Brazos Bend State Park

The kids had a holiday on an absolutely gorgeous day, so we decided to check out a nearby state park along the Brazos river.  Ben got to cut some walking sticks with his pocketknife and Alex got to climb some trees, so the trip was an easy success.

(While Alex was in a tree, I got the honor of holding his stick and his lizard.  Lucky me!)

 

 Alex was pretty in love with his lizard buddy.  Later that afternoon we were buying baby crickets to keep him fed...because every mom really wants a lizard living in a container on her kitchen counter.  Fortunately, crickets don't live long and once they were all gone, we let the lizard go in the front yard.

The park wasn't exactly beautiful in the middle of winter, but it had several lakes full of wildlife so the hiking was lots of fun.  We saw all kinds of ducks, geese, and ibis.

We hiked about 3.5 miles altogether, which was quite a feat for Casey and her little legs, but I helped her on the stairs to the platform overlooking some of the lakes.

It took a while, but we finally started spotting some of the wildlife we really wanted to see - alligators!  This one was sunning himself just off the path.

We spotted to big daddy on a little island.  Can't wait to go back when the weather is warmer and they're all out!

January Pics

We've had lots of loose teeth around here and unfortunately, they don't seem to want to come out on their own.  Both kids had to go to the dentist to get some baby teeth pulled.  

Ben before:

Ben (who was a trooper for what I'm sure was a painful extraction) after at our celebratory Denny's brunch:

Alex before:

 

 Alex after:

 

 "Wait," you ask, "I don't see any teeth missing."  That is correct.  Little man went totally crazy after the dentist numbed his gums and was ready to give him a shot.  After lots of screaming and tears, a little nitrous, more screaming and tears, we finally threw in the towel.  Lots of drama for nothing.  Sigh.

 When he's not terrified at the dentist's office, Alex enjoys finding entertainment while Ben is at the tutor.  We had to change tutors in January so we have a whole new list of playgrounds and carousels to explore.

All the way to the top!

The kids had science week at school and got to learn a lot about dinosaurs.  I was lucky enough to volunteer in the science lab when the third graders were digging up "fossils".

We also got a visit from the Dinosaur George exhibit, which turned out to be really amazing.  I wish I could have spent another hour seeing all the fossils in the collection.

Casey learned how to stand on command and has used her cuteness to her advantage.  It's hard to resist this cute little beggar!

However, she did not find January weather very appealing.  We had lots of cold and rainy days and she had to bundle up to go for a walk.

A New Year

We got to spend a little more time with the cousins just before December ended.  Ben was so in love with little Carter!  He fed him a bottle and rocked him before his nap one day.

 

 Alex loved his little cousin, too!  Of course, everyone has to love that sweet little guy.  He's such a happy baby.

The boys were interested in baby toys again watching their cousin investigate everything.

It was cold in North Texas so Stacey and I got pretty smart when the three big boys wanted to play at the playground.  This was our view.  From the car.  With the heat running.

 

 Carter was not left out of the fun - he got to investigate all of the buttons and switches in the front seat and he was loving every minute of it!

"I got this, Mom"

He figured out the volume control on the radio and definitely had a preference for L-O-U-D.

 "This is great, Mom!  Let's do it again."

We made it back home for New Years Eve and had to stop at the fireworks stand for our little pyromaniacs.  It was quiet on the street this year but we found a few friends to celebrate with us.  So long 2014, and hello 2015!  (Just don't tell the kids it was only 8pm!)

We had a wonderful year.  I haven't really looked back yet to reflect on it, but it was a quiet and steady year which is pretty great.  I'm thankful for lovely memories of 2014 and looking forward to all that 2015 holds in store for our family!

Christmas 2014

We got to enjoy several Christmases this year and spread out the joy over several days.  Grammy and Grumpy came to spend the night and the kids got to open a few presents early.  Later, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Kirkham's where the kids found big surprises!

 

They had both outgrown their current bikes and were super excited to find bigger new ones!

After some test rides, they couldn't wait to have a look at the rest of the gifts.

We played games, rode bikes, played more, rode more, and then headed out to the Christmas eve service at church.  This is my favorite service of the year because we all go together and it's so quiet and reverent.

I love our church!  I was so glad to start our Christmas eve worshiping and celebrating Jesus.

Back at home, Alex realized he never sent a letter to Santa, so he gave a quick note to Bart to pass off to the big guy.  Translation: star burst, old maid, marble race 2nd, snap circuits (not the junior), more stuff for bugs no horizontal but vertical and more from you.  From Alex, to bart then Santa

The kids left out plenty of goodies for Santa and the reindeer.

Then they were all dressed and ready for bed!

We had to continue the picture session with the parakeets as well.

Yoshi, Alex, Blue and Ben.  Alex said he was too excited to sleep and asked for dramamine!  I was happy to help and hoped it meant we'd sleep past 5am :)

Bright and early Christmas day (we made it past 6am!), the kids were thrilled to see their new toys. Alex got the snap circuits he requested and Ben found a new mini ipad.  At first, Alex just stood in total shock that Ben got an ipad but finally looked around and realized he got one as well.

As soon as Dad asked to play on Alex's new ipad, Alex suggested that Dad open his own gift.  Turns out Santa found an awesome deal on apple products this year!

Naturally, this is how Alex wanted to spend the rest of his day....

...but we had lots of company to enjoy!  It was wonderful having everyone over for a big Christmas lunch.

Later, the kids played with some of their new toys outside.  The kids all loved testing out the mentos rocket with a bottle of diet coke.

I know it's Boxing Day in many parts of the world, but I've really come to love December 26th, known as Pajama Day at our house.  The men leave to hunt and the kids and I stay in our pajamas all day playing with new toys and watching movies.  Bonus: they don't even have to shower because they're already in pajamas at bedtime!

We played lots of games, snuggled on the couch in front of the fire, and generally rested after so much fun.  What a great Christmas.

Family Christmas Day

We had what turned out to be one of my favorite family days ever - our first good ole Kirkham family Christmas day!  We started the day off at church with lots of great Christmas music.

 

Next stop was lunch at the downtown Aquarium and the kids' first meal in front of the massive tank.  They also got little stuffed dolphins in the lobby so they stayed entertained for the whole afternoon with their new friends.

Then we went across the street to the Wortham center.  By this time, the kids were getting into the whole picture thing and started asking to have their pictures taken.  That's a rare event so I obliged.

Mr. GQ here was striking all kinds of poses!

Then it was time to see the Nutcracker!  I couldn't wait!  The boys were pretty excited, too, but Alex gets nervous about heights and he was not happy to see that we were on the first balcony.  Once the music and dancing started, he forgot all about it and got totally into the ballet.  We had just read the book at home so the boys were able to follow the story and really soak up the experience.

Afterward, we were the first ones to say hello the the Nutcracker and the Sugar Plum Fairy.

We also met a few of the soldiers in the lobby.

Alex didn't drop his autographed program, but he definitely crashed on the way home.  All the excitement wore this little guy out!  It was such a wonderful day to do some new things together and get into the spirit of the season.