Proud parental moments

Our next-door neighbors came over on Christmas Day to bring the kids some gifts. She is an artist, so she brought them all sorts of art supplies. They are great neighbors, and we've really enjoyed getting to know them over the last couple of years. And really, it was so sweet of them to get something for the kids.

So I'm walking them to the door as they're leaving, telling them just that. I'm holding Helen, and she chooses that moment to pick a humongous booger out of her nose and show it to me. I try to ignore her, but she was loud and insistent.

"Booger, mommy, booger."

And then,

"I eat it?"

Merry Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas from the Maddux household!

We had a wonderful day, despite all the kids having colds and Cort being under the weather as well. Grandad, Gransan, and Gramma were all here. We thought a lot about the days we used to travel for Christmas, since both Oklahoma and North Texas got over a foot of snow. The pictures from folks having a White Christmas "back home" were amazing, but we'll still take being at our own home sweet home with our family.

Charlie and Joseph are now old enough to do the honors of reading the Christmas story on Christmas Eve

Waiting at the top of the stairs before being allowed to see what Santa brought (if you are wondering, Will refuses to wear pants anymore)

This was Will's ABSOLUTE favorite gift -- his very own broom

He's a cleaning machine

Here he's cleaning up the mess from underneath the "kids' table" -- can't believe we have enough people in our immediate family (plus grandparents) to justify a kids' table.

Our babysitter, Cynthia, gave the boys new Texans hats - she knows them well!

The boys also got new baseball gloves, new soccer, football, and baseball cards, a ball bounceback, mini college football helmets, miniature "football guys," mini baseball helmets with a standings board, and baseball and football PJs -- yes, they LOVE sports

Cynthia got Will this stuffed dog. He named him Bob.

Will also liked the rain boots that Charlie got him - notice Charlie and Joseph in the foreground taking pictures with their new cameras

Here Cort is reading Helen the book given to her by her (very perceptive) brother Joe -- "Hands Are Not For Hitting"

Christmas confirmed that Helen really is a girl! She loved wearing and showing off her new clothes and hair bows.

She played a lot with her two new dolls, along with the bed for the dolls and a little dollhouse

Our little girl showing off her new Christmas finery

We still need a little work on the true meaning and spirit of Christmas and a little less emphasis on the commercialism -- we spent all morning opening Christmas presents, for crying out loud. But, mostly, we just enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with family. And watching the kids have a fabulous time, whether with the presents themselves or with the wrapping they come in . . . .

5-year-old humor

"Jingle Bells
Batman smells
Robin laid an egg
Threw a rock and hit a tree and made it pee in 1981!"

What????

Comment of the day

Charlie:  "It's six days till Jesus's birthday!"

Me:  "That's right.  It's six days till Christmas."

Charlie:  "And there's football on Christmas!"

Elves and singers

Last night was the annual Cathedral House holiday program.  And it was, as always, adorable.  This year it was a "sci-fi" -- the Xmas files.  Will and Helen's class, Toddler I, were the "little green men" that turned out to be Santa's elves.  Take a look at them in costume.  I told you:  Adorable!

Helen told us that she "danced like this, and I put my arms up and down, up and down, and I hammered."  She also said that she saw Daddy and said, "cheese" (because Daddy had the camera).  They did great - no crying, and knew generally what they were supposed to be doing.  All of the other classes were adorable too, but I swear the elves were the cutest.

This morning was the Travis kindergarten holiday program.  The boys, feeling older and very much superior, informed Will and Helen that they would be singing "big kid songs."  We didn't see as much of it, because the boys really wanted Will and Helen to watch -- which meant we brought them and spent much of the time taking them to the bathroom, trying to get them quiet, and corralling them generally.  But we saw enough to know that they did a great job.

Joseph flashing us a smile right before the show started

Charlie singing with gusto

After the kindergarten holiday program were the kindergarten holiday parties, and after those were the kindergarten holiday lunches.  So I spent a lot of time going back and forth from one class to another, finishing at around noon, just in time to pick them up again at 1pm for early dismissal.  

Christmas break has officially started for Charlie and Joseph, and boy are they excited!

Question of the day

From Joseph: "Is God older than Santa Claus?"

Soccer Sharks

This fall, Charlie and Joseph played soccer at the YMCA again. They were in the 4-5 year old division, and being 5-year-olds, they were the top dogs.

Once again, Charlie LOVED playing. He was our offensive powerhouse, and we lost track of how many goals he scored. Our team (the Sharks) played some teams that seemed to be composed mostly of 4-year-olds, and Charlie tended to really shine against the smaller kids.

Joseph is the one who really surprised us this year. From the very first game, he was one of the better players on the team. He could dribble the ball down the field, he could take the ball away from the other team, and he also scored several goals. He was a good goalie, too.

Both boys take a soccer class as part of an after-school program every Thursday afternoon, so maybe that's where they learned their moves. All I know is that for this athletically challenged mom, it's a lot of fun to see the two Maddux boys leading the team.

Charlie headed down the field (with Joseph, in background, as goalie)


Joseph just kicked the ball in the goal


Charlie kicking it hard


Joseph dribbling down the field


Charlie almost kicked this one in. Notice Joseph set up waiting for the open shot too.


Celebrating another Joseph Maddux score!

Wordless Wednesday

Like father, like son

I found this in some of Charlie's writing schoolwork that he brought home:

I Like BASBOll 

Do YOU KNOW WHY

BeKUSe MY DADDy

WAChs It All the tIme

Snow? In Houston? Again?

The kids are not going to believe me anymore when I tell them it doesn't snow in Houston.

Almost a year ago, we picked the kids up from school amid flurries of big, giant snowflakes. Today, it started snowing right after I dropped the boys off at school.  And it kept at it--big, plentiful, and continuous snow--All Day Long!  

It is Houston, though.  It stuck great on the rooftop of the high-rise building that I look out onto from my 46th floor office.  At ground level, not so much.  I swear it probably snowed 6 or more inches, but it's really hard to tell.

Speaking of stuck, I was stuck at my office for most of the fun.  But luckily, Cort captured a little bit for me.

View from my office - all day long, downtown Houston office workers kept coming up on top of that roof to throw snowballs at each other and take pictures in the snow.  It was hilarious!

Coming down at the house - you can't tell from the picture, but it really snowed hard for most of the day

Enough for snowballs!

Will and Helen, not too sure about the white stuff ("Grass dirty," Will said at first)

Yay for snow!!

Our 8-inch tall snowman.  We named him Andy Astro.  He's actually still on the front porch, since although the snow has stopped, the temperature is still in the 20s.

Snow days in Houston are rare - you gotta take advantage by making some hot cocoa

Kindergarten campout

Each year at the boys' school (which we are very happy we chose, by the way), the entire kindergarten class goes camping at Brazos Bend State Park. Rain or shine. And this year, it was rain.

Nevertheless, we were one of the few families who braved both nights, and we are so glad we did. We did get a little wet Friday night, and it was a little colder than ideal, but the boys had SUCH a great time. It was their first camping trip, hopefully of many. (The little ones stayed at home with our wonderful babysitter, Cynthia, but their day will come. When they can follow simple directions like "stay out of the campfire.")

We also enjoyed getting to know the other kindergarteners' families. In particular, we shared our campsite with two families we didn't know all that well, and we had a great time enjoying the campfire and a few libations with them after all the kiddos were asleep in the tents.

This campout is yet another unique activity that impresses us about the school. The teachers really go above and beyond to set up a great experience. And the family participation was amazing (all but a very few families came out for at least part of the trip, despite the cold and rain). Thanks Travis!

The kids from our campsite: Cate, Charlie, Erin, Annie, Owen, and Joseph (Olivia missing)


Joseph enjoying hanging out at the campfire, with Cort in the background camping the modern way -- watching football on his iphone


Charlie and Joseph at the campfire. They would put these long sticks in there until they caught on fire, then pull them out as they smoked, and exclaim, "Look, a smoke-making machine!"


Charlie petting a baby alligator. The park is famous for its alligators, but due to the weather this one at the Nature Center was the only one we saw.


Joseph petting a snake at the Nature Center

Makes my Monday

Long overdue, because this is actually from a Monday about a month ago. Uncle Rick (Cort's brother) came to see us over Halloween for a long weekend. We are so grateful that he took the time to fly here all the way from Florida to see, and get to know, his niece and nephews. This was the first time he had met Will and Helen! They all loved Uncle Rick. Of course, what's not to love about a guy who lets you ride him around like a horse?

Star of the week

Recently it was Joseph's turn to be "Star of the Week" in his kindergarten class. He made a poster about himself, and presented some things in class. One of the biggest hits was him showing how after he reads a Magic Treehouse book, he logs onto the computer, answers some questions about the book, and gets a sticker for his Magic Treehouse passport. He is sooo into this activity, and some of his classmates now are too. I just wish I could have been a fly on the wall and seen his presentations to the class!

The star of the week with his poster


"Baby pic," "Me and my brother," and "My family"


My Magic Treehouse passport


This is the poem Joseph wrote several months ago, which I described here


"Games I like: Apples to Apples, Sum Swamp, Great States, Bingo, State Fair Bingo, Whiz Kidz, and Mancala"


"My vacations," with a map and pictures depicting time spent in Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Grand Cayman, and Florida


" My chores," with pictures of our little worker bee

Where's MY Lightning McQueen?

Diapers. They come in one color:  white.  With small, unobtrusive, gender neutral characters on them. 

So why did manufacturers decide that pullups must be pink or blue, and gender specific?  It's a pain, I tell you.

Thankful for . . .

Helen's spunk . . .





Joseph's quirky sense of humor . . .





Charlie's passion . . .





Will's sweet determination . . .





A husband who makes me laugh . . .




My children's relationship with each other . . .





And the craziness of being a family of six . . .

Also football (Joe), the world (Charlie), the word "NO!!" (Will), and ketchup and pink undies (Helen).

Happy Thanksgiving!!!