Henry won!

At the kids' dentist, they have a "no cavities club" for kids that don't have a cavity at their checkup. They get to write their name on a cut-out and put it up on the bulletin board. Then....at the end of the month....there is a drawing for several prizes. Well, Henry won a gift card to Target! When we went in to get it, the dentist was not in the office, so I forced the poor receptionist to take her picture with Henry. I'm sure I now have "over-involved mom" written on my chart in code now....I didn't have the motivation to explain that I have a blog to fill with their every breath, and we are always looking for something different to post. Everyone is sick of pictures of the zoo!


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We went to Target, and he got Super Mario figurines.


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New Dallas Children's Aquarium

Over the Thanksgiving Break, we all went to the Dallas Children's Aquarium and then the Science Museum one Sunday afternoon. These are so convenient to see together because they are all in Fair Park.

The new aquarium has "Stingray Bay" where the kids get to feed the stingrays. This involves holding half a minnow (yep, chopped in half) between your fingers and holding your hand against the wall...so the minnow sticks out. The stingrays come flocking to the hand and gobble up the minnow. The boys LOVE it! We went once before (I forgot my camera), and when we went the second time, Leo said...."I can't tell if they remember me or not." cute. Even when there is no food involved, the stingrays swim right past the edge and let the kids pet them. It's really a unique experience.


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At the entrance to the aquarium, they have a Touch Tank where kids can pick up or touch different creatures. Both times that we have been there, a staffer has been there to assist and explain the animals to the kids.


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We were all fascinated by this ENORMOUS turtle with huge jaws.

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Even aquarium workers have to keep up with their Facebooking.

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Octopus

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Captain Terrific and Mr. Forced Smile with Awkward Hand Position

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Just little angels....I tell you what.

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My mom packs lunches for outings so much that I am no longer impressed. I'd rather have gloppy nachos and a Sprite at the snack shop in the museum.

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After this, my wonderful parents are now going to take me to the science museum and follow me around for the millionth time? What a lucky boy I am!!!!

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And we get to see an IMAX movie, too? Wow, mom and dad, you're the best.

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Only picture from the science museum.

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Christmas Day 2010 (part 2)

As we have done for the past two years, we got together with the Hutchesons on Christmas night for dinner and fun. We started with appetizers - everyone had skipped lunch or just snacked, so we all enjoyed these. There was hummus and veggies, a wasabi snack mix, pickled okra, gouda, a green pepper italian sausage, and flatbreads.


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There was a hole in one of the oh-so-fancy kid plates.


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Our table.


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Group shot!


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I thought the food for dinner turned out REALLY well. I was so pleased with everything, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. We had...

Deviled Eggs
Roasted Root Vegetable Salad on Arugula (I learned from this that I LOVE roasted beets.)
Roasted Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, and Jerusalem Artichokes
Cheese Grits - used a new recipe with some modifications and it was GREAT!
Homemade Honey Wheat Rolls (turned out nice and soft but used 1/3 white flour and 2/3 stone ground whole wheat)
Marinated and Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce


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The dessert table. I put out coffee cups, made coffee, and then forgot to serve it!


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Red Velvet Peppermint Cake. There was peppermint extract in the frosting. It was very refreshing after the meal.


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The Hutchesons spent the night. After we put the boys to bed, we played electronic Catch Phrase. It was SO much fun. The funniest part to me was when Jon was trying to get Allie to say "Get Well Soon" and she kept getting closer and closer to it....and she finally came out with "Get Well Often!" And she was very much sober. I just laughed and laughed.

Christmas Day 2010 (part 1)

We had a wonderful Christmas this year!

Here is what Santa brought for Leo and Henry.

Henry: preschool rollerskates, doodle board, and Uno Moo game.
Leo: Lego City Airport/Plane kit, Scrabble Flash Game, Ripstik (kind of like a skateboard)

Their stockings had bubble bath, fizzy bath color tablets, a book for each (Wimpy Kid #7 for Leo, I Like Me for Henry), a motorized toothbrush, and breath mints (HUGE hit!).


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Leo immediately started working on his lego set.


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Henry's doodle board came with some stencils.


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A horse


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We played a few games of Uno Moo before Henry decided he only wanted to cheat and make things always go his way and just generally be 4-yr-old irrational.


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Aunt Carolyn and GG got me this great griddle for Christmas. We absolutely love it. We have already used it so many times. We had bacon, chicken breakfast sausage from Sprouts, and pancakes. We have really never had pancakes at home before because we had nowhere to cook them except a little skillet.


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Todd opening a gift.

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He got Pie Irons for cooking pies over a campfire! This was from Aunt Carolyn and GG.


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Henry got a cute Batman raincoat from Aunt Lee Lee and Uncle Brian.


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Leo got an Ant Farm from Aunt Lee Lee and Uncle Brian, but I missed the picture.

And I got these patterns from Aunt Lee Lee and Uncle Brian that I have wanted for so long!!!


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I also got nice snow boots from mama and daddy. Last year when it snowed so much, I had nothing. So now I am prepared for the next snow 5 yrs from now. Ha! Todd got a great shoe shine kit from Lee Ann and Brian, and he also got some sort of thing from mama and daddy that you charge....and then it can charge your phone or other electronic device when you don't have a plug. This was inspired by an Adventure Guides camping trip this fall where there were no available outlets for his phone.

Tomorrow....the Christmas dinner post...