Thanks and Giving and Lots of Christmas Lights

Last weekend began with a trip to Houston on Saturday for a beautiful and musically inspiring Llano-Taylor wedding. We had a great time, enjoyed family, and were inspired by pistachio wedding cake with almond cream filling. Yum!

Then, we traveled back to Fort Worth, changed our clothes, and headed over to Dallas for the Sunday evening Rodgers-Collins nuptuals. Lots of fun, lots of dancing, at least four sore tootsies. After recovering from what Bill aptly called "introvert drain", we shopped, cleaned, and cooked to prepare for our first Thanksgiving with hosting duties! Here's Bill working away on giblet gravy on Thursday morning.

Bill also took care of the star of the show.

Among other things, I made this very simple, very tasty apple tart. Yum! On Friday, Bill worked the Parade of Lights in downtown Fort Worth. I've never been to the parade or tree lighting, so Mom and I packed up the coats and bundled Owen up in the same sweater he'd been sporting the previous weekend (note to self: buy Owen some more warm clothes) and headed downtown to join in the festivities. Here's Owen in front of a giant ornament.

Watching the very entertaining Vintage Vibes sing Christmas swing and rockabilly tunes. Owen was definitely a fan.

Not one to sit still for long, Owen and I decided to cut a rug in the parking lot whilst listening to the tunes.

The parade. Mom bought us seats (yay!) down by the courthouse where the parade began so by the time it passed us, we could walk down to the tree lighting without scrambling for a place to stand. Owen really enjoyed the motorcycles, the horses, the Medstar truck, and anyone who gave him candy. Below, Santa and Mrs. Claus finish the show. It may just be me, but this Santa looks a bit more beardy than the Santa who lit the downtown Christmas tree. To kick off the Christmas tree lighting, Four Day Weekend, a comedic improv group, sang the twelve days of Fort Worth Christmas. We really ought to go see them in a regular performance venue.
Our little family in front of the Fort Worth tree.

Since We've Been Gone

We went to our first official Texas State Fair. Well, it's possible that Bill had been previously, but with 27 years living in North Texas, it was time to make a visit. It may have been a money pit, but those corny dogs and funnel cakes were definitely worth it. We also attended one of the fair's free events...

Whether you believe it or not from Bill's smirky eyebrows, we actually had a lot of fun.

Owen's first s'mores. You'd better believe he loved them.

Owen's first boots - and his first, very brief, drink from the water hose.

Favorite boots, favorite toy, favorite quiet moment

Park time!

Feel free to laugh when I tell you that Owen will be receiving his very own oven mitt for Christmas. This kid loves to steal stuff from my kitchen. Especially the oven mitts.

I try not (really, I promise) to take pictures while Owen is disobeying. One of his favorite "no-no" things to do is pilfer through the coffee table drawer for remotes, Bill's Xbox controllers and headphones. We've been getting on to him for months and months for this, but I think sometimes he's just trying to be like his father. And so, I took a picture. I may be a poor disciplinarian, but at least my kid's cute.

And he loves his daddy.

Teaser

Owen's favorite way to listen to his favorite song

Scoob-ee-dee-boop-bop

When I look at the blog in between the times that I update it, I always think nothing has happened to talk about. I haven't taken any pictures of Owen. I haven't done anything noteworthy. Then, I feel guilty. At some point, I finally open the camera pictures and remember we have done a few things and Owen has some new pictures. So, here you go.
I think we covered Bill's birthday in the last update, but for my birthday, Bill bought me this lovely little number from Anthropologie (my favorite store) and we went to the... and saw the Red Young Trio. We sat behind a pillar and still loved it! Count us in, Scat Jazz Lounge. Happy birthday to me. By the way, Owen knows the future is bright.

Bill ripped out our rotten deck and will soon replace it with his own two hands. Here he's thinking something like, "Adrian, will you stop with the camera?" I just think he looks ruggedly handsome.

Another birthday gift? A madeleine pan. For all the girly cake-cookies a french pastry lover could want. Yum.

Until this week-long stretch of rain (which I LOVE!), we've been playing outside a lot in the evenings. Owen loves outside.

Doesn't this just look great?!

Katie, Mike and Jenna came to visit over Labor Day weekend. We're in the Ellers last weeks in the great state of Texas. It will be terribly said to let them move on, but when they're here, we will always celebrate with food. Like below. Make this trifle yourself. You'll thank me with a full mouth.

Lastly, last weekend, our church's women's ministry threw the annual women's retreat with speaker Sharon Betters, author of Treasures of Encouragement. It was really fantastic, not at all a pastel hearts and flowers retreat. I highly recommend her books. I served on the decorations committee for that event and this was our final product. Lots of hard work for twenty one purty centerpieces.

Right now, I'm trying to keep the noise down so not to bother Bill while I work on Christmas prep. That boy can't take the holiday spirit before December 23. Anyway, lots on the to-do list, some of which you might get to see as I get them finished. Cross your fingers!

Buckle Your Seatbelts

The boys

Jen and I finally threw Miss Katie her very own high tea. It turned out very well, even though I'm not sure how many cucumber sandwiches is too many in one sitting. More than anything, we love being together, but honoring Katie sure was fun, too.

A close up of the flourless chocolate torte. Would you like to see more pictures of my baking conquests? Go to http://www.pureblissconfections.blogspot.com/!
Owen loves to swim, with or without a swim diaper. At least there's no way he can drown in this thing:

Bill turned 27 on the first of August. As usual, he just wanted to hang out with family. The two of us went to the Circle Theatre for a matinee and then headed back to the house for dinner and cake with his folks. Owen likes Carrot Cake!

...and orange curling ribbon
...and goggles.
Bill likes toys, too. See him demonstrate one of his favorite birthday presents below.
Bill was on vacation for the week leading up to his birthday and we came to a great, somewhat startling conclusion. We are puzzle people. We thought this might happen forty or fifty years down the line, but we're accepting our fate.

The inevitable finally came to fruition. Our sweet boy's beautiful curly hair came to an end. Here's the before:

During

The very handsome After

Like I said, he loves the water.

A couple weekends ago we had the Great Maddox Family Reunion in Austin. Sunday morning, we tracked down the round rock for which Round Rock was aptly named. Didn't know there was such a rock? Me neither, so we went to check it out for ourselves.

Owen just started an I love Daddy phase. It's so sweet, but difficult when Bill is trying to get ready or leave for work. It is so neat to see how much Owen already wants to be like Bill and I know that's only going to become more apparent.

Phew! You made it! Here's a nice chilled bottle of water for your refreshment.

Coming up are two more birthdays, a trip to the Scat Jazz Lounge, September (yay!), a new niece and the kick off of my own Christmas season which begins when I start planning presents and ends somewhere in February. Very exciting.

Don't forget to check out my new baking blog, http://www.PureBlissConfections.blogspot.com! Thanks!

Owen's Big Swimming Adventure

The Birthday

Happy Birthday Morning!

Unwrapping his first present

Bill's (and hopefully Owen's) favorite book

Ready to get his groove on. Anyone need a passionate tambourine player?

Big Boy Seat

Big Boy Box

Saturday. The party. Note my excellent fit-all-the-letters-in craftmanship.

Banana cupcakes with honey cinnamon frosting

Monkey chocolate-butter cupcakes. No monkeys were harmed in the making of the cupcakes.

The demolition

Emma and Aunt Christy

Bill's parents had to miss the party, but they came by later to help assemble their gift for Owen. Then, Bill and Owen took a little ride.

Owen had a great first birthday and yes, it's definitely hard to believe he's moved into yearlong measures of age. It's so great to see him become a little boy. His life, though unexpected, has been more of blessing than I'm sure we'll ever know.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." James 1:17

As of his one year appointment, Owen is 22.2 lbs (45th %), 31 inches (80th %) with a perfect 50% head.