Fall in Indiana

A long time ago (well...back in October) we took a trip to Indiana to visit my sister and see autumn (although now that it's December, our maple trees are looking very colorful - so if anybody says south Texas doesn't have fall, you can just tell them we do, it just doesn't happen until after Thanksgiving). Anyway, we drove and we were a little scared about a two-day drive with Max but he was great in the car. We had lots of fun with Aunt Ellen, discovered that Max truly does not like to sleep anywhere other than his own bed (not counting the car), played in the leaves, ate good food, and had a nice little vacation.

He felt that he had to sit on the pumpkin

Halloween...a little late

Max enjoyed Halloween this year. Since he's really into trains right now, he was a train engineer. Saturday, we went to the zoo for Zoo Boo. Max liked the animals but his favorite thing, of course, was riding the train, or the "coo-coo" as he says.

"I want to ride again!!"

We took him trick or treating at Mawmaw and Pawpaw's and then stopped by some other friends' houses. He got the idea that he was supposed to get candy but he wouldn't say "trick or treat". 

Can't wait to see him at Halloween next year!

Private...

We've decided to make the blog more private, so you'll have to be invited and sign in to read it. If you think I might not have your email address, and you want to keep reading, send me your email so I can invite you!

Another Camping Trip

We bought a camper! We took it for a short trip to Lake Texana to try it out at the beginning of the month. I don't have any pictures of the camper but here are some from our trip!

Nanny, Grampa, and Great-Nanny came for supper

An armadillo visited the campsite - yuck!

 An evening hike with his "night-night"

 

We're looking forward to lots of fun trips and great memories in our little pop-up!

Dewberry Farms

We took a trip to Dewberry Farms earlier in the month. It's become an annual tradition with Matt's family and we were excited about taking Max this year.  We had a full day of looking for pumpkins, riding trains and ponies, and trying to take lots of pictures of 3 crazy kids!

Max did not like the slide!

But he loved the pony ride!

 

The "cow train" was another favorite!

Looking for the perfect pumpkin!

Garden Update

I might have tomatoes in a few days! There are lots of little green tomatoes on two of the plants. I'm pretty excited! I found a caterpillar eating my cucumber plant. I don't know if it's going to make it. The broccoli and arugula both look just okay so we'll see if they get any better. I don't think it's rained since I posted last, so we have to try to remember to water.  I'd like to plant some carrots or lettuce, but we've been so busy! (which is also supposed to explain the lack of blogging)

Why I think anyone cares about my garden, I'm not sure...but I felt the need to update...

A Garden

I've been talking about planting a vegetable garden for a while and we finally did it! Matt built a wooden frame so we could make it a raised bed, and last weekend we filled it with dirt and planted a few things. I planted 2 grape tomato and 2 regular tomato plants, 2 broccoli, 2 arugula, and 2 cucumbers. I thought 2 of each was a good number!

We've had rain almost every day this week so we haven't really had to water too much. Looking out the window right now, I think one of the tomato plants and the arugula have grown! The cucumbers, however, aren't looking great. I wasn't too sure about those when I bought them, so we'll see what happens. As fall progresses, I may try some things that are supposed to be planted when it's cooler...especially if I have space from cucumbers not working out. Don't worry readers (ha)...I'll keep you updated on the success (not failure!) of my garden.

Picking Grapes

We took an end-of-summer weekend getaway a few weeks ago to pick grapes at a small vineyard we found near Marble Falls while camping last fall. We left Max with his Nanny and headed that direction on a Friday morning.  We stopped at Flat Creek Estate winery for a tasting and a yummy lunch at their bistro, then drove through the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Preserve. Matt was really mostly looking for some dirt roads so he could try out the new Subaru's all-wheel drive capabilities but we didn't find a whole lot of off-roading. We met up with our friends at a cute historic hotel in a little town not too far from Marble Falls. We had a great dinner with them at another winery/bistro. Saturday morning we were up at sunrise to go pick grapes. The lack of humidity, compared to Houston, made the heat a lot more bearable, and picking grapes was not hard at all. I guess I was imagining bending over or something that would make it hard, but all we had to do was snip the clusters off of the vines. The vineyard is owned by a fairly young family and it was neat to see the kids working too. The owners are very friendly and eager to talk about their craft. After picking grapes all morning, we had lunch and then a wine tasting. We also watched them use a machine that took the stems off the grapes and crushed them. It was pretty amazing because they just dumped the grapes into this thing and all of the stems came out one side and the grapes got crushed and went through a tube into a tank. It was a fun weekend and a different experience - I can't say I ever thought I'd go pick wine grapes!

Balcones Canyonlands Wildlife Preserve

The Outback's first "hill climb" (it actually was a little steeper than it looks!)

Grapes - each box is 1/2 ton and the group picked, I think, 5 tons that morning!

Blog Vacation and Summer Projects

Apparently, I felt that I should take a vacation from blogging for July. So, since I actually have some topics in mind, over the next few days I'll hopefully post a few, at least to keep up my average!

To show that I have been somewhat productive this summer here are a couple projects I've accomplished.

Max's bathroom 

We got paint a while ago (as in like at least a year) to paint Max's bathroom. I painted earlier in the summer and finally found a shower curtain this week. I'm still looking for a few accessories, but I love the color. I'm happy with the way it turned out.

The dress

I sewed a dress. I actually started this 2 summers ago. I had forgotten about it until I found it while going through some things upstairs.  I had bought some black leggings on clearance at Target, but I didn't have anything to wear with them. Then I realized that if I finished this, it might look good over them. So with help from my grandma it's now ready to wear. We'll see if I attempt to sew clothing again. 

I'll end with a pitiful picture of Max. He got bit by a mosquito right beside his eye, which is not a great place for a mosquito bite. We're on day 2 of the swelling; hopefully it will be gone by tomorrow.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the best dad we know!

 

Thanks for everything you do for our family - from washing dishes to playing with Max when you get home after a long day, from taking care of the house to taking care of us. Thanks for always striving to be a better dad/husband/man and inspiring me to be a better mom/wife/woman. 

We love you!

Joy

My mom recently said we should change Max's middle name to "Joy". While I don't think it quite fits with "Max", it is definitely his personality. He gets joy out of everything. It is so fun to watch him experience new things because he gets so excited. But he also is just as happy playing at home with the toys he plays with every day. I can't help but smile when I see that smile, whether he's running around the house with his lawnmower or enjoying his first time at the beach. Almost every time we pick him from the church nursery, they say how happy he is. We've gone to a Play and Learn class at Gymboree twice and today the teacher commented that he always has a smile on his face. One of the church volunteers asked "Is he always that content?". Yes, he is. Not to say that he doesn't have his share of fits or that he is a perfect child, but we know that we are blessed to have such an easy-going boy. We are also blessed by his happiness and joy, as are others. He shares it with everyone, and I hope that when he smiles and waves at a stranger in the grocery store, it brightens her day and blesses her also. I also hope that we can nurture his joy as he grows so that it continues to affect those around him.

Joy is very infectious; therefore, be always full of joy. -Mother Teresa

Haircut

Max had his first haircut on Friday. It was bittersweet. The mullet had to go but he had a few little curls back there that I really liked! And now he looks even older... 

Before

 

 After

He was very good for Ms. Crystal - no crying or screaming, just a little squirming which was pretty easily averted with a cell phone. Works every time!

Another milestone to cross off the list and put in the baby book.

Ow!

One of Max's new favorite words is "ow". The other day he started pinching my shoulder and saying "ow! ow!".  Ironically, over the weekend, he got his biggest "owie" yet when he faceplanted on the patio. 

He had a nice circle of road rash right in the middle of his forehead. 

"Ow" was not enough to express his pain for this one.

I like this picture because you can see all of Max's teeth. Yes, all 3 of our 16 1/2  month old's teeth. How does the boy eat!? How does he bite into his grilled cheese!?

His other top one is coming in too, and it looks like a couple of the side ones might be close. 

But at this rate, he'll be 2 before he gets them!

Camping

We went camping at Lake Livingston for Mother's Day weekend. The weather ended up being really nice - we were afraid we had waited too long and it would be so hot but it turned out great. Max had fun. All he really wants to do right now is walk around so we kind of had to just follow him around the campsite. 

Of course he's also at the stage where he wants to go where he wants to go so it's a problem if you try to change his direction. But he is very easily redirected most of the time - his little tantrums only last a few seconds. 

Back to camping - we went on a nature walk with a ranger and walked some of the other trails too. 

We went down by the lake and met a squirrel who was too friendly for me. He ate from Matt's hand and almost climbed in my lap! 

We also took Max's picture on a tree that Matt's parents had taken Matt and his sister's picture on when they were kids. I tried to convince Matt to sit on the tree with Max but he wouldn't. 

So it was a fun weekend and we're already looking forward to our next camping trip (which won't be until fall unless we go north!). It will be fun to see what Max is doing next time. 

Another great part of the weekend was that when we got back Sunday, I got to go get a pedicure for Mother's Day and came home to flowers and a James Avery ring with Max's birthstone. It was a perfect Mother's Day! Thanks Matt and Max!

Son, Don't Eat the Bluebonnets

The End