Turkey Round #3

 In addition to enjoying a late Thanksgiving lunch with the Kempers, we celebrated Uncle Steve & Toppe's upcoming birthdays!  The kids thought they needed a little help blowing out the candles.

 Baby Kemper.  I can't wait to be an aunt!!!

Toppe & Grandpa

Saturday was round #3 of Thanksgiving.  We enjoyed lunch at our house with the Kempers.  We skipped out on the turkey and chose grilled fish and veggies instead.  It was a great way to end the holiday weekend. 







Turkey Feast Round #2

 Granny Maurer & her great grandkids.

 Granny Maurer & her grandkids.

 Mimi, Dorothy & Jerri got in a little time at the coloring table!

 Sparklers are not just for July 4th & New Years.... Thanksgiving is just as worthy... with or without a burn ban.

Avery left our house with Uncle Jason without her hair done.  She saw Kelcie's hair curled, she insisted hers be done the same way.  She looked adorable!!! 

Turkey Round #2 was with the Maurer Clan at Dorothy's house Friday night.  We had enough appetizers to feed a small army, so imagine how full we were after also having a full traditional spread turkey feast.  Doug had 3 trays of turkey and 3 seperate dressings!  Pretty sure nothing there was on the Weight Watchers menu, but calories don't count on holidays, right?  Holidays with the Maurers are always a guaranteed good time.  Jamie Hafner knew how to entertian the kids with sidewalk chalk roadways and sparklers.  Good times!

Turkey Day

 The kids, all dressed in their brown checkers, ready to head for Turkey Feast #1.

 Uncle Jason stayed with us for a few days!  That is always a treat.  Here the kids are "helping" him whip up an appetizer.

 See Food!

 Thought this was a great shot of  Austin.  These are the brown eyes I am so thankful for.

 Thanksgiving would not be complete without a little football.

Avery, Dalton, Austin & Caleb.

Thanksgiving Day we headed over to Bonnie & Freddie's for lunch.  It was a beautiful day to sit out and enjoy the sunshine while the kids ran around.  We missed Granny Grabarshick, but know she was smiling down on us.

After a late lunch, we headed back to the house and all managed to catch a much needed nap.  After a late night pitch tournament the night before, we knew that in order to root on the Horns Thanksgiving night, we'd need a chance to reenergize.  Reenergize we did.... not only did we root on the Horns to a victory, we managed to put up and decorate all 4 of our Christmas trees.  What a huge accomplishment for me!  The kids were much more interested in decorating their trees this year and thanks to my tree fluffer, Uncle Jason, the two other tress were up as well!  Now I wish I was this much ahead of schedule on Christmas shopping!

I am thankful....

so here goes this year's list....

I am thankful for.....
rain, the fact that our children have not had to visit a doctor in over a year, my future niece/nephew, the wrinkle-release cycle on the dryer, Austin's brown eyes, waking up to the Texas coast on beach trips w/ the Kemper clan, drive thru dinner fundraisers, Brenham, TX, wine, St. Paul's CDS and their Christian educational influence, online shopping, "Bridesmaids" with my forever friends, brave soldiers, children that sleep past 7am on Saturday mornings, Wes's problem solving, Caleb's nonstop chatter,  ice cold diet coke, the Texas Longhorn fight song, community leaders with a clear vision, the piles of colored sheets from our children, Avery's desire to read, the "snooze" button, Sunday's where every hymn is familiar, forgiveness, the ability to watch jack rabbits and deer wander around from my bedroom window, mornings Wes is home to help get us out of the house for work/school, random "I love you's", trips to Uncle Jason's, pizza nights, devoted grandparents, caring teachers,  my dad's recovery from prostate cancer surgery, hearing the kids belt out "Footloose" on the way to school, watching Austin & Avery score a soccer goal, "gold" star days, quiet time, God's love, bedtime stories, and so much more. 

I am most thankful for this... my family.  I have been blessed with three amazing children and a husband that loves me.  I wish everyone reading this a Happy Thanksgiving!  Hope you are able to spend it with the ones you love the most.

Good bye, Granny G

Granny "G" Grabarschick passed away this past Saturday.  After 96 years, she was tired and ready to go see Grandpa Albert in heaven.  The kids will miss getting Granny's BINGO coins on special occasions and we will all miss the old stories she would tell as if it were just yesterday.  Granny G loved spending time with her family and doing things for them.  She was a terrific cook and for special meals always included sweet rice for her four grandsons.  There are piles of crochet pieces that she made with her two hands and up until the very end she kept her mind sharp with crossword puzzles.  We know that Granny G is in a better place and we will forever hold special memories of her.

Father/Son hunt

Wes went back to the deer lease this past weekend, this time with one anxious little boy in tow.  On the way out of town, they picked up Dane & Kade Rau and headed to Mason with dreams of  big antlers running in their heads.    

 The first kill of the trip.  Wes got this with his bow from the "pop up blind"

 Our little hunter.  He LOVES the opportunity to have a little one-on-one time with his daddy at the deer lease. 

 The big kill of the weekend!  Wes and Austin were sitting in a tree stand and this buck was in and out of the area before Wes drew back and got him with his bow and arrow.  There was one proud hunter and one very excited little boy.  I got the text "BBD" about 9:30am Saturday morning.  If you aren't into the hunter lingo, that means Big Buck Down.

 They will remember this kill for a while.

Kade and Austin both assisted with putting away this coon.  Congrats to Kade for shooting his first doe this weekend... a cool milestone for someone who will probably see a lot more hunts in his lifetime.

A bit of a breather....

The end of October was a blur - soccer games, polo match, hayride, work meetings, family portraits, UT football game, garage sale and Halloween on top of house chores, work, homework, and school.  There were days we opened the door and couldn't remember if we were coming or going.  Getting home at 5:15pm and having to be at the soccer fields a little before 6pm has been mastered and I actually preplanned a meal or two and now have even a deeper appreciation for drive thru dinner fundraisers.  Fortunately things have slowed down a little bit this past weekend and I am going to give all credit to deer hunting.  In our area, people know the first weekend of November means deer season and very little can trump the cherished hunter's holiday.  We had no birthday party invite or big community event to attend.  Instead the big hunter in our family headed to the deer lease and the kids and I hung out most of the weekend.  Toppe and Grandpa offered to take the kids to the last home football game on Friday and keep them over night.  On my night to myself I enjoyed a glamourous trip to Wal-Mart and dinner from HEB, but I won't complain... I enjoyed the "me" time. 
Wes reported a good weekend away at the deer lease.  He didn't come back with a rack of horns, but I think he's waiting to get something when he goes with Austin this coming weekend.  To say Austin is excited to be going hunting with his dad is an understatement.  That little boy will be in heaven in the deer stand with his daddy.  I admit it's pretty cool to see his eyes light up when he talks about hunting with his daddy.  They've been packing for days.
We've got two weeks of soccer left and I admit I am ready to see the season come to an end.  Not sure that soccer will be the sport of choice for either Austin or Avey, but I guess we have a few years to figure that out.  They both hustle and stay on the ball most of the time and smile from ear to ear when they score a goal.  Next year they will be the oldest ones in their division due to their August birthdays so watch out!!! 
So we will enjoy a few slower weekends before we get into the holiday season.  It is right around the corner!

This is what it is all about....



I love this...

and this...



Family portraits.

We have not taken family pics for at least two years for several reasons.... we are busy people, I have a good quality camera to catch picture perfect moments, I personally am not a big fan of being in front of the camera, and #1... they stress me out!  I envision perfection when I think of a professional picture session... everyone coordinating, smiling, happy, and cooperative.  That can be a challenge for our crew!  But, I really wanted to get pictures taken to capture this crazy,fun time in our life so I called Robyn Farmer after seeing her session shots with the Siemsglusz family.  I loved how candid her photos were and loved some of her editing techniques.   
Scheduling was a bit of a challenge as we had to plan around a busy weekend schedule, soccer games, and work meetings but after several attempts we found a weekday to work.  I knew our dress attire would be a challenge as Caleb insists on wearing jeans and boots.  Anything else results in a major melt down and I didn't need swollen red eyes for pictures.  Avery's reaction to clothes choices is dependent on how the wind blows, or maybe the moon.... actually, I haven't figured that out.  My choice would have been to go out and buy something new for everyone,but that was just not in the budget so we closet shopped for picture attire.  Then there are attitudes.  You never know what kind of a mood everyone will be in after a day at school/work.  Well for our scheduled session day, it was pretty chaotic.  I'll leave out those details, but there were tears from more than one set of eyes and we showed up 10 minutes late to the Rose Emporium.  That wound up being crucial, because we only had about 20 minutes of good light and after that the shots were pretty grainy.  Robyn offered to shoot a second session at an earlier time and with that offer I promised myself I wasn't going to get so worked up and stressed out and I didn't .  We took our second set of pics in some of the old scenic views of downtown Brenham and I think we walked away with a few keepers.
You can see a sneak peak of our photo shoots on Robyn's blog which is listed on the right on my blog role.  I'm so excited and can't wait to see more.  The pictures don't show perfect subjects, not everyone is smiling at the same time, but the do capture some of the true character of MAURER PARTY OF FIVE. 
Thanks, Robyn!  We appreciate your hard work and captured memories!

Trick or Treat!

 Hope you had more treats than tricks on Halloween night.  Captain America, our rock star and Optimus Prime (Transformer) came home with more treats than we know what to do with!