thanksgiving

so, thanksgiving has come and gone, and boy are we thankful! we are so blessed, a simple meal of thanks hardly seems adequate (although, mom cressy made sure it was no "simple" meal! what a feast! and forty people to feed, too! way to go, mom and dad cressy!) the annual bingo tradition was a great end to a great day. i was in charge of the prize bags and ordered geodes for adding to all the bags. i think people were a little confused after unrolling the tissue paper only to find... a rock. but I thought it would be a fun new tradition to head out to the driveway and hit rocks with hammers! who's with me?! apparently only lauren shared my enthusiasm. thanks, lauren. i ALWAYS wanted those dang crystals as a kid, and i finally got my chance! it was also a crazy night of every family trying to organize their own family christmas card photo shot. now THAT was entertainment! the next day aunt mary lou and uncle ray organized a family bowling night (hopefully another new tradition?) the night had a surprising favorite fan- james! that kid lost to kim by only a couple points! (sorry, kim, i had to brag...)

i'm also attaching a couple pix of james at the pet store. turns out he's also a fan of puppies... hint, hint, corey! james, sean, and i led the shop owner on as if we were really interested in purchasing a dog, and were allowed to go into a special room to play with said puppy. james definitely shared the little jack russell's enthusiasm! sean... well, he kinda just stood in the corner and freaked. but, james and i had a blast! ahhh... i can still smell that puppy smell...

play dates

chilly day at the park, fun night at "the bounce house," and some family pictures (including Kevin, Lupe and Jack on his 30th birthday!!!)

halloween

Halloween has come and gone. We had a wonderful time as a witch, a dad, a cowboy and yoda. We hit up the neighborhood dinner first and then James and I embarked on our own trick-or-treating. This was James' first experience with fear. I wonder how long that will last... On his most-fearful list were spiderman (?) and anyone with a scary ghost/grim reaper mask. At first he would cry and want dad to pick him up, but by the end of the night he would just cling to my leg and say, "it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. he's just pretending." while shaking slightly. He got quite a lot of loot and is STILL working on polishing it off. Sean was a good sport. While he could've cared less for the treats and other costumes, he took full advantage of being allowed to wander around on his own (he has recently tackled the art of walking and there's no turning back!) Hope you all had a spooky good halloween, too!