4 days and counting...

'...while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads...'

and drool ran out of their mouths

I still just want to touch that light!

pretties...

ah, the holidays are here...

Thanksgiving with Mimi and Grandpa in Chattanooga, TN. Then we'll be up with Pocky, Grandma Pat-Pat, Uncle Matt, Aunt Christy, Tatum and 'Flounder' baby TBA in Denver, CO. A little adenoidectomy and ear tube redo in between and hopefully we'll all be healthy!

It was pretty neat to see my daughter play with the same toys that were from my childhood

'Just look, don't touch the pretty'. Grace is doing pretty good about refraining but she always does a little 'potty dance' like its killing her to not touch the light. Like mother, like daughter, the bubbling light as always been one of my favorite things to put out at Christmas time, though no 'potty dance' for me :)

We don't get the change of seasons or the leaves like this in Texas

We went to the aquarium in Chattanooga, possibly more for our entertainment, but Grace really did seem to enjoy the penguins and all of the fish

We went to see the Christmas lights in downtown Chattanooga and the boats on the river that are decorated in lights (by some accounts, very redneck, but it IS pretty neat)

White and Nerdy- this one's for you, Uncle Ray!! Missed you! You, too Mel, but you're exempt from the white and nerdy :)

bubbles!!!!!

there's nothing like unwinding at the end of a stressful week with a nice relaxing bubble bath

what stress??

happy halloween!!

a little something to wear to school on Friday...

the ladybug

who needs candy... what's in this jack-o-lantern?

doing pretty well...

You know... in my pediatric nursing rotation they encourage play-therapy with the kids because their actions reflect alot about their home-life that they are unable to express otherwise. I wonder what Grace is trying to say about our parenting??:)

the frazzled mother

It cracks me up to watch Grace. She's had this doll since her birthday and had no interest in her whatsoever. So much that if I put her in the play stroller, Grace would fling her out. All of a sudden Sunday night she has started to try to sit the doll with her on her special seat. It has only expanded from there to taking her for stroller rides (in the form of bumper cars) and at the end of the day she puts the doll to bed. That part is at least reassuring to me about Grace's perception of our parenting :), its really cute to watch her cover her up with the wadded up blanket and then pat the doll on her back to help her fall asleep.

Things have been pretty good/interesting/busy here. I'm not sure where the month of October has gone, I thought it just started... Dan has hired an assistant coach that can't start soon enough- he's been incredibly busy. Their season is about to start with the team heading to Little Rock, AR to swim in an invitational this weekend. Coaching must be rough; I woke up last Thursday morning to a text timed from 6:34 a.m. saying, "I think I broke my ankle." Hmmmm... Luckily (I guess) it was a high ankle sprain. Thank goodness for the on-site care of the athletic trainers. It has gone through a rainbow of colors, looking pretty impressive.

I ran the LiveStrong Challenge 5K with my friend Jodie and our girlies rode along with us in their strollers. I think Grace liked cruising at the faster speeds. I was bummed that I did not catch a glimpse of Lance Armstrong though.

We went to see Third Day in concert last week. It was Dan's birthday present. The concert was awesome!! It was a pretty intimate setting. The music is much like the praise music from Hope Chapel in NC or Celebration Church here x 10. It felt like we were at the best Sunday morning praise ever. They were so down to earth. At one point when it went dark between songs, the band reappeared in the middle of the audience and played acoustic, taking requests from the crowd. Awesome!!

I think it is finally safe enough to mention that our house is sold. We were set for a 10/22 closing but then there a few paperwork hold-ups and it was put off to 10/29. So here we are the night before, a thousand signatures done and notarized, monies in place, papers overnighted to San Antonio and hopefully no last minute phone calls!

carving the jack-o-lantern

Fall

Miss Pretty

Grace Church, circa 1881, in downtown Georgetown, TX

Here are the yellow bikes that are part of what makes Southwestern University famous. These yellow bikes are all around campus with the understanding that you might ride one to class and then someone else will ride it to lunch, as long as they don't leave the campus