Christmas Cards

Every year a keep a few of the Christmas cards that I send out and put them in Benjamin and Savannah's keepsake boxes. Well, this year we ran out. I ordered 100 and used every one of them. We only have about 5 more to send out so I've decided that those 5 people will just have to miss out this year (like they'll even notice, right?). So, I had to take a picture of the card and I'm documenting how it looks in our blog book. So kids, here you go.

P.S. Anyone out there that just throws the cards away after a while, can you save them for us so we can have one or two?

Elf of the Shelf

I have pleaded, pleaded some more, and even tried bribing but Ben just won't change his mind. Our Elf on the Shelf arrived a couple of days ago. We're supposed to name the elf. I let Ben name him. What name did he choose? First it was T-Rex. After brainstorming with him for about 15 minutes of other names (because I wasn't too excited about that one) he came up with Bird T-Rex and he won't have it any other way. So....say hello to...ahem...Bird T-Rex.


Day 1........













Day 2........














Day 3.......


















I'm sure there will be more pics to come of the silly little places he decides to hide each morning.....

Heisman

Oh yeah baby! Sic e'm Griffin!

Dear Santa.....

Here's Ben's first ever letter to Santa. He cut out all the pictures of the toys he wanted from the Target magazine and we taped them to the sheet of paper. I wrote everything but his name....good job buddy! (We practice his "N's" everyday...but you can definitely tell that's what it's supposed to be!)

I'm Really Not THAT Bad!

It's that time of year and Mommy likes to belt out Christmas tunes at the top of her lungs. However, as you can see below, Savannah isn't much of a fan of Mommy's singing........

Mamma!!! STOP SINGING!!!!!!!!!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

For the first time since David and I have been married we put up a LIVE tree this year! I'm loving it. Oh it smells so good....however it hasn't been so good for my asthma. It's worth it to me though. That's what inhalers are for!

Here's David carrying the tree....broken foot and all (notice the boot). I know, I'm mean, bless his heart. Oh, have I not mentioned he has a broken foot yet? He hit it on our couch while watching the Baylor game. Poor guy.

















The kids had a blast helping us pick it out.













Also for the first since we've been married we (or David) put up Christmas lights outside. It took him 2 days to do it....things take a little longer with a broken foot. I'm really not that mean. He said he really wanted to do it. Really, he did......ahem.













The finished product!

Camping

A couple of months ago we decided to try out camping in our backyard. (I'm just now getting around to posting pics!) It turned out great! A definite do again. The kids loved it.












Amazed at the tiki torches!

















The campsite.












Smores!













Asleep in the tent.












We didn't spend the entire night outside. We ended up carrying the kids back inside to sleep in their own beds not long after they fell asleep in the tent. Thank goodness, that night we ended up having a massive hail storm. I can't imagine being in the tent with all that happening. Probably would've scarred the kids for life! Below is a picture of just some of the hail.

Some Recent Pics

Why don't you come over here and give me a kiss?













Howdy Cowboy!












Savannah, can I take your picture? (This is her "NO" pose!)

Halloween 2011

For the first time since we've been living in our neighborhood we actually had a great turnout for Halloween. Since we've had kids we've been spending Halloween at friends' houses and trick-or-treating in their neighborhoods. However, in the last year we've had tons of families move into our neighborhood with kids around Benjamin and Savannah's age. We've loving it! This year Benjamin was Batman, Savannah was a Baylor Bear cheerleader, David was a police officer, and I was what I am every year....a ladybug.

Batman, begging to go trick-or-treating (hand on the door and ready to GO!)

















Batman begging again....PULEEEZE can we go now??????

















Savannah, please pick up your poms poms and pose. This is her "NO" stance.












Sweet Daddy and daughter moment.

















Go Baylor Bears!

















Mommy Ladybug.

Being a Wife

I've been spending the last 4 weeks reading the book of Proverbs. David and I have gotten a kick out of one proverb that is stated twice in the book; "Better to live on the corner of the roof than have a quarrelsome wife". The imagery of it makes us giggle. So does another one, "Better to live in a desert than have an ill-tempered and quarrelsome wife". I do my best to not nag, to be in a good mood, to be optimistic, and to be encouraging. But sometimes, after a long day, it's really hard to be that way. Thankfully, going back to my daily Bible reading at the end of the day ALWAYS changes my mood and attitude. The last chapter of Proverbs is written below. I love how my study Bible describes it. It is what I aim to be daily as a wife. I know I'll never hit them all at once, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying. The study portion of the Bible explains Proverbs 31 as this:

Proverbs has a lot to say about women. How fitting that the book ends with a picture of a woman of strong character, great wisdom, many skills, and great compassion. Some people have the mistaken idea that the ideal woman in the Bible is retiring, servile, and entirely domestic. Not so! This woman is an excellent wife and mother. She is also a manufacturer, importer, manager, realtor, farmer, seamstress, uphoslterer, and merchant. Her strength and dignity do not come from her amazing acheivements, however. They are a result of her reverence for God. In our society where physical appearance counts for so much, it may surprise us to realize that her appearance is never mentioned. Her attractiveness comes entirely from her character. The woman described in this chapter has outstanding abilities. Her family's social position is high. In fact, she may not be one woman at all - she may be a composite portrait of ideal womanhood. Do not see her as a model to imitate in every detail; your days are not long enough to do everything she does! See her instead as an inspiration to be all you can be. We can't be just like her, but we can learn from her industry, integrity, and resourcefulness.

Proverbs 31 10-31
A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.
She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

OH MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ever wonder what happens when a 2 year old throws a Handy Manny tool box at a 52 inch flat screen television? Wonder no more......no more T.V.

Simply Irresistible

Sweet boy.

Goth Chick

My black eyeliner went missing. Didn't take long to find out who snagged it.....

Pumpkin Patch Time!

If Democrats Had Any Brains, They Might be Repubicans

Don't let the title get you all upset...it's just a name of a book by Ann Coulter. And yes, I've read it. There's a part of me that likes Ann and another part that kind of doesn't and thinks she a little too much and could have some more tact. Anyway, on to my story. Savannah was browsing through our book shelves and pulled out this book. She got super excited and came running to me and handed me the book saying "Mamma, Mamma, Mamma, look Mamma pretty, Mamma pretty!" I'm still trying to decide if that was a compliment.................

Class Pictures

Here's their school pictures. I tell ya, these kids make me smile. :)

What Does Pain LOOK like?

Due to surgery I had on Tuesday to repair my collapsing nose (yes, I said it right, it was collapsing, it's a long story as to why it's happening and I won't go into that) I have been reminded of how low my tolerance is for pain. I just need to keep my eye on the bigger picture...once this is all done I should be able to breathe like a normal person and not have to wear Breathe Rights in order for my nose to work properly. A good note, a swollen face means no wrinkles. Cool.

Port O'Connor

We took a mini vacation to Port O'Connor last week. David was already going to be there taking a client and new employee on a fishing trip (he's got a hard job, right?) so we just decided to all go and get out of the metroplex for a while. The only thing to do in Port O'Connor is fish. I mean that. There's one gift shop, only one decent restaurant, and one little bitty grocery store. We were an hour away from the nearest big city. So while David fished from sun up to sun down on Thursday the kids and I explored the city (which didn't take long) and had some major down time. We took walks, found some swings, walked out on a pier and saw dolphins jumping around, and took a lot of long naps (yay!). The refrigerator went out in the house that we rented originally so the next day they moved us to another house with a great ocean view. Since I had already unpacked and gotten settled in the first house it was kind of a chore to repack, move, and unpack again by myself (especially since both houses had lots and lots of stairs) but it was worth it. It was such a great time to just "be". For days we had no agenda, no cell service, and no LAN line. We had to just "be". It was fantastic.

Here we are at the only restaurant in town. The cool thing about this place was we could sit out on the patio overlooking the water and we got to watch dolphins swim by as we ate. As you can see, Savannah was a little grumpy right then.













David promised Benjamin he would take him fishing. So we found some docks by the restaurant and baited up. Here's David catching a fish. The kids were so excited.













Waiting.....













Watch and learn son.















Here's Benjamin fishing.













He actually caught a fish! I took several pictures while David and Ben were in this pose and in every shot Benjamin had his eyes on the fish. He's was so amazed!













Wading in the ocean.













As David and I were placing our order at the restaurant I looked over and Savannah was taking a big sip of Daddy's margarita. Of course I stopped her as soon as I noticed but I tell you what, the look on her face after having a taste of it was priceless. She then took a 3 hour nap that day....must have been the tequila. :)

















Busted.....