Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration this year...school let our early so we had plenty of time to relax and prepare.  Matt and Ben spend a weekend hunting so Alex and I worked on the Christmas cookies together.

We also checked out his very favorite house for Christmas lights...they do an incredible display every year.

When the hunters returned, Grammy and Grumpy joined us for a few days of eating and playing.  Luckily for the kids, Bart the elf brought tickets to iFly.  Alex is a natural!

 

 We spent a few days at Grandma and Grandpa's and opened some gifts there.  Ben was so excited about his mebo!

Alex was pretty thrilled to get the "Millelium" Falcon but was a bit intimidated by its size.

Holly was pretty interested in the mebo when it was carrying treats!

My favorite church service of the year - the candlelight Christmas eve service.  Such a peaceful and joyful hour, even if we walked out into 78 degree Houston heat.

Back home, we left out our cookies for Santa, who still visits our house :)

Love these boys so much!!  Christmas is twice as fun as a parent.

They wanted a quick pic with the inflatables before bedtime.

Ben got his Christmas wish...an electric guitar.  He's done so well with the acoustic that we figured he'd earned it and that kid went to bed with blistered fingers Christmas night because he played ALL day.

Alex was pretty excited about everything but especially for this chemistry set from Mr. Scott and Miss Lou Anne.

He got two minecraft lego sets and got straight to work assembling them.

Minecraft mine...done!  In one day!  The Kirkhams joined us for a relaxed Christmas day at home but this doesn't seem to be my year for taking pictures.  I dropped the ball the entire week.

Ben got busy on his X-wing and finished it up the next day.

The Millennium Falcon took a bit longer but this boy stuck to it and only needed help a few times.  He's a master builder now.

We did lots of science projects together and learned lots of kitchen chemistry.

The boys and I spent a few days at Aunt Stacey's and Ben had to prove to me that he still fits in the tiny car.  I really think this will be the last year, but who knows?

Sweet Ben loved reading to Carter and playing with him.

 

Cousin fun!

There was some serious minecraft and mario time...even Carter "played" with a disconnected remote!

We were so thankful for all the time we were able to spend laughing and playing with our loved ones this year.  Christmas is the best time of the year!

Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

My holiday chief (Alex) was adamant that the Christmas decorations come out as soon as Thanksgiving was over.  The kids on the street were thrilled to see another inflatable show up on our lawn this year.  Casey was unimpressed and only stayed for the picture because there was a treat in my hand.

 

We love the Christmas show, Celebration, at our church and enjoyed our annual visit. It's always a beautiful celebration of Jesus' birth.

 

We wrapped up baseball with the end of season party and I was so thankful that the team mom scheduled it after Thanksgiving. It was fun to celebrate with the kids.

The first non-participation trophy for either of our kids!  A second-place finish for the regular season meant that the team earned a real trophy from Pony.  I hope these kids can play together again in the spring.

Alex begged to open a Christmas gift early, so we let him open the Imploding Kittens expansion pack to Exploding Kittens.  Not at all because I was anxious to play the game.  We have played it almost every day since!  Tons of fun...especially the cone of shame!!

 

Now school is out and we are looking forward to the serious business of relaxing, enjoying, and celebrating the season.  Merry Christmas to you and yours, and may your Christmas be blessed with joy and laughter!

Giving Thanks

There is no better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than spending it with family, and by quietly skipping two days of school, we were able to spend time with everyone in some of our favorite places.  First stop was the farm in Alabama, where the kids couldn't wait to go exploring with Casey and Holly, Grandma and Grandpa's dog.

 

 These two were best buddies out in the woods...Casey even began to see Holly as a (*gasp*) friend!

I absolutely love this picture!

Some of the fall colors were just gorgeous in the deep woods.

Grandpa's new fire pit was perfect for smores every night and keeping warm while watching for shooting stars.

We also discovered the perfect dachshund transport system on the 4-wheeler.  I'm sure these storage compartments were created with this in mind, right?

Boys and their sticks!

Hanging in the deer blind together, looking for the perfect shot.  With the camera.

We saw several deer...whitetail, like this one...

...and super adorable, like these!

 After Alabama, it was time to head to Conroe to see the rest of the family and catch up with the cousins.  The big boys were pretty happy to play minecraft all together for the first time.

 Amazingly, we got some really cute pictures of all the boys together at the park!  I love all these sweet faces.

Doesn't matter the size, screens are fascinating to boys big and small.

We were so thankful to get to spend time with our loved ones and can't wait to do it again at Christmas!

November

November was such a busy month but it was packed with some pretty incredible experiences.  I gave Matt tickets to see Adele last Christmas and the big day finally arrived and she was totally worth the wait!

 

Her concert was absolutely incredible, not just because of her amazing talent but also her personality and heartfelt stories behind many of her songs.

I could listen to her talk and sing for days.  Hope to see you again, Adele!

I spent several weeks coordinating a group of lovely women who worked together to transform the school stage into a pirate ship for the 3rd grade musical.

It was a massive team effort, especially when it came to figuring out how to hang some large and heavy pieces, but we put our heads (and muscles) together and it came out pretty great.  I was just praying that this big sign would still be hanging the following week when the kids performed!

Alex kept asking when he'd get to go to his first Aggie football game, so like any good parents, we draped him in maroon and headed to College Station!  The kids had to see bottlecap alley first thing.

It is so much fun walking around campus with the kids and sharing our memories.  I sure hope these boys get to make their own memories here one day.

We bumped into our pastor Gregg Matte, which was really cool because we used to hear him talk at Breakaway while we were in college.

We made our way over to Kyle Field and this boy was excited!!

Gig 'em, Aggies!  BTHO Ole Miss!

Selfies in front of the big screen :)

The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band always wins halftime!

The Aggies were up when we left in the 4th quarter because the kids were worn out, so we'll just pretend they won the game.  We did make a quick stop for Alex to test out the piano in the MSC.

The following week was the big Pirates production and the stage turned out pretty cool!  The kids were so excited.

 

My pirate couldn't wait to get up there and perform.  He'd been practicing his lines for weeks and seemed born to be on stage.

Alex and his buddy Kelvin.

Alex was so much fun to watch on stage because he loved every minute and never quit acting, whether he was speaking or not.  It makes sense that our dramatic kid would be a natural actor.

 

In between all of these other events, the Blue Jays were fighting their way through the playoffs.  A rainout saved us from missing a game for Adele and an early game allowed us to get to College Station for the football game.  We very nearly had a conflict with the musical but they lost a heartbreaker and ended up with a 7:30 game, so we had to hustle out of the musical and get ready in the car on the way to the ballfields.  They gave it their all and nearly came back to win, but got knocked out before the semi-finals.  It was a great season, though, and we were so happy that Alex had a great experience and learned a lot with his team.

Finally, some fall weather rolled in and Casey welcomed blanket season.  There is a dachshund shaped lump in the covers every night when I read with the kids.

Excuse me?  I was trying to sleep!