FORTY-FOUR

Theo and V took some photos of each other randomly.

2025 week forty-four

Very cool.

Matt has moved on to drywall updates in the house. If he stops moving/renovating he dies. 

Theo had a sick day this week. He sat by the window with his cat reading Harry Potter all day. 

Trunk or treat with the cousins. 

Theo has started The Babushkas at school. Some of the boys wear their sweaters on their heads and run away from the Babushka hunters (other kids with sticks) at recess. 

We painted and carved pumpkins with Grandpa this week. This was my pumpkin. 

Matt's, mine, Theos, and Veronica's pumpkins. 

Happy Halloween. V is a turkey, T just wanted to wear his gillie suit, and Matt and I are Tim and Wilson from Home Improvement. 

All the kids in the trick-or-treat group.

I went on a hunt for juniper berries for a duck recipe I wanted to try. After a few places I thought they would be, I found a tree absolutely covered with berries by the baseball fields. 

For Dia de los Muertos I made some Pan de Muerto. In case it didn't turn out, I also picked one up from a local Mexican bakery. 

Veronica painted some sugar skull faces. 

Theo and his cousin Claire sorted through the turkey feathers after we processed her today.

Since we decided to smoke the turkey, Matt had to go get more chickens because if he's going to start up the smoker, then he's going to fill up the smoker. 

Theo and V have been playing this game of their own invention all week. 

You can follow this link to watch about 1 minute of Theo doing a reading of Arabian Nights in his class.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SpVK1vrGhUI

FORTY-THREE

Some leftover State Fair photos

2025 week forty-three

My friend (and work twin) Deborah and I went to the opera to see Carmen. It was really fun! 

Matt and I went to see Oddisea in Deep Ellum on Monday. We played a round of pool with another couple there which was fun. 

The new warp is up and running. 

One day this week I accidentally cosplayed quite convincingly as Evie O'Connell from The Mummy. 

Theo's spooky cake for scouts. V made the cake and frosting all by herself and Theo and I helped with the decorating. It was meant to be the Demogorgon face but ended up looking more like an evil starfish. 

Friday night was the Fall Fun Fair at school. About 10 minutes before the end, V came up to me with a double bloody nose. She was pretty nonchalant about it. I finished cleaning up while she went off to find her friends and chop wood... Well once we were home about an hour later, she looked at me and I could see that her nose was completely crooked! So we went off to urgent care for some scans. Sure enough her nose is broken. Apparently she was in the bounce house obstacle course, fell, completely lost her shorts (like they fell off and landed to the side of her!), as she was putting them back on, her friend plowed through the area and knocked her in the nose. V sat down from the pain and then crawled out with a double bloody nose while sobbing. I can only imagine she looked a sight clawing her way out with a streaming bloody face. When she was telling me this story she was very cheerful about the adventure it all was. 

Sunday morning barmbrack breakfast. Theo got the coin (riches), V got the matchstick (contention), Matt got the ring (love) , and I got the bean (poverty). 

Quotes:

"These stupid animals!" What you say when you're trying to eat your fresh homemade Italian strudel but the turkey, chickens, and dog also want some. Very relatable situation. 

"When I saw the sauerkraut I saw it said cabbage and water. At first I thought it said garbage water. But really, what's the difference?" -Theo

Me- "STOP DOING PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM AND GET READY FOR SOFTBALL!"

Doctor- "What is your pain level on a scale of 0-10."

V- "Uhm...6...7..."

V- "My pants came off in the bounce house, I popped off two brackets and broke my nose! It's been a wild night!" 

FORTY-TWO

Texas State Fair with some cousins and Grandpa.

2025 week forty-two

Theo turned 10 this week and had a non-stop fun week. First was a nighttime scooter ride while Papa went on a run.

Then sushi for his birthday dinner! 

Funyun was extra cold one day this week and was acting weird, so I let him use me as a heating pad. At one point he turned himself into a necktie. 

We made plague posies in class this week. The kids wore them around their necks and sniffed them all day to ward off the plague. 

Our turkey is starting to act pretty turkey-ish. 

One of our first stops at the state fair was to see Theo's lego set on display. 

Matt needed to pose by the butter sculpture. 

We tried as many of the award winning food items as we could find, but honestly, nothing is better than a Fletchers Cornydog. 

Although, the pickle pizza was a pretty good contender. 

It was so fun to have some cousins with us to go on all the rides with. 

Bumper cars. 

The cousins had to leave early, and then we checked out all the animal barns. The kids needed to pet an emu because they know I am rather frightened by them. 

The poultry barn was the best part in my opinion.

Look at this fellows legs! 

On Saturday, Theo had his birthday party at Fritz' Adventure park. 

You can see Theo climbing through the grating and V climbing up the back wall. 

It was three hours of my heart stopping as they climbed around the ceiling. 

Theo on the top platform. 

V scaling the walls. 

In-N-Out afterward made the perfect end. 

V trying to extract DNA from tomatoes after she learned to do this at school.

Quotes

Theo -"What? We were just saying '6 7' in Latin!" how you know you go to a classical school but you're also a preteen gen alpha.

Me trying to read halloween books with Theo, Theo- "Where's Heck-of-a-Peg?" He meant "Heckedy Peg."