Gearing up for the Holidays!

 We're gearing up for the Holidays down here. It's been a warm November & early December but thankfully the weather cooled down into the 60's and 70's today, perfect weather for doing some outside decorating. Our tree is now up, snowman is in the yard & lights are on the shrubs. I don't think I'll ever get used to this extremely warm weather in December! Happy Holidays everyone!

Annabelle's 4th Birthday!

The Birthday Girl!

I can't believe my baby is already 4! It seems like just yesterday she was a tiny baby.


This year we decided to do a princess theme party with a candy buffet and a blow up princess tent. Annabelle was SO excited since this was her first "real" birthday party with friends at our house. The weather had been beautiful for the past few weeks, we were looking forward to having the party in our backyard but unfortunately when we woke up on Saturday it was gray, soggy & gloomy out so we had to move part of the party to our garage which is tiled - that worked out really well for us! Annabelle had a great time with her friends, we ate cake, played games and let the kids play all over the house. It didn't rain during the party so the kids did get to play on Annabelle's swing set. Here are some pics from the princess party.

The Candy Buffet

Singing Happy Birthday

Castle in the Party Garage

Eating Cake

Playing!

The Cake

Opening Gifts

Balloons & Flowers

Busy, busy, busy

Since preschool started the last few weeks have just been a blur. We've been busy doing a whole lot of nothin'! I did get some of the Halloween decorations up and took a cute photo of Annabelle in her pumpkin costume (which she HATES), oh, & I had to bribe her with one dollar to get her to wear the costume :). Temperatures are getting a bit cooler down here & the next few months should be much nicer than the summer months. I do miss the Kansas/Oklahoma fall & winter! Oh, & here are a few other things I miss:
• Snow
• Coats & Mittens
• Sweaters
• Taco Bueno!
• The English Language
• Arbys
• Family & Friends Close By
• Hot Cocoa (really no need for it down here!)
• SMALL bugs (our roaches are four feet long I swear!)
• Crispy Fall Leaves (Palm trees just aren't the same!)
• Snow Boots
• Braums
• Fast Driving on Roads & Highways
• Being in the Majority not the Minority
So funny the things that I miss, and the list for things I DON'T miss is probably twice as long :). After living here for over a year now I think we are adjusting well & making new friends. Annabelle is enjoying preschool (even though she is the only white girl in her class) she totally loves it!

Last Day at the Beach Before School Starts!

...and some cake baking

We've been doing some baking lately too. Cupcakes are Annabelle's favorite!

Block Building Master

Annabelle has been building some real masterpieces with her blocks lately!

Summer Fun

We've been trying to relax these past few weeks before school starts again. I'm sure it's going to be another hectic school year, especially since we were able to get Annabelle enrolled in preschool at UTPA (yaayy!). Annabelle will start school on Aug. 31, she's very excited!

Justin decided to get his radio controlled/gas powered car out again. Little did we know when we bought this house that it has the PERFECT spot for him to run his car, the drainage/hurricane ditch in our backyard is perfect for speeding his car around!

Justin's New Helicopter

Pico de Gallo (the 2nd)

Sadly, our fish Pico de Gallo passed away today. Our newest addition to the family is a fancier fish named Pico de Gallo the second. Welcome new Pico, may you live a long (longer than the last fish) life!

Sun, Fun & A New Pirate's Ship Wheel

Summer is in full swing down here in South Texas. Our A/C went out again a few days ago, we had to spend a day and night without A/C and it was a little warm in the house to say the least! But we lived through it again and it probably won't be the last time we'll go without A/C! Justin installed a pirate's ship wheel on Annabelle's swing set, she's been having a great time "sailing" her ship, if only the mosquitos weren't so bad in the yard! We got a new pool with a slide and Annabelle has been having a great time going down the slide just like on "wipeout". There are lots of little lizards in the yard this year, I took a couple pics of them, they are almost invisible when they are in the palm trees. Not much else new going on down here, just trying to stay cool and relax for a while before school starts again and busy schedules begin!

4th of July Weekend

We survived our first hurricane (Alex) down here in the Valley. Last week was very busy, we had to shovel our own sand bags, issued by the city and place them in front of our doors. We had to bring in ABSOLUTELY everything that was outside including all Annabelle's toys, our lawn furniture and plants. I had to make a mad dash to the HEB to get "hurricane supplies" including bottled water, canned meats and canned foods. I've never seen so many crazy people grabbing absolutely everything off the store shelves, it was worse than my experiences in Oklahoma when a blizzard is coming! UTPA closed their campus for 3 days so Justin was home most of last week. Thank goodness the hurricane passed us by uneventfully, with just lots of rain and a little wind. Hopefully the rest of the hurricane season will be the same! Luckily, the hurricane didn't ruin too much of our holiday weekend. We were invited to a July 4th celebration that was canceled because the area where we were all supposed to park was under water. So, we decided to go to the city parade. Annabelle really liked it, it was a little hot and sunny out but what can you expect, we're in the Tropics! We had a big BBQ with fajitas and lots of good food last night and one of Justin's good friends spent the evening with us. We were able to see some of the city fireworks from our backyard. It's been a nice relaxing weekend, I'm thankful we're not spending it cleaning up storm damage!

Cookie Seeds

Here's something funny Annabelle has been saying lately: A couple weeks ago I was making some cookies and Annabelle asked me if she could have some "cookie seeds", I asked her "what are cookie seeds?" She said "You know, you keep them in the freezer, in the yellow little bag, cookie seeds!"...I finally figured out she meant chocolate chips!

Finger painting

Annabelle loves doing arts & crafts projects so last week we decided to do some finger painting. It was fun for a little while but didn't seem to hold her interest long because she really doesn't like getting messy. Lately we've been going to special programs at the library and hanging out with some new friends we've made. We went to the IMAS (science and art museum) with our friends one day last week, Annabelle had a great time. I took Annabelle to her first movie, Toy Story 3, last week & she totally loved it. I bought her a small popcorn and sprite and she just sat in her chair enjoying the movie the whole time. I was so proud that she could sit through an entire movie! She definitely wants to go back and see another movie again!

Dairy Cow Milking

Today Annabelle & I watched a dairy cow being milked and a presentation on dairy farming. Annabelle really enjoyed it and it explained where our milk comes from and what it is used for. The silly Farmer even tried to squirt us with milk! Annabelle said it was fun but she sure thought the cow was stinky!

Koozie Project

I've been working on some cute koozies lately to hold our cold drinks down here in hot, hot South Texas! Koozies can be fashionable!

Super Hero!

Annabelle decided she was going to dress like a super hero the other day. Here are some pics of her super hero get-up. Check out the green fuzzy hat! I love it! And she was "hiding" behind my curtains so I couldn't find her!

Backyard Friends

Tim & Mary brought us some seed to plant a "Royal Poinciana" tree. Justin & I planted them and put some of the pots on the patio, I also planted some basil and put it out on the patio (hoping it would be ready when the tomatoes I'm growing are ripe). We noticed the pots have been dug in each morning when we look out on the patio so last night I decided to check on the pots to see if I could find out who keeps disturbing them. I was really surprised to find a toad in the pot hunkered down. I scared him away and checked a few minutes later, he was in the next pot! It was so funny! I also found an extra large walking stick hanging out on the patio. We have some of the weirdest creatures down here!