Too Many Cooks

This year for Thanksgiving we had dinner at our house. Jason loves to cook the turkey and he did something new. It was yummy but when he first put the turkey in some smoke started coming from the oven. I can only suspect it was because I probably needed to clean the oven. My oven doesn't have self cleaner and to be realistic, we don't use it that much. Eventually we will buy a new one with a self cleaner. Anyway, the kitchen was smokey and when you already have allergies your eyes tend to water a lot. We had the doors and windows open for most of the morning so we basically froze out everyone.

Here are the kids prior to the feast. They were serving us with the play kitchen food. Reese was really the only one who ate but that is probably because she didn't know to question what was on her plate. We had all then had our naps until the Cowboys game.

After the game Dee Ann and I took the older girls to see "Enchanted". It was a cute little movie (PG - not for little girls) that pokes fun at the Disney fairytales as only Disney can do. It was fun to get out of the house.

The next day Mom and I decided that we would get up to go to Kohls at 4 am, but when the alarm went off we decided there wasn't anything there that we needed to get up at 4 am to purchase. This year we were really lucky that I found the "big" presents prior to Thanksgiving. Mom and Dad watched the kids while Jason and I worked. Well Jason really only worked part of the day since it was the last day of his old job. I went to listen to the game on my MP3 player but the battery was dead. Try to log onto the UT radio station but apparently we have a deal with Yahoo Sports, which is blocked by our firewall, so I had to listen to the Aggie Network. I was so confused that I just had to listen to the crowd noise to determine which team they were talking about scoring. I was home for the last quarter of the game, just in time to see our beloved 'Horns lose to the Aggies. Oh well, our luck finally ran out. There is always next year.

I always think back to my senior year when we only lost to UCLA 66-3 and we started out at the 20 yard line row 30 and ended up at the 50 yard line at the first row because everyone left. That was the year after we won the big 12, we beat OU in the rain at the Cotton Bowl and Kansas in the cold. We were beat by everyone and pretty badly. I think Baylor even beat us that year. So at least we aren't that bad. What a difference 10 years (and a better coach) can make.

Once everyone regrouped from the game we went to Bass Pro to watch the fish. Granddaddy had promised the kids if they were good that he would take them to the fish. They watched the fish for what felt like 30 minutes. They had the reindeer out pulling Santa's sleigh. It was fun. Jenna then proceeded to tell that eating animals is wrong. Don't know what television show told her that, but we had to explain that God created animals for various reasons. To provide meat, to provide clothing, medicine, etc. I don't need a 5 year vegetarian. This is the same girl that when she went to Bass Pro the last time with my parents asked when we were going to take her hunting.

All in all it was a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Visit with Santa

Yesterday we visited Santa with the sole purpose to beat the lines. We got the kids all dressed up and ready to go and believe it or not there was not a line. For the last couple of years we stand in line and by the time we actually get to Santa we are frustrated and the kids refuse to smile. We were a little concerned that Jackson wouldn't go up to Santa but because his big sister was doing it he ran right up to him.



My sister and her daughters went with us. We had visions of cousin pictures. Well Reese is 1 1/2 years old and she did not want any where near Santa. So this is the best picture we have of Rylee and Reese.

Ballet Observation Day

Twice a year we get to observe Jenna's ballet class. This week was the first time that we got to see her perform tap as well. She is in a small class and it has really worked for her attention span. She is learning the French words for the steps as well as how to stand up straight and have a strong center. She also was able to see her costume for the first time. She has an off the shoulder blue costume with feathers in her hair and a fringe skirt for ballet. Her tap costume is the same leotard with matching pants.

Our Poster Children

November 13th was a good day for the Webb family. First it was Jason's birthday, second Jackson mastered the pink tower and broad stairs at Montessori. This is a sorting exercise and he did it in his first try. Jenna said that some of her friends last year in Pre-K still had some problems with these exercises. Yes, Yes our son is gifted and talented. Now if we can only get him to mind we would be set. Last but not least, Jenna performed at the PTA meeting. I have not been to a PTA meeting because I don't want to sit in another meeting after spending the better part of 8 hours in meetings and conference calls. I now know what the celebrities feel like. The cameras at children's choir are nothing compared to four Kindergarten classes full of parents with their camcorders and cameras. Of course, we were one of those parents but Wow! Jenna was selected to announce one of the songs that her classes performed. It was cute and she was quite the drama queen. She has said from the beginning that drama was her favorite class. Afterwards she showed off her name on the reader board. She was one of only two people to complete 500 hours of reading. She is starting to read her Dr. Suess books and writing words as they sound. Of course, they are not 100% correct, but I am letting that perfectionist part of me go.

Happy Birthday Jennifer!

I finally decided to spend money on myself. Jason and I are both savers and rarely spend any money on ourselves. So I stock piled various Christmas, Birthdays, and Mother's Day money as well as a Bunko prize, a $20 Macy's gift card for raising the most March of Dimes money at CitiFinancial Auto and a $75 gift card from Citi for completing a survey (before 3rd Qtr earnings were reported). I purchased a brown Coach purse with red trimming. My two favorite colors. So for those that helped contribute to this purchase, thank you!

Old MacDonald

I always take the week off for my birthday, just because who wants to work on their birthday. I traveled to see my parents in San Angelo and took Jackson for some Granddaddy / G Mommy time. Jackson loves going outside with my Dad and since it is fall it is time to pick up pecans. So Jackson learned to "pick up nuts" as he called it. He also likes going into the shed that looks like a red barn. Every time he would go near it he would say "Old MacDonald got a farm." No matter how many times we corrected him it was still the same phrase.

One afternoon my Mom and I decided that we would go Christmas shopping but for some reason Jackson ended up being with us. We happen to stumble upon a particular Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Clearance Aisle and it magically appeared in the basket with Jackson. Well he was glued to the box and did not want to let it out of his sight to even check out. So my Mom and I started thinking of ways to wiggle out this now impossible situation.

Our minds popped back to this time last year when Jenna and I went to Branson with my parents. There was a Christmas Village and one of the stores the owner looked and dressed like Santa. He would hand out an ornament to the kids and a business card to the parents. He would tell the kids that he was giving his number to their parents to call if they were bad. So the story began. "G Mommy has Santa's number and she is going to call and let him know not to make this Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and to pick it up from her." We pull into the driveway and he wants his Mickey Mouse out the car. I told him that Santa already picked it up and it wasn't in the car. His jaw dropped and he asked, "my Mickey Mouse is in the sky with Santa?" If he only knew that it was in Old MacDonald's Farm.

Scarecrow Day

Jenna had Scarecrow Day at school on November 2nd. I know, it is almost a month behind, but as working parents, a month behind is progress, you see the amount of scrapbook stuff I have just waiting for "free time." So I spent 2 days worth of lunch hour time trying to find overalls for my size 7 five year old. Do they make overalls for that size, no. I blame Jason for her height.

The night before we finally set out for the stores for an outfit. Thanks to OshKosh B'Gosh at Grapevine Mills we were able to find an overall skirt on sale as well as a flannel boys shirts on clearance. While Jenna and I were at OshKosh Jason and Jackson were at Burlington trying to find a cheap straw hat. Then we had to make a made dash to north Flower Mound to Hobby Lobby for accessories. I walked in at 7:59 pm and was able to find what a needed. By 9:00 pm we had a scarecrow outfit. Not my finest work, but at last minute, it worked.

We are drinking the Kool-Aid now

Well it seems that we now catch up on our friends through their blogs. I guess with kids and activities that knowing what is going on is good even if it is through a blog. We invite you to join in our chaos, listen to us brag about our children, feel our pain when we hurt and become a part of our family.