Thanksgiving/Owen's first Aggie game

Happy (very belated!) Thanksgiving from the Smiths.  Yep, this is definitely the best family photo that was taken that day.  The kids were not in the photo taking mood and Jarrod had a massive sinus infection.   

It was soooooo nice that Jarrod and the kids had off all week from school.  We soaked up those nine days the best way we knew how.  We stayed up late, slept in late, drove into town for ice cream after dark, relaxed, and enjoyed having Jarrod around again!  We spent part of the break back "home" in central Texas.  Oh how it was good to be back.  We visited with lots of family, did some Christmas shopping, enjoyed a date night and ate way too much.  It was delightful.  Ohhh how hard it has been returning to our early mornings and regimented school schedule.  How long 'til Christmas?!?

On our way back to east Texas we made a stop in Aggieland.  Jarrod was excited to take both kids to a game.  His first all season and Owen's first time ever.  I dropped them off a few hours early so that the kids could enjoy the fun zone area (bouncy houses, face painting, etc).  They seemed to have a grand time, even though Owen slept through the game ;)

A little man of (a few) more words

Here is a short collection of the recent verbal growth I have witnessed in Owen.  You may recall the speech delay concerns we have had and this list helps me track his progress.  We have been delighted to hear new words, phrases and repetition lately!  Owen is developing such a fun and spunky personality :)

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On Fridays I usually wear the same fitted bright orange shirt with TIGERS across the front in rhinestones.  As soon as Owen sees me wearing it this is our conversation:

Owen: "Mama, why you wear dat shirt?"

Me: "Why do you think?"

Owen: "Eees game day?"

Me: "Yes!"

Owen: "Yaaaay!  Fubol game today!"

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Upon picking Owen up from school one day he showed me some Thanksgiving artwork he had made.

Me: "Owen, I love it!  Is this for Christmas (jokingly)?"

Owen: "No Keys-mas time yet (pause)....Omost!"

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We ran into Huntsville to grab lunch one day.  Owen is still a VERY finicky eater so we always just share our meal with him.  While enjoying french fries Owen clearly blurts out "Mmmm, delllllicious!"  His tongue got stuck on the 'L' but it was very clear how he felt :)

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We constantly face challenges with Owen at the dinner table.  Often he simply doesn't eat.  Here is how the conversation often goes:

Jarrod:  "Buddy, you better eat your food or you will be hungry later."

Owen:  "No me hooongry (while dramatically folding arms on chest and giving a mean face)"

Jarrod:  "Do you want to be like the football boys?"

Owen:  "Yeah!  Me get beeg and strong (showing muscles and proceeding to try a few bites)"

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Owen:  "Ees cold oww-kide today?"

Me:  "Yes, you need your jacket."

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Most days as soon as Jarrod returns home from work:

Owen: "Daddy, you bring home Ipad?"

Daddy: "Take turns with your sister."

Owen: "Me pay Ipad five more meenutes, fweeze?"

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This day goes down in history....on 11/15 Owen counted to ten on his own!  Music to my ears :)  We were picking Emma up from school and he hopped from tiger paw to tiger paw on the sidewalk counting:

"One, boo, tree, pour, pibe, seax, sesen, eight, nigh, teen!"

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Generally speaking, Emma and Owen get along quite well.  She is super proud that he is talking so well now.  He thinks a lot of her and enjoys when she notices his progress.

Emma: "Wow buddy, good job!"

Owen: "Emma, you nice!"

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My attempt at nap time one day:

Me:  "Owen, it's time to lay down and close your eyes."

Owen: (Lifting a curtain to look outside) "Yook, ees no nark oww-kide!"

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Driving in the car after the district wide pep rally:

Owen: "Why dat skew bus go dat way and dat one go dat way?"

Me: "One is taking kids to a different school."

Owen: "Uh oh -- dat skew bus go da wrong way mama."

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Since turning three Owen has started testing his boundaries a lot more! He also finds himself in time out more often :)

Me: "Owen, please don't turn on the TV."

Owen: "I wee-yuhl turn eet on and gotch (watch) my bows (shows) on tee-wee! (TV)"

Our mini cheerleader / Playoff bound!

Last week Emma attended her first Tiger mini cheer camp!  She was excited to cheer with the older girls during the first full half of the game on Friday :)

A new sweet Kindergarten friend, Emily:

Her favorite cheer was called "Tiger Rumble"!

It's a TIGER TOUCHDOWN!!!!

So happy that the Tigers WON their last regular season game (16-8) securing 3rd place in district!!  This is the first time in almost a decade that Trinity has made the playoffs :)

So proud of our Coach Daddy, his coaching staff and players!  They have made great strides this year and we are excited to follow them into playoffs this week!!

**TRINITY VS GODLEY FRI 11/16 @7:30PM at TEMPLE WILDCAT STADIUM**

Happy 33rd Birthday!!

Jarrod shared his 33rd birthday with Election day!  He and I actually got to go to breakfast kid-free :)

The kids pretty much wrapped (and unwrapped!) his gifts :)  His closet is now officially full of Under Armor clothing!

We narrowed our list down to ten top things we love about our birthday boy and attached them to balloons. (Thanks Pinterest!)  Emma loves eating with him and Owen loves throwing the football with him :)

We are sooooo thankful for the best daddy and husband in the world!!

Brunch with Santa

So we had a busy weekend!  Between the parade and game we took the kids to Brunch with Santa at the Jr League Deck the Halls event.

The kids loved creating a keepsake to take home.  I will cherish them forever and ever :)

Santa's elves came by our table to say hello!

Story time before Santa's grand arrival

Whenever there is music and a dance floor you know where these two can be found :)  Owen even asked an elf to dance (I think he wants an extra nice gift)!

Emma insisted on a photo with "the" Mrs. Claus

After standing in line for what seemed like forever it was finally our turn!!

Both kids asked for Ipads.  Later that day Owen asked Emma where Santa was.  She replied that he was back at the North Pole working on their Ipads :)

Let the holiday season begin!

Baylor Homecoming

“Will you not, as a loyal student of dear old Baylor,

lay aside for a few days the usual cares of life,

come back to your alma mater,

renew former associations and friendships,

and catch that Baylor spirit again?"

~ Samuel Palmer Brooks (past Baylor President)

After the Trinity football game on Friday night (in Franklin) the kids and I headed to my parents' house in McGregor.  Lots of driving but it was sooooo nice to be back in central Texas for the weekend.  Bright and early on Saturday we picked up doughnuts and caffeine and headed to Baylor campus to begin the homecoming festivities.  The parade is a huge tradition and I've attended almost every year since I was a little girl.  Owen was extremely competitive in diving for candy (as if there was a shortage in our house from Halloween)!!

My favorite professor, Blair Browning, won an award and got to ride in a fancy car!  So well deserved.  I took a few different communications classes from him and he was wonderful!

Both student led and community groups go all out when decorating floats.  Just to give you an idea....

 

This one received the judges' award

Dr. McManness is my mom's co worker and also led our group when I studied abroad in Spain during the Summer of 2002.  So many fun memories with this sweet profesora :)

Big Daddy and Lita

I just love these kiddos (and think they look great in green & gold)!

Game time!!  Our Bears beat the Jayhawks 41-14!!  We had a fun time, even despite the unexpected inclement weather delay.

The halftime band performance was so good!  They did a special tribute to the successful 2011 year in sports and moved into different formations including a horse and a 40-0 representaing National Championships for both the Equestrian team as well as the Lady Bear basketball team!

One of my besties and college roomies, Mandy :)  It was so fun to catch up with her and new hubby Arron, if only for a few minutes!



(Don't worry Aggie fans, we have plans to wear our maroon & white later this month....stay tuned!  Of course we must provide the kids a healthy balance of brainwashing :))

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween from the Smiths!!  And just for the heck of it, take a glance at 2009, 2010 and 2011.  

Our "football boy", as Owen called himself

Can you tell his daddy has been working on him?  He has mastered the three point stance!

Our beautiful tiger (she totally insisted on posing in character!)

Our first stop was the Fall festival at church.  Our trick-or-treaters enjoyed lots of games, cookie decorating, bouncing and prizes!  At one point we misplaced our social butterfly but quickly found her doing the cake walk.  Later she said "Mom, I played musical chairs but something was very different!" :)

There is something very strange about Emma knowing people I don't know!!  She has definitely met lots of fun new friends at school.  I think we must have ran into almost all of her classmates.  Here she is with Policeman Hayden (she talks about this guy quite often)!

After the festival we headed out to trick-or-treat with the coaches' kids!!  For the first time in four years we were not walking down Jackson Avenue with our other coaches' kids and it was rather bittersweet.  All of these cute kiddos are new to town this year!

Tiger Coach Daddies (it was almost like trick-or-treating with a few celebrities.  Everybody knew these guys!)

Somebody got tired of walking in her heels ;)

Our family of four

We had a wonderful evening of making memories and love this Tiger and Football boy more than they know!