so important that he saved it to tell Santa and Santa alone. This resulted in what I am sure will not be the last panicked rush to figure out how to accomplish this goal for "Santa". I am fully aware that Colin will not always get what he asks Santa for, but this is the first year that he actually understands and really and truly took a request to Santa Claus. I just couldn't crush the dream on the first shot. :-) Luckily, Santa managed to find an AWESOME Step 2 Adobe Playhouse on craigslist. A family about 15 minutes from us was selling their originally very expensive house. This thing is amazing...it even has a PORCH! They had kept it indoors in their loft playroom!! As Jer put it, it looks like they took it out of the box and then posted it on craigslist. This thing is brand spanking new. We would never have been able to afford it new and the fact that we got it still blows my mind. Colin is going to DIE! I cannot wait for him to see it!!

Here is the "official" shot with Santa. Mom Mom made one heck of an elf! :-)

Colin telling Santa what he wants for Christmas...from afar. And as a side note, I LOVE THAT SANTA!

Colin watching the trains with all the other boys and girls. This picture just makes my heart melt. There is nothing better than seeing this season through the eyes of those precious kids!

Onward to more festive fun! On this past Friday night, we went to Jer's company Christmas party at the Embassy Suites Outdoor World in Grapevine. This company also happens to be my old company before I left to stay home with Colin, so it is always a fun night getting to reconnect with my old crew. We got all dressed up and my mom spent the night here to watch Colin. The food was great and so was the company! Jer looked so handsome in his suit and it felt very decadent to be out on an official date with my man! The only drawback was that Jer had to work a very long day on Saturday, so we didn't get to stay out very late. But who am I kidding...we don't exactly stay out late anymore. :-)

Mom and Dad looking sharp!

Posing with Ellen, Chris and Michael at the party. It was so great to see so many old friends...I wish I had taken more pictures!

The next night was the annual "Turner Family Cheesy Christmas Party". Jer had to miss the fun because of work, but I went and had the best time. We have the funniest and best friends in the whole world. Everyone was told to wear the cheesiest thing they could find and bring a white elephant gift. I laughed so hard that I came close to losing my voice again! I was honestly hoarse all day Sunday. The presents were absolutely out of control. I came home with a classy pair of Dr. Dre and Tupac glasses. And it should also be noted that I got those on the last possible steal after being snatched up twice before. I love a crowd of people who will fight over glasses featuring 90's rappers.

My girls looking EXTRA HOT. I am probably going to wear that headband for the rest of the month. Eren is on the far left and was the hostess with the mostess for sure. This party was a blast!

There was a lot more room on that couch before the pregnant girls squished me out. ;-) I also find it annoying that neither one of them took the rules seriously. They look nice and normal. I, however, am rocking a Wal-Mart Christmas scene sweater, gold jingle bell earrings and necklace and a super cool headband. Whatever.

Finally, we come to yesterday afternoon. My friend Wendy, who I frankly want to be when I grow up, invited a group of girls to attend high tea at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in downtown Dallas. The runner-up from Top Chef "Just Desserts", Chef Morgan Wilson, put on a special Christmas tea with his original cupcakes. It was INSANE. As I arrived and the liveried footmen opened the grand double doors for me, I knew that I was where I was meant to be. ;-) The hotel outfitted in all it's Christmas finery was almost more than I could handle. We were presented with a box of teas that we had to smell and decide which two we would have. FOR REAL.

We chose the orange jasmine and the chocolate truffle. They were soooo good. I had no idea how much I loved tea. Or love fancy pants Ritz tea. Or the idea of someone pouring me tea out of ornate tea pots. Or getting to live out every tea party fantasy I have ever had since birth. Sigh. We were served tea, champagne, and the best cupcakes that I have ever tasted. EVER. I mean, how good can a cupcake be, right? I have had "specialty" cupcakes before. I have been to Ganache in Tyler. I know a good cupcake. NO, I DIDN'T. There is a reason why people are on Top Chef. It is because they are cooking gods, that's why. AMAZING, my friends. It felt awesome to be in such a beautiful place, wearing beautiful clothes, talking to beautiful women and eating beautiful food. It was the perfect battery recharge.

How is that for a fabulous spread?! For the record, the one with the orange frosting was caramel with orange infused icing. It was not too sweet, had some kind of caramel in the middle and the icing...oh, the icing. It was subtle and the orange flavor actually appeared after you swallowed it. Apparently that is what "infused" means. Good LORD.

The whole group posing in the lobby. Wendy is in the blue dress. She rules.

So there we have it, folks. A very long post full of Christmas goodness! Tomorrow is Colin's Christmas program at school, so prepare yourself for a post full of me losing my mind over that one. :-)

A Long and Sick November...on to a WONDERFUL DECEMBER!

This is insanity. I cannot BELIEVE that I have not posted about THANKSGIVING. OR ANYTHING. IN 3 WEEKS. This is absolutely unacceptable, but in my defense, it has been a little on the crazy side around here. Seriously. You know that things are insane when I don't post about my all-time favorite holiday season!!

I have been sick. REALLY SICK. For seriously ALL of November. It all started again a little over a week before Thanksgiving. I came down with my second sinus infection in 2 weeks and immediately got laryngitis. If you know me at all, you know that is BAD. I cannot tolerate not being able to speak. It came on out of the blue as we were out at the Fort Worth Children's museum. All of a sudden, I couldn't yell out Colin's name. It was insane. I went to the doctor and started my 2nd round of antibiotics in a month. I was not happy about it, but did start to feel a tiny bit better right before Thanksgiving. Which brings me to:

THANKSGIVING! We spent this year at my parents house with my whole side of the family and we had a wonderful time. We all arrived the night before Thanksgiving and met for dinner at Bruno's, which is a hugely popular locally owned place. It was PACKED with people and took us about 9 years to eat. I think that every family in Tyler decided to eat there that night with all their families in tow. It felt good to be home and amazing to be at a giant table with all my family. The next day we woke up bright and early and started cooking. My mom cooked the turkey, her famous dressing and corn souffle and Meredith and I split up the rest of the sides, apps, and desserts. I spent the entire first half of the day cooking with my mom in our pj's while Colin and Jer watched the parades and played outside. In a major change this year, we decided to eat Thanksgiving dinner instead of lunch, which was PERFECT. We ate at 5pm and it gave us plenty of time to cook all day and not spend the entire day before prepping. It also gave us plenty of time to eat WAY TOO MANY appetizers and treats, but it was so worth it. :-) There was an INSANE amount of food. It was SO GOOD! I ate myself to death, which was glorious in so many ways. I made pecan pie for the first time and it was outstanding...thanks to an absolutely fantastic recipe from my girlfriend Pioneer Woman. My love for her knows no end. This pie was seriously unreal! We ate it into the night and drank wine and hung out and just spent time loving each other. It was awesome. Jer had to work on Saturday, so we had to cut the trip short and head home on Friday, which leads me to:

The weekend. I started to feel crappy again on Sunday. I didn't feel right and felt my throat starting to hurt again. This cannot be, I thought to myself. I put it out of my mind...nobody could seriously be sick again after 20, yes 20, days of antibiotics in a month. Monday morning we had a playdate with friends and I was not feeling super and then Monday night I started to feel really bad. Tuesday was horrible and Wednesday I finally went BACK to the doctor. I had actually spent the whole night before imagining that something was really wrong with me. I felt like I was dying and far sicker than I have felt in years. The doctor was very quick to notice that I had a major case of strep throat...my first time EVER. My doctor actually looked so sad when he verified the results with the swab test that I thought he was being a bit over dramatic...it turns out he was totally right to feel sorry for me. It was HORRIBLE. Strep throat can disappear for all eternity! I was knocked to the ground for no less than 4 days....as in, can't get out of bed, can't do anything at all, sick. My throat felt like battery acid was constantly running down it on top of feeling flu-ish and throwing up. AWESOME. Colin even stayed home on Thursday from school because I simply couldn't get him there. UGH! I missed our city tree lighting (my favorite thing ever), lots of Christmas themed events with my best friends, and then missed breakfast with Santa with Colin. I was pretty melancholy. My favorite time of year BY FAR is Thanksgiving and Christmas and I feel like I have been off my game and not my normal self all season. Which bring us to:

I FEEL BETTER! The super antibiotics did their job and I finally started to perk up a bit on Sunday and by Tuesday, I was a new person. I ran around like a mad woman while Colin was at school on Tuesday and must do the same tomorrow. I have SO MUCH to do in a very short amount of time. We have Jer's work party on Friday night, a party at our friends house on Saturday night, a special tea and dessert party to attend with friends on Sunday afternoon, Tuesday is Colin's big Christmas Show at school and then Thursday is the class pj party that involves a book exchange. AND I have to buy presents for his teachers. And then a Christmas playdate on Friday morning. All this in a week. I really shouldn't have written all of that down. I get easily overwhelmed. Have I mentioned that before?

Anyway, this was a rather dramatic post, but you know I am all about flair. ;-) I feel sad that I haven't posted much from my favorite time of year. There is so much more to post about...but I felt I should start with the big thing...me being sick all the dang time!

*I also wanted to add that I attended a memorial service tonight for a co-worker and friend who passed away from lung cancer this week. It was a wonderful service and it served to remind me to tell all of those around me that I love them and am thankful for them. Tonight, I feel lucky to be alive. And blessed.

A Most Wonderful Sunday!

Today was a very VERY special day! Let me back track for a second...when I was pregnant with Colin, I joined a message board for women expecting in July 2007. It was on that board that I met Kimberly for the first time, long before she moved to Texas, and April...long before I hung out with her precious family over chicken fried steak. ;-) I have talked about that board several times on the blog, so this is not news to anyone. The 3rd person that I really connected with was Keisha. Keisha is brilliant, beautiful, eloquent, crafty and cooler than me...all of which I gathered from simply knowing her online and reading her blog. Her son Matthew...oh, heavens. He is simply the cutest child you have ever seen and he is a genius. Really. If memory serves me correctly, he was reciting his favorite nursery rhymes when he was 9 months old. Seriously. :-) Anyway, their family had a work trip to my neck of the woods and we finally managed to meet today! In real life! In one place! It was awesome. Matthew and Colin are so much alike personality wise and they hit it off, just like I knew they would. We met them at Founder's Plaza at the airport to watch the planes land and then went to lunch at El Fenix. Colin spent the whole lunch telling "jokes" and Matthew was hysterical. He was basically slapping his forehead and telling Colin that he was ridiculous. ;-) THEN, Matthew starts telling his own joke...and it starts out, "So this man walks into a psychiatrist's office and he's got a duck on his head...". It was absolutely the funniest, most amazing moment in the world. I mean, this boy is 3! Jer even said, "Did he just say that?" Oh, it was SO CUTE! Colin was very impressed. I wish we could have spent longer together!! Now I just have to get April and Keisha to move to Dallas. ;-) Here are some of my pictures from today:

The four of us, together in one shot! I still can't believe it!

Just the girls! I should add for the record that I was eyeing Keisha's super cute haircut all day and wishing it was mine. Except for the small fact that mine would look nothing like that if it was on my head.


Okay, this shot is classic to me. Please note Matthew and Colin behind him with the exact same expression of concentration on their faces. SO cute! They thought those paved squares in the grass were the coolest things ever. And both of them almost ran into traffic while jumping them. Boys!

This is when the boys were served surprise sopapillas after lunch. I think the waiter thought they were precious...the grown-ups sure didn't get any! :-) Matthew was a big fan of the sugar and Colin loved the honey.

The boys running at Founder's Plaza.

All in all, this has been a superb day. The only drawback to this weekend is Colin's mess of a cold. He has had one for over a month now (what the heck?!) and I finally took him to the doctor on Thursday because his cough just won't go away. The pedi gave him oral antibiotics, but it tastes horrible. Colin has sensory issues and something that tastes foul does not work for us...and I mean DOES NOT WORK. He needs the medicine twice a day and Jer and I have to double team him, hold him down on the floor together and pour it down his throat kicking and screaming bloody murder. Then he closes his throat and shoots it all back out of his mouth, even when I hold it shut like a lunatic. Needless to say, this is not working and he has not gotten any of the meds inside him. I am going to take him back and beg for a shot instead...poor kiddo. I can't wait for him to be able to take pills! Yikes! It should also be noted that we had the meds flavored and when that didn't work I have tried mixing them into all kinds of delicious things...nothing works. Colin can sniff that stuff out of anything! ;-)

So back to my wonderful day, it ended on an even better note! Colin woke up at 5am this morning (damn daylight savings) and so he was ready to drop at about 6pm after our busy day. He crawled up in my lap while I was at the computer and put his head on my shoulder. On a whim, I asked him if he remembered when I used to rock him every night. He asked me if we could still do it and of course I said YES! I moved all the stuffed animals out of his old glider and we started rocking. It was absolutely wonderful! He laid in my arms just like he used to...although we were a tight squeeze and his legs hung down way farther than they used to. :-) I started talking to him about our day and he promptly fell right asleep, just like he used to do every night. I spent an extra few minutes memorizing the way he felt in my arms before I carried him to his bed. Those are the moments that I will miss the most one day!! What a precious boy!!

Now if only he could sleep later tomorrow...

Saturday Things

Today has been wonderful so far...I just got back from my good friend Lindsey's baby shower and it was so much fun! She is the funniest and sweetest girl and she tried for a long time to get pregnant, so this was a special celebration! There was a magnificent spread of brunch food and I was just sitting here wishing that I had taken a plate home with me. Two more weeks have escaped blogging yet again, so I am back with an update. I am in the mood for bullet points of random information, so here goes!

*On Colin's favorite channel, Nick Jr., they have been showing a "how to" video of some kids making turkey cookies for Thanksgiving. Colin has been begging me to make them for several days and I finally caved a few days ago. I got started only to have Colin inform me that we absolutely cannot make them without candy corn for the beaks, as they show on television. Since I didn't have said corn, I told him he would have to wait until the next day. While he was at school on Thursday, I purchased the candy corn and we made them together that afternoon. He LOVED it! He got flour literally all over himself and we got out other cookie cutters that I had to make lots of different shapes besides the turkey. He helped me mix the food coloring in the icing and then helped decorate all the cookies. It was so sweet!



*We knocked out our Christmas card pictures on Monday with the lovely and amazing Melissa. :-) I am so lucky to have a best friend who happens to be a fantastic photographer! She came out to the house for our top secret shoot (I want it to be a surprise) and hopefully we managed to get a couple of good shots. Colin was not in the mood to be ordered around, so things did not go exactly like I planned. Luckily Mel is quick on her feet and thought of a few good tricks to coax a smile out of the little man. I hope the cards turn out as precious as I imagine!

*Colin has been extremely loving lately and it brings me so much joy! He has started telling me all day long at the most random times that he loves me. Melt. My. Heart! He always runs up and hugs me while saying, "I love you so much, Mommy!" and sometimes he adds, "I am so lucky to have you as my mommy!".

*My friends Kim and Lindsey are both very pregnant. Colin noted their bellies during our playdate yesterday and asked to touch Kim's tummy. Last night, he asked me if God was going to make him get in my belly. He actually got tears in his eyes and said, out of the blue, that he didn't want to get in my belly because he likes being outside with me. Oh goodness! I explained that once the baby comes out, he stays out for good! It should also be noted that he still thinks that the baby in Kim's belly is Pierce, who is 1.5 years old. I can't seem to convince him otherwise. ;-)

And here is a random rant that I just feel the need to get off my chest...

*I cannot stand it when people take a standard name and spell it wrong. I. HATE. THAT. I have really been steaming about this lately because I see lots of different names on all the nap mats lining the walls at Colin's preschool, as well as on the backpacks of all the kids walking out with us. I have seen Brookelinn, Katelynne, Catelin, Kaitlinn AND Kaytelin and the worst one that prompted this post...Addiesynn. Are you even kidding me?! Addison is a beautiful name...why on earth would you butcher it?! How many times do you think poor Addiesynn is going to spell that in her lifetime? Not to mention that it doesn't make grammatical sense! I could go on forever! There are a million examples of this "new spelling" fiasco at Colin's school alone. Gracious. If I have another boy one day, I am going to name him Qxe and pronounce it Bob. ;-)

Okay, I feel better. :-)

A SPOOK-TACULAR WEEKEND!

Halloween weekend was insanely busy and absolutely wonderful. I know I have said it before, but is amazes me how much fun it is to relive all of these childhood traditions with my own child! I remember Halloween as one of my favorite days every year and this weekend was even better than my fondest memories.

The fun started on Friday morning...we invited all of our friends to the house for "Pumpkin Carving with Colin". Everyone brought their own pumpkins and we had a book of templates and a couple of carving sets to choose from. I set up a big blanket in the backyard to sit on, which was not enough room! Next year, I will attempt to spread out a bit better! :-) I made cupcakes with orange frosting, little goodie bags for all the boys, and a very spooky "Snake" for lunch, which was basically snake shaped pizza. The only hiccup was that the snake did not make near enough food! I think I will keep the snake tradition, but make at least 3 next time! The kids all seemed to love it and I was so glad that everyone had fun. Colin thinks that his friends coming over is just about the greatest thing ever, so he was beside himself for the fun to begin. Eren brought Halloween Bingo for the kids to play and they thought that was the coolest. It was especially funny when Eren told them that they couldn't eat the candy corn place holders until after the game. It was like watching a group of puppies being told to wait for their treats! Once the game was over, they all dove right in. I still can't believe it, but we even managed to get ALL the kids to line up by the fence with their pumpkins for a photo-op. What a perfect day! I am pretty proud of our "owl" pumpkin, although in all honesty, the template was a cat. HA! I carved another one later in the afternoon with ghosts and they looked great on the porch all lit up. Here are some of the cute pictures:

My pepperoni pizza snake! He turned out a little on the fat side. ;-)

Colin, Jack and little man Jett sitting at the picnic table.

Some of the pumpkin carving action. Some of the boys loved it...some were inside the house tearing up the playroom. ;-) Hannah floated back and forth between the backyard and the house making sure they didn't set anything on fire. LOL!

I love Jack's serious look of concentration while playing bingo. :-)

Halloween Bingo was a big hit! I really need more chairs...and more tables...and a bigger house. ;-)

Colin, Jake, Ryan, Pierce, Hayden, Jack, Brooke, Greyson and Hannah!

Colin and his owl/cat work of art! ;-)

I quickly picked up the house after the playdate and got ready for the arrival of my wonderful mother, who drove from Tyler to spend the night. She came to keep Colin so that we could go to Heather and Eric's annual "Adults Only" Halloween party. We missed it last year due to babysitting issues, and after hearing stories about it all year, I was VERY excited to attend! I dressed as "Charlie" from Top Gun...except brunette and scantily clad. HA! I forced my husband to wear his real Navy bomber jacket and be my Maverick. He looked super hot, even though he was rather embarrassed. ;-) I was rocking a skirt that was far too short, fishnets and high heeled black boots (which had to be literally dusted off from the back recesses of my closet). It felt surprisingly invigorating to be slightly naughty and grown-up and it was cool to feel like a young couple out for a good party!

The party was literally EVERYTHING that I hoped it would be. We had one of the best times EVER. Heather and Eric are amazing hosts and all the food and decorations were awesome! Eric is known for his specialty drinks that he serves at every event and this occasion did not disappoint! Most of his concoctions were served in neon plastic shot tubes, which was hysterical! We were partying like rock stars! :-) The costumes were absolutely outrageous and my face hurt from laughing all night! I had almost totally lost my voice by the time we got home...it was a great night! I have about 100 pictures of the shenanigans, but was sworn not to post them online. The guys were all too much! Here are a couple of shots of the girls...approved for Internet use. I cannot say enough how very much I love these people!!!

Top row, Hannah (the ninja), Eren (Disco Girl), Kayrene (trailer park mom and most hilarious ever). Second row, me, Kimberly (a beautiful pumpkin with her actual preggers belly painted...her husband was "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater!), Lindsey (the basketball, her husband was a Harlem Globetrotter), Shelly (as basically herself...LOL!) and Heather (the pirate!)

Hannah, Kimberly, Shelly and I...acting like we were 21 years old. :-)

I have so many more awesome shots, but I really need express written consent before I post them. ;-)

On Saturday, we took my mom for a fantastic lunch on the patio at Joe T. Garcia's in Fort Worth and had the best time. I was SO tired from staying up until 1am (in my world that might as well be an all-nighter), but the food and company was so worth it. We took it easy that night and skipped the trunk-or-treat at church. There were estimated to be 1,000 people coming and I knew Colin wouldn't go for it. At long last, we woke up on Sunday to official Halloween! It was a beautiful sunny day with highs in the 80's and we met up with the Roberts family at the Fort Worth Alliance Air Show. This year we remembered head phones for Colin and he had a much better time! The only drawback to going is the incredibly long walk to and from the car...I feel like we walked as much as we watched! The F22 Raptor was un-bee-freaking-lieveable and as usual, The Blue Angels were too much! I LOVE the air show! Here are some of Jer's great shots:

You can SEE the pilots!! SO AWESOME!

They never cease to take my breath away. It makes me SO PROUD to be an American!

We got home just in time to cook a quick dinner and get ready for the big night of trick-or-treating! Last year, Colin refused to wear his costume, despite picking it out! This year he had already refused to wear it to his fall festival at school, so I was ready for him to pass. He totally surprised me, as usual, and began begging me to put on his fireman gear. It was no great shock that he choose to be a fireman, what with his whole world revolving around them. :-) He put the whole costume on and refused to eat his dinner. About 10 minutes after we started eating, he said, "Mommy, firemen get really hungry when they put out a big fire. I am ready to eat now!"...how cute he is!! We quickly set out our lit pumpkins and a big bucket of candy with a note for the kids to help themselves. We headed out with the rest of the neighborhood and I don't remember ever being prouder of where we live! This is a large community full of young families and almost every single porch light was on! The streets were literally teaming with adorable kids and families and the atmosphere was jovial and full of good cheer. I was super impressed with all the extravagant decorations that folks put out and Colin got more than a couple of spooky surprises when he knocked on the doors! All the neighbors pulled lawn chairs out to the sidewalk to hand out candy and chat and Colin was almost too tired to walk by the time we rounded the corner to our house. About halfway through, I had to carry his bag because it was "too heavy for little guys". ;-) At three of the houses, 5 and 6 dads pulled their chairs into one driveway and each had buckets of candy to hand out. I thought that was hysterical! Apparently the moms took the kids out and the dads made their own drive-thru candy stop. Colin thought it was awesome that he got to walk the line of dads for extra candy. It was a cool and breezy night and the sound of children laughing and the warm reception from our whole neighborhood will be a memory that I won't soon forget. These are the moments that remind me just how lucky we are and how much God has blessed our lives. What a wonderful memory for Colin...and for us!

My little fireman, all ready to go!

Posing with Daddy before we headed out!

Knocking on his first door! He was SO excited!!

I love this shot that Jer took just as we left...about 5 minutes after this shot, the street exploded with kids! This was the calm before the amazing storm! :-)

Colin and his loot! Now THAT is joy! :-)