Christmas 2008

I have no clue what order all these pictures are in so I'm not going to bother putting captions between all of them. We celebrated Christmas Eve here in town since Mark obviously has to be at both services. The first service was a family service and it was really moving. Santa made a special appearance while the kids were at the chancel and he bowed in front of the manger, took his hat off and prayed silently. Then they sang "Away in a Manger" and I couldn't help but tear up. We came home to open our gifts since we were traveling early the next morning. Ben and Ella were the most dressed up for the service, warranting a photo with their handsome father. Ben was given a suit a few months ago and has begged to wear it so he put his ensemble together. The kid, that I can hardly get to brush his teeth, clip his nails or even take a shower, was dressed to the nines. Go figure.

We have over the past few years changed the way we celebrate with gift giving and it continues to be modified. I spoke to a dear friend of mine from college, the week before Christmas and she and her husband and 5 boys celebrate the holidays a little differently as well and I hope next year to incorporate some of their ideas too. The kids ask for one big item, and then we purchase two to three other small things for them. Unfortunately, the older the boys gets, that ONE item often costs way more than I'd like it to but we start to shop as early as we can. Max got the IPOD touch, Ben got a PSP, MT got a new bike, and Ella got Jungle in my Pocket. They also got a large gift that Mark has been working hard on all week, and finally finished assembling today, the basketball hoop. It's in ground with a 54" inch backboard. Thanks Beegee, the kids along with all the neighborhood kids, love it! Santa only brings what goes in their stockings in an attempt to not focus too much on him as much as we do the birth of our Saviour.

We traveled to Dallas Christmas morning and had a wonderful weekend with my family. Beegee was there along with my aunt, uncle, cousin and her new "friend" and we really enjoyed each other's company. The kids learned a new domino game and quickly caught on, called Chicken Foot. We shopped, ate, went to a movie, ate some more and sat around talking. It's always great to go home.

Hard to believe 2008 is almost over. We're staying home tonight, rented a few flicks, and will ring in the new year more than likely sound asleep. I can't stay up that late anymore. No more babies waking us up at all hours, so we sleep pretty soundly around here. The kids continue to grow faster than we'd like at times, but they're great and we're very proud of all of them. 2008 has brought a lot of joy to our family, new surroundings and new adventures. Some like the hurricane, we hope not to repeat next year, but we're prayerful that 2009 will be just as joyful. Happy New Year to all of you too!

Snow?!

Snow?! Yes, snow! Last night around 10:30 I heard sleet falling and went out back to pull in a large hibiscus we have in a pot and thought to myself, "this is very odd for southeast Texas." Then this morning at 5:30 a.m. the phone rang and it was the school district alerting us to a delay in school, the kids didn't have to be there until 10. So Mark got up out of bed and looked out our window and said, "your'e not going to believe this, but we have snow." So at 7 the kids got up and were just shocked to see snow. MT said, "it's not supposed to snow in Texas." They immediately wanted to get out snow bibs, hats, gloves and boots, all things that we've had packed up in a box in the attic since we moved from New York. So Mark obliged and they sorted through things they hadn't worn in two years, obviously things were a little snug. Ella put on a hat that she used to wear when she was a baby.

They went outside to throw snow balls and make a snowman and one of our neighbors rushed up to them and said, "I've never seen snow. Please don't mess up my yard, it's so pretty." It was so fun to see the excitement on people's faces. Oddly enough we heard today that the last time we had any snow was right after Rita. But not as much as we had today and people were talking all day at work about how they'd never in their entire lives seen this much snow in town.

The last picture I posted a picture was taken from our house in New York one day when we had snow. I miss it, but Mark said tonight that he absolutely does not. It might have been a tight vote this morning.

Future Eagle Scouts

Mark has been such a great Dad, not that he's not always great, but he's chosen to get really involved in scouting to motivate the boys to participate and they're all having a really great time. He camped with Ben about a month ago and MT two weeks ago and this weekend he took Max and Ben again. Max will return tomorrow with the rest of the campers so Mark won't have to miss another Sunday. Quite the group in their scouting gear, aren't they?

Serious Scouts


Silly Scouts

Half way to all Evens

For six months out of the year we're either all odds or evens and now we're halfway to all evens again. Mark Thomas turned 8 on December 1st and brought us to 6 and 8 so after Ben turns 10 in January and Max turns 12 in March we'll be a full house of evens again. So much easier on the mom and dad to be all of one or the other.

Mark Thomas is becoming quite the magician so several gifts pertained to a new field of exploration. What a trickster that boy is becoming. He also got cowboy boots from Grandma and Grandpa and wears them everywhere. Since December is such a crazy month he opted to combine parties with Ben in January and we're going to rent out the skating rink. A perk since I work for the company who owns the rink.

Mark Thomas also had his weekend of camping with Mark two weeks ago and they went to Sam Houston state park. He's the little fellow in orange! He's also petting a little gator, which I'm very sure he contemplated bringing home. MT keeps us constantly on the go but we love him so much! He may act tough but he's quite the cuddler and loves his Momma. He told me the other night when we were running errands, "I know why Daddy married you, Momma, because you're the prettiest." Such a charmer that boy.

Ella Clare

Ella and I took a little trip to Lowe's today and on the way she said, "Momma, do you know what a vegetarian is?" and I said, "what?" and she said very proudly from the back seat, "it means you can't eat candy." She's a genius, I know! But seriously, she is becoming a reading maniac. I intentionally did not work with her on reading too much last summer because she is so smart. I did not want her to be bored this year in kindergarten since she was already an older student, having missed the cut off last year by less than 20 days. So about two weeks ago I could see she was catching on very quickly and now she reads all the time. Everynight we read at least 10 books and she does all the reading with very little help. I cannot believe how fast she is growing up and she reminds me so much of Max when it comes to school. She got her hair cut this week just like she requested. She's been telling me for weeks, "I want it cut right below my ear, Momma" so I obliged and knew as soon as Jennifer was done that it was very short but it was adorable. Later that night she said to me as I was putting her to sleep, "Momma, I have a secret to tell you. I do not like my hair cut." So I explained every girl has to get used to a new hair cut when it's shorter and now after a few days and a few new hair bows she's really liking it. Hard to mess up perfection with my little Ella Clare! She also lost another tooth last night, bringing her grand total to 6.

7:30 in the morning on Saturday, really?

Have you ever been totally excited about something only to have the timing of it all shake those emotions up? We felt a little bit guilty about being told by the insurance adjuster that we needed a new roof after Hurricane Ike because we were not after all directly affected by the hurricane other than by inconvenience. We were able to come right back home after the power came back on and there was no permanent damage to our home, other than some minor shingle damage and our carport was torn up. So after going through the insurance hoops and learning those ropes it turned out that we were going to be getting a whopping check to get our roof replaced, and after getting three bids, we are getting the entire roof replaced and the carport repaired and it's not costing us one single penny. Praise the Lord, we would never have that kind of money sitting around to replace the roof. There's always a but though right, well they showed up at 7:30 this morning and it's the only day of the week that I get to sleep in. I heard Shiloh barking and thought, what is going on? Pulled myself out of the warm bed, with a beautiful little girl sleeping right next to me, Mark is gone, so Ella always feels the need to keep his spot warm for him and I went to the front window only to see about 6 trucks in the cul-de-sac with the roofing company logo.

Soooo, we're getting the new roof today! And now I'm totally awake!