It’s beginning to look alot like Christmas

Meet Jingle Bells

Our little elf who came to us on Thanksgiving to watch over the little person in the house. Each night while we sleep he flies back to the North Pole to give his report to Santa. Then he flies back to our house before morning and sometimes get into mischief in the middle of the night. We never know where we’ll find him in the morning….

Getting into the Smarties stash

hanging out with the snow family

writing messages

getting crazy with the tape

I have a feeling there will be more shenanigans to come with this guy over the next week. Stay tuned!

Thanksgiving recap

Wayne’s parents Walter and Marie, better known around here as Grandad and Rie, came down for Thanksgiving. My mom was also over and we had a very nice day, complete with some post feast swinging outside.

The next day we went to the Homestead Fair in Waco  for the second year in a row. I tried to link it but it didn’t work. Oh well. It’s this huge craft, food, music type outdoor festival type event where you can spend the whole day getting lost in the simpler forms of life. Make your own cheese, take a horse and carriage ride, hear children sing in a choir, eat cider doughnuts, pet baby animals, etc. The weather was perfect this year. Blue skies and temps in the 60′s! Perfect for strolling around outdoors.

 

trick or treat

Happy November 1st! Did I really just type November 1st? Geeze. I’m really glad we’re knee deep in Autumn, but at the same time, I’m not quite ready for all of the holiday hubbub surrounding Thanksgiving and Christmas just yet. So I will talk about our Halloween. We had a really fun Halloween weekend, starting out on Saturday with a little Fall Festival at Ro’s school, and topped off yesterday with trick or treating. Little Miss’s first time! I wasn’t sure what to expect— would she be shy and scared and not really want to go up to the doors? Or would she love it and run up to each house squealing in delight? Come to find out, she is quite the fan of trick or treating and by the second or third house she was a real pro! She wanted to ring all the doorbells and she said trick or treat loud and clear and really poured on the charm. A couple of times people thought she was a mouse and she would tell them “I’m a kitty”.  Where does she get the chutzpah? Not from me! We went with some friends who have a 1 yr. old little boy, who made the cutest vampire you ever did see. We all commented on how fun it is to be re-living our childhood by taking our own kids out trick or treating. I honestly can’t wait to do it again next year.

banana pudding birthday

Thursday was Wayne’s birthday and the little miss and I made him his favorite dessert. Banana pudding. But this is no ordinary banana pudding, as fine as that may be. This is Magnolia Bakery\’s Banana Pudding.  You know, the  bakery in NYC that made the cupcake famous.  The secret is the heavy cream and the condensed milk. It’s really hard to stop at one bowl.

Do you like Romy’s candle job? She stuck them in all by herself and helped blow them out. And of course did a stellar job singing Happy Birthday.  if you ever need to bring something to a potluck, cook out or family dinner, this dessert is a hit. It’s better after sitting in the fridge for a day or even overnight.

better late than never

It’s four days before Fall officially starts (yippee!) and I’m finally getting around to writing about our trip to Arkansas to see Romy’s Grandma and Grandpa Brown back in early August.  We had a great week just relaxing and taking it really really easy. One day it poured sheets of rain the whole day ans we just sat and watched it. It was perfect. It hasn’t rained like that in Austin in months. We are still in such a drought- it’s awful. 

My parents live minutes from Lake Ouachita, one of the prettiest lakes in the country.  So of course a day on the lake was in order.

 

instant happiness

Sunflowers from Wayne just because. What is it about sunflowers that always make me happy? He knew exactly what I needed that day!

ten years later

Ten years later, there are no words that I could say that someone else hasn’t already said. No feeling I could feel that others haven’t felt. Now a decade later, those of us that were in NYC the day the country stood still still share  the same bond that we shared that Tuesday morning. We could never forget the sights, sounds, and smells that were present that day and for days and weeks to follow. Papers from the Twin Towers blowing in the street as I walked to work, ash from the rubble and debris making their way from lower Manhattan to my Brooklyn home windowsill. Millions of people with glazed and saddened looks in their eyes as we tried to go about our business in the days that followed, wondering if the terror was over and how we could go on united as a city, as a country. Everyone knew someone who knew someone who had perished. For me, it was a coworker who lost her brother in Tower 1. The sadness I felt at his funeral was a different kind of sadness than I’ve ever felt before. I will never forget it.

As I went about my daily life today, I could not help but spend most of it reflecting on that day 10 years ago. I thought about the people who lost their lives, their families whose fate was forever changed that morning, and what’s really important in this life. I thought about the friends with whom I will forever be bonded with, as we all tried to be there for one another (they all know who they are), acting as stand in family.  There were tears shed, but also feelings of peace and overwhelming gratitude.

My story of Septemer 11, 2001. One that will  be told to my child, and surely to her child, and then to her child. It’s been 7 years since I have called New York City my home, but I will always feel a tie to it like no where else I’ve ever been.

The Beach

Hands down, one of my very favorite things to do is go to the beach. I could sit in a chair and watch the ocean for days.  Watching and hearing the waves crash, looking at the horizon, sticking my feet in the sand…..it never fails to refresh me and make all seem right with the world for a while. A couple of weeks ago we had the pleasure of spending a long weekend at Crystal Beach, off the coast of Galveston, with Wayne’s brother and his family. We had such a good time. We don’t get to see them as often as we’d like, so it was really good to be able to have a few days together. I don’t need to say that Romy adored the sand and sea. It may as well have been Christmas morning! It was her first time going to the beach, and it was a really special experience. We hope to make seeing the ocean an annual event as a family. I’d really like that, and I know she would too.

2.5

My gal. Changing from my baby to my little girl right before my eyes.  Now that she’s getting older I really enjoy having two sided conversations with her. She says things like ” oh my goodness”  and “I love you so much”. How could my heart not swell with pride? She loves her books, especially The Three Little Pigs , Goldilocks & the Three Bears,  We’re going on a Bear Hunt (Thanks Rachel!) and Curious George.  She also adores playing pretend at bedtime- we snuggle in the rocker in the dark, pretending all sorts of things. (per her request, usually involving a cave and a bear) . I love this time together because I know it won’t last forever. For one, I am not sure how much longer she can fit on my lap in that rocker! Other  current faves  are swimming, having me paint her toenails, playing with her baby dolls and eating popsicles.   I feel so blessed to be her mom, words fail me to even describe.