We’ve all been kind of sick off and on the past few weeks. I think it has something to do with the weather. It goes from being beautiful to crummy in 3.4 seconds it seems. Today it is 77 and no rain, tomorrow is 54 and nasty.
We had a fairly uneventful Thanksgiving week which was a nice break. My parents went to Vegas for the first part of the week which meant Carissa got to go to work as Travis and I are limited on vacation time. She went up with me on Monday, Travis on Tuesday, and I worked from home on Wednesday. She really did exceptionally well for both of us.
On Monday morning when she came with me, we decided to stop by Starbucks because
On Thanksgiving, we enjoyed a laidback day with the Slaughter side of Travis’s family. We went to Cracker Barrel for lunch (which was very good!), to Bass Pro Shop to see Santa, and then over to Granny and Pawpaw’s for dessert, coffee, and the A&M basketball game. Carissa stayed with her Grammy and Pawpaw to go for a visit to East Texas with the Campbell side while Travis and I boogied on home to watch the A&M/tu game. (What a game by the way! Even though the Aggies ran out of time, it was a fun one to watch. Can’t wait until next year – Hullabaloo, Canek, Canek!)
Friday, we slept in a little bit and then went out after the first round of Black Friday shoppers were done. We still managed to score several good deals even though it was lunch time. We went to the new sports bar on Pearland Parkway to watch the A&M basketball game again along with the Alabama/Auburn game. During the game, we saw a commercial for Outback that we decided to take advantage of that evening. Check this deal out - Trav had a beer, I had a glass of wine, we both had steak, lobster, a baked potato, AND gingerbread martinis for dessert for less than $60! We will definitely do that special again before it is gone!
Saturday we had a traditional turkey and ham lunch at my mom’s with her extended family. Travis left after lunch to go hunting with his Dad; I left shortly thereafter to sit on the couch, enjoy the quiet, and watch movies all night!
This morning I went to see New Moon and was pleasantly surprised that it was a lot less horrible than the Twilight movie was. Kristen Stewart’s mouth still drives me nuts, Rob Pattinson just does not play a good Edward (he is way too scrawny to compete with Taylor Lautner and he talks like he is stupid or something – I don’t quite know how to verbalize it…), and I really wish they would make the vampire eyes just a little more believable like they did with their makeup this time around… but, it was still… ok. Like the old saying goes, the book is just better than the movie.
...Except if you’re The Lord of Rings or Interview with a Vampire - stick to the movies there!
[ 1 comment ] ( 9 views )
I am totally listening to classical Christmas music on Pandora today!
[ 3 comments ] ( 30 views )
We’ve been a busy little family the past few weeks! Here is a quick run-down of our recent escapades…
1. I went on a fabulous girls-only trip to New Braunfels with Dee, Margaret, Roxy, and Kim. What a fabulous time we had! We had pedicures, chocolate martinis at a piano bar, wine at Gruene, lunch at the Grist Mill, heard a live band at a bar, ate at Taco Bueno, and outlet-shopped in San Marcos. I may or may not have come home with five new pairs of shoes…
2. Travis and I went to see U2 in concert! Travis and I are not big concert goers – the vast majority of our live-music exposure can generally be found at a dive bar rather than a stadium that seats 80,000. But, wow, what an awesome show!
3. We celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary on October 18. The concert was our gift to each other, and we went to the South Shore Wine Festival, out to dinner, and then to one of those dive-bar concerts I told you about afterwards.
4. Carissa had a little open house at her preschool. They had a really cute singing performance and then we went on a tour of her classroom. The kids were soooo cute singing their little songs. Carissa explained to us that she would get to be on the top stairs during the performance next year when she is in Mrs. Woods class!
5. Parker celebrated his first birthday! Loni baked a really cool F-15 birthday cake and served up breakfast food which is Parker’s favorite. Carissa and I got to take Parker, Hunter, and Grammy to the zoo that Friday afternoon prior to the party. What a hoot that was! Grammy and I quickly discovered that we did much better with Parker staying the wagon – that boy is FAST and doesn’t stop! We had great weather and the kids all had a good time as evidenced by the three sleeping kiddos in the backseat on the way home.
6. Hunter asked Carissa if she could have a sleepover with him and Grammy that night and of course she obliged! They have such fun together. They love to watch movies, play in the dirt, ride the Artic Cat, and have breakfast in bed at Grammy’s. Pat always sends us pictures of the two of them playing and they are just priceless!
7. The next night after Parker’s party, Carissa had a sleepover with Parker at Pops and Grandma Ronnie’s house. They got to go watch sky-divers, picked pecans, and went out to the Smiths’ to check on the deer-stands. Carissa came home with a new camo-Aggie hat and is ready to go huntin’.
8. Carissa decided several months ago that she wanted to be a dog like Shelby for Halloween. We found a pretty good match at Target but they didn’t have her size. I told her we’d buy one online and the mailman would bring it to the house. When we were searching Target.com, she saw a Scooby costume and changed her mind quick! She really did make an awesome Scooby Doo. We trick-or-treated at the Pearland Trick-or-Treat trail again this year and then came home and hit up several houses in the neighborhood. I can’t even begin to tell you how cute my sweetie-pie was running up to the doors, knocking with her big Scooby paws, hollering ‘Trick-Or-Treat’, getting her candy, and running back to us with a big grin!
9. Dee and I are going to see Mary Poppins tonight!
10. What’s up next? We go see Disney on Ice next week! We have a family church dinner with my Grandpa! We have a big 3-oh birthday party for Margaret! Turkey Day! Woot-woot-woot!
[ 1 comment ] ( 12 views )
At lunch today, I was taking one of those inane online surveys and it had a blank where you fill in your age. I actually typed in a "2" and had to backspace to put in the proper "3". My mind seriously forgot that I needed a "3" versus a "2".
They do say that your mind is the first thing to go in your old age.
[ add comment ]
You might recall several months ago I said that I wanted to post a few times per year about Carissa’s Favorite Things. It’s been about six months since the original post, so here we go again….
Color: Still blue. Dark blue in fact.
Movie: As far as the traditional 90-minute continuous minute movies, she is into watching old Care-Bear movies. Like the movies I remember watching which is pretty cool.
TV Show: Clifford the Big Red Dog and Scooby Doo
Clothes: Carissa has thankfully branched out a little bit in her choice of clothing. She does like the comfy factor of T-shirts and shorts, but the T-shirt does not necessarily have to have a character on it. She is also willing to wear skirts which have previously been unheard of, but she does like them to have little built in shorts (which Momma likes too). She still of course enjoys her ‘PJ-days’ at Pa’s, but it can be Arial PJs now and not just Thomas or Lightening.
Place to go: Our latest Friday-off thing to do is the Children’s Museum. They have recently remodeled and have a great section called Kidtropolis where the kids get to play pretend at the bank, the grocery store, a restaurant, a vet, a TV studio, and a couple of other things. They also have a fun outside part where you build your own boat and watch it then go through a canal complete with locks.
Carissa also loves to go to the park. We have several within walking distance of the house which is really convenient. Hopefully, the weather will begin to get a little cooler to make it a nicer walk!
Thing to play: Carissa always wants to play-talk with her characters. She has characters sets from Mickey Mouse, Scooby Doo, Care-Bears, Peter Pan, Lion King, Princesses, Sleeping Beauty, and some others. She will pick out about five or six, bring them over to you, and ask “Momma, wanna talk?” It’s pretty cute, but I think I’ve really run out of things for Nala to say to Funshine Bear!
Song: She still likes all the Disney songs, but only the FAST ones!
Book: Definitely the Clifford and Scooby books. We also have several Disney compilation books that she likes to pick stories out of (always the animal ones, not the Princess ones!).
Favorite thing to do with Momma: We have our 'Friday-off' activities and she also likes to go to CVS with me! They have a car-buggy that she enjoys riding in! And, of course, Target where we also start out our trip with a blue-icee.
Favorite thing to do with Daddy: Travis has the Guitar Hero for his Xbox 360. He'll play the guitar and Carissa will dance to the music like a crazy lady. She definitely got her dancing skills (or lack thereof) from her parents! They also both really enjoy Incredible Pizza - the food and the games.
Favorite foods: Green beans, mac, pinto beans, spaghetti-os, carrots, french frys, nuggets, pizza, fish sticks, frozen waffles, bananas, hot dogs, lunchables – typical kids foods I guess. She is also getting better with at least trying what I’ve cooked for Travis and me.
Favorite candy: Gum, Kit-kats, Hersheys kisses, skittles
Favorite treat: Oreo or Chips Ahoy cookies. She is VERY GOOD about leaving the cookie untouched on her plate until she checks to be sure she’s eaten enough of her dinner.
Favorite toy: Her character box that we talked about before and her stuffed dogs. She has quite the dog-pack now – Clifford, Scooby, Bolt, Bailey, Oscar, Shelby, Boggs, Buster, Pluto, Blue, and Freckles are the ones that come to mind.
[ 3 comments ] ( 16 views )
Back Next
Calendar