Bowling...In San Antonio

The way I see it, when my children grow up they are either going to hate A&M or love it. Of course, I cannot even imagine that they cold ever not love it, but...I will be proud of whatever team they "decide" to support! :)

Being the Aggies we are, we of course, traveled to San Antonio to see the Aggies in Fiesta Bowl action!

It's a date!

It is not real often that Eric and I ever go anywhere alone. In fact, the last time I can recall the two of us doing anything without one or more kids was in MAY! Oh, I think we may have been in the room alone for a few hours in the hospital when Ella was born...does that count?

The fall is so crazy for us...Eric is so busy, so when we do have time to be a family, the last thing we want to do is leave the kids! In many ways we know this is not what is best, and there are times that we really DO miss each other...despite the fact we see each other every day! We know our time with the kids is precious; however, our time as a couple is just as cherished.

Thus, this Christmas our gifts to each other were things we could do together...just Eric and me...no kids, and last night we had our first "date" (I guess you could call it).

We had a wonderful time, and we look forward to many more...



Sometimes it seems like so long ago, and sometimes it seems like yesterday, but the picture above is a picture of our first Christmas together...when we were dating! :) The picture made me giggle...

Commentary on the Cat

Dad comments that Nemo, our cat, is not very well behaved. He proposes that we take the cat to the pound!

Grayson screams, "NO DADDY! He is our pet and we love him SOOOOOOOO much!"

"If you love him so much," Eric suggests, "why don't you go an pet him."

Grayson looks at Eric as if he must be the biggest idiot in the world and then says, "NO DADDY! I am not going to pet him! Nemo is mean, and me and Cannon and Gunnar and Ella are scared of him!"

Good to know.

12 Hours of Christmas

Below are all of my favorite moments from this Christmas!

I pray you and your family were as blessed as we were.

Dear Santa

A strand of lights went out on our Christmas tree this evening...and those of you who know me will understand the stress that this brought me! I was CONSUMED with fixing the lights! Afterall a dysfunctional strand of lights on the tree might very well ruin Christmas in our world!

So, I was fixing the lights...Eric was working on something for school on the computer...Ella was playing on the floor...and Grayson, well, he was coloring in PERMANENT marker all over the legs of our dining table! (Mind you, we are all busy in the same room and the two adults should have been watching the children...but...)

Grayson asks, "Mommy, does it look pretty?"

Not taking my eyes off the light tester..."Of course it does, I love it G!" I thought that he had some playdough...

He continues his art between the intricate wood carving of the table...

"Daddy, do you think that it looks pretty?"

Of course Daddy does not look up either..."Yes, Grayson it is very pretty."

"Mommy, come and see what I did for you."

"G, I am trying to fix the lights, and I will be there in one minute...I really want to see the pretty thing you made from the playdough."

"Playdough?" He seemed confused, "I colored for you..."

Ding, dong! Earth to me...

It was then that I looked up and see the "pretty" things he had been coloring and was horrified. (One would think that I would have at least wondered...see post called Oh, So Blue for why...)

Me in what I would call and abrupt tone of voice say, "G I am so disappointed in you, I cannot believe you colored on the table! What do we color on? Is it ever okay to color on a table?"

"Paper...but I wanted to make your table pretty and special," he says sadly.

"Thank you, but I am disappointed...you know you cannot color on anything but paper unless Mommy or Daddy says that it is okay."

He begins apologize over and over again...

Daddy tells him to brush his teeth while he starts to scrub the table with the magic permanent marker eraser solution (toothpaste), so I follow Grayson to the bathroom.

"I am so sorry that disappointed you Mommy. I wanted you to smile."

How could a mother really be mad? But I say... "G, your actions disappointed me. It was a bad choice to color on a table and not on paper." I felt like he needed to learn...

It was then that he loses the grip he has on the toothbrush he was holding, and his entire body begins to shake as the biggest tear I have ever seen begins to roll down his cheek...

I raise his sunken chin, and he says with sheer sincerity and all of the heart a three-year-old could possess, "Santa will not come see me now...I loved Santa..."

What does a mother say? If he only knew how much Santa loved him!

"Baby, Santa forgives...just like Jesus. Remember baby Jesus and the reason we have Christmas...I know Santa know Jesus and believes in forgiveness..."

I am sure Grayson did not understand...so I put him in bed an went to MY room to cry.

I think Santa just might need to make some more toys for such a sweet boy.

Partying Like Rockstars...

This week we began to ring in the holidays with our first round of Christmas parties! We partied like rock stars with a party a day! I must say, I am a little partied out right now... However, the kids had a great deal of fun...

Grayson got to talk to Santa another time...and he had lots to tell him! He seems to "revise" his list each time he visits the man in the red suit! His list gets LONGER each time! Go figure!



Ella is more about the good cheer and paper the holidays bring about...Ella's class gets along a little too well! He!