An update of sorts

Caution: Severe case of blogger purging ahead.

Looking back through my pictures, there's a bunch of things we did I never posted about. So, here's some other things we did...

The Last Weekend of Summer:

We went to the beach and watched the sunrise on the very last Saturday before school started. We went to Surfside, a really great, sandy beach, got there when it was dark, watched the sunrise, made an awesome breakfast and played for a while in the sand and waves. We headed home about 10 or 11, already having played 4 or 5 hours at the beach. It was a totally awesome way to bid farewell to summer. (And I'm just gonna have to say... question mark... about Aubrey's choice of pose.)



Aubrey started and finished volleyball with her team, the Jammers. I mentioned this before in a different post but the beginning of the year she was pretty much afraid of the ball and couldn't serve it farther than about a foot in front of her. She kept at it though and finally by the end of the season, she was able to master serving, and would move toward the ball to hit it when it came over the net. Many of the girls on her team had played previous years so at times, Aubrey felt that she couldn't keep up, but she made some significant progress, and we are proud of her for trying and sticking with it. We are looking forward to next season, starting in February, with her fantastic coaches and cute teammates. Go Jammers!






We had some cousins come in town which is always super fun. We had an impromptu dance party in the living room which was the highlight of their visit, at least for me. A bunch of little kids, plus Chad and his brother Mike, cutting loose, showing their best moves, is always a fun sight to see. (This is where, if we were having a conversation in person, Chad would butt in and say something like, "You know that's why she married me, because of my super cool dance moves." Good thing he's not here. I wouldn't want to burst his bubble.)



I had my first ever visit to Round Top, Texas for the twice a year flea market extravaganza. There were so many wonderful, beautiful and weird things to see there. I went with my friends Melanie and Megan and it was funner than fun. Despite having so many beautiful things to see and take pictures of, somehow I came home with only a picture of me riding a large bouncy banana made out of bottlecaps. Laugh if you will, but that thing was fun. (Check out the guy behind me who enjoyed laughing at my expense.)



Andrew had his 5th birthday. Funny thing: He had me so stressed out because he kept saying he wanted a "Cut The Rope" cake, after one of his favorite app games on my phone. When we went to the store to purchase some items to build such an obscure thing, he saw the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cupcake stand and sprinkles, the exact same ones he had last year, and chose those instead. So that was easy. The only problem came when we lost the big sparkly green "5" candle, and we had no other candles in the house. So, unconventionally, we lit the candle lighter, and he blew that out. I think it might have been a little anti climatic. He also got a Leapster Explorer, which was my attempt to get my phone back. That sometimes works. When he opened it, he was very matter of fact and said, "A Leapster. Exactly what I wanted." I don't know if he was hoping to be surprised but we knew it was what he wanted since that was all he talked about after seeing his friend Lincoln's.




However, we DID have an awesome time at the park with friends. And we celebrated again with best bud, Jameson. Look how cute these boys are together. This picture just warms my heart, because, look at Andrew's face! And how his hand is around Jameson's shoulder. It's just so cute.



They are so similar in many ways, most notably their love of electronics. For their ages, they're pretty dang good at Cut The Rope, Angry Birds, and some other favorites. Anyway, we put away the electronics for the day and we played at the park, had lunch and cupcakes, and fed and chased birds. Fun times were had by all. (And these three... how cute with their hands on each others' hands... they've been buddies since they were all newly born, celebrating almost every birthday together.)




Andrew started preschool. Another year, under way. He goes with his buddies Lincoln, Jada, and Whitney. We miss not having Saryn this year.



Andrew started gymnastics. I haven't taken any good pictures of this yet, but he goes to Cypress Academy of Gymnastics for an hour once a week. They have kid sized everything (really low beams, parallel bars, uneven bars, and trampolines and all kinds of stuff) that they just rotate around throughout the hour. It's funny to watch Andrew try handstands and backward rolls. He doesn't like the trampoline as long as other kids are on it jumping too. The coolest thing about this place is there is a giant mountain thing in one corner they can climb on that has slides and foam block pits and rock walls that they play on the last five minutes of their lesson. Andrew really likes it and always asks when he gets to go.

And then it was Halloween. Aubrey wanted to be a mummy and at the time, I had a lot on my mind and was way busy and maybe this will get me demerits in motherhood, but I suggested to her, "hey, maybe you could be a volleyball player! That would be so fun!" When really it was because it was way easier to dress her as a volleyball player than a mummy (which isn't even that hard). Well, she went for it and she was a really cute volleyball player. If you want to know what she looked like, please refer to the picture above, where I talk about her in volleyball. :) We had a Buzz Lightyear costume for Andrew and we were given a dragon one, and although he said he wanted to be a dragon, when it came right down to it, he wanted nothing to do with either costume. So at the ward trunk or treat, he wore his windpants and a shirt with a football on it. I didn't know what to tell people he was! He didn't even want to trunk or treat, he'd already done it at preschool and gymnastics, so he stayed with me and passed out candy. He's good at it. After the trunk or treat we went to a friend's neighborhood and went around their block, which was fun and good to do since trick or treating around our house would be pretty much impossible. Also, we carved a pumpkin, and everyone took turns pretending like they were eating the guts. Good times.





We went camping to Huntsville the first weekend in November. That was fun. One night it got down to 34, and the other night to 40, so it was pretty chilly, but it is always so fun to go camping. We love it. And we had plenty of blankets so we were fine. It was a little weird to not have a fire, on account of the burn ban we are still under because of the drought and ensuing wildfires, but we stayed warm enough. We hiked, and played, and looked for alligators, (The girls said they found one and named it Mr. Ugly, but I never saw it), enjoyed nature and it was really fun. We stayed Thursday to Saturday and it was so pleasant. Some friends came up for the day Friday and it was fun to spend time with them also. Andrew recently asked Chad when we were going camping again.










Aubrey had her Veteran's Day program at school on Friday. That was fun. They did the Pledge in sign language and they sang some songs. She is in the choir club at school and really loves her teacher, Mr. Williams, who really is an awesome choir teacher. He kind of reminds me of my junior high choir teacher who I loved so much. She likes to sing and is a quick learner, and this was the first time I had seen her perform this year. (Look how much taller she is than the kids around her... she is in the 77% for height... it ain't gonna be long before she's calling me Shorty... also, I just bought those pants at the beginning of the year and she looks to be getting ready for the floods.)




Also, her teeth are finally starting to fall out just like mine did in the 4th grade. This is when my mom only bought the 5x7 of my 4th grade picture because it was so unfortunate looking. I still harbor resentments about this and I made sure I bought the same size picture of Aubrey this year as in past years. :) (Just kidding mom, I'm a well adjusted adult, I promise.) I think right right now she has four loose teeth and they'd be gone if she wasn't so squeamish about getting them pulled out. Eventually I'm gonna have to threaten to sit on her again I guess.

On Saturday, I ran in my first race in a long time, a 5K with my friend Megan, and her sister, Sadie. Megan and I had thrown the idea around of running a race together and so we decided to start slow. There was one in Tomball so we decided to sign up. It was really, really fun and I had such a good time. And Megan got a personal record, which was so awesome for her. And I didn't even have to resort to running backwards or doing the dougie, or anything like that to keep our spirits up. It was a beautiful day and a pretty scenic route through downtown Tomball and it was just a nice morning run. (I wasn't too concerned about running 3 miles because I already do this at least three times a week, this was more of just a fun, different route to take.) So fun. I'm looking forward to another one, hopefully soon, maybe longer. There are more pictures of this, but I don't know where they are. This was me when I was done.


And lastly, two random pictures I found that made me laugh:



A really, really big toothpick??? I don't know.




(Which, I just need to mention... both this one of me striking a pose and the one of me riding the banana were both taken by the same "friend" of mine... (there were actually quite a few of both the banana rodeo and the vogue moment, all of them equally unattractive!) Maybe I need to find a new friend who can capture me in a little more, shall we say, aesthetically pleasing light? Friends are supposed to bring out the best in you!!!)

Pat yourself on the back. You made it through the blog purge.