Christmas 2013

We had such a great Christmas! We kept it very simple this year and it was so relaxing and enjoyable. We spent Christmas Eve with JT's grandparents and aunt. We try and mix it up each holiday and pick a theme for the food. It is fun and keeps it interesting. This year's meal theme had to be the most unique and interesting we've tried so far. The theme was "pig." It was truly the most American thing I've ever experienced. The only thing missing was the bald eagle. We had pork roast as the main dish, but then we had bacon and cheddar pinwheels, bacon and cheddar bread, bacon wrapped shrimp, caesar salad with bacon, pork fried rice, maple bacon cupcakes with a bacon maple buttercream frosting, bacon peanut butter pie, candied bacon, and chocolate covered bacon. I tried everything and I'm not too big on sweet and savory mixture, so the desserts were a bit much for me (except the pie, it was awesome), but all in all it was such a fun day trying new things and enjoying each other.

The kids woke up early Christmas day, we did our devotion and prayed, and then we opened presents. We didn't do anything extravagant this year and kids didn't even notice a difference. They had so much fun. Jerry got Legos this year, the little kind that take hours to build an airplane. It was kind of bittersweet to see him playing with them. I've always envisioned those type of Legos for "big boys" and now my baby boy is sitting there concentrating so hard on building these little things. Then on the other side, Gia got a little MP3 player for her main gift and she just wants to listen to praise music all day with her headphones in. Again, something I envision older kids doing. My babies are growing up too fast! Sophia loves her flashlight friend and dolls she got.

Sophia received a little tube of lip gloss and against my better judgment I let her wear it in the house. Needless to say, I found her little puckers in random places, such as doors, walls, the TV! Not happy, but kind of hard to stay mad when you keep finding little, cute kissy faces all over. Nothing a little Lysol can't fix! :-)

We took the kids to Holiday in the Park at Six Flags! It was so beautiful to see the park all lit up and Christmas music playing! The kids had a blast, we had a blast, a wonderful way to end our Christmas celebration! God has been so good to us this year and I look forward to seeing what He has in store for us in 2014 and look forward to serving Him this new year! I pray you all had a  blessed Christmas!

Daddy and Gia riding the bulls

Teacups...I have to ride separately due to extreme craziness they put themselves through.

Me and Gia bug being silly. 

Don't eat the yellow snow

I thought that phrase, "Don't eat the yellow snow," has always just been a silly joke. I never imagined I would have to make that request in all sincerity to another human being.

Unfortunately, that sentence was formed and aimed at my wonderfully, spunky 6-year-old.

Jerry and Gia were adamant about playing in the "snow," even after assuring them it is rock-hard ice. However, we gave in and allowed them to go skate around the back yard. It was great to hear them joyfully laughing and running around, but then it came...silence. I knew something was up, so I popped my head out the back door and saw all three of them (Sophia had joined them at this point) gathered in a tight huddle and all I caught was "...eat it." I assumed they found a bug and were daring each other to eat it. I flippantly said, "don't eat bugs" and as I was turning to go back in, I hear "No, we found yellow snow."

That got my attention quick. I replied, "Eww, do NOT eat the yellow snow!"

Jerry just turned, gave me that mischievous smile, and said, "Oh, ok, fine, we won't eat the yellow snow.  Gave a little giggle and skated off through the yard.

I walked in the house in complete amazement and amusement. Never a dull moment with kids!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it..wait, this is ice

Iceageddan has hit Texas. People ransacking stores, stocking up on supplies, anticipating the worse, grab your children, lock the doors!!

Ok, ok, I went shopping too and made sure we had food in the house, because they were anticipating quite a bit of ice to hit us. I even told JT that we should get fire wood, even though we have never used our fireplace in the 6 years we've live here. It just felt like the right thing to do, but we didn't get any.

It all started Thursday afternoon. After school was over, we decided to go to the store to get a few things. I know, not the best idea to go shopping the day the storm is to hit. I honestly had not time any other day though, so we sucked it up and went. Just like I expected, it was crazy, people were acting like it was Y2K all over again. But we made it through that trip, gabbed a bite to eat, and headed home to decorate for Christmas.

Since it was 80 degrees the day before, we had to switch over to heat. It was about 62 degrees in the house when we arrived, so we were eager to get the house warmed up quickly. To our dismay, the heater went out and we had no fire wood. :-( So we bundled up and decided to figure it out in the morning. It was 60 in the house when we woke up, cold, but thankful it didn't get any lower than that. JT braved the ice and got us some fire wood. We called our air and heat guy John Mathis with Efficient Air and Heat (got to get that plug in) and he came to our rescue, fixed us right up, and we were warm in no time. So thankful God watched over us and gave us such a reliable serviceman.

Later that afternoon, Friday, we took the kids to go see Frozen. It was such a cute movie and so nice to get out of the house for a while. Pretty fitting name, too.

On Saturday, we took the kids outside to some small hills and slid down on bucket lids for about 30 minutes until our fingers went numb.

Sunday church services were cancelled.

School is cancelled tomorrow.

I love just laying around with the kids, watching cartoons, playing video games, reading books, cuddling. It has been a much needed break! The one thing I have so enjoyed is all the cooking and baking I've been able to do. It has been so nice. I forgot how much I truly miss it.

Just one of those days

I have had a couple of interesting days these past two days. We just got back from Arizona Saturday evening and with church all day Sunday, I really needed Monday to catch up on some chores around the house. However, on Monday, after Jerry's football practice, we went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. To our surprise, when we came back out of the store to go home, the van had decided not to start. JT came to our rescue to give us a jump, but the van still stood firm in its decision to not start, despite our pleading and intercessory prayer on its behalf.

I ended up taking JT's car and the kids home leaving my husband in that dark parking lot to deal with the towing business, which he did not end up needing, because after I was gone for a while, it started right up (I took it personal, but whatever).

I get the kids home and we started our bedtime routines. Jerry is in the shower, when I hear Gia beckoning me from the same bathroom. I walk in and Gia is brushing her teeth and Jerry is showering.

"What Gia?"

"Jerry pooped on the floor."

"Stop, I'm not in the mood."

"I'm serious, mommy."

"Where?

And about that time, I see a neatly folded piece of toilet paper laying on the floor.

Gia says, "Right there."

Reluctantly, I lift up the toilet paper and there it lays, a little dingle-berry. *Sigh*

"Jerry, why did you poop on the floor?"

"I didn't mean to."

"Who put toilet paper on top of it?"

Gia says, "That was me. I didn't want any one to step on it."

"Well that was very thoughtful."

I cleaned "it" up and politely asked Jerry to keep it in the toilet next time. He agreed.

So, the bedtime routines continue and daddy is just walking in the door. As we are discussing the van, the kids are horse playing, hit the closet door and put a hole in it.

On any other day, I would be extremely upset about the poop and the door, but it all paled in comparison to the van, so we just urged the kids to bed and took a deep breath and gave it to God.

It's amazing, within a 2 hour span, my van broke down, my son pooped on the floor, and the kids knocked a hole in the closet door, and I didn't yell at them once. *Woot, woot* Here's to God's grace!

On a happier note, last night I got to mop my floor, which doesn't sound fun, but I like mopping, especially when Swiffer comes out with a new scent and they did, so I used it last night, took a giant whiff and smiled. Life is good!