Christmas photo blog #1

Here are a few pics (more to come) of our family's Christmas. We had a great, fun filled, action packed 4 days and are now enjoying a few down days!
 
 
 
  

In the nick of time!

Bryon, Josh, my brother, and some friends went skiing in Colorado last weekend. They flew home from Denver Tuesday afternoon. The next day, a huge blizzard hit and the Denver airport is shut down. They say it is the biggest snow storm there in years! I am so thankful that they didn't ski one more day. Otherwise, we might have been celebrating Christmas without Bryon! I hope everyone stranded there gets out in time for Christmas.

The Christmas tree of a mother of boys

And for the second pic of the day:

The Cowboys won their game Sunday night. To commemorate the victory, Thomas ripped the headline out of the newspaper and put it on our tree. Who needs crystal ornaments when there is newspaper abundant?


  

"I am the princess..."

"And since I am the princess, I have decided that I don't need to wait until Christmas like everyone else to open presents".

Now, how do you think she figured out which present was hers? That was the only one under the tree so far for her!
  

A Christmas Carol by Matthew

I went to Matthew's school today to take pictures for P.T.A. Matthew's teacher gave me his journal entry from yesterday to read. Every Christmas Eve, our family watches A Christmas Carol. This was Matthew's memory of the story. It reminds me of the Cliff Notes version! Spelling and grammar are all his...

Once a pon a time, on Christmas Eve. There lived old Ebenezer Scrooge. He was at the office counting his money. And Bob Gratchit went by. "Mary Christmas" he said, Bah humbug. Then Ebenezer left, he went to bed, and he was awakend by a noise and his old pal Jacob Marly. He draged chains. AHHH! screamed Scrooge. Thease chains are made from all the bad deeds he had done when he was alive. Marly told Scrooge 3 ghosts would come. The 1st one took him to his Elementry. One little boy was in it, could it be me...Scrooge said. Yes, thats why I am called the ghost of Christmas past. And the 2nd spirit came. It took Scrooge to Bob Gratchit's house, they were very merry. Gratchits youngest son Tiny Tim had to youse (use) a chruch, but he shouted, "God bless us all." And then well they wernt very merry. Tiny Tim's chair was empty. Please let Tiny Tim be OK. And he was back in bed.
A 3rd Ghost came. It took him to where the Bankers were talking a bout someone dead. Who will take his money. I am going to the funerel. And they were at a grave yard. There stood Scroogees grave. Scrooge cried. And when he woke up, he was Alive. I am alive. He tossed a coin to a man and said buy a feast for the Gratchits. Merry Christmas.

The End

Photo Blog #2

The first two pictures show a typical afternoon in our backyard! The boys are always playing some sport or other, and ME is getting into the water. We have been blessed with a few days of pleasant weather which has sent us all outside.
 
 























This occurred the other night in our house. Lauren and I LOVE to listen to music and dance. ME joined in the festivites with us!
 












Winter time in many ways is my favorite time of year. This is my first winter in our new house and I am pleasantly surprised every night by a beautiful winter sunset. This night was no exception. There is an owl who lives in the tree that you see. I love hearing him "hoot" the night away!
  

Photo Blog number 1

Thank you to everyone who said such sweet things about Thomas yesterday! Here are a few pics from the weekend:

My dad and Thomas share the same birthday. Here is a picture of them on their big day. Poor Thomas has a horrible case of chapped lips!
 












Our little family. Bryon is growing a beard in preparation for his ski trip next week.
 













Thomas and Scarlett at their joint birthday party. They have been friends since they left the hospital!   














Lauren and me. Love my baby sister!
 

Thomas

  

  
We had a really fun birthday weekend filled with parties and celebrations. The most exciting thing was that Thomas turned 5! Thomas has been a joy since the moment he was born. He is kind, sensitive, funny, loving, and a perfect fit for our family!
 
 
Here is a glimpse of Thomas at 5:
*He entertains himself. I will see him playing in his room and he is content for an hour looking at books, playing with toys, etc.
*He is still obsessed with NASCAR and the Seattle Seahawks. This is very amusing to us as we have no ties to either "obsession"!
*He adores playing sports and watching it on TV. He is learning math by watching football. The other day, he was watching a game and the score was 14-7. The winning team scored a touchdown and before the new score was displayed he said, "Now it is 21-7!" Yes, my little boy can count by 7s and 3s from watching football!
*He is the most literal kid I know. No exaggerations or generalizations allowed around Thomas. Even Saturday night, I said, "I want to kiss my 4 year old one last time." He said, "You mean 4 1/2 year old?"
*He has a special relationship with his brother and sister. He seems to navigate equally well in the very different worlds of big, testosterone filled older brother and little sister. They both are blessed to have him as a brother.
*He is very unselfish. When I asked him what he wanted for Christmas, he named three things. "A Hello Kitty pillow that says I Love You for ME, a playstation for Buddy, and a Shawn Alexander game for me." He also gave several of his toys to his sister to play with yesterday.
*He loves to read and write and gets better at both everyday.

I have been blessed for 5 years by my little boy. I couldn't imagine life without him.

What's going on

Lots going on!

Last weekend was a lot of fun. Friday, Dad drove to Dallas to teach an EMBA class. He took Thomas with him and handed him off to my brother to spend the night. This has been a treat for Matthew in the past, but Thomas had never been by himself. They had a blast watching a Christmas movie and painting ornaments.

While this was going on, Mom had Matthew over for one of Matthew's favorite traditions. Every year since he was 2, they have made fudge together. Friday was "fudge night". Bryon had to work late so Lauren and Josh went out while I watched James. Then, they brought us take out from Carino's.

On Saturday, my mom, sister, and I drove to Dallas to pick up Thomas and have a quick shopping trip. I hadn't been shopping there since March so this was a fun treat! While at the Galleria, I ran into a friend from high school who lives in Waco. I don't know how this always happens, but I seem to run into people I know there a lot. How does that happen with so many million people living there?! It was fun hanging out with my brother and SIL as well. They are so good to my kids!

This week has been business as usual but gearing up for a big weekend. Thomas and my dad share a birthday which happens to be Sunday. T's friend party is on Saturday. Then we will have a big lunch at my house for the family who will be in town. Sunday, we are having a big turkey dinner in celebration of the two birthday boys! We always celebrate Thankgiving scattered over the South, so it will be nice to eat the meal together. Sunday night, I am having friends over for cookies and girl time.

So much to do but looking forward to all of it. I love coming up with a menu and making a shopping list. Now if only I didn't have to clean my house!

In the Christmas spirit

It is finally beginning to look and feel like Christmas in our home! I finished decorating today and feel a sense of accomplishment and relief! Here are a few pictures of my living room. You can see our stockings lovingly made by my aunt. My stocking was the last one my grandmother made before she died. It is very special to me. You can also see my Snow Village that I have been adding to for 10 years. It is a labor of love to put together, but we all love it! Above the Snow Village, you can see the nativity scene that was given to me by my aunt when I got married. They are hand made by a nun. We had a great weekend that I will write about tomorrow. In the first picture, you can see what we did this afternoon. Watch the Cowboys beat the Giants! How 'bout them boys?