Don't you want one!?

Olivia's friend Adrienne's dog, Baby, had 10 puppies on Thanksgiving Day. We went over to see them this afternoon after school. They are ADORABLE!!!

The proud Mama and her pups. (I know, this picture seems a little personal, but I don't think she minded.)

Aargh, matey!

McIver is a new fan of the Dollar Tree. I had (really, I did!) to go there yesterday to purchase gifts for the children in The Rabbit Class and promised McIver that he could pick one thing for himself and one thing for Olivia. This is what he picked...

If you look very carefully, you can see the dangling earring he has been wearing ever since!

This Little Light of Mine

McIver's class, The Ladybug Class, sang "This Little Light of Mine" in chapel this morning. McIver has a love-hate relationship with school (although he loves his teachers!) so I wasn't sure how the morning would go. He did a great job - sang loud enough for me to hear, but not so loud that he was obnoxious.

The director of the school begins chapel with a prayer and then holds up a striped bag. ALL the kids scream, "What's in the bag?" and she calls on a few kids, then gives a few hints and calls on a few more. McIver told me this morning that he wanted to guess it today so we talked about the different things she might have in the bag. (Last chapel, she had a banana in the bag, so it really could be anything.) Anyway, she finally called on McIver and he guessed it - a tool box. But, what I didn't know is that he had peeked into the bag earlier this morning before school while she was talking to someone else. In fairness to McIver, he did admit to Mrs. Ellerbrock before chapel that he knew what was in the bag and she still chose to call on him. He was very pleased with himself!

Space Center Houston

Space Center Houston ROCKS!!! After letting the kids swim at the hotel pool on Friday, we decided to head down to Space Center Houston.

Olivia & McIver humored me by posing for a picture while Will bought tickets.

Will & Olivia on the tram tour - we went behind-the-scenes at NASA's Johnson Space Center and saw the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility where the astronauts actually train in true-to-size mock-ups of the space shuttles before each mission.

In front of one of 5 'blast off engines' (as McIver called it) on the Saturn V. We were all pretty impressed with the size of the space ship.
The current exhibit is Circus: Science Under the Big Top. They had everything from how a human cannonball works to how performers can swallow swords. McIver was excited about lifting the dumbbells in the clown tent.
Olivia waited not-so-patiently to walk the tightrope. I wasn't sure that she would end up doing it, even after the long wait, but she got all buckled into the harness and zipped right across that wire. She was at least 8 feet off the ground. I was so proud of her!

A few more Thanksgiving pictures

After several phone calls, Will was able to get the recipe for his GranGran's biscuits. (Turns out that I had written it in one of my cookbooks after he tracked it down last year.) It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without them!
Will, Pop & McIver manned the turkey fryer (with a little help from Murphy!).

We managed to get a family picture at the hotel just before they left for the airport. We promised the kids that they could swim in the hotel pool one last time if they would just cooperate and smile for the picture. Turned out pretty well, I think.

McIver will be a lawyer one day!

Exhibit A:
We came home from Target today to discover the left-over apple pie totally DESTROYED on the kitchen counter. It had only been loosely covered with saran wrap so I assumed that Murphy had managed to get to it while we were away. As I stood in the middle of the kitchen shaking my finger at Murphy and telling him he's 'not supposed to eat people food-it will make your throw up-how did you even get to it,' Olivia interrupted to tell me that McIver had climbed up on the counter earlier that morning because he wanted some pie.

So, I turned to McIver and started shaking my finger at him reminding him that he's 'not supposed to get food without asking mommy or daddy first-applie pie is not a healthy thing to eat for breakfast, etc.'

McIver said: I wanted to ask, but you were in the shower and I didn't want to bother you.

Exhibit B:
We went to a friend's house tonight for a 'left-over dinner.' I was a little nervous to go without Will (he's on call) but she assured me there would be plenty of big kids (her daughter is 14) who would help watch out for and entertain Olivia and McIver.

About half-way through the grown-ups' dinner, McIver came downstairs asking whose house we were in. I pointed out Margaret to him and he walked over to talk with her. She pulled him up into her lap and asked what was going on. He told her that the big kids had put him into time-out. She asked why and he said he had thrown something down the steps. Margaret, trying to reason with him, very gently asked what would happen if he threw something down the steps at home.

McIver said: Well, we don't even have steps at home.

Thanksgiving 07

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving - and had even more to be thankful for than we knew. Will had a car accident on Wednesday morning which could have been really bad. No one was hurt, but his car is in pretty bad shape. God was watching over him!



Nanoo, Pop, Cacoo and Grandma Janet arrived in Houston and we met them at the hotel. After a tasty TexMex lunch, we shopped til we dropped (which doesn't take long with a 6 & 4 year old in tow) at the Galleria. The kids visited Santa and told them their Christmas wish list (including a Shark Boy & Lava Girl outfit which I can't find anywhere online so I'm not sure such a thing even exists!). We made our way to Build A Bear where Pop was kind enough to indulge Olivia, McIver AND Cacoo. Once O & Mac had enough, we walked back to the hotel with Grandma Janet so they could swim in the hotel pool - GREAT FUN! The best part of the whole day was that Olivia and McIver spent the night at the hotel!! They thought they were something else!

Olivia & McIver were SO glad to see Cacoo!

Pop & McIver enjoyed the cool weather while Will fried the turkey.

McIver writes his name for the 1st time

So I had some Christmas gifts all packaged up and ready to mail. Olivia and McIver love to decorate the boxes so they had gone to town with some Sharpies. When I came back around to check on their progress, I discovered that McIver had written his name on one of the boxes - ALL BY HIMSELF!! I'm sure that many kids his age are capable of doing that, but it was news to me that HE could. I have not encouraged him/pushed him in any way b/c he gets so frustrated when he can't do something exactly right the first time that he won't try again - ever. So, I'm super proud of my little guy!

This is what he wrote on the package.

This is his next attempt - with some help from Olivia to 'remember the E.'

Atlanta with the YaYas

The YaYa weekend in Atlanta was absolutely WONDERFUL!!! We celebrated Sadie's announcment that Baby Steffner #2 is on the way (due in early June). It was so great to see everyone and catch up in person rather than too-brief phone calls or not-so-personal emails. We ate, talked, drank good wine, luxuriated in comfy hotel beds, shopped, saw Dan in Real Life ("it was better than Cats!"), ate, drank and talked some more. Everyone should be so lucky! I love you girls - let's start planning the next get-away!

When Two or Three Are Gathered...

... together in my name, I am there among them. (Matthew 18:20)

We couldn't make it to church this morning b/c of McIver's fever yesterday (although he seems to be fine this morning). So, Olivia decided that we could have church at home. She set up chairs in the living room, turned on a Bible song CD, found bread and a bowl, water and a cup and she and Mac took turns giving each other communion. Hearing my children offer communion to each other, "This is the body of Christ, the bread of Heaven. This is the blood of Christ, the cup of salvation," was awe-inspiring. After too many days of being cooped up with a tired, sick child, this was definitely a much-needed God Moment!

This time next week...

I'll be on a plane headed to ATL to see the YaYas for the weekend . . . and I'm SO excited! But first, we have to get through a sick-visit to the doctor today at 1pm since Mac has been home with a cough and fever for 2 days. Will being on call tomorrow. Marathon ECW day at church on Sunday - pecan-making begins at 11am and then we have a potluck dinner meeting at 6:30. Three days of school next week for me (manners and Thanksgiving units to cover). 5 days of school for O & Mac, as long as they stay/get well. And, researching our family's 'country of origin,' helping Olivia make a headband with that country's flag and coming up with some sort of food dish to share with her entire class next Friday for the Multicultural Food Feast (which I will miss b/c, as I mentioned earlier, I will be on a plane, by myself!, headed to east to Atlanta!).
Here is who I'm so excited to see:

Clayton's 4th birthday party

Clayton is the son of my tennis partner (although we've only played together twice this season, so I guess I should really just call her our friend and realtor). We were invited to his 4th birthday party last Saturday. It was a gorgeous day and a good time was had by all.

Do you see that!? They're both smiling AND cooperating!

Mac gives the balance beam a try.
Olivia prepares to dismount.
Even Dad gave it a shot.

Golf enthusiasts

Will is trying his best to get Olivia and McIver interested in golf. (I think they'd be interested in most anything he suggests if it means spending time with Dad these days!) We went to Academy the other day and got 2 putters and an iron for the kids to share. Then, after a bit of practice in the backyard, Will took them to Hermann Park's golf course. Olivia was assigned camera-duty which only resulted in pictures of her feet, the back of the headrest in the car, and many self-portraits. Will did manage to take a few though...

How Old Does She Think I Am!?

So, Cacoo called on Halloween afternoon to see if she could borrow one of my old dance dresses from high school. I'm not sure which dress she chose, but the one she asked about is the one I wore to Junior-Senior (and, for the record, I LOVED that dress!). Anyway, she asked me, "So, what kind of dancing did y'all do BACK THEN ... the waltz?" (Emphasis mine!)

Since I don't have a picture of Cacoo in the dress, I'm posting this one from Disney last spring.