The Vallecillo’s

It has been one of those years, the kind that simply passes by in the blink of an eye. Time was not on my side this year and blogging was simply not in the cards. I barely had time to take a fraction of the photos I’ve been wanting to take, but at least the photos I did manage to capture made it to our flickr account for everyone to see. That, in a sense, became the method by which we would let everyone know what we had been up to, alongside my twitter updates (and subsequently my Facebook account since my twitter messages get automatically posted there).

To make up for the lack of blog content I’ve decided the best thing to do is try and recap the year in an attempt to bring everyone up to speed. This coming year I fully intend (just like I did on 2008) on paying more attention to our blog instead of letting it sit on a corner and rot like I have. Landri is now 1 year old and that hopefully means less worrying about every little thing she does, leaving just a sliver of extra time for ourselves.

But before I get any further, I should let everyone know that Mandi is doing fine. My last blog entry left things up in the air, but there really wasn’t that much to report since none of the test results shed much light on what may had been causing her to be ill in the first place. There were more tests done in the following months, but still the results didn’t offer much of an explanation.

We did find out Mandi had a prescription wrongfully filled twice prior, and during, her illness. Since this was the wrongdoing of the pharmacy, we are currently trying to figure out how to best handle the situation. Legal advise? Anyone?

So without further ado, here is a brief recap of what has been happening since my last blog entry:

Other than that, Landri is growing fast and getting cuter by the day, Larsen dresses the part for biker theme day at school, we spend a day in the country at Amy and Chris’ land in Val Alstyne – TX, we attend our neighbor’s daughter Gracie’s 5th birthday party, and Mandi finally gets her cast removed.

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We are a predictable bunch, aren’t we? Last year’s party went so well we decided to do the exact same thing this year and outsource Larsen’s birthday party. I’m pretty sure we’ll outsource it again next year, so post any suggestions you may have using the “comments” link below.

The kids had a blast hurling 6 lbs. balls any which way they could. The prize for the best hurdler goes to Luke though, through the air and with at least 3 bounces before reaching the pins. Absolutely amazing!

This year’s attendance: Celeste, Kyndall, Jack, Landon, Emma, Luke, Andrew, Gracie, Olivia and Hudson.

Happy 6th birthday Larsen!

For the second year in a row we have not been able to go to the usual annual Thanksgiving gathering with my side of the family. This year we stayed home mainly because of Landri. Traveling with a 7-week old infant and and a 5-year old boy just gets too complicated for our taste.

Since we are staying put this year I asked mom to leave the island and come spend that time with us here in Texas. She did, and will be staying with us through the first week of December. Larsen’s birthday is coming up on December 8, so the plan is for her to be here until the 10th.

We had a great Thanksgiving day together with mom and the usual suspects: Ken, Judi, Amy, Chris, Wilburn, Betty, Bobby, Kathy, Jason, Denise, and all the kids: Larsen, Landri, Landon and Emma. Wow, that’s a lot of people! The food was phenomenal, and the desserts were fantastic. Those desserts were so good in fact that even a colony of ants decided to help themselves to it! There were so many ants around the pecan pie I’m sure they were getting ready to lift it up and take the whole thing with them. Can you guess who I’m calling tomorrow morning?

One of our favorite things about the area we live at is the large number of families nearby with kids close to Larsen’s age. Yes the new house is nice and all, but being in proximity to kids that can play with Larsen is pretty awesome as well.

There is one street over from ours that is a community in it of itself. Lambeth Lane is a cul-de-sac with a very close-knit group of neighbors, the kind that on a whim roll a barbecue out to the street, grill some burgers and call it a party. Today they were throwing a pumpkin carving party for the kids, and the Lambethians were kind enough to invite a few outsiders to attend…us included. One thing the Lambethians are known for is there immense generosity, so their “pumpkin gathering” meant at least 2 pumpkins per kid, rows of conference tables for carving, bagfuls of pumpkin carving kits, paper towels, Chick-fil-A, drinks, cookies and music. The kids were having fun, and so were the parents as they started to take over the carving duties of their children. Oh yes, the Lambethians are also very competitive.

We had a great time and the opportunity to met some new neighbors as well. There were no less than 18 kids there, so Larsen met some new friends as well.

The Castle Hills Village Shops held a pumpkin patch event this weekend, and it was such a nice day we decided to partake. We were having awesome weather, in need of a few extra pumpkins for halloween, and seemed like a good opportunity to get the kids outdoors for a change.

Larsen enjoyed the kids craft station (where he made a halloween picture frame) and the small band that was playing in the background. They were also having free horse carriage rides, but Larsen wasn’t too keen on waiting in line for it. Besides, he just didn’t see how riding around in a horse-drawn carriage could be any fun at all. It is scary how much like me this kid is sometimes.

We decided to walk across the street to the pond to see the ducks, but after a couple of pictures Larsen quickly reminded us it was time for lunch. They boy must maintain his high-energy status, which he does by fueling eating every hour on the hour. We ended up having lunch at Ciao Bella!, a nice small Italian restaurant at the Village Shops, where Larsen nearly ate his weight in Fettucini Alfredo.