Elsby Block Party

I organized a block party on my street this Sunday.  This is the 3rd annual block party that I have organized.   The weather cooperated with the perfect temperature, 75 degrees.  We had a good spread of hamburgers, hot dogs, sides, and desserts.  Andy had to go to the grocery store and grill the meats  Thanks Andy!

Look at the food on the tables!

I made my grandmother's potato salad.

Chillin' in the yard

Juice box time!

Audrey acts like a big kid.

Matthew enjoyed pulling Audrey in the wagon

 

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Trip to Nana's

We went to Arkansas this weekend to visit my grandmother.  We were going to fly but the flights were not looking very good for our free standby travel so we decided to drive.  It was a 5 1/2 hour drive from Dallas. The kids did very well.  Thank goodness for carseats!  They mostly watched their videos, snacked, sang songs, and we made frequent stops to let them run around.  There were a couple of times that Audrey cried but once she figured out that she was not going anywhere, she fell back asleep.

When we pulled up at her house, she greeted us with a pot roast and gravy.  It was delicious.  Even Audrey ate her greenbeans.  Matthew enjoyed all the animals - 2 dogs, birds, cat, and a fish.  The weather cooled down but we were still able to enjoy the outdoors.  The kids played hide and seek around the tall trees.  We went to a nature center on Saturday and the kids enjoyed walking the nature trail and seeing the different native animals.  We also had arts and crafts time by making some pictures of pumpkins.  Audrey loved paiting the apple and then stamping it on the construction paper. 

We went to church with Nana on Sunday and then we enjoyed a big breakfast before heading back home.  The kids were anxious to get back in their own beds. 

The Malls and the Parks

Matthew took this picture

We frequent the malls and the parks for the play areas.  Matthew knows the names of 3 different malls (Grapevine Mills, Galleria, North Park) and several parks because we go there so much.  Their favorite mall is Grapevine Mills because it has a train and their favorite park is Thackery Park in Preston Hollow. 

Sept 22nd weekend

Fall in Texas:  The weather is still in the 90's but it feels a little cooler now that the humidity is down.  It is hot in the sun but it feels nice in the shade.  We went swimming this weekend and the pool water was cold but it felt refreshing. 

We went to the Plano hot air balloon festival Friday evening.  The kids enjoyed getting outside and watching the hot air balloons, eating corn dogs, and jumping in bounce houses.  But the most fun of all was running up and down a steep hill.  Andy and I just chuckled watching them play.
On Saturday, I ate pumpkin pancakes at the Pancake house.  Can you tell that I am ready for fall? After nap time, we went to Grapevine to take some family pictures in the mall and then to our favorite Italian restaurant, Cafe Italiana.  It's a small hole in the wall but we claim it is the best Italian restaurant in the DFW area. We ate a delicious meal next to several big tables of high schoolers out for their homecoming dance.  Andy and I tried to keep the kids as quiet as we could and luckily all worked out well.  We brought in the DVD player (which we normally leave in the car) and that helped keep Audrey entertained. She's at a difficult age right now to go out to dinner.  Luckily, Dora the Explorer kept her focused.

On Sunday, Audrey woke up at 5am.  I took her downstairs to let everyone else sleep.  She was almost ready to go back to sleep but then it was time to go to church.  During Audrey's nap, I took Matthew to the nursing home to volunteer.  He was so sweet.  We watched them play bingo, baked cookies, and visited with them.  Matthew gave one lady a hug several times.  It's been a year since we volunteered there but lately Matthew has been saying "Let's visit the old people.  They don't have anybody to visit them"  One senior took Matthew's cookie off his plate and Matthew was a good sport.  He is such a sweet boy.



 

Matthew makes coffee almost every morning

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Fall is here

The weather finally cooled off this week with a high of 80 degrees (as opposed to the usual 95/100 degree heat).  With football season starting up and the cooler weather, it definitely feels like fall is here.  Everyone is very excited about the break in weather.

On Thursday, my brother had a new baby: Dylan Alexa Snider.  She was born at 1:36pm.  We look forward to seeing her soon.  My parents, grandmother, and sister are visiting them this weekend.

On Friday night, we went to the Galleria for play time and dinner.  Matthew wanted to go ice skating so Andy took him around the rink a few times.  It was so funny to watch.  Matthew's legs were going everywhere.  He could not stand up on his own.  It's been a while since Andy was on ice skates so he had to do a couple of laps to warm  up. 

Matthew's allergies were pretty bad so I took him to the doctor Saturday morning to make sure it was not strep throat.  It was not strep so I was relieved.  In the afternoon, Andy took Matthew to the SMU tailgate while I stayed home with Audrey napping.  The weather was very nice for a tailgate.  Matthew played with Arden and had a blast.  When the game started, I took the kids to eat some lunch and then on to the park.  They really enjoyed being outdoors so much.  In the evening, Andy and I went out for dinner.  I was feeling fine but at 3am I woke up running to bathroom with a stomach bug. I threw up 3 times.

On Sunday morning, we headed to church.  At first, I was going to stay behind but I started feeling better and decided to go.  We signed Matthew up for his first Faith Formation class and I volunteered to be a teacher.  Matthew was a little clingy to me during the class but he warmed up at the end of it.  They had a pancake breakfast afterwards that we all enjoyed!  It rained the entire day on Sunday and I was able to get plenty of rest. 

You can see that Audrey is ready to go.

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend in Dallas was similar to most weekends filled with our favorite things: bike ride, trip to frozen yogurt, trips to 2 different malls, and swimming in the pool.  We all passed around a stomach bug so everyone was feeling a little out of sorts.  It could have been much worse.  At one of our trips to the mall, we bought some new pajamas. 

Lori and Bryan got engaged on Sept 3rd.  Bryan popped the question while they were vacationing in California.  Matthew likes to hear stories before he goes to bed so I told him a "story" about Bryan asking Lori to marry him.  Matthew's eyes get real big.  He had a big smile on his face.    Matthew says that he is either going to marry Macie or Audrey: the 2 main girls in his life.  

Aug 24th Weekend

We went to Gatti Town, a pizza buffet and family game place.  The kids had a blast.  Matthew thought it was called "Daddy Town".