Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Emma and Uncle Philip found a rock chair on our walk before dinner.

Emma, Uncle Philip, and Henry racing back to Yaya's (Aunt Amy's) for dinner.

Roasting marshmallows with Aunt Suza.
Digging for treasure with cousin Garrett in the backyard.
The lovely fire that Philip made for us to enjoy in the fire pit. It kept the chill off.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! We hope you were able to have a day full of good food, lots of laughter, and people you love. We are so very thankful for each and every one of you. We spent the day at my sisters, Yaya(Aunt Amy's). The weather was really pretty and full of fun. Here are just a few pictures of some the activities we enjoyed on Turkey Day:)

Side Note

*** For all of you family members and friends that had birthdays in October and November, I'd like to apologize for not doing my usual bday or anniversary well wishes to you. My brain has stopped functioning at different times during the last few months so I apologize for not sending you some hugs,kisses, and love from us at the H house. Just because I didn't mention your special days here does not mean that they were forgotten. You were remembered. So here's some belated happy wishes and love for all of you:)***

Marker Faces, Play Dates, and Lizards!

Guess who got into the markers again while Mommy wasn't looking?! Yes folks, that is washable marker all over their little grinning faces! It was also all over the arms, leg, and hands! This of course, happened on a night that I had not planned on giving them a bath. I didn't have to submerge them in water to get them cleaned up-just a little soap and water on a washcloth and waa laa-magic-clean faces,legs, and arms! I so love the big grin on Henry's face! He was so very proud of himself.

We had a play date about a week ago with the son of one of my girl friends. Daddy had a day of errands, so I covered the keeping the kids entertained. We had a full day. We built a huge tent in the family room that almost took up the entire room. I've come to the conclusion and I think the kids would agree, that Daddy(Jason) is so much better at tent building. We made chocolate chunk cookies from scratch. I think there was more sampling of cookie dough before they actually went in the oven than actual finished cookies. Then after lunch and some playing with toys, we sat down at the dining room table and painted the exterior walls to the castles we built with them after the paint dried. I forgot to get pictures of the finished products. they turned out really well and the kids had a good time. I just kind of threw the idea together. We used old diaper boxes, cut them down, and flipped them over ad painted on the blank cardboard with our washable paints. Washable paints and markers are a MUST with kids! It was a good day and the kids had fun. I will say this, I'm glad we have just our two because I COULD NOT handle three on a daily basis. I was so tired afterwards.

Let me see, where to being should I begin this post? Hmmm, we've been kind of busy so there's a lot to go through in my head to decide what will bore you and what will put a smile on your face about what's been up at the H house. Recently we've been running around more in our jungles in the front and backyards. I say jungles because they literally are looking that way(it's a longish story and not important). Anyway, we've been hunting again. Hunting? Bug hunting. So once again our house has been crawling with various insect creatures. Shudders. No, no creepy crawlies have escaped. Every one of the have been happy in the bug catcher. We did happen to make a discovery the other day on the front porch. Henry spotted another lizard and within seconds, I kid you not, he had captured another TX spiny lizard. A buddy for Buddy, our other spiny lizard. He was so gentle with this one. Originally the second lizard was going to go by Buddy 2, but then Henry changed his mind and told me that he wanted to call it "Fish". So now we have two lizards that are now set up in a very posh habitat. They are two females, but shhhhh, don't mention that to Henry, he WILL correct you on that. He says lizards can't be girls. We chose not to argue on this one.

Tidbits about Henry

I've got a few little tidbits about Henry that I've wanted to share. As you all know or should by my many posts about our bug hunts, the boy loves bugs-big bugs, little bugs, crawling bugs, flying bugs, jumping bugs. Well, you get the point. He digs bugs in a big way. We've now had our share of grasshoppers, ants, lady bugs, rollie pollies, leaf bugs, beattles, and fuzzy caterpillars. His favorite out of all I think are grasshoppers. Each bug has had a name, a loving owner, and a safe place to live. Most of the bugs have been named Henry. It's a good name, don't you think?! Well several months ago Nana and Papa got an email from one of my aunts and I thought I'd share.

Just wanted to share a story with you all. This morning I went outside to get the paper and on my porch was a grasshopper. I instantly thought of Henry. So, I knelt down and looked him over (and he did have all his legs) so I decided to name him, what else but "ittle henry". Just too cute. I even gave "ittle henry' one piece of dog food. don't know if grasshoppers eat dog food but I did not want to chase down a bug to feed him. When I left for work, "ittle henry' was still on the porch. So can you tell Henry that I also had a grasshopper and named him Ittle Henry......Sweet kids...

***Sometimes, not all the time, Henry has a tendency to be very hands on with his bug friends and we've had a grasshopper or two that end up with missing hind legs. So to have one with all of its legs is a great accomplishment in our opinion.***

Yesterday when we got back home from picking up the kids from Nana and Papa's, we watched some football. Henry and I were talking about what he and Emma had done while staying over at my folks when all the sudden the following conversation happens.

Henry-"Mommy, can we do some footballing?"

Mommy-"Henry, what do you mean?"

Henry-"I wanna dress up in a costume and football it like dem(them) on the tb(tv)."

Mommy-"Well, sweetie, for now we'll just watch the players on the tv. And maybe next year for Halloween, you can be a football player."

Henry-"Well...uhm...ok, but can we football it like they do?"

Mommy-"Sure:)"

So we may have a future football player in our family. Henry's great grandfather would be so proud:)

On Friday, we were waiting for Aunt Suza to come over and get the kiddos for another weekend at Nana and Papa's. Both kids were growing impatient. They love spending time Aunt Suza, Nana, and Papa and were very anxious to go. Emma did her standard, "How much longer, but that takes a long time." routine and Henry was copying his sister. I told them it would only be a little while longer. And I looked at Henry and I could see the wheels turning in his head. Then he tells me that he's going to walk to Nana and Papa's house. I told him that it would be a long walk and that he would be really tired when he got there. I also told him that he would have to deal with being around a lot of fast moving cars. My parents live approximately 30 miles away. So he'd be hitting the highway. He thought about it again and then sad, "Mommy, maybe I'll wait for Suza to get us because walking on the highway would be dangerous." So we waited and what do you know...Suza rang the doorbell about 10 minutes later!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE their curiosity!

Squirrelies and Bug Hunting Oh My...

The top picture is a shot of the leaf bug that we found this morning while on one of our almost daily bug hunts. And then of course, pics of the monkeys:) And last but not least, a video of Emma singing to the squirrelies! ***My apologies for the hacking you hear in the background, I'm getting over a head cold and I had a coughing attack in the middle of the video.***

Rock Soup, Haircuts, and Mega Blocks

We spent another weekend at Nana and Papa's this past weekend. We had a hair appointment with Miss Lucy Friday afternoon and stayed thru Sunday. Wednesday, Emma woke up stuffy and running a little bit of a temp. the little general was not feeling well. By Friday, she still wasn't feeling too good and the little old man was starting to show signs of being sick. We decided to still go to Nana and Papa's. By Friday night at dinner time Henry was feeling yucky. So yucky that on our way to the bathroom I got bathed in vomit:( Poor little man--he was pale and hot and he said his tummy hurt. We ran him thru the shower and then I got cleaned up. They both fell asleep quickly and slept all night and were up and running Saturday morning. They spent most of the day outside, it was a beautiful day and they both said they felt better, so I couldn't be a mean mommy and say no. A big thanks goes out to my Uncle Mike and to Papa for playing with the kiddos outside. I was inside and outside throughout the day. Unfortunately I didn't escape the head cold that Jason and the kids had--I started to feel the beginning of it on Saturday. By Sunday, the kids were pretty much back to normal-only a little stuffy. I am working on getting better. Anyway, while the kiddos were outside Saturday they made rock soup for everyone and it was yummy:) H and E were coated in ash from the fire pit(without the fire) which they used as their soup pot with supervision from Papa and Uncle Mike. And on Friday, Emma was a helper to Miss Lucy-she helped wash Henry's hair before his haircut and helped sweep up hair afterwards. We've also been playing with blocks and building all sorts of stuff. Short update, I know, but I'm not feeling too good and my brain is a bit mushy. I will post more soon.

Happy Halloween!!!

Emma as Raggedy Ann.
Is their porch light on? Guess we'll go to the next house.
Raggedy Ann, Uncle Kevin, and Bob the Builder/Handy Manny
Following aunt Suza to next trick or treat.
Trick or treat!!!
Getting ready to head out and gather some yummy stuff from the neighbors.
Our 4 yr old has a beard;)
Somebody wanted to go do some trick or treating. No more pictures Momma!
Emma did pose for us. They both looked so cute! And we had so much fun!

Happy Halloween!!!