Gingerbread village

Instead of making one big family gingerbread house, we went with the gingerbread village. Although the houses were smaller, everyone could have their own to decorate. The two boys thoroughly enjoyed putting their own style on their house. Tyson on the other hand was more interested in eating the candy than decorating his house. No surprise there.

Christmas lights

The other night, the boys "helped" me put Christmas lights outside. They were more interested in playing with the lights and running around than actually putting the lights on. Kids will be kids. But once they come to age, I'm making them do it.

My wife's birthday

Happy birthday Reed

My other godson/nephew Reed just turned two recently and he had a fire fighter themed party with what else, an actual fire truck. We got to go for a ride on the fire truck and the friendly fire fighter educated the kiddos on various things. I didn't stay for the whole show because it was hot. It's December and I'm sweating outside! Personally for me, the best part of the party was the chicken banh mi. It's the best I've ever had and thanks to Julie, I will be checking out Nguyen Ngo pretty soon. Maybe tomorrow.

Thanksgiving weekend

Once Halloween came, time went exponentially fast. And it will probably remain that way through the new year. The boys actually had the whole week off for the Thanksgiving break but mine began Wednesday afternoon. Here's a quick recap.

How early is too early?

When is the appropriate time to put up a Christmas tree? I've grown up to believe that the earliest one should put up a tree was the day after Thanksgiving.  This was always the standard... or so I thought. But in recent years, I've noticed Christmas decor appearing earlier and earlier. Christmas music is already playing 24/7 on one radio station and it's not even Thanksgiving yet. But I don't care. Why not put a tree up early? The earlier it's up, the longer you can enjoy it. Besides, Christmas is my favorite time of year.

Date night #2

Last Saturday we had date night #2 (since the awesome arrival of Tyson). These nights are rare so when we do have it, I try to make the most of it. I love my kids very much but for those people without kids... don't take your kid-free life for granted. Go out to eat at all the fancy restaurants. Go travel the world. Go crazy and stay up past 10 pm. Okay, that should be the last time I mention that.

Tour de Donut (bike race)

Last Sunday we did the Tour de Donut bike race. It's a 28 mile course that includes two rest stops... to eat donuts. Each donut consumed takes 5 minutes off of your race time so it's possible to finish with a negative time. But it's also possible to gain weight from a race. And it wasn't just any donuts, they were Shipley's! I thought I could easily eat a dozen donuts. To eat my favorite donuts, how hard can it be? Stupid me, it was very hard.

Avengers assemble!

Our spooky house

Halloween is quickly approaching (two more days) and last weekend we finally got around to decorating the house. Well, we did a little bit here and there in the prior weeks but we're finally done... I think. There's still a hay bale in the hallway but Tyson uses it to sit on when putting on his shoes. It will probably remain there after Halloween.

Annual pumpkin patch visit

New Order & Red River Rivalry (Dallas, TX)

Last weekend was memorable... but not the way I would've liked to remember it. It all started in July when I came across a random article that said "New Order to Tour North America for the First Time in Seven Years". New Order was one of my favorite groups when growing up and I've never seen them before. I must go! Coincidentally, it was the same weekend as the Red River Rivalry. We'll be without kids and this opportunity won't ever present itself again so yes, I must go to that too!

Tough weekend (Austin, TX)

This past weekend we headed up to Austin to run the Tough Mudder. After doing a couple 5k mud runs, this was naturally the next step. Tough Mudder is a 12-mile course that included 22 obstacles, ranging from submersion in ice water to getting electrocuted. This was no joke.

Jacob rides a bike!

Superheroes need a break too