She's a Hazard to Herself

 This past week has been a hard one on Elisa.  Two big boo-boos within one week!  They were both accidents, and I think they look worse than they really are.  I wouldn't call Elisa clumsy, but I think she may be off balance a bit, considering she had a big head, especially in comparison for her below-10th-percentile weight!  I am thankful that these are the worst owies we have had (knock on wood!)

 She was pulling at a laundry basket, when her hands slipped off and she fell back and hit her ear on the coffee table.

 She randomly fell in the garage while I was unloading groceries, and hit her forehead on the trailer hitch on the back of the car.  It didn't bleed much and she only cried for a minute or so, but Erik said it probably could have used a suture.  I just hope there isn't a big ugly scar right in the middle of her head :(


My poor little girl.  

Thanksgiving Presents!

The kids love opening presents! They're in for a real treat come Christmas, but till then...they enjoy the presents that come in the mail from Grandma! 
Here is the kids opening their Thanksgiving presents (Thanksgiving presents---could they be any more spoiled! :P)

Gabe (and Elisa's) Family Tree

I have so much to post about!  Unfortunately, I have been unable to get any pictures off of any camera right now besides my iPod (hence the post delay).  One camera has a dead battery but the battery charger is MIA.  The other camera has batteries but no USB chord to hook it up to the computer (Erik said he probably threw it away...grrr!)  So, I will post a couple of posts from the iPod, sorry the pictures don't turn out very clear but it's better than nothing!

A month ago Gabe's preschool wanted pictures of family members so they could make a family tree for him.  So I sent a bunch of pictures to Walmart Photo Center of family members (that was a fiasco--Walmart's photo center is incompetent--that's a story for another day though).  A week later, Gabe came home with a piece of construction paper with a bunch of random faces slapped on it.  Now, I know the girls didn't know whose who in Gabe family, and I don't expect them to (I did label who was who though!) but the modge podge of heads didn't cut it for me. 

So I took matters into my own hands and made Gabe (and Elisa) this:

Labeled and organized, plus it gives the toy room a lift!  But the main point of doing this is so that Gabe can see and recognize family members--of whom we hardly ever get to see anymore now that we are here in Texas :)

Another Birthday...

...They're not too exciting after 25.  It was a good birthday though.  My sweet friend Andrea took me out to breakfast...lots of birthday wishes from facebook....the kids napped at the same time...nice phone calls from the family...of course Erik spoils me every year! He gave me flowers, and a couple of awesome things on my birthday list.  The first one being a ruffler foot/attachment to feed my sewing addiction! I've figured it out and I'm excited to put it to use!  I've been looking forward to getting this and using if for a long time!

I also got a Jon Schmidt piano book, I am enjoying playing out of it.  I love his stuff!

Since my birthday falls around election day, I was half kidding when I told Erik that I wanted a new president for my birthday.  I was surprised to find this in my email.  I hope it helps, Mitt! 

And last but not least, I asked Erik to sign us up for Netflix! It's so far awesome, thanks  Netflix for diluting my desire for constant sewing, now I'm obsessed with the TV series LOST instead (no, I've never seen it...finally catching up after all this time)!  I also got a nice gift in the mail from dear MIL, actually I will probably use it for some desperately needed clothes for ME, Elisa has clothes enough for 3 little girls, as tempting as it is to blow it all at Hobby Lobby!

Only two more years till I turn 30....ugh...but I still have 28 and 29 to enjoy!

Old McDonald's Farm

...And before I get any more behind, this post features our little trip we had last Saturday (Oct. 27th) to yet another pumpkin patch/farm thing.  Only this one was cheaper, closer, less crowded, and the weather was better.  It was definitely smaller than Dewberry farm but we got to do everything they had to offer, and that was enough with two small children! 
There was a petting zoo, or rather, individually fenced-in animals that you could walk in and pet (if that makes any sense at all)!  They had just about every farm animal there is to pet.  We liked the bunnies the best...so soft and fluffy and cute!  They also had a pony ride--Gabe enjoyed it but Elisa refused to get on, a couple of playgrounds, a train (the selling point for us!) and of course a pumpkin patch.  I love that everything was included in the price!  It was such a fun day, we really enjoyed going. Here are the pics:

 The kids loved playing tether ball!

 Petting those furry rabbits

 Gabe riding a pony

 Elisa petting the goat

 Just being his cute self

 Elisa saw some other kids holding out their hands to feed the animals, so she started doing it!

 Aren't they cute?!

 Miss personality

 Me and my Gabe on the train ride

 Elisa enjoying the swing

 Picking out a pumpkin

Gabe's pumpkin

Gabe's Christmas List

Q: What does Gabe want for Christmas?
A: Trains!!

That is all!

Galveston Train Museum

 Aug 17th (months and months ago, that is how far behind I am), we visited the train museum in Galveston.  Unlike the train park in AZ, most of this museum was REAL trains, which was pretty neat. I'm so used to Gabe's little trains that these real trains seemed incredibly massive! Gabe of course had fun, it was a little  too hot though.  It was a fun experience seeing real trains even if they STILL stank from getting wet from the nasty sea water that hurricane Ike brought in 5 years ago! 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 Gabe enjoyed the train table as much as the trains themselves.  There were also a bunch of white-plaster people set up all around the station.  They were a bit creepy, especially since we were just about the only people in there!

 

Gabe playing with the "phones" in the phone booth at the "station"

A mini train exhibit