Christmas Festivities

Wow, what a whirlwind this last month of 2006 has been. Our family has enjoyed so many holiday traditions. Here is a little taste as to what we have been up to.

Brian's Orchestra played for the annual Christmas tree lighting for a neighboring town. The kids went with Tutu and I to see them play. Dudu and Gigi joined us to share in the excitement. Santa arrived on a fire truck and Noah and Camden were number 3 & 4 in line to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Noah asked for a remote-controlled dinosaur and Camden asked for a hot air balloon.

We celebrated as a family at our Church's first annual family Christmas party. We again got to see Santa and the wish list didn't change. Camden did however add the Little Mermaid to his request. The adults had fun playing a "get-to-know" you game while the kids reveled in their activities and games just for them.

The celebration continued with a Birthday party for Jesus at church on Sunday morning. Complete with cupcakes and gifts to present to baby Jesus.

This time of year would not be complete without ventuing out to see Christmas lights. We went to two different neighborhoods this year. Noah was so much fun to listen to as we drove around. "Mommy, this is the best Christmas ever" or "Wow, look at all those lights" or "Look over here, look over there", it never stopped. An hour and half later he was still going strong and just as excited as ever. We stopped at a house we visisted last year to ride a train that the homeowner had assembled in his back yard. Noah remembered this house from last year and was just beside himself to visit again this year. Camden also enjoyed it, being a little older this year I am sure he will remember it also next year.
My grandparents arrived and the activities continued. Cookie baking was in full swing. Christmas is just not complete without having grandma's cookies. Mark, Tiffany, Brian and I joined the kids in icing the cut-out cookies. Wow, that was fun...the creativity just overwhelmed me...well, maybe not! Just kidding! Last minute shopping was done, all the wrapping was done and we were ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.


After a wonderful morning at church singing all my favorite carols, we headed over to Dudu and Gigi's house to celebrate with Brian's family. We enjoyed good food and had a great time watching the kids open their gifts. Next we headed over to Brian's Great Aunt's house for more fun with cousins. I look forward to this event every year. About 30 of us celebrated with even more food, presents and good fun. We got home late, put out milk, cookies and reindeer food and went to bed.

Christmas morning came early at around 7 a.m. The kids were so excited to see what Santa had brought them. We opened gifts after singing "Happy Birthday" to baby Jesus. I think this is wonderful tradition that Noah suggested. The kids got most of what they were expecting and a few suprises as well.




We drove over to my parents around 10, just in time to open a few more presents and have a wonderful turkey dinner. After lunch, there were more gifts to open and then much needed naps to take. It was a wonderful way to wrap up the Christmas season being with family.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

"O" as in "Oh NO!!!"

We have been out to eat twice in the last 6 weeks and both have ended badly. The two common denomiators with these restaurants is that they both start with the letter "O" and Camden.

The first adventure started when we were eating and Camden informed me that he was "making a bad decision". "What would that be?", I asked. "I'm going potty in my pull-up", says Camden. Not a big deal right? Well, it wouldn't have been if he didn't just poop and have it run up his back and down his legs. It gets better... I don't have the diaper bag!!! So, Brian takes him to the car and cleans him up with napkins from the bar and we head home with a naked child in the back seat. We vowed NEVER to leave home without the diaper bag again!!!

The second adventure happened today when we got up to leave from lunch. You guessed it, Camden repeated the same incident in his pull up. Only this time it is also on the restaurant high-chair as well. We clean him best we can at the table with all the wipes that we had. Brian then takes him to the men's restroom to disrobe him and clean him with paper towels. After requesting two large bags from the restaurant to hold all the unthinkables, Camden comes out sporting a pull-up and winter coat.

So, what is the moral to the story. I don't know! You can't possible have enough diapers or wipes to make either of these stories have happy endings. All you can do about it is laugh.

Letters to Santa

Yesterday was an exciting day at our house. The kids wrote and mailed their letters to Santa Claus. Camden pretty much just colored all over his paper and the kitchen table but had lots of fun doing so. When asked what he wanted for Christmas, his response was "balloons". Well, O.K.

Noah wrote his letter by himself and asked for:

A remote controlled train
A remote controlled dinosaur
Diego's Rescue center

then he had Mommy write the rest:

Electric racetrac
pages 1-25 of the Toys R Us catalog... you get the picture.

So, the wait is on for the big man in the red suit to arrive. Camden asks every night before bed if Santa is coming tomorrow. I can't wait to tell him "Yes!"

Thanksgiving, cross-dressing & that Christmas feeling

Yes, we are still here. Just a little bit busy this time of year.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We drove to East Texas and spent three days at Duane and Peggy's lake house. The kids had a blast. Camden alternated between sitting on the tractor or going for a ride on the four wheeler. Noah equally enjoyed both of those but also had lots of fun with a "treasure finder" a.k.a. metal dectector. He just thought he was in high cotton when he found pencils and metal and all kinds of cool stuff buried in the dirt. Gracie went along for the ride this year. That is a blog in itself. Gracie and car riding don't go together very well. She HAS to sit in the front seat and that just wasn't happening this time. She managed to stuff herself between the kids carseats with her hiney sitting on the back seat, her front feet sitting on the floor of the back seat and her head up between Brian and I in the front seat. Once we got out of the car she had just as much fun as the kids exploring all the smells of wild animals in the country.


About the cross-dressing, this is what I found when I stepped out of the shower yesterday:



Camden, just loves to wear everyone's shoes. He just added a little sequin handbag to the ensemble yesterday!

I have been very busy volunteering at church and loving it! Last friday night, the culmination of lots of prayer and hard work came together when we launched the first ever Kid's Korner at Dickensfest. It was a huge success with so many people from the community coming into the church and participating. Now that it is behind me, I am starting to get ready for Christmas.

Noah has been asking to put the Christmas decorations up for about a week. I explained that it would be about a week before we could get to it. Well, one day last week I got out 2 decorations and he was just so excited. That night he asked is he could talk to god. So, he began praying and this is what he said:

"Thank you God that mommy found 2 Christmas decorations, please help her find the rest of them soon. Amen"

That night Brian and I got the decorations out of the attic and we were startled to see that we had just shoved the tree intact up into the attic. So, we pulled it down and put it in the living room. The next morining when Noah woke up he walked into the living room and said "Unbelievable!" His prayer had been answered.

Brian's mom and Ross are here visiting this week. It is always wonderful to spend time them.