Thanksgiving Break

Our favorite Thanksgiving tradition is the running of the Dallas Turkey Trot 5K. I ran my first Trot when I was either 15 or 16. We have missed a couple races in recent years due to pregnancies, but we were back on track this year. Landon even joined as a registered participant! The 2011 race brought 36,820 participants and I'm sure this year boasted a similar crowd. With so many runners, walkers, dogs and strollers, it's hard to actually "run" the entire race. We ran when we could and walked when the streets were just too jammed. Landon did just fine.....3 miles is a lot for a 5-year old. He asked if we were almost done at about the 1-mile marker. We can't wait until Rock is big enough to run with us (and ditch the stroller)!

We stopped at this nice little park downtown as we were walking back to our car.

When Bo came home from work on Sunday, he surprised us with tickets to Disney on Ice. Rock absolutely LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The kid will sit down and watch episode after episode. He really likes Mickey, but Goofy seems to be his favorite.

So, here we are waiting for the show to begin. This picture makes me laugh. Our kids have very different personalities. Maybe you can tell from this picture?

I love this picture of me with my little guys. Gosh, I love them so dearly.

There was a beautiful Christmas Tree close to the event center.

A cold front was blowing in, but our boys were determined to ride the 4-wheeler. Kids are somewhat immune to cold weather.

Landon lost his first tooth! I was so looking forward to that sweet little gap kids get when they lose their baby teeth. However, we'll have to wait until he loses his top teeth, I guess. His bottom 2 adult middle teeth were already coming in before the babies got loose. Last weekend we ate dinner with my parents and I'm pretty sure his tooth was swallowed with a bite of pizza! I noticed his tooth was missing the next morning. Since we had no tooth to leave under his pillow, he wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy. She came!

I worked from home yesterday, which had all sorts of benefits beyond the obvious not-going-into-the-office ones. Yesterday was my husband's birthday, so we were able to pop in for a little visit at the fire station. And, I was able to attend the 2nd 6 weeks Awards Assembly at Landon's school. His teacher had told me that she selected him for an award and hoped that I could make it....as a surprise! He had no idea that Rock and I would be there, nor did he realize he would recieve an award. Landon received the Award for Integrity and Honesty, which I think is a perfect award for that boy.

And here is a super special picture of his principal planting a kiss on him! He was very surprised....you can see that in his eyes! What a special little boy!

Landon's turkey that he disguised as a clown.

And, finally, here are some pictures of our trip to Daddy's fire station to bring him some birthday treats! We sure do love that man!

Bo is participating in Movember.....the growing of facial hair to raise awareness of cancers affecting men. Firefighters can't grow beards, so the mustache will have to do. His wife is NOT a fan! I like that he's supporting Movember, but anxiously anticipate the arrival of December 1st! Bye-bye scratchy mustache!

Halloween 2012

Alien: Our Alien first wanted to be a bloody, scary monster or zombie. I put my foot down and told him he was too young for that mess. I understand he's grown out of the "cute" Halloween costumes. I knew this day was coming and dreaded its arrival. His school, however, said no scary costumes, so I used that excuse as well. Then the Alien wanted to be The Incredible Hulk. We couldn't track down the Hulk in his size. Then the Alien wanted to be an Alien. Then the Alien wanted to be Bumblebee from Transformers. Then we were back to the Alien. I made the Alien some cute antenna made of a headband, silver pipecleaners and green pom-poms. I also purchased green face paint. The Alien chose the store-bought mask instead. I must say I loved the mask.

Superman: Rock (and his brother) loves to get out of the bath, wear only his hooded towel and run up and down the hallway yelling "Superman!" So, naturally, our Superman was destined to be himself for Halloween. He was pretty amazed by the cool cape and bright primary colors of the costume, but the bath towel is still his favorite. Anyhoo, Superman is just a wee little lad and can't argue about the costume choices. I cherish these days.

Landon got to wear his costume all day at school. Rock and I attended his Boo Parade at school that morning. Nana even joined us! We love that she works just down the road at the high school. The Boo Parade was not a parade. We barely saw the Alien. And, wouldn't you know it....there was one other Alien in the entire school and that Alien was in his class! Same exact costume.

That afternoon we trick-or-treated on the downtown square. Both of them had runny noses, a lack of enthusiasm for getting candy and just weren't feeling it. So, we made one round, snapped a few pictures and headed home.

Landon's runny nose quickly turned into Strep and Pink Eye! He missed his first day of school on Friday. He was devastated to miss a day of school and mess up his perfect attendance. I love that he doesn't want to miss a day of school and cares about perfect attendance! That will change. Their doctor prescribed the same antibiotics for Rock since he was probably headed down the same path. They were both feeling great this weekend!