Christmas Celebrations #1

Warning : This contains a lot of pictures that are not all in chronological order! :)

I decided to do two posts of the rest of our Christmas highlights and celebrations. We have had so much fun this year and are already looking forward to next year and all of the new fun things the boys will be doing then.

This is Jason's grandpa with Jacob and Rylan. Our boys are SO incredibly blessed to have 3 living great-grand-parents. All 3 hug them, sing to them and shower them with love every chance they get! Jacob really does love Papa even though he is screaming. I think we interrupted a riveting game of "drink from the empty cup" to take the photo!
One of the most fun things we did while "up north" was to ride the Polar Express. I always read the book to my class and usually teared up by the end. It was a magical train ride full of singing, dancing and a million photos! This is Justin, Karyn and Evan - Jason's brothers family.
Our boys were a little too young to fully appreciate just how NEAT this train ride really was, but they still had fun dancing to all the songs. But Jason and I fully appreciated every minute.
At the end of the ride, Santa came strolling down the center aisle as we all sang "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." I seriously got a choked up! Karyn said she did too, so I did not feel as silly. It was so magical to see Santa and have him walking down patting all the kids on the heads. Jacob and Rylan looked up at him is awe.
This is how we spent Christmas Eve... at the Pediatricians! Jacob had a fever all day Saturday and Sunday so when we got home Monday we went in to the office. It was a mad house. Turns out it was just a high fever virus - not an ear infection like we were all predicting. And the fever finally went away by Wednesday morning. For all you in the medical profession - thank you for loving your patients enough to work on holidays and calm down scared mommas and daddys!
Two weeks before Christmas, Jason's company had a fancy dinner that spouses were invited to attend. So we got fancied up and headed to the big city for a very swanky meal. My steak was $45...yes, $45 and it was fabulous!!! Jason's was about the same and we both got dessert too! Thanks to the company for a fun night out! Plus it was nice to meet most of Jason's team along with his boss.

Two Sundays ago the young family group at church hosted a Christmas luncheon for the older members of our congregation, the Lights. The fellowship hall was decorated beautifully and the soup, salad and dessert were devoured by all! It was nice this year that our family had 4 generations represented! The boys were in the nursery during the luncheon, but we brought them out for a photo. The younger men served the older couples and then they played several games of bingo.
Here is Rylan again chewing on the Nativity sheep. I added this photo to talk about our Wednesday night church service. Our youth minister created a quiz, much like "Are you Smarter than A 5th Grader?" about the birth of Christ. You got to work with your family to answer the 19 questions and then he gave us the right answers. Sadly, Jason and I only got 10/19. His point was that you must always check the Bible to know if you have the right answers. Sometimes you rely on tradition, or Hollywood, or books to get your information, but the Bible is our ONLY true source. He also strongly encouraged us all to read the Bible every day with our families to equip us all with scriptural basis for our beliefs. Thanks for an excellent lesson MK!!!
I could not resist bragging on our adorable niece, Evan! She is the best baby!!! Her pretty blue eyes are full of excitement and her face is always ready for a heart melting smile. Her two dimples are so cute! We love you sweet Evan!
This is before opening gifts up north. The kids would not cooperate for the perfect photo in front of the presents. Even though the perfect photo never happened, we still had lots of fun and many wonderful gifts were exchanged. Thank you sweet family!
Next time will be Christmas at home... watch out, I took 244 photos in 2 days!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours...Merry Christmas!
(more pics coming soon!)

Christmas Spirit #3

The Gingerbread Man pillow! When I was about 7 years old, a dear family friend made me this gingerbread man pillow. Every December, Mom would get it out and I would cuddle with it while I went to sleep. I read books to the G-bread Man, sang songs with him and even tried to feed him cookies! Now the time has come for me to pass down my beloved G-bread Man pillow to Rylan and Jacob. As you can tell, they already love him and are showing him their bellies (their newest trick!) Thanks again Nelda... I bet you never dreamed this pillow would get so much loving!

Christmas Spirit #2

The Little People Nativity Set! Rylan and Jacob got some Mardel gift cards for their birthday and I was saving them for something special. Then I saw the nativity set and I knew this was the perfect thing to buy with the gift cards! So last week we went and got it. This is how it looks with the people all perfectly placed. Every night before I go to bed, I get to play with their toys as I pick them up. Anyway, we decided that the donkey has a WILD mane, but other than that the set is adorable and perfect for little fingers.I have read them several different illustrated accounts of the birth of Jesus. Of course, I know they are not picking up every detail, but they are being exposed and that's all that counts. So several times a day we sit in front of the toy box and use the Little People to retell and act out the account. We have Mary and Joseph walking down the road and stopping at the stable. Then the baby is born and appears in the manger. Then we play with the sheep for a while and have the shepherds come visit the new family. Then we get the three wise men and talk about the gifts they brought to Jesus.
Rylan's favorite part is rearranging the pieces.
Jacob's favorite part is pushing the angel down to play a song.

And they both love to chew on the sheep!!! :)
The birth of Jesus is a very special event. It signifies the arrival of God's Son on earth. We believe that we should celebrate Jesus every day of the year, and not just on Christmas. But when all the world is talking about Jesus, we want to join in and tell them about our best friend and Savior. And as much fun as we have with the Little People and as cute as the boys are playing with it, the real lesson is that God loved all of us enough to send his son to this earth so that one day we could be in heaven. So, even though there is "holiday busy-ness" we encourage you to take a minute and thank God for sending Jesus to the earth and to keep worshipping Him each and every day of the year, not just at Christmas.

Christmas Spirit #1

I have been late in posting things we are doing to celebrate Christmas, so I will try to be better in the next few weeks. This Monday night we went to visit Bethlehem. One of the local churches presents "A Walk Through Bethlehem" every year. It is really elaborate - complete with live animals, dirt raods, hay, beggars asking for alms, people saying "Shalom," the three Wise Men showing you their three gifts to baby Jesus, rope makers, potter's, sweet treats, cheese makers, fish salesmen and more.

While we were waiting in line to enter the town, there were many live animals to pet. We saw a camel that was much taller than I expected. The boys each pet the goats and sheep. Rylan was a little hesitant to touch the sheep, but did with a little help from Mommy. Jacob on the other hand was not afraid at all! We also saw a donkey walking around the town.Here is our group. We met for dinner at a new seafood joint that was quite tasty and then we headed over to Bethlehem with Scott, Holly and Annelise. Annelise is 4 and she was full of wonder and awe of each little detail. It was exciting to see her learn and to think of our boys and how they will react each year that we go to Bethlehem.
Bethlehem is open only one weekend and we chose this date to see on of my former students in action. Sweet Abigail is now in 4th grade and working the potter's wheel. It was so exciting to see her and to see how much she has grown up since first grade.

Jacob and Mommy tried to make a pinch pot at the potter's wheel, but he was a little more interested in eating the clay!

At the very end of the town path there is the stable with Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus. He was a real baby. Walking through the town and then seeing the baby Jesus really made you feel like you were there 2000 years ago. It is our plan to go to Bethlehem every year and teach the boys first hand about life in Bible times and show them the true meaning of the season.

Celery and Remotes

The boys and I had a very fun day together. It began by running some errands, one of which was Wal-mart. I am that crazy mom who talks to her kids the whole time and points out things of interest on every aisle. As we were in the produce area I let them touch almost everything we were buying - avocados, bananas, tangerines and celery. They were especially intrigued by the celery and the leafy part at the end of the stalk.

So tonight before I chopped the celery with my most favorite Pampered Chef tool - the Food Chopper - I let the boys play with a stalk of celery. They felt so empowered and like such big boys! Their eyes lit up and they touched every centimeter of their stalk. They of course licked it too. After re-washing it, I chopped it. They squealed in delight as I pounded the Food Chopper. I can't wait until they are strong enough to use the Chopper - they will love it!And yes, they still love the Jumper-Roo and Exosaucer! They sit in them almost every time a meal needs preparing.
Then after supper the boys were running around the den. Their new game is to find the remote or phone, steal it and run away. They totally know they are not supposed to and have quite guilty faces. I tried to capture the guilt before the run in the photos below.

And one more thing, they are both waving like crazy - hello, good-bye, etc. We were in the front yard today and the school bus drove down the street. Jacob squealed and waved like a mad man at the bus. It was really cute.

Thanks for sharing in our normal day. With all the holiday madness, it was nice to have a day where celery and remotes were the highlights!

They're eating what?!?!?!

TOMATOES!!! As my sweet friends know, Jason and I would not touch a tomato with a ten foot pole, but at the encouragement from a few birds, we gave the boys tomatoes. And they loved them!!! I guess Jason and I will have to become adults and eat the tomatoes along with our sweet boys.
Rylan was lounging as he enjoyed them and Jacob was grabbing for more off my salad. The days of saying "hold the tomatoes" are gone!

Disclaimer: We have never said that tomatoes are yucky in front of the boys. And we intend to give them other things that we think are yucky so that they will not be scarred and try lots of good things.

What things do your kids eat that you don't like?

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

One happy wife and momma celebrating her 31st BD with a huge piece of chocolate cake! Sweet friends and family - thanks for a great day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a lovely holiday celebrating with our family. J and R started the day by appeasing their mommy and posing on the porch bench with the same turkey from last year. They both love to clap... and see how many adults they can get to clap with them!We had a non-traditional lunch. There was Honey-Baked Ham, Aunt Iva's Sweet Potatoes, Grandmama's potato casserole, squash casserole, green beans, fruit salad with Great-Grandma Effie's dressing, cranberry sauce (both kinds), rolls and pumpkin pie. Mom made the sweet potatoes (as usual) and she worried about having too much water (as usual) and they were TERRIFIC (as usual)! The boys also ate their first TG feast. They did not care too much for the potato casserole or the ham... who knew?!?!
It was the first holiday that both sides of our family shared the table. It was absolutely wonderful to sit together, laugh, reflect on the things we are thankful for and then watch hours and hours of football! Jason and his folks were are all grins.
And here are my grandparents and parents. I am a "dish person" so this was the perfect excuse to use our good china. Once again, I have made the resolution to use our china and not save it for special occasions only.
After lunch we all wrote down the things we are thankful for. I hope that it will become an annual tradition. Do you have any special TG traditions?

Thankfulness

That was last year! Rylan and Jacob celebrated their first Thanksgiving in style with adorable turkey outfits. That is a Beanie Baby turkey next to them. They were SO tiny!!! Still less than 10 pounds each. You may notice the wires... those are for the apnea monitors. I cannot believe how much they have grown in a year.

Last Thanksgiving was their first road trip... 45 whole minutes to my grandparents house. Granny had a delicious spread, on her pumpkin pie dishes (another blog for another day) and we had a wonderful afternoon eating, laughing,watching the boys lay there peacefully and watching football.

This year is going to be a little different. We are going to be at our house hosting the big event! My parents, my grandparents, and Jason's parents will all join hands together to thank our loving Father for another year. Mom and I will do the cooking since Granny cannot stand very well yet. And the boys will not lay still for a minute this year! But, like last year, there will surely be football and laughter.

As I think about all there is to be thankful for, my mind races. First and foremost, I am thankful for God's Word, His love and forgiveness. Also His loving hand of protection and care. I am very, very thankful for a Christian husband who loves God more than he loves me. A husband who loves our family with all his heart and takes wonderful care of our family. As I look at Rylan and Jacob, I am so thankful for their growth and development. They are quite normal 15 month old boys thanks to God answering many prayers. I am thankful for my parents who raised me to know God and seek Him. Who taught me to be a servant and help others with kindness in my heart. I am also thakful for my in-laws who raised such a wonderful son. I am thankful for an abundance of material things that pale in comparison to heavenly treasures. And I am extremely thankful for you... my dear sweet friends who have supported me through trials and joys.

On this Thanksgiving, I hope that everyone will reflect on what they are truly thankful for and give thanks to God above for his indescribable gifts.

The Mayflower

At the beginning of November some dear friends gave the boys a Little People Mayflower play set. We have had more fun talking about the Pilgrims and Indians and reading books about the first Thanksgiving too. But mostly they have loved playing with the toy set.

It came with a little green flag that goes on top of the mast. The first thing they both do is pull the flag off and chew on it! They also really like the music that the boat plays and dance along. We set up the tables and people for the dinner, but the boys like to scatter the people and make them go on the boat. Another favorite part of the set is the pumpkin. They love to roll it along the ground and chew on it too. Hopefully next year we can have a "thankful" wreath and handprint turkeys, but for this Thanksgiving for our 15 month old angels, it's all about the Little People!Rylan putting the Pilgrim man to sleep on the boat.
Jacob, with green flag in hand, getting a plan for the best way to play this time!

Football Fans

So the boys are 14 1/2 months old and already watching football. I know, it's no surprise to those who know our family. Last year when they were tiny and on the monitors, Jason propped them on his chest to watch ESPN Gameday together for the first time. Now it is a Saturday morning ritual.

Last night GPop, Jason, Rylan and Jacob were watching the Texas Tech vs. Oklahome game. They were cheering for Tech (sorry Steve and Erin!) An OU player dropped the ball and Jacob yelled, "UH- OH!" Then another OU player fumbles the ball and both of the boys start clapping! I guess they have picked up on the plays already and are ready to cheer along. It's cute to see "my boys" sharing in football fun!

Friday Night Lights

Fall Friday nights in the great state of Texas can mean only one thing...FOOTBALL!!! We ventured out this Friday to our town's last home game of the season. First we met some church friends at a local BBQ joint for some delicious brisket and then we were off! My dad was the principal at the high school for 20 years before retiring last spring and I graduated from it too, so we had lots of heartstrings being pulled at the game. The boys even had Wildcat polos to wear that looked adorable, if I do say so myself!
The boys did GREAT! They mostly sat in our laps and watched the action. They would clap as we say "Yeah Wildcats" and even clapped for good defensive plays. They also jumped as the crowd went wild when we scored.

We sat near the top and saw several friends... many from my teaching days, former students and co-workers. We also saw some old high school friends.

Halftime was our cue to head home to get the boys ready for bed, but not before watching the bands play and the dancers dance. It was quite a show!!!

I don't know if the boys will play football, but they sure enjoyed the game. Since my dad coached football for many years and Jason played through college and their uncle (Jason's brother) played Division 1 in college, they are probably destined to roll around on the turf. But for now, I savored holding them in my lap and watching them clap their tiny hands as our team went on to victory!

SURPRISE!!!!!

This weekend was FABULOUS!!! Six months ago, our dear friends Trey and Lacie moved 6 hours away to a small country town. We were all so sad, but determined to keep our friendship strong. Flash forward to September... we knew Lacie was turning 30 at the end of November and we wanted to do something special to let her know how much we love her and our friendship. So after a few emails and calls to Trey, we devised a scheme to surprise Lacie and make a wonderful memory too.

So Heather, Maria, Deanna and I left Friday about noon to drive 6 hours north to surprise Lacie. The plan was for the P family to go out to eat, we would sneak in the back door, decorate the house pink and then wait to give the surprise of a lifetime. So we got stuck in 2 hours of STINKY Houston traffic and were running late. We were laughing and so nervous that we would not make it in time to pull it all off.

We arrived 15 minutes before they are supposed to be getting home from supper at a pizza joint 200 yards from their house. The four of us are running across the neighbors yard loaded down with decorations and gifts, when what should be see? TREY!!! He is holding Braden and waving for us to go back to the car. So we turn around and run as fast as our little feet can carry us! We jump in Heather's SUV and duck down. Our hearts were pounding and we were laughing, even though we were all out of breath. We waited for what seemed like an hour (really 6 minutes) and their car drove off.

So we ran back across the yard, decorated and waited in the dark. We saw the car pull into the driveway and we were all grabbing each other as we sat on the floor about to burst with excitement. Lacie opens the garage door and says, "Trey, there's something wrong inside the house!" After much coaxing, she came in slowly. As she saw all the pink she started saying, "No way! No way!" Then she rounded the corner and the hugs and screaming began!!! We were SO excited that we had pulled it off! She suspected nothing!!! Then her sweet husband gave her another surprise - a plane ticket back from Houston. She was coming home with us on Saturday! He also got his sweet mom to come to their house to keep her 2 boys.
So we stayed up practically all night - laughing, crying, eating, some drank coffee (I'm the last hold-out!), talking, and more laughing. About 4:30am all the birds were in bed. Saturday we toured the tiny town Lacie calls home and stopped in the next "big city" for lunch at an adorable cafe where we shared 3, yes 3, desserts... Dr. Pepper Cake, East Texas Sawdust Pie and Peanut Butter Pie. Then we went in some "bling" and antique stores on the square before hitting the farmer's market.
So as we were driving home for 6 hours, we talked, laughed, sang church songs, giggled and planned future gatherings. And then we got a wild hair! Robyn was not able to make the trip because she was moving into her new house that weekend. Robyn's 30th BD was just the week before, so what did we do? We went and banged on her front door at 10pm and yelled, "SURPRISE!" of course!!!
As I look back on this weekend, it reminds me of many past fun times with this dear group of friends. I get all welled up thinking of the trials and joys we have shared. There is no doubt in my mind that the LORD put these wonderful friends in my life. Thank you birds for being such WONDERFUL friends!!! And I look forward to many, many, many more fun memories!

Menu Planning Monday

It really was done yesterday...I promise! This week I am cheating off my dear friend, Holly. She has started a blog just for recipes and it ROCKS!!! Check it out at www.marathonbirdcooks.blogspot.com

Monday - Chili and cornbread (the chili comes in a jar at HEB and you just add the meat...the cornbread recipe is from Lacie and it was delicious!!!)
Tuesday - Chicken and Asparagus Risotto Skillet (from Holly's blog - all 3 of my boys gobbled it up!)
Wednesday - leftovers
Thursday - Taco Soup (from Holly's blog)
Friday - Chicken Pot Pie (from my other friend, Paula Deen!)
Saturday - baked potatoes at the Family Devo
Sunday - lunch out and sandwiches for dinner

So what's cookin' for your family this week?

Happy Halloween!

What a fun and beautiful day to celebrate fall! Let me begin by saying that we love the pumpkin patch! We have been 3 times and had such fun each visit. Our first visit the boys wore their lion costumes. They looked so cute and would even "ROAR" at most people.

While at the patch, little lion Rylan loved to sit and touch the smooth skin of the pumpkin.
On the other hand, little lion Jacob did not stop moving! When we first arived, he picked up a small pumpkin and did not put it down until we got in the car after buying it!
Tonight after church services, we had a "Trunk or Treat." Several families stayed and handed out candy and treats from the trunks of thier cars. It was a nice, fun and safe environment. Jacob and Rylan handed out candy and walked around saying hello to the other kids and adults. Granna and GPop stayed and passed out candy too!
We hope you had a fun Halloween...we sure did! ROAR from our two little lions to you!!!!

Fall Camp-Out

Last weekend we went on our first family camping trip. My mom thought we were crazy to take twin 14 month olds out to "rough it" for the weekend, but we loaded up the 2 pack-n-plays, filled up the vehicle with tons more stuff and headed to Huntsville State Park. We met up with 5 other families for what will hopefully be the first of MANY fall camping trips.

It was a wonderful Texas fall weekend... cool days, blue skies, lots of laughter and pretty scenery. We only had 3 kids got into ant piles, saw an alligator in the lake and captured America's largest caterpillar - the horned hickory devil! The shower stalls were yucky and poor Lacie took a freezing shower because the hot and cold were reversed, but everyone survived!

The guys did typical guy stuff... Frisbee golf and horseshoes! I think the Frisbee golf is a wonderful time for the guys to bond. They have a Frisbee and pick a target, how many throws it should take to hit it, then away they go! Reid even joined in with the dads and the game kept going and going until all the mommas needed some relief!
12 little blessings! The kids had so much fun together! Kannon brought a turtle tent that they played in. Macy caught a zillion different creepy crawlies. There was so much running, laughing, skipping and giggling. I loved seeing them all interact and have FUN together! This picture crackes me up because it reflects each person's personality.
October has 6 birthdays from our little group of friends! This is 5 of the birthday buddies - we missed you Robyn! On Friday night all the moms went in to town to Wal-Mart to get the cake and other things we forgot at home. So we find the pre-made cake and are trying to decide what to put on it. Mind you, we were so giddy to all be together and a bit delirious... we had the girl write "Happy Birthday Hotties!" Yes, you read it right - hotties! The husbands rolled their eyes at their silly wives, but we know that they were flattered! Happy birthday Trey, Braden, Jason, Caitlyn and Scott!!!

OK, OK, yes it was a camping trip, but you didn't think that we would leave the bling at home, did you? We all made shirts for the trip! They say "Camping Diva." We had so much fun with the rhinestones, flamingo pink puff paint and polka dot ribbon. Even though we love the great outdoors, we are frilly at heart! We had SO much fun preparing the food, wrestling each others kids, laughing, staying up until dawn chatting, sharing prayers and more laughing!
"Three peas in a pod" Rylan, Braden and Jacob. Rylan and Jacob loved to ride in the wagon! I think every big kid pulled them at some point of the weekend. They were SO excited to see their friend Braden and we were too!

My three favorite guys! Jason has always loved to camp and he was so excited to take the boys on their first camp-out. Even though we froze the first night and did not sleep due to restless kids the next night, it was a great experience! The milk stayed cold enough, the s'mores were fabulous and worship service on Sunday morning brought me to tears. There is nothing better than singing praises to God outside surrounded by dear friends.
We're ready for next fall! I wonder what all the boys will get into then?!?!?