Ho Ho Ho!

After church today we took the kids to the mall to see Santa. I have this same picture of the kids since Brandon was one year old! I think it's actually the same Santa for the last 7 years, too.

End of an Era

Jeff, Coach Fran and Jessica at an A&M Football event in 2003

Dennis Franchione out, Mike Sherman in as Texas A&M's new head football coach.

Wild Weekend

This past weekend was one of those lazy, fall weekends where you sleep in late, watch football on TV all day and basically do nothing. Yeah, right. I don't think we've had one of those weekends since our children discovered extracurricular activities.

On Friday Lindsay's class had its Thanksgiving Feast and enjoyed traditional Thanksgiving food like chicken nuggets, macaroni & cheese and cupcakes. Jeff attended the festivities because I was with my mom spending obscene amounts of money at the Junior League holiday market on Friday.
Friday night was Brandon's first musical stage performance in a Broadway Review. His class sang and danced to "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid. He looked awesome as a fish and did a great job! Lindsay loved watching all the performances and told Jeff, "I want to do that!"

Saturday was spent shopping for clothing warm enough to sustain our body temperatures when we go skiing at Christmas. Since we barely even need to own a jacket down here, we really have to buy everything - coat, ski pants, long underwear, hats, gloves, etc.

At lunch time we headed to Fuddrucker's for Brandon's end-of-season baseball party. We ate lunch, the kids played games and Brandon received his trophy. We had a disappointing end to the season during the tournament and even typing about it right now makes me very upset, so maybe I will discuss what happened another time. But let's just say that it's hard to teach 7 & 8 year old boys the concept of sportsmanship if adults coaching the teams don't understand it themselves. Was that diplomatic enough? Coaches Jeff and Lou also recieved trophies and baseballs signed by all the boys.

Saturday night was Brandon's encore performance of "Under the Sea". I don't know what kind of makeup they used Saturday night, but we had a heckuva time trying to get all that eye makeup off of him. And, as luck would have it, we were taking Christmas pictures on Sunday. So, it was imperative that Brandon have all the eye makeup off and sparkles out of his hair for Sunday.

Sunday we took Christmas card pictures and Lindsay attended a birthday party at Pump It Up. In summary, like I said, just a quiet weekend with really nothing to do.

Portrait Thursday

Turkey Tango

On Tuesday morning Lindsay's ballet/tap class performed their "Turkey Tango" for guests. They did a little tap routine where they actually tangoed with a partner (yes, I looked up how to spell "tangoed" as I wasn't quite sure that was even a word!). It was a very cute routine and the girls have all picked up tapping so fast in their first year. Then they showed us their ballet warm up and the routine they go through when they are practicing their ballet half of the class. They will be performing their "Turkey Tango" again next Tuesday for in town guests for the holiday - I wasn't aware that we were having class next Tuesday, so Grandma and Grandpa and Jeff all attended this week's performance. Jeff might be able to download some video of the routine and I'll try to post it here later.

Portrait Monday

Here is a picture of Chico that Brandon took when we were puppy sitting. He is SO cute, I wish we could clone him and have our own Chico!

Weekend Activities

On Friday night we took the kids to College Station for an A&M basketball game.

A company donated thousands of t-shirts that were placed on all the season ticket holders seats - the seats are really maroon, but they look white because of the free t-shirts

Mark Turgeon - our new head coach

Students "reading" newspapers while the opposing team's line up is announced

Here's a picture for Gwen: She was an member of the inaugural Aggie Dance Team back in 1990. And they sure didn't dress like they do now!

Lindsay started to not feel well at the game and coughed all night (poor baby). We tried to keep her quiet and at home all weekend, but Saturday she insisted on going fishing with Jeff and Brandon. They didn't get many bites, but Brandon caught a little perch. These pictures are by Brandon on my old camera - he loves taking pictures!

Lindsay and Daddy at Creekwood Park

Brandon's perch

The Votes are In!

The Woodlands took its first step towards freedom yesterday by passing all three propositions.

TCID Prop. 1 (expand Town Center district territory)
In: 100%
For 13,291 85.8%
Against 2,206 14.2%

TCID Prop. 2 (create board of 7 elected members)
In: 100%
For 13,294 86.0%
Against 2,172 14.0%

TCID Prop. 3 (give Town Center district power to levy property tax)
In: 100%
For 12,048 77.9%
Against 3,416 22.1%

Pink Power

One of the first people I met when we moved to The Woodlands six years ago was my discussion group leader at my monthly MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting. Her name is Karin Schmaltz. This year her daughter and Lindsay are in the same ballet/tap class on Tuesdays. Karin started her Mary Kay business about 4 years ago and has done very well and has earned the pink Cadillac. Whenever we see her car parked in the dance studio parking lot, Lindsay gets so excited. Not because she will soon see her friend, but because IT IS A PINK CAR! Who knew such things existed??? Lindsay asked me why can't we buy a pink car and I told her that Miss Karin earned that car by selling makeup (a LOT of makeup,in fact). Lindsay's jaw dropped as she realized that not only could she one day own a pink car, but she could get it by SELLING MAKEUP??? Why that is the key to universal happines! Pink vehicles and makeup!!!

Portrait Thursday

We puppy-sat Chico the dog on Thursday and took him to the park.

Trick or Treat!

Halloween this year really reminded me how fast the kids are growing. That song by Billy Dean "Let Them Be Little" ran through my head all night. Here are some of the lyrics (or you can click the link above and listen yourself):

Let them be little 'cause they're only that way for a while

Give them hope, give them praise, give them love every day

Let them cry, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle

Oh just let them be little

Here is a study in how time flies:

Brandon and Thomas Halloween 2002

vs.

Brandon and Thomas Halloween 2007

Lindsay and Emily Halloween 2002

Lindsay and Emily Halloween 2007

What Happens in Vegas (WHIV): Sunday

Our last full day in Las Vegas began around lunchtime. We decided to experience the other amenities Vegas had to offer by going shopping. Jeff and I went to the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace and Fashion Show Mall. I love the shopping in Vegas because there is every store you could ever possible imagine (the usual Gap, shoe stores, etc), as well as stores you would never think of going in unless you were in Vegas (Louis Vuitton, Dior, Juicy Couture). And all this shopping with NO KIDS to drag around!!

While we were at Fashion Show Mall, we noticed a kiosk selling half-price tickets to shows. One of the shows playing Sunday night was Spamalot, a musical parodying Monty Python movies. When Spamalot came to Houston a while back, we were unable to find a babysitter or tickets. So, we bought tickets and made plans to meet Keith and John at the Wynn. The show was hilarious and was the perfect ending to our weekend in Vegas.

What Happens in Vegas (WHIV): Saturday

Day #2 in Vegas started with Jeff hiking about 3 miles down the strip to a McDonalds to find some breakfast. Because of the time zone Vegas is in, we watched ESPN College GameDay at 7:30 am in bed with our hangover food.

After a shower and lunch at the Pool Café, we met Keith at the Bellagio Race & Sports Book to place our bets on college football games. We learned two very important lessons on Saturday: 1) A&M is a horrible football team right now and 2) Never bet on Texas to cover the spread. A bunch of our friends from the night before are Texas grads and warned us not to bet on Texas to cover. We didn’t believe them until we lost our money.

We spent most of the day Saturday at a sports bar called Blondie’s where the waitresses are dressed like cheerleaders. A bunch of us sat in a booth that had no fewer than 10 televisions of various sizes around it. We watched every game on TV simultaneously. I think Jeff was in Heaven. College football, beer, waitresses dressed like cheerleaders…what else could a man want? Oh, yes – to not lose all his bets.

Saturday evening we headed back to the Bellagio to change clothes and attend Keith’s actual birthday party in his suite. The party kicked off with a visit from the “Hairy Fairy” who appropriately embarrassed Keith.

As the night progressed and as tends to happen at parties, eventually tequila made an appearance.

Keith, Mark M. and Patron

After rounds of shots, we found Mark Mercer passed out in one of the bedrooms. And when you pass out at a party, you must have things placed on your face (let me note that Mark is lucky we couldn’t find any Sharpie markers). As I mentioned in the Friday installment of WHIV, Mark didn’t pace himself.

I need to note the attire that some people were wearing on Saturday night. Todd made quite an entrance when he showed up dressed exactly like J.R. Ewing.

John, Mark H., Will and Todd (aka J.R.)

Keith’s shirt lit up and flashed.
Around midnight we decided that it was time to hit the casinos. At some point we went to the Venetian where a Halloween party was going on in one of the clubs. I saw these guys dressed like the “**** in a Box” sketch from Saturday Night Live and HAD to take a picture of them. (If you click on the link to watch the sketch, please note it's R rated)

Jessica and one box guy

Here is a picture of Keith's cake after we had already dug into it.

What Happens in Vegas (WHIV): Friday

Last Friday morning Jeff and I flew to Las Vegas for our friend Keith’s 40th birthday weekend. We checked into the Bellagio and then Keith escorted us up to his penthouse suite. Yes, you have to be escorted up to his floor – you even need a key to work the elevators that go to his floor. His suite was beautiful! We watched the water show from his window:

When we got to his suite around 2pm, another old friend, Mark Mercer, was still asleep in one of the bedrooms. He was asleep in the same clothes he had worn the night before (actually the same clothes he flew from Atlanta in). And as Friday night progressed, we realized he would be wearing those clothes for another 24 hours. We told him that he needed to pace himself, but as you will find out in the Saturday installment of WHIV, he did not heed our advice.

Above pictures: Mark M. and Todd; Mark, Jessica and Keith

We had cocktails and talked as more people arrived. (Corrie in the below pictures didn't even make it to Hofbrauhaus. We also had another casualty early in the evening - another girl made it to the bar and then immediately hopped in another cab back to the hotel)

Above pictures: Corrie, Mark H., Jeff; Corrie, Jeff and Keith

At some point it turned into a pretty big crowd and it was time to head to Hofbrauhaus. One of the perks of staying in a suite at the Bellagio is the VIP service. When we needed a cab, we were escorted to the front of the taxi line and immediately placed in the next available car. That is important for two reasons: one, it’s nice to not have to stand in line for 30 minutes with hundreds of other people waiting for a cab and two, it is a good celebrity spotting situation (as you will find out in the Sunday installment of WHIV).

We arrived at Hofbrauhaus, got our table and encountered this girl dancing on the table next to us (she has on Keith's hat):

She was very entertaining. We all ate various German cuisine and drank beer and sang German drinking songs and had a great time. Jeff and I called it quits early (sticking to our decision to pace ourselves) and headed back to the hotel around midnight.

Mark M. and Jeff at Hoffbrauhaus