a dog's best friend

love.

and cheerios.

everyone who knows me knows that the day ada was born, dagger was demoted. people told me not to worry. that ada would grow up and be his friend. well, the other day animal control came and caught mr. dagger wandering. i was panicked, trying to gather the children to go chase after the truck before it hauled him away. ada was so calm about the situation. she informed me that there was no need to worry. if the police took mr. dagger, we would just go and get a kitty to replace him. hmmm, seems he has a tough crowd to please.

however, in recent days our pitiful dog has earned a new best friend. maybe it is because he is spending so much more time in the house (his slender figure is allowing him to slither through the slats of the fence around our yard), but elias has fallen love with dagger. he follows him everywhere, feeds him all of his breakfast, lunch and dinner, and tackles him any time he sees him catching some shuteye. finally, poor ol' dagger has a friend.

thanksgiving cupcakes

a thanksgiving day jumping contest. it was ada's idea. i think she just wanted to have a reason to shout "WINNER!" elias gave her a run for her money though. he was super into it!

yummmy!

delicious!

of course, we made cupcakes for thanksgiving dessert. i have not proven to be successful at baking most things, but cupcakes i am mastering. since we were going to a friend's house for thanksgiving dinner, i decided to be safe and make what i make best. they were yummy. the kids agreed.

happy thanksgiving

happy thanksgiving everyone!

we wish we were spending this special day with our families, but, alas, we are not. luckily friends of ours invited us over to feast with them. yummy! not only are we sparing the life of another tofurkey by not cooking, but we will actually have a proper thanksgiving meal which i am sure reza is very thankful for! (For the record, last year we had soup for christmas dinner. soup and soup alone.) we are so thankful to have so many amazing friends and family members. we are thinking of all of you today.

so now, an official declaration!

NEXT YEAR, THANKSGIVING WILL BE HELD AT OUR HOUSE!

please make your travel plans accordingly. oh, and we will let you know the address in about six months.

slumber party

morning time in the hotel room

elias was good at scaring the animals. he screamed and banged on the glass of every cage.

ada feeding the birds. we were the only ones feeding them, so the birds were flocking to us. then ada stepped on one and taught them a lesson.

family portrait.

elias' favorite part.

ada's favorite part.

we had a slumber party this weekend at a swanky little hotel in dallas. saturday we played at the mall, did some fine dining with movie characters, swam in the hot tub, and even slept a little. very little, but a little none the less.

sunday we took a delightful trip a whole foods then headed to tyler, tx for a day at the zoo. it was wonderful. the kids were perfect and loved every second of our trip. well, except for the 20,000 seconds that we were in the car. but time is relative, right.

two little pilgrims

a random shot of an awesome, angry, reindeer. bring it on santa.

little guy's new birthday suit! thanks auntie shannon!

this is where our morning begins. soooo happy!

ada climbed up her bookshelf and got her big-girl scissors... up to no good.

ada's place setting at her thanksgiving feast! how fancy!

this is how elias looked all day!

singing. ada is among the masses. don't try to find her, her head is hiding!

elias ate large quantities of dirt in the front yard. at least he was using a spoon!

the bonnet.

today was a good day.

the kids were in great moods.

ada had her little thanksgiving event at her school.

she rocked it!

she walked onstage, smiled and waved at our presence, and sang her little pilgrim and indian ditties.

it was fun.

and reza came home early too.

that's a treat.

this weekend we are heading for fun in the sun, texas style. watch our dallas, here we come!

(i am truly terrified of spending the night with both of my children in the same hotel room. terrified. i will let you know how it turns out. i have a feeling that i will be very, very, sleepy.)

all that jazz

elias breaking it down. he loves some good music. and good leggings!

interpretational dance

elias was stealing the audience so ada had to put him in his place.

rowdy

random picture from this morning. how can you not love waking up to this?

this weekend we attended the highland jazz and blues festival just up the street from our house. so fun! seriously, it was the coolest thing we have done in shreveport. people came out of the woodwork for this little fest. hippies, nursing home patients, you name it. fantastic! the tikes danced until their hearts were contents, then fell asleep in the stroller. the makings of a perfect afternoon.

potty humor

an everyday occurrence...

me- running to the bathroom for a super quick potty break while everyone is seemingly distracted.

elias- running to the other bathroom to shove as many toys, books, t-p, foreign objects and body parts into the other toilet as fast as humanly possible.

the latest findings: a pharmacopoeia, rubber ducky, toy cell phone and half a roll of toilet paper.

why do i not have toilet locks you may ask?
because little ada can hold her pee like a camel holds water. until that one little sip puts her over the edge. she runs to the potty as fast as lightening and throws her booty on top of the potty. if the potty is closed we have flood waters.