IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

Now that the family's woken back up from its collective turkey coma, things are starting to look a little more festive at the house. Lights are up, the tree is trimmed and the stockings are hung. The kids have been wonderful this year so all that's left is a visit from Big Red.


Fayte and ROBO-Champ


Fayte crafts her letter to Santa with beautiful penmanship


Translation: Dear Santa, I want "Mickey Mouse candy." Love, Fayte


Decorating the tree


Hudson lends a hand


He was about as helpful as Champ


But they'll take credit for it


The stockings were hung


Let the countdown begin!

THANKSGIVING 2008

Even with all of the bad luck this year, the Le Unit has a lot to be thankful for during these tough times. Most important is family and we feel blessed to have been able to spend Thanksgiving 2008 with the many people that we love and we are thankful for the memories. Playing backyard football, winning at Scrabble with a mischievous word (that Mimi of all people knew), and enjoying a bird that was stuffed with another bird that was stuffed with yet another bird (TURDUCKEN RULES!) were just some of the day's highlights. Here are some others.


Feeding over 20 people=Getting up extra early


The Little Man dressed for success






Big ol' Catholic family. The feast consisted of 3 turkeys, countless sides and a whole table dedicated to desserts!


A feast so grand it needed 2 pictures to capture it all


Fayte's favorite part was dessert. Really, just the homemade whipped cream that Mimi made.


Rangoons at Thanksgiving? Yes please!


Mr. Messy and Mr. H


Cousins Hadley and Adysen


Taking it to the house!


Hudson sports his hand-knitted baseball sweater from Boston


Bundling up for the cold. This reminds us of Ralphie's bunny costume in "A Christmas Story" At least Hudson seems happy.


Champ sports some Fall threads over the Thanksgiving break as well


There's a reason they're called Boxers


We also made a quick trip down to Austin over the holiday weekend. To all of those readers who are not from Texas (or the South), we've got a dish called Chicken Fried Steak and Hoover's Cooking sure knows how to make a mean one. This coupled with some mashed potatoes, fried okra and some sweet tea will make you very happy.


Hoover was also cooking up some amazing sweet potato praline pecan cheesecake. One of us, who will remain nameless, stayed behind after dinner to scrape every last bit of praline off of the dish. No regrets.


One of Fayte's favorite Austin eateries


Turkey coma. Yes, this is Hudson's one bad habit

HUDSON MAKES HIS DEBUT ON LE TV

Well, we've got one Internet star already, is another one burgeoning? Here's Hudson's debut. Remember, you can always check out all of our videos by clicking on the "Videos" link under categories to the right or check out our favorites under Le-TV.

FAYTE TURNS 3

3 years ago on November 10, Fayte was born and we've been on the most incredible and rewarding journey of our lives ever since. Fayte spent the days leading up to her celebration with special outings, activities and even a new addition to the family: Champ! Then rang in her birthday in style with her friends at "Milk and Cooki3s!"


Fayte was treated to a special birthday lunch at Red Robin all the way out in Flower Mound. She ordered a root beer float, mac and cheese (despite having mac and cheese for breakfast too!) and a special birthday sundae.


Fayte works on some dance moves for her upcoming party at Powerhouse Dallas


Hudson prefers to stand off to the side, though he can't resist the mirrors


Fayte's also been into makeup ever since she got to wear some for Halloween. Unfortunately, she hasn't mastered the art yet and unfortunately, this was done with a permanent marker.


And here is Fayte's birthday present from Mommy and Daddy: Champ the boxer puppy






Hudson takes him out for a test drive. Champ is not amused.


The kids were all smiles the morning of the party


MILK AND COOKIES!


Fayte's friend Christian sported some appropriate kicks to the party


Fayte and Ava jam out on Guitar Hero


Ava, Chantel Fayte and Abby


Connor gets ready to throw on the Hulk Hands


Connor, Fayte, Abby, Ava and Magrite pick up after Cookie Monster


Fayte had the most wonderful third birthday party!


Hudson was happy too


And so was Champ since he got to see our friend Baxter


We may have to make room on the mantle for Champ. This is our shameless plug for our newly renovated "subway-tiled, midcentury-modern" fireplace by the way. We haven't posted any home renovation entries lately...being pregnant kinda gets in the way, so we're happy to be able to show this before and after.


Gold is old. Be sure to click on the "home" tag under "categories" to the right if you're interested in seeing our other home projects. We know its been a while.

And after the fireplace, we took our tools into the garage and fashioned a nice little den for Champ.


The room was pre-existing. We just fancied it up a little and added a mid-century style gate to match our home. The windows were made using cheap photo frames from Ikea. The room has 2 doggie doors connecting to the dog run on the side of our house on one side and into our galley kitchen on the other side. Champ loves it...so does Fayte.



We also noticed that Champ was starting to spill his food everywhere. The fix? Some cheap legs from Ikea, a plank of wood and some handy work. We can't take credit for this since we read of a similar set up on IkeaHacker.com.





And while we're off-subject, we just wanted to share this great shot of Fayte in the backyard on Saturday morning. The combination of the leaves of the persimmon tree turning yellow, the sun peeking over our fence and the winter-wear on this chilly morning really doesn't feel like Dallas does it?

Anyway, 1000 thanks to all the wonderful friends and family who showed up to the big bash. It was certainly one to remember and it looks like everyone had a great time. With all the dog chasing, pinata smashing and milk and cookie eating, we trust that everyone had a pretty nice nap afterward as well!


Peace out!