Beat Down

Last week, for a full week, our family got a beat down from the stomach bug. Not just "24 hour" rest a little but full blown CDC comes and burns your house down sick. Our washing machine, sinks, and toilet might actually get up and walk out of the house due to overuse and abuse. I actually have abs this January and completed a week fast.... unwillingly.

Belle unfortunately fell to the same fate. Nate on the other hand happened to be traveling to Houston for the week and luckily missed the events.

Current recovery mode is underway as well as resisting the urge to eat everything in site. Relapse due to overeating or eating the wrong thing would not be fun. I have already watched and assisted Belle in a relapse :(

Normal posting (averaging about once a week these days) should resume tomorrow. I think all of our friends are willing to allow us back into their lives at this point.

Until tomorrow my friends.

Sara

Cotton Bowl

With OSU going to the Cotton Bowl it gave us the perfect chance to go to a game! Nate got us the tickets and we met all our friends for dinner and drinks for a great night out with friends.... aside from OSU losing.

Our broken hearts might last a little while :(

Sara

UNCLE!!

I feel that after being in back in the US our family overdid the holidays! I completely underestimated the gauntlet of Fall to Winter festivities.

Halloween invoked the inner child for both parents and Isabelle followed along. Isabelle tasted her first Reese's and Kit Kat while experiencing another first- sugar comma and hangover. At the current moment leftover candy fills bowls spread throughout the house because I can't stand to look at it anymore. Nate and I actually dressed up and attended a HOUSE party with a KEG (The 20's called and asked for their party back) and let's just say next year will be PG with a set bedtime.

Thanksgiving brought on family and lots of food and alcohol. It was the first Thanksgiving I have ever hosted and cooked for. The cooking part didn't stress me out but the fact that we invited family over for dinner without having a kitchen table or the house ready gave me the stress! I will make some changes for the next time and provide more snacks for between meals and maybe some other things like have matching plates or a fancy serving dish. I do have to say that I learned that homemade cranberry sauce tastes so much better than the blob that comes out of a can!

Christmas. What can I say about Christmas. It was wonderful and painful wrapped up in a pretty package. Belle has reached the age of understanding presents, Santa, baby Jesus birthday, and reindeer. The excitement spread across her face everyday and I loved the innocent bliss. We spread out the festivities over a week span and by the end of the week we were naming 15 candy bars and screaming uncle. In one week we had 7 commitments, Nate traveled for work, Nate got a stomach bug, and to top it off Nate sliced open his finger while opening the last present for Belle on the last day of our trip.

As of today we are almost back to normal although our house would tell you otherwise. People keep asking what we are doing tonight and my response is, "what's tonight?". New Years happens to be just another day for us even though we have an invitation from our neighbors for a small get together.

Let the healing continue.

Sara

Summary

This pictures pretty much sum up the past few days :)

We travelled to Tulsa in Nates truck where the temps dropped from 70 to 30!

Christmas early with Nates family. Tons of laughter and tears from the toddlers! They love each other but can't stand each other at the same time. Family.

Nate sleeping while the fire keeps us warm. Fingers crossed the ice doesn't make us loose power.

Ice on Nates truck brings the fear we might be iced in Tulsa for the holiday. Trapped like rats in the cold!!

Bring it holidays. We are prepared!

Sara

Warm Days

Such nice weather in Texas brought us to the zoo one last time before the new year! I swear that we find something new each time we go and new memories are made :)

This time definitely had to be the snake that the kids got to touch! It was really soft and very tame. The woman that was working with the snake reminded the girls that even girls can wok with reptiles. I find this such a positive message when raising a girl today. If I can raise Belle to be strong and not let society define her fears then I will be one happy momma!

Of course all she talked about the rest of the day was the snake and how soft it felt. Maybe we should get a snake instead of a dog? Haha just kidding. No pets for us just yet ;)

Sara

Bye Bye Snow

Playing with the last chunk of snow/ice in the yard! I couldn't get her to stop eating it though ;)

Home Again

We made the trip back home on Wednesday but before we left we had breakfast with Grandma!

The roads weren't too bad and only one section of highway was closed. Gotta love the South. People freak out with rain and snow and cold weather. Trust me that I am one of these people more than ever now after living in Brazil!!

Looking forward to a week at home before we make the trip back to Oklahoma for Christmas :)

Traveling is in our blood for sure!!

Snowed in Tulsa

Well our short mini trip to Tulsa turned into a long week snowed indoors! We were not prepared for snow/ice weather and cabin fever. I am sure this weather wouldn't be a problem up North but in the Southern states don't have the resources to stay on top of the roads.

Nate made the trek back to Ft Worth yesterday and it took him 7 hours! He told me that our back yard has 6 inches of ice.... Good thing all the plants are indoors! I plan to make the drive tomorrow once the temps rise above freezing.

Cheers to another day snowed in!

Sara

Stuck in T town

The entire family made the trip to Oklahoma and now we are probably going be stuck here for a few days longer thanks to the weather.

Nate went on a hunting expedition and shot a prize 13 point buck that counted out at 193! He wants to put it above the fireplace but we will see.

I thought this week would be spent seeing friends and family but it turns out that lunch with Nana is our social activity for the week. The good thing is that the weather has given us all a four day weekend together. Yea for a makeshift Thanksgiving!

Hopefully tomorrow will bring some cabin fever relief because one day is all I can handle!

Sara

The Tree is Up!

The day after Thanksgiving we took the plunge and put up the tree! It was wrapped in packaging from our move to Brazil... It stayed in storage while we travelled South America and attempted to learn Portuguese :)

It's a small tree that Nate bought me the year we had first moved to Houston and he was going to be working on the big day. I came home and found the house decorated and the tree up! It made me happy but not as happy as I would have been had he been at home. That Christmas I spent alone in my apartment in Houston. Talk about a sobering moment for moving so far away from family!!

I digress. Isabelle is loving Christmas season and so much so that her footed pjs might have to stay on forever... Even when she plays dress up!

Let the Christmas music blare throughout the house (Sorry Nate. I now have a partner in crime!)

Sara