happiness is a new baby...

that talks, eats and drinks!!  emery is smitten with her new pal (sitting by her in the high chair)...ellis never loved baby dolls like e.c. does...so so cute.  kinda sad that she will never be a big sister (not sad for me...sad for her!)...we need cousins!  emily are you reading??????

thanksgiving 2011

ellis had her fingers and toes painted burnt orange...perfect shade for thanksgiving and more importantly, the final texas v. texas a&m game played that night... 

we picked up turkey cake pops and delivered to our friends that trotted w/ us in the turkey trot...

i set the table for 12...using my china, silver and crystal for maybe the second time ever :)

brandon smoked a turkey and fried a turkey...deelish!

bebe, the fab pilgrim, and her little indians...

doesn't emery look so grown up?!?!  she is so funny these days...EVERY time i tell her no, she immediately says "why?"  she asks why at least 20 times/day.  and when i say "emery" she responds with "what?".  clearly, she is hearing older brother and sister speak like this so we are all going to start working on "yes, mom" or "ma'am"...

brandon also made gumbo (duck was in it) and beckett couldn't get enough...

 fried...

 smores and texas football...

we celebrated the texas win until 2:30 a.m. with neighbors.  not a good idea because the next day we had this to catch:

a party bus headed to lauberge du lac in lake charles!!!  picked us up @ 6 p.m., gambled from 8:15 till 12:30...home at 3 a.m....

it was way too much fun...

alcohol, jams, and a bathroom?!?!  how much better does it get??  we danced the whole way there.  i have at least 25 bruises from falling down.  heels, spilled drinks, and dancing in a moving bus do not mix!!!

i have really funny pics that i can't show w/ out proper permission!!!

p.s.- the girl in the pic below is my marathon partner, debra.  since i am always talking about her, i thought i should introduce her!  we have mastered the art of drinking and then running 18 miles the next day...kinda :)

sober

these are all iphone pics...obviously!  

mr. photogenic

these are both pictures of a picture, but you get the idea.  he knows how to turn it on :)  he could literally get away with murder (ok...maybe not murder)...

did i mention he got married last week?  ainsley and ellis have been planning reese and beckett's wedding for what seems like months.  well, it finally happened the other day!!  reese is in the wedding dress (obvi), ainsley is maid of honor, ellis and emery (not pictured) were flower girls and beckett, the groom.  he insisted getting hitched in the bevo costume.  the girls weren't happy with this choice but they realized it was his big day, and he should wear what makes him happy :)

they haven't decided whose house they will move into...

kindergarten thanksgiving

like every other school, fall creek elementary had a thanksgiving feast :) family members were invited to eat in the cafeteria with their child...so thru the lunch line we went.  it was so much fun...beckett was THRILLED.  turkey, nuggets, mashed taters w/ gravy, etc.  

here is ellis...sorry about that pic :) 

this one also thoroughly enjoyed herself!

 thinking he is so cool...

and the next day was the turkey trot :)  right up my alley!!  there were 7 kindergarten classes...all vying for the title of champion.  you could bring family members & friends to trot with your child's class...each lap counted and you got a popsicle stick every time you passed start.  needless to say, i wanted purple (ellis' class color) to win really bad!!!  liz and i decided we would run, and we recruited a few neighbors to come and bring their kids.  long story short, purple took it.  it was SO MUCH FUN.  her class was so excited!!!  kids in other classes were crying :(  i am sure our celebrating didn't help things!!

turkeys in disguise

ellis and beckett were sent home with the same project!  disguise these turkeys so they can make it through thanksgiving safely.  pretty cute, right??  the teachers mentioned things like ballerinas, football players, etc.  i sat the kids down at the table, went to the craft closet to get out all of the supplies, and came back to this:

beckett had scribble scrabbled (an ellis term) all over his in blue.  nice.  i just put it aside and he ran off to be a menace somewhere in the house.  ellis then worked on hers...making the turkey into a fancy nancy of sorts.  very cute:

when brandon got home, i showed him what his ridiculously talented son had done and asked if he had any ideas as to what to do with it.  he looked at it and said "cookie monster".  genius.  i went to the chips ahoy box w/ scissors and voila...cookie monster was born!

happy turkey day...almost!

here comes the...cute-ness!

are you ready for some pictures?!?  ellis and beckett partied till the very last song of the reception!!  and i am pretty sure beckett NEVER left the dance floor.  he says he's got the moves like jagger :)  they had soooo much fun!!!  

and she's off!

looks like he is about to walk ellis down the aisle!!

so proud of himself holding the fake rings...

we attempted to get a picture with their new second cousin...not real successful.  emery went night night with the babysitter about 3 minutes after this was taken :)  also...please note that beckett has changed into his party shoes...ready to dance the night away.  and that is just what he did!