Our Toothless Wonder

Our Red Neck Weekend

 The monster trucks were in our town this weekend.  John Curtis was super excited.  Thankfully he didn't know there was an actual show, but the trucks were parked around town so he got to see them.

 Taylor would have loved to take him to the show, but there was a hunting seminar at our church on Saturday night that the men's ministry put on.  We are not hunters or gun people in any way so our kids didn't know what to think of all the animals at the church on Saturday afternoon.

 Pumba - this guy was disgusting!

Bobcats have been known to visit the outskirts of our town so they can shoot as many of these as they want!

This is how hunters decorate tables.

Foxy fox

Then there's this guy - who shoots a porcupine???

We have a 5 year old's obsession with bottoms.  This one was pretty gross.

This picture pretty much sums up my kids' thoughts on the whole experience.

Mother/Daughter Weekend

My mom turns 60 this February.  Lindsey and I wanted to do something really special for her so for Christmas and birthday we gave her a weekend in Kyle at The Inn Above Onion Creek.  We got to go over the long MLK weekend.  Lindsey added to the fun by getting engaged the weekend before so we got to add wedding planning to our relaxation and spa treatments.

 Our beautiful inn

 Relaxing on the porch

 Wedding planning by the fire

 The cat made itself comfortable

 Some of the yummy food we ate

 Yes, she found her dress.  No, this isn't it, but it was one of the top choices.

 Mom was a little teary

Love these girls!

My New Friend, January

As a child I hated the month of January. It meant the end of my beloved Christmas season, a whole month of nothing special with nothing to look forward to until Spring Break. When you're a kid, a month is a long time!  I hated the empty way our house looked after taking down all the Christmas decorations.  I dreaded the routine with no interruptions or special holidays or parties.  I wasn't a fan of everyday life.  Even when my kids were babies and toddlers January continued to be my least favorite month. It is VERY true when they say, " The years are short but the days are long." ...really long in the winter.

I suddenly realized this year in the middle of all the Christmas festivities that I was looking forward to January.  After the craziness that began around Halloween and didn't slow down until after Christmas, my January calendar has a lot of empty space on it. I didn't even mind taking down the Christmas tree and freeing up a little room in our house.  It was like I could breathe again.

I'm sure this means I'm getting old.  I could see my old self in Sophie's eyes as I talked about putting the Christmas decorations away.  Can't we make it last a little longer?  But for the first time ever I didn't want it to last longer.  I looked forward to routine without interruptions or special events.  I've become a fan of everyday life.

Maybe it's a stage of life...I'm sure my mom can enlighten me on this.  All I know is the ordinary, unplanned moments of this January are filling me up....an entire Saturday spent playing a Wii game together, helping John Curtis learn to read, sitting with my church family to worship on an icy Monday night, Sophie climbing in bed with us on a snowy morning, watching a movie at home with Taylor after the kids are in bed.

As I started writing this post I was sitting at the kitchen table watching John Curtis try to build a snowman out of the melting snow.  I watched his face and could tell he was thinking hard, saw his mouth moving as he talked to himself.  What a gift to watch him learning and growing before my very eyes.  In few minutes my friend will come over to my dirty house with wet clothes and shoes by the back door and laundry stacked in piles.  She'll bring Sonic vanilla Dr. Peppers and we'll eat leftover soup and talk and the kids will play and it will be ordinary.  May your January also be filled with many wonderful ordinary, everyday moments.

A Prayer for the New Year

 God of Grace and God of Glory

God of grace and God of glory,

On Thy people pour Thy pow'r;

Crown Thine ancient church's story,

Bring her bud to glorious flow'r.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

For the facing of this hour, For the facing of this hour.

Lo! the hosts of evil  round us

Scorn Thy Christ, assail His ways!

Fears and doubts too long have bound us,

Free our hearts to work and praise.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

For the living of these days, For the living of these days.

Cure they children's warring madness,

Bend our pride to Thy control;

Shame our wanton, selfish gladness,

Rich in things and poor in soul.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal, Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal.

Set our feet on lofty places;

Gird our lives that they may be

Armored with all Christlike graces

In the fight to set men free.

Grant us wisdom, Grant us courage,

That we fail not man nor Thee!  That we fail not man nor Thee!

New Year's Eve

 We were so glad to see the little munchkins on Friday.  We spent all day Saturday just hanging out, playing outside and some Wii inside.

  Sophie even made scooters for Sally and Dragon while we cleaned out the garage.

 Then it was time for our New Year's Eve celebration.  Aunt Edie gave the kids ballerina and baseball pasta for Christmas.  Sophie has been begging to make hers so we finally did.

 Mmm...chicken alfredo!

Sophie loves getting the china out.

During dinner we played a game where we went through the alphabet and tried to think of something we did this year that started with each letter.  It was fun to talk about the year and all the things it held.  Here are some of the ones I remember:

A - Abilene

B - Beavers Bend

C - Camping

D- Daddy/Daughter Dance

E - Eat

F - Fishing

G - Geocaching at Grandma and Paw-Paw's

H - Hiking

I - Icicles 

J - JC turned 5

K - Kite flying

L- Laughing and loving

M - Mimi visit

N - Nutcracker

O - Ocean

P - Pool time

Q - Quiet days

R - Rode bikes

S - Sophie turned 7

T - Tent making

U - Umbrella fun

V - Valentine making

W - Worship

X - X ray for Sophie

Y - Yuletide celebrating (I know it's a stretch!)

Z - Zoo

After dinner and baths we played Family Game Night on the Wii, watched a movie, and the kids got to have a sleepover in the living room.  A perfect way to ring in the New Year!