Christmas with Papa & Nana

On Christmas Eve, we all went to Papa and Nana's house to celebrate with them. We did a potluck lunch -- I took homemade cheese enchiladas (which Bud helped me prepare -- wow!), Kelli took rice and beans, and Daddy and Linda provided dessert and tamales. It was a delicious lunch, but as usual, way too much and we were so full! Then we opened presents. The boys got monster trucks and a book-writing kit. Later, Ryan said his favorite Christmas present he got was the monster truck, and on Christmas Day, JD used his book-writing kit to write a book. It's called "The Tinis Racit" (aka "The Tennis Racquet") and it's all about him and Timothy playing with the tennis racquets that Timothy got for Christmas. They started fighting over the racquet, broke it, and then got it fixed by Bud using the rolls of caps that they got for their cap guns from Kelli. Hmmm....not sure how that would work exactly, but that's what the story says.

Anyway, after they opened presents, they all went outside for some play time. It was Christmas Eve but it was like 75 degrees outside. Go figure.

Then the boys posed for some pictures with Papa.

Silly faces.

Excited faces.

Sad faces.

Thinkin' faces.

Pretty faces.

Loving faces.

Papa and his 4 grandsons. Lucky guy!

Christmas Cookies

Me and the boys made Christmas cookies one night while Bud was out hog hunting. They had been asking to make some gingerbread men, so that's what we made. When I told Ryan that's what we were gonna go, the first thing he said was "Well, if we make gingerbread men, will they run away?"  Haha! I guess he's heard the Gingerbread Man story one too many times.

Then we took the cookies over to Kelli and Jason's house the next night to decorate them with all the other kiddos.

Ryan, JD and Timothy getting things started.

Ryan in mid-sprinkle.

Addison. Very precise and focused. Such a girl.

Amber and Austin.

Austin's stocking cookie.

Ryan's over-decorated gingerbread man.

JD's gingerbread man.

More of Zerg 2012

Well Zerg left us last night, headed back to the North Pole to get some rest. But he'll be back next Christmas. Here are some of the things he did since I last posted about him:

Here he is wearing Ryan's nebulizer mask. Either Zerg was trying to be silly, or he was feeling a little sick.

Roasting marshmellows over an open flame.

He brought all of us an early Christmas present --- marshmellow guns! We had fun with those.

I guess he was missing the North Pole because he spent some time in the freezer.

A Royal Ride

I can't believe the entire Christmas season went by with hardly any updates on my blog. It was a pretty eventful Christmas. We had so much fun this year! It just gets better and better each year - the more the boys understand things, the better it is.

So I guess I need to do a few posts to my blog, but let me start with JD's school program. He sang 3 songs with his 1st grade class on December 18th. But it wasn't just your typical 1st grader's Christmas program night. . . .JD and some of his friends were taken up to the school by horse and carriage. Yes, you heard right. HORSE & CARRIAGE!!! Bud's hunting buddy, Larry, has a little girl in JD's grade. Her name is Shyenne ("Shy-Shy") and she and JD are friends too. So when little Shy-Shy asked her Daddy if she could go to the school in a horse and carriage, he made it happen for his little girl. Then she invited some of her friends -- including JD, Ryan and one of her classmates, Hunter, and his little sister. So here they are -- being delivered to school like true royalty.

 Getting things ready.

Climbing on the trailer, while their chariot is being prepared.

Almost ready to go.

Shyenne is the little girl next to JD with the two missing front teeth.

Their journey started about 1/4 mile down Potranco Road. They road up Potranco to the street in front of their school and turned there. Then headed up to the school. So it was only about a 1/2 mile ride total, but with the horses slow walk, it took about 10 minutes. Traffic was completely backed up, while this royal bunch took their stroll up to schoo. Here they are, coming up the road in front of the school. You should have heard the squeals coming from their carriage. They were so excited!!

Ryan is mad because he wanted to ride again.

That was such a special treat! JD and Ryan had so much fun.

Name Blocks

The boys were so proud of themselves for spelling their names with blocks. I'm pretty proud of them too. So creative!

Zerg's Latest Adventures

Zerg has been up to some pretty funny stuff lately:

Hanging the boys' underwear on the tree.

Having a Toy Story get-together. Makes me wonder if those Toy Story toys really do come to life when no one is around watching them...???

Drawing pictures on the boys' faces.

Building with blocks.

Kids Say the Darndest Things #4

Since we put our tree up, all the rest of the Christmas decorations are still sitting out. I haven't gotten around to decorating the rest of the house yet, and I haven't put the tree skirt under the tree yet either. So Sunday night, JD threw the tree skirt over his shoulder and played like it was his Santa bag. He walked around to each of us and asked us what we wanted for Christmas. Here's what happened when he got to me:

JD: "Mom, what do you want for Christmas?"
Me: "I want my kids to learn how to listen."
JD: "Well, I guess you're not getting anything for Christmas then."

Clever.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

We got our tree on Saturday. It's a family tradition now for about the last 10 years or so - we all go out to Pipe Creek Christmas Tree Farm to choose and cut down our tree. This year, we got some good rain at just the right time, and the trees were beautiful. They were fuller and straighter than the trees we've seen there in the last several years.

Here's the one we chose:

And of course, Daddy had to cut it down for us. He always gets to do the dirty work. By this time, the boys had run off and jumped on the hay ride trailer.

 

Here's the annual "How Tall Am I?" pose.

 

We got the tree home and set up on Saturday, but after such a long day, we didn't decorate it until Sunday. Bud had a performance at church and we were just too tired to go, so me and the boys stayed home and decorated the tree. Only 2 ornament casualties, so that's not too bad! It's a beautiful tree and we're all very proud of it.

Zerg is Back!

Zerg finally came back about 4 nights ago and the boys were thrilled to see him. The first night, he was diving into the bubble gum machine and the boys thought that was hilarious!

Here are some of the other things he's been up to lately:

Taking a marshmellow bubble bath. Complete with a frog bath toy, and a snowman towel for him to clean off with. The next morning, he left quite the mess -- he got out of the bath, used the towel, and left marshmellows all over the sink. That was ok though -- Ryan ate them up as fast as he could.

The next morning, he was playing peek-a-boo with one of our ghosts.

And the next morning, he left me a note that said "Ok Mrs. Blair, it's time to take these down and put up some Christmas decorations." He's right. It was time. And I appreciated that he took them down for me. What a helpful little elf!

A Lost Tooth

JD lost his 2nd tooth on the last day of school before Thanksgiving Break, November 16. And when I say lost, I literally mean lost. His tooth was extremely loose the day before, to the point that it was causing JD some discomfort. He had wiggled it so much that his gums were sore. So on Friday, after lunch, he was watching a movie in his classroom. He reached up to wiggle his tooth.....and it was GONE!!! He thinks it must've fallen out while he was eating his corn dog at lunch. He didn't know it fell out, so he's pretty sure he swallowed it.

His teacher is terrific. When she found out about his tooth, she gave him a little bitty tooth box (wish I had a picture of the box, but we can't find it now) and they put a small pebble in it. The pebble was meant to be a replacement for his tooth. And she said she would let the Tooth Fairy know that he lost his tooth so she wouldn't forget to visit him that night. When we got home, JD put the tooth and this letter under his pillow:

The Tooth Fairy got the message --- she came that night and left a 2-Dollar-Bill under JD's pillow. He was so excited the next morning that he ran right into my room and woke me up to tell me what he'd gotten, then quickly tucked it away in his wallet.

Lots to be THANKFUL for

I'm a little behind for this, but Thanksgiving was last week and it was a pretty nice day. We had lunch/dinner scheduled at Beau & Stacie's at 2pm and nothing going on before that other than cooking and baking. I made sweet potato casserole for the first time (delicious!!) and turkey cupcakes. I got the idea for these at our Thanksgiving potluck at work the week before, except they had been made with chocolate cake and icing. I wanted to do more of a Thanksgiving cupcake so I made the cupcakes using a pumpkin bread recipe, and homemade pumpkin buttercream icing. They were so yummy, if I do say so myself!!!

 

A week or so before Thanksgiving, JD had his Thanksgiving luncheon at school so several of us went up there and ate with him -- Nanie, Bada, Jason, Kelli, Nana, Papa and me. JD was excited to see all of us, but not excited about the food. So I brought him a lunch while the rest of us at the school's Thanksgiving meal, which was surprisingly good. Here's a picture of all of us --- except Jane refuses to look at the camera. For some reason, I can't get her to look at me when I take pictures. Hmmm....

 

Little C's (Case) first Thanksgiving meal. He is such a happy little guy and has the sweetest, most precious smile. And those two bottom teeth make him look like the perfect Gerber baby.

 

Thanksgiving this year was really nice and enjoyable. On Friday morning, we had my dad, Linda, Kelli, Jason and the boys over to our house for breakfast. We decided on breakfast this year because it gets too difficult to drag the kids around to multiple places on Thanksgiving Day, eating big meals at each house. That can really turn a nice holiday into a stressful, exhausting event. So instead, we did it over two days, and it worked out great. 

 

Splitting it up allowed us to enjoy the holiday, and gave us a chance to reflect on all the things for which we are thankful, and perhaps tend to take for granted throughout the year. First of all, I'm thankful to God for His love, His blessings, and the comfort in knowing that He is always there. I'm so thankful for Bud, JD, Ryan, my parents, sister, and the rest of my family. I have a solid family circle that loves me unconditionally and accepts me, even with all my flaws. I'm also thankful for my in-laws and all they've done over the last few years -- sacrificing their freedoms to take care of my kiddos so I can work. And my sister-in-law and brother-in-law who have lived down the street from us for about a year now. They've helped out with the kids several times, have come through with various grocery items when I've run short at home (ie, sugar, eggs, etc), and are always here for us if we need anything. I have some really great friends, and a wonderful church filled with people who care about me and my family. I'm thankful for my job, even though I complain about it sometimes. I'm thankful for my home which keeps us cool in the blistering summers and warm in the winter, and provides a place for our kids to feel safe, loved and the freedom to be themselves. I'm thankful for me and my family's health -- we are so blessed to have that and I pray to God everyday that he continues to bless us with good health. There's so much to be THANKFUL for and we should strive to remind ourselves of all those things every single day, not just on Thanksgiving.