Jingle Bells

Does she have a future singing career or what!? I love this.... She has been singing Jingle Bells nonstop as of lately. I think it's b/c she learned it at school. I didn't get it on video but when she finished, I said to her "not bad" and she repeated "yes, not bad." It was too precious!

What a happy guy in the morning!!

Jace and I got up early this morning. Well, I guess he got up early and I had no choice but to get up. Anyway, what a happy boy he was! He has become so expressive, smiling and "talking" when you look at him. I just love it!! He's also getting such big brown eyes. They are changing from that newborn greyish blue color to a medium brown-- just like his big sis.

Don't ya just love Christmas

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

Oh Christmas Tree

Catching Up

I've completely slacked on this blog. I believe I started writing this back in June after a vacation and really used it as a way to post pictures of Kendall (since it was just her at the time) for the grandparents. Then lately, I've started seeing some of my friend's blog and how awesome they are and decided to jump back on the bandwagon. Plus, our littlest member of the family, Mr. Jace, needs some spotlighting. :~)

So, today as the kids were napping, I "blogged", catching up those who care to read this on my family, well mainly my children. I also decided to start writing a bit more than just picture captions. My goal is to write something at least once a week if not more and not at a structured time but as life is happening around our house. And, I can assure there is a lot happening.

Kendall's Preschool Christmas Party

How anyone can teach preschool is beyond me but we've certainly been blessed with Kendall's teacher. Mrs. Keller is wonderful and visiting her classroom on Thursday confirmed that. The parents were invited to come for a Chick fil A party and a small presentation of some of the things the kids were working on. I proudly watched as Kendall stood with her classmates and recited a bible verse and sang songs. Well, she didn't recite the bible verse (it wasn't even close) but she sang Jingle Bells and spiritedly shook her bells. It was adorable and actually brings a tear to my eye when I think about it. She is getting so big; her "baby-ness" is fading away and she is now a little girl who sings, rides bikes, talks and so much more. I could go on and on but I think anyone who has children understands this. I'm just so proud of her and while sometimes I find myself wishing she were older, I realize that I only have these "preschool"moments for such a short time. And what awesome memories they will become!

The cutest Santa

OK, seriously... is he not the cutest Santa you've ever seen or what??!!! I just love this picture of Jace. While he's completely clueless as to what I've dressed him in, he has to be wondering why I was "oooohing" and "ahhhing" all over him. I tell Jimmy all the time that Jace is a momma's boy and he'll say "no he's not" but I think deep down, he knows it true. :~)

Come to our house on a Sunday and this is what you'll see...

Steelers fans #1,2 and 3.

Jimmy usually takes it upon himself to dress the kids on Sunday in their Steelers gear, or "steers" as Kendall affectionately calls them. I give him a hard time about this as he knows I'm usually the one who dresses them and it wouldn't be in yellow and black. Deep down, though, he knows that I think his "tradition" in doing this each Sunday is absolutely priceless. And, it's so cute how Kendall gets into the game with him. She yells "Steers football." I know Jimmy can't wait until Jace gets older and can watch the games with him.

Visiting Santa

(Sorry for the poor quality, I took a picture of a picture.)

I was so excited about taking the kids to see Santa this year. I guess I quickly realized that my excitement is not what matters. So, I dress them up in their cutest "Santa" clothes, curl Kendall's hair, comb Jace's (the few strands he has) and away we go. Now, I had been preparing Kendall for weeks for this visit in hopes that she wouldn't freak out when it came time to sit on his lap. We read books about Santa, talked about Santa, waved to Santa when we saw him at the mall (from a distance of course), and on and on and on.... Well, we arrive at the Village of Allen, a new shopping center near our house, and they have this amazing Santa setup complete with 2 reindeer and a huge decorated tree.
So, as I wrote earlier, I was sooooo excited for this photo op. It's Jace's 1st time with Santa and Kendall's 1st year that I feel she really gets the whole Santa concept. Well, we stand in a short line and as we approach Santa, I place Jace on his lap and he sits there happily. Next, Jimmy goes to place Kendall on his lap and she freaks, kicking, screaming, etc. Even her shoe came flying off. The picture above tells it all. In the end, I look at the pic and absolutely love it. What a memory! And so special because of it being Jace's 1st Christmas.

Mimi comes to visit!!

As you can tell by the pics, the kids had so much fun with Mimi when she came to visit. Mimi baked a sugar cookie snowman for Kendall to decorate. We think Kendall ate more of the gumdrops than she used for decorations but she had fun. We also did a lot of shopping, I mean A LOT! Jimmy and I were having a work party the following weekend and Mimi helped us tremendously in getting the house decorated and getting a menu together for that.

It made me sad to drop her off at the airport because Kendall got upset and kept repeating "Mimi in plane." I kept reassuring her that Mimi would come back and visit really soon. It makes me sad because it's more of a realization that our family is too far away.

Thanksgiving 2008

Our outdoor fireplace right when it was finished. All nice and clean but not for long...

Notice Jimmy's gloves....

Well, our tradition is to fry a turkey. I put Jimmy to the task as he knows how to work the fryer, so I thought. :~) What a fiasco this quickly became and the burnt gloves are proof of that. Let's just say we had a fire and Jimmy tried to put it out with water. Grease fire and water!!!!???? Not a good combo as he knew prior to trying to put the fire out. I felt so bad as Jimmy did get some burns on his arm but I'm thankful that was it. After all this craziness, I must say, it was a darn good turkey. Even Kendall ate it.

Also, we had our outdoor fireplace completed that weekend. It's so awesome. We noticed how popular they are in Texas and decided to put one in our backyard. We had our patio extended to make it fit properly. We've enjoyed several fires and even roasted marshmallows to make smores.