Christmas Cookies and Lights

Kinley got a really sweet Christmas gift from Jen and Eden that was a mason jar full of 25 different Christmas activities to do as a family. It is kind of like a family togetherness advent calendar in a jar :) It is such a thoughtful gift for the Christmas season and has lots of activities that concentrate on who and what Christmas is really about.

Last night we decided to go for 2 items in the jar.

Ben and Kinley had fun cutting out the sugar cookies with the fun cookie cutters Jen gave with the gift.

Then we decorated the cookies with these guys.

It was so fun to hangout with them because very soon they are moving to Houston for Joe's new job. We are very happy for them and very sad for us. It will be weird for them to not live right down the road and sad not to see Isaac pretty much every week.

We also got to celebrate Joe's birthday....which we totally forgot until like 5 minutes before they had to go. Sorry Joe!!

After Isaac's bedtime, we decided to end our Christmasy night with a peppermint latte and Christmas lights. Pretty much perfection.

There is one neighborhood in Bedford that does it up right with a drive-thru story book of lights. And one house is like the North Pole where you can get out and walk around. It's pretty cool.

Hopefully we can cross a few more of our 25 things off our list before Christmas next week! Have a great weekend!

Ty - 3 Months

Yesterday Ty turned 3 months old! I don't know if it is the holidays or what..but, I truly cannot believe how fast the months are flying by. I just want to treasure every moment with him. He is still just the sweetest baby. He continues to talk, talk, talk and smile up a storm to anyone who will pay him attention. Even a sweet checkout lady at Walmart sat and talked to him the other day the entire time I unloaded groceries onto the belt, scanned them, sacked them, and put them back in the basket. They had a detailed conversation.

In the last month,

• Ty has gained some serious head control and learned to sit in a bumbo seat.
• He went to see Santa for the first time and was a total champ about it.
• He learned to roll over from front to back...woohoo!
• He is getting very used to his sister hugging all over him and wanting to hold him constantly.



• He is still sleeping great at night and eating like a champ...but, naps are a little harder now. He is out of the "just sleep anywhere" phase and either likes the car seat while running around, or in his bed with the miracle blanket. Sleeping in the swing and the bouncer is a luxury now.

Ty is a total dream and a blessing in our lives. We thank God for both our precious angels every day. We know how blessed we are for two healthy, happy children and do not ever want to take it for granted. We pray that we can be examples for them for Christ and that they would want to know him from a very early age. We are continuously learning how to be better parents and being humbled by how much we do not know. We just trust that God is our ultimate parent and can help lead us whenever we ask. Here are a few more pics of Ty today at 3 months.

Kinley definitely wanted to jump in the pictures this time and I just loved it!

Catching Up - Hall of Honor and a Flash Mob

No, I did not get inducted into a Hall of Honor for participating in a Flash Mob...I wish. But, things have been busy around here. I can't really even tell you all that has been going on this past week...but, it has been a whirlwind! We have been busy bees getting ready for Christmas and with lots of dinners and events to go to.

Last week, we had a really special dinner for my dad where he was inducted into the Birdville School District Athletic Hall of Honor. It was a pretty big deal and he gave a great speech that was inspirational and spiritual and just made me so proud to be his daughter. It was a little like preaching from the pulpit and he was fabulous at it.

Here is the plaque he got with a fantastic action shot of him his freshman year at SMU

We represented....

There was a cool display of lots of authentic Olympic Games stuff....Ben and Matt were pretty stoked to hold some torches...

Then, Saturday, I did a Flash Mob in Frisco Square with Kristen, Allison, Mendy and Ashley and Allison's SIL, Allison. It was fantastic.

Mendy, Ashley and I stayed up till 1am the night before learning the dance...I won't post that video..but, here is a screen shot.

It was so fun to practice the day of the flash mob and have all the kiddos come out to watch Santa parachute in and watch us bust out into a dance.

Kinley looks happy here..ha!

Here is a cute video of Kinley and Ella hugging it out...

Kris and Al did a great post about the whole experience here. I am a little behind the game. Here is a different video that someone posted that is different than the one on LL. You can kind of see us and how not great we are...haha!

Skip to like 35 seconds...for some reason there is a crazy long title intro.

Merry Christmas!

Kinley's 2 year old Christmas Program

Oh goodness...yesterday was Kinley's first preschool program! It was truly hilarious and so much fun to see. She has been singing these Christmas songs all over the house and signing the motions for weeks. She loves singing with Eden everywhere they are, like at chick-fil-a. She sings them in the car, while playing in her room, and for pretty much anyone who will listen. But, when it came to showtime, she just froze. Sweet angel was just SO shy and embarrassed. She would even spot Ben, Mom, Gary and I in the audience at the beginning and just put her head down between her legs because she was so embarrassed. Maybe she is just not ready for the stage yet with those bright lights and the dark audience. It was a little scary to her. She literally sat there with a stoic face and did not sing one word of 6 Christmas songs. She never really shed a tear or threw a fit or had to be taken off stage. She just sat there quietly, taking in her surroundings. Finally, at the very end of the last song she started waving at us from the stage. Still not singing but, at least we got a wave. Melt my heart! Sweet baby just does not love the center of attention...and I am totally ok with that.

She looked so precious in her shepherd costume and we could not be prouder of her! Here are a few pics of her walking in and out of the worship center and onto stage.

This was the shy smile we got a few times.

and here is a little bit of a sad face...

All done!

And here are a few clips of video from our iphones. She is on the very back row, second from the left in red. Wait for the end for her head to go down...so funny.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

A DIY acorn wreath and some firsts

This last week Kinley and I went over to my mom's house and picked up a bucket full of acorns. Kinley loves acorns. She brings them home from school all the time. I find them in her pockets and she "cooks" them in her kitchen, counts them, throws them, puts them in her teapot or a bowl, dumps them out and puts them back in again. I am not sure why the fascination with acorns but, she does love them. My parents house has a plethora of acorns because of all the huge oak trees in their yard. So, I knew there was some kind of project I could do with acorns. I decided on an acorn wreath for my front door.

Kinley and Honey loaded up a huge bucket full. The project was so simple.

find some acorns, spray paint them white, wrap a styrofoam wreath form in ribbon and hot glue the acorns on...and done.

I love the imperfections in the acorns show up more when they are painted white.

Also, today has been a day of a few firsts....

Ty mastered the bumbo

Ty also wore head to toe camo for the first time....a VERY proud day for Ben

And if THAT wasn't impressive enough....Kinley ASKED for a ponytail and a bow in her hair!!!!!! Definitely a first and SO much fun. She was excited to show it to Eden at lunch.

Also, they were too cute laughing and pretending to practice for their Christmas program on Thursday. Kinley has been motioning and singing these songs nonstop but, I can't really tell how it is all going to come together. They did it with the motions and very cute before this...which of course I did not get on video. Oh goodnees...with these two...I can't wait to see how the real thing turns out. Ha!

Happy Monday!