Holiday programs and Charlie's arrival

 Meagan had a mini-performance for her dance class last weekend.  Her class is a tap/jazz/ballet combo.  It was a very laid back little show of their skills and the kids had a good time.

 The first grade put on a show called "The Mitten."  I was very impressed that the school pulled of a show with 7 first grade classes.  I had to take off a morning from work, but it was totally worth it.

 One of my dearest friends, Steph, had a baby on 12-12-12.  His name is Charlie and I am in LOVE.  He is simply adorable.  I love Steph and her husband Mike and love, love, love how happy they are.  Steph's daughter, Lexi, is one of Meagan's besties.

 We had a breakfast this morning at McDonald's.  Not too fancy, but it burned three hours!

An outfit I bought Charlie on the day he was born.  Have I mentioned that he is the cutest?

Channukah

 Channukah was a lot of fun this year.  For the first time Matthew was able to really understand it.  Much like with Halloween where he wanted to wear his costume every day for a month, he wants to light the candles now everyday and get a gift.  We are exchanging gifts with Grandma and Papa Greenstone on Christmas day, but the kids were pretty excited about their gifts from Grandma and Papa Leubitz.  Natalie LOVES her Furby.  I have to admit.  It is really cute.  Meagan got all five of the One Direction dolls.  As you can see in the photo, Matthew got a helmet for his new Cars Scooter that Andy and I got him (it is a cars helmet) and a huge piano like in Big.  The dogs like it as well. At night, sometimes I hear them walking on it.
Matthew had a great time at his Faith Montessori Holiday program.  I bought him a new button down shirt and bowtie from H and M.  Very stylish!

Kiddie Acres

It was a beautiful day out on Saturday, so off to Kiddie Acres we went.  For those of you in Austin, if you haven't gone, you should.  It is a old school amusement (used very broadly) park.  It has been there for years and years, and it reminds me of Penny Whistle Park from when I would go to Dallas with my family.  By the time I moved there I was really too old for it.  You can see, Meagan is pretty much at the outgrowing it by space limit.  She still loves  it though!  We are enjoying an unusually wonderful fall; it has been stunning.  This is Austin at her finest.

Trip to Houston

We had a great trip to Houston this past weekend.   Andy and his dad had tickets to see the Texans play, which they loved.  It was a super long overtime game, of course.  We also got to go out to dinner with Andy's two best friends from high school, Cathy and Grant and their spouses.   We hadn't seen each other for several years.  I am hoping that next time we can do it a little bit sooner than that. The girls and I went with my friend Leah and her daughter Chloe to the American Girl store.  Whoa.  That place was crazy.  The girls were in 7th heaven.  To be honest, it WAS pretty fun but really, really crowded and very expensive.  If it is something that we do once a year, it is fine.  It was extra fun for the girls to get to go with Chloe, whom really was one of Meagan's very first friends.  I am very lucky that Leah, her husband, Chloe and Chloe's brother all live in Houston!  On the way home, we went to Matthew's new favorite place:BUCKEE'S!  You have never seen such glee on his face.  He literally wanted to get in the big box of Buckee dolls and said that he was a Buckee.  We are all pretty wowed by the place, though.  Not your typical gas station; in fact, I would say it is the size of a small grocery store. 

Thanksgiving comes early in the first grade

Natalie got to celebrate Thanksgiving early in her class.  The girl next to her is one of her friends from her class and Daisy Scouts, Matilda.  We are excited for the real Thanksgiving.  The kids and I have one more day of work and then we are free!

Daisy Thank You Day

Natalie has recently joined a Daisy Scout troop.  She seems to like it so far.  This week they made a Thank You poster for their school's staff.  It was pretty cute.

Halloween 2012

Once again, we had a perfect day for Halloween.  It is amazing how it happens year after year.  There are lots of time where I hate Austin weather; this is not that time.  It is awesome.  Meagan was a "Shake It Up" dancer, Natalie kicked it old school as a witch, and Matthew wore two costumes.  As you can see, he started off as a Lego, which my dad made.  It was super cute, but the child couldn't run in it, or really even walk in it. He thought that trick or treating was the best!  He couldn't believe that people were just giving him candy.  Completely rocked his world.  He also wanted to wear his costume to school again today, but I wasn't sure his teachers would have been keen on that.  My cousin Becky came to town, which was a blast.  The kids adore her and Halloween has kind of become a tradition with her .  Matthew was fine for a half hour or so, but when it started to get dark, he got scared, so Andy took him home.  We went over to our old neighbors, the Swobodas, who live a few blocks over now and have a great display, and then went to TopaJoe's and Ms. Alice's.  Of course, the girls had to read with Becky, but they managed to get to sleep at not too terrible an hour for Halloween.  Now Andy and I are trying to figure out how to dispose of this candy so that the two of us do not eat it all when we are trying hard with the gym. :-)

Blogger Frustration!

This program has been kind of buggy, so excuse the repetetion.  I will go back through and some point and delete the extra copies of pictures on here....

One Last Julie and James Wedding Post

 Natalie fell in love with my cousins' Grandma Natalie.  She followed her everywhere she went and even danced with her at the reception.  It was adorable.  Meagan caught the bouquet, which she thought was the coolest thing!

 

My Girls Having A Blast

 Meagan and Natalie were in seventh heaven, with lots of attention put on them.  They did an awesome job.  They had fun with Uncle Brian Squared and I thought my cousin Julie looked beautiful.

Julie and James Part One

Missing our sweet boy, but loving celebrating with my "baby" cousin....

Julie and James Are Married!

 We have just returned from Dallas for my cousin Julie and her new husband, James's wedding.  It was a beautiful wedding and we all had a great time.  Matthew wasn't able to go, so we missed him a lot.  He was in Dallas with our sweet babysitter Brooke and was a happy camper.  Meagan and Natalie were able to be flower girls, which they loved.  Natalie, in particular, jumped right on in there, cuddling with Julie right before she got married.  They did a good job walking down the aisle too.  That was making me pretty nervous.  They went rather fast, but they went where they were supposed to go and looked adorable.

 

 

 

 Natalie with the ever-popular Uncle Bobo Richie.  The kids think he is the coolest ever.  I do too.

 

 Natalie with Julie, Becky, and Rich's grandma Natalie.  Natalie is my Aunt Jean's mom, so not related technically.  I got to know her pretty well growing up and she is a special person.  Natalie was obsessed.  She spent most of the evening following Natalie around.

 Becky!!! We adore Becky!

 My gorgeous baby cousin, Julie

Start of fall....

...I love the start of fall!  It has been gorgeous in the mornings, low 60s and not too humid.  I am definitely not a summer person (well, I absolutely am a summer person when it comes to me not working, but not when it comes to the heat. :-)  We have been busy getting ready for my cousin Julie's wedding.  Meagan and Natalie are flower girls and are very excited.  Matthew's birthday is right around the corner.  We aren't really doing a party.  He loves bounce houses so we are renting a huge one for the weekend and will have the family there.  On Monday, Meagan starts Hip-Hop 2, since she seems to be ready for a little bit more of a challenge. 

Look at my (now big) girl!

The bottom two photos were just as she turned two.  The top one was the night we watched Obama win the election in 2008.  The little guy is my friend Steph's little Jackson.