Christmas-Take 2

Grandpa George and Gramma Karen came for an over night visit and brought with them presents for all! Owen got Star Wars Legos, dino books and blocks. Allie got 3 Barbies (for the 3 year old), princess books and a full length mirror for her room. I have to happy kids! I'm not sure if they love the toys they got or the time playing with Grandpa George and Gramma Karen more.

I love this time of year!!!

Santa ROCKS!!!

This morning Allie was the first one up! She was so good. She just looked at all the goodies Santa left for their stockings. Eventually, everyone else woke up. Owen and Allie couldn't stop raving about how Santa knew exactly what to get them. :)

And for the piece de resistance, Santa left a small white box with a big gold bow in his favorite spot downstairs. The kids eagerly opened the box to see what magic he left them. To their surprise, we got our wish. WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!

Santa included a letter that said,

"Owen and Allison,

I got your letter and I have to agree. A family vacation is just what your family needs. In this box is all you need to go. You and your parents will be flying on February 7th and staying a whole week at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. The book I'm including tells you all about the different rides and shows to see. Make sure to take lots of pictures and make tons of memories.

Thanks for the No-Bake cookies and the milk. They are my favorite!

Santa"

Christmas Eve

Dressed for Christmas!

RC!

My own doll house!

Buzz Lightyear!

Ready for bed and reading "Twas The Night Before Christmas".

Christmas Eve this year started off AWESOME!!! Grandma and Grandpa Arnett came to visit and brought with PRESENTS!!! The kids got into their Christmas outfits and got to open up some presents. Allie got her Doll House! She LOVES it!!! Owen got an RC toy and Buzz Lightyear. He also got several Batman toys. I have two happy kids in my house. After some lunch and more time to play with the new toys, we all went to church. Instead of a "Winter Wonderland", we had a "Frozen Tundra"! After getting home and into our Christmas jammies, everyone went to bed to wait for Santa's visit.

Christmas Play Group

Today, my friend Amy hosted our monthly play group. It was perfect! She ordered pizza for lunch and there were cookies and cupcakes for dessert. Some of my talented friends made gifts for everyone. Some even bought some nice gifts. I felt loved and totally in the Christmas mood. I, of course, took plenty of pictures. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think, talk or see one of these great ladies. My kids could spend days with theirs and beg for more. Looking over the pics from today makes me already miss them all. We don't leave until August and that is 8 months away! So let the good times roll!!!

Let's be Grown Ups!

I've never really been the kind-of girl who really likes to get dressed up. I rarely wear make-up. I own very few dresses and skirts. In fact, my own daughter is more "girly" than I am! However, I have been known to go all out once in a while. Last night was Jake's group Christmas party. I did my own hair and make up. I wore a black skirt I had bought on sale ($5 at Ann Taylor!). I did buy a new top and earrings just to be festive. (I'll probably wear the exact same outfit to another Christmas party next weekend.) All that said, I did have fun! I'm even looking forward to the next party. Maybe my daughter is rubbing off onto me, but then again... I am blogging in jeans and a tee shirt!

It's a Princess Party!

It's my party!

Make a wish, on a castle cake.

Waiting to open presents.

A castle built for a princess.

Three little princesses!

Yesterday we celebrated Allison's 3rd birthday and it was a "Princess Party". We have the best family and friends. They all came and made it an amazing party. I woke up at 6:00 that morning to try to put together a castle cake. It didn't quite look right (my son's first comment was, "What is THAT suppose to be?"), but it tasted GREAT!!! There wasn't a single piece left! She and her friends enjoyed the castle I put together from cardboard and ran around playing royalty. Allie got tons of fabulous gifts. She is still playing with all of them today. Thanks again for everyone who was able to join us and make it memorable.

Christmas GNO

Last night was our annual Christmas GNO. We met at Yia Yias and had a blast just visiting with one another. I think every woman out there should do a girls night out at least once a month. It restores one's confidence, importance and acceptance to make them able to take on another day of our regular life. So what's on the agenda for next month????

The Big Man

Well, we managed to get BOTH kids in the annual picture with Santa. After looking at the evidence, how could Santa NOT bring them all they want this year!

Let it...SLEET!!!

This morning, at around 6:00, we awoke to two things. The sound of ice hitting the windows and our son begging to go outside and play in it. So he got his snow boots and big coat on over his pj's and went out on the back deck. He was out there for about 15 minutes, while daddy made breakfast. He LOVED it!!!

Dear Santa,

There is nothing more endearing than a letter written by a child to Santa. I even have a copy of one I wrote when I was younger from the newspaper. My son has given it much thought and was nice enough to include his sister in his. We plan to go and visit the big man tomorrow after we pick Owen up from school. We'll have to wait and see how Allie takes it, this will be her second time. (Last year she wouldn't let go of me.)

Cosmosphere

The "KIDS" eating astronaut ice cream!

Yesterday was Jake's birthday. His good friend from college came down with his family. They spent a whirlwind weekend with us. It was awesome!! We spent the day in Hutchinson at the Cosmosphere. Kevin's two kids, Kyle (a fourth grader) and Mia (a second grader), they loved it! That and they got to play with my kids. It was a great way for us to celebrate Jake's birthday.

Christmas Tree, Take 2

Here are some pictures of the saga, known as "Christmas Tree 2009". It has been a long hard road, but I think we have a keeper. There have been tears, sweat, a few bad words and threats of going NO TREE this year. Lucky for our kids, Daddy salvaged a tree from what was our possible "Death Trap". I've never thought of ourselves as those people with the funny holiday story, but I think we have quite a whopper this year!

You all have read that it fell over while I was blogging yesterday. Well, we managed to upright it and it stayed throughout the night. This morning we decided it was a "Death Trap" just tempting us to fall over. So after church we decided to try to fix it. Jake got a hand saw and proceeded to trim away at some branches near the base. Our plan was to make it more secure in the base and then add some sand in it to make it bottom heavy. Dave Norris, a friend of ours, brought his kids over for a play date. While the kids played in the basement, Dave observed and commented on our execution of this plan. Eventually he left, and we thought we had solved our problem after about 20 adjustments. At 3:40, I got a text from the Norris telling me they were coming to get their kids... tree is still upright, but slanting BAD! (see first picture) At 3:44, my friend Amy Williams called to find out the story since I had stated on facebook that our tree was a problem. I got a few sentences out, when out of the corner of my eye I see it start it's decent to the floor (sand and water, too). I yell, (phone still to my face) "JAKE! THE TREE IS FALLING! AMY, I'LL CALL YOU BACK! I GOTTA GO!" Frustrated, we decide, THAT'S IT! I go and open the front door, return to the tree and Jake begins to loosen the screws of the base. Just then the Norris' arrive (remember the front door is open) and we are in the same position we were in when Dave left earlier... minus the huge puddle of water and sand on my living room floor. With the help of our friends (commentary and all) we managed to remove the bottom 3 feet of the tree and use the 7 remaining for this season's Christmas tree.

Like I said, we got a WHOPPER!

NOW THAT'S A TREE!

I took this one, before bringing the tree in.

Owen took this one!

And this one.

This one too.

He likes candid shots!

I got the camera back! Before the tree was opened.

The tree after opening it.

Getting the rest of the decorations out.

The finished tree!

On Friday Owen made a wish, that tomorrow (Saturday) would be a great day. I think it came true! We went out Friday afternoon to pick out a Christmas tree. I was thinking 8-9 foot. Jake found his dream tree, an 11 footer!!! As he was standing there holding it, Owen looks at me and says, "This isn't going to work, is it?" He is ever so wise beyond his years. But Jake insisted it was the perfect tree, so we got it. After cutting a few inches off the trunk and the branches falling open a little it is actually about 10 1/2 feet. And Jake was right, it IS perfect! Today we went out and bought new lights, green and red balls and a star for the top. We got all the rest of our decorations out and the house looks great. If you ask me, today was a GREAT day!!!

Spoke too soon!!! The tree just fell over!!!! No one got hurt, but now we need to figure out what to do.

Make a Wish

For some reason, making a wish with the turkey wish bone has been a goal of my son's. Well, yesterday I was busily cleaning up after the big meal and I threw it away still attached to the turkey. Last night we were getting ready for bed and he froze with a panic on his face. "We forgot to make a WISH!!!" I told him I took it out to the trash already. That might have ruined the entire day. But as soon as I saw the disappointed look on his face I promised I'd at least go to the trash in the garage and see if I can find it. Lucky for us all, it was right on top. I found it in about 5 minutes. This morning the bone of desire was dry enough to make our wishes and break it. My wish was granted, Owen won and now thinks his wish will come true. I sure hope so!

Giving Thanks!

I have been reading several posts from friends/family about different things they are thankful for. I would like to sum mine in one sentence. I am thankful for my life!

The good, the bad, the happy, the sad. Everything in my life makes it blessed. I try my best not the take the blessings for granted. And I try to look at the challenges as things to help me grow. I can honestly say, "I am happy and there isn't one thing I would change".

I am thankful for my life!

Turkey Trot 10 Mile Run

Our traditional pre-race photo.

Jake's new running partner, Steve.

My running partners/group therapy.

This morning Jake and I ran the 10 mile Turkey Trot run in Cow Town. It was AWESOME!!! I have decided running is more a therapy for me. I find a great group of people to run with and we talk the WHOLE TIME! I got to be lucky enough to have two amazing women run with me. Jolyn is my new running buddy. I ran the JAK 5 K last year with her. And this was the longest run she has run to date! I feel very fortunate to have experienced it with her. Hopefully it won't be her last. My other partner in this race was Melissa Spottedhorse. She is a CRNA who works with Jake and has run the "Brew to Brew" the last two years with him. She just ran her first marathon this fall. We were lucky enough to have her with us on the route because she wore a watch that kept our time. I believe that running is either made or broken by your enjoyment level during it. I LOVE RUNNING!!! Thanks ladies for the good company and great therapy. And to all my other friends who made the 10 mile run, you ROCK!!!!

15 Years... And Counting!

This month makes it 15 years that Jake and I have been together. And oh the memories we have...

Singing to me in front of a room full of people, white water rafting, Fiesta Bowl, Shamrock/Texas, changing majors, penguin fountain, locking our keys in the car, starving in KC, Nick, Lazer Tag, Asprin at 2:00 am, Pink eye, Scabies, Tattoo, shaved head, belly ring, marathon/half, Owen, Allison, building our dream house, swing dance lessons, Red Sox game, Maui, Disney World, flooded apartment, faulty smoke detector, reckless driving ticket, bats in Fairchild Hall, rats in Bluemont Hall, Aerosmith concert, Jack Johnson concert, Jesus Christ Superstar, Sea World, snow skiing, NYC, Bagels in Central Park, Coffey Park, dog park, largest ball of twine, X-Files, Minsky's, co-ed softball, casino for my 21st, UFC in Vegas, Washington DC, KU dorm parking lot, weddings, funerals, movies, Tats, The Wiggles, Winnie the Pooh, Broadway, Star Wars, "What kind of cheese...", Notes, Notes, Notes, Baptism, taxi cabs, Zelda, ALMOST out of gas, Starting Point, graduations, our white church, delta chi parties, Austin traffic, Bill Snyder football, chicken noodle soup, fellowship...

Each one of these is a cherished memory. They all make up the adventure we've been on for the last 15 years. I can't wait to experience those yet to come. With you as my partner, my life is truly blessed! I love you, Jake.

Random Acts of Kindness

One little thing... a kind word... a thoughtful gesture... something easily done... making someone's day better. I've stopped watching the news and barely know what is actually going on in our world today. But I am aware of what is going on in MY world. I see small things make or break a person's spirit and attitude for the day in an instant. My children are my sensitive gauge.

This morning I woke up to my happy and healthy children ready to start their day. They suggested eating breakfast at McDonald's. I said we would have to hurry and get ready in order to make that happen. We got there in plenty of time. I noticed my phone had a text message. So in the parking lot before we even entered, I read it. It was from my amazing husband. "Thank you for being such a good person. I'd never be as happy as I am today without you." Two simple and honest sentences made me feel like a "ROCK STAR". We walked into a rather empty McDonald's and proceeded to order. My kids didn't stay by me, they ran to the toy display. However, I was in a GREAT mode (thanks to a text) and let it slide and even joked with the cashier about the toys being a blessing and curse at the same time. She perked up and joked back. I went to get our drinks and when I turned around, the very same cashier had come around and brought my kids each a toy. The looks on their faces were priceless! They happily ate their food and talked about what an AWESOME day today is going to be... I agree.

One little thing... a kind word... a thoughtful gesture... something easily done... making someone's day better. Random acts of kindness, they make life better!

Great Wolf Lodge

My kids on the trip to KC.

Owen's observation: "It looks like GIANT Lincoln Logs."

They insisted on pulling their own suitcases.

They loved their bunk beds.

They thought this place was AWESOME!

That smile says it all!

Their souvenirs!

Them on the way home.

Enjoy the photos, I know we enjoyed the moments!