Fall Fun

After a long week in Chicago at training, I was happy to get home to my family, warmer weather, and some fall fun!

Today involved two camels (which I REALLY wanted to ride but they took a lunch break) lots of pumpkins, two aardvarks, about ten goats, a baby kangaroo (a joey if you get technical), two pigs, and one very cute skunk! We hit the pumpkin patch with Caroline this morning, the the Fall-a-lujeah Festival at church.. Blake kept thinking we were going to Iraq. (I don't know if that's going to be funny on the blog... Say it out loud....I'm not just saying that by the way, he kept calling it Falujeah..or however you spell it), had a nice glass of wine at the vintage, and then dinner with the cousins. We didn't get a whole lot of great pics but here's the best of what we got....

This petting of the baby kangaroo lasted about three second because Emmy decided she needed to pull his ears and poke his eyeball. I can't imagine why he ran away...

Hmmm... two babies that like to put everything in their mouths and a big thing full of nasty old corn kernels.. why yes, that sounds like an excellent idea.

Petting zoo #2 at Church (not in Iraq) had lot of goats and sheep (All of which Emmy called dogs)

And of course, what is Halloween without a llama, really? After all the fall fun we headed to the Vintage to get a glass of wine before heading to dinner with the cousins. Emmy just laughed and laughed at the fountains.You can see all the girls in thier Homecoming dresses taking pictures. Blake and I had a nice long discussion with Emmy that she's not allowed to grow up.

As luck would have it (extreme sarcasm), Kristen and I both became ill on Thursday evening. Thinking it would pass we did our best to pack our luggage and Emmy's since we had a 7:30 a.m. flight to Chicago. We had planned to spend the weekend in the Windy City before Kristen's week long training in St. Charles, but as the night went on it looked bleaker and bleaker. Let's just say that we had a less than perfect night and were unable to take Emmy on her first plane ride and first vacation. I guess we will have to save this for something even bigger and better.

Up at 3:00 a.m. Friday, we tossed the idea of getting on the plane back and forth, but the fact that we never made a move off of the couch while discussing the issue made the choice that much easier. Kristen, who was worse off than I, went back to bed (and by bed, I mean the bathroom), while I scrambled to call the hotel and Continental to cancel our travel plans. Talking with a Continental rep regarding cancelling flights is much easier if, when your daughter screams because she wants attention and she asks you about it, if you say "I am trying to keep her happy as my wife is currently in the restroom vomitting." It also helps if this is true, as it was in this instance. By 6:00 a.m., Kristen, Emmy (who was very considerate and caring for her mother this very morning) and I were all back asleep.

Despite our ruined vacation, I made note of the fact that if we were to be stuck in Houston for any weekend, this would be the best one. I was made aware of that fact by our local weatherman during the 3:30 a.m., 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. news. I didn't even know news came on that many times in one day, much less one morning.

Unfortunately, Friday was a bust. Kristen and I did very little, keeping Emmy entertained as we napped with her due to our illness. We both vowed to be better for Saturday. Saturday morning came and both Kristen and I were ready for some weekend excitement since Chicago had been shut down. After watching some of tu v. OU, we ventured out of the house for the first time since Thursday. We went to our church so we could get some pre-halloween pics of Emmy in her adorable costume Kristen found for her. She won over all of the volunteers and others taking photos, being her adorable self. I never knew that something that is supposed to smell so bad could actually be that cute. Much like most of our photo sessions, I took a hundred pics to get this one perfect example of why we both melt when we see her every day.


Some of the other great ones below...





As a follow up to that excitement, Kristen and I took Emmy to the park over run by ducks at Gleannloch Farms. These ducks are not your standard "scared of humans" birds, they are aggressive and come running when any car stops in hope that they have any food they are willing to share. We had come before, unarmed, but came this day with bread in hand so that the ducks would stick around for more than a few moments. And come they did. All but one, who seemed to shuck our offerings, spurning us, because as Kristen and I said, he had so many better alternatives. Emmy again was not impressed, not because the ducks ran away, but because one had the gall to snatch the bread in her hand that was going to be headed for her mouth right from her tiny hand. It frightened her of course, and cemented her feelings about ducks in general.


Chicago it wasn't, but our weekend was filled with adventures CHItown cannot offer. Hopefully one day in the future, we will be able to take Emmy on that plane ride we missed out this weekend.

Rolling right along... Emmy Bear is 10 months old

It's the next to last cupcake picture... we can't believe how fast time has flown!

By the way.. we've eaten a LOT of cupcakes over the past year, and we have to say as far as cheap grocery store cupcakes go.. these were out first Randalls ones and they are by FAR the best... Randalls, please send us free cupcakes now =)

GiGi Gets "Senior"

To finish off a big weekend we celebrated the big 55 for GIGI!!!! That's right, it's Senior Citizen GiGi to you now!

No, we didn't go to Luby's, but in honor of the Seniors among us, we went to eat dinner at 4:30. No carrot and raisin salad was ordered. Emmy got to hang out with her cousins Courtney and Brandon. And even though GiGi got many non "Senior" related gifts, I do have to say that my favorite was the IHOP gift card! You can't beat the senior special! Now if my parents make this 4:30 dinner habit, we're going to have to start worrying... Happy Birthday GiGi!

Sweet and Sassy

This weekend I got to be a fairy godmother to two special birthday girls. I took and Hannah and Ellie to the Sweet and Sassy in the Woodlands. We started the day getting new matching outfits, then we headed over for some spa action. The girls each got a mani/pedi and then got their hair done in a "princess" stlye with a flower. Sweet and Sassy is a genius idea. The place was hoping with little girls and glitter EVERYWHERE. They even had little tiny pedicure chairs... so cute!I would say that the hit of the day was the rings. Toe and regular.

The girls had never had their nails painted, so it was a new experience. Hannah held her hands like this for the rest of the afternoon. We went to eat lunch after and she held the fork "just so", so she she wouldn't mess them up. It was adorable.
Then of course, if I'm involved, there was a photo shoot! The girls got super sassy. Ellie especially was hilarious, blowing raspberries at the photographer. It's so funny how a photograph can capture a personality. I would have to say that this IS Ellie =)

These girls and their momma are so special to me, and I had such a good time just watching them be thier little selves. It was such a fun day!

10 Month Photo Shoot

I think that the days of the easy photo shoot where Emmy smiles and laughs and we get 800 cute pictures is over. Today she walked off every time we put her in place, threw a pumpkin at the photographer, showed her butt, and stuck her tounge out. Our favorite ones are at the end where it looks like she's doing the robot =)

This super cute outfit was a hand-me-down from Abby and I was so excited about it. Unfortunately, it makes Emmy look like a poor dejected Orphan boy from a Charles Dickens novel. You should see it in sepia. She looks like she's straight out of Oliver Twist. Spiking the pumpkin. Uncle Sean is already preparing for soccer lessons. She really did not like this photographer

ROBOT!!

lean back, lean back....

Rub-A-Dub-Dub

Two kids in the tub....after Mexican on a Friday night.

Our New Little Man of God

Today we were honored to witness Jackson's baptism. Jackson is such a chill little guy that he just hung out happily though the whole ceremony, took a nap, and then chilled through dinner. He and Abby are night and day. Blake says he's going to take it from Abby for about 5 years and then one day just smack the crap out of her. (He's evidently saying this from experience. He says the trouble he got in was worth it ;)) We were doing picture duty for other people, so we don't have any of the actual ceremony on our camera. But here' s the man of honor.

The whole fam was there and we celebrated with dinner afterward where the cousins got to play and hang out! I thought this one was especially sweet of the girls. Abby loves HER cousin.

That was right before this picture. We're got some fun times coming!

Holy Frijole

At lat night's weekly Mexican extravaganza, the girls really got into their food.

What is Mexican food without BEANS...

and CHEESE! (Caroline surprised us all by showing us that she knew how to say Cheese AND pose when someone tries to take her picture!)

Yes, that's what you think it is

Emmy says "HEY! YOU! It's A BOW!!!!" We got one to stay in for at least an hour! It's in a slightly strange place and it's clinging to one hair, but we got it in, so it counts!Also the proportion of her head and the bow is all wrong, but we don't have enough hair to support the bow we need. I'm happy that something worked. I'll take it! I also had to post this picture. Every Friday, us and the Castilles have a Mexican food and margaritas tradition. Then we usually head to one of our houses to put the kids down and either a)have more drinks and watch movies/play games/ head out or b) fall asleep on the couch in 20 minutes. One or the other. Caroline now has what we call "twinks" becasue she has so much hair. But when Bets takes the twink out, Caroline turns into a "COCKATOO!" So cute!

Where are you Ryan Seacrest?

Last Thursday the Sansom family went Hollywood and attended our first movie premiere at the Angelika for the movie Uncross the Stars. Mom and Dad's next door neighboor "inherited" this movie from his Uncle when he passed away. Yes, I didn't know that you could inherit a movie either, but I think I'd like to try if anyone would like to just give me one.

We got all dressed up, hit happy hour and a little early dinner at Mia Bella, and then fixed our lipstick and got ready for Ryan Seacrest.

Well, he wasn't there. And neither was Guiliana Rancic, but you know who was there.... Irma P. Hall, and we took an excellent Iphone picture with her. She plays Lulu in the movie so we did take a picture with a movie star after all.

This is actually what she looks like. For another EXCELLENT Iphone picture, here's the fam with a giant glowing ball of light. (AKA the movie poster)

Here's the office IMDB plot summary: Troy, a young man grieving from the loss of his young wife, is asked by his Aunt Hilda to build her a porch. He goes to her house in a desert community, interacts with the colorful locals, and tries to reconcile with himself. It was a good movie.. made you laugh and cry and Blake was excited that Hellboy (Ron Perlman) was in it. Laura said it was very PS I Love You, which I've never seen because I don't think I could believe Hillary Swank in a romantic comedy role. I digress.

Here's the official premiere summary: Even though there was no Ryan, there was Lulu, some yummy bellinis, superb iphone photography, and fun family times!

Family Photo Shoot!

Since we haven't taken a family photo since I was in oh, 5th grade, I made my family all get together to take a group shot. We all put on our blue and did our best to take a pic before it got too steamy. As you can see, the hair was growing the later it got. Blake and Emmy look cute in them, and she coaxed a real smile out of my mom, so we'll call it a success! Thanks to Renea at 6 Carr Photography for a nice session!

Playdate

Today we took advantage of our day off to go play with Seth. He's such a cutie and he and Emmy had a good time crawling around on the floor and chewing each other's toys. we're so glad that the Watson's are back in Texas and available for play dates =)

This is the closest we got to a picture of the two of them together both looking at the camera.

Seth showing off some of his 8 teeth! Emmy just cut her 2nd one this weekend and all I have to say is I HATE teeth.

This is Emmy's new thing. She wants to "give" you everything... food, toys, her pacifier.....

Seth tried to flirt with Emmy, but she was more interested in the cell phone. She was SOOOO excited that she got to chew on a real one and no one grabbed it away from her.

Also in hair news... we have A CURL!!!! I've highlighted it for you just in case you have a hard time identifying it. The problem is, all the hair is growing in the back... in mullet terms...the party's getting started, but business is slow (must be the recession)....at this rate we'll just make a little ponytail in the back and tape a bow to her forehead =)