Friday, November 30, 2018

November 2018

As with all good month posts, this one is a mishmash of various moments captured on camera. Unlike most months, I've made very little attempt this time to piece together a semi-coherent story. That doesn't make these moments any less adorable though! We'll start with 2 pictures of 2 cuties at the park. Happy November!

We move on to that time Ethan got a hand-me-down tie and fancy shoes from Boston cousins and rocked the look...and then his brother and sister got jealous of Mommy's photography subject:


Aunt Syssa gets credit for officially being the first adult to keep these
5 children alive by herself when Mommy needed to sneak out for a meeting.

By the end of November, big Spenceman was officially 1.75 years old. He's still a small little guy, but man, he's got big things happening! I have now seen this happen with 3 kiddos, and it never gets any less exciting. Spencer's language gets more and more developed as he expresses himself in dramatic gibberish and dozens of new words every day. For me, the sweetest language development came towards the end of the month when he began piecing two independent words together to communicate, as in "Byebye Mommy," "mor wahwah," "crakah peez," or "uh oh [gui]tah." And this guy has the best smile when he points (attempted sign) at you and says "i-yuh-you!"

He tantrums as all good toddlers do; his smile lights up the room; he LOVES vehicles, especially "choo choo"s! Spencer can count (with assistance) to 10; he carries a tune remarkably; and he loves singing and repeating songs happily.

using a big boy spoon to feed himself

Spoiler alert: That's not mud.
(It was, however, one of the
grossest days of my life.)

This kid has a musical spark
like his big brother.
Spencer LOVES cleaning. (for now)

counting with Ethan


when the smaller piece of
challah wasn't big enough

on the loose with
Mommy's slippers

another day, another opportunity to
fall asleep before making it to the crib


It was another cold day. Or a wet day? Or a day that Mommy didn't feel like entertaining the kids or taking them outside? Luckily, Mommy remembered the fabulous indoor pool available to us!


If these moments on the slide don't capture the love that these 2 brothers have for each other, I'm not sure what else would.



"Wasting time" at the mall one afternoon:


They say there's a first time for everything...

Gabriella continues to improve her reading skills as her list of recognized sight words increases. She thinks scientifically and mathematically. She can be sweet, cuddly, and smiley. She can also be the opposite of all of this. Sigh.

Mommy got to have a special lunch with Gabi at school to help celebrate Thanksgiving.


When Gabi asked that I not cut the celery into small sticks, she was so tickled that I
actually said "yes." And yes, she ate the entire plate's contents. #snacktime #notnormal

Jon does a great job taking turns with the big kids for "Special Daddy Time." And he's pretty good at documenting with food selfies apparently.

Dads & Donuts at school

Subway


queso! (and tacos)

McDonald's ice cream cones

And speaking of 'Special Daddy Time,' he led a great stretch session one night before dinner. While Daddy and the big kids are cute and all, this moment belongs to the cute toddler.

Watch the little guy in yellow.

We really enjoy going to our local library's once a month evening pajama storytime.

This seems safe.

This month's kitty update focuses on Casey who has displayed more and more tolerance of veteran Cohen kitties Maggie and Nikki.


package delivery

Why did she put herself in timeout?

And in summary-

Monday, November 26, 2018

Meet Me at the Buttermilk: A Day in New Braunfels with Erica

When Erica came to Texas to spend Thanksgiving with her family, she asked if November 26th was available for a Debbie visit. It turns out that in the entire month of November, that was LITERALLY the ONLY day I had available. With thanks to Jon and his day off, Erica and I met each other in New Braunfels and spent the ENTIRE day (and night) spelunking, talking, laughing, eating, and enjoying each other's company (without kids)!

Our first adventure took us to Natural Bridge Caverns where we took the Hidden Passages Tour, climbing 185 steps down (18 stories) and back up again. We were able to get up really close to lots of neat calcite formations.

stalactites

"soda straws"


"pin cushion"

stalagmites

"Crystal River"



formation shining through the Christmas light show

video of the Christmas light show as narrated by Erica and myself...
which can be heard at a loud volume...
which most of this population of readers won't care about...

After the cavern tour, we headed outside to take some obviously necessary pictures on the beautiful grounds before leaving the park.



We found lunch at Buttermilk Cafe. After gobbling up our yummies, which included grilled banana bread and a dessert of pumpkin pie trifle, we stayed talking and talking until they kicked us out at closing (3:00). Then we sat on benches outside the restaurant talking and talking for more hours until the sun was setting and it started to get cold. The owner could tell we had a lot to talk about, and after hearing our story of meeting between our 2 locations, he coined his new catchphrase - "Meet me at the Buttermilk."

We talked and talked some more (and ate another delicious pumpkin dessert) and ended the night in Downtown New Braunfels with some festive lighting for the season (and some more obviously necessary pictures).