Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We hope yours was wonderful!

Ready, set, go!

Don't all babies love to be slid through the house in a laundry basket? Cameron certainly does!
John had lots of fun whizzing him back and forth in the hall a few days ago.

Cameron had no complaints, only that it had to end.

Nativity Night

We had a nice evening setting up our nativity scene and reading the Christmas story together. The kids really liked reading about each piece and it's significance. It was a great reminder about the meaning of the season that can sometimes get lost in the shuffle.

Reindeer

Brooke's class dressed up as reindeer for a little project they were doing and I snapped some pictures of them. She was pretty thrilled about it. Cameron was there watching me and was so interested in the antlers that I had to let him try them on too! He loved that, of course. He always wants to do what the big kids are doing!

Running . . .

Cameron's new favorite thing to do is run. It doesn't matter if he has anywhere to go, he just likes to run. Last night he ran around the living room, back and forth and in circles, for over an hour. He screams in delight and laughs, then keeps running. It's very cute to watch. He's just so happy to be getting around like one of the big kids. I need a little of that enthusiasm for running to rub off on me!

Everyday health

So, my latest craze is to to get in shape and slim down. I'm watching what I eat and kicking up the exercise. I know holidays are a hard time to do it, but hey, there's no time like the present! Right?

Anyhoo... since I've got dieting on the brain, I've been doing a lot of reading and looking for tips. I came across this web site that I am now in love with. www.everydayhealth.com Seriously, check it out.

It has so many awesome features that I am finding very useful. It has a food journal that calculates foods nutritional value for you. Just about everything you can think of is already in their database with it's nutritional information entered. everything from fresh fruit to store bought salad dressings or SUBWAY sandwiches is in there. All I have to do is select my food and serving size and it keeps a tally of what I'm eating. I have a running total of calories eaten each day, measured against my goal. It makes it really easy to see where I am in comparison to where I want to be. It also has entries for exercise and it calculates calories burned. It has pie charts and graphs of your food intake, your weight and measurements, etc, etc. It's pretty handy, indeed. And TOTALLY FREE, I haven't found any catch at all.

As a good friend advised me recently, it's better to let everyone know if you're trying to diet, because then you'll have to be accountable to them. So, I'm officially declaring that I'm on a diet. It worked for her, that's for sure! I've been inspired to get in shape and that's my plan. Next time you see me, expect results! :-)

Thanksgiving in San Diego . . .

Yes, I mean Texas, not California. You may not have heard of it before today, but now you have. It's a great little town in south Texas that is home to John's Aunt, Uncle and cousins. We had a great visit with them for Thankgiving and enjoyed the wedding the next day.

John's cousin made a beautiful bride. Brooke was so excited to be there and to see her in her lovely dress, of course. It was fun for all of us. Especially John, who got to see family relatives that he hasn't seen in years. I'm really glad we made it down there.

This is one cool Tia!

What do I do every day?

Well, this will give you an idea . . .

I laugh at my cute little boy and the messes he makes! This is a bag of Chex mix that he got out of Austin's backpack and dumped on the couch to snack on.

At least he shares though!

How can I help do anything but smile at that face?

And then I kick myself for not getting things up out of his reach! He's a sneaky little fellow and he likes to dump stuff out, but I sure do love him. I'd clean up after him everyday of the week . . . oh wait, I already do that. :-)

Oh, you better watch out . . .

Santa is coming to town, and our kids visited with him early this Christmas Season! Austin and Brooke were thrilled to see him and each had a nice chat about how he was doing and what they'd like for Christmas. They both talked with him about their previous encounters and conversations they've had with him in the past. :-)
Brooke even asked him if he remembered when she used to cry when she saw him. They agreed that it was silly. It was cute. Cameron was not so thrilled to have a visit with a stranger, but he cooperated enough to snap a photo.


Thanksgiving's over folks . . . here comes Christmas!

Budding artist

Austin drew this dinosaur one day recently and I loved it,

so I thought I'd share it!

I love thoughtfulness

I just love thoughtful gestures. I think they are my primary love language. (According to the book I'm reading, we each have one.) :-) I think it must also be why I like to do things here and there for those people that I care about. If we like it, someone else probably will too, right? Anyhoo. . .

It just makes my day when someone does something nice to me or for me or for one of my kids or husband. One kind act will "fill my bucket" for weeks, months or even years as I think back about it. I just like nice people. Sometimes people don't even realize that nice little things are a big deal. But they are to me.

My Mom is thoughtful, she always remembers special occasions and is great at sending the kids Valentines day cards etc . . . despite having like 30 grand kids, she remembers every one. Anyway - yesterday I had a nice surprise. My Mom sent me a box in the mail, just because. It was filled with a sweet note and a couple of little things for me to do for myself one day when I have some time. It was nothing lavish, but it was simple and thoughtful and it made me feel her love from far away. It was so nice, which of course I like.

Another thing this week that put a smile on my face was a little treat left on our porch by a friend. Again, it wasn't lavish, just thoughtful. And I felt loved and remebered again, when I specifically needed it. I guess this is just a reminder for myself that little things can make a big difference to other people. You may not think so, but showing love in the smallest of ways might mean a lot to someone else. So, don't be shy, go ahead . . . do something nice for someone! 'Tis the season, right? :-)

I'm thankful for LAUNDRY??

Of course, this time of year we all have hearts full of Thanksgiving. It is a topic on our minds and of discussion around our homes. I am no exception. I have so very much to be thankful for. My blessings are innumerable and obvious. With the most obvious being my precious family, whom I adore.

However, sometimes we hear or see or talk to someone who brings to our attention just how grateful we should be. This can come at unexpected moments, no matter what time of year. I had one of those moments this week.

Anyone who knows me well is aware that I hate laundry. It's just not my thing. I always have a lot of it clean needing to be folded and put away. I always have a lot of it dirty needing to be washed. I always have piles to sort and hang and there is always an endless supply of socks to match. It's the job that I never seem to be done with and can't ever seem to stay ahead of. I hate laundry. I say it pretty often and think it even more often than I say it.

Well, John's parents came up for a very pleasant visit this past week. While they were here, the topic of laundry came up in conversation. (more with John than me, since it was in Spanish with his Mom.) John is one of 7 kids and he casually asked his Mom how she kept up with laundry when all her kids were small. She agreed that it was a challenge. Then she went on to explain that for most of the years that her kids were small they were in Mexico without washing machines. She literally washed her laundry on a wash board and hung it to dry. This included the diapers, which she made. Many of our parents used cloth diapers, right? Well, they didn't have money to buy cloth for diapers, so she cut up the bags that flour came in and boiled them. This made the material soft and cloth like, so that it would work well for diapers. After hearing that, I had a new respect for her and the challenges that she has overcome in her life. She worked hard to take care of my husband and his siblings, much harder than I have to work.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm grateful that I have a functioning washer and dryer to assist in my laundry duties. And I'm also thankful that I can buy diapers, change them and throw them away, instead of washing, re-using and then making more myself. And I suppose I should be thankful for all the laundry we have, because it's a lot better than not having clothes at all. So today I tried to do laundry with a better attitude and it wasn't so bad. I've been enjoying the holiday break time with my kids too, so that made it even better. (they put their own stuff away! :-) I reminded myself today that with the right attitude, we can be thankful for everything in life, even things we thought we hated, like laundry.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Music performances

Music Perofrmance day at school!

Our kids have been singing their songs around the house and talking about it for weeks, and the day finally came! They were both very excited to participate in their concerts during music class.

John and I thoroughly enjoyed attending our our kids music performances the past couple of days. They both did an excellent job and we were so proud of them! They love their music teacher. She must have the magic touch with kids, because even our little Brookie gave quite the performance. It was very fun and very cute. Even Cameron watched attentively and smiled during the songs. Then he congratulated the kids with bug hugs and kisses, of course!

Celebration with Andy

We celebrated Andy's arrival and recent birthday with a little "mock Thanksgiving" dinner. John had fun making a turkey and some fixins. Austin and Brooke had fun decorating a cake for him. I enjoyed helping and eating, of course! Most of all, we enjoyed a fun visit and birthday dinner with Andy Boy!

Cameron's One Year Picture

It's been a couple of months now, but I never posted this picture of Cameron at one year. It was a very cute stage with just one top tooth coming into that cute smile. He's changed so much already. He's still lots and lots of fun though!

Simplify

This is my new goal for our family. Simplify. We are all tired of being so "busy." Our days got too full there for a while and we couldn't even spend quality time together. We were too busy running off to the next practice or event that we had enrolled ourselves in. Well, we're opting out of the chaos for a while. John and I have decided that there's no need for the packed full, relentless schedule we previously had for our kids. They aren't going to miss the opportunity to be world class athletes if they skip a season of sports. So, we're skipping this season. We're gonna spend more quality time together, get more rest and focus on just being happy with life. It's a refreshing break, actually!

I'm trying to focus on simplicity around our house too. We have accumulated so much stuff over the years that I feel like I have stuff of every kind creeping out of every drawer, counter, closet and corner of our home. I'm working on cleaning things out, in hopes that there will be less to maintain. I'm hoping that it will be easier to keep things organized if there are less things around. Here's to hoping and lots of sorting!

I've decided that life in general could really benefit from a healthy dose of simplification. It's really the simple things that give us the most results in the end, you know, the basics. These basics may be different for different people, but regardless, it's our choices that seem relatively simple that form our habits and make us who we are. If we do the simple things that matter each day, pretty soon we've laid a foundation for health & happiness. That may or may not make sense to anyone else, but it makes sense to me. So, I'm trying to simplify. That's my goal, at least for today. And that's the end of my babbling. . . atleast for today. :-)

Enchanted Rock with Andy

We all had a great day at Enchanted Rock with Andy. It's so beautiful there and the weather was absolutely perfect. We had a fabulous time and here is a little sample of our fun.

Fun with hair . . .

Brookie and I have been itching to try sponge rollers in her hair forever, so we finally got around to it a couple weeks ago. (OK, so I admit it was me that's been itching to try it, not so much her.) But she was excited about it. She felt very funny and acted silly with them in.

She slept in the rollers and woke up to find that her hair holds curl rather well. She had a very cute head full of VERY curly curls. It was fun for a day, but I haven't been able to convince her to try again. These pictures were after a day of school, still all curled up! Doesn't she look cute curly??

You know, my husband tends to travel now and then, so what can I say?? Brooke and I had a little fun with Cameron's pretty hair one day while Daddy was away. . . Doesn't he look cute? I thought so. :-)
What a naughty Mama.

That's some pig!

John made this pig for a youth activity last weekend.

He had so much fun doing it and was quite proud of the end result.
Pretty cute target for teenagers to throw darts at huh??

Austin and Brooke had fun throwing darts at if for a few days on our back porch as well. Poor little pig!
It finally bit the dust a few days ago, but it was fun while it lasted!

Halloween Festivities Slideshow

We had lots of fun this Halloween, from trunk or treat to trick or treat, carving pumpkins, and movies in the yard. Here are a few shots of our kids and friends having a good time.
There are some shots of us carving pumpkins with friends. We had fun doing that and Austin's pumpkin was a cool wolf howling at the moon, but it didn't last long. We put the pumpkins out on our porch that night and you'll notice the shot of the morning after. The deer had his wolf head for dinner.
He wasn't happy about that at all!

Cameron pretty much LOVED Halloween. He is a candy-a-holic and thought it was so awesome to have people handing it to him so freely! Brooke and Austin were great at looking out for him and they had fun trick or treating all together.

We had a blast at our friends Halloween party and ended the night at their house watching a movie out side in the front yard. It was projected up on their garage door. It was a great time for everyone!

Wildcatter Ranch

John and I had lots fun at this ranch for our anniversary. We were so grateful that my mom was able to come and stay with our kids while we got a way for a couple of days. We had fun shooting guns, riding horses, and going to the spa, of course. It was a nice trip!

Don't we look like real TEXANS???

Halloween fun at school!

Austin and Brooke both enjoyed some Halloween fun at school this year. They had storybook character dress up day on Halloween. The kids dressed as a character from a book and brought the book in to share with the class.

Brooke was Belle, from Beauty and the Beast, and yes, we have the book. :-)

Austin was a fisherman from Moby Dick. He had just finished reading that book and really enjoyed. it. We put these tattoos on his face of a mustache and beard and wow were they difficult to get off of his skin!

You'd have thought they were permanent! Cute though! Austin's class got to carve pumpkins and count the seeds the day before Halloween, which they enjoyed. John and I were both there to help with that project. It's fun when Daddy can make it up to the school. Brooke's class had lots of fun playing games and doing Halloween activities at different centers. She had fun doing that too and I had fun helping. It was a great school day!

Happy Fall to you!

Cameron has experienced several falls himself this week. He's turning out to be a pretty tough kid. Yesterday he climbed the stairs while I was in the shower and John had walked into another room. Once at the top, he was thrilled to find one of Brooke's flip flops. He didn't realize that trying to sit at the top of the stairs and fumble with a flip flop was a bad idea for a baby and down he tumbled. He fell all the way down, banging and screaming as we fell. John came running just in time to cushion his final landing from the tile. I ran in just after that, because I heard all the commotion. What a trooper, Cameron made it out bumped and scared but was smiling again after a few minutes of snuggling.

Today he celebrated fall again! The new skill of walking sometimes fails him and he falls down fairly often. He's always quick to hop back up and keep at it. The falling doesn't seem to phase Cameron, usually. Today was the exception. As he toddled along in the hallway, he lost his balance and tripped. He fell and hit his face right on the tile. In doing so, his new top teeth bit right into his bottom lip and almost cut right through it. He was instantly bleeding all over the place and was very upset. It was a little scary. Austin and Brooke both got really upset as well, just seeing Cameron bleeding and screaming. It was sweet that they were so worried about him. As it turns out, a few minutes of Mama snuggling and a little clean up were all it took to put a smile back on his face. (and some Motrin, of course.) His lip stopped bleeding and the cut seems to already be healing up. He'll have a fat lip and cut there for a little while, to be sure, but it could have been much worse. I'm so glad our little buddy is such a tough little guy and that he wasn't hurt too badly with these couple of falls. It's still easy to put a smile back on his face.

What more could we ask for?

Field Trip

Brooke had lots of fun on her first Kindergarten field trip last week! We went to a place called Crowe's nest farm where the kids got to go on a hay ride, see all sorts of animals, have a picnic and pick out a pumpkin. Cameron and I joined Brooke and her class for the fun. It was a nice day for everybody. Brooke was so big riding on the bus.

It just so happened that I passed the bus on the road during a time of slow moving traffic. I had the pleasure of seeing my little Brookie's face out the window waving at me and blowing me kisses. It was so cute!

watch me walk . . .

This was a few days ago, taken by cell phone, so it's not the best quality, but as you can see . . . although it's a little wobbly, we seem to have finally mastered the skill of walking! Go Cameron go!

Bobcat Badge

Austin earned his first Scouting award this past week! He participated in his first flag ceremony too. He looked
so grown up in his uniform, but so little trying to carry that big flag! He could barley keep it up off the ground.
Austin earned his Bobcat award and his first bead towards his Wolf badge. He's very excited about Cub Scouts and since I'm his den leader, we're learning all about it together. It's fun to share it with him.

compliment . . .

I am leaving tomorrow to go to Time Out for Women for 2 days and was talking to my kids this evening about the plans while I am away.

They asked me what the thing was that I was going to and I explained that it was a class to teach me things about how to be a better Mommy.

Brooke looked at me with a curious look and said,"You don't need that."

Then Austin chimed in and said, "Yeah, you've already passed that class. You're the greatest Mom ever."

Of course, I loved to hear that and thought it was worth remembering and writing down. I sure adore my kids and their unconditional love. It's awesome!

Baptism Guests

I never got any photos added of all the family that came to support Austin on his Baptism Day. So, here's a little sampling of them. We were so glad everyone could be here with us. It made it extra special for Austin to have you all here.