Yuletide Shindig

We've had such a wonderful time at the Christmas party we've hosted the last two years that I think we are going to have to make it a permanent occasion. Of course, the thing that makes it so fun are the awesome people we associate with. We are going to miss our dear friends of the branch!

We Bought A House!

I am so excited. We bought a house. And, in fact, this is it. Nothing too fancy, nothing too big, but a lovely, new house. Our house is set to close Dec 31. Great Christmas present, don't you think?
The location of this lovely  4 bed 3.5 bath, 2300 sqft home is in Sunnyvale Texas. Sunnyvale is about 15-20 mins from downtown Dallas when there is no traffic.
I am pretty much ecstatic about our new house. I will miss a lot of things about living in the city though...the branch, our dear friends, being close to downtown and our adorable neighborhood, of course. BUT, I feel great about starting this new part of our lives. Wish us luck.
(We'll keep you updated!)

Desperate

After Eric and I decided to cut back Ethan's lego review youtube viewing time, he was devastated. So of course his prayer that night was a pleading "please bless that I can watch youtube again!"
Darn it, Eth. I think the Lord is on our side on this one.

Halloween 2012

In the past I have not been good at making holidays terribly magical for my kids, but luckily, my mother in law does! The gorgeous Cinderella dress and fantastic firefighter outfit were provided by Grandma Washington. Thank you a dozen times over!
Libby puts on her Cinderella dress with all the affects at least 1-2 a day. She looks adorable. The fireman hat is doing double duty since both Ollie and Ethan love to wear it.
I have to say, this might have been our cutest year...!

Just A Little Trip To Houston

Eric had a training at the Houston office for a couple of days this last week and so I took the opportunity to tag along (which meant the kids did too) on the excursion. The funniest part of the trip happened when we arrived at the hotel. The firm always puts the lawyers up in the Four Season right by their office. We stayed there last year...it sure is a swanky little place. Anyway, this year for whatever reason , the room that was supposed to accommodate Eric was not available, so they decided to give him the Presidential Suite. Uh, what? Yes, this "suite" was bigger than our house. It included a kitchen stocked with gallons of booze, 2 bathrooms, a living room and office space, a dining room with 8 piece dining set and buffet loaded with delicate china, a huge closet, and huge master bedroom. It was at the top of the hotel so we had floor to ceiling views of the city. Wow. Everything in the room was unbelievably nice and expensive. Eric and I were freaking out about the kids breaking something, and even though there were about 4 couches in the place we had the kids sleep on the floor with the blankets we brought. Oh my goodness, it was so very grand. Amazingly, we were able to make it through the stay without any real catastrophes (if you don't count Libby going number 2 in the bidet instead of the toilet. Yes, they had both!). 

 

Here is a pic of the master that I pulled offline.

Man, we were like the Beverly Hillbillies in that place. 

 Anyway, we had a great time during the days while Eric was at the trainings.

 On Thursday we hung out most of the day at Hermann Park. We rode the train that goes around the entire park. The kids loved it.

 Ethan and Libby had a ball running through the fountains. They got soaked.

 Ollie got to play at the baby playground.

 And since we were already wet, we hit up the sprayground too!

 On Friday we spent a little time at the Houston Galleria. Here's Libby at the Disney store looking with delight at some of the princess paraphernalia.

 The kids also played at the mall play place. Ollie was enamored of cars.
We also ate at this super yummy cafe called Ruggles by Rice University. Eating there is practically worth the trip to Houston by itself.
Thanks for letting us tag along, Daddy!

Ethan's "Reviews"

Ethan dearly loves legos. Sometimes we let him watch the "reviews" that other people make of lego sets they bought. Ethan just eats these up. Lately, he's been wanting to make his own reviews. So here we go. (He gets all his lingo from the little review he watches on youtube.)
Gotta love this kid.

Around Here

 Around here we've been doing the same ol', same ol'...except that since Ethan's started kindergarten thankfully things have been a little bit less crazy. Ethan LOVES school though, so I don't feel bad sending him off all day everyday.

 Libby and I have done a few things together, including making freezer jam, as seen here.

 Pelfrey kiddies in the tubby. Look at those little hams!

 Ollie helping daddy clean up. Ollie has been saying "Daddy" all day every day lately.

I gave canning some salsa a whirl last week while tomatoes were on sale. It was a hassle, but it was pretty fun and the salsa is tasty.
Standby for an update on Ethie's legos.

Ollie's Walking

Thirteen months...so cute, so fun, stumbling around the house. I love this age!

Bahamas Cruise

I am the luckiest girl in the entire world. My husband not only let me go on a cruise for the weekend, he stayed home and tended the kids for me. It all started when Eric got home from scout camp in June to find me a bit frazzled with the kids. I told him that I might be in need of a girls weekend with my sister. Well, needless to say, "girls weekend" escalated into Bahamas cruise and it wasn't even a girl's weekend because we invited my brother Darrell!
Anyway, I thank my sweet and unselfish husband and also my kind friends who tended my kids while I was away.

The cruise left on Friday afternoon from Miami and returned to the same port on Monday morning. The ports of call were CocoCay, Bahamas and Nassua, the capital of the Bahamas.

Highlights:
Drinking virgin pina coladas and sitting on the deck
Chatting with Darrell and Melodie
Eating
Snorkeling at CocoCay
Sleeping in a comfy bed and not getting up to get kids drinks, take them potty, etc
Watching movies with Mavis
Going to church in Nassau
Giving Darrell marriage advice (ha!)

Lowlights:
Getting stung twice by a jellyfish. Big Ouch.
Getting a bit nauseous on the ship
Nasty, fat people in bikinis
Missing my hubby and kids

So, so, so fun and such a relaxing time.  

Ethan Starts School

Ethan started kindergarten this Monday. Wow, that was rough. Not for him. For me. I am very excited for him, and I'm not the least bit worried about how he will actually perform...its just the letting go of your kid part that kinda tore me up. I didn't think I'd get emotional, but leaving him in the classroom and walking out the doors of the school...well, couldn't hold back the tears. Didn't help that he was one of three white kids in the class. Or that his school does only all day kindergarten. Or that they don't have school buses, so I have to haul my kid to school and pick him up every day of the year. But, hey, I'm grateful that he gets to go to school and that he's bright enough that the rigors of kindergarten will probably not overwhelm him.
We'll keep you updated.