Overnight Getaway to Gulf of Mexico!

A few weeks ago Peter and I had our babysitter volunteer to spend the night so we could have a little get away. We drove and hour and a half to Corpus Christi-- the beaches on the Gulf of Mexico. It was amazing! We realized that we definitely need to have these little getaways much more often. it is so nice to feel like newlyweds again (even for a brief 24 hours). It makes you realize again how much you love your spouse!

We stayed in a hotel that overlooked the Marina and we woke to this beautiful view of sailboats floating back and forth. We laid in bed relishing the beautiful peaceful moments with out children. The we went to the top floor of the hotel and ate a delicious breakfast overlooking the bay.

Then it was off to the beach! We spotted these fun fan powered hang gliders.

Peter's first jellyfish encounter. it was so cute to see him get so excited over a jelly fish. I guess that's the beauty of a western mountain boy marrying a beachy east coast girl--we get to share our childhood marvels with each other.

These were the most amazingly beautiful little snail clams thingies. We had a lot of fun watching them dig back into the sand after the waves washed away.

Oh, we ate and ate. Peter had his gynormous portion of crab legs and I had lots of bacon wrapped shrimp stuffed with cream cheese and peppers. The night before we had delicious salmon and fresh gulf shrimp.

Joey enjoying the new pets we brought home and wearing his new shark tooth necklace.

Jesus or Grandpa Taylor?

Apparently to Kimball, every one with gray hair is Jesus, and everyone with white hair is grandpa Taylor (I guess that's a good sign for Grandpa Gurr--he's still got enough dark hair left to not be confused)

2 weeks ago we were driving to the store and there was a homeless man walking along the cars begging for money. Kimball saw his long gray hair and started pointing at him and screaming, "Jesus, mom, Jesus!"

A few days later we had a nice older man as a checker in the store who gave Kimball a balloon as we were leaving. The whole way home Kimball kept repeating, "Gank you, Jesus, boon!" (Thank you Jesus for the Balloon).

Then last week we were at the neighborhood playground and a man with very white hair passed by, talked to us for a minute, and then walked on. After he got out of sight Kimball screamed, "Grampa Taylor, come back. Come Back, talk Grampa Taylor! Are you Grandpa Taylor? (Where are you?) This search for Grandpa Taylor went on for 5 minutes, the entire time of which I was hysterically laughing to myself. This sweet little boy who firmly believes that Jesus gave him a balloon at HEB and that Grandpa Taylor suddenly appeared at the playground. Oh, how I love my crazy Kimball!

This is why I love the South and sandboxes

I have been wanting a big sandbox for the boys to get into and Peter built them a nice 5 X 8 ft. box in the backyard. the boys love it! I love that they are entertained for hours playing in it.
With the current daily highs ranging from 70 - 80 degrees, I just sit and think to myself what a blessing this is. It's November and the temperature is perfect! This was what the short 2 month long summers were like in Buffalo. Aaahhhhh, I love winter time in Texas! My winter anxiety is now gone. I no longer have heart palpitations and soaring blood pressure levels when I feel those first cold winds of fall blow in. I no longer feel the need to hunker down and prepare for the long, cold, depressing winter ahead. Instead, I can do yoga outside in a T-shirt with the warm sun on my back while my boys play happily in the sand. Ahhhh, I love vitamin D!

World's largest caterpillar

The other day as we were walking in the house, the boys and I spotted this huge guy on our front steps. I had never seen anything that big. It was a struggle to keep Kimball from squashing him, but Joey and I persuaded him to let the poor little bug live. Then, 2 days later I accidentally stepped on him as I went out to get the groceries.

Joey trying to get Kimball to touch the bug because he (joey) was too afraid. After a few minutes, and seeing mom touch it, they both got brave enough

The joys of being outside

The boys played in the van for an hour one morning (without causing destruction to anything). Joey was a good helper to Kimball, teaching him how to buckle up.

Lately I have really developed a love for yard work. Probably because the weather is perfect, but mostly because it is one of the only times I have some peaceful moments to myself when the boys are still around. As long as I am busy working they seem to play well together and have fun playing and riding their bikes all over the cul-de-sac.

Tomato

Apparently tomato is a funny word

Butterfly Migration

We have been amazed the since the beginning of October by the huge number of butterflies we have seen flying overhead and fluttering through our yard. One day we were at the pool and a group of hundreds of butterflies flew right over us. I have never seen so many in my life. It is really amazing to see the delicate butterflies and know they are flying hundreds of miles!

Happy Halloween!

Because we live right next to Shamu, this year Joey desperately wanted to be Shamu for Halloween. Luckily there is a company that makes Shamu costumes (thank goodness)! In an effort to coordinate with Joey, I tried to make Kimball an octopus costume. He ended up looking more like a spider than anything else, but he was still really cute.Kimball loved to twilr his tentacles at the ward trunk-or-treat.

We decided the boys didn't need very much candy so after a few cars we had them help us pass out the candy which they seemed to enjoy more than getting it.

Since I am going sugar free, I had to get creative on how to make those delicious holiday frosted sugar cookies. I used our standard Taylor family sugar cookie recipe and substituted raw homey for the sugar. I then used the following recipe for the frosting and it was amazing! I was not missing that sugar one bit. Although I do miss sprinkles, but the dried fruit was super yummy too!
Buttery Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup butter (room temp)
4 oz. cream cheese (room temp)
1/4 cup raw honey
1/8 tsp vanilla (I actually used a ton of almond extract instead)
1 tsp orange zest

Joey's preschool did a little Halloween parade to show off their costumes for all the parents. It was my first activity where I had to come to school and support my son. It made me feel so good to be the smiling face in the crowd that's always there for him. It was nice to have my mom at all my swim meets, softball and basketball games, and averything else i did. i hope Joey will feel that same love and support from me.

Kimball was dying to get in that parade and stand with other kids. As they started back to the classroom, Kimball quickly ran up to walk with Joey.

We made delicious mummy pizzas the night before Halloween

On Halloween we had a party with a few other families. Here are the ghoulish goodies we ate

Pukin Pumpkin

Mini Draculas

Ghouls in the graveyard

Sally's amazing veggie skeleton

Then we took all the kids trick-or-treating

Halloween is so much fun! I love every Holiday. it's so fun to have an excuse to play and have a party!

Camping at Canyon Lake

Mid October we went with the ward to canyon lake for the annual camping trip. It is always a lot of fun to be with everyone and see how those little boys get so excited.Loving the glow sticks

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You can just see the hyperness on their faces. Way too many marshmallows!!! Kimball cannot be around anyone when he's falling asleep--he gets too excited. So we all weren't able to fall asleep until after 11pm. And then we were repeatedly woken up by Kimball falling out of his bed. After midnight Peter and I had him come sleep with us so none of us got much sleep.

Glow stick sword fight

Peter and I put the boys down and watched the stars and saw 5 shooting stars. I love camping starry skies! We tried to get a picture but the flash was sooo blinding compared to the lightless night.

Joey, Abby, Kimball exploring the lake

Effects of not sleeping all night

Treasures of the sea