Lankford Grocery

After two days of traveling, we are back in TX . . . Caleb did much better than I assumed he would (definitely had his bouts of screaming, but wouldn't you if you were stuck in a car seat for hours and hours?). I will post Christmas pics in a couple of days.
While in NE we watched a couple episodes of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network and they talked about Lankford Grocery here in Houston the Montrose area, I remember driving by it and wondering what it was (the building is a really old red and white house with picnic tables out front) when we were going to Ecclesia, but we never stopped by there until today. After eating way too much red meat while in NE, I wanted to give that a rest for a while . . . but this bacon cheeseburger (and accompanying onion rings) was HEAVENLY. I can't wait to go back and try their breakfast menu.

I'm Looking Forward To . . .

We leave on Friday night for our big road trip . . . we are both really excited, but very nervous about how Caleb is going to do in the car for so many hours.
Cameron reminded me of some of our past Christmas adventures the other day -- here are a few highlights:
-taking Amtrak from Sacramento to Nebraska (we both had romanticized ideas of what train travel would be like . . . we were both WAY off!).
-getting stuck overnight in Washington D.C. when our plane to CA was grounded for repairs (guess who had everything they needed for an unexpected stay in their carry-on? guess who didn't even have a toothbrush?!)
-the two-day road trip that turned into three when we got stuck in a blizzard with the Hinckleys . . . getting stuck in a blizzard was actually lots of fun! :)

I am looking forward to . . .
-road-tripping with the Hinckley family and meeting sweet little Caroline for the first time!
-seeing my family's house decorated for Christmas
-eating way too much of my dad's homemade bread (mmm . . .carbs!)
-meeting Lena
-watching the grandparents be thoroughly entertained by Caleb
-observing Caleb 'take in' Christmas -- I'm guessing I will have lots of 'help' unwrapping my gifts!
-Christmas eve service at my family's church
-"real" winter weather and a chance to wear my winter clothes
-beginning to develop some traditions for our little family
-watching Caleb eat his first piece of birthday cake (early celebration)
-trying out the portable DVD player we bought yesterday

Christmas, here we come!

Lotion Head!

Caleb got to hang out with the Wallaces tonight while we went to see a movie (The Blind Side - awesome - go see it!) . . . anyway, Jonathon and Caleb had lots of fun together with a bottle of lotion! Caleb came home in new jammies and smelling lovely after Erin gave him a bath. Too funny!

You never know what you're gonna get . . .

As one of my sweet little students turned in her homework this afternoon, I noticed there was letter with my name on it attached to her homework. I asked her if it was from her mom, she said 'no', and offered no further explanation. Cameron and I were cracking up when I opened the letter tonight and read this:
(In case you can't read his letter, here is the translation: Dear Mrs. Cox, I am sorry for cutting my sister's homework. That was not nice of me. Please accept her homework. He signed his name and let me know that he is 5.) Her homework had a big slice down the middle of it, so this must have been mom's creative consequence for his action. How cute is that? :)

Sometimes It Is Cold in Texas

So, it's "cold" here . . . relatively speaking.
Caleb's room seems several degrees colder than the rest of our apartment, so we have taken some drastic measures!
-we tried to turn on the heat last night, which set off the smoke detector and it smelled like something was burning (and of course, made our child scream - he does NOT like loud noises)
-we rolled up beach towels and put them along each of the windowsills in his room
-he is wearing a onesie, footie pajamas, a furry blanket sleeper, and MITTENS to bed! :)

I am looking forward to the small chance that it might snow on Friday afternoon! yay!