my first deer

this picture deserves its own post...my first deer!  (not to be mistaken with my first beer)
for you stats folks:  one shot...60-75 yds out. 

blurry life

the past two weeks have been a blur...we have had so much going on and this is my attempt to sum it up.

the queens of cuisine went to belton to compete in the regional competition.  they did not place, but had a great time!  they made a dish with gnocchi.  later in the week i bought the same ingredients that they had in the competition and they made it for our family...it was delicious!

 jack i and went fishing...

mackenzie and the other twirlers were in the Christmas parade

 

jack and colin watching the Christmas parade...waiting for the candy to be thrown

reese and the rest of the crew at the parade

reese won some u.i.l. awards in her first competition for social studies and number sense!

and mackenzie was in her first play...alice in wonderland.  she was the white queen and the doormouse.

and there you have it...two weeks of activities in one short blog.  :)

thanksgiving week

during the first part of the week some sweet friends came to visit us one evening

 then we went to oma's house for a thanksgiving feast

 we had some good family time playing games, going to the park and doing crafts

we got to spend some time with the cousins

 and went to a train show or two...
thanks oma for hosting us!

queens of cuisine

both of the girls and some of their friends from 4H found out about a cooking contest that is similar to iron chef, but designed for 4H kids.  so, the girls formed a team called "queens of cuisine" and decided to enter the district contest.  for the contest, the kids have no idea what they are going to prepare nor what the ingredients are.  when they arrive at their designated table, they open their bag of groceries and have to prepare a dish using each ingredient in the bag.  they have 40 minutes to prepare the dish, figure the cost per serving, and tell about the nutritional ingredients, food safety and possible dietary substitutions.

i am pleased to announce that the queens of cuisine won their district competition and are proceeding to regionals after making a cous cous chicken salad.  bon apetit!

backyard guests

 i opened my back porch umbrella yesterday to find these 3 fellas...

after a significantly loud scream, i tried to get them to fly out by poking them with a stick

buster was very curious, despite the hissing noises. 

come to find out my neighbor had just built a bat house and was eager to have some occupants.  

there was one casualty as a result of leaving jack alone with a bat unsupervised for a couple of minutes,

but overall i considered it a successful adventure.

basketball season

 basketball season is upon us.  although she was skeptical about playing last year,

mackenzie was actually looking forward to it this year.  she even made the starting five for the first game!

look at that defense!  they won their first game and mackenzie sunk her first free throw. 

yep, i'm one proud momma. 

halloween happenings

 wolverine and the mad scientist

 jack goofing around

 mackenzie and her friend decided to dress up as each other at the last minute.  i think they just 

couldn't bear to watch the younger kids get all the candy. 

jack convinced me to attempt some pumpkin carving the day after halloween.  i chose an aggie 

pumpkin and he wanted me to do yoda for his pumpkin.  to say that yoda was beyond my 

skill level is completely accurate. 

national bar-b-que cookoff and parade

mackenzie twirled in the parade (far rt)

 parade spectators trying to keep warm

 cow patty bingo

 carnival rides

engineer jack

 yummy bar-b-que...the big pig rig won people's choice

 

 we ate some delicious pulled pork, ribs, brisket, and jalepenos.  colin

was asked to judge the entries for bbq ribs...he loved it!

  at home we indulged in cute and yummy snacks...thanks leanne

 so glad my brother and sister in law came in for such a fun weekend

a bike ride I'll never forget

 WARNING!!!  Some of these pictures are not for the faint of heart. 

Last tuesday, Colin went for a jog and Reese, Jack and I decided to bike instead.  We went around 5 pm on a familiar route that we have jogged a hundred times.  Jack and I hit a bump as we were going downhill and the bike flipped.  I have re-visited the site since the accident and I still don't understand how it happened.  But it did nonetheless.  As a result of the bike flipping, Jack had a significant wound on his forehead.  There was blood everywhere.  Colin called the ambulance and they arrived within minutes.  The ambulance drove us to Clifton and the ER there decided that due to swelling and head trauma,

 he needed to be care-flighted to Temple. 

 Much to my dismay, I was not allowed to go with him. There was not enough room.  But the EMT took the following picture and sent it to me and let me talk to Jack on the phone.  

 So Colin, and the girls and I loaded up and drove to Temple to meet him there.  On the way, we cried, prayed, notified a few friends and family, prayed some more and cried some more. 

 They ran several tests on Jack, did a CAT scan and sewed him up beautifully.  After I heard he was gonna be okay, I took Colin and the nurse's suggestion to go get checked out myself.  

 My test results were clear too.  Praise God the worst we will suffer is a few scars!!

 Jack is such a trooper.  He hardly complained and was tough as nails! 

This picture was taken on Thursday when he woke up.  He could hardly open his eyes. 

 Here is a pic of me on Thursday. 

 A couple of days later, Jack is feeling back to normal.  He is ready to jump, run, play, sword fight, climb and

doing anything but be still.  I still haven't taken a "thumbs up" picture yet, but I feel very blessed by the love and support from our family and friends and I am so thankful to God for keeping us safe!

couple's retreat

 colin and i decided to take a little mid-week getaway to marble falls.  granny and grandpa mac watched the kiddos and we went and had some fun by ourselves.

 this was the sunset view from our hotel.

 we went fishing

 had a picnic lunch

 went for a hike

 we also did a "canopy tour"...ziplining thru cypress trees 

 it was a neat experience and we had a great time

we also ate at some neat local places and caught up on movies.  i hope we do it again soon!

twirling

for those of you who don't know, mackenzie is now twirling for her junior high school.  there are three people on the twirling team and they are really enjoying it.

 now, i'll be the first to admit that i know nothing about twirling, but i think they are doing really well...not to mention how cute they look.

 since it is just their first year, they are only twirling at the junior high pep rallies.

they are also going to twirl in the town parade on saturday.  more pics to come!