2011 Recap

In January a kitten took over our lives.

In February Caleb got a black eye on his first day of baseball practice.

In March we saw The Hobbit in Houston and I declared it the best day ever.

In April I had computer problems.

In May our lives were consumed by baseball.

In June my brother-in-law came to visit and we stumbled upon Robonaut.

In July I got yelled at by a policeman.

In August Caleb started 6th grade and Luke started 2nd.

In September my sister and I attended the Women of Faith Conference.

In October the boys became Scouts.

In November I blogged about the vine.

In December I shared about our terrific Thanksgiving trip.

Goodbye 2011

pretty, happy, fun, real

{pretty}

Red Velvet Cake for Christmas Day

(Paula Deen's recipe)

{happy}

Italian Chicken Soup and yummy bread for dinner

(Pioneer Woman soup recipe)

{fun}

pictures with Luke

{real}

wondering why my 15+ year old vacuum cleaner is not picking up

wondering this for around 6 weeks or so

finally had the thought that I might need to change out the bag

said bag is overflowing and so heavy- it feels like a brick

thankful that it didn't explode

vacuum cleaner is as good as new now

I'm linking to {pretty, happy, fun, real} at Like Mother, Like Daughter.

Capturing the context of contentment in every day life.

Sunday Comics

We are a newspaper family.  Every morning Aaron, Caleb, and I read the paper.  Luke hasn't shown much interest.  But a few weeks ago on a Sunday, he read the all of the Sunday comics and then pointed out the ones he liked to me.

His favorite one that day:

Christmas Day

We told the boys the earliest they could wake us up Christmas morning was 6:45.  At 6:45 on the dot they bounded into our room and woke us up.  Caleb said he woke up at 4:00, 4:45, and 6:00, and then laid in his bed until 6:45.

Luke's favorite gift- a tree filled with stuffed animals.  He is so easy to please.

Caleb is now the proud owner of a Nintendo 3DS, which was a 2:00 in the morning, Black Friday score from Target that I made with my niece Camryn and Sister-in-law Amy.

We are so blessed!  We have been busy selling items on ebay and a large majority of our Christmas was paid for with ebay earnings.

Aaron went all out and gave me some of my favorite things: a purse, gloves, CDs, gift card for books, and a necklace.  I LOVE my gifts!!!!

My beautiful butterfly necklace!  I may wear it every day.

After presents we went to Aaron's parents house to spend the day.  Of course we had a Christmas feast.

I missed my family in Dallas, but so glad we got to spend Christmas in Beaumont and with Granna and PawPaw.

So far

Our Christmas so far......

  

C

chummy brothers by the tree

H

happy baking days

R

ready to decorate gingerbread

I

immeasurable silliness, fun, and laughter

S

shimmering lights on the tree

 T

taking the time to play

M

making the season about the birth of Jesus

A

acknowledging the blessings in our life

S

sweet decorations and memories to go with them

Loving this Christmas season

Thanksgiving Recap

We traveled to Dallas to spend Thanksgiving with my parents and my sister and my brother and their families and had the best time.

55 things I don't want to forget about our trip:

1.  The yummy Thanksgiving feast

2.  Meeting baby Nix and getting to hold him.

3.  Discovering Gold Rush on Discovery

4.  Seeing the San Antonio kittens

5.  Sitting by the fire

6.  Pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake

7.  Cooked breakfast courtesy of my Mom (fried eggs, bacon, grits, biscuits, pear butter)
8.  Cooked breakfast courtesy of my Dad (his yummy breakfast casserole)
9.  Thanksgiving leftovers

10.  Hearing my Dad play Christmas carols on the piano (Sleigh Ride!)
11.  Hearing Julie sing
12.  Seeing these three together in action

 13.  "It's Panda Day"
14.  Listening to Kaden's CD.  He is a future superstar.
15.  Robe buddies

 16.  Seeing Karson's smile
17.  Being entertained by Karson
18.  Witnessing Karson give his Dad a hard time over the oranges in the bowl

19.  Being around Tim and Julie (two of the smartest, most talented, and all around terrific people I know!)
20.  Gone With the Wind

20. Sledding in 60 degree weather

21.  Walking around downtown McKinney

22.  Luke's popular coonskin cap

23.  Riding in the van to the Gaylord

24.  Steak and Shake

25.  Snow in McKinney

26.  Black Friday Shopping with Camryn and Amy
27.  Not knowing where the store's are located
28.  Coffee run at 11:00 p.m.
29.  Old Navy and $1 scarves
30.  Target
31.  JCPenney and Tim's shirts

32.  My Mom taking the kids exploring on her land
33.  Not knowing how to use Tim's iphone and accidentally taking a video of them instead of a picture

34.  Laughing uncontrollable with Camryn over something Kaylin did
35.  Thrift store shopping

36.  Ham and my Mom's famous potato salad

37.  Continuing the tradition of seeing the lights at the Gaylord

38.  Seeing the Lego Gaylord

39.  Spending time with some of our favorite people

40.  Monopoly Deal with Camryn and Kaylin

41.  Camryn- one of my two favorite girls in the world!

42.  My other favorite girl in the world- she is so full of life and laughter!

43.  Kaylin and PawPaw telling jokes

44.  Monkey bread

45.  Luke crying on our last morning

46.  A last walk around the farm in the cold

 47.  Exploring Grannie's secret garden

48.  Having the best Thanksgiving ever!

49.  Visiting the animals at the barn.

50.  The kids hike and avoiding stickers and Caleb using his pocket knife.

51.  The big beautiful trees shedding leaves.

52.  Enjoying my parents and their hospitality

53.  Making memories to last a lifetime

54.  Cultivation relationships with my delightful family

55.  Knowing we can return anytime!

Thanks Mom and Dad!