Christmas 2014

Here we are again at another holiday season.  We are out of town for most of our Christmas break, and attend lots of family Christmases (6 to be exact).  This year was wonderful.  My kids' gifts fit their personalities perfectly, and no one was over the top.  The kids were grateful enough to meet my expectations, and it was fun.  It was a little stressful with Ollie being one this year and being off schedule with all the traveling.  Last year was much more relaxing when she was an infant.  Anyhoo...it was a nice time spent with family and being grateful for our time together and everyone's health.

My Perfect Christmas Card, Decoded

SPOILER ALERT: This is the Christmas card that will be gracing your mailboxes soon- hope I didn't ruin it for anyone!

I read an article recently about how Christmas cards are like Facebook where people only want to portray their lives in this perfect little package (psshhh, who does that??!!) Our family picture stories were so funny this year, I had to share what was behind those cute photos.

First off, see that precious picture where she is whispering in his ear and he has that dreamy, loving look in his eye? She happens to be telling him that she hates him. Yes, good character at it's finest. How do I know? Well, because a split second before, he was being ugly to her, and a split second after, he was screaming about her whispering "I hate you".

Oh, and that family shot of us all walking hand in hand? Look very closely. One child is crying. She is pouting because Brother is squeezing her hand as hard as he can.

The baby is being held in every picture because if we put her down, she screamed. Want proof? Here you go.

 Also, she is old enough to get in on the action. She looks like she's making a silly face in this photo. She's making that face because she is pulling Brother's hair.

To top it all off, like any sane person, I stressed about outfits for 2 months. Color scheme was easy because I found my oldest daughter's outfit first (on clearance- bonus!), and it was fairly easy to find everyone else's outfit, but not my own. After an entire 7 hours in and out of stores looking for the perfect outfit (actually, the idea that was in my head), I ended up ordering some stuff online in multiple sizes. I finally narrowed it down and had jeans, a blouse, cardigan, jewelry, boots, etc., only costing a small fortune. I then ran into a discount store the week before pictures because My son sprung on me that he needed dress slacks for band. There was a cute little navy and cream sweater for $9.99! I loved it. I grabbed it and bought it. The morning of pictures I'm thinking that cute little sweater matches our color scheme, and I will be much more comfortable in jeans that I've owned for 3 years! And, there you have it. The upside was I got to return the other small fortune of an outfit.

So there it is, folks--a little breakdown of our two hour photo shoot that resulted in our precious little Christmas card portraying a perfectly put together little family! Anything but perfect, but perfectly a mess!

Thanksgiving

I'm so thankful for my life every day! We had a really low key Thanksgiving day. We visited with grandma Liz and fed the horses, then went over to eat some Thanksgiving leftovers with Gran and Meme. We waited until Friday to have our  traditional Thanksgiving meal with my family so that both Uncles were off work. It was a great day relaxing, playing games, and laughing.

Robotics for Baylor

Baylor's robotics team ended up winning a special award and now they are going to state! I don't know what that means for us, but probably a trip somewhere! He was so excited to tell us yesterday because we didn't stay for the whole meet. I'm so glad to see him excited about something.

Halloween 2014

On the Move!

Ollie is up and walking and almost 11 months! Small spurts, but walking nonetheless. I wanted to say "I can't believe how fast she's growing", but that wouldn't be true. I can most certainly believe it. I knew exactly how fast this was going to go. There are times when I wish that all my kids were closer and that I had them all younger (like when it's so hard to lose this pregnancy belly fat at 36), but those thoughts are fleeting. I'm more often thankful that there were so many years between each of them and I as I grew older, I learned so much more about being present in those years and soaking it in.  I watched Ollie plod up the stairs the other night as I followed closely behind, those fat, baby hands  hands hitting every step and her looking back with pride after she steadied herself on each new stair. I thought, "Oh no, I'm going to forget this". And I probably would if I didn't talk about here, but I tried to soak it up and lock it my brain anyway!

Adeline is in Kinderarten already, after all! It doesn't seem like long ago she was doing all the same things, and I don't remember any vivid thoughts of her baby hands and chubby legs. And Baylor is a whole different story. That boy is a preteen! I was such a baby when I had him, I don't even know with certainty that I knew to slow down, take time, and burn those memories in my brain. One day I'll be thankful for the stories on this little blog, and hopefully so will my kids. Or they'll be mortified...but that's the chance we take as mommies!

Ollie 9 1/2 Months

Time sure is going fast with this cutie!  She has decided to just started standing around without holding on, and she got 2 teeth this week!

Fun at Crossfit Competition

This past weekend was a competition in Katy.  We only took Ollie and Adam place 25th out of a bunch of young ones!  I am beyond proud.

1st Day of School 2014

We have another school-ager in the house! Baylor, 7th grade, and Adeline's first day of Kindergarten!  Mom is still teaching 2nd grade.

 Adeline and Mrs. Fore

Happy 5th Birthday Adeline

Happy birthday to this sweet girl! 5 years old! This will be such a big year starting kindergarten and learning all sorts of new things. She is so dramatic and such a go getter.  She will try anything and is fearless.  I hope she stays that way forever. We had a mermaid party this year and made lots of cute little "under the sea" treats thanks to Pinterest. Adeline, of course, got socked in the eye with the bat while busting the pinata. This was no surprise to anyone.  She is definitely not new to accidents.

No More Training Wheels

Today was the nicest day ever! And my hope is that somewhere in this craziness of our lives, we are supplying our kids with the "training wheels" for life. When we think every day that they're just not getting it, and then, on rare occasions, they show us that they can ride!!

 Baylor and Adeline spent the whole morning outside learning how to ride her bike with no training wheels. They were so excited when they came in and announced that she could do it. I didn't even believe them. Adeline told Adam, "You're going to be so proud when you see!"

I was so proud, to say the least! These days are very few and far between, but proof that there is love between those siblings! Baylor came and asked if I would take him to the store so he could use his allowance money to buy he and Adeline ice cream because she did so well. I could hear pride in his voice that I've never heard before. Yes, yes and yes!!

We all got ready for bed, usual routines, and after things calmed down, I went to check on her. She was nowhere to be found. I found her in Baylor's bed. She was asleep with her pillow, blanket & pillow pet! It was such a proud day, and one that I don't want to forget.

Cousin Visit

We started off this summer with a visit from Uncle John, Aunt Laura, Collin and Katherine! We went to the beach, went crabbing, did lots of swimming, and got to watch the Friday night fireworks in Kemah.  It was a  great weekend.  Looking forward to visiting Dallas in July for Collin's birthday.

In Honor of Father's Day

We have a couple of rotten boards under our eave, and my husband is going nowhere near that! So, I, in all of my "we're-so-poor-because-husband-started-business" glory, have been stalking the how-to internet videos, convincing myself that I can do this.

It's easy to focus on everything my husband does NOT do & it got me thinking about everything he does.

There once was a good chunk of years where I was convinced that MY husband was going to grow into the kind of man I was used to growing up around. The kind of man both my brothers had become, the kind of man my dad and pawpaw are. You know, the ones that work hard and never get bored, and can fix anything, and figure out how to fix it when they don't succeed the first time. The kind who own yard tools and garage tools and work clothes and jumper cables. Those men know where spark plugs are located in vehicles and change their own oil. You know, all of those absurd things! 

I later realized he would not ever grow to be this man. That's not who I married. But luckily so, because we would definitely butt heads. We are the epitome of opposites, and that's such a fabulous thing for us and our children. We balance each other perfectly. My kids have a dad who adds the compassion, laughter, calm, and patience where I lacked. He has taught me to laugh at mistakes, not sweat the small stuff, give people the benefit of the doubt, take risks, and love all all things .

You know, "make lemonade" and all those other "cliche" things. 

Now, I've taught him a couple of things, too, but that's a whole other post!

My kids have a dad who loves their mother. Loves, loves their mother!!

They have a dad who does dishes, does laundry, vacuums, changes diapers, and bathes kids.

They have a dad who cooks breakfast every morning, waits for the bus, and brings them to school.

They have a dad who laughs at pre-teen obnoxiousness when I can't take another minute of it.

They have a dad who's calm heart can instantly put a baby to sleep.

They have a dad who prays for our family, cares about our health, and wants us all to live a better life.

And, they have a dad who wants to give them everything he has. Every part of him  and every thing he will work for.

So, when he still won't fix a couple of rotten boards? I'll let that slide.

Self-Sustained with Squash

Yes, we live in the middle of the city. Yes, I would love to live on a farm somewhere and be self-sustainable, but that is not going to happen anytime soon.  In the meantime, we have squash!
We planted our very first garden this year, and Adam is so impressed with the fact that it actually worked, that he is taking great care of it.  He and Adeline go out every day and harvest the squash, zucchini, and cucumbers.  We are still waiting on the dozens of tomatoes.  Their boots sit outside the back door for when they walk out, and it's just the cutest thing ever! 

Look Who's Sitting Up

Such a cutie!  We went for her six month checkup, and the doctor asked if she was sitting up yet.  I said no, and the Dr. said "yeah, I bet she can sit up." So, of course, we run straight home and try.  Viola!!