Jack Valentine

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Snow Day!

Let's just ignore the fact that I haven't posted since the beginning of November and get right on to the snow we are having in Austin today, shall we?

Rain boots make great snow boots in a pinch!

We don't actually own gloves so she kept her hands in her pockets as much as possible.
A light dusting is all it takes to close schools and businesses in Austin.

Avery wrote her name in the snow.

This kind of love and goodwill only lasts for so long on a snow day. I expect them to be mortal enemies by the time the sun sets.

While Waiting For Dinner

Went went down to Auditorium Shores today for the Gypsy Picnic, which seemed like a good idea on paper. The event featured the food trailers that are all around town with special sample prices so we could try a lot of the different food types offered around town (in trailers). It was a beautiful day--sunny and in the 70s--so just about everyone in town thought it would be a good idea to go check it out. As a result, the lines were incredibly long. It looked like some lines stretched a quarter of a mile long. Several of the trailers sold out early in the day (I'm looking at you, Cutie Pies) and there wasn't a single trailer that didn't have a line at least 75 people long. Needless to say, we left after one lap around the park.


The kids enjoyed being pushed around in the stroller and the great weather but they weren't too happy that they didn't get anything to eat. Since we didn't feed them any lunch on the assumption that we would be eating lots of trailer food, we figured we better make up for it by going to Freddie's for dinner. The kids enjoyed playing on the playground while we waited for our dinner.

Avery started to lose her patience for dinner after we waited 30 minutes to get a table, only to be seated at the very table next to the playground that we had been hanging out on while watching the kids play. Ridiculous. But funny.

She perked up when she found out dinner was coming soon!

Sure, she's all smiles in the picture but in her mind she is plotting which one of us she is going to eat if she doesn't get food soon.

They really shouldn't bring silverware to the table until they bring the food. These things are easily turned into weapons when they need to be. Jack has the knife and fork in his hands and he is checking out the other kids on the playground. This could get ugly...

Thankfully the food came in time and no one got hurt!

Both the kids got tired from playing on the playground at the restaurant. Needless to say, we had no problem at all getting them to bed tonight!

Trick or Treat

Avery chose her own costume again this year, even though I tried my hardest to get her to change her mind. She picked early and she never changed her mind: she was going to dress as a Texas cheerleader. I really loved the cupcake costume from Pottery Barn so I would ask her every week if she wanted to be a cupcake and every week she responded much like a teenager would, "Mooooommmm. I. Want. To. Be. A. Cheerleader." Then she would add, "I already told you that."

And so it continues. She has her own mind and there is really nothing I can do about it.

You may notice from this picture that she is wearing big girl classes now. No more rubber frames with the safety strap to keep on a baby's head. I guess I should at least be happy that she stuck with pink but it sort of breaks my heart to look at her in these new glasses because they instantly age her.

I taught her a cheer to perform upon requests and most of the time she got MORE candy after she cheered, "fire Greg Davis! fire Greg Davis!"

There she goes...off to deliver candy packages to the other kids in the neighborhood before trick-or-treating started. We handed out candy early on our street so we could go meet some friends in my parent's neighborhood for the main event.

My little man, Jack, is still very cooperative both with the clothes I pick out for him every day and with Halloween costumes. I didn't have to do much for him this year because Avery had a turtle costume from when she was 2 that I decided to use for Jack. I figure it will be the last time I will ever be able to recycle a costume of hers so I better take advantage. I was afraid he might have strong feelings on his costume like Avery did when she was 2 but he went right along with my suggestion.

This child will turn anything into drums and drumsticks. He loves to music so much and I really don't know where he gets it from. It's generally a lot of fun to watch (notice I didn't say listen to) but I think I can only say that because it is sunny here over 300 days a year. Not a lot of those rainy days where we are stuck inside listening to this lovely "music."

Once we were done in our neighborhood we headed to my parents house to meet some friends and trick-or-treat.

Oh, what a difference a year makes. Avery wasn't scared at all by Poppa's mask but Jack was definitely hesitant. He kept his distance until Poppa finally coaxed him into a hug.

Off we went! They stayed in the wagon in the beginning, which wasn't surprising to us. It took them a few houses to warm up.

But when we got to "Uncle Josh's" house they took off running. They know he always has the good stuff for them.

Rona answered the door dressed as Kat Von D and Jack said, "hey, where's the candy?" I wish I could have gotten that on video.

They were excited to see Uncle Josh but Jack did not mince words with the candy requests.

I kept waiting for Jack to puke on Josh but it never happened. He got lucky this time.
Avery was happy to pose with Rona, especially in return for her very own bucket of candy. That's right--bucket. Each kid was given their own bucket filled with treats from Uncle Josh.

What we have here is an actual photo of Avery sharing candy with Jack. I can't believe I caught this on film. This is definitely going in the baby book.

Little Jacob (in the skeleton outfit) was trick-or-treating with us. I love this picture because it looks like he is saying, "come on! Let's get moving so we can get more candy!"

He got his wish. Here is Jacob with his first lollipop. So cute! He loved it.

Jack's face is covered in candy in this picture. It's a miracle he made it through the night without puking.

Once the kids got the hang of things they were out of the wagon and into the streets getting candy for themselves. It is good to teach them they need to ask for their own candy rather than expecting people to come to them with candy. It's the building block for every other major life lesson if you ask me.

Derrin, Jolene, and Jacob were a lot of fun to hang out with while we were trick-or-treating.

This woman was giving out toothpaste to all the trick-or-treaters. I thought that was a really novel idea. I mean, they don't call it trick-or-treats for nothing. It can't all be candy and play-doh.

After we were done with the candy collection we went to a little festival in the neighborhood. Jacob loved eating the popcorn.

If you ever wondered what a turtle climbing a blow-up slide looks like, here you go.

Every wonder what a turtle throwing a football looks like? You're welcome.

Jacob and Jack on the slide. I think I took 5o pictures o

f Jacob coming down the slide and none of them showed his face coming down.

But I was able to get the perfect shot of him going down the slide...backwards! Of course.

At the end of the night we had a very tired turtle and a happy little cheerleader. No one cried. No one threw up. It was a great night.

Obligatory Pumpkin Patch Post 2010

We made our annual trip to Sweet Berry Farms for some pumpkin patch action earlier in October. Our friends Stan, Melissa, and Beth joined us with their kids. Sweet Berry Farms always does such a great job setting up tons of neat photo ops and having lots of activities for the kids. It was definitely worth the long drive through the Texas hill country to get there.

Getting a picture of all 4 kids together was impossible. This was our best try.
Jack getting a piggy back ride from Grammy.
Avery getting a shoulder ride from Poppa. Do these kids ever actually walk?
Avery on a horse. That look on her face cracks me up because I know she is terrified to be on the horse but she is trying to make us think she is ok with it.
Ah. Back on solid ground. Survived the horse ride and is now daring to sit on hay.

Jack in a horse trailer.

Jack was doing the chicken dance on a picnic table.
Avery was playing "Simon Says" with Grammie and Poppa. She is very bossy when she leads games like this. I wonder where she gets that from...

Avery and Grammie on a hay ride.

Jack with Poppa on a hayride.

Holding hands. I love this one. Makes you forget all about the box of raisins they dump on the living room floor on a daily basis.

We also went to the pumpkin patch at our church earlier this month so we could buy some pumpkins for our front porch. Look, I'm not going to lie. Right now the kids don't realize that you can carve faces into pumpkins and light them up at night and I am ok with that. We buy the pumpkins, put them on the front porch, and look at them every time we go in or out of the front door. Period. There is no cutting, messy gutting of the pumpkin, or post Halloween decomposition of said pumpkin and I am perfectly fine with that. I realize the kids are going to catch on to pumpkin carving soon enough and I will happily comply when that time comes. For now, no pumpkins will be murdered on my watch.

Not pictured: Jack's shorts don't match his shirt AT ALL. He was wearing blue plaid shorts with a green stripped shirt thanks to us rushing out of the house without actually taking a look at what he was wearing.
This picture cracks me up because it sort of looks like she is trying to choke him.

She is very much into making silly faces for pictures.

Out of 7 tries, this is the best I could get of the three of them together. At least this one shows Jack's mis-matched outfit. On the plus side, it was better than Matt could do. He didn't get any of the three of us.

Last but not least, it isn't all three of us but Jack's shirt made it in the background of this one.