reminds me of the one I love: 2011

Well, I don't think this is the intended route of immunization, but I think I caught the flu from my flu shot. Or perhaps from the doctor's office where I went to get the flu shot. Or maybe I have some other bug entirely. The point is, I'm achy, feverish, sick, miserable, and feeling utterly sorry for myself. Thank the Lord Sean got back from Atlanta today to relieve me from all duties and, most importantly, join in my pity party. Such a comfort!

Anyway, as I lie here in bed useless, I might as well try to upload some pictures I'm behind on. :)

Sean's Grandma Holloway turned 90 last month! Happy Birthday Granny! It was so good to see you!

On the way back from the birthday celebration in San Antonio, Sean's parents stopped by Austin...

...and took us out to lunch and to a store to get Josephine some stockings. Thank you!

And then mid November we were treated to a visit from Sean's cousin, Lissy, and Brian, who live out in Forks, WA. It was so nice to see them and catch up!

A few more pictures from my house at Thanksgiving:

And a couple from Thanksgiving in Teague:

Now then.

Back to my pity party.

A hint of festivity has crept into my bones since we returned from Spain and found temperatures a gazillion degrees cooler than we when we left. I spent the World Series piddling away at Christmas crafts (... family, beware...), and even decided to pull out the pinecone wreath I made back when life afforded time for such creations many years ago. (Can't say it's survived three moves and many hot summers of glue-disintegrating storage tremendously well, but from the street it's not so bad. or especially visible.)

My parents, who picked us up from the airport, had a pumpkin waiting for us to take back to Austin. Josephine's class carved a pumpkin last Tuesday, so she was prepped and ready for our own carving experience Wednesday... I thought... until it became evident that she was only ready to watch and not have anything to do with anything slimy.

I went for a cat, as she developed a strong fondness for them at one of our hotels on our trip that had a little orange kitten. (And I'll admit, I was equally delighted with that kitten and grateful to have a two year old as an excuse to play with it so much). So here's to the gatito:

All fired up:

Thursday was the day school's Halloween parade and party day. Zanna had an extra cowgirl costume she shared with Josephine, so she got to sport her cowpoke boots. I'm glad that her school preps her for these holidays-- Josephine had helped make her teachers costumes for the parade, and she clearly had a sense of what was going on, so she was PUMPED about getting all dressed up in the cowgirl costume. She was telling me about how everybody was going to get dressed up.

This is great because A) I just like that she's excited, and B) I like that she understands that the other kids are all doing this and it's not just my whim, because otherwise this sort of deviation from her routine is the kind of thing she likes to bicker about at 8:00 in the morning. Yet it all went perfectly, because she knew it was the grand notion of her teachers and friends at school, and therefore something she was very eager to support.

Yee-haw.

I went to their little parade, which included either a song, rhyme, or photo-op for each class. Again, I know how much my two year old likes her routine, so I was a bit surprised at how well they all held it together while a gazillion mommy and daddy camera flashes popped in their faces.

Though by the time they got back to their classroom and composed another group picture, there were some pretty serious faces and a couple tearful ones that decided being held by mommy was a better option... notice how the group is smaller below...

I've decided it must be like some of Sean's and my more challenging adventures. They tend to be a bit hair-raising or trying, but the memories they form are more striking that way, and frankly, we tend to have a certain fondness for trips we "survived" rather than merely "experienced." From what I can tell, the same is true with Josephine; she was pretty straight-faced as she absorbed all the overwhelming chaos, but seemed perfectly gleeful discussing it later.

And on Halloween itself, she was totally pumped about having a second go at it. I told her we were heading to a Halloween party, and she lit up! She happily donned her lederhosen (due to some adjustable straps, they still fit. Here is a link to the first pictures I took of her in them.)

Stacey brought Julien over to change him into his costume before we left. I love the look that says, "My mom just put me in a dragon suit. Okay..."

We went to the same little Halloween party we went to last year. It's in the gym of a nearby church (Hillcrest Baptist) and has a bouncy house, a huge inflatable slide, a little train ride outside, food, games that are rewarded with candy, etc. It's an entertaining option, totally free, contained, and over before bedtime.

Josephine was delighted to go and even more delighted to see Julien and Zanna (the dalmatian that can be glimpsed in a couple of these pictures). She was too young for the games last year, but this year gave a few of them a good shot. I LOVED watching her try them. She was so attentive and eager.

She closely observed a few of the kids trying to shoot a basketball, and gave it some really good effort (though most of the balls either went straight to the floor or straight up and back over her head).

She's also become quite the bouncy-house enthusiast. You can watch a little video of her by clicking on this sentence. It didn't dawn on me to record a video until after much of her vigor had worn off, and something about uploading it made it seem really pixelized... but oh well. You'll get the idea.

And in the game of washers, she again grasped the concept, and managed to toss a couple in a hole. I didn't get a picture of her doing that game, but I did snap this one of Stacey persuading Julien to try the washers game. And his expression is awesome, "Okay, first the dragon suit. Now she wants me to stand here in this dragon suit and throw a washer in that hole. Why isn't anybody questioning her sanity? Normally we go home after school, I eat dinner, play, and go to bed. Something has gone terribly wrong here. Somebody please evaluate her."