Fun Fall Festivities!

We had a busy but fun Fall season this year. We celebrated Darrell's 45th birthday. I ran (and completed!) my very first race. Ashlee made it through her first year of marching season. Sydney and James had a blast trick or treating and we spent Thanksgiving at Aunt Muffy's house with the Odom's.

For Darrell's birthday, I set up a little surprise party. He knew we were going to meet his Mom and Dad for dinner but he didn't know when or where. I set up a private party for 8 at Dream Dinners just a mile from our home.

A little background on Dream Dinners (DD)...It has been a life saver for our family. For the past 3 years, I have faithfully visited DD on a monthly basis where I assemble my family meals for the month for a great value. I then go home and freeze the dinners pulling them out weekly to defrost in the refrigerator. It's perfect for this working mom because I can get a nutritious meal on the table in a short amount of time.

Sooo, because I am a VIP customer, the DD staff were sweet enough to offer a free meal to the birthday boy. Darrell's parents, sister and husband, and our dear friends, Roger and Monica, assembled our dinners and then DD cooked the meal and served it to us. We brought a bottle of wine to complete the Italian meal and topped it off with a chocolate molten lava cake!

Darrell, me, Monica (baby Isaac), Roger

Hanging out. Ready to eat!

Happy 45th Darrell!

Okay, now about my first race ever! I began running in June. I just needed some exercise and I felt like walking wasn't enough. This idea was foreign to me as I had only ran (in my entire 39 years of life) once...from a spider. LOL!

Over the month, I slowly built up to a 2 mile jog every other day. Well, then I found out about a running group here in Pearland that was starting to train for a marathon. It peaked my interest and well...let's just say I caught the running bug! So this past October, after a few months of training, I ran the Space City 10 Miler!!! I had so much fun and plan to run a half marathon in January if my ankle tendinitis allows me to.

2 hours and 10 miles of sweat and tears

While I've been running, Ashlee has been exercising in a whole other way. She began in August with Band Camp. She spent grueling 10 hour days in the Houston heat learning how to march in her high school band. She learned quickly and was given a primary marching spot which doesn't normally happen to Freshman.

Since then, we have frequented many Friday night football games and Saturday competitions in different parts of town. And even though marching season is over, the 4A football team is undefeated and ranked No 1 in the State. Today, we will be watching the playoff game at Reliant Stadium. Ashlee will be marching in the halftime performance. Very cool!!!

Practice

The parents got a little taste of how it all feels. Ashlee was teaching me.

Brass pep talk by Mr. Heath

Sitting in the stands during a game

Eagle Band performance at a competition

BREAKING NEWS!!! 

Dawson beat Stratford in a very close, intense game at Reliant Stadium! They were tied 28-28 at the beginning of the 4th quarter when Dawson made a touchdown with 2:43 minutes to go. Stratford then fumbled the ball and Dawson got it to run it for another touchdown!  GO EAGLES!!! They will play Nederland next week in the 3rd playoff game.

Ashlee and some of the trumpet line

Playing in the stands at Reliant Stadium

Touchdown Eagles!!!

Halftime performance

"D" Formation: Ashlee is on the 43 front left

Walking off the turf

Go Eagles!!!

Now onto the holidays...

Halloween was on a Wednesday night this year. The church youth group had a big Halloween Bash. After practice, Ashlee attended that with her friends. Sydney and James joined the neighborhood kids in trick or treating while I passed out candy in our cul-de-sac with the other parents. Darrell was working and arrived with Ashlee later, just when the fun was coming to an end.

Spiderman and a French Artist

Army Soldier

Happy Halloween!

Every year I like to take the kids to a pumpkin patch. This year we met my girlfriends and their kids at the Old McDonald Farm in Humble. It was my friend, Becky's son's birthday so we also made it a party day for the birthday boy, Kenneth.

The Gang

the birthday party treats

James and Gregory were busted tasting the icing!

Hanging out on the Fort

Pig Pen..LOL!

Kenneth, Gregory, James, and Aidan

The weather was a bit chilly but after chasing 4 boys all over the farm, we were happy to have the colder temps. At one point I turned around and James was gone. After a few minutes of panic, I spotted him across the farm on top of a huge mountain of dirt that I had explained to him earlier that we would NOT be touching. We had a little talk and a time out to cool down.

We ended our fun day with a turkey picture. I did not know exactly how funny these turkeys looked until I downloaded them onto my computer.

The Girls: Tori, Ashlee, and Sydney

The boys: Kenneth, Gregory, James, and Aidan

The Moms: Becky, Melissa, Michelle, and Shelly (me)

And what better way to introduce our Thanksgiving festivities than with a turkey picture! Haha!

Thanksgiving this year did not disappoint. We had a fabulous feast in Richmond at Aunt Muffy's and Uncle Freddy's house. There was a ton of good food and conversation with the Odom family. Also, our beloved Texans squeaked by with an intense, overtime 34-31 win against Detroit. Whew!!!

Sister love

James is ready for some football!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy 5th Birthday James!

Every kids' dream is to have a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, right? Well... 

James' wish came true as over 20 of his friends and family came to celebrate for his 5th birthday. The Higgins', Powell's, church family, and friends made it really special for the birthday boy!  We started off with games and fun.

Cousins and Grandma Higgins

James' precious friend, London

Then it was time for pizza and cake. This year, once again, James wanted a batman cake but this one couldn't hold a candle to the one my girlfriend, Melissa, made for him last year. But it still tasted good and hit the spot. Make a wish!!!

Then it was time for the one and only...CHUCK E CHEESE to come out to sing and dance with the kids!  Every kids' dream, right?!  Well...

"James! Chuck E. Cheese is here! James, where are you?"

Uh, under the table...hiding! Lol! James wasn't sure about the 7 foot furry rat and decided to take the cautious route. After a few minutes of coaxing, he decided it would be alright to come out and gave Chuck a great big hug.

Next, James had the opportunity to get inside the ticket booth. The object of this game was to grab as many tickets as possible in 1 minute. You can stuff them inside your pockets, shirt, hands, wherever!  Then you can trade your tickets in at the toy store for prizes. Every kids' dream, right?!  Well...

Once the air began and the tickets started to fly, James was NOT impressed. He just stood there in tears...too scared to move. When he got out the employees felt so bad for him that they gave him the prize golden ticket worth 1,000 tickets!!!  Needless to say, that put a smile back on this birthday boy's face.

 

Then it was back to fun, family, and friends. Every kids' dream!!!

James, Stone, and Case

James, Case, and Garrett

James and Ben

Wrapping Up Summer at Surfside

The last week before school starts...can't think of a better way to spend it than with Gma and Papa Hoenerhoff. They reserved a week stay at a resort that overlooks Surfside Beach. Since Hurricane Ike took out the sand dunes, this resort literally sits on the beach. NICE!

Darrell was working and couldn't make it down, but since it was only an hour from our house I was able to hang out for the weekend. Ashlee had to head back with me because of band practices but Sydney and James were able to spend quality time throughout the week. Lucky ducks!

We also had an early birthday celebration for Papa. We brought Papa's gift with us and James talked him (and Gma) into opening it up early. So we sang "Happy Birthday" and had a little party even though we had no cake! hahaha

Papa's new Texaco truck and back scratcher that he is using on James' chin. What? ha!

During the week, Gma and Papa took the kids out to some really good restaurants in the area too. James' favorite was The Rainforest Cafe and Syd's was the Pirates Alley Cafe.

Eating the "Volcano" dessert at The Rainforest Cafe

The week consisted of tons of sun, sand and water. The resort had a pool as well so the kids had a blast swimming in both worlds. Lot's of sunscreen, hats, swim shirts and a pop-up canopy came in handy as there were only slight sunburns reported at the end of the week.

The beach was absolutely beautiful as the resort swept the seaweed away on a daily basis. And the water was just right. No seaweed at all and refreshing!

Ashlee and James sand wrestling

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Ashlee the sand castle master

Yes, I was there...the only pic of me. Ha!

Ashlee and James playing frisbee

Real boys get sandy when playing frisbee

James' personal beach tub

Action shot of Sydney and James digging

Taking a break from digging

James and Sydney enjoying the water

Gma relaxing at the beach

Sydney surfed the waves about 75% of the time

Ashlee and Papa working hard on their castle

Remember making drip castles when you were a kid?

This is the life! Priceless!

Thanks Gma and Papa for a week of fun in the sun! Spending time with you is priceless!!!