Christmas at Nana & Pops' house...

Christmas morning at our house

The bat cave was the biggest hit at our house. Luke also enjoyed the headphones to go with his new radio and books on CD.

Santa at Sweetie's house

Luke wasn't so shy this time with Santa and he was sure to tell Santa he's been very good.

Christmas at Sweetie's

What a motley crew!

Uncle Chris & Reese playing football with Paul cheering them on.

Luke & Caleb burning up the race track outside.

Caleb & Paul

Caleb had his first hair cut (FINALLY, right?!). And, Paul is loving the exer-saucer these days.

I walked into the kitchen....

...and this is what I found.

Dance party

Each night before bed, we have a "dance party" to get out every last little bit of energy. Caleb has become quite a little dancer on account of all the practice. Here he is dancing to the theme song of Magnum PI.

Santa and the boys...

There have been few times (if any) in Luke's life when he has been left speechless. However, after this picture was taken, Santa asked if Luke had anything he wanted to say. Luke just stood in front of him and stared. Eventually, he gave Santa his list (WHERE IN THE WORLD, BY THE WAY, DID HE GET THE IDEA TO WRITE SANTA A LIST??? WHO KNEW THIS STUFF STARTS AT THE AGE OF 4??!!!) In the end, Luke was very glad to have written the list because he said, "in the moment, I lost my words."

Favorite pictures of Paul...

Luke's favorite (above)

Caleb's favorite (above)

Chris & Stacy's favorite (above)

I'm so glad to have these pictures so I can think of this cute face at 4:00 in the morning. :)

Pine Hill Farm

We went with JoAnna and Reese to Pine Hill Farm in Tarrant to get our Christmas tree. While there, we attempted to get a family Christmas picture. Does anyone else think it's impossible to get all 5 people smiling, eyes open, and looking in the general right direction?


Paul, Luke, Caleb, & Reese.

A real, live reindeer!!! Luke, Caleb, and Reese were mesmerized by him. However, Luke's constant chatter and Caleb's yelling, "Hey Reindeer!" encouraged him to move away from us very quickly.

Decorating for Christmas...

The boys have gotten good practice decorating this week by helping out their grandparents. Here, Luke's taking good care of the middle section of Sweetie's tree.
Is that a halo above Pops' head? (Surely not!!)

They helped Nana & Pops sort the breakable ornaments from the non-breakable ones very quickly.

Some of the fam....

Amanda (who just had surgery for her torn ACL), Paul, and Michelle
Pops playing soccer

Nanny and Claire cheering everyone on


Mom, Liz, and Maralyn

My brothers---Scott and Ray, and our cousin Christian. He debated, but in the end, Christian decided to let them go. (Ray especially seems to have the stance down just right. Is it me or does it seem like he has does this before???)

ROLL TIDE

Our little Pilgrim

Luke's class had a Thanksgiving Feast today and he was dressed like a "pil-gram" (as he pronounces it). He was upset his jeans had pockets on them because he didn't think real Pilgrims would have had pockets. We told him they would have been very thankful if they did have pockets because that's what Thanksgiving is about........and, somehow, that made him feel a lot better about it.

What happens when Chris is away...

Fortunately for me, Chris has always been a co-parent----present and equal. But a few weeks ago, he had to go out of town and I was left (with lots of grandparent help) but on my own at bedtime. After several days without baths, my "big" guys were needing to be cleaned. I got them situated in the bath tub and went to help Paul who screams from about 6 - 9 every night unless he's eating. It did make me laugh, but here is Paul all set up with a bottle.
BUSTED!! When I went back to check on these guys, they had raided the linen closet and gotten EVERY TOWEL we own and put them in the tub so they could "climb on wet mountains."

"Do you think this is funny?"
"Oh, she doesn't think this is funny," Luke says, with a face that spells out the birth of a conscience. I have a greater appreciation for single parents and for what 2 little boys can do in one minute or less.

Disney on Ice

Nana took us for a great show....the Incredibles were amazing skaters.
And they kept these two boys glued in their seats and wide-eyed.

The icee's helped too.