Nov. 27-30, 2010: FALL!

I actually love the Fall in Bakersfield. And since life lately has been sick kids, I've been taking pictures of all of the things outside that I find beautiful.

These clouds were amazing and caught my attention every time I was outside that day.

I love the clouds here too, perfectly set off by the California palm trees.

Hen and Chicks in my front yard... love them!

Maple trees in the fall. Is there anything better? This is in my neighbors yard. So beautiful!

This is the street that I drive down a couple times a week to take Jaden to preschool. This is what I see on both sides of the road and it is breathtaking!

Rohan and Jaden wanted to rake up the leaves in my neighbors yard and then jump in them. So Budge decided to help them. And at the time, there was a huge Bakersfield wind storm, so it was quite humorous to watch!

I loved this picture for some reason. Maybe because the leaves were blowing on their own and it made me giggle with the rake in the background leaning against the tree.

An action photo of Rohan and Jaden throwing leaves in the air. I love the look on Jaden's face. They had so much fun that afternoon!

Nov. 23-26, 2010: Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving time! Here is Jaden with his teachers, Miss Raeann and Miss Angel. He had so much fun this week at school!

What a cute little Indian!

Can you see Jaden poking his head out of the Tee-pee? He is so funny sometimes...

Rohan dressed in his Indian costume from school that I helped to make for the kids.

Thanksgiving dinner at the Higley's this year. Corbin and Cassidy in the back. See that thumb? I'm telling you... it's a Higley thing. Hahaha!

Xander, Rohan, and Ari at the kid's table. They decorated everything so nice! And the food was delicious!

Here is Jacque with her turkey bib on, all ready for Thanksgiving dinner. Rice cereal... :-)

Here she is with her jacket on, all ready to go see her cousins.

Unfortunately, this is what Jaden looked like on Thanksgiving Day. One sick little boy. So Budge and I took turns going to eat dinner and being with him. So sad...

Here is Budge with Jacque and Ali. He is trying to teach both of them how to be gentle with each other. So far, so good.

I actually love this picture! The whole gang in a typical scene at the Tungate household.

Nov. 14-20, 2010: A Few Family Firsts

For family night this week we went out to eat at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in town. It had been a while since the last time so we had a lot of fun. And it was also one of the first times that all of the kids had salsa with their chips. They like very, very mild salsa but restaurants usually have a bit of a kick. But they all tried it and a few of them even liked it!

We are trying to teach Jacque to take a bottle every once in a while. So far, she will not take one from me. But she does OK if someone else is feeding it to her. This is Xander's first time feeding her and Jacque is even trying to hold the bottle herself!

Here is Xander receiving his soccer trophy at the end of the season party.

There is an amazing restaurant in town called the Guild House where we went to eat lunch this week with a few of my friends. It's an old, restored house downtown and they are usually so busy, you have to make a reservation. Everyone that works there is a volunteer and the food is donated. They serve a three-course lunch, Monday through Friday. All of the money you pay for lunch goes to a local mental health clinic for children and their families. It was fantastic and they were so sweet to my kids!

Here are a few pictures of Jacque's first time eating baby food. She kept grabbing the spoon and wanted to do it herself!

Xander decided that he has graduated from clip-on ties and wanted a real tie. So we bought a few and Dad is teaching him how to tie them.

Nov. 9-13, 2010: Sweet Moments

I don't have as many pictures this week because I spent most of the week trying to recover from our trip. But there are a few sweet moments that I wanted to share. This is Puppy Ali, curled up next to Grandma Janell's feet, all warm and snugly as she lays in the sunshine coming in the window.

Here is Jaden reading to his sister as she sits up in her new chair. Melted my heart!

Xander playing in his last soccer game of the season. Once again reminding me of his Dad.

Jacque had her 4 month pictures done by Julie Mulkay. These are a few of the ones that she sent to me. Love the look of curiosity in her eyes!

This is also pure Jacque... look at that attitude! Funny girl.

And again, a snippet of Jacque's personality. Putting her hat in her mouth and curling her toes around the fabric she is sitting on. Julie, you are amazing!

Nov. 5-7, 2010: Family in Houston

My sister took us to a Texas Tea House for lunch. It was so yummy! Loved the quart jars our drinks were in.

My sister and I... you would never guess that we were related. We look nothing alike.

My nephew, Brighton, was Jacque's favorite person while we were there. And he always wanted to hold her. So cute!

I also had a chance to go and see my other nephew, Darian, play in the marching band. He was so awesome! He's the one in the middle of the picture playing the snare drum. He's so tall, he was easy to spot.

We took a shopping trip with the girls and this is cousin Shay holding Jacque.

Darian and Jacque at the state park where we went to have a picnic.

It was quite rainy most of the time that we were in Texas except for this day at the park. Jacque was loving the sunshine and just being outside.

The marshy areas were beautiful. And even though this is the place to see crocodiles, we didn't see any that day.

The funniest thing about staying with my sister is that most of her kids are very shy. But they all wanted to play with the baby. So, the minute I left Jacque with Darian or Brighton and went in another room, all of the girls would come running to play with her. This is one of the pictures that I snuck of them.

The twins, Tess and Shay, with my mom. There's that thumbs up that seems to be universal in Higley family pictures.

The twins had their 8th birthday while we were there and this was their ladybug birthday cake.

We had a great trip but we were ready to go home and see the boys when the time came. This is Jacque at the airport waiting for the plane. She did pretty good for her first airplane trip and I even had a man tell me that she was such a good baby because he didn't even know she was sitting behind him.

Nov. 3-4, 2010: Houston Quilt Fair

Jacque and I took a trip to Houston, Texas to stay with my sister. My mom met us there and we spent a couple of days at the Houston International Quilt Fair. This is Jacque laying on a Halloween quilt in my sister's sewing room and playing with a measuring tape while we worked on a project.

Heading to the Quilt Fair...

Jacque in the car playing with a tic-tac box and measuring tape.

We made it to the Houston Convention Center!

Jacque was definitely one of the youngest people at the the Quilt Fair. But she had a lot of people stop and say hello to her.

Here we all are in front of one of my favorite quilts... Day Lillies. I was drawn to the flower quilts for some reason... go figure.

That sign is supposed to say, "We are having a great time at the International Quilt Festival." Some of these quilts were literally works of art. It was amazing to see.

I was smarter the second day and brought the front pack along. It was a little easier on my back. We also had a great time looking at the more traditional quilts and getting ideas for our own projects.

The second day, we took a walk and went in search of a Tex-Mex place to eat. This is Jacque with her first tortilla that Aunt Lisa shared with her. She loved it! And when it started falling apart and I took it from her, she was not a happy camper. We had a good laugh over her reaction.