I guess November was a really busy month for me, as I found no time to blog since Halloween. I know you've all been on the edge of your seats (at your computer desks) wondering what we've been up to, so I should have our recent pictures posted soon. At least it's easier to get caught up on blogging than it is to get caught up scrapbooking...
Hello, look at this picture...need I say more? I don't, but I will. These are the Lion House Recipe rolls, and last time, I made honey-butter to go with them. Andy said I made the best rolls in the entire world. Oh yeah! Another lady and I were debating this issue on Sunday...both of us (and our families) believe we make the best rolls. We decided to have a roll bake-off/throw-down with a non-partial judge to decide, but as we kept talking we found out that we use the same recipe! I assume mine actually taste better than hers, because I knead by hand and she uses her KitchenAid. How can you knead in all that love with a KitchenAid? Of course mine are better. I am the Queen. Does anyone wanna piece of this?
To start off the Christmas season, on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, we invited several families from church to come make gingerbread houses. We hope to make this a new family tradition. Andy's grandma Armstrong made gingerbread houses every year for the whole extended family, before she passed away. (Wow, was I thinking about her as I cut out 20 gingerbread houses!) We always had so much fun visiting and decorating our houses at grandma's house, that we decided to carry on the tradition in our family! We listened to Christmas music, munched on lots of candies, stole each other's good ideas for decorating, and just had a really fun evening!
Sarah and Rachel made a little Thanksgiving craft. Without prompting, Sarah wrote down blessings she was thankful for. Rach made the whole thing by herself...folding and glueing. Of course we had to have a picture for the blog!
I put Rachel in time-out for hitting me, and when I came back 3 minutes later, this is how I found her. Obviously, I wasn't mad anymore when I saw her cute little chubby face. I guess she was a little tired, and hitting me was her way of telling me to let her take a rest. Actually she was in a hitting-pinching-screaming-tantrum phase that lasted about a month. She was in time-out many, many times. I guess she grew out of it, because I don't think I've even put her in time out for a couple of weeks now. I'd like to think she stopped because of our consistent parenting techniques...
Hey, everybody! Do you want to know how my fantastically brilliant machine works? Well, I'll tell you how. 1: put machine in front of pile of dirt.2:sweep pile of dirt up inclined plane and dirt should fall into the pit. 3:move handle so that dirt in pit falls into peanut butter jar. 4:remove peanut butter jar from machine and dump into trashcan and......Viola! Hope you like my science project! -Grace
The blur in the third picture is Sarah in action at her first gymnastics event. The young kids run an obstacle course and are timed. The top 5 in every age bracket get a medal, a t-shirt, and a bag of goodies. Sarah won 5th place, but from her smile and her proud posture, you'd think she had won the whole thing. I was so happy for her! She wore the medal for about a week straight, sometimes even to bed when I didn't catch her. It's the first thing she's won and she was so excited! She still shows off her t-shirt and her medal to anyone who comes over to the house.
After finding several forgotten bags of stale bread in our pantry, Rachel and I decided to take a trip to the duck pond park. Rach did a great job feeding the ducks, and was really enjoying herself until she realized that every duck in the park was headed directly toward her. She stood by me and watched me feed the ducks(which I have to admit was really fun), then we headed for the playground. We had a friendly and hungry duck follow us all the way to the playground, so Rachel got a chance to feed it(how do you tell boy/girl on the white ones?) without being surrounded. She liked that much better, and I think it gave her courage as we had to go back to the pond again before we left. Cute girl!
We finally took a little visit to the Macroplaza in downtown Monterrey. It's the "central park" of Monterrey, home to the government palace, lots of museums, fountains and statues. There's a lot to see...we only visited the northern end near the government building.
We were lucky to catch the final day of an art exhibit. Artists from all over(we met one from Italy) came to reproduce artworks in chalk on the ground. We all enjoyed walking around looking at the finished products. Some were very beautiful and some were really weird. There were many pieces from Mexican artists, many with a strong religious theme.
The Paseo Santa Lucia is a newly constructed man-made river that begins at the northern end of the Macroplaza. It reminds me of the riverwalk in San Antonio. There are only a few restaurants and candy stores now, but the plan is to build many more. The river ends in Parque Fundidora, an old iron or steel factory that is now a museum with beautiful walking paths and playgrounds, etc. The boat ride was a bit long, so the novelty of being in a boat wore off pretty quickly with the kids (and me). When we did finally return we had our 3pm lunch at a Chinese buffet called Barrio Chino...it was yummy and really tasted like chinese food.
Last night, Andy and I were both up with Sarah, because she kept throwing up. So, we didn't go to church this morning, and Andy got up with the kids. I finally dragged myself out of bed at 11am...I can't remember the last time I slept that late. When I came downstairs my sweet Jake and his helper Grace were making a pancake breakfast for everyone. Andy wasn't feeling well this morning and they thought they would help out. What little sweethearts. I love them so much.
This restaurant is frequented by Andy on his lunch breaks! I think he goes everyday, but he'll only admit to 3 times a week. He says the salsa there is his favorite thing about Mexico. I had eaten there with him once before and liked it, so we thought we'd bring the kids there too. We like pretty much everything on the menu. Also, it has more of an authentic Mexican feel(soda in bottles, brightly painted walls, folding chairs and tables), which I think worried Jake a little. We've mostly been to restaurants we have in the US or that feel the same, so this was a little change. He got over it quickly and loved the food though! I'd actually like to eat there right now. I've been craving some good tacos for like a week now. I've never in my life craved tacos, so I guess I'm becoming accustomed to eating habits here. (No, mom, I'm not pregnant.)
Jake started swimming with a friend who has been doing it for awhile. Basically, he swims laps for an hour, with the coach telling him which stroke to use on each lap. He's pretty worn out afterwards, but I think he really likes it. Look at my studly kid!
Grace is playing volleyball this semester, and she is doing really well. None of the girls on her team have played before, so it's nice that they all started at the same level. In their first game, Grace was first to serve. She got it over the net and scored the first point! It was great!
At the opening exercises of the league, one of the Mexican beach volleyball Olympians was there(I think her name is Bibiana Candelas), and Grace and her friend got her autograph and this picture!
Here's our little gymnast Sarah on the bars and the beam. She loves going to class! I love seeing her cute little muscle-y body doing cartwheels. She's pretty good too!
Yesterday, we took the kids to a waterfall about 20 minutes away. It was beautiful. We have had a lot of rain lately, so there was a lot of water falling. I was surprised by how clear the water was. We had a great time getting sprayed by the water...everyone was damp. There weren't many people there, and the kids could just run around. The park has lots of BBQ and picnic areas...we can't wait to go again with visitors and bring a nice lunch. As we left, we also bought fresh churros and a cool spiral cut fried potato. Muy deliciosos!
The kids and I visited this wild animal park back in August. It's about an hour from our home, but worth the trip! The safari ride was the best part. There was also a bunch of slides and play equipment, zip lines and water activities, a petting zoo and a prehistoric dinosaur park area. Lots of fun!
