Polar Express!

Yesterday we all took a ride on the Polar Express! A 2.5 hour train ride out of Cedar Park! We got to play on the train, look out the back, drink hot chocolate, eat cookies, see Santa and Mrs. Clause, listen to stories, and carol! It was a fun event for the whole family that we will .....NEVER do again.



Well, maybe the wounds are too fresh, so I won't make that decision too fast; however, keeping the kids happy and moderately controlled on the train for 2.5 hours while they are bouncing around fueled on hot chocolate/cookies is slightly difficult. But...when Santa brought all the kids a train whistle...that was a nightmare. Imagine 20-30 kids per train car blowing whistles for about 10-15 minutes...(that's the time it took all the parents to finally break and take them away). The rest of the ride home was pretty much the crash after the excitement...some games, some resting, and some overall family cuddling.

Why Renting our Guest House is a Bad Idea!

Ever since we've lived here, we've rented our guest house. For the past year or so, it's been to a woman and her 14 year old daughter. She lost her job a while ago and we'd been working with her on rent, but as of last week, they moved out. They sent us an email the night before saying they couldn't pay anymore and left.

After they were gone, she emailed and said she planned to come back and clean and get the last of her stuff. 24 hours, Jes changed the locks and declared the property abandoned.

So...this is what we found and why renting is a bad idea sometimes!!!


A kitchen full of food, pots, pans, a crock pot, toaster, spices, etc...


WARNING ON THE NEXT PICTURE!!!

Both toilets look like this...

At least they swept everything into a pile!

All food expired, All light and fans were on and water in both bathroom sinks was running. There was cat poop on the carpet, and a cardboard box full of it. The smell in the house is gag worthy.

On the positive side, we acquired a mini-trampoline (which we'll add to our kids Christmas presents), a fax machine, bike, shelf unit, lots of pots and pans, crock pot, some food, a coat, moldy clothing in the washer, toiletries, a litter box, garbage can, and scooter (among many little things). 90% will be given to GoodWill.

I guess the impact of the bad economy has finally hit us!

&%*#ing Christmas Lights...

Christmas Lights.
I considered not doing them this year. It's such a pain. I spend half a day trying to get them to work, at least half a day hanging them and another entire day taking them down a month later.
But alas, when I pulled out the Christmas decorations, I remembered we hit the after-Christmas clearance lights last year and completely restocked. So they were there and I started the process.

It started out okay...just a few tangles, broken bulbs, etc...then came the tree from hell. I really like this tree, but I never realized it was made of thorns. I sacrificed my arms for the cause. "See Mason, Dad can get cut to hell and not cry', I tell him. It was a good learning experience I guess.

Then came the fire ants. Not sure when I stepped in the pile but they got me. I'm pretty used to that...but it doesn't make it any more fun.

Then...the straw that broke the camel's back...

We have two large pedestals on our porch that have large pots on them. We thought it would be cute to take the pots down and replace them with lighted Christmas trees. Without thinking, I grabbed the first pot, adjusted for the weight, and tipped it back. Before I knew it, a LARGE amount of mud and water came from the top of the pot and dumped directly on my head. I put the pot down...walked to the door, stripped down my clothes and I was done.

Status:
Lights are half up tonight...looks pretty stupid. Not sure if I'll finish this year or not.

Evidence:
Observe the second pot still on the pedestal. Observe the mud on the ground the fell on my head.

This picture doesn't really show the mud, but the next one does...
It's mostly in my hair.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rock and Roll Half Marathon - San Antonio

We spent the weekend in San Antonio so Jes could do the Rock and Roll Half Marathon. The final results were as follows:
Final time: 2:07:56
Overall place: 4,195 out of 20,021
Gender place: 2,567 out of 7,436
Pace: 9:46
5k: 26.59
10k: 53:45
15k: 1:25:28

Jes didn't make his goal time of under 2 hours; however, he is determined to do another one and get that goal time. Unfortunately, his legs began cramping around mile 9-10 and he really struggled the last few miles. Now that he knows the whole process (and that you are up for about 3 hours BEFORE the race even begins), he'll be more prepared for the next one!

Either way, it was really fun!

These pictures were of Jes around the 8 mile mark when we stopped to stretch and talk with us for a few minutes. It's hard to notice, but he has the name of his "sponsors" writen down his chest!

Jes sold to the highest bidder his miles for a donation to charity! He was able to raise $500.00 to give to the Austin Children's Center, a place that takes care of abused children. Thank you to the sponsors and here is your mile!

Don and Jessica Weaver - Mile 13 (Hardest mile)

HotSchedules - Mile 12

Dan and Kathy Scarbrough - Mile 11

Amber Carver and Family - Mile 10

Caden and Giana Cantu - Mile 9

Tim and Cheryl Strous - Mile 8

Ranee Bray - Mile 7

Jim Hinkle - Mile 6

The Green Family - Mile 5

Jeff and Vicki Springer - Mile 4

Wendy McVicker - Mile 3

Alyssa Barker - Mile 2

Grant Gadoci - Mile 1

Thank you for your donations!!!!!!

That's what he said

Mason was hanging out with Michelle, our nanny. Michelle told him this joke:
Why was 6 afraid of 7?
Cause 7 8 9!
Mason countered with this joke:
What do you get when you cross 6 and 7?
Michelle: I don't know, what?
Mason: I don't know either, but it's CRAZY!

Date Night!

Yesterday, we had a much needed date night after 5 weeks with three kids! It was great! We went to a nice restaurant in downtown Austin and then followed up with a show at Esthers Follies. This is on 6th street at Red River and it was GREAT entertainment! Well worth it for those who are looking for something to do in Austin. However, the shows were PG-13 at least, so keep that in mind!

Thanks for the great date night, it was fun!!!

Halloween Pictures

A posting all it's own! HAHAHA!!!

Because of popular demand (everyone was so excited to see Jes in the Bee costume) I have decided to dedicate a whole posting just to him, and all the different personalities his bee has!

The honey bee...

The psycho bee...

The tough guy bee...

And of course, the CREEPY bee...

Thanks for being such a great sport about wearing women's leggings honey! Your the greatest! (and I know you secretly loved all the laughs and attention!)

Halloween!

We went to a Halloween party at Jes' work tonight. The kids had fun dressing up and Trick-R-Treating around the offices... and we had fun dressing up too!

Mason with Ray, Jes' boss

One butterfly and one caterpillar coming up!

The infamous bee costume!!!


Tori ate at least 5 suckers in and hour and a half!!! I don't know who kept opening them for her. She would walk up to people and hand one to them and say THANK YOU! I guess she was too cute to resist, they had to open them for her!

It didn't take her long to get the hang of it! She soon realized people were giving her candy!

Mason was such a cute spider!

Trick or Treating to all the offices

We went to Trunk-R-Treat at the church Wednesday night. It was fun, but really hot and humid!

The whole family!

Victoria in her curlers getting ready for Trick-R-Treating!

Aryah, 4 weeks old today!

She is getting so big already! They grow up way to fast.

We had a lot of fun at the two parties we went to, so I think we might tell Mason Halloween is over and skip Trick-R-Treating tomorrow. We have so much candy now that it's insane, we REALLY don't need any more!

Halloween Symphony!

Jes and Mason went to a Halloween event conducted by the Austin Symphony. Mason got to dress up and listen to all the instruments (his favorite thing to do). He could name all the instruments. Spiders and skeletons came down from the ceiling and there were a few sing-a-long sections! At the end, when everyone was running for the door, Mason and Jes ran for the stage and Mason got to meet the conductor and the trumbone player!

It was a great time for Mason's first sympony! Afterwards, Jes and Mason played out front and then had a treat at Sonic to top off the day!

Kids with Grandma

Aryah, 12 days old

Mason wouldn't get into the picture. He was being a turkey... =-)

Kyle fair and Texas Memorial Museum

Texas State University has a free museum that is open to the public. We took the kids and Grandma to see it. It was really cool. They had everything from dinosaurs to geodes to bugs! Mason really liked it. And best of all, it was free!

Mason loved the dinosaurs!

There were lots of animal exhibits.

We told Mason to pose like the statue. This is what we got!

Kyle Fair

Jes was really scared to let Mason get on this ride. He was afraid he would fall out of the swing. It did go pretty fast, and he was the smallest kid on the ride, but he had a blast! He went on it 4 times!

The park at the fairgrounds.

Aryah in her car seat.