We had a nice Mexican food lunch with Gran, Papa, the aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was little hard to get the kids to eat lunch before opening presents, but we managed to get a few bites down before they were back up digging through presents.

The anticipation...




Opening...




The assembly line...


And what Christmas gathering would be complete without a concert?

And Connor's first Christmas! Santa came to our house and dropped off several very exciting presents. Among other things, here are the highlights:

Megan got a Screacher dinosaur, a telescope, and of course Princess fruit snacks.



Connor got a push/ride dump truck and a Tickle-Me-Elmo.



Connor was more interested in the presents after they were opened rather than the whole opening process, but he did humor me a time or two by pulling at the torn paper.



They were both just so happy!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm just getting to all the Christmas stuff. Throw a cold on top of recovering from surgery, and it's ugly around here.

Anyway, we had an awesome Christmas. Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lisa stayed with us for several days and were here with us on Christmas Eve. We made a big pot of soup and enjoyed a cozy Christmas Eve dinner. Then we set out cookies for Santa, followed by the reading of the Christmas story. We paused for a few minutes to take a few Christmas Eve pictures.









For those of you who do not live around us, we had a snow storm which gave us the first white Christmas in like 76 years. It was crazy! Megan and Daddy went outside in the wind and snow to sprinkle the reindeer food...then she had to keep checking to see if she saw anything. And she did...an "aquamarine light in the sky."

And we didn't even have to go to Utah to have a white Christmas (family joke).

For you out-of-towners, we had a "blizzard" today. A Texas blizzard, that is. It snowed and snowed all day long. Megan was SO excited. She really wanted to be out in it until she figured out how cold it really was...we've had wind gusts up to 50 mph throughout the day. She got to make a snow angel and have a snowball fight with Uncle Jeff (who really wasn't as ruthless as he looks in the picture).







The snow finally stopped falling at around 8 p.m., but it's still blowing around like crazy!

Today we went to visit Grandpa at work. Megan was worried that Grandpa's boss wouldn't let children in the building, but she was very happy to find out that he DOES let little kids at work. Whew. Grandpa took the kids around to meet people and on a tour.

While we were there, I went out searching for good backdrops for photos. It turned into a mini, unplanned, photo shoot. Connor and Uncle Jeff were my models, and Megan was ONCE under duress.







Connor on a dock at Grandpa's work.

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lisa are here! They gave me a much needed break this morning from the kids, and took Connor and Megan with them on their errands. I slept the entire time. It was good practice for them!

Connor is especially wiggly right now during diaper changes, so Uncle Jeff got creative.

We finally decorated the tree today. It's in the office this year, so we can close the door and not have to pick the tree up 57 times. Connor was interested in chewing on ornaments, and Megan was interested in bouncing from place to place around the tree. It was utter chaos. But it is decorated.

Connor stopped chewing on stuff long enough to put up a few ornaments.


Concentrating to find the perfect spot.


My two little Christmas monsters. If Connor took the thumb out, it was a scream-fest. So I settled for a picture with the thumb.


Dad and the kids


Mom and the kids

Okay folks, there was a BABY in our house last week, but it seems that now we have a little BOY in our house. Connor has decided to grow up and start doing all kinds of big boy stuff this week. I am not ready for such things!

For instance, he's becoming increasingly irritated by us feeding him baby food, as he would rather just eat what we have on our plate. In fact, he bats the spoon away and lurches towards any plate he sees. Today, he toddled over to me while I was eating a sandwich and begged. So sad. Tonight I decided to give him a chance at feeding himself. Why the heck not? Unfortunately, I only had a purple/pink bowl of Megan's, so please disregard his girly bowl. I'll get him one of his own soon! Let me introduce Mr. Alfredo.

Getting started.


Using a spoon. Correctly even.


Forget it. Hands are easier.


Better yet, lick the bowl.


Not happy that I took the bowl. Notice that he saved some in his pocket?


I LOVE THIS FACE. Who couldn't love a face with alfredo sauce in the nose???

My brother Matt, or Uncle Matt as he’s known in our house, turned 31 recently. As I was thinking about him and his birthday, my mind just wandered around the past and present relationship I have with him. So, to “honor” him for his birthday, I’ve compiled a list of 31 “things” about Matt. They are in no particular order – just wherever my thoughts led me – and cover a vast array of categories (qualities, memories, quips, observations, etc.) strictly from my perspective. Without further ado…the “Matt List”:

1. When we were little kids, and I mean little, we used to walk up and down our street in the evening with a bucket and collect frogs. We’d wear Glad sandwich bags on our hands so not to get frog funk on us. Once we had the frogs, we’d perform frog marriages under the corner street light.

2. He has a distinct “thinking face”. It’s hard to describe, but he puts his lips together, runs/twirls a pencil on his lips, and squints his eyebrows. It’s usually followed by a “Hummph.”

3. He is extremely musically gifted and talented. He can hear a song on the radio or TV and then play it on the piano – with no music, just by ear!

4. And closely related, he knows every single commercial jingle, from start to finish. Test him. He knows them all.

5. And further closely related, he can recite a line from a movie or TV show for any occasion. He’s like a walking encyclopedia of movie and show quotes. And I’m not just talking about the popular, over-stated quotes.

6. Speaking of TV shows, he got me hooked on The Office, which is now my favorite show. He asked me one time if I’d watched it and in the course of the conversation he encouraged me to give it another chance. I’ve been hooked ever since.

7. He has a dry sense of humor, so I’m often blindsided by his humor or sarcasm. Thus, I look very stupid, very often when he pranks or teases me. And I know he gets a big kick out of that. So, in a nutshell, he’s sneaky and ornery.

8. Speaking of sneaky and ornery, when I was little, I couldn’t stand it if something touched my belly button. It made me nauseous and sometimes I even puked. Matt found it quite amusing to chase me around, tackle me, and poke my belly button until I puked.

9. I am grateful that he brought his wife, Krissa, into my life. He encourages our friendship and likes that we’re friends. Mostly. Until we gang up on him.

10. He is patient, and waits until he has the facts before he draws a conclusion. It’s frustrating sometimes, especially when I need him to jump onto my irrational bandwagon, but it’s helpful when he can provide a rational alternative.

11. He is a wonderful Uncle to my kids. He gets so creative and holds their attention with fun games and such. He is responsible for the majority of Megan’s repertoire of songs, and teaches her a new one every now and then – either in person, over the phone, or by webcam.

12. We often talk sports, especially Rangers baseball. Frequently, I get a text or phone call right after a good play or crappy call. It’s a common bond. Only sport we don’t talk about it is golf.

13. He is particular about certain things. He has a certain way he wants it done, and it’s really hard to convince him otherwise. Once while doing laundry at his house, I got in trouble for putting his clothes in the drier instead of hanging them to dry. Never did that one again.

14. He is very loyal, as a customer, friend, employee, etc. When he’s a fan, he’s a fan; when you’ve broken the circle of trust, you’re a goner. I try to stay within the circle of trust.

15. When we were in high school, I was the academic nerd and he was wrestler/athlete/way more popular than me. He wouldn’t claim me as his sister and made me stay away from him. He’d even ignore me in the hallway.

16. Also in high school, grades were very important to me and not so much to Matt. He did well, but it wasn’t his main focus like it was to me. So imagine my anger when he made a point higher than me on the ACT. Still pisses me off to this day.

17. One of our family traditions is that he wraps his Christmas presents in plain white paper and draws hilarious stick figure pictures with a black Sharpie marker on the outside of each present. Each one is person-appropriate and yet not always socially acceptable. Did I mention they are hilarious?

18. He is too cool for Facebook and makes fun of the rest of us for getting on it all the time.

19. When we have a family gathering or actually any family anything, he creates a logo for the event and, if necessary, he creates an itinerary to go with it. We each get our own copy with his funny “Matt-isms” inserted here and there.

20. He was “green” before it was cool to be green. I used to get letters in the mail from him in a Fruit Loop box “envelope” or other piece of repurposed packaging.

21. Slightly related, I have a collection of letters and notes he wrote to me while he was on his mission in England. He addressed them to me in “Podunkville” no matter where I lived…Texas or Minnesota. That has since become a family joke.

22. We went to England as a family to pick him up from his mission. We got to meet many of the people he worked with in England, and because of that experience, it was the first time I really saw him as an adult sibling. Oh, and he scared the crap out of me as he drove a white Volvo van on the “wrong” side of the road hugging a cliff.

23. He is persuasive and direct. One of my favorite “tactics” of his is: “Try it and tell me what you think.” It’s not, “Why don’t you try it?” or “If you try it…”, it’s “Try it and tell me what you think.” The only option is to try it and form an opinion. Brilliant. Which is why I won’t talk to him about golf (see #12)

24. One thing that I have learned from him is how to ask questions to get an answer. He is great at asking the right questions to get real answers. It’s amazing.

25. I’ve never seen anyone manipulate duct tape to make actual, functioning everyday items such as bow ties, folders, and anything else his mind can come up with to make.

26. He is goal-driven. We may not be privy to the goal or the drive behind the goal, but it’s there.

27. He can do an awesome reproduction of Neil Diamond singing We’re Coming to America. I have it on film if you don’t believe me.

28. He is a Photoshop wizard! I am amazed at what he can do with a mouse, few clicks, and a picture.

29. He likes things ultra tidy, clean, and organized. Strange, considering how messy we were as kids.

30. When we were little, he liked that song that goes, “I love rock-n-roll…put another dime in the jukebox, baby…”. He played that record (for you young whipper-snappers, that’s the black thing that came before tapes…which came before CD’s) over and over. One day, I broke the record in half. And I still feel really bad about it.

31. He is an awesome brother!

Happy birthday, Matty, and I’ve gone into the witness protection program until you’ve gotten over this.

Dear Santa,

If this isn't proof that I NEED an off-the-camera flash for Christmas, I don't know what is. I mean, do you know how cute these COULD'VE been?



Love,
Connor and Megan's Mommy

We are going to have a very different holiday season at our house this December, so we had to cram a few things in a little earlier than normal.

Megan "wrote" her letter to Santa and then we took it to him. It said (in Megan-speak):
"Dear Santa,
Why do your reindeers have pixie dust all over them?
I have been a good girl this year. Here is my Christmas list:
telescope
big dinosaur robot
camping dress
Screacher dinosaur like I saw at ToysRUs
Leapster
Princess Polly Pocket Disney things
Princess fruit snacks
I will leave you some special cookies with icing on Christmas Eve."
Love, Megan"

Then we took the letter to Santa because he was visiting at the Mall that day.



Connor was not too thrilled with the whole idea of sitting on Santa's lap. He pouted up like he was going to scream, but he mostly just observed what was going on.

Yes, and they wear a dress and Princess glitter shoes, too.







And just a little side picture...Megan hugging her shadow. I just love her imagination.

It's family tradition to take pictures on Grammy's, now Aunt Lynne's, front porch/ steps. If I look hard enough, I could gather years and years of pictures...when I was little, it was torture, so I tortured my kids for a few minutes. It's only fair, right?



And we couldn't leave without a family pic (thanks, Uncle Danny).



Oh, and see that BIG magnolia tree behind our heads? That's my FAVORITE tree ever and is the reason I have always wanted a magnolia tree in my front yard.

Ahhhh...Thanksgiving traditions. Growing up, Thanksgiving was in Mississippi with my dad's family (most of the time). I loved it then, and I love it now. We try to go as often as we can because for some reason, Thanksgiving is Mississippi to me. Another tradition is that we have our Thanksgiving meal on Friday. We were a little hesitant to continue that tradition this year, because of Black Friday shopping, but we just couldn't change it! So, we went to Walmart at 5:00 a.m., got our loot, came home for naps, and then cooked the meal. Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving Day.


Aunt "Jones", Maya, and Megan making a pecan pie (don't have a clue about that face Meg is making....)


Andrew, Megan's birthday buddy, carving the fried turkey. DELISH!


Connor's first Thanksgiving!


Megan was so impressed with the food that she fell asleep after only eating 3 bites.

Although we had a smaller crowd this year, it was still the same memorable trip. I thoroughly enjoyed the time with my girl cousins and aunts. Nothing like a catty game of cards to renew the friendships. Girls, don't throw away your superpower names and capes...

The kids got to meet and play with "new" cousins this year. Megan jumped right in with the other girls, and man, it is nice to have older girls around to help! I almost kidnapped one of them! Not only did she like to be helped by the older girls, but she also liked to be helpful to the littler ones.


Ava helping Megan at "the best park ever!".


Megan helping one of the twins (forgive me...can't tell which one...).


Tycen and Connor probably looking for something on the floor to put in their mouths to make us fish out.


Maya pushing Megan on the rope swing.


The cousin slumber party. They were exhausted!