Purview from the Prairie

Wow! I can't believe it has been over two weeks since I last posted, but then again, I've been raising kitties and not getting much sleep! Moxie didn't make it, as I expected, but so far, the other three are hanging in there.

Mom was in last week for her birthday...we mainly just toodled around, did some shopping at the Houston Ballet's Nutcracker Market (or Bankcracker Market as my husband likes to call it) and then, on Friday, before she returned home, we helped Gracie's class make pumpkin bread and turkey pinecones...

I was too busy poring and stirring to take pictures of us making our pumpkin bread, but we put each child's portion in a rinsed-out vegetable can and it worked perfectly! This is Gracie's teacher placing them all in the oven.

While the pumpkin bread was baking, we made turkey pinecones - Gracie and Skylar working their magic!

There's Marmie's group making turkey pinecones, too!

A fun game of "Hot Potato" (or in this case, "Hot Pumpkin") to close out the week...
Gracie was runner-up!

Then, on Sunday, we took Gracie to see her first Cirque du Soleil performance, Alegria. No cameras were allowed, but you can see some footage here from youtube. This is the first show I saw, too, about ten years ago, and I remember how fascinated and awe-struck I was and that's exactly how she was. The show is about two hours long (excluding intermission) and she was too excited to sit in her own seat, so she went back and forth between Jack and I. I actually felt her shaking at times. Her favorites were all of the mid-air events like the swinging and trapeze acts. We were on the floor in the third row and in the video where you see the wind and all of the bits of white paper flying...that was happening to us, too, since we were so close. That was her "next favorite".

This week, I've been catching up on my chores and trying to get the house in order for our annual Thanksgiving Family Feast. We're getting so excited to see everyone and are preparing to let our belts out a notch or two...yum!

Last but not least, we've made plans to take Gracie on a Santa excursion the day she gets out for her Christmas vacation from school, just as we did last year. We went to Palestine for the Polar Express train ride last year. This year, we're venturing a tiny bit further and taking her to Grapevine for the North Pole Express train ride and the ICE! and SNOW! exhibits at the Gaylord Texan. We're squeezing in a lot for just an overnight trip, but we know she'll have a good time (and she'll have a whole two weeks of school holiday to recover!)...now, that's a party!

Given this latest posting hiatus, I'm going to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving now...we wish you all safe travels, a full belly and the beloved company of family and friends...Cheers to making happy memories!

Found the rest of the crew...

Due to all of the rain we've had in the past couple of days, the rest of the litter that Solo (the no-name kitty from yesterday's post) belongs to found their way into the barn some time last night. The other cream colored kitty, whom I've named Moxie, as if she makes it through the condition she's in, it will indeed be a miracle. The two black kitties seem to be a little more healthy, but still were very hungry. I think I'll call them Gypsy & Hobo...

This is one of the most pitiful things I've ever seen...

Poor Hobo, along with Solo & Moxie, have severe eye gunk...

Looks like my every-two-hour feedings just got a little more complicated...*sigh*

All dressed up... no place to go...

Our boys were a day late, but they dressed up as themselves with haircuts! :)

...and we have a tiny temporary addition to the family...Jack found her when feeding at 646 this weekend...she had been abandoned so now I am the one feeding her every two hours...how does that work? She's a cutie...although at the moment...a no-name kitty...

Spooky Fun!

UTMB had a Halloween celebration Friday afternoon after Daddy got off work, so we joined him in Galveston and made our way around the different department's booths...here Gracie is loading up on Officer McGruff coloring books, flashlights, and candy...

We should have brought the officers with us ... the fashion police were definitely needed at this booth! Oh my....

Besides Gracie's Veterinarian costume...these were my favorites...I don't know if he's a bear or a puppy, but I know he's soooo cute!

...and this giraffe....awwww!

...but Baby Yoda? Well, he just takes the cake! Too sweet -

Meandering around to play the different games...and score more candy!

Free snow cones and cotton candy...I thought we'd be up all nite with the huge sugar rush, but Daddy treated us to our favorite Mexican at The Original, so I think everything must have cancelled each other out because we all slept GOOD!

Showing off her "Dr. Gracie" pin...

Psyched for The Original...dancing to the car with her puppy-shaped balloon art!

The next afternnon, we had the first birthday party of the year from her class...it was at one of the local "jumping" places, and she loves all of the activity!

...and being silly...

....and THE COOKIE CAKE!

For Halloween evening, a local church had "Trunk or Treat" in the park, so she grabbed her stethoscope and off we were again...

...more games, more candy...this little NASA fella was a cutie!

We won a cupcxake at the cupcake walk...

She chose this as her temporary tattoo and then began to sing "This little light of mine..." We are so lucky to have such a sweet baby girl!

Showing off her face paintings...a cross and a butterfly...

more inflatable fun...

We even spotted Billy Ray Cyrus...tee hee hee :)

Even the chihuahuas were dressed up...one was a fairy and I never could decide if the other was a butterfly or a hot dog!?

Our gazebo is completely finished now and I was finally able to move the furniture back out from the cramped space of the porch...the gazebo held up to the 60 mph winds and all the rain (that's why the pool is so full!) last nite, so that's a great thing!

some jumping fun Halloween nite...

Hope all of you had a fun-filled weekend, too!