Christmas Cookies and Crafts

The kids and I went with Nikki, Harrison and Hudson to decorate Christmas cookies and do some crafts at the Center today.  It was kind of a celebration for Zoe, since she is finally over the stomach bug!!  They each got five cookies to decorate, then we traced their bodies on paper that they decorated.  Eli did a gingerbread man and Zoe did a snow angel.  Then it was on to a couple of foam crafts, which we took home to do so we could make it to Eli's basketball practice.

 He worked so hard on his gingerbread man :-)

 My little snow angel.

 Harrison did not want his picture taken :-)

A big cheese from Hudson.

Thanksgiving San Antonio Style

We alternate which family we spend Thanksgiving with, and this year we spent it in San Antonio with Johnny's.  My sister-in-law Michelle cooks everything and they host at their house out in Boerne.  It is always so laid back and fun just watching all the kids play.  This year Cesar and his girlfriend's son started a fire in the fire pit and we sat outside into the evening visiting.  Johnny and I were the last to leave, but the kids spent the night with their cousins.  That freed us up to hit the Black Friday sale at Target ;-)  We didn't do too much damage, but I think now after two years in a row, we have officially created a Thanksgiving tradition for ourselves!  

Getting the fire going.

 Relaxing by the warm fire.

 Me and my girl :-)

 Where's there's Julie, there's Eli and vice versa.  These two are attached at the hip at all times.

Steven playing a little soccer.

Sarah broke out the mustache tattoos :-)

Halloween 2012

Our Halloween fun began at the Fall Festival at our church on Friday the 26th.  I swear they pick up a section from the State Fair and put it down in our church parking lot.  The kids were only $5.00 and adults were free.  It was freezing cold, but so much fun.  The kids and I went with friends and planned on staying for an hour and a half to two at the most.  Johnny had a late client so he hadn't planned on going.  He got home a little earlier than he anticipated, so we decided to stay later so he could come too.  We ended up staying the entire four hours!  The kids ate Taco Casa before we went, then again with Johnny and me at Chiloso after :-) 

 The pony that she swore the whole afternoon she was not going to ride.

 Beep, beep, beep, these cars were so loud!

 Waiting in line with Noah to ride The Storm , which I got to ride too since he was too short to do alone.

 Helicopters with Harrison.

 They loved this one!  Every time they whipped around the corner, this was their expression :-)

 Waiting to bounce.

 Coming down the big bounce slide.

 Silly boys, they had a great time.

 Mirror Maze 

Self portrait

Zoe and I on the bumper cars.  She had a blast.

Halloween was an early release day for Eli.  Zoe and I rushed from Bible Study to Sonic to get her a $0.50 corn dog for lunch, which she ate in the car waiting for Eli.  Then we went home for a quick nap, followed by going to see Hotel Transylvania.  We ate an early yummy dinner at our friends Thomas and Nikki's.  Then it was time to put on costumes and get ready for trick-or-treating.  The boys friend Fernando and his parents joined us too.  Eli was a ninja and Zoe was a flapper, made by Nan :-)  After finishing in our neighborhood, Lucia, Fernando's mom invited us to come trick-or-treat at their house too.  And then of course we had to go to a couple of friends houses on our street.  It was a very busy day, followed by a late night, but a lot of fun.   

I don't know which she loved more, the costume or getting to wear my makeup. 

 My sweeties.

A flapper, Batman, a Special Forces officer, Ninja and Obi Wan Ken-obi.  Quite the group, and Zoe did well hanging with all the boys :-)   

Comparing their loot!

This week at school, the First Graders had a "Family Project".  They had to decorate a pumpkin like a character from a book.  The entire first grade hallway is lined with their pumpkins and books.  On Friday, all of the students in the school will vote, with change, on their favorite.  Then, all of the money is being donated to Helping Hands.  Eli first said he wanted to do Spiderman. I convinced him that that wasn't really very creative, and there would probably be others that did it too (and there were).  He has been doing great at reading the Fly Guy books with little to no help, so we settled on that one.  The instructions said there could be absolutely no carving or puncture marks.  However, I resorted to using some staples because the E6000 glue and hot glue were either not drying quick enough, or it was pulling the acrylic paint off the pumpkin.  In the end he was happy with our choice and we got lots of compliments when we carried it in and set it up at school.

Weekend Fun

We've had a great weekend so far.  Eli participated in the Ultimate Fitness Challenge at school on Friday.  It was a ten part obstacle course to promote fitness and it also served as a school fundraiser.  Zoe and her best friend Sarah Jane even got to participate in between classes.

Johnny's dad came on Friday and spent the night.  We went to dinner at Arboleda's and made a stop at Wal-Mart to pick up a VCR, then he got to see some of Eli's soccer game on Saturday.  Eli played goalie the second half and made several stops.  He had one that was really good.  The ball came flying at him and he caught it mid-air against his chest.  Parents on both sides were cheering for him :-)

After soccer, we went to a birthday party for his friend Reagan at Little Hart's Pony Parties in Lucas, TX.  They rode horses, had their faces painted, rode in a horse drawn carriage, played on a playground, hit a pinata, and petted a couple of goats.  

The sweet birthday girl, Reagan.