I mean...

...I just cannot get enough of them!!!

Dax trying finger feeding for the first time- avacados.

Likin' the texture...

Maybe a *few* made it in his mouth.. but mostly were just pulverized on the spot with his fists.

Sportin' her shades on the drive home.

And talking my ear off- love her!  This afternoon we discussed her classmates' halloween costumes.  2 are going as sharks!

:( Goodbye Grandma and PaPa ):

Grandma and PaPa are moving. Not just to a new house. Not just to a new town. Not just to a new state. Not even just to a new country. They are moving to a whole new part of the world- Dubai, United Emirates.

And not even just Dubai. Grandma is actually going to be working 4 days a week in Basra, Iraq. You read that correctly. Iraq. Where she'll be escorted by armed vehicles across landmines (disarmed and double/triple/quadruple checked... but still). It's actually pretty amazing what she'll be doing. From what I understand (and that's not a whole lot when it comes to coorporate speak!), she's going with a handful of carefully chosen people from around the world to basically start up a branch of BP in Iraq.

The other big challenge for her in all of this was training her replacement. Not sure if you've heard, but BP has a small oil leak somewhere out in the Gulf of Mexico. In Grandma's territory. Kind of a financial headache...

The hardest challenge of all for all of us, though, was saying goodbye. We currently (well, used to, now... they flew out yesterday) live about 2o minutes away from them and probably see them 1-2 times a week. It'll be a shocker this weekend when we don't go out to eat at Fajita Willie's together on Saturday. Or see PaPa for some random household chore that only he can get done perfectly. Or stop by their house for a quick play with their toys. Etc. Here are some pictures and videos of our last "Goodbye Dinner" with them on Tuesday. Ada had a ball, and was a total ham- she could totally sense it was an important evening because she was a total angel for HOURS- far past her bedtime for sure! No apologies for the picture overload this post, I know that we will read this entry many times when we are missing Grandma and PaPa! (That and SKYPE, which we plan on taking full advantage of!)

Playing a little before heading out:

Walking up to Escalante's- prepping her "cheese" face!
Uncle Lou and Aunt Kendra:

Goldfish, Tomatoes, and Avacado Appetizer..with a few sneaky bites of a blue crayon, too:

Ada and Grandma:

Mexican Grilled Cheese:

Coloring with PaPa:

True Love: PaPa is a germophobe and took whatever bites Ada offered him all night long!

"Kiss! PaPa, KISS!"

The many faces of ice cream ecstacy:

Ada sharing bites with PaPa:

And kisses when she didn't want to give up bites:

Ice cream for Grandma:

And more kisses in between!

I love my Grandma!

Hugging on Grandma and PaPa:

Leaving Escalante's at 10pm. Such a sweet girl.

Still smiling, waving, and blowing kisses as we pulled away. :*(

And some videos of Ada at dinner:

And saying her goodbyes.

WE MISS YOU ALREADY GRANDMA AND PAPA!

Rodeo Encore

Our neighbors had rodeo tickets that they weren't going to use, so gave them to us for Saturday's rodeo and show! We were kind of high up; so we didn't make it to the concert (Brooks and Dunn- I think Ada would've enjoyed it if we could've reasoned with her!)

Walking to Reliant- it was coooooold! Rodeo required attire: plaid dress and cowboy boots. Look at the horses!

Leaving the rodeo- even cooooooooolder!

Then we went and ate at Chucky Cheeze's, where Ada's dance moves reaced a new level of awesomeness:

Enjoying the birthday concert from afar.

Drop it like it's hot.

Throwing some ballet into the mix.

Big steps, big steps.

Bob your head.

Thirsty after all that dancin'!

Homemade!

Here is a homemade pizza! From the whole wheat crust (from the breadmaker! Much better than the one I tried this summer, MiMi!), the pizza sauce (a very fabulous way I'm learning to sneak a wide variety and large amounts of vegetables in...for both my husband and my daughter. We're talking carrots, tomatoes, peppers, arugula and/or spinach, onions, garlic, and whatever else I've got laying around!), and the herbs on top are from the garden! (The vegetables were store-bought...but will soon be our own, hopefully!). And last but not least- of course- the sausage and cheese were from the pigs and cows we've been raising in the backyard. (Joking).

It actually turned out really great- sometimes my healthy/homemade experiments aren't quite perfect! :)

Sweat Peas

The peas sprouted! I planted these from seeds just a few weeks ago! I *think* the romaine lettuce has also sprouted; but before I get too proud of my gardening abilities, I'm going to give it a few more days to reveal itself as just a weed. (There was a suspciously similar looking sprout in the middle of the onions.... did a seed just accidentally get transferred? Or are weeds eventually going to take over my garden!?!?!) The last 2 pictures are of a different type- and even sweeter species- of pea.

Knead Bread?

I've had this urge to buy a bread maker lately. We will go look at them, and I will talk myself out of it with the reasoning that a) I will only enjoy it (therefore use it) for a brief moment in time (I'm famous for that), and b) I will not be able to actually successfully bake a loaf of bread. Well, Grandma and Grandpa (Casey's parents) are getting ready for a garage sale, and found one that they have had and never used!! So we brought it home and put it to work!

Like new!
It does all of the work for you- kneading, rising, kneading, rising, punching, rising, then baking!!! All you have to do is put the right ingredients in and choose your setting!

First loaf!

Here it is sliced and ready to be eaten. We made French Bread, because we had pasta for dinner tonight- so it eventually became Garlic Bread. Yum!

Ada enjoying- still warm and fluffy!

I'm going to try Whole Wheat sandwhich bread next week- then the fun begins! Apple bread, garlic-herb bread, pumpernuckel (sp?) bread, and the list goes on! :) Thank you Grandma and Grandpa ("Pa")!!!!

Run for the Ring

Traditions Council held a 5K run/walk this year around campus- if you participated, your name was entered into a drawing to win a free Aggie ring!!! So MiMi, Drew, Ada, and I all lined up at the starting line in Drew's name with the hopes of getting him a free ring.... all he won was 4th place (wow!), an Aggie mug (which was given to MiMi), and a gift certificate to a sandwhich shop we've never heard of- but it was one of the most fun days we've had in a long time!!!

I have not run since I found out I was pregnant- if you do the math you'll realize that's over 2 years!! I had intended to walk; but refused (out of pride) to just do a 3K (that's only 1 mile, people!).... so I jogged/walked the whole 5K (pushing a stroller with a sleeping baby, 2 purses, 3 sweatshirts, and 2 bottles of water, ha!). And I feel like I ran a marathon, today!!! But I'm glad I did it, and it gave me a renewed desire to get back in shape. Or at least quit being so darn dormant. It's getting ridiculous.... Here are some pictures! :)

1st stop: Bonfire Memorial. I love this picture.
Before the race! (Got this new jogging stroller for only $80 after a $20 coupon and a salvaged Babies-R-Us gift card from Ada's baby shower that I'd forgotten about!!! Ada LOVES it.)

Ada and MiMi hanging out.

After the 5K- Ada was pretty upset that I had quit jogging and interrupted her nice nap...

No longer upset- now dancing to the music, and clapping for all of the lucky winners!

Mom and Drew by the Aggie Bus.

R.C. Sloakum- "The Winningest Football Coach in Aggie History" gave a speech. He also ran, and kicked my butt.


Then afterward, to reward our physical acitivity, we feasted at Olive Garden! Here is Ada giving us all a lesson in the proper etiquette for eating spaghetti:

LoVe ThIS BabY!!!!!