Precious

(front)(inside)
(back)

I found this cute card in Grace's school folder. Classic! This is a keeper.

Annual Christmas Lunch

Every year since we moved to Houston, our realtor has invited us for lunch at Champions Golf Club. It's really sweet of her to keep inviting us. We just fell in love with her and her husband when they were helping us find our home, and they just feel like family. I think they like to pretend that our children are their grandchildren. So they like to invite us to their club to see the beautiful Christmas trees and decorations. It's a really beautiful display, and I'm just kicking myself that I forgot our camera. I was determined to take pictures this year, and I walked out the door without the camera! So, what you have here are some not so great pictures taken with my trusty cell phone. At least it's something, right? But I didn't get a picture of our lovely host and hostess. I guess there's always next year.This picture really doesn't even come close to doing it justice. All around the bottoms of the trees were tons of talking/singing animals that the girls' all loved to play with, and there was an electric train that went around the trees as well. The whole back wall of the dining room is picture windows that look out onto the beautiful golf course. (Tiger Woods has even played this course!) Trevor dreams of belonging to this very exclusive club someday. I keep telling him to keep dreaming, 'cause it ain't happenin'! One, because I can think of a million other ways to spend that kind of money (hello, can we say newly remodeled kitchen?) And two, you have to be really good at golf, and have a certain handicap (sorry, that's golfing terminology) to even join. Sorry honey, but you need to keep practicing!

So, sorry for the terrible, grainy pictures. But we really did have a great time with some great people!

Ward Christmas Party

In the words of Chandler Bing: Could she BE any cuter? Our camera has been having issues, so it didn't catch how very cute she looked in the hat, she

would be posing so nice and smiling, and the camera would just take too long, and the lighting was wrong, yada yada yada...oh well, you can just imagine how very cute she looked. This is all taken at our ward christmas party last weekend.You would think this was all the proof she needed....But she came up to me and said, it's not the real Santa, mom. Me: "Why do you say that?" Grace: "Because he's wearing a ring." (Santa was wearing a gold band.) Me:"Well, why can't Santa wear a ring?!" Grace: she just shrugs her shoulders. Me: "Well, Santa can wear a ring." And that's how I left it. She still looked skeptical.

Santa

Okay, I know I just posted, but I forgot one thing. Melinda mentioned in her blog about her quandary with kids and "lying" to them about Santa. Well, I have had the same issues with Grace. She is a very curious kid, and I seriously think that if I don't use different "special" wrapping paper for the presents from Santa, she would probably notice and ask why Santa's stuff is wrapped just like everything else. When I was a kid, I couldn't have cared less, and I wouldn't have noticed. But she does. So she's been asking me about whether Santa is real. I always try to deflect and ask her, "well what do you think?" And she answers, "Yes, I think he's real." But then she'll start to tell me how a friend of hers told her he wasn't real. (I really want to smack this kid for putting the idea in her head in the first place!) But, even though she says she thinks he's real, I think she still has doubts. Because she wrote her letter to Santa a few days ago, and wanted me to mail it. I, of course, told her I would, and as soon as she'd gone to bed, ripped it open to see what it said. It had her list of what she wanted for Christmas, and among the ipod, bunny slippers, roller skates, and other things, she also asked for a "picshur of you" (Santa), and a "picshur of your elves". What can I say...I guess she just wants proof!

Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and More...

Well, it sure feels like I haven't posted in FOREVER. I tell ya, heading into the holidays just makes life a little crazier. But I love it. November has just flown by. My parents came into town over Trevor's birthday, and we all spent the weekend in San Antonio. That was lots of fun to enjoy the nice weather and relax.
For Thanksgiving, we headed to Austin to spend it with our good friends, the Cluffs. They have four kids, and we have three, so it was a full house and a little crazy. But that's what makes it fun. Good friends, good food, good times. Thanks Jay and Julie for a wonderful weekend! Julie and I hit all the Black Friday (and Saturday) sales. I have two words for you, people: Potterybarn Outlet. Need I say more? What more could you want in life? Nothing, that's what. The whole entire store was 40% off except for the furniture...it was 60% off! I know, it just about made me pee my pants! I love that place. We shopped and shopped, and shopped some more over the two days. It was a lot of fun, and yes, we got up at the crack of dawn Friday morning because that's just what we do! It's fun to get up when it's still dark out, and just throw on some clothes and shop all around town with bedhead. After about noon, we felt like we needed to head back to at least shower, since most of the people we were seeing weren't the "early morning" crowd that looked like us anymore. But I got almost all my Christmas shopping done, so mission accomplished!
I have a small confession to make. My Christmas tree has been up and decorated since a couple of days before Thanksgiving. I know...it's against even my own rules. But we got a new tree this year. The $20 6-footer from WalMart that we bought 6 or 7 years ago, was screaming for a break. Or maybe it was just me screaming. Anyhow, we got a new one, and it's beautiful and the best part is it's PRE-LIT! Fantastic. So, we just couldn't wait until after Thanksgiving to put it up. And I figure, we won't be around over Christmas, so we needed to put it up early so we could enjoy it for as long as possible.
Well friends, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. And I hope you all enjoy as much as I do this wonderful Christmas season. I promise to post pics next time I post.

Shots

So all three of my girls had well-check doctor's appointments today. I wanted to get all of them done, so we did it all today in hopes that it would be quick and painless. When I scheduled the appointmens 3 weeks ago, Grace happened to overhear the conversation and immediately started asking me over and over whether she would be given shots or not. You see, she is a sensitive child and little overly dramatic. She immediately started crying and carrying on about shots that she "might" receive in 3 WEEKS! I told her, she probably wouldn't need immunizations, but she would definitely be getting a flu shot, and she didn't need to worry...especially since it wasn't happening immediately. Well, when she woke up this morning, the first words out of her mouth were about the impending doctor's visit. I took the two younger girls to their appointments right after breakfast, and all went very smoothly. I was able to rationally tell Holly that she was going to get a quick poke, and it would be okay, and if she would be very good she would get a treat. She did her duty, put a brave face on, cried for just a few seconds, and then was good as gold. After that I was even able to talk her into going down to the lab where they would do another quick poke so they could take her blood to run some tests. She didn't even care! She rocked that blood test like no other 3 year old could. The baby cried for maybe a minute for her shots, but as soon as the band-aids were on, she was just fine. Well, after lunch, I go to check Grace out of school to take her to her appointment. As soon as she gets in the car it's the Spanish Inquisition! "Mom, how many shots do I have to have? Are they going to do it at the beginning or the end of the appointment? Are you sure it won't hurt worse than when I got my ears pierced, because I remember last time you told me that and it hurt worse, and I cried..." on and on and on. Seriously, last time this child had her shots, I was physically laying on top of her trying to restrain her long enough for the poor nurse to get the job done. Today was no different. A nurse came in to take the baby so I could help "restrain" Grace. She literally freaks out so much that she doesn't even feel the shots. It's the same thing every time. After all the screaming and commotion was over, she asked me what had happened. It's like she goes out of her mind, and doesn't even remember what happened! It's the anticipation that freaks her out. Next time, I am just not going to tell her when her appointment is, and just surprise her.
Trevor got his shots today, too, at work. So everyone in my little family (me excluded) were all comparing their band-aids and telling their "stories" tonight at bedtime. Funny stuff.

Ode to Trevor

Happy Birthday to the best-est husband a girl could ask for! Can I gush for just a moment? I don't know what I would do without you. You are the smartest, most patient, fun-loving, kind, hard-working, loveable, forgiving person I know--and you're cute to boot! You are such a wonderful daddy, and our girls just idolize you. Trev, I love you more than you know, and I hope you have a fantastic birthday!