Party Down!

Friday, December 20th was quite a big day for us!  First, we arrived at Jackson's school a little after 9am to help them get ready for their Christmas Party.  They had three really cute activities and J's first station was to make a snowman out of powdered donuts, chocolates and candies.  His little Frosty was so cute.  Almost too cute to eat...almost!

Lila and I were in charge of the ornament station.  She got to color one, too, which made for a very happy and content 3 year old.

Each student got a Hunt Hound dog bone ornament with their name on it.  They got to decorate it any way they liked.  J's has a baseball and Christmas tree on it, and it says "Ho Ho Ho" and "Merry Christmas."  That just about sums it up, I guess:)

They also got to play Holiday Bingo with red and green M&M's.  The kids had to get a few refills...not because they got a Bingo, but because they kept eating the game pieces!

Reindeer games with his good buddy, Gage.  These kids were wired!

We left school a little before 11 and ran a few quick errands.  Then it was time to get Lila to her school for her Christmas program.  Maddie and Jackson were so excited to watch her sing in a performance that they used to be in themselves.

And then it was time! My baby girl was up on the stage singing her heart out.

"Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head..." 

She was so focused and did great...

but she still found time to wave to her big fan club every now and then.  The smile on her face when she saw all of us was just priceless.

We are all so proud of you, Lila!

After a nap for the little one and a movie for the big one, we were in the car again and headed to Buca di Beppo to celebrate Memaw's birthday.  Like I said, party down!

After a delicious italian meal, we sang to Memaw and had cake.  Happy Birthday, Shelley! 

Hounds and Reindeers

This morning we were all up bright and early, and I do mean EARLY.  As in, I found both kids awake at 5:45am--all the lights on in the kitchen and living room, searching for Johnny the Elf.  Good grief!  They are so intrigued by their elf!  I made them both get back in bed, but they never went back to sleep.  One day they will cherish their sleep, I'm sure of it.  Anywho, their early morning wake-up call actually served me well because I was out of the shower by 6:30.  I hustled to make their lunches and get J ready, all while trying to get myself ready at the same time.  Oddly enough, he didn't ever ask why I was getting ready so early.  I was trying my best to surprise him at school because he was getting the Hunt Hound Award at the school assembly.  I said goodbye to him at 7:20, finished my hair and make-up and then got Lila dressed and ready.  We were walking into the school by 7:50, just in time for the assembly.  Whew!  There were theatre kids from Plano East that performed a skit with the Grinch, Frosty, Rudolph and Mr. and Mrs. Claus.  Yes folks, you read that right.  I was so happy to see Christmas being celebrated in a public school.  And you know what else?  Everyone sang along to We Wish You a Merry Christmas at the end of their skit!  And the world didn't end!  It was so refreshing, especially when I've been reading about kids not being able to discuss Christmas at school, for fear of offending anyone who does not celebrate it.  Just another reason I love Hunt.

Drumroll please...the first Hunt Hound award for the First Grade goes to...Jackson Hays!  He got lots of cheers from his classmates.  I guess Caleb was so excited for him that he hopped in the picture with Mrs. Garner.

Way to go, J man!  We are really proud of you.  He has gotten excellent reports from his teacher and this is the second year in a row for him to receive the Hunt Hound Award.  It's tradition now, buddy!  Let's keep this good thing going:)

Fast forward a couple of hours later.  I had finished my last minute Christmas shopping, taken Tyson to the groomer, grabbed a quick lunch and then made it to Lila's school for her Christmas party.  I love that she goes to a Christian school and we don't have to worry a thing about giving them Christmas snacks or crafts.  They had the cutest reindeer water bottles, clothes pins and rice krispy treats.

She loved her snack.

Then they got to decorate these precious wreath ornaments that had their picture on them.  Ours in now proudly hanging from our Christmas tree. 

After that, it was time to make some reindeer food.  These reindeer are going to have plenty of oats and sugar sprinkles when they stop by our house on Christmas Eve.

Funny outtake--yes, she's definitely got a silly side!

Their last activity was to sing Christmas carols and pass the big red bows around the circle.  If you were holding the red bows when the song ended, you got to choose your gift.  Sounds so simple, but with 3 and 4 year olds, you never know what you're gonna get.  Let's just say it didn't go that well!  There was one girl throwing a fit and refusing to sit in the circle.  One refused to pass the bow when it came to her, so her mom had to wrestle it out of her hands every time.  And almost all of them found it very hard to sing and pass the bow at the same time.  It was like asking them to pat their head and rub their belly at the same time, I guess!  But we made it through and they all went home with a gift.

Lila couldn't leave without telling her buddy Cowen goodbye and snapping a quick pic with these busy brothers.  Afterwards, they gave each other at least 5 hugs.  So cute!

One class party down, one more to go tomorrow.  Then bring on Christmas.  I hope I'm ready!

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

This past Sunday we drove downtown to the Magestic Theatre--how urban of us, huh?!  We were so excited, especially the kids, because we had tickets to see Rudolph the Musical.

The theatre was beautiful and we even ran into some of our good friends there, too.  Hello Pointers!Gigi had a pretty good looking date escorting her to the show:)

"When's it gonna start, mom?"  Thankfully we didn't get there too early, so the show began within a few minutes of us getting in our seats.

I so wish that I could have taken pictures during the show.  It was really cute and looked JUST like the movie.  All three kids loved it and sang along with all of the songs that they knew.  Lila sat in my lap for most of the show so that she could see better.  When we sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" at the end of the show it was one of those precious, yet rare, moments when you actually get to slow down and enjoy the holiday season.  I'm really trying to make time for more of those!

These three will remember the show for a long time, I know, and they also came home with a red nose that lights up.  Thanks, Boom!  You're the best.  It was a fun night out with the fam and dinner at Campisi's afterwards was just icing on the cake. 

Murphy Mavericks

The Murphy Mavericks finally kicked off their basketball season this past weekend.  They won big their first game with a score of 20 - 3.  Sunday was no different and they played even better!  J man did the tip-off for both games.  At first glance, we all felt sorry for tiny #4. 

But then Jackson misunderstood the ref and thought he couldn't touch the ball until it came back down, and low and behold, this little guy actually won the tip off!  It was a bright spot in their team's performance, for sure, and I bet that kid was stoked.  Way to go #4! 

The rest of the game went something like this:  We make a shot, they get the ball, dribble down to their basket, try to pass, but then this kid jumps up and takes it away!

Then my point guard takes it back down the court and scores!

Caleb, Jackson, Tucker and Blake.  They were a force, I tell ya!

Such concentration.  The kid made long-range shots...

and lay-ups, too.

By half-time they were winning by 20, I think.

Did this kid let up, though?  Not a chance.  He did so great and scored 10 points for the Mavs.  They won 30 - 2!  We can't wait to watch them play again after the Christmas break.  Maybe by then his baby sister will be there to watch, too:)

Surprise!

In the midst of all the craziness this weekend, we managed to pull off a pretty darn good surprise for Jared.  We'd had a basketball game and soccer game earlier in the day and had his work's holiday party to go to that evening, but in the middle of it we squeezed in a surprise party.  What for?  We found out that after 7 long, hard years at his firm, they asked him to be a shareholder.  Wha hoo!! 

Jackson and Boom already had plans to go watch the Texas Legends basketball team that night, but we made sure they were there for the big surprise.  It was really cute how excited Jackson was for his daddy.  He didn't even want to leave to go to the basketball game--now that's a big deal!

I was so excited that even though it was last minute, both of Jared's brothers and their wives could be there.

Two very proud parents were also able to make it, as were two seriously excited in-laws and a curly headed neice.

Congratulations, babe!  You deserve this and so much more.  You have worked for 10 really long years and it's so nice to finally see you getting the recognition that you deserve.



We couldn't be happier for you!

Icemageddon!

Friday morning rolled around and we were all pretty excited.  No school!  Who hoo!  What should we do, mom??  Well, how about make a gingerbread house?

They both loved getting to assemble and decorate it...

but then Lila took it to a whole new level.  So much for eating icing off of her hand--let's just get it straight out of the packet!

As you can see, this was by far her favorite part of the whole activity!

A few hours later, they finally talked me into letting them go outside.  We spent at least a half hour digging out ski clothes.  We tried our best to make the ski clothes fit Jackson that we bought a few years ago, but he's grown just a bit!  After his pants kept falling off because we didn't snap the bib, we cinched them up on one side, but that just made them come up three inches above his socks.  Finally we just went with it and both snow bunnies were ready to venture outside.  And, oh my, IT WAS COLD!!

They soon realized that EVERYTHING was covered in ice.  There were icicles hanging off of the trampoline...

and even though it looked like the playground was covered in a nice batch of snow, it was indeed ice, too.  Pretty for pictures, but not so easy to play on. 

J man slipped a time or two trying to walk up this part of the playscape.

After striking out on it, they headed back to the tramp.  Jackson worked for a while just chopping up ice with his hands.  He was very proud of this 1 1/4" thick block of ice that he got loose!

We'd almost had enough with all the crazy ice, but we had to check out the front of the house, too.  And yes, more ice was everywhere!  The driveway and sidewalks were just covered in it.  Homebound for sure.

Saturday morning we woke up to an even colder morning and it was Jared's birthday.  I felt so bad that we couldn't take him to a fun breakfast or anything of the sort.  The kids did, too, so they made him these signs and pictures and we created a birthday shrine to Dad before he woke up!  He loved it.  We had to cancel our dinner plans that night because the roads were too bad, but thank goodness for college football, because we watched a lot of it that day.  We had also made cookie bars at his request, so we lit some candles on them and sang him Happy Birthday.  Then Lila gave him her rendition.  It went like this: "Happy Birthday Daddy.  I still love you old man.  I still think you are handsome, even if you're an old man!" What a goose!

I sure hope he felt the love from all of us. We love you, daddy!

In addition to a few other gifts, the kids got their daddy this goofy shirt.  All three of them share an extreme love for the video "What Does the Fox Say?" so they got him the shirt.  Ha!

We also got him a Wake Forest beanie.  Not sure what he liked more, the gift or the kiss from his youngest:)

Sunday morning the kids woke up bright and early and were SO thrilled to be able to report that Johnny the Elf was able to fly to the North Pole and back the night before.  They were very worried about him because icemageddon had kept him homebound for the last few nights, too.  It was so good to see him back to his old tricks and they found him reading How the Grinch Stole Christmas to three of his friends.  Too funny, Johnny!

A little while later, we needed to go check on our old house in Garland.  Imagine our horror when we drove up and saw THIS!  Holy Macarel!  My mouth literally fell open.  Both big trees were down in the front yard and the whole neighborhood looked like a tornado hit it.

By this time, my dislike for ice was getting pretty darn high.  To fix this huge mess, my dad, Jared and Uncle Andrew had to spend the afternoon cutting it all down with chainsaws.  It was one day that I was happy to be 8 months pregnant and forced to stay inside. 
Icemageddon, we now hate you!

We still had one more bright spot in our weekend, though, and the whole fam was pumped to be celebrating Jared's birthday at Babe's Chicken Dinner House.  The chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and cream corn was calling our name.  The ice had melted on the roads so we did not anticipate any problems.  We arrived at the restaurant at 6:20 last night.  There were plenty of cars in the parking lot and people inside eating their delicious dinners.  Then we tried to open the door and it was locked.  Uh oh.  Then we saw it.  A sign that read, "We are closing early tonight due to the weather.  Closed at 6pm."  Neat.  Are you kidding me?!   At this point Jared declared it the biggest Birthday Fail Ever.  Thank goodness we were near A Taste of Italy and it was open.  We ended up having a great time with everyone and he was so thankful to have a big family to celebrate with.  Icemageddon, you may throw us a few curveballs, but you will not bring us down!