I'm a Little Lamb Who's Lost in a Wood...

Last Sunday, Spencer went over to his friend Charlie's house to play for a few hours. Dave and I used that time to go Christmas shopping. I think that was the first time we've ever been able to go shopping for Spencer together - it was fun!

After we picked up Spencer, he and I decided to go for a quick hike in the Greenbelt before dinner. We set out from a spot we don't typically enter. We made a lot of twists and turns and came upon this beautiful spot.

But when we started heading out, we quickly realized we didn't know the way back. It was already 5:00 and I knew it would get dark soon, so I called Dave. I didn't want to alarm him, but the fact of the matter was we were lost. Using a "find a friend" app on our phones, he tried to figure out where we were as he ran through the Greenbelt with a flashlight. I know he was so nervous.

After 20-30 minutes I started hearing voices in the distance. I decided to just aim for those voices and luckily we ended up behind a row of houses. There was a party going on at one of them, with people standing along a balcony. I trudged through some thick brush and yelled up to them. Someone told us how to get up to their backyard then they led us through their million dollar home, full of fancy people, with me covered in leaves! Dave picked us up out front a few minutes later.

Needless to say, I learned my lesson and won't venture out in the Greenbelt without knowing exactly where I am. I think I did a pretty good job of remaining calm and not alarming Spencer *too* much. He just kept saying in a slightly worried voice, "We're lost." I'm glad we didn't have to get rescued by a helicopter search party! It won't keep us from hiking - we'll just be smarter from now on!

Ella's Christmas Party

Earlier this month, Ella invited us over for a sweet little Christmas party. We decorated gingerbread houses...

 And you'll never guess who showed up...

He read The Night Before Christmas to the kids...

Spencer approached the man in red with his usual caution of course...

I thought that if I sat on Santa's lap, Spencer might want to, but he didn't, and that's just fine. Santa still gave him a neat book about gingerbread pirates.

It was a fun party! Steffani, Chad and Ella are such awesome (and generous!) party hosts. You can hop over to Steffani's blog for more pictures.

Piper and Beckett's 5th Birthday

We have a tradition of going to the Trail of Lights with Piper, Beckett and their parents. It worked out this year that we went on their actual birthday. We met at Chuy's first for dinner and a cookie cake, then walked to the park. It was cold but we had fun! Beckett charmed a guy at the entrance so he gave us all VIP passes to go in early instead of waiting until the gates opened for the general public. VIP baby!

A few days later was the twins' birthday party. There was cake decorating, face painting, giant lollipops and a pinata. Big fun!

Hard to believe these three little sugars are 5 years old. Check out this picture of our first Trail of Lights visit in 2009. I love that Spencer has friends he met on the day they were born!

Little Helping Hands: Caritas

This week Spencer and I were signed up for an activity at the Caritas of Austin Kitchen, but because work was so crazy for me I asked Daddy if he would take Spencer. I hated to miss a volunteer opportunity, but the boys had a really good experience making big batches of lasagna. Caritas provides lunches for 350 people in need every Monday - Saturday!

Spencer is very helpful in these situations - always working hard and asking what he can do next. And he was really rockin' that hair net!

November Backtrack: Oh Christmas Tree

Don't tell anyone, but we broke the "no Christmas tree until after Thanksgiving" rule. With Thanksgiving being so late this year, and with the weather being so wintry, we decided to do it on Thanksgiving Eve. Plus, we hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year, so the tree made things that much more festive.

I have a feeling this will be the last year Spencer can fit comfortably in the tree box...

I'm very sentimental about Christmas ornaments (shocking, I know). I got a kick out of Spencer unwrapping ornaments and either "ooohing and aaahing" or remembering who gave them to him. 

I forgot to take a hero shot of the tree post-decorating... I'll have to do that later...

November Backtrack: Barton Creek & Wahoo

I was organizing photos Sunday night and realized I missed a few blogging opportunities.

In early November we had a ton of rain in Austin. Flooding in fact (which we happened to sleep through and when I saw photos from around town the next morning like this one, I was sure they were jokes.) Spencer and I took the opportunity to see the Barton Creek Greenbelt full of water - a first in his lifetime!

What usually looks like this...

Turned into a completely different landscape...

We *may* have climbed a fence to get in there, but I think that was more to keep bicyclists out.

When we got home from our adventure, I introduced Spencer to a Rives family tradition: Wahoo. I grew up playing this game with my mom and our best friends Lolly and Don. In fact, they made this custom board for Dave and me for our wedding - Lolly painted a longhorn and a little graphic from our wedding invitations. Spencer caught on fast and we had fun playing. We can't wait to play with Lolly and Don one day!

A Couple of Funnies

Spencer is always telling us, "Get the hang of yourself!" when he's frustrated (or when he's just being silly). I guess it's his version of "get a hold of yourself!" Cracks me up. Another thing he's been saying the last few weeks is, "They're already talking about Christmas [sigh....]." For example, if you're in a store that is already decorated for Christmas, or if you pass a tree on the side of Loop 360 that someone has put tinsel and ornaments on, they're already talking about Christmas. He must've heard me lamenting over how soon the stores start promoting it these days.

Yesterday and today at Nature's Way was the annual harvest soup lunch celebration. Dave and I both went yesterday (and he solo'ed it today). The kids decorated the tables and wrote some of the things they're thankful for. I'm glad to know that I rate right up there with cheese!

 

We sure are getting excited about Thanksgiving and Christmas around here. The cold temperatures really help! We're even contemplating "starting to talk about Christmas" and putting up our tree before Thursday if we have time.. 

One day over the weekend I noticed that my iPhone weather app was showing snowflakes for Monday. I wish I had a picture of Spencer's face when I showed it to him. We were eagerly awaiting some flurries, but they seem to have passed us by.

This is a very jumbled entry but that's all I got at the moment!

Little Helping Hands: Mobile Loaves and Fishes

Man, I'm a big fan of the Little Helping Hands organization. Spencer and I have really enjoyed our volunteer opportunities. So far we have delivered food for Meals on Wheels, prepared pet food deliveries twice for the Meals on Wheels PALS program, spread mulch in the Blunn Preserve (with Daddy!), and yesterday we tried a new activity: loading a Mobile Loaves and Fishes truck. These trucks make daily deliveries of food, clothing and other odds-and-ends to the homeless. 

Spencer said this was his favorite activity so far, and I think it was because he got to do a variety of tasks. We scooped lots of ice, loaded drinks, sandwiches, fruit, etc. into the truck. When we left he said he wished there would've been fewer people so we wouldn't have finished so quickly!

Halloween 2013

We carved our jack-o-lantern the night before Halloween. We had to work around a rotten spot, so he had a big ole' mouth. Spencer made him look nice and spooky by adding toothpick teeth.

The Nature's Way Fall Festival was on Halloween morning. Like last year, there were all sorts of sweet activities like songs, stories, pumpkin rolling, peanut tossing, apple peeling, pumpkin scooping, pumpkin painting, face painting, the Hokey Spooky and the Chicken Dance for the big finale.

This picture KILLS me - those are 3 super sweet (I mean tough) boys right there.

I took the day off, but the afternoon was a little rushed because we had to take Spencer to an unexpected doctor's appointment (luckily it was nothing that kept us from enjoying Halloween!). We did have time to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and relax/play a little before time to get ready for trick-or-treating. We met up with some of our new neighborhood friends and hit the streets. Dave created Spencer's one-of-a-kind costume again this year and it turned out great! Spencer wanted to be a ninja, but an ordinary ninja would not do. He was a "wandering ninja" complete with straw hat. Dave's sewing skills amaze me - he took in that vest to fit the boy, added the grommets and cord to hold his knives, used the scraps to make shin guards, made a sword holder, etc. Ninjas were really popular this year, but I have to say I didn't see any as cool as Spence! And it was cute to watch him be in character - he really played it up.

 

 

Spencer's sixth (!) Halloween was a blast. We are really enjoying have kiddo friends in the 'hood.