Christmas Day

We had a fabulous, wonderful, awesome Christmas Day. It's been a really terrific whole Christmas break, really. These kiddos are just getting older and more fun.

Waiting at the top of the stair Christmas morning, about to see what Santa brought.


Checking out their stockings.


Baseball and football cards - Santa seems to know that these are always a favorite.


Will showing off a new mask.


Helen (and Will) got a new, real t-ball glove from Daddy, since they will start t-ball for the first time this spring.


Hugs from Charlie after he opened his present from Will.


Opening a joint present.


Mr. Popper's Penguins - a gift from Gramma. Perfect for movie night. (We read the book together earlier this year.)


Will specifically asked for "green sponges." And he got them. And he was so happy.


Helen got Daddy his own Superman underwear. Yes, she picked them out all by herself. She has a mind of her own.

So, after we had opened quite a few presents, Cort comes down with a big box for all the kids. They open it up, and inside are four Jeep t-shirts and a note that led them through the house until they landed on a square he had drawn with tape in the foyer. They were to wait there until he "gave the sign" to Grandad (yes, my parents were in on this too). At this point, I realized that he had bought the kids their own toy Jeep to ride. They have one at Gransan and Grandad's house and love it. Especially Will. And remember, Cort had promised Will a Jeep for scoring a goal during soccer. So there was a little toot of a horn, and Grandad opened the door, and I braced myself to see one of these:

But that is not what I saw. Not at all. Nope, my husband had gone out and bought a real, live Jeep. "For the kids." Uh hmmm. Right.

So, we are now the proud owners of a third vehicle (for a two-driver family), and we can't put both of our cars under the carport or get out of the driveway without moving a vehicle, since the Jeep is taking up space. Of course, we live in inner-city Houston. But Cort says we can drive it to Mango Beach, the smoothie place a few blocks away. That we otherwise would walk to, but who needs exercise? Oh, and did I mention that it doesn't work with car seats? And that I can't drive it at all (I never learned how to drive a stick shift)?

But boy, is Cort happy and proud. The kids love it too.

So, later that day we took the Jeep over to the local high school football field for the second annual Christmas Day flag football game. The kids had a blast. So did Cort, at least until Helen had to go to the bathroom, and he had to take her . . . because I can't drive the Jeep.

Helen close on Charlie's tail.


Joe making a run.


Huddling up.


A touchdown for Will!


Teammates.


The boys' team, talking strategy.

A merry, merry Christmas indeed.

Christmas 2011

Joy Love Family Christmas

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'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Cathedral House Holiday Program #8

Last night we attended our eighth Cathedral House holiday program. Eight years of holiday cuteness.

2004 - Charlie and Joe were dressed as Little Bo Peep's lost sheep and pulled around the stage in wagons.

2005 and 2006 - How can I not remember these? This is why I need to write things down on this blog. I know the boys were adorable though.

2007 - This year Charlie danced to "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" and Joseph danced to "The Candy Man." I think Will and Helen, who were only 7 months old, were snowflakes.

2008 - This was Charlie and Joe's shining moment, since the 4-year-olds have speaking roles. Joe was a groom, dressed adorably in a tux. Charlie was a dad and sang a solo. Will and Helen stood around while their classmates danced to "Splish Splash I Was Taking a Bath." How can that have been three years ago?

2009 - By this time, Charlie and Joe had graduated and taken their spot with the other Cathedral House alumni - sitting on the floor in front of the stage to watch. Will and Helen were adorable as Santa's elves.

2010 - How can it be possible that I don't remember this one either? Really?

2011 - And that brings us to last night. As 4-year-olds, Will and Helen now have speaking parts. They were both painters, who had lines about painting the town during the holidays. Their teacher was a little nervous that Helen wouldn't do it. And Will was pretty quiet at first during practice. But they were GREAT! They had the first lines of the night, and they were loud, clear, and perfect! And, pretty cute.

We sure are going to miss these next year.

Gingerbread traditions

When I was a little girl, my mom always ordered a gingerbread house at Christmas. I would be so excited when it arrived, and I would look at it for a long time, carefully eating only from the back side first so as to preserve it as a holiday decoration for as long as possible. (But I always ate it at the end.)

I went off to college, and she continued sending me one, where it sustained me through finals. I've gotten one every year, even as an adult. One year I was so busy at work that it never left the office (where she had sent it) but rather served as several meals because I didn't even have time to run downstairs and grab a sandwich.

Now, she sends it to the whole family. The kids love it. (I think they'd also love to make their own. Maybe we'll try that too this year.)

But somehow, it doesn't last nearly as long.


Before

During


After

I can't tell you how fast this happened.

It was a good football weekend

Robert Griffin III won the Heisman Trophy.



And the Texans won their division and clinched a playoff spot.



It was a good weekend for my boys.

Makes My Monday

--The kids finally filled up the family marble jar, so we took a trip to NASA on Saturday as a reward. It's gotten so easy to take them all somewhere these days. Charlie and Joseph are so interested in everything too. So much fun.

--Sunday morning Will wanted all the kids to clean up the whole house to surprise us (while we were still sleeping). Yes, they do that sometimes. But he couldn't get any takers to help him yesterday. So he did it all by himself.

--Along those lines, Will loves to clean so much that he has asked for sponges for Christmas. Green sponges.

--We finally had Charlie's parent-teacher conference last week. His teacher started with showing us a bunch of test scores from the beginning of the year, but the scores are somewhat difficult to interpret. Then she told us that on "reading fluency" they are looking for a benchmark of 60 points. He scored 179 at the beginning of second grade.

--Charlie and Joe's basketball games start this weekend. I'm glad. For some reason I can manage to keep our lives organized only if we are incredibly busy.