Catch Up...

It's been a while since I've posted for a couple of reasons. First, after the visit to Scott's parents' home, we traveled to my parents' place in Odem on Dec. 28th. My parents still have dial-up so I didn't even attempt to get on the net. I think it would have driven me a little crazy if I had. Second, we visited my brother's home in Cat Spring on Jan. 4th where we stayed till we came home on the 6th. At Kevin's, I didn't get much time to do much but play with the kids because Ian was/is having a separation anxiety issues. So, now that I'm home, I can catch up a little because the trip to TX was quite an eventful one.

The drive to my parents' home is about 3-3.5 hours long. It was uneventful :) but that evening we got together with some friends from medical school - two other couples, each with two children. The children hit it off right away which was great for the adults, not so great for the cat, Sammy. At one point, the children had formed a pack and chased Sammy around until one of the adults had to step in. It was very nice to catch up with everyone.

The next day, Dawna and Kevin came to my parents' home. We had 6 adults and 5 children sleeping in a 3 bedroom house. All the children had Superman sleeping bag pallets on the floor. My children are not used to sleeping in the same bedroom, so the thought it was the coolest thing in the world. They wanted to play instead of sleep, so unfortunately, either Daddy or I had to stand guard outside the door so that things wouldn't get out of control.

We opened our Christmas stockings together and Great Grandma and Aunt Lucy joined us. The kids received plenty of chocolate and bubble blower.

We took a trip into Houston today to check out all the Christmas decorations at the Galleria. The children really enjoyed seeing the ice skaters, the enormous Christmas tree and ornaments.

This afternoon, it was nice to see a cold front blow through. The temperature dropped 20 degrees in a matter of minutes. We got the kids outside to play in the cooler weather. Again, they had a great time with the huge ornaments in the trees.

Lupe Tortilla's!

Yesterday was a pretty lazy day. Oma and I hung out with kids, while Opa and Daddy played golf. It was pretty warm, so the kids played outside for a while. Payton and Ian really like Opa and Oma's big yard. There are lots of rocks, trees, and balls to play with. You see, Opa and Oma have golf balls littering the yard for Opa's short game practice. For the holidays Oma and Opa also have decorated the trees in the front yard with very large ornaments. The effect is actually pretty cool and the kids think it's great. The adults are quite entertained with them as well, especially those that play golf because now there are targets to hit for their short game.

In the evening we met our friends, the Mabie family for supper at one of our favorite Mexican food places, Lupe Tortilla's. They have the best beef fajitas I've ever had. We met them at the Lupe Tortilla's in the Woodlands which is about an hour and a half drive from Scott's parents' house. So the kids were ready to run around when we got there. Lupe's has a huge sand box for the kids to play with which was perfect for our wound up kids. Unfortunately, by the time we left our children were covered in sand. But it was great to catch up with John and Gwynne. They are expecting child #3 (much braver couple than Scott and I) and we wish them all the luck :) Payton and Jake (who is 4 years old) even had lots to talk about. It was so cute when Payton asked Jake, 'Do you go play outside at your school too?'

Merry Christmas!

What's Christmas without family and/or friends? It just wouldn't be the same. We are very blessed to be able to be with our family this Christmas. Scott, the kids and I flew out of Charlotte yesterday morning and arrived in Houston at 10:30 am. We hung out with Oma and Opa and Kennedy (Scott's niece) for the afternoon. Then we went over to Kevin and Dawna's home in Cat Spring for my family's traditional Christmas Eve supper before church. My parents were there along with (of course) Kiera, Kaylee and Kevin, Jr. The cousins started playing like they saw each other yesterday. Everyone was so excited to be together. All the kids looked so adorable in their Christmas outfits.

Today, we had Christmas with Scott's family. It's been a balmy 70-something degrees, so the kids have been outside playing quite a bit today. It's nice to have a little break from the 30-50 degree weather in North Carolina.

Santa came early to our house (on the 23rd) because of our trip to Texas. We told Payton that since we would be in Texas on Christmas day, Santa was coming early to our house. 'Why?' she asked. I tried to explain that maybe there would be presents that we wouldn't be able to take on the plane, so he needed to come to our house early. She seemed to accept it. I think she's trying to make sense of it all - like why does she get presents from Santa and Grandpa and Grandma? She hasn't quite computed this in her head yet. She's a smart cookie, so I don't know how long we'll be able to keep up the Santa charade. Payton is in to the Littlest Pet Shop Pets, so she got a Pet Shop for all her pets to play in. Ian loves 'choo choos' (trains), so we got him a mountain train set with an airport, so we can change up our current tracks. Then the kids also got a parking garage complete with an elevator, car wash, and gas pump. I was so excited for Payton and Ian to open their presents, so I could play with them.

Payton's School Program and Christmas Party

Payton had her school Christmas program on Thursday night. The preschool and Pre-K classes combined to perform their program. The preschool were the cutest little angel band (of course, I'm not partial or anything). Payton wore a little angel dress and cut-out wings. She didn't do anything too embarrassing. The worst she did was play with her tongue and open and close her mouth like a fish. She did seem a little distracted sometimes. She kept looking behind her at the star, the bell and the other angels. They sang about 10 songs and the pre-K had some speaking parts. It was all very darling, and Scott and I were very proud.

On Friday, Payton had her Christmas (pajama) party at school. I was in charge of organizing the parent's role in it which was pretty simple - cupcakes, fruit, paper goods and a game. But, I felt I had to hang around all morning. Ian seemed to have a great time. The game we planned was Christmas picture bingo, where the kids place an M&M on the picture when it was called. Some of the kids actually played while others just ate the M&Ms. My two children fell in the latter category. And once Payton's M&Ms were gone she complained that she didn't have enough for the game. When Ian finished his, he just went off to play.

Getting ready for Christmas

We have the tree up and our decorations out. But, of course, Payton wanted to put lights out in front of the house. And actually, Daddy was happy to oblige his little daughter. Saturday, they spent several hours together putting lights on our front porch and back deck. Ian tried to stay outside with his sister and Daddy, but he needed to come in more often to warm up. The weather was actually not too bad. It was in the 50s, but sunny. The lights are modestly done, but Payton's already asking for a manger scene for next year.

We've also been making Christmas cookies and candies. The kids love helping with cookies, each for their own reasons. Payton likes using the rolling pin, cutting out cookies, and putting sprinkles on them. Ian just likes to eat the dough and the sprinkles :) It's fun to pass on this tradition to my kids like my mom did to me.

Payton's Christmas Program

Payton participated in her first Christmas program at church on Sunday. She attends the 2 and 3 year old Sunday school class. The 2 and 3 year olds were cast in the role of sheep and were to sing 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'. Some of the 2 year olds weren't all there, but Payton was in front of the microphone, so we could hear her pretty well. Overall, the program was short and sweet. Payton did very well even though she had a hard time with her sheep ears.