Blitzen

Sometimes it's hard to get into the reindeer spirit

until your family starts singing Rudolph as loud as they possibly can

and until you have a black reindeer nose.



Antlers courtesy of Emily's class at her Christmas party yesterday. I've noted next time I take pictures with them to take the tag off first. :)

All I want for Christmas is...

my one front tooth!

Thankfully there's no co-pay for this entry.

We've had a busy few weeks. Full of germs. I am so sick of germs.

Austin was one of three 2nd graders (out of 170 at his school) selected for the district's UIL competition in creative writing. He was so excited to attend, but as of yesterday we weren't too sure if he'd be able to. Poor boy has been a mess the last week - including some asthma issues, a staph infection (mrsa), and a nasty stomach bug. Thankfully yesterday afternoon he started feeling better and was able to go. His school got 1st place overall. We're so proud of all the kids! Yeah!!

After the competition, we celebrated with some ice cream.


Then Santa and Mrs. Claus came to our neighborhood. Austin didn't want to go because he just knew it was an impostor Santa.


This was just a few seconds before Cole realized who was actually holding him and started screaming bloody murder.

Mrs. Claus read them a story about her hubby. She was terrific!

Last week we surprised the girls at lunch. They eat a very early lunch at 10:30 and the only thing open was Sonic.

I put a note in their lunches thinking I successfully tricked them. I did Emily for sure, she came in the cafeteria, sat down, and was visibly upset there was no lunch. Her teacher then read the note and she came and found us. She was so excited.

Abby came in the cafeteria without a lunchbox and immediately found us. Her teacher later told me she totally flipped out in class because she had nothing in her lunchbox. Should have known Abby checks first thing at school what her lunch is for the day (even though I told her she had a sandwich and fruit that morning). No getting anything by that one.

This is the best picture I got from Austin's 2nd grade Christmas performance. Obviously we didn't have the best seats but I did catch his shaking his hiney to Santa Clause rock. Hilarious. And, by the way, this wasn't a performance at a retirement home... I must have gotten behind all of the grandparents.

Now as I close this I'm off to call the doctor again because it appears Cole is allergic to the antibiotic he is on. And by allergic, I mean that I've just been informed about a new rash and exploding diaper that is "all over" the place. Can't wait to see that one. Does it ever end??

My favorite turkeys

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday. Lots of food, family and fun.

Here are some pictures from the girl's kindergarten feast.

Here's Abby in front of the big turkey in school... everyone in her class had to design a feather and a vest. Look at all the colorful feathers - Abby wanted to do one with hearts. I didn't realize the kids would go all out on decorating either of these. I think some of the parents spent some serious money on the vests - we just put some stickers on hers and her Indian name she came up with "Paddling Duck." Everyone else was pretty traditional with feathers and such - oops.

The "Feast" at school. All the food looked great!

Abby in all of her glory. "Where's the FOOD?"


Abby was the only kid in her class to eat everything on the plate - even the cranberries.

The girls and their kindergarten teachers - they love these two!!


Brown bag special.


My dad came in from Colorado - here are the kids with him. We had a good time visiting.

I wasn't feeling the turkey this year so we just had a small ham and lasagna. Yeah, weird combo but it all worked out.

Here's my mom with the kids.

We skipped the Christmas tree farm this year and James just went to a local nursery to pick up a tree. We'll go back next year... it was really cold Friday morning (finally) and I didn't want to take Cole out in the weather. I didn't even realize the "big box" trees are $40 cheaper! So bonus there.

The kids' favorite part - drinking hot chocolate. Cole went for some warm milk (I'll spare you the picture on that one).


Happy kiddos by the tree (fueled by hot chocolate).

I actually participated a bit in the Black Friday madness. First year I've ever gone to a store the day after Thanksgiving. Austin and I walked into Old Navy late in the afternoon - they had his fleece pants for $5 so thought I'd get several pairs. As soon as we walked in, the registers all died. We should have just left then but we waited it out for a good hour. I'm glad it was Austin who was with me. So this is the first and last year I will participate in all that craziness.

Here's just a random picture of Emily - she slept in a braid and her hair was pretty wavy the next day. I thought she looked cute :) Plus it's always nice to get a photo of her when she's practicing her writing (and not playing with princesses).

Another Austin obsession - Scrabble. Sometimes he plays with us, sometimes a ghost. And usually the ghost wins. C-O-O-L (6-point word for our oldest kiddo).

Happy Thanksgiving!

from this little turkey!