HEB Feast of Sharing

Last Tuesday, we missed Taco Tuesday once again, to attend the annual HEB Feast of Sharing at the Civic Center.

This year, they served almost 7 thousand people ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, mixed vegetables, rolls and apple pie, in the spirit of the season.

When we got there, the Abilene ISD group, Revolution, were playing their sets rather rambunctiously...

 

much to the chagrin of a little boy who didn't appreciate how loud they were.  I didn't care for the overly loud decibels either, but the little boy was truly distressed, so daddy brought carted him off in search of a quieter place to eat.

Cindy and I found them in the room reserved for Volunteers' Registration and the like, where the little boy could finally eat in peace and QUIET.  I'm sure it was highly irregular for us "civilians" to be in that room, because we kept getting glances from the ladies who were manning the stations.  But the little boy and the hubs WERE directed there by a rather nice "person-in-charge".

There was a large room room full of craft stations, a photo area with Santa, a book giveaway station, and several others.

The little boy was intrigued by all the inflatable decorations, and was particularly tickled by a snowman who would disappear into his er, bottom-most part, and then pop back up again. :)

He gave Mr. Panda Bear some love,

and tried to help a collapsipated Santa back onto his feet.

And thanks to Cindy, we managed to get a few family shots :)

Breakfast with Santa

Two Saturdays ago, we had breakfast with a jolly white bearded man in a red suit at church :)

The Multi Purpose Room was decked out in Christmas Trees and lots of red, green and white decorative pieces..

We met up with Cindy there and made a few new friends!

The little boy was hungry, so he quickly wolfed down his pancakes, sausage patties and orange juice.

After breakfast, one of the older boys "recruited" him over to the Story Time area for a story.  At first, it was just the little boy there, and he was totally engrossed in the story, and then a few more kids trickled in.  The little boy wasn't shy to be up front close to the teacher and participating :) He loves stories so much, so he was having a grand time.

Afterwards, we went around the craft tables, starting with the temporary tattoos. He chose a Gingerbread Man.

We made a little sack for his goodies, and he carefully wrote his name on the front of the sack.  Then we made some ornaments and a decorated a gingerbread cookie, which didn't get to see the light of day very long :)

Then I stood in the "come see santa" line, and it was interesting to stand back and just watch the crowd for a little bit.

When it was the little boy's time, he was not fearful like last year, but climbed onto Santa's lap when it was his turn :)  When Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas, he answered, "A Present!"

How undemanding of you, little boy. Heh....

Stay tuned for our next holiday adventure... the HEB Feast of Giving! :)

First Solid Moisture of the Season

We're in the middle of another one of them cold fronts, and it finally feels a little bit like late fall/early winter.  However, temperatures are expected to rise again in a few days.

Anyway, when the temperatures fell two nights ago, we had a little bit of sleet - just enough to "get into the season" with, but which melted away as the morning wore on.

The First Christmas Activity

Last Tuesday, we bundled up and drove downtown for the Annual Christmas Parade , City Sidewalks.

We parked at our customary parking space, and while Daddy was making sure we had all our "gear" in place, the little boy decided to attempt to flatten the pebble hill/mound that has been there for what seems like a few years now!

We decided not to go to Taco Tuesday ( GASP! ) but instead join in some of the pre-parade activities that had been organized in conjunction with the occasion.

When it finally got dark and time for the Parade to start, we wandered over close to the Civic Center ( where the lighting of the tree was to be held after the parade ), and bumped into Brandi & Riley and their 2 boys.  The little boy was glad to be able to run around ( literally ) with Cason for a few minutes after all that walking, with mummy clutching his hand. :)

 

We decided to watch the parade with them, and settled the little boy down where he began to munch on the free popcorn and treat mummy's lap as his personal lounger.

He enjoyed watching the different floats until it was time for the first band to come by, to which he complained that it was too loud.  This wasn't helped very much by the drivers of the trucks that hauled the floats, who felt it fit to honk their horns every few feet.

He was certainly glad when we said it was time to go indoors into the Civic Center for the rest of the festivities.

There were the "glee"-like performances interspersed with orchestral renditions of christmas music...

And the finale of the night, the lighting of the community christmas tree. :)

Afterwards, we adjourned into the auditorium where refreshments were served, and there was cheerleading demonstrations.  Of course, the little boy took this as an opportunity to run to every corner of the huge room :)

We'll see you for the HEB Feast of Sharing in a few days, Civic Center!

Thanksgiving Part II

And... 2 weeks later, we have Part II!

Not even going to think up an excuse. Here goes.

This was our first Thanksgiving without Grandad, and the family gathered for Thanksgiving lunch and dinner over at Oldham Lane Church of Christ.

The little boy had a chance to hang out with the cousins, it was heartening to see how the 2 older kids were so sweet to him :)

Anastasia even tried to teach the little boy how to play the game "Go Fish".

She would let him win, which totally delighted him.. He would run over to us, saying, "I made another book!!" :)

Then it was off to the playground for some MORE romp time :)

Now, on to Christmas! :)