Day 334 - Bluebell

Here is Bridget & Caroline in the lobby of the Bluebell Ice Cream Factory. We didn't take the tour because we thought it would be cutting it close to Bridget's flight home.

Day 333 - Fort Mason

Today we took a drive out to Mason, TX to see the fort. It was much smaller than I imagined, but I guess they didn't need much to sleep, eat, and keep an eye out for any "bad guys". This is the view from the walkway between the 2 living spaces.

Day 332 - Auntie Bridget

The kids had fun taking silly pictures with Bridget's iPod Touch.

Day 331 - Day Trip

Today we did some sight seeing with the whole family!

Day 330 - Turkey 2.0

Happy Thanksgiving, again! Today my parents and sister arrived from California, and we had a wonderful turkey dinner with all of the grandparents and aunties at Martta's house. Everything was delicious! ANd I even tried brussel sprouts for the first time... Martta's preparation was yummy! Here the kids are reading a book on my Dad's iPad, hanging out with Jim, and Martta & I are enjoying a break after dinner.

Day 329 - Waiting

Happy Thanksgiving! Jackson is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Gramee Jane & Grampa Neil. This is his favorite place to "perch" and wait for visitors.

Day 328 - Paper Turkey

The kids are home from school for Thanksgiving break, and even though I have a ton of cleaning to do before our families arrive, we all needed to sit and have a little fun together. We made turkeys from toilet paper tubes! The kids had fun cutting and glueing, and so did I!

Day 327 - Bird

My Mom bought this bird at the Austin Children's Museum during their visit in May for Caroline's birthday. I hung it in the playroom above their art wall. I love the colors, and it is something that makes me smile when I walk by each day!

Day 326 - Cleaning

Caroline made a big mess, so she is sweeping her crumbs... Cinderella style. :)

Day 325 - Decor

Finally got the corbels on the wall. I think we need darker paint now. :)

Day 324 - Frog

Gramee Jane brought this musical frog back from China for Jackson. It's pretty fun! You use the stick to run over the bumps on it's back, and if you do it just right, it sounds like real croaking.

Day 323 - Program

Jackson had his Thanksgiving school program this afternoon. It was a harvest theme, and they dressed up as farmers. It was also pajama day for a PJ drive they were having at school, so some of the kids are in their PJs. Jackson did a great job memorizing and saying his lines!

Day 322 - Keep Calm

These "Keep Calm" printables are showing up all over blogland, so I decided to print out a few as decorations for Thanksgiving. I thought this one was pretty cute.

Day 321 - Princess Cupcakes

Caroline & I made these cupcakes today. The princess decorations were from Grandma & Grandpa Olson for her birthday. She had so much fun putting them in the cupcakes, and had a hard time deciding which one to eat!

Day 320 - Goodwill

Scored 2 of these wood corbels at Goodwill for $5 each!

Day 319 - Flashback Fail

Caroline in her PJ's playing with her Bitty Baby this day in 2009. She loves that doll!

Day 318 - Birthday Brisket

Happy Birthday to my hubby! Love you HPP! We had oven roasted BBQ brisket for dinner, along with mashed potatoes and salad. This pic is just as we put the brisket in the oven... all of that rub makes it so flavorful!

Day 317 - Rock Climbing

Jackson's friend from school had a rock climbing birthday party! It was fun to watch all the boys climb the super high walls. Jackson would only go about 6 feet up before getting his feet back on the ground. I guess he might have some of Daddy & Gramee's fear of heights!

Day 316 - Donut

Every so often Jim gets a donut craving. There's no stopping him, so I get to enjoy the occasional donut as well!

Day 315 - Flashback Fail

Jackson & I having some fun together this day in 2009. Taken with my old point & shoot that took a dive in a pond.

Day 314- Leaves

Happy Birthday to my father-in-law Neil! Have a wonderful day!

The leaves have finally started to change here in Texas. This is our Red Oak in the backyard.

Day 313 - Sunset

Sunset from our backyard.

Day 312 - Upside Down

Little Miss decided she was more comfortable watching TV with her legs up and head down. I'm in pain just looking at her!

Day 311 - Fuzzy

Jackson wanted to wear my fuzzy socks after finding them in my room. Pretty funny!

Day 310 - Wedding

Tiramisu cake balls from a friend's wedding. Congrats to Andris & Emily!

Day 309 - Pumpkin Ice Cream

Jackson loved the pumpkin ice cream I made with my new ice cream maker. A little chocolate syrup doesn't hurt either. :)

Day 308 - Happy

Today, Jackson got his new hearing aids! They are not programmed to their optimal level for his loss yet, but he is already hearing so much better. I had to hold back tears, both joy and pain. He is such a happy boy today!

Day 307 - Choice

This afternoon I let the kids eat as many pieces of candy as they desired. Jackson said he was going to eat 20, but stopped at 17. Caroline choice Swedish Fish for her first piece, and was done by piece number 2... Whoppers. I was hoping this might get the candy bug out of the system, but they both promptly asked for more after dinner... ugh. Might be time to make some of it "disappear".

Day 306- Tired Train

Caroline getting her nightly ride upstairs on the "Tired Train"... complete with ice water, and strictly specified number of ice cubes.

Day 305 - Loot

All the candy the kids brought home from 2 nights of trick-or-treating... I feel my pants getting tighter already.

Day 304 - Halloween

Our BatKids! And our pumpkin family.

The kids worked on their upper body strength tonight! They brought home tons of candy, which of course we are "checking" for quality. :)

Day 303 - Miss C

Caroline enjoying a cookie Jim made this morning!

Day 302- Trunk-or-Treat

After a reminder from my neighbor Holly, we decided to walk (with her family) down to Vista Ridge High School for their Trunk-or-Treat event. Many of the clubs & organizations on campus dressed up and handed out candy to the kids in the community. They used the back of their cars as "houses", thus, the trunk-or-treat. It was fun!

Day 301- Pumpkin Party

Caroline's preschool had a pumpkin party today! She was so excited to wear her costume and eat all those yummy treats!

Day 300 - Flashback Fail

A grumpy little lady on this day last year.

Day 299 - Timeline

This picture is horrifying as far as white balance, etc, but I tried to "fix" it, so there was a chance someone might be able to read it. Jackson's timeline project for school. I'd like to say we had fun making it, but it took a few days of spreading out the writing to make it tolerable for him. In the end, I think he actually learned something, so I guess it was all worth the whining. :)

Day 298 - Lick

Caroline loves to lick the spoon, or paddle in this instance. We found a new recipe for chocolate cookies, and they are amazing! My new favorite.

Day 297 - Flashback Fail

Another fail... I guess this gets a little harder toward the end of the year, but I'm trying! Here is Jackson with his "goggles" on, last October 24th.

Day 296- Pumpkin Patch

This post should make up for the failed days I've had! We took a drive out to Sweet Berry Farms in Marble Falls, TX this morning. The week before Halloween meant it was going to be busy, so we got out of the house by 8:15 for the 45 min trek. The kids had a great time, we picked a few pumpkins, took a million pictures, and got out of there just as the crowd started getting too big.

Day 295 - Flashback Fail

On this day last year, Caroline was helping me bake and turned on the mixer to high! She was covered in flour, and not too thrilled about it either.

Day 294- Flashback Fail

My sweet pea on this day last year.