February in Houston

Andy and I have to keep reminding ourselves that it is February! It feels like Spring. We've had a few outdoor playdates lately. Here are a couple of pics of our fun!

Shaggy McGoo

Henry's hair was getting pretty shaggy, so we recently went for a haircut. He are a couple of pre-cut shots of our Shaggy McGoo!

From the Mouths of Babes...

So, I guess my fear of living "in the Red" down here in Texas is unwarranted. Here is a recent conversation I had with Henry:

Mommy: "What's your name?"

Henry: "Henry!"

Mommy: "'Henry' what?"

Henry: "Henry Ohhhh-BAMA!"

Grin.

Our White Christmas

We had a great Christmas in the Great White North of Erie, PA thanks to lots of beautiful snow and fun times with family and friends. Here are some highlight pics:

Ground Lights

I have to get a picture of this for all of my Northern friends. Now, like most places in the country, the houses in our neighborhood are decked out with holiday cheer--lights, hanging baubles, wreaths, wrapped tree trunks. And, there are quite a few inflatable Santas/snowmen/etc. out there, too. But, one thing I've never seen before is the lighting of the yard's perimeter. When I first saw it, I said, "Oh, wow, how neat! I've never seen that before!" And then I realized, well, of course I haven't. Where I come from, we don't need lights on the ground. We have snow! It was an ah-ha moment.

I know that this post is useless without a picture, so I'll try to get one this evening. We're off to a huge Christmas party with some of our new friends here in Katy. We're looking forward to Elizabeth's cooking and a visit from Santa!

Back to Blogging

I am sorry you've been stuck looking at Henry's yucky feet picture for weeks. Blogging has taken a backseat to our trip to Chicago, Thanksgiving, and Christmas preparation. Our trip to Chicago was not what we had planned, as Henry got sick and we had to rearrange and cancel plans. We did manage to eat the food we've been missing (lots of pizza!), and we saw the slew of new babies born since we left. It was bittersweet being back in the city we love, but, we must admit, it was nice to return to warm weather and not having to bundle up!

Our Thanksgiving was fantastic. We hosted Andy's parents, two brothers and their wives/fiances, and our adorable 11-month-old niece, Anna. We cooked two turkeys: one traditional roasted and one deep fried, which we injected with cajun butter. YUM. We had a minor issue with the fryer, but, thanks to the maverick ways of the guys, all was fine.

Guys fixing the fryer:


Henry bundled up in Chicago:


Me with my sister-in-law-to-be:

Our Discovery Health Show

Here is what the Hand-Foot-Mouth rash looks like. (This was taken last week; thank goodness it's better). YUCK!