Tuesday, November 11, 2008

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!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

HALLOWEEN 2008



Hudson is now two months old and is growing quite rapidly. He weighs in at a cool 12 pounds now and he is within the top 97 percent of all babies in height. With how tall he is, and with that head of hair, its hard to beleive he's only 2 months old. We're thrilled because he can now fit into the Winter outfits in his closet as its starting to feel much cooler in Dallas. Fayte is doing great as well and loves playing with her little brother; especially now that he's laughing at her shenanigans. She's anxiously waiting for her third birthday November 10th and is happy that Dad is finally taking some time off work to be with her these next couple of weeks.

Here is a little taste of Halloween 2008 at the Le House in Dallas.


Our little monster having a good time.


Our little monster having a not-so-good time.


Fayte helps with the carve.


Jack Sparrow Lantern


Hey look! A pirate, Beauty and a Beast!


The kiddos


Stick 'em up!



Ready for candy.


Our neighbor does it big.


Don't even think about it! A good pirate is always on guard.


Fayte makes her own treats...


Pumpkin empanadas!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

HOOKING WORLD HUNGER



This week, we joined Yum! Brands in the World Hunger Relief effort which benefits the UN World Food Programme. We weren't the only ones pitching in...



Our favorite Cowboy (and former Longhorn of course), Roy Williams has joined Mariah Carey, Heidi and Spencer and thousands of others in the movement to end world hunger. As you can tell, Fayte really liked Roy.


We did a couple of interviews for some local media outlets as well. Here's Fayte and Hudson's TV debut! We think Hudson had great screen presence: http://www.dallasnews.com/video/dallasnews/hp/index.html?nvid=295245&shu=1



To learn more, visit http://www.fromhungertohope.com/

Saturday, October 18, 2008

THE PUMPKIN PATCH KIDS AND BIG TEX



This weekend, our buddy Joshua came into town to celebrate his second birthday at the beautiful Dallas Arboretum's Pumpkin Patch Festival! Not only did we make out with great pumpkins, but great photos too.


The Le Unit at the Dallas Arboretum


The Pumpkin Patch Kids


Talk about a birthday present!









Hudson lays claim to his pumpkin


Inside the Pumpkin House


Working on the farm






Making some music


A Longhorn in a Sooner!


Speaking of Longhorns, who's the #1 team in the country??





We were also treated to a day at the State Fair thanks to Mimi and Papa.






Fayte's looking tough with her new tattoo


Chowing down on some grilled gator


Fried Grilled Cheese!


Fried banana split! You name it, they fry it. From fried cheesecake to fried latte. This year's big hit: chicken-fried bacon.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

A QUICK HELLO!



Happy October! So what's been going on?


Hudson is now 1 month old...




We attended a very nice wedding back in Austin at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center...


The kids are growing like weeds...


And so did our persimmon tree.


Oh and we dog-sat this gentle giant named Baxter...


...who got Fayte to actually take naps and go to bed on time!