Tuesday, December 18, 2007

offline...and back on



Apologies for the hiatus. Rest assured Team C is chugging along and preparing for Christmas. December was quite a busy month for us, although we stayed put in H-town for a change. There is nothing quite like the holidays to make life incredibly full! The Southern Grandparents and the west coast Auntie are on their way this weekend!!

So, for years in Madison we purchased a Christmas tree from a little-known, slightly shady establishment in the parking lot of Sears on the west side...for the bargain price of $10. Yep, ten smackers for a gloriously schwinty, tiny tree that was always perfect once you adorned it with oranments, garland and way too many lights for safety. This year, we visited a similar establishment and paid $50. Damn. Same skinny, short and slightly misshapen tree but with a hefty southern upcharge. We did find it quite amusing that it was 55 outside when we bought it. Lights were subsequently put on the tree in the driveway, which made it much easier and far less entangling. Decorating the tree after Lilly was tucked away for the night proved a most intelligent move, as the very next morning she found the tree and proceeded to remove and then "rehang" any ornament hung below three feet high.


These days, Lilly is very much into "being helpful". She loves to sweep with the broom, wipe up spills (that she makes herself on purpose) and throwing away trash. I caught her walking over to our trash bin, opening the sliding door and tossing in a used paper towel the other day. Our fear is that she will grab something we don't notice!

While not nearly as cold and wintry as we'd like it down here, we did have frost the other night. Hooray! We are keeping our fingers crossed for a freak Christmas snow down here....

Monday, November 12, 2007

fall...

The travel spree continues! We went to Madison last weekend for a friend's wedding and had a wonderful time. It is a bit strange going back to a place you've lived to stay in a hotel. From the moment we stepped off the plane, we had a game plan that included way too much to accomplish in a weekend. We managed to see many friends, eat + drink at our favorite places, catch the last farmer's market and enjoy a few proper fall days.

Off to New York and New Hampshire this weekend for the holidays. We cannot wait to see everyone.


Lilly having a "youthful tendency disorder" moment playing in the leaves

nothing like this in Houston...*sniff*

Sunday, October 28, 2007

octopus' garden

Lilly's school holds an all-out Halloween Carnival each year....that was 850 people strong. Quite the feat of planning and it was as much for the kids as the parents. Cory and I were among the few parents who got it together enough to costume themselves. Seeing that we just attended a "fake wedding" as the flower girl and ring bearer, we had sweet costumes. Thank goodness they supplied barley pop. Oh yes, they also had a petting zoo...and pony rides.



Lilly was serenaded by the band (to the Beatles song Octopus' Garden) as she walked past them in her super fancy octopus costume. She was pretty funny to watch dance, as she doesn't quite get it yet. Our favorite is the deep knee bend decidedly out of sych with the beat. Watching the legs of her costume bounce around as she swung her arms was hilarious.

weekend crafting


Lilly is becoming quite independent these days! She loves helping getting her shoes on, so we bought (and modified--chopped the legs down) a little chair for her. Plain white wasn't cutting it...so I found myself decoupaging the seat. Lilly loves pointing at the fish.

Friday, October 19, 2007

haircut

Lilly had her first haircut on Saturday. The mullet had to go....business up front, party in the back, no more.


Wednesday, September 26, 2007

yinz in steeler country


Last weekend we visited Bill and Laura in Pittsburgh. What a fun weekend we had--and certainly not long enough!! Last time we saw each other was about a month before Lilly was born...and we were living in Madison.

Lilly once again, entertained everyone in the airport and charmed the flight attendants. Our carefully laid out plan of booking an evening flight deteriorated rapidly, as Lilly decided quickly that she was not tired. However, after about an hour of going back and forth from crying to laughing, she settled down for a good snuggle for the rest of the flight. Good airline karma somehow came our way--flight left on time, we scored the bulkhead seats and ended up with an extra empty seat!!

Over the weekend, Lilly said her second word. Of course, she's not yet said Mommy or Daddy. Laura and Bill have two cats, one of which we hardly saw, the other was marginally curious about the little person running around screaming "CAT!" Seems as if kitty toys are just as much fun as baby toys, as Lilly was fascinated by a shiny foil ball. Good thing Crash and Loki weren't possessive!

We spent most of the weekend sipping cocktails and eating good food....but we did go out and see what Pittsburgh had to offer. Big highlights were the Pittsburg Zoo, where Lilly was fascinated by the fish. We also went to the Phipps Conservatory where we saw the new Chihuly glass exhibit. The pairing of art glass, in very organic shapes and colors, with the different plants throughout the conservatory was incredible. Check it out: http://www.phipps.conservatory.org/chihuly/gallery.html On the way out of town, we drove through the Steelers tailgate. I'd be willing to bet that Steeler fans can give many a Wisconsin fan a run for their money. Crazy--they're all under the highway grilling and swilling beer.


Saturday, September 8, 2007

new tricks


CHEERS!

sitting (very lady-like) in her new chair...

Auntie Jenny's doing....we were only gone for one weekend!