The month of November

The first weekend of November my friend Trisha and I took a weekend trip to Chicago.  We had a few minor bumps getting into Chicago but we had a wonderful trip doing things we couldn't do with kids.  We waited at a tapas restaurant (Purple Pig) Friday night for an hour and a half before getting seated.  We also went to an art museum Saturday for 3 hours.  Of course we ate deep dish pizza and got Garrett's popcorn before coming home.

Our family had Thanksgiving lunch the weekend prior to Thanksgiving at our house in Austin.  We had fried turkey and some good sides.  We had a good weekend playing with the kids and eating lots of food.  Mom, Dad, and Subin were all able to go to Noah's Thanksgiving lunch and they also visited Joshua's school where Joshua showed him his classroom.

On Thanksgiving we stayed in Austin and Mom cooked Chinese food ( we were all tired of turkey by then.)  Nice relaxing Thanksgiving Day with lots of Internet shopping.

Fun in October

The first weekend of October the Kolaths came down for a visit.  We had a great time visiting sites in Austin as well as some good eats.  We did Z Tejas for dinner Fri night, Pinthouse Pizza for Sat lunch, Mt. Bonnell, and Gourdough's donuts for dessert.  The Jacobs came over Sat evening for BBQ dinner.  Then Sun morning we went to Jack Allen's for brunch buffet.   It was fun getting to really spend time with them over a relaxing weekend.

Joshua started basketball Sunday and both boys finished soccer Sat.  Watching Noah learn the fundamentals of soccer was entertaining since Noah is very passionate and aggressive when he's on the field.  Joshua, in both sports, was very timid and needed encouragement to be aggressive.  Joshua loved the idea of being in sports and practiced very hard for both.  His game definitely improved by the time both was over.

On the 17th we went to the UT Track and Field for the kickstart of Marathon Kids.  We got to know Joshua's PE teachers pretty well esp. Mrs. Osteen.  It was a fun event with the kids being able to run a lap.  Noah thought he was running a real race!
On Sun. the 18th we went to our first Garba.  The kids dressed in Indian clothes and they had a good time hitting each other with dandiyas!

After having a horrible week with my 13 year old Accord, we finally bought an Acura TSX!  One week later I'm still not used to driving it but it is a pretty nice car.  So yesterday, Halloween, I finally sold my Accord and had to say goodbye.  That car was pretty reliable - the first major purchase I made after I got a PT job, the car I drove my mom and me to church on my wedding day, and the car Steve drove both boys home from the hospital in.  I'm really going to miss that car but I'm sure this new car will last me a while too.  Still pretty sad for me.  Steve couldn't wait to get rid of it! :(

The boys had fun dressing up as Iron Man and Steve and I joined in on the fun with Superman and Wonder Woman.  We walked around the neighborhood with the Mutyalas and they had a blast!

Our little Spotlight Stallion

On Sept. 25, Joshua was awarded the Spotlight Stallion award in his classroom at the Friday assembly.  There are 2 students picked in each class every month that exemplify good behavior, morals, virtues.  We are of course very proud of Joshua because it was the first month for this award and he is just loving kindergarten, his friends, and his teachers.  It was hard for me when he started kinder this year but it's so much easier when I see how much he loves school.

Here are some pics of him at the assembly:

Las Vegas

The week after Steve's 40th birthday party we hopped a plane to Vegas to continue the celebration with Steve's 2 high school friends and their wives.  We had a pretty relaxed time at New York New York hotel and enjoyed restaurants including Mon Ami Gabi, The Border Grill, and Shake Shack.  The wives were able to do a spa treatment at Mandalay Bay and we all were in awe of the Michael Jackson show.  I learned how to play 3 card poker in downtown Vegas which is definitely a different scene from the strip.  Steve and I also went on the observation wheel and had a pretty good time seeing the strip from up so high.  All in all we had a good time celebrating the guys 40th birthday!

End of August fun

I forgot to mention my high school friend Shormi and family came to visit at the end of August.  We had a chance to go to Hopdoddy's (my 1st time) and on Sunday (Masoud's birthday) we went to Laundrette and then Mayfield Park.  The kids loved playing together.

Steve's 40th birthday

We started the month off celebrating Steve's 40th birthday on Sat., Sept 5.  The boys and I got him a 40 yr old T-shirt, Shakey Graves concert tix, and of course cards the boys made.  They always love seeing his face when he opens up his presents.  It was a busy day with soccer practice and Joshua and Noah's friend's birthday party.  We capped off the day by going to Cover 3 for dinner - requested by Steve.  Glad we had reservations since there was a UT game going on at the same time.  God has blessed us with a great father to our boys and a wonderful husband.

Thankfully, we didn't have to work on Labor Day so we spent a couple of hours outlet shopping and then  a couple of hours at our neighborhood pool.  Definitely a fun, relaxing day.

We had Steve's 40th birthday party on Fri. Sept 11.  I took the day off so I could get the house ready for all our guests.  Mom and Dad picked the kids up and they spent the night at their house that night.  Trisha was able to babysit our friends' children (3 in total.)  Subin came early and helped me set up the house.  I was able to get hair and nails done prior to the party.  Sibin and Abin met us at the party while the Jacobs and the Johns came to the house an hour before.

We all had a great time at the party - there was plenty of food and drinks, a slide show, and a playlist that no one could hear cause it was so loud in the room.  The cake was absolutely delicious ( I ate leftovers for over a week) and I also had cheesecake that people couldn't get enough of.  Steve really seemed to enjoy the party and catch up with a lot of people.  We are so blessed to have such sweet friends and family.