Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving full of yummy food and wonderful family time! I asked Blake what he was thankful for yesterday and the first thing he said was "Daddy". Too sweet!

Ok, A Few More....

It's really hard to get everyone looking at the same time!
And here's the bridge I was talking about before....The sun started to mess with us a bit...

He's getting so gosh darn big!

We were doing a wardrobe change and Kendall took it as the perfect opportunity to pick up her shoes and get some real eating time in on them...

Family Photo Shoot

A co-worker of mine has a photography business on the side, so we had a nice photo shoot with him a week ago! He did a great job!!! We went to a location by Lake Austin near a famous bridge in Austin. You can't really clearly see the bridge in these shots, but you can sort of see it in the background of a couple of them. We have so many pictures to choose from, I guess you all will just be surprised what I choose for the Christmas card! Here's a little sampling of our pictures!

Kendall

Here are some shots of Kendall hanging out in her saucer while I was working the other day. She goes back and forth sitting in her saucer or on a blanket on the floor surrounded by toys (none of which she cares to play with because she's too busy trying to reach for things she's not supposed to have or finding the smallest spec of dirt ot put in her mouth). She and I have a nice time spending the extra time together while I work from home. She is an attention kid...she can't get enough of it! She loves people to watch her and laugh at her....She's going to be quite the little girl--she already is!

The Banks Group

The line
Heehheee...they'd appreciate knowing I have this picture on my blog

Hollee!!!!

Last year I posted a non-approved picture of Shamika...I hope this one is to her liking!

Bah humbug!

Well, last Wednesday we had our second annual Banks Group Thanksgiving Potluck! It was a huge success and we had tons of yummy food! I made hashbrown style cheesey potatoes...they were gone at the end of lunch! Hollee, Shamika and I started a group called the Employee Appreciation Committee and are in charge of planning these sorts of events as well as decorating people's desks and offices for life events. Since we started this a few months ago, we have celebrated three birthdays, a wedding and the birth of twins! Everyone I tell about this committe makes a The Office reference....I don't really watch the show, but apparently it's a funny thing to say to me....yeah, I don't know.

"Ok, I'm tolerating this...."
"I'm warning you, Blake"

"game over"

Blake had another birthday party to attend Saturday. It was at a local park and it was dinosaur themed. The kids dug in the sand for dinosaur bones and fossils and dinosaur eggs then they made volcanoes! Blake had a fun time! Really, if you had given him a shovel and a bucket and sent him to the sand pit, that would have been enough for him to have a blast!

Random Update

Big boy, little jammies

Scooter!!! Still not really super close to crawling, but she does enjoy back scooting!

Four Wheeler-ing

Bryce rode around the neighborhood on his four wheeler while Blake followed along side on his little four wheeler--it was so cute!

Kendall got her first "ride" on the four wheeler

She doesnt' care about the ride she's getting, she's more interested in grabbing Blake's helmet off his head..I've knicknamed her "Hands" because she's always trying to grab something!

Well, Little Missy is learning to feed herself! In the top pictures, she was eating a biting biscuit...well, she was more smearing it in her hair, but whatever...it was straight to the bath with that one! Then in the bottom pictures, she's eating mashed potatoes. We've been working with her some to learn to eat on her own, but aren't pushing it by any means. It at least tides her over until dinnertime if we can put her in her chair with some puffy stars or a buiscuit. She's a happy camper!

Ok, One More Final Post...

Wow...the polls are closed, the votes are in and it's final...Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States of America. We are witnessing some majorly profound history tonight. I exercised my American Right to vote this afternoon and felt a sense of pride as I walked into Jackie's School of Performing Arts where I casted my Democratic vote. This election shows without a doubt that this country is ready for a change. This is a very exciting time to be an American!

After I finished voting, I picked up Blake. I normally don't pick him up, so he asked me why I was picking him up instead of Daddy and I told him I had gone to vote for the President of our country and asked him if he knew what the President was. He said no....and I tried to explain it to him. Then he said, "Who's going to be the President? Are you going to be the President, Mommy?" and I said "Nnnnoooooo, Mommy's not old enough" as if that's the only thing stopping me....lol! Then I told him someday he could be President and he looked at me like I was crazy and said, "no!" Lol! So, uh, apparently I do not have our future nation's leader in my home--well, I guess I can still hope for Kendall--lol!

Ok, One More Post...

Kendall had her first day at her new caregiver's on Monday. Hollee and I have been friends for the past two and a half years. We met when I started working at Pottery Barn Kids. When she was ready to leave there, we had a position open at my office and she applied and got the job! We've been good friends ever since! Her mom is a stay at home mom and she has agreed to take care of Kendall for me on MWF when I'm at the office working. It went so well on Monday! Hollee's son Matthew was there after school and so was Hollee's younger sister Haylee. Kendall definitely did not have a lack of attention with everyone around! She seems to be adjusting well to her new surroundings and was a happy camper when she got home Monday evening! I feel good that she's in a safe place being loved and taken care of like I would! I'll have to get a picture of Lesa and Kendall! Anyway, just wanted to update everyone! I've posted a lot tonight, I've been so behind!

Wouldn't this be a great place for wedding pics!?! There are tons of spots that are awesome photo ops!

Real dinosaur prints were found in this location!!! They're covered to prevent deterioration, so we couldn't see them, but it was neat to know.

Blake, his friend Adam, Courtney (Adam's mom) and I went to Austin's Zilker Park Botanical Gardens on Sunday to see an exhibit they have going on until the end of the month--Dinoland!!! It's really similar to that dinosaur park we went to in August. The boys had such a fun time! The weather was nice to be outside walking around. After we toured the dinosaur exhibit, we went to the botanical gardens and walked around. Not too many flowers this time of year, but there are so many neat, pretty things to see! We had a really fun time!

If you look closely, you can see a reddish dinosaur at the top of the waterfall

We asked them to hug each other (lol) and this is what we got! Didn't know they were going to full on cuddle up!!!!

Wwwoooowwww....a real dinosaur bone!