Hueske Family Christmas

Last weekend we attended the 54th Hueske Family Reunion!  The theme was "A Hueske Family Christmas."  I know it's not Christmas yet.  We still have Halloween and Thanksgiving to go.  But you see, I have picked the theme for the reunion the past few years, and as I was going through my attic, I came across a stack of Christmas stationary that hadn't been used, so I thought What the heck!  Let's have a Christmas party!  After all, we do Christmas in July, so why couldn't we do Christmas in October?

Family members all played along and came dressed in their Christmas best.  We decorated with Christmas decor and even played Chinese Christmas with 50 people!  The most saught after gifts were bottles of wine and M&Ms paired with lottery tickets.  A delicious turkey and ham dinner was served and we held our annual family meeting.

 

 

Gifts for special people in attendance....youngest, oldest, etc.

Lots of Chinese Christmas presents!

Family members signed thier names on an
ornament and placed it on the tree.

Here were the youngest members in attendance:

Chase and Sandy

Sophie

The oldest member in attendance was 87 years old.  He sure looks good for 87!

Oren

These two love birds have been married for over 50 years!

Iva and James

My brother Justin and his wife were the most recently married couple!

When the invitation said to dress in your Christmas best to win a prize, these two came to win! 



Carol and Herman

Four little elves played Pin the Nose on the Snowman.  Some how all four of them pinned the nose right on the spot!!!  I put the blindfold on and couldn't see through it, so I didn't know how they could see through it.  Jax later spilled the beans and said, "I peaked from under the bottom!"  At least he was honest.

Addyson, Jax, and Madelyn

This little guy didn't understand that he
had to keep his eyes covered.  He lifted
the blindfold to pin his nose on!

 It was a jolly ole' time for the descendents of Frederick and Henrietta Hueske!

Kid Fish

I can still remember the Kid Fish tournaments my mom and dad took my brother and me to when we were little.  They were always held a ta  large pond in the country.  My dad loves to fish, so it was always nice to spend time with him doing one of his favorite things.

Recently, the Kid Fish tournament has been held at the Blue Bell Aquatic Center.  This year I thought Brazos would be old enough to participate in the event, so we loaded up the fishing pole and headed to the pool.  I was super excited to see hundreds of fish swimming in the same pool that my kids swim in during the summer months.  I was also anticipating the look on Brazos's face when he caught his first fish.

Well....the event was fun, but to be honost, it didn't live up to my expectations.  Brazos was sent to the kiddie pool to fish with the six and under age group.  There were about fifteen kids dangling poles into the water all hoping for the five fish that were swimming around to bite their bate.  Yes, I said five fish. 

Brazos was excited to see the fish, but that excitement dwindled as the moments went on.  He held his fishing pole for about the first five minutes, but lost interest quickly.  Matt ended up holding the pole most of the time, while the announcer kept saying on the mic, "Parents, this is for your children to fish.  The kids need to be holding the pole."  So when a fish came close to the Brazos's bait, we would try to convince him to hold, or at least put his hand on the pole.  He wasn't interested.

Matt decided to buy some live minnows from a small booth set up beside the pool.  This had to be Brazos's favorite part of the event, catching tiny fish with a net in a small blow-up pool.  {I used to catch Brazos with the fly-swatter dipped in the fish tank trying to catch Scoot the turtle.}  The rest of the event he was more concerned about the two tiny fish in his Ziplock bag that the big catfish swimming past his feet. 

After about an hour of trying to encourage Brazos to fish, we decided to call it quits.  It was fun, but I think Brazos needs to be a little bit older to have the patience to fish.  I can't blame him though.  Fishing isn't my favorite thing to do.  I wish I enjoyed it more, but I just get so darn bored waiting for that bite on the end of my hook.  Maybe Brazos takes after me in this category, but I really hope he learns to like fishing so he can spend lazy weekends with his Papa just waiting for the fish to bite.  We'll just have to try again next time.

It's funny how Sandy used to want to be held all the time, and now that she can crawl, it's completely the opposite!  She wants to be set free on the ground so she can go, go, go.  She has become such a wiggle worm and she pushes against you just so you know she wants DOWN.  I let her crawl a few times on the concrete around the pool, but you can guess where she wanted to go...to the water.  Since she was so unhappy being held by the pool, I took her to the playground so she could crawl around at her leisure.  She did more sitting and watching the bigger kids run around her, but she enjoyed being free from my arms for just a few minutes.

I also let her play in the mirrors in the bathroom after changing her diaper.  She really likes to look at herself in the mirror.  Even her teachers at Mother's Day Out comment on how she enjoys playing with the mirrors at school.  I don't blame her.  A pretty little lady is staring right back at her.

 

And that's our 2012 Kid Fish adventure.  Better luck next time.

Oh, Brazos...

Sunday after church a lady from our congregation pulled me aside to tell a story.  It's a pretty cute and amazing story....of course, I'm biased and love the fact that it's about my adorable son.  {Okay...it was a bit hard for me to say "adorable" because at the moment his nose is covered in green boogers and he refuses to let me clean it.}

This lady from our congregation was at a funeral with her family, specifically her son and daughter-in-law.  She mentioned to her son that it was time they start making her some grand-babies.  At the mention of kids, they started noticing the children running around at the funeral reception.  They picked out one little boy and started commenting on how cute he was.  The mom {lady from our congregation} said, "He's cute, but not as cute as this little boy at our church.  He has the curliest hair.  He'll open the door for people and give your high fives.  I just love watching him during the church service."  {This family once told Matt and I thought we make the cutest kids and should make a whole slew of them.}  She later mentioned that his name was Brazos, and then the discussion began on how unique his name was.

After the funeral, the daughter-in-law and son began their drive home to Austin.  Along the way they took a detour to Round Top to do some antique shopping.  They went into a small shop called Indian Creek.  While shopping they noticed a cute little boy running around the shop.  As they began the "cute" comments again, the clerk joined in the conversation and said, "He's cute, but not as cute as this little boy who came in here the other day.  He sat and talked to me and we took pictures of each other.  Here, I still have his picture on my phone."  She pulled out her phone and found the picture of the cute little boy and as she held the picture up for the couple to see she stated, "His name is Brazos."

The couple looked at each other and knew what the other was thinking...What's the chance of hearing about a little boy named Brazos?  Could this be the same kid my mom knows?

The daughter-in-law asked the clerk to send the picture to her phone.  Once she did, the daughter-in-law messaged the picture to her mother-in-law with the question: Is this the Brazos you know?  Of course to the mother-in-laws amazement it was!  Then the story was shared between the two of them on how they found his picture and so on....


Gosh, I didn't know my son made such an impression on so many people and what a small world it is! 

Also, just a tid bit that blew my mind.....I made the comment to Matt that we should sign Brazos up for modeling and that we could make some moola.  Of course I thought Matt's reaction to this would be No son of my is going to be a model.  No way.  You know what he said...I think we would have to do a lot of driving.  I guess he could always go to Houston for that.  What!!!??!!!  I sat in disbelief for a second or two.  But if you think about it, Brazos does know what he likes fashion-wise.  While were at this Indian Creek store in Round Top, my mom wanted a bracelet.  Brazos kept telling her no and pointed to a different one he liked.  When she picked it up to purchase it, he kept putting it back on the shelf.  Who knows what's in store?  Maybe just one day you'll see Brazos on the next OshKosh advertisement......but don't hold your breath.  Men often forget what they say and agree to.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Thirty years ago today God decided it was my turn to walk {or at least lie and then walk about a year later} on the earth!  I'm so glad he did!  And he sent me to two wonderful parents and a loving family!

Once again...I love birthday parties, so I decided to throw myself a dinner party!  My parents, grandparents, good friend Stephanie, and mother-in-law joined in the festivities with me and my little family.  I'm so glad they all came to enjoy dinner and desserts!

I baked "Nacho Supreme" pasta, corn on the cob, and rustic french bread.  Yum!  And I made myself a birthday cake and apple pecan pie! Even more yum!  AND....I bought myself some York Peppermint Patties.  Super yum!!  A sweet day!

Happy Birthday to me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30 Rocks!

So this Wednesday I will turn 30 years old!  I love celebrating birthdays and I've been wanting to have a big celebration for this milestone. 

A few weeks ago I came across the Junk Gypsies webpage and was reading their past blog entries.  One of the entries was about the Junk-o-Rama Prom that they've been hosting the past few years during Antiques Week in Warrenton.  I love having a reason to get all dressed up, so I definitely wanted to go!

I decided that since the event was only a week before my birthday, this could count as my big birthday celebration.  I told Matt that if he dressed up with me and took me to Junk-o-Rama Prom that it could count as his birthday present to me.  I was shocked when he easily agreed to go!

The weeks leading up the event were spent with ideas running through my head of how to dress up.  I had an idea but I just wasn't sure where to find all the goodies.  Luckily, within a few days before the event I found everything I needed.  I made my skirt and bought my shirt at Round Top and found my boots at Maurices.  I rummaged through my grandparents closets and found Matt a vest and my great great grandpa's old fiddle for a photo shoot prop.  I found an adorable ruffled onesie for Miss Sandy and I found a shirt for Brazos at a garage sale.  We were ready for the Junk-o-Rama Prom!

Before heading to the Prom, I asked my mom to take some pictures of my family all dressed up.  We loaded up the car and headed to town to pose on the railroad tracks.  I think the pictures turned out AMAZING and I will cherish the unconditional love my family gave me that day playing dress up with me.

Here's a few of my favorite photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After taking pictures, we all ate a wonderful meal at Nathan's Bar-B-Que, and then Matt and I were off to the prom and the kids were off to movie night with Granny.

 

The prom was held in the Junk Gypsy's tent on the Zapp Hall field.  Christmas lighst were strung to light the night and a funky groove band played the night away.  The bass player would occasionally light his instrument on fire!  The Mexican food restaurant that is set up at my cousin's house "Sommerfeld Place" served drinks for the crowd.  I tried seeing if ElGene and MaryAnn were outside enjoying the music, but I think they were tucked away in their beds just on the other side of the house walls.  Several photo booths were set up and lots of costumes adorned the guests.  It was quite an event!