Eleven

Dear Weston,

It seems so odd to say that you are 11, but 11 you are. You have changed so much in the last year--in your physical appearance as well as your overall maturity--and I can truly tell you are starting to leave some of the trappings of childhood behind as you stretch towards manhood. You have grown taller and thinner in the last year, and you've decided to start wearing your hair longer, because you determined a buzz was a haircut for younger kids. On a recent grocery shopping trip, I spied a man out of the corner of my eye coming up the aisle beside me. I tried to ease out of his way, but when he kept coming toward me, I took a closer look and realized it was you all along. It was a shock to register my mistake because I still sometimes think of you as my little boy, as mothers are wont to do I suppose.

You loved our RTW trip and often talk about things you enjoyed or observed while we were traveling. You definitely have the travel bug and are willing to go just about anywhere...when it isn't football season! You even came up with the term "awaysick" to describe your wanderlust. We'll be doing some traveling in the U. S. next summer, and you are really looking forward to it and are already helping us plan some of our stops.

Speaking of football, that is still your overriding passion. You were fortunate to get onto a great team this fall, where you were encouraged to push yourself harder than you have before. But you were rewarded with the opportunity to play both defense and offense in every game, and you helped your team out with everything from sacking quarterbacks to scoring touchdowns. Not only was your team undefeated in the regular season, but it was also never even scored upon until the championship game, where you suffered a heartbreaking one-touchdown loss in overtime. You and your team worked so hard this season, and your progress as an athlete was observable even to my untrained eye. You are so excited that we now live in a place that has a spring football season as well as a fall season, and you are gearing up to play again in a couple of months.

You are kind of obsessed with logic, having entered an early stage of dialectic learning, and you are enjoying doing logic puzzles and studying logical fallacies in school this year. You also love to point these fallacies out in discussions with those around you, and I'm pretty sure you would be willing to argue with a fence post. I'll admit, sometimes this is maddening for your parents and siblings, but it's also super cool to watch you learning how to use some great tools that will help you better process information and learn to make more of your own decisions. As far as other school subjects go, you still love and excel at math. You are even planning to participate in two different PSIA math contests in the spring. Probably the most surprising class you are enjoying is writing, as this has been your nemesis in the past. You are loving the structure of the IEW program we are using in our CC Essentials class and are especially enthralled with the awesome application of alliterations. (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Despite the proclivity to argue about just about anything, you are still a very sweet guy. You are always quick to give hugs, generous with compliments, and careful to show appreciation for gifts and kindnesses. You are thoughtful and sensitive and an all around nice guy. You also love to tell jokes and to make others laugh, which, combined with your sweet, fun-loving nature, makes you loads of fun to be around.

We happened to be at the ranch on your birthday, and you were beyond thrilled that you got to shoot both a turkey and a buck on your special day. Throughout the course of the weekend you also shot a couple of dove, a quail, and a skunk, though this last was not exactly a hunter's delight. You love being outdoors and certainly don't mind getting your hands (or shirt or anything else) dirty to stock the freezer. Clearly, Dad and I chose wisely when we decided to get you a grill for your birthday.

Weston, I am so very proud of you and the young man you are becoming. You are smart, sweet, funny, handsome, hardworking, and curious about the world around you. It is a joy to have you in our lives, and we are so thankful for you! May this next year be filled with millions of happy moments for you, and may you continue to grow into your awesomeness! I love you so much!

Love,
Mom

Christmas at The Ranch

the boys in buffalo plaid

braided beauties

choo-choo train

so much sweetness

silly hats

the ranch equivalent of a "snowdeer," which is Clay for "reindeer"

one of the highlights was calling and feeding the cows

book lovers

helping Grandpa make breakfast

beauty shop

Look out, ladies!

domino dude

fun with the holiday party crackers

party to the Max

Christmas joke aftermath

cuteness personified

Thanksgiving Finale

We have certainly had a full week of fun festivities, and we have so very much to be thankful for, but according to my jeans, it is time to eat a few hundred fewer calories per day for a while. Our Thanksgiving finale took place at the ranch, and here are some of the highlights:

• Clay got to go out to the ranch a couple of days early to help Grandpa build a shed, which explains his absence in our Thanksgiving Day pictures. 
• Weston dropped a six-point buck, with one shot, a feat he is pretty proud of. (I was not there when it happened, so there is no photographic evidence.)
• We enjoyed another delicious Thanksging meal.
• We continued Weston's birthday celebration.
• We celebrated Ruth's half-birthday.
• Several family members reported success with various essential oils: Lavender for eczema, Breathe drops for stuffy nose, Serenity for insomnia, and Frankincense for vertigo. It just makes my day to have something I can offer to help with these kinds of issues when they come up and to hear these happy testimonies! 
• Ruth had another successful driving lesson.
• Max got to go quail hunting for the first time and got very close to hitting one.
• I read a fantastic book called The Traveler's Gift, which I think you should all read just as soon as you get a chance.
• Many hours of football were watched.
• There were appearances by pirates and robbers.
• We took a late night drive around the ranch, with a couple of mostly-working spotlights, with the purpose of counting and categorizing all the deer. The deer were not all that interested in our little project, so most of them stayed in their beds or out of sight. But, we still had a good time and quite a few laughs as we rode around the ranch.

The Bird seems relaxed in his cast iron hot tub,
probably not realizing he is about to be devoured.

So thankful for these amazing people!
(Also thankful for Clay, but he just couldn't stay awake long enough to join us for the meal.)

Just half of the birthday message for the half-birthday girl

Robber Max

The "Buff" Pirate is no one to be trifled with

Mighty quail hunter

The week the Watts ate out

Most of the time, we prepare our own meals at home, not only because it's a healthier alternative to eating out, but also because we are all total foodies and just love cooking up stuff in the kitchen. But, we aren't purists, and we do like to eat out on occasion, as well. This week the eating out may have been just a teeny bit out of control, though--as in, we ate out every day this week! Some of it was out of "necessity" and some was just plain fun. Our galavanting took us through a wide variety of cuisines and cut quite a swath through the Hill Country, as well.

Monday--Date Night. We were a little crunched for time but still wanted something that felt like a date (you know, nothing with a drive-thru), so we settled on Milano Cafe in Austin, which fit the bill perfectly. We were served quickly and every bite was delicious!

Tuesday--Running kids around night. Ruth was hanging out with some buddies in Burnet, so I popped into Whataburger, after I dropped her off. Ironically, Jeff and Weston also stopped by Whataburger (in Marble Falls) after Weston's football practice. (The little boys were out at the ranch with Grandpa, cooking hot dogs over an open flame and eating lots of other really fun stuff, I'm sure!)

Wednesday--Looking for an excuse night. Jeff received a birthday gift certificate to Russo's in the mail, and it just sort of seemed like a sign. We love Russo's and don't need much of an excuse to pop in. Our growing boy was still hungry after his "modest" portions of ravioli, garlic bread and two (shared) appetizers, so we decided to make a McDonald's run to get the poor boy a hamburger (and the rest of us coffee and/or dessert) after our really nice Texas-Italian meal. That's how we roll. And, we're o.k. with that. 

Thursday--Mom's Night. Once a month, the CC moms get together for a night out without the kids, to enjoy authentic grown-up conversation and not having to clean up after anyone. This time, we met at Ginger & Spice, in Marble Falls, which is always wonderful. Meanwhile, Dad had a little celebration with the kids by picking up Chicken Express, since Clay kept his pants dry the whole time he was at the ranch.

Friday--Birthday dinner night. Jeff's parents took us out to Hudson's on the Bend, for an early celebration of Jeff's birthday. Every single thing was absolutely fantastic! I got tickled when our kids begged for an order of escargot. It's not every group of 3-12 year old kids who know what escargot is, much less love it (especially if they know what it is). After the amazing dinner, we headed over to Amy's Ice Cream for some sweet treats. 

Saturday--You can't just not eat after a morning of football, especially when they were the last games of the season. And, we were close enough to one of our new favorite places that it only seemed right slip over to Milago's, just outside of Wimberley, to tank up on Tex-Mex. 

Campmeeting and The Ranch

That's our cabin up top, on the left. Don't let the fanciness overwhelm you.

These little visitors were plentiful

Rain, glorious rain

I couldn't post that last one without posting this one. 

Flying baby

dirty, adorable face

Lots of love

Max and Victoria enjoying the homemade dollhouse

Getting in some porch time with Mimi

The girls

So much sweetness

Knocking them dead with his stand-up routine at the talent show

The Davis Mountains

Pirates like tea parties, too

Sharing some of the history of the Burnet Camp with the rest of the campers,
to commemorate the 125th year of Bloys Campmeeting

The gang's all here

family photo op

Setting up the free farmer's market on the last day of camp

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quirky Quail

Watching Grandpa and Uncle Alan shoot the guns

driving lesson

Trying to escape

There is nothing like the west Texas sky!

Full Moon

swapping tales and cooking s'mores around the fire pit

Holiday Road

The holidays have been all about family, food, football and fun! Here is a (relatively) short pictorial journey of the last few weeks. We are so blessed!

Enjoying warm December weather with the Austin cows

Cow kids

The moment when we thought we spotted Weston and Nana and Papa
on TV at the Texas high school football state playoffs

Playing Blokus with Nana

Cousin love

Christmas dinner at Nana and Papa's house

A whole lot of love

Clay's new (and super-cute) trick of holding a bubble in his mouth

Everyone's excited about Grandaddy's new candy machine

The famous traveling Watts

The annual watching of A Christmas Story

Swimming on Christmas morning

Making sweet potatoes with Mimi

Snoozing through Christmas dinner

Playing Scrabble at Cha-Cha's house

Reading with Mimi

Hunting buddies