All Dressed Up [With Places To Go]

Things have definitely been fancy around here!

First, Jacob had a program at school.
He asked very nicely for the tie

and we can't say no to the kid.

However, we didn't agree to him riding a trike

on two wheels while wearing said tie.

A few days later, my office had our
annual Christmas party downtown.

These are the ladies I spend 40 hours a week next to.
Cortney & Michelle

My honey, myself, Cortney & her honey.

The "three muskateers" (as our boss referred to us) with our men.

A good time was had by all.

Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree

This year, we started what we hope to be a yearly tradition. In lieu of the fake Christmas tree, which I've had most of my life, we decided we'd like a real tree.

For Jacob's sake, we thought it would be fun to actually cut down our real tree rather than pick one out at the store.

 After some exploring, we found the perfect tree.

 Jeremy & Jacob got to work.

 "Timber!"

 Disclaimer: I am not promoting child labor. Jacob volunteered & wanted to pull the tree.

 Then, we were ready to head back to Dallas...

 & make our tree part of our home.

 Jacob was a BIG helper when it came to decorations.

We got the tree nice and decorated.

Then, we thought we'd share the holiday cheer with the vegetables in the dining room window. 

 Our new TV stand (to be blogged about eventually) also got some Christmas love.

It looks (and smells) very festive around here!

San Antone

For Jacob's fifth birthday, we took him to the Alamo City

San Antonio, Texas!

He started the roadtrip much like any other trip we take him on...

On our way southbound, we stopped to see his aunt, Jeremy's sister, Olivia. She goes to UT in Austin and we all miss her a whole bunch.

We took her to lunch for her birthday (the same day as mine) - she chose Kerbey Lane Cafe on "the drag."

Olivia also gave us a tour of the campus.

He didn't miss Olivia at all, as you can tell.

Eventually, we made our way south to San Antonio and visited Sea World.

Jacob LOVED it.

He touched a sting ray.

He watched and fed the sea lions.

He laughed at the funny shows.

He made BFFs with my cousin, Josh, and his new wife, Melissa.

We all LOVED seeing Shamu.

In the middle of a "Creepy Critters" show, a bird landed right on Jeremy's shoulder and hung out there for a few minutes - that was fun!

We also got lucky with TWO Shamu shoes while we were there - the typical One World show and then a higher energy Halloween themed show.

The next day, we went to visit the Riverwalk and the Alamo.

On our way to the Alamo, Jeremy and I kept saying the word "Alamo."

Jacob randomly started telling us - "there was a big fight at the Alamo when Mexico wanted their state to be bigger but Texas didn't want to be in Mexico. The Texas guys stood on the buildings with cannons and their guns had swords on them." Need I remind you he just turned five?! Smart kid!

 Are you seeing a trend here?!

More soon!

Jacob's Birthday

How do I know how far behind I am on blogging?

[and, perhaps, life in general...]
I uploaded 257 pictures from my camera last night.

Time to catch up!

Jacob turned five last week (even if he looks 7),
so we celebrated with a John Deere party

[and family and friends].

I baked and decorated the cake.
[It was, in fact, the first cake I've ever decorated.]

We had a HUGE John Deere tractor pinata
[and plenty of food].

We bobbed for apples.

I think Fletcher was the bobbing champion.

Ready Dougie? Let's go!

Dougie wins the award for...

Most Dedicated!

We also had potato sack races.

We [obviously] had cake.

And we rounded out the festivities with some pinata hittin'.

London getting after it...

Robbie...

Joslyn...

Robbie busted the thing open.

Flat tire, much?

"We're the three best friends that anyone could have..."

Too bad one day, they won't be so cute...

they'll look more like this.

And have War Head eating competitions.

These are their sour faces.

My favorite part of the day?

On the day of JACOB'S birthday party,

you know what that sweet boy did?

He brought me roses... yes, my heart did melt.

We had a fabulous past weekend in San Antonio,

so I hope to post about that soon!