Christmas Traveling

Rod and I just got back from quite a bit of traveling around Texas. Nana and Pops came to our house on Christmas Eve for a fabulous dinner and celebration. We had smoked turkey from Pok-E-Jos, and I made the side dishes: Mushrooms Florentine, Cheesy Mashed Potatoes, Salad, and a really yummy new recipe that involved sauteing garlic, thyme, olive oil, and shallots, then mixing that with sliced-in-half cherry tomatoes. We spent Christmas morning at our house then took off for Kerrville to see Linda and Merle, as well as Gwen's Family. Linda prepared a fabulous breakfast and dinner every day. I don't know what she'll do with all the leftovers...but I bet Merle will make sure they're put to good use. Tatum is currently obsessed with anything Wall-E, and promptly curled up with his Wall-E pillow and blanket that we gave him as soon as he opened it. After a couple of days there, we drove to Houston to see Rod's Mom. We visited with Aixa, Tracy, and Vida and played our new Price Is Right Wii game, which was really (surprisingly) fun. Both Rod and I visited with some old friends from high school while we were in the Houston area, as well. We also visited the Downtown Houston Aquarium. On the way back home we drove through College Station since Rod had to check on something for his work. We stopped off at Elizabeth's house and the kids didn't want to leave, so they stayed while we came home! It feels odd to be separated from them, but they will be back on Wednesday. Rod has to go back to College Station on Tuesday for work, and he will bring them back Wednesday morning. We are going to go to Chez Zee for dinner tonight, then out to a movie afterwards. Normally I would have a workout class tonight but they have closed for the whole week. I made it up (sort of) by helping rake the massive amount of leaves that abdicated their home on our tree in the front yard. Several pictures from the last few days are posted for your enjoyment. I will take some of the Kurusz side of the family on New Years, when Elizabeth and fam come up to Austin. (Check out Great-Grandma Vida's dog Jacky--this is a very docile dog but the picture makes it look like he's really mad. Maybe he was just licking his lips. Made me laugh...)

Christmas Festivities

A couple of weekends ago, I was invited to attend an Ornament Exchange party with some neighbors. The trading of the ornaments got very enthusiastic--the wine and guacamole (gotta love Texas) was the best part!

Rod's sister's family stopped in last night on their way to Kerrville. We will see them again when we visit Merle and Linda in a couple of days. Gwen and Jeff's son, Tatum, is smart as a whip and very patient.

Pitch White

On the way to school this morning, Evelyn was amazed at the thick fog that didn't allow us to see very far at all. "It's pitch white, Mom," she said.

Last Sunday, the kids went to an indoor skateboard park and rode their scooters for about 2.5 hours without tiring out. I love that Evelyn 'hung' with the big kids (and all boys) in her pink dress, white tights, and Hello Kitty scooter. I made a couple of photo compilations. Ken is in the air in one of the shots. There was one point where Evelyn got stuck in a concave skating section and you can only see her head peeping out. She's industrious though, and made her way out eventually.

Evelyn's 2nd Grade Holiday Concert

Evelyn participated in her Second Grade Holiday concert this evening. She had a small speaking role and did a great job with it. She was easy to understand and had feeling behind her words. The school celebrates multiple holidays, so we had Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and at least one other whose name escapes me, but it has to do with the Hispanic culture. Here are a few pictures from the event:

No Hands

We've had a busy weekend. Friday night was my work party downtown at restaurant/club called Copa. This is the same place where Rod and I have taken salsa lessons a couple of times. The kids stayed with our neighbors while we were out. I'll babysit for them sometime over the next couple of weeks.

Saturday, we watched the movie "Willow," a (favorite) Lucas/Howard film from the 80s. It took some convincing to get the kids to agree that it would be worth their time to watch it. At the end, they loved it despite a few 'scary' scenes. During the movie, there was one scene with a bunch of fighting going on (among trolls, elwins, and daikimis--character types in the film) and Val Kilmer's character had accidentally gotten some love potion dust sprinkled on him. He stopped amidst the fighting to kiss the daughter of the evil queen Bavmorda. Evelyn is watching this and practically declares, "There's no time for kissing when there's fighting to be done!"

Kenneth has mastered the art of riding his bike with no hands (for short distances), much to my chagrin. I am in the background of that picture, anxiously looking on.

80s Party

Rod and I went to an 80s party on Saturday night. We both tried our best to get decked out in high fashion style from that time period. I picked out my dress from a vintage store called "Cream Vintage." It was fun looking through everything they had in the store. Sadly, Rod actually had all of those clothing items in his closet already *except* the purple t-shirt.

The other picture is with our friend Hope, who included a scrunchie in her hair and fan earrings. She is due with her first baby any day now, so she couldn't do too much with the clothing.

Picking Out the Christmas Tree

The local Pflugerville Optimist's Club set up a Christmas tree lot for the season, so we stopped by on Saturday afternoon to pick one out. Before Rod and I had even gotten out of the car, Kenneth and Evelyn had picked out the one they wanted. As you can see, it was quite the pleasant day--no jackets required.

We are about 90% done decorating it and I will post pictures of that soon.

Rod and I purchased a new mattress and headboard last week and we've been enjoying the nice, soft, FLAT mattress instead of the old mattress with ridiculously large people-divots that occurred after years of use. The next step is to go to IKEA and get coordinating nightstands and a bench for the foot of the bed. I've always wanted one of those. Maybe in January...