Cotton Bowl Parade

No parade in Dallas would be complete without Emmitt Smith

OK, here's someone who just doesn't get it.

Here comes Truman the Tiger!

More Truman. Note: In the parade, Arkansas had a real Wild Hog in a trailer. It's a little hard to bring a real tiger to a parade.

Here's the Golden Girls.

Live from Dallas, Cotton Bowl Pre-game Part I

Dad and I arrived in Dallas this morning. We stopped at the hotel and found to our fortune that there was a Whataburger next to it.


But we wanted REAL Texas food and the desk clerk suggested going to the West End. We headed off there. There was a sea of Mizzou Tiger fans with a smattering of Arkansas fans.


We even saw a KOMU truck drive by.

We headed into the YO Steakhouse and had a true TexMex meal: Steak and Enchiladas for Dad and Fajitas for me.


We found out the Cotton Bowl parade was nearby so we waltzed a couple of blocks to watch.

And Now We Are Three

It was Little Girl's birthday.  Even though we were all sick, we wanted to make it special for her.  Rachel gathered enough strength to bake and decorate the cake.  




Here's Little Girl's view of the cake:



Victory is defined as getting a Veggie Tales CD as a birthday present.



Little Girl feeds her new panda in her new doll high chair.

Go Speed Racer Go!

One of Little Guy's new presents was a radio controlled Corvette.  Another was a NASCAR driver costume.  He felt it was a good combination.  The day after we opened presents, I built a track out of blocks for him in the basement.  Then it was race time!

Merry Christmas with the Flu!

Besides the relatives who were supposed to arrive, we had an unplanned guest at Christmas: a virus.  That made it interesting to say the least.  We squeezed merriment out were we could.  

We did get the tree up before illness hit.  One of the things about moving into a house with 9 foot ceilings is that the tree, which we bought years ago to squeeze into tiny apartments, is tiny.



Mizzou wear.  No Tiger fan should be without it.  Especially when going to the Cotton Bowl.



"Look at my new purse!"



"This present is as big as me!"



Little Girl loves the new play fort.



 Little Guy has Fridgits.  Don't know what they are?  We'll show you.



Here's what they look like on the fridge!  Add marbles for the fun to start.



Little Guy can build boats, cars or helicopters with this set.



Little Guy gave his sister a rocking chair for Christmas.  We'll be painting once we can get out of bed.

Gingerbread houses

In December, there is a showing of Gingerbread Houses at George Washington's boyhood home of Ferry Farm.  Little Guy and Little Gal went along with Mommy to see the houses.  





Even before the kids went to Ferry Farm, they were inspired to build their own gingerbread house using a kit that Little Guy gave Rachel for her birthday.

Breakfast with Santa

Salem Fields Community Church hosts Breakfast with Santa annually.  Since the reindeer are undergoing depot maintenance in preparation for the big day, Santa is supposed to fly in on a helicopter -- a true blue suit approved entrance.  However, the weather didn't cooperate so he came in on a firetruck.  The kids loved it!