Thursday, October 29, 2009

Owen's Farm

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This week we finally had a break in rain to make it out to Owen's Farm. We have missed two opportunities to go with different play groups due to some inclement weather. And while the weather was still not ideal, insert muddy and freezing, it was the best we were going to get and we had to go for it. Aunt Maxey and Meggie were good sports to come along too!

Look at how proud I am of Stella (the car) for fitting all three car seats. This was like better than any level on Tetris --- it was incredible. Had we had one Britax car seat in the bunch we might have not made it... but I like to think that we still would, for Stella's efforts and all.


If you live in the area and didn't make it out to Owen's Farm this season--- I have to be honest, you missed out. This place is SO fun and gives you the most for your money.

Seven dollars scored us:

1. My admission.

The kids under two were free and we shamefully lied about Molly's age--- well, we weren't asked because she is so skinny but if we were asked I was fully prepared to lie. I know. But really, what is two months in the grand scheme of things...

2. A visit to the petting zoo with unlimited animal feeding

3. If you are a Gabriel you also had some free hay to munch on. This is Texas, y'all.

4. A hayride
5. A caged animal viewing and quality fence climbing

it was a very fun fence
6. Not pictured were the free train rides and ponies
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7. You also get to play in the pumpkin patch and take one free small pumpkin home per child. The bigger pumpkins were only five dollars! Meg and Gabe might have had a little trouble limiting it to just one...

We can't wait to go back!

Can you believe it?

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It is almost November 1st... Can you believe it?! This month has been INSANELY busy for us so I am going to do a couple separate posts for each of the little events that have been going on--for the grandparents of course!

We have been SUPER excited about Halloween coming up but recently we did have a little fast forward to something that Molly found a bit more exciting than even Halloween... and that means it is REAAALLLLLLLLYYYY exciting...

That is right folks, the toys r us BIG BOOK arrived in the mail this week. Yes, we have not even made it through Halloween and the big Christmas book has arrived and my husband is perhaps dying a little inside but COME ON... a Christmas big book a bit early is WAY better than a mailbox of bills. Right?

Molly agrees. She was quiet for a long while after the mail came and when I went to find her this is what I saw... get ready Santa because Molly has a VERY detailed list coming your way!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The NEXT generation

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I just had a glimpse in to this new generation of kids.

Today Molly, the three year old, was playing in her room and I overheard her say to someone invisible, "Where is my blackberry? Oh, here it is... let me text you."

yikes. That coupled with the fact that she dropped her cup this morning at breakfast and said, "Oh Dang-it" means that we might be in for a whole recall of choice phrases used by Mommy and Daddy.

Gabe on the other hand is much more of fan of word merging. He tends to have GIANT feet and he is always gets them stuck on things...which he tells me about all the time. But rather than just telling me his FOOT is STUCK he now just yells out "Mommy, ...F*@$ "

Our family might have gone up a rating this week.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Looking Back

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I have realized that in the world of parenting there are good days and bad days. There are those moments where your children warm your heart and others where you really believe that they have been taken over by aliens. I have found that the happy memories (though few and far between sometimes) can carry you through trying times. In the world of two active toddlers there often seems to be more trying days than not--- and believe me, I rely on those happy memories to carry me to the next one.

I love holidays and feel like we fully embrace them as a family but wowzers, it seems like we often never stop moving. Holidays with a big family can be BUSY and we are almost there again. I am noticing some of my favorite moments with the kids seem to be the ones that take place on a random ordinary day in a quiet moment at home.

Those memories can make for a nice smile on a gloomy/raining Monday. I found this one over the weekend when we were going through old video footage. Hard to believe that Gabriel is the age that Molly is in this video. Wow... time sure does fly.

Sorry for all you that don't have access to Youtube in the workplace... (mom!)

*don't forget to pause music on the side.


Friday, October 23, 2009

Bye Bye Yaya

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Dear United States Supreme Court,

I would like to file a claim against MY entire family. I have been bamboozled, wronged... there are indeed treacherous misdoings afoot and it needs to stop now. I am a victim and I won't stand for it. These are the facts.

My morning started just like any other---except I was allowed to have my "yaya" in the store which was a nice treat.

Then we saw some trucks---my favorite.
My mommy had me trade my yayas for the trucks. At this point I feel I was being misrepresented because I have no recollection of the words : Goodbye FOREVER.

See... poor schmuck
And then came nap time. Nice story, great snuggle, placed in bed, searched for yaya... and then I realized it. I HAD BEEN ROBBED. I was NOT happy. I AM not happy. Do not let this picture confuse you... I really am upset.

just when it is dark in my room. My sister tells me that this means I am a BIG boy now and that there are so many great things about being big.
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I tell you what would be great- my yaya.
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My lawyer, Little Bear, is available to meet at any time.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Gabriel J. May

Fancy Nancy

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Life for Molly just hasn't been the same since she met Fancy Nancy. Well, I guess life hasn't quite been the same for anyone here in the May Household. In terms of fictional characters, Molly has met her soul mate and she is in love.

EVERYTHING is Fancy Nancy at our house and we only have our friend, Lauren, to thank for this GREAT find. According to Molly, everything is better when it is fancy.

---Especially when choosing an outfit for the library. Fancy Nancy indeed.

I hear that Walmart is now picking up the Fancy Nancy label so things just might become extraordinary--- that is a fancy word for great.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Fall Escape

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This fall Kelly and I had decided that seeing some pretty fall foliage was a definite MUST! It is so fun to be married to someone that shares your passion for traveling and living like the locals do wherever we are! Guided tours and regimented schedules...although really nice... just not the way we roll.

What road trip is complete without some quality gum? Anyone else used to eat the whole pouch in one sitting during their childhood? Apparently, Kelly did not eat gum this way. I thought the whole purpose was to create the BIGGEST wad of gum ever!

I guess we're not in Dallas anymore.
The whole purpose behind the trip was to see a waterfall. I love waterfalls.

oh, and we loved the pretty trees too.



Hot Springs has this adorable downtown with the cutest little shops... if only we had more time to see each one!!!

Such a wonderful adventure and really makes me pumped for fall! Hot Springs, we can't wait to come back!!!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Fair weather indeed.

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Sunday's forecast called for some clouds in the morning but SUNSHINE in the afternoon with a perfect fall breeze. This was perfect for our afternoon because Kelly was upgrading knighthood status all morning and we could escape to the sunny weather at the fair post nap. Sounded like a plan... too bad nobody informed the sunshine.

It may not have been the best conditions but it was definitely some fair weather for the fair. We did get our annual corney dog picture. And then it poured.

Growing up my family took a group picture with our corney dogs every year which was really fun to go an look at the changes over the years. So... we have adopted this into our family. We now have 5 years of corney dog family pictures--- almost halfway to a picture calendar.

Ok... back to the fair.

Despite the cloudy sky we did have a chance to sneak in bunches of fun.

Digging time in the largest sandbox ever? Check!

Lots of time on the farm? check!

Up close interview with a goat? check! P.S. those baby goats are VIOLENT eaters. Poor Mommy goats don't have a bottle option...yikes!
Happiness at the Dancing Dog show? You betcha!
Gabriel couldn't take his eyes of the dogs...
A chance to rock out to the Killdares? Check!
And finally. The beloved corney dog. BIG CHECK! Don't you worry... Gabriel managed to eat the WHOLE thing which of course was followed by the gassiest car ride home. Stinky boy!
Enter rain stage right.

And then the rain stole the show. Wowzers. Can we say COLD, WET, RAIN. In fact, the very opposite of "sunny with a fall breeze". Brr. Kids were nice and dry as they had the raincoats and massive umbrella. Oh, the sacrifices you make as parents!
Fun, cold, tiring fair... we love you! (and yes, the pacifier made a debut... ugh. We were a little to cold to care at that point.)

Hope you have a chance to visit the fair too! It is there---rain or shine!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

harvest "bestival"

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Today we went to the Harvest Festival aka Molly dubbed "Harvest Bestival". It was really fun but but whoa- it was chilly! Been a while since we busted out the sweatshirts and jackets. We were ready.

Gabriel was definitely ready for some Harvest Fest Fun...


Kelly might have overestimated how many tickets we needed but that is okay. We had no idea that Molly was going to spend about 45 minutes with the animals. She was so excited that she could hold the bunny... well, until it moved.

Gabriel had a serious obsession with the ducks. Well, and some chicken chasing... those poor chickens.

The kids tolerated bounce house prison for about 5 minutes. I find this really funny because they always have loved the bounce house... but, not today.
All this Harvest fun was nothing compared to the joy Molly and Gabriel had visiting the 8th grade face painters. Wow. I have never seen such scary looking children. They loved it! I wish we took a picture of the bathtub tonight. It looked like we had given rainbow brite a bath.

Molly wanted to have a cat face...
Here they are- our cat and tiger. Pretty, huh...
Molly offered up bunches of meows... and despite her attempts at cuteness... she was still rather freaky looking.

And my tiger... well, he was an ORANGE mess.

Kelly was nervous too.
It was really fun to see all of Molly's little friends at school. She definitely is sporting her Panther Pride.
Stay tuned for more fun from the Texas State Fair tomorrow... come on sunshine!!!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Mini Meteorologist

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Forget watching the local news or turning to the sky to check out the local weather forcast. All I need to do is turn to my mini meteorologist and check out her hair...

Today's forcast: rain.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Go Friars

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What a weekend! This weekend was our high school homecoming. Having your spouse as a fellow graduate in your class does make returning to homecoming a lot more fun and not really stressful at all. Nobody to entertain and none of those awkward introductions...or over-explanation of your mascot (the mascot may be a friar---but he is fierce---just ask Molly.)

This year the kiddos kept us much more on our toes than they did last year. Who knew that candy infused, overly stimulated, excited for football children were the perfect combination for chaos. Luckily, we had brought along extra players for team adult.

I guess it is pretty nice also that your best friend went to the same high school too... lots less to explain...

Early on in the opening parade they pelted us with candy. Gabriel really liked this. Aunt Sierra totally rocked the volleyball "float".
Unfortunately, he didn't quite understand it when the supply had diminished to choking-sized candy aka no-longer-for-Gabey candy. He was not happy. No amount of tickling was going to get this kid to smile.
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"Give me my sucker back, mom."
So, we were forced to buy m&ms. I know it is bad parenting to support negative behaviors with candy but sometimes you just have to go that direction and deal with the repercussions later. As always, the chocolate worked like magic. The kids had a great rest of the game and even sat in the bleachers. We were front and center to see the "little girls dancing" on the track. So fun to catch up with old friends!
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After the game, the kids all went over to Gigi and Haji's house for cousin bonanza so the adults could go live-it up at the after-party. We had so much fun but I think Molly and Gabriel still managed to trump our good time. I mean, how can you not have fun with this cool crowd?

Such a fun night and some great football watching weather. Next year is our 10 year reunion which is a little hard to believe... most days.
GO FRIARS!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Puppy Love

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Dear Santa,

I know that I have asked you for a puppy before and instead you brought me a Gabriel. Don't get me wrong... he worked out okay. I mean he really keeps me company and does his part to fill all roles I need him to in my life...






But, this year I am serious. I NEED a puppy so that my brother can learn how to be a little boy. Oh, and I try to be very good every day.
Love,
Molly