The Remnants of Fall

A few more fun things I didn't post from the fall:

Some more random fun dressing up.

Lions and tigers (in a very small costume)

ACU Homecoming

This was my TEN year college reunion! That is unbelievable to me. I had a wonderful time visiting Abilene and so did the boys (JM stayed home to work on school stuff with some peace and quiet). Wesley and Curtis loved the carnival. They had bouncy houses, a petting zoo and Wesley went on a short horse ride.

With my sweet roomies at the reunion dinner

(Carolyn, Erika and Kate)

And at the 'after-party'

Roomies + Nadia

Making a Gas Pump

Wesley saw a picture of a gas pump in a toy magazine and asked, "Mom, what could we do to get that gas pump?" I said, "Let's make one!" That was a very exciting idea to him, so we whipped up a pretty cute gas pump out of a carpet cleaner box, a soaker hose that had broken and a water sprayer that was also biting the dust. It's perfect for their little pick-up and taxi car's fuel needs.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving at Mimi's in Austin this year. Lela and Colin came from California, Misha and Gin-Gin from Abilene, and my Uncle Fred and his family (Debbie, Kristen and Eric) live close by. We spent four nights there, so it was a nice long visit.

Lela made a 'Fort Kit' for the boys complete with sewn on hooks and a bag of clips and suction cup hooks for versatility. Colin helped them set that up the first morning we were there. They loved it, but Curtis is still in destructive mode when we set it up, so maybe it will be mostly used during his nap time. :)

We took an afternoon walk down to the lake after the big yummy meal on Thursday.

Colin and Wesley's post-Thanksgiving bellies

Kristen and Wesley watching ducks and turtles

On Friday, the Bullocks (Dad's sister and her family) were in town, so we met them down at the lake. I also got to see my dear friend Marilyn and her husband who were having a small get-away from Houston since they didn't have enough time off to travel far to see their families. Lela and I got to hang out with our friend Darby while we were in Austin, too! (Sadly, no pics.)

So good to see sweet Sarah

And now for the family pictures….

Our family

Notice pregnant Lela…due in February!

(and Owen Smedley in the background)

The Gustafson Family

Everyone!

Curtis' 2nd Birthday

Curtis turned two almost a month ago, so it's probably about time to blog about that. Curtis has been mimicking Cookie's famous, "Mmmmmm….Cookie!" line for awhile, so I tried to make some Cookie Monster cupcakes. They were kinda cute, but didn't look much like the real deal. My fingers were only blue for a few days from dyeing coconut. :) John Mark made some yummy cookies for the occasion, and we had a fun small family party. Both sets of grandparents and Uncle Paul & Aunt Christi (JM's brother and his wife) came.

Curtis and Wesley had fun playing with Granddad on the couch!

Curtis got some good stuff: puzzles, art supplies, toy cars and a little table and chairs that will be great for both boys.

Curtis is so fun and his personality is developing like crazy. He's loving naming off the animals in "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" while sitting on the potty. His favorite toys at the moment are a small Russian stacking doll and Lightening McQueen. His interest in Thomas the Train is deepening too. He especially seems to like Percy and loves dancing to the theme song.