Elfina, our sweet little elf

Elfina joined our Christmas celebrations this year. She is a little elf from the North Pole that Santa sent to our house to remind us that Christmas is about Jesus's birthday, being nice to each other, and helping people. While, she didn't really improve the girls' behavior, it was certainly fun to have her join our family. Each night, she flew back to the North Pole, and when she returned, she landed up in a different spot. The girls really liked trying to find her each morning. Here are some pictures of her. I know some people's elves are really mischievous  but ours was very sweet. She just hung out around the house. I like her that way! :)

Our Christmas 2012!!!

Our Christmas was fantastic! We got home from Ft. Worth on Christmas Eve afternoon, with just enough

time to make our Santa cookies, decorate them, and have a quick dinner. As usual, the girls decorated their Santa cookies with some serious "over sprinkling"!!! We left some plain iced ones for him, just in case he wasn't in the mood for sprinkles. Adilyn wrote a letter to Santa, and Kacy wrote a letter to Elfina. Adilyn's said something like this, "Santa, Happe Holiday's. (sticker of an ornament, sticker of a present) on the tree. Ho, ho, ho. Happe Crismis. Love, Adilyn" Kacy wanted hers to say, "I love you, Elfina. Goodbye to you, Elfina. Happy Birthday!" I guess she thought that Elfina and Jesus share a birthday :)

They went to sleep relatively well, considering that it was Christmas Eve. Everyone went to bed at a decent hour, of course, Brooke woke up at her normal times and ended up in our bed.

Adilyn woke up around 7:15, and we told her to wait in our room until Kacy woke up. She was getting antsy, so I let her play games on my phone. Thank goodness for technology to entertain an anxious kid! Kacy finally got up around 8, and we went out to see what Santa had left. They were so excited to see real princess dress-up dresses, bean bag chairs for the playroom, and their full stockings! Brooke was still sleeping, but seeing as how she wasn't really into opening presents at any of our other celebrations, we went ahead without her. It was hilarious to see the differences in the girl's attitudes with presents. Adilyn would have busted into every single one of hers in ten minutes if I would have let her! Kacy took her time, opened a present and examined it, tried on clothes when she got something new, and really didn't care about how many presents she had left. We took a break to eat our breakfast feast - yummy french toast bake, hashbrown casserole, and eggs. At this point, Adilyn had opened all her presents, and Kacy still had 3 to open. Brooke had woken up to Christmas chaos, and most of her presents were still unopened. Although she didn't do much opening, she was very happy crawling around and exploring all of the new toys laying around. It was killing Adilyn to have wrapped presents still in the house, so after we ate, we opened the rest :)

The rest of the afternoon, we just relaxed, played with new toys, and enjoyed being together. That evening we went to Grandma Henderson's house to celebrate with her and Amy. We had a great dinner over there!

I love celebrating Christmas with our little family. It's such a nice, relaxing day!

 

Fort Worth Christmas

As usual, our Fort Worth Christmas was fabulous! I love being able to spend time with everyone up there. It was a bonus and Dad and Kris's this year because everyone was in town. It was the first time that we had everyone there in years! We did our usual fun at Mom's house on Saturday, and we even went to Casa Manana to see a play during the day. We had a great time opening all the presents, then playing with all the new toys, of course! Adilyn and Kacy were so happy to get DreamLites because they have been asking for those for months! Things are Dad and Kris's were chaotic, of course, but so much fun. We had a photographer come and take some family pictures, and we thought it was going to be a disaster with all the kids, but we actually got quite a few great group pictures. All the kids had so much fun together. I love that they get along and play so well together even though we don't see each other that often. Terilyn was right in there this year. It's so funny to see how the kids grow, and each year another one ventures into the games of hide-and-seek or chase. They were on "teams" this year, and Adilyn was always with Terilyn trying to take care of her. (Even though that girl doesn't need anyone to help her, for sure!) It was a wonderful day with wonderful memories :) So blessed to have such an amazing family!

Two of the favorite gifts - a hairdresser's apron and a waitress uniform.

My girls LOVE playing with the Lewis girls' old My Little Ponies. All the ponies got "wipey baths" this year!

Aunt Nina is a fantastic aunt! She was reading with Adilyn and Taylor, and she kept them entertained for quite a while!

Hanging out with Pops!

Cory has to have a fire every year, so Maren and Kacy (and Charlie) helped him get the wood.

Mimi has insisted that we also participate in the Dutch (I think) tradition of dancing around the Christmas Tree and singing Christmas carols. It's a lot of fun, and we took requests from the kids this year. We ended up singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "The ABC's", so they didn't quite stick with the Christmas-theme, but nobody cared! 

Brooke was snotty the whole trip, but she still had a fantastic time with everyone!

Adilyn's Christmas Party

Adilyn's elementary has the fantastic plan to have all of the "Winter Parties" at 9:30 in the morning on the last day before winter break. It's chaos! They also allow you (encourage you) to take your kid home after the party. So, they get them all sugared up, then send them home at 10:15 in the morning. Awesome! :) Younger siblings are not allowed, so Cory had to stay home with Brooke and Kacy. It was nice to have some time just to focus on Adilyn, though. Her class made reindeer ornaments and ice cream cone Christmas trees. The reindeer craft was not well thought-out, and we couldn't get the pipe cleaner through the felt. The dad at the table with me had a pocket knife, so we illegally used a prohibited item to complete the craft. He passed it to me under the table. So rebellious! :) It was great to see Adilyn in her element, see her friends, and how she is in school. After she finished her crafts, we walked around school to give her PE, Art, and Music teachers a little Sonic gift card. She was so proud to give them their cards. We had a fun time!

Kacy's Christmas Program

Kacy had an exciting and riveting Christmas program at her preschool. Each age group sang 3 songs, a total of 9 songs, and it took 45 minutes. By the time they got each age group on the stage, then off again, then the next group on again...wow, it was hard work just being in the audience! Kacy was so proud when she saw us in the audience. She was also proud to show off her big sister to everyone! Kacy's group sang, "Happy Birthday, Jesus", "Jingle Bells", and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". Barely anyone sang except to yell out, "Happy Birthday, Jesus!" at the top of their lungs at the end of the song. It was super cute, though. All the kids were just up there staring out at the crowd. Kacy was sitting right in the middle of the first row in the middle of the stage. She was dressed in a jean skirt, with nothing underneath. Oops! She was showing her Dora panties to the entire audience for all 3 songs. Yikes! I learned my lesson - always wear something underneath! I never in a million years thought they would be sitting! Poor girl. If she only knew...I really love her pre-school, and I am glad she is going to school there.

Polar Express

The girls and I went up to Palestine and met Mom for a ride on the Polar Express. It was such a great time! The first great thing that happened was that we got an extra big hotel room for a little extra money. It had 3 beds, and was the longest hotel room we had ever seen! The girls, of course, loved jumping from bed to bed! After we got settled in the room, we headed to the train station. We were on the first train of the evening, so we got to get on the train a little early and hang out. The weather was rainy and chilly, so we were glad that we didn't have to wait outside. 

The train ride was really fun. On the way to the North Pole we ate cookies and drank hot chocolate. They played a recording of the Polar Express book. We got to the North Pole and there were elves and a toy shop and Santa. Santa got on the train and had a silver bell for every kid! Some of the elves got on the train also and were helping Santa. After we got our bells, we sang Christmas carols and danced in the aisles. The girls loved dancing with the waiters and waitresses!

We ate dinner and stayed up way too late watching tv. Going to sleep in a hotel room with everyone was challenging. I finally told everyone to stop making noise, and there was silence for about two minutes, then Brooke started her normal high pitched "singing". We all busted out laughing! Everyone finally went to sleep, and luckily slept in a little bit the next day. Adilyn told me that she knew that we didn't visit the "real North Pole", but it was fun to pretend. Man, that girl is too smart for her own good!

It was a great memory, and I am so glad Mom took us :)

Early Christmas with Cousins

We had a super early Christmas celebration with the cousins and Chad and Kristen, who were going to be out of town on actual Christmas. Ashley and Cash were in town, so we decided to go ahead and exchange gifts with all the cousins. It is so fun to have everyone together. We tried to get all the cousins in one picture two times. The first time we had an ant attack, and the second time the boys kept running away. At least we did get one with all of them in the same frame, not that they are looking or anything :) Adilyn and Kacy play really well with Callie these days, and they always end up getting super silly together!

Celebration!

Tommie and Mike have taken us the the annual Christmas program at Houston's First Baptist for the last 3  years, I think. The first year was a disaster because Kacy was little, and she was not enjoying herself at all. Cory ended up having to walk around with her the whole program. After that, the other two years went better. This year, we were nervous because we assumed Brooke would act the same way Kacy did when she was her age. Boy, were we wrong! The girl loved it. She sat in Cory's lap or my lap for the entire 2 hours! She watched everything, and she would just lock on to something and stare at it forever. Adilyn and Kacy did great, too. They loved the ice skaters, the angels, and the pretty dancers. It's a great tradition to have, and I am glad that the girls get to see the impressive story of Jesus's birth, life, and death. On a more worldly note, the girls always love to wear the pretty dresses that Tommie and Mike pick out for them each year.

Life Lessons

Kacy has been putting her finger in her ears and smelling it. Gross! Adilyn picks her nose and eats her boogers sometimes. Gross! I decided to have a little discussion about gross habits and how there are certain things that you just shouldn't do because they are ick! I asked Kacy if she could think of other things that we shouldn't do. She said, "Eating your crotch." What?!?! I was shocked and horrified. I asked her to say it again. When she said it, I realized that she said, "Itching your crotch." Then I went from shocked and horrified to a little bit proud. I have told her not to do that in public. Damn, they do listen sometimes! :)

Brooke - 8 Months!!!

It cannot be possible that Brooke is 8 months old! She is growing so fast, and she is officially in one of my favorite stages. If she actually slept through the night, she would be the best baby of all times!!! She is still getting up 2 or 3 times a night, and it's making me one very sleepy mama. I am not really sure why she is waking up, and I am not sure what to do about it. Cory has been travelling, so he's not here to help. So for now, we are just dealing with it! Naps are getting better, so that is a step in the right direction. 

She has 4 teeth that have popped through. 2 top and 2 little bottom chompers! 

She is crawling and crawling quickly! The girl is pulling up on everything, getting into the Christmas decorations, and finding every single tiny piece of paper and eating it.

Her favorite thing to do is dump out things in a box and through them around. (Guess she learned that from watching her older sisters!) 

She loves, loves, loves to talk. She makes noise and talks all the time, but she gets especially loud when we are alone. I guess she knows it's her time to shine! Lately, when we have been running errands, she just talks and happy screams the whole time. Luckily, most people find it cute :)

She is a picky eater, and if she doesn't like something, she will literally gag on it. Last night, I tried to give her peas for the 3rd time. She gagged and gagged on them until she actually threw up! So dramatic!

The girl always wants to know what's going on! We were at the store the other day and there were some kids running around. Every time I moved, she would stretch and strain to see what those silly kids were up to. She is constantly looking around for Adilyn, Kacy, and Cory. 

She is so happy most of the time, and I love her little personality. I can't wait to see what she is like as she gets older! She is definitely going to carve her place in the family. 

Lost a Link! and other school stories

Adilyn's Kindergarten has a discipline system of "links". You have 3 links each day. When you are not listening or doing something bad, you "lose a link". I think that once you have lost all 3, you get the dreaded "sad note" home. To my knowledge, Adilyn had never lost a link. She gets stickers in her folder everyday to indicate good behavior, but tonight the truth came out. She has lost a link 3 times! Today, she lost the link because she was being silly and too loud at the water fountain. As she was telling me the story, she also let it slip that she has lost a link 2 other times for being silly. Hmmm...when we talked about it, I asked her if she felt bad when she lost a link. She said that she didn't really care! That kind of made me mad, so I tried to explain to her that she should want to act the right way and that she should feel sad when she gets in trouble. She said, "Oh, I did feel kinda sad. I just didn't feel bad." Okay, whatever. I just tried to tell her that she really needs to do the right thing. I got an, "Alright, Mom." Nice...

On a brighter note, Adilyn is doing a great job reading. She is at a Level C, which is where she is supposed to be at the end of the year, so that is good enough for me. She is bringing home a reading folder each week with two leveled readers of her choosing. Her books were called, "Jack's Road" and "The Little Snowman". She is supposed to read one a night, and then I ask her vocabulary or comprehension questions. One night I asked her, "Who do you think drew the road on the paper?" She responded, "Jack." I asked her why she thought that, and she responded, "Um, because the book is called, 'Jack's Road'." And she said it like I was so stupid for not knowing that! I love that she is liking to learn. I truly hope that continues throughout her education. She may not always love school, but I really hope she enjoys it enough to do her best!

I asked her who she played with a recess one day, and she told me that she played with Kassie. She told me that they played a "different version of twins". I asked her what she meant by that, and she told me that it meant they played a different type of the twins game. Wow, she is growing up too fast! The things she knows  and understands now continues to amaze me!

Elfina!

I have always loved Christmas time. I loved the fact that my mom always kept the Christmas spirit alive no matter how old we were. We had fantastic traditions and great memories growing up. Now that I have my own family, I have had so much fun coming up with our own traditions for the holiday season. This year, a new tradition began, and her name is Elfina. We woke up on the morning of December 1st, and there was a surprise waiting for us straight from the North Pole. It was opened immediately, and inside was the cutest little elf you ever saw! There was a note from Santa, and all the ingredients to make super cool North Pole cookie ornaments. The note told us that we had to name his elf helper. Adilyn's first choice was Eagle, and Kacy's first choice was Merliah. We compromised on Elfina. Each night Elfina leaves the house, and she travels to the North Pole to chat with Santa about the girls. She returns the next day, and she ends up in a new spot each morning. Our sweet, little elf also brings tiny gifts or Christmas type things back from Santa. It has been really fun having her in our house.The first night Adilyn was a little nervous about her being here. At bedtime she said, "It feels weird to have an elf in our house. It feels a little weird in my brain." She soon realized that Elfina was a happy, sweet elf - nothing to be worried about.  Kacy woke up the very first morning and couldn't wait to find her! She has lots of magical powers, and she even turned our milk green this morning! What a crazy little elf girl!

Ooops!!!

The other day Adilyn came home from school and had to go to the bathroom. She ran right in the bathroom, and immediately I heard a blood-curdling scream! I thought for sure there was a snake or a bug on her or something. I ran in there, and she said, "I peed all over myself and the floor and everything!!! It's even on my hand!" I looked down, and the toliet was closed. She had peed right on the top of the covered toliet! There was a little puddle of pee just sitting on the toliet top. She was so upset, and I just couldn't help but laugh hysterically! She kept telling me to stop laughing, that it wasn't funny. I tried to contain myself, and I told her that it will probably be funny later.
We went to the Hrobars to play, and I told Dana what happened. Adilyn ran by and I asked her if her accident was funny yet. She smiled, and said, "Yeah, it was pretty funny!"

A Moment of Kindness

I am pretty sure that Adilyn and Kacy are pretty normal as far as how they get along with each other. There are moments that they play so well together, and they seem to compromise and share perfectly. Then, in an instant, all that will change and it's a big chaotic mess! They don't fight all the time, but they do have their fair share of arguments. Neither one of them is hitting or being violent so much anymore, so that is an improvement! Every now and then, one of them will do something really sweet for the other, and it makes me wish every moment was that perfect. The other day was one of those days. Adilyn got off the bus, and she said, "Oh, Kacy I have something for you." I figured it was a little drawing or something, but it was a Dora doll dressed up as a cowgirl. I asked Adilyn where she got it from, she said, "I got to get something out of the treasure box, and I didn't find anything that I loved. I saw the Dora, and I knew Kacy would love it, so I got it for her." She used her precious "dillo dollars" and got something for Kacy. Little Kacy was so proud! It was such a sweet moment :)

A Christmas Tree Farm Success!

Last year, our annual Christmas Tree cutting down trip was a disaster. The trees were a mess, and we ended up going to the garden store to get one. I was not going to give up, so I convinced Cory to try again this year. We went to a new farm in Tomball, Spring Creek Growers, and it was awesome! They had lots of fun things for the kids to do - water pump rubber duck races, bike race tracks, a haystack, teepees to play in, and a huge tree house. Adilyn and Kacy had some fierce rubber duck races. Kacy was very determined, I think her competitive side was showing! We danced around like Indians in the teepees, and the girls thought that was hilarious. The best part for me was that the trees were beautiful, too! We found a fantastic tree, which made me sooooo happy. It was a warm day, so that was a little bit of a bummer because it didn't "feel" like Christmas. It wasn't too hot, and we had a great time playing around and finding the perfect tree. I love the holiday season! Bring it on!

Festival of Lights

I started using Groupon, and I found one for the Festival of Lights down in Galveston at Moody Gardens. It was for 1/2 price admission, so I bought it. I didn't really pay attention to the fact that it was only able to be used on the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving. Cory had already planned on going hunting, so I was on my own if I wanted to go. It sounded like something I could do with all the girls, so I decided to go for it. Shane and Dana were taking the boys on Saturday, so I thought I would try to hook up with them. The girls and I got loaded up in the car around 2:30 and headed down to Galveston. We also had tickets to a craft show down there, so I thought we would do that first. I had never been down to Moody Gardens, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I thought there would probably be places for us to hang out until the light tour started. We got down there, and it was quite a little compound down there. There is a huge hotel, convention center, and all the museums and theaters. The craft show was super hard to maneuver through with the big, huge stroller, so I decided to get the heck out of there before we broke a $100 glass sculpture! I couldn't figure out how to get over to the outside part, but we eventually found a door. The problem, there were only stairs to get down, about 15 of them. I was holding Brooke, and Adilyn and Kacy were in the stroller. I told the girls to get out of the stroller, and I attempted (one-handed) to drag the stroller down the stairs. It was a pretty dangerous venture, but we survived. We found a little park to play at, but the girls had to go to the bathroom pretty quickly after getting there. We loaded back up in the stroller and went to the main area. It was insane there!!! After the restroom, we went back out to the park, but they had closed it. There was a sign that said it closed at 5pm, but I didn't believe them. I told the girls that we were just going to ignore the sign and play anyway. When we went to go back to the park a guy stopped us and told us that we couldn't go because it was closed. Adilyn said, "I guess you can't break the rules when you get stopped by a guard!" Life lessons were learned! :) Finally we decided to find a place to eat our snacks and hang out. After eating, we got in line for the light tour. The Hrobars were running a little behind, so we decided to get started. It was a little chilly, so the girls got all bundled up. I put Brooke in her carrier, and the big girls snuggled in the stroller. It was a lot of fun! We just walked the trails and saw the light display, then we stopped and got some kettle corn and watched a guy juggle and do other silly things. Adilyn and Brooke seemed to really like it, Kacy, at one point said, "Are we going home soon?" Nice...It was pretty funny to hear all the people's comments to me. "Got your hands full?" or "Hey, I'll strap mine on your back, if you need one more!" Luckily, the girls were all very good. There were no meltdowns, no emergencies, and no issues! I am very glad we went to get us all in the holiday spirit!

Thanksgiving

We got to have Thanksgiving here at our house with most all of Cory's side of the family. Only Holly and her family couldn't make it. I wish I would have taken some pictures, but I was busy taking care of everyone and cooking! Luckily, everyone brought a little side dish, so I didn't have to cook the entire meal. Cory fried up the turkey, and I made some side dishes also. It was fantastic to have everyone here in our new house! We had tons of room for everyone to hang out, eat dinner, and watch football. It was great to see Ashley, Gerad, and Cash since we don't get to see them very often. We enjoyed great food, watching the Texans win, and spending time with everyone.

Adilyn's First Friendships

Ever since Adilyn started riding the bus to school, she has buddied up with Skyler who lives one street away from us. She kept asking and asking if she could come over and play, but it's always such an awkward thing when you don't really know that parents. Skyler lives with her grandmother, so that made it a little more awkward. Finally, I decided to ask if they wanted to come over and play on Wednesday afternoon. They accepted the invitation, and Skyler, her grandmother, and her 4 year old brother came over for about an hour and a half. The kids had a fantastic time, and the girls went straight to having a "girl party" in Adilyn's room, playing dress up and being silly. In a short 90 minutes, every single bin, bucket, and box in the playroom was dumped out. Wow, what a mess! I was really glad that Adilyn and Skyler included Kacy when they played. I am sure that won't always happen, but I am glad it did. Of course, they left out Skyler's brother, but I think they were just doing that to be funny. Her grandmother, Brooke, and I stayed downstairs and chatted. It was very successful!
That night, I had some extra time at bedtime to talk to Adilyn about friends. I asked her about who she plays with at recess, and who she sits with at lunch, and all that. It was hilarious to listen to her talk about her social life. She got all worked up telling me about how Skyler didn't want to play with her at recess because Adilyn wanted to do something different than what they normally do. She said, "It just wasn't fair because Skyler is my best friend, and I hate doing the same thing all the time, and she should do things that I want to do also!" I told her to try to mix things up a bit and play with different people. She said, "Yeah, I don't know about that." There is also a girl named Kassie in her class that she plays with. Lara is another friend from her class. The only boys she talks about are Toby and Cooper. I love that she has friends, and I hate to think about the days that people will hurt her feelings and break her heart. It will happen, a lot, and I just hope that she has the confidence to get through all the ups and downs that come with going to school :)

Heather's Wedding

Heather got married a couple weekends ago, and it was so beautiful! I really don't think I have ever been so excited to be part of a wedding as I was for this one. I am so happy that Heather and Michael found each other! They were married outside at an amazing ranch type place in Magnolia. The weather was perfect, and everything went great! It was so cute to see the girls out in the crowd while I was up front. They just thought I looked like a princess. Compared to my normal t-shirt and shorts, I pretty much was. A dress, high heels, make-up, fancy dangling earrings and a professional hair do = princess for sure in my world! The girls had a fantastic time dancing the night away. I think Nammie and Cory got a serious workout in dancing with them for hours! It was a most memorable night, and I am so glad I got to be there to see the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Kacy's Thanksgiving Feast and Adilyn's Pizza "Feast"

It was a busy week, and unfortunately, it was also the first week that Cory has been out of town in a long time! We had book fair at Adilyn's school on Monday night, Kacy's Thanksgiving Feast on Tuesday, dinner with friends on Wednesday, and Adilyn's Pizza with Parents on Thursday. Wow, I am tired just thinking about all that we did :) Luckily, being that busy made the week go by quickly. Kacy's feast was very cute. They had a potluck where everyone brought the traditional Thanksgiving dishes. The kids had little headbands with feathers, and they sang two sweet Thanksgiving songs. Kacy was very proud! She told me the names of all her friends in class, and she wanted to stay there for the day. Many of the parents took the kids with them, and I thought I would take her so I wouldn't have to drive back. She said, "I don't want to go home. I want to stay with my friends and my teachers." Well, alright then! 

Brooke was having tons of fun watching all the kids! I thought it was hilarious that Kacy wanted her to sit in her seat. Then, she said, "Don't worry, I can still eat with her in my lap like you do!"

Adilyn's school had a pizza lunch instead of the cafeteria turkey and dressing, which was a little odd, but whatever! It was equally as cute. The kids dressed up like Indians, and they had made shirts with their "Indian names" painted on the backs. Adilyn ironically got the name "Flying Duck". Cory has been duck hunting the last two weekends, so she thought that was pretty funny. She was happy to have Brooke and I there, but just like Kacy, she was more concerned about her friends. She kept talking about where her friends were sitting, and she wanted to go say hi to them. At one point, I told her that I would just go home if she didn't want to hang out with me. She thought I was serious, and she got a real concerned look on her face. I told her I was just kidding, but I don't know if she believed me :)