Happy Thanksgiving on the Farm

We hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving last week.  William left for Memaw and Pawpaw's the Saturday before Thanksgiving so he could have some extended time on the farm.  One of the most exciting things that happened was when Memaw and Pawpaw went and purchased a new riding helmet for William and some new cowboy boots. He was so thrilled with his new boots! His cousin Neil came over for a slumber party one night and they had a blast.  The weather wasn't cooperating as much as we had hoped, but he still had a great time.

Love that the tags are still on :)

Mommy and Daddy arrived at the farm late Tuesday night and we spent most of Wednesday preparing for Thanksgiving.  We made a total of 3 pumpkin pies, green been casserole, a pan of bread dressing, and some homemade cranberry sauce to take to Aunt Brenda and Uncle RT's.  We also cut much of the pieces for the turkey hats and made the Thankful Tree.  One of the pies had an unfortunate accident on the way to Thanksgiving dinner...something involving the roof of the car and a drive down some country roads.....and became a pumpkin crumble instead of pie. 

"Miracle Pie" of 2011

 There were a total of 6 kids at Thanksgiving 4 boys and 2 girls all 5 and under.  We had crafts and fun things for the kids to do during the day, and they all did a great job playing and sharing with one another. We all enjoyed a wonderful dinner and catching up with all of Colby's family. The majority of the 20 people who attended went on a nature walk after our big meal, and the kids loved it. We also started a Thankful tree this year.  Everyone wrote something they were thankful for on a paper leaf and hung it from the tree. Dani (the oldest of the kiddos) was able to read them all out loud as we ended our evening together.  What a fun tradition that we hope to continue.

Having Thanksgiving Dinner

6 Little Turkeys

No Thanksgiving would be complete without the annual Lone Star Shoot-Out between Texas A&M and the University of Texas.  This was the last game for awhile since A&M will be moving divisions this summer.  Colby's brother-in-law is a Texas graduate and of course Sara is a TAMU graduate so we had a fantastic time watching the game together.  Unfortunately for Sara the Aggies lost :(  It's okay though....there will be another game at some point :)

A Couch Divided :)

Adding ornaments to the farm tree

Friday and Saturday were cold and windy days for the farm, and we spent most of it watching college football.  WOO HOO!!  On Saturday we helped Memaw and Pawpaw decorate their Christmas tree and William was able to do a little bit of riding on his favorite horse, Tess.  We had a great visit to the farm and most importantly We were all able to get a little bit of R&R.

Still working :)

Going for a ride

Such a good Tess

Our solo rider

 On Sunday we headed back to Houston, but were able to have lunch with Sara's dear friend Amy.  Sara and Amy have known each other since 1990.  Amy has a son named Justin who is an amazing young man, and he is always so good to William.  We had a great lunch, which wasn't long enough, and then headed back to Houston. We hope to see the Pirk family again soon!

Sara and Amy

 We feel like we have SO very much to be thankful for this year, and had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Our house is looking more like Christmas every day, and we will post some pictures soon!

The Tates 2011

Hugs to all!
The Tates :)

Will's First Basketball Game

Well it's official...we now have a child in organized sports!! :) William has started playing tiny tot basketball with one of the local YMCAs in town, and we keep getting phone calls from college recruiters HA HA! So maybe no phone calls yet, but our little man is now a Spur! WOO HOO! With our recent move from San Antonio we are now able to break out our awesome Spurs T-Shirts every Saturday for William's games. 

He had a great first game despite some tears of frustration. William is a bit of a perfectionist and wants to play the game correctly and gets very frustrated when his skills don't match up to what he thinks he should be able to do.  One thing we love is that during games the refs do try to make the kids follow the rules of the game.  One of the most difficult rules for these little kiddos is dribbling.  Watching the game is pretty funny because you just see them grab the ball and run, but the refs do try to get them to dribble the ball as the run from end to end, or at least one time before shooting! :) 

William did great playing defense.  We told him to put his hands up and then without direction he would jump up to try and catch the ball when someone took a shot. Once the other kids saw Will with his hands up on defense they would also do the same.  At one point most of the kids would just hold on to the end of the net trying to "block" the shot by covering up the net.  It was really funny!   He also had a great rebound that he brought back and at least tried to take a shot.  Poor kiddo was really trying to dribble and run, but the ball hit his foot and got away from him.  We really think he will enjoy the games more as his skills improve.  We couldn't be happier though. He really is doing a great job.  Some of the pictures are pretty blurry so here are some of the good ones we were able to capture.  Next time the pictures will be better! Thanks so much Pawpaw for coming to his game! 

Warming Up

Getting ready to throw the first ball in

Such a serious shooter!

Love his expressions! It's game time!!

Running back on D and getting a high 5 from Coach Ronnie

Awesome Rebound and off to shoot!

Doing his best at dribbling and running

 

Taking a water/frustration break :)

Watching the last few minutes with Pawpaw.

He has a week break for Thanksgiving and then we will be back!  GO SPURS GO!

Mercer Botanical Gardens

Well it is the middle of the week, and tomorrow William and I will be stuck in the house all afternoon waiting for the dryer repair person to come by SO I decided we needed to go on an adventure after lunch.  William is still having a little trouble with adjusting to his new town so I thought it would be fun to check out this very neat little botanical garden about 6 miles from our house.  We had so much fun!  First off, it is a free attraction AND across the street from the gardens is a lovely park with hiking trails and playgrounds.  We plan on having Colby takes us there for a family hike soon. :)

It was a gorgeous day and I can't wait to see what this place looks like in the spring.  We brought along Will's binoculars and magnified glass so he could explore some more.  He had so much fun looking at butterflies, birds, lizards, and squirrels.  Here are a few pictures from our outing.

Some pretty trees near the hiking trails

Looking for birds

One of many gardens.

A cool pond

He loved the fountain

Exploring the leaves with his magnified glass

Beautiful trees

Checking out one of the several lizards we saw

Will decided to do a little art project when we got home.  He finished coloring it after I took the picture.

Wishing everyone a very happy Wednesday and a great end to your week!

~Sara :)

Happy 32nd Birthday to Sara!

Happy 32nd Birthday to Sara!


So begins the birthday season at the Tate house.  Colby's first, followed by Sara's, and several other family members in the next few weeks.  We love this time of the year....non stop parties until New Year's! LOL! The festivities began this past weekend when Nonno and Nina came for a visit. We always love having company in our new town!

This morning Sara woke up to some lovely cinnamon swirl muffins, fresh coffee, and of course Disney Fairies decorations hand picked by William.  So cute.  She even had a little crown to wear as a birthday hat.

After Colby came home from worked we had some Chinese take out and opened presents.  Colby got Sara some lovely lilies and William picked out an amazing (ha ha ha) pink pig that walks while singing "Bad to the Bone".  Seriously, who wouldn't want at least one of these for their birthdays?!  Check out the video below to see this pig in action. :)

It's Pinkie the Pig!!

Will and Pinkie

We then indulged in some very yummy cupcakes from The Cupcakery.  Very tasty!

Will's expression in this picture is awesome! :)

All her gifts (and some maternity clothes)

 Thanks to everyone who made Sara's birthday so special...from phone calls, text messages, emails and Facebook messages :)

We are looking forward to continuing our celebration this weekend when Nana comes for a visit :)

Love,
The Tates

Happy 36th Birthday Colby!

Happy 36th Birthday to Colby!

We had a great evening celebrating Colby's birthday.  William picked out a pirate theme party for his Dad and we spent the afternoon decorating the house.

Colby's invitation on the garage door :)

 

We found these awesome glow in the dark swords at Target that we used for our evening walk.  The boys had a pirate fight after, although I'm not sure which pirate came out victorious. :)

After our walk we enjoyed Colby's birthday pumpkin pie.  This was Sara's first time to make a homemade pie, including crust, for Colby.  It was delicious.  We may all be gaining a bunch of weight now if she decides to keep on baking :)

Happy Birthday to the best Daddy and Hubby!  We love you!