Hurry Up & Wait

A quick update on the status of our Foster Care training...

We had hoped to be finished with our home study by the end of December, but it seems that we will be waiting a bit longer. After delaying our first home visit because of scheduling, our assigned social worker was supposed to come by last Wednesday. I was so on top of things. House cleaned, safety checklist complete, and showered a ready for her arrival. Then about ten minutes before, she called to cancel! AHHHHHH! After the initial disappointment, we realized this is probably just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to inconveniences associated with "the system". We decided to enjoy our clean home and take a deep breath. So we've rescheduled for early January and trust this timing change is all part of the plan. A plan that we haven't had any control over from the beginning!

Our Not So Perfect Christmas Tree

Last year we waited to the last minute to purchase our Christmas tree. We ended up getting a sad little thing from the left overs at Home Depot. I vowed that this year we would actually go to a Christmas tree farm and pick out our own, cut it down, and enjoy knowing that we supported a local small business. So last Saturday we headed a few towns north and enjoyed a lovely ride through the country. The fall trees were so pretty and it was exciting driving up to the farm which was lined with neat little rows of Texas Christmas trees. After parking, we took a hay ride to the field with trees while Rylin slowly woke up from his nap.

Then our farmer chauffeur let us off with saw in hand to pick out our tree. It was hard to decide on one because they were all so different.

We finially found one with a tall trunk so that little hands might not reach the tempting ornaments. Jordan set to work sawing while Rylin watched very intently.

While our hands were full of tree, he decided to try and get one his size!

After hauling our tree to the end of the row for the tractor to pick up, we loaded back on our hayride and to the gift shop for hot chocolate and apple cider. Yum.

Our tree was wrapped and loaded soon after. And here it is in all its glory. Not exactly perfect, but perfect for us! Notice the little sneaky boy in the corner...

Rylin's New Old Bed

My Dad and brothers, 1976 in a photo for the local newspaper

Almost forty years ago my woodworking father built a really cool bed for my brothers. The firetruck bunk bed is infamous in our family. Constructed out of plywood and painted by my mother to match the Leroy-Tours-Gerald fire trucks (of which she painted the numbers on the same year), it was a little boys dream. I grew up seeing pictures of my brothers and their friends sitting in it. When my Mom was teaching first grade she even had it in her classroom as a reading nook. Since we put together our playroom, it was assumed that it would soon be merged into a bedroom as well. Either for Rylin or for his siblings. It was a while ago that I remembered that firetruck bed collecting dust in my parents garage attic. I knew that it needed to be resurrected! So for Rylin's birthday, I convinced my dad and brother to haul it down from the top of the garage and my husband to squeeze it into the playroom and assemble...without instructions. We're still married and it looks great! Rylin loves it and soon he'll be sleeping in it...hopefully:) For now he has enjoyed playing inside and filling the toy box under the "hood".

My brothers, Richie & David

...and our little ham

Pinterest Love

So as I mentioned a few weeks ago, I am completely hooked on Pinterest, the online site where you can "pin" photos and ideas from the web into "boards" to use as inspiration for everything from fashion and the home to diy projects and crafts. I am trying to turn my inspiration into real life creativity so Thanksgiving was a good start. These are the latest of my many ongoing projects...

Fruit Cornucopias

Turkey Veggie Tray

dinosaur hoodie (for Rylin and Attie)

Papa's Helper

We had a great Thanksgiving with my family this last week. Rylin and I went down early so we could spend a few days with MiMi and Papa before the chaos of the holiday took over. (who am I kidding?! It's always chaotic!) Rylin LOVES his MiMi and Papa and one of his favorite things to do when we get to their house is go see the horses ("neigh's"). He runs up to the fence with his lips puckered, and like he knows what he's doing, Tucson leans his head down so Rylin can kiss him! My Dad lets him help get the hay and scoop the feed and he is quite the helper.

Super Rylin

Awhile back, I decided that it was probably the last year I could put my little boy in spandex for Halloween without it looking rediculous. So, true to form, I was sewing a little superhero costume a couple days after his birthday party and just a day before he needed to wear it for our church's Fall Festival.

He and Attie (puppy) were excited to see each other when we arrived!

He got his fill of candy and kept returning to the bucket!

I can remember Halloween when I was a kid...getting dressed up, and loading on a flat bed trailer full of hay to scout out the neighborhood for loads of candy. It was one of the most exciting nights of the year for me, so when my cousins said they were thinking of taking the little kids on a hay ride this year, Rylin and I were in! Of course, I demanded the adults wear costumes too, of which no one seemed to have. However, my Mom's junk closet turned out to be better than any Halloween costume superstore! After using our imaginations, we suited up and headed out for the candy loot.

Sweet little Monkey Crosby! So serious...

The whole group (hippie, 80's arobics instructor, superhero, monkey, scarecrow, army girl, meat packer)

Super Rylin!

We had a blast and Rylin was too funny going door to door saying "treat, treat!" He wanted to eat every piece of candy on the spot. I have some great pictures of him in action, but my behind in those sweats is too horrid for this blog! I'm sure they will come back to haunt me!

Houston Weekend

Last weekend we headed to Houston for our annual family weekend with the Wines. The weather was great and we had a fun time visiting with our cousins a few hours south. We stuffed our faces with food, watched a lot of football, and wrangled kids.

Thank goodness for the heated pool!

Brayden and Rylin had fun playing together.

Rylin thought he was one of the "big" kids...

More pictures on our family photo website.

So Long "Joosh"

It has been my goal from the beginning to be rid of the pacifiers (or "joosh" as Rylin calls them) in our house by the time Rylin was two. We were doing pretty well around one, just using them at nap and bed time, and then backslid a bit with the onset of molars. Who am I kidding? He was using two or three! However, when Mothers Day Out started, we went back to sleeping times only because that is what they "encourage" for his room while there. Then, just as I had planned (I note because my plans never work) we ceremoniously threw them away the morning of his birthday. Never to return. So far he has done great! Adelay gave him a stuffed Cookie Monster for his birthday, so instead of giving him the paci, we look for "Cookie" at bed time and he cuddles it all night. He has only asked for the "joosh" a few times and I told him that it was for a baby and he was now a big boy. He seemed to buy that explanation. If only potty training was this easy!

2 Years Old

Rylin's Birthday Slide Show

almost 2

Birthday Party

The party's over! Perhaps I will have my life back now:) Seriously, though, we had a good time celebrating Rylin's 2nd birthday. Since our little grill master has been so into cooking lately, we ran with the cookout theme. We had some great weather and even better friends join us...

Everyone took their turn for a photo op

Rylin was enthused over his first present from Gramps and Grammie!

Homemade aprons were the party favors

Though the cake was the more difficult to execute, the hamburger cupcakes were the big hit!

Rylin was in awe of the sparkler "2"

Tess & Rylin

Rylin got all kinds of fun presents and enjoyed playing with friends and family. We all had a great nights sleep after a long day!