Halloween 2013

Trick or Treat, give us something good to eat! I had a pep talk with Chey... "Mama, likes Hershey bars."

 We invited Amanda and her family to join us.
My family also joined us. Bella, Angelica, and not pictured Tasha.

We had a gang of kids.

Trey lost a bet. He bet Amanda that Texas would win the Ole Miss football game. Well, Texas lost, so Amanda made him wear an Ole Miss jersey. What she didn't know is that Trey would make it his Halloween costume.
Meet the hill-billy Ole Miss Fan.           He eventually lost the goofy teeth.
 
Is it just me or does Trey have a habit of doing this? Halloween 2009.
This year, I decided to dress up as a lady bug. I borrowed it from Chey.
Who wore it best? Me?

or Cheyenne (2009)? Obviously, Cheyenne is the winner.

You guys, it got cold! We were not prepared. We didn't have a blanket, but this costume prop, kept Dakota warm.

How was your Halloween? Did you stay at home and pass out candy or did you take your kids out?

One thing I've learned this Week

If you don't do the proper maintenance on front-load washing machines, you run the chance of having your house smell like mildew. Trust me, it's stinky! For the past few days, I've walked into the mudroom and I've been like WTH is that smell?????

Apparently, after each wash, it is recommended to leave the washing machine door slightly open as well, as use a washing machine cleaner and use it as directed. Perhaps, I should've read the manual or something....
According to the Tide packs I bought, I'm suppose to use them once a month.

Today, I don't want to go to the gym. I need some running motivation and/or a friend! 

If I don't go during my lunch break, I don't think I will have the energy to go after I take the girls trick or treating, tonight. I wish I had a running buddy, in my neighborhood or at work. 

Currently accepting applications for a running friend

- Must be willing to run with me at 5 am on Saturday or Sunday mornings. 

- 6 to 20 miles at a time

- Must be able to tolerate my jabber and peppiness at said time 

- Preferably someone who runs equivalent pace as me, but not required

There's a couple in my neighborhood who compete in triathlons, I think I'm going to go stalk them. 

Are you a solo runner? 

Space Ship Fancy

Last week, my washing machine died. It served our family for a longggg six years. What's up with appliances these days? It had enough of Trey's dirty work clothes, enough of my smelly Lululemon tanks, enough of Chey's streaked bottoms and I think the final straw was Dakota's leaky bloomers.

Here is a photo from a while back. The old washing machine is on the right side. We got it from Sam's Club when we moved into our home. We purchased the matching dryer, but there was a mistake and we ended up with this upgraded GE dryer. I like mistakes like that.

This is our new LG washing machine. It has a lot of neat features, that I've already used and the coolest part is when it's done with a load, it plays a soothing jingle. Yes, in my opinion that is the best feature! The sanitary feature and speed wash is pretty cool too. It has lots of lights and buttons like a space ship.

Appropriate for Monday

My niece went to time-out and then passed out.

Well, that's one way to do it. That's how most people feel about Monday.

Here is my training from last week. I feel pretty lousy about it. Between my 50 hour wok week and taking on the bulk of household responsibility this week (since Trey had eye surgery), -- there was almost no time left for a long run. To make myself feel better, I ran 7 miles this morning, instead of my usual 4-5 miler. It helped.
 

TBT Open House & Trunk or Treat

We've gotten the biggest bang out of Halloween costumes this year. The girls have worn them, often! Chey even wore hers to a princess birthday party.
Saturday afternoon, Dakota was feeling better, so I took a chance and took her to Texas Ballet Theater's Open House. She was fine. I guess the candy helped.
 
The festival was inside and after the girls hit all the booths, there was a studio performance. The advanced students and trainees performed several repertoires. The advanced students are quite impressive to watch and make it look easy. I know it's not easy, but they make it look effortless. The girls all sat like good girls and watched the 30 minute performance, I was really proud of them.

Today, Mrs. Amanda invited us to join her and her family to go trunk or treating at Luke's school. This was the first time I had ever been to one. It was fun and not too crowded, but lots of treats for the kiddos.
This was our favorite trunk. Flynn Rider from Tangled.

And here's the gang.

Dakota's face was a little sour because she wanted me to hold her. The princes wants what she wants. Such a diva.

Recovering From Eye Surgery & First Stomach Bug

Thursday, Trey had cataract surgery on his right eye. Next month, he goes back and gets his left eye done. Keep him in your prayers, he says that at times, the pain is unbearable and at times it feels like a stabbing feeling in his eyeball. OUCH. At least he looks cool, wearing big fat sunglasses inside. P.S. Dakota was kind of sick earlier today. She threw up 3 times. This is her first time to ever have a stomach bug. But she didn't let it phase her or keep her down. Other than throwing up, she acted completely normal the rest of the day. I hope we don't catch the bug.
 
I don't know about you, but the weekends don't always mean party time. Most of the time, it means clean house time. I started rewarding Chey with stickers for listening to me. She was eager to vacuum so she could get a sticker and note from me, "that read - good job, Cheyenne!"

This girl has plenty of reasons to smile, yesterday she took her first steps at Mrs. Amanda's house. It wasn't a fluke because she took steps for me too. Amanda didn't want to tell me, that she started walking, but she knew that I was getting concerned. So, she told me. I wasn't bothered at all. I was thrilled! Dakota is still mostly lazy, but the steps are a start. She probably got tired of hearing us talk about it and said, OK. OK. I'll walk a little, just to prove that I can if I want to.

Thoughtful Gift

Sunday night at the ballet, my old boss was working backstage and she set-out the program for the company to sign. After, the show she gave it to me and said it was a gift for Cheyenne. I gave it to Chey the next day and explained what it was and she got all excited. Even one of her previous teachers signed it.

And then 5 minutes later, she was like what? Let's play, let's snack. Kids haha. Well, I thought it was a nice thoughtful gift.

I Registered for Another 50K

Guess what I registered for?????

The Cowtown Ultra Maraton! The race is February.
Did you know that 50K road races are kind of rare? Most of 50K races (or at least the ones I've heard of) are trail races. Last year, when I ran Cowtown, I was soooo jealous of the 50K runners. This year, I'll be joining them. The one thing I'm not looking forward to is the lonely split. That's when the ultra runners separate from the marathoners, shortly after mile 25.

Trey and I, near the Cowtown Half Marathon finish line (2009). We were freezing.
Cheyenne was about 3 months old.

A Visit to Cooks Children's

My nephew, Trevor is having test done at Cooks Children. He's been there for several days and Trey has gone several times, to visit and keep my SIL, Shelly company.
This is a picture of Trevor and the family, from last year when he was in town for a doctors visit. Such a cute baby! He's really grown so much!

The other day, the girls and I stopped by to say hi. Trevor was sleeping, so we didn't get any pictures of him. We wish he was feeling better. Say a prayer for him.
While we were there, we stopped by the lego exhibit. This is a lego display of the cooks children's campus. It's massive!

Shelly has been spending the majority of her time at Trevor's bedside, so it was nice for her to have a few moments outside and play with us.

The girls love aunty Shelly! She's so much fun. When the girls are in town, Chey gets to bake with her, paint nails and have lots of girl time.

My Week in Photos

This past week, my weekly training was right on target, but my long run was not as long as I wanted it to be. I'm hoping to have a better long run weekend, coming up. Thursday, I added cross training to my schedule. In addition to running, I rode a few miles on the bike and 3 miles on rowing machine.

My Week in Photos the late edition:
Last week, was ladies night out. My sister, Natasha won this handmade wreath. It was a door prize drawing. Instead of taking it and hanging it at her apartment, she let me borrow it. It's sooo massive.

I took "my  famous" banana pudding to share with the ladies. We had leftovers. Tasha help me buckle it in the car. We wanted to make sure it got home, safe to Trey. Sad thing is, he never got any -- we ate it before he could eat the leftovers. Sorry. I made him another batch this week, so he would stop crying.

Chey in the kitchen, while I was meal prepping for the week.

Grocery shopping with the girls.

We are getting so close to Halloween. We thought it was time to bust out Halloween clothes that Nana got us.

Night Out at the Ballet

Tonight, was the first time for me to experience a Ballet Show (other than a school recital) AND it was my first time at Bass Performance Hall.

My old boss and friend, was kind enough to give me and 3 friends tickets to the show. It was a girls night out. My friend Jessica, Bonnie and my sister joined me. This is Dee Dee, my old boss. She was working backstage, but met us in the lobby before the show to say hi.

We watched Romeo & Juliet presented by Texas Ballet Theater. I LOVED IT! And Wow, Bass Performance Hall is a beauty! I plan on taking Cheyenne to the Nutcracker in December.

God Bless Child Photographers

For various reasons, I've decided to tackle our Family Christmas portraits. My photography specialty is event photography - graduations, parties and such. Child photography is a challenge for me. Why? Because children are everywhere and their moods are up and down and sometimes they are really hard to photograph.

You're about to get a sneak peak at our Christmas photos.
Nothing says Merry Christmas than a picture of a non-ethusisastic child.

Feliz Navidad! Look at the back of my head!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight.

Okay, so not all of them were bad, those are just the ones that I wanted to share for now. There were a handful of gems, that I'll post at some point.

In all honesty, by the end of the session, I was exhausted, so God Bless any photographer who has the patience and skill level to take child portraits. God Bless you!!! I'll take the grown-ups any day. Haha!

I keep thinking that as the girls get older their photo sessions will get easier.
In case you are wondering about Trey and I ---  I'm hoping to use a self-timer to take a pic of Trey and I together.

P.S.
This is a test shot using the Rosco LitePad Loop. I've used it on a few video productions, today was the first time I used it for a photo shoot. I'd love to do more test shots on a grown-up (someone who won't be wiggling around every 5 seconds). For the above shots, I used an external flash and natural light.

Early Driving Lessons

A Party with Ponies

This past weekend, we celebrated Claire's Birthday party.

There was a coke float station, petting zoo and pony rides.

Anything Chey does, Dakota wants to do, so she sat on the pony for 5.2 seconds.

Speaking of Birthday parties, I know a little girl who has a birthday coming up in November.
  
When I was little I wanted a horse. Did you ever want a pony, horse, or some other kind of non-tradiational pet? Chey has told me several times, she wants a pony.