The Lescarbeau Family: 2009

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Christmas with the Family

Who can ever get enough of Christmas. This year we opened the presents from the family on the 23rd of December. Alex and Emily were way excited...what teenager doesn't get excited for an early Christmas. We waited to open our gifts until after Santa came...Alex doesn't like playing that game he says, "why do I have to wait when I don't believe in Santa Claus."

"Can we start already"

"I don't want to open presents...I just want to play with this car."

Bowen's not sure if likes the task of giving out the presents...he just wants to open them.

Parker showing her mommy her new toy from Nana.

"Is this how you do it brother?"

"Do you like my hat mommy?"

Sometimes you can still surprise them.

Emily, after seeing brother gift quickly opened hers to see if she got the same...and yes she did...just what she asked for.

Go Tribe!!

Go Tribe part 2!!

Aunt Amy showing off the blanket Emily made her.

After all of the excitement of opening gifts with the family we opened more presents on Christmas morning. One of Polly's favorite family traditions is the stockings. Growing up, the stockings were free game to anyone at anytime (after you went to sleep) just don't touch the presents until mom got out of bed, and wait until after 6:00 am to wake her up. (Perhaps this was because Lisa, Polly's sister, would wake up at 4:00 in the morning and mom just went to bed a few hours before from wrapping presents.) The best part about the stockings were all of the little things that were in them...including the apple and orange...new hair accessories, finger nail polish, lip gloss...everything a girl could hope for.

Polly woke up at 6:00 checking to see if any of the kids had ventured down stairs (they were still sleeping). She waited until 7:00am and woke up dad and Savannah. Savannah, with the bribe of opening presents, proceeded to wake up brother and sister.

The kids finished looking at the stockings, waiting to have the okay to open the presents.

Savannah didn't mess around she knew what she was doing.

Alex checking out his new gift from Santa.

Emily way excited about her gift from Santa.

After all is said and done we have lived another year, opened more presents...and now the hard part is packing them in the suitcases that are already over flowing...will we make it?

With all of the craziness of the holidays it is always nice to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate this great holiday....Merry Christmas to all.

Pictures...

We made an attempt on taking pictures of the family...well at least the grandkids with the the grandparents. The whole family wasn't there for a complete family photo. We started off with the grandkids. The younger ones had a blast, but wouldn't sit still.

Try and tell three toddlers to sit still...perhaps they thought it was a bouncy chair.

Oh yeah, they did...

The best part is when we all fall down.

Hurry fast...they are on the move.

This one is a keeper...luckily big kids are a little more cooperative.

It's amazing how kids change and grow out of certain phases...

There was a time that Alex refused to smile in any pictures. Perhaps it was his way of letting everyone know that you can't force him to do something he didn't want to. Now he is the one with the perfect smile in every picture...if only we could get Emily to hold still...and the rest of the kids. We might end up with a picture with everyone looking at the camera.

We made the mistake of putting Savannah with someone she didn't know.

Maybe if sister holds her...no she wants brother.

This will have to do...families, there is nothing perfect about them.

Aunt Amy and Uncle Beau

(Always good to get a picture together...not easy as the parents when you are busy taking the pictures.)

Family Reunites

One of the hardest parts about being in the military is living so far away from family. Having two families living in two separate states on opposite sides of the continent make it even harder. Active teenagers that have a mom living another state in another direction makes it almost impossible to visit family. We do our best to try and see our families at least once a year...sometimes that is not even possible. It is always exciting when we can get together as a family. For most of us the transition is simple...its like we were never gone.

Making cookies together for the family.

Polly and Aunt Amy...could they be sisters??? It would have been hard on Mom, they were born the same year.

Parker fell fast in love with Uncle Eric.

Savannah and Parker...best of friends...and only 4 months apart.

Savannah had a hard time with her Nana, Papa, Aunt Amy, and Uncle Beau....but she fell in love quickly with her cousins. She didn't want to leave them alone. By the end of the week she would let her Nana and Papa hold her for short moments of time. She was always willing to give kisses and hugs to anyone that was leaving.

Savannah and Nana...together at last.

Family Tradition...

Family traditions don't always have to be big or elaborate. Those cherished most are the simple things that you look forward to at special time of the year. One tradition loved by Alex and Emily is Nana's hot tub. It's not like we don't sit in other hot tub's during the year, but this one is special. It is something Alex & Emily can enjoy with their Nana. Alex couldn't wait to share the fun with Savannah. Mom was a little worried about the hot water, but Savannah loved every minute of it. She cried when she had to get out.

Sisters ready to have fun.

Alex, Savannah and Emily...loving the water.

Nana with the girls.

Nana with the boys.

Thanks Nana for making the visit to Ohio so much fun. We love you.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

It's official...

We love how the military waits until the last minute to make a decision. We just found out today, yes Christmas Eve, that Eric WILL be deploying to Qatar. He will be leaving the country on December 31st and has to report to work on January 4th. We found out this was going to happen about 4 months ago. The twist came when an administration hold was put on him that says he can't leave the country. He is a witness at a court martial that was delayed...

Anyway the story continues with weekly changes on he can go...he has to stay...we have to talk to the other attorneys...he will go and fly back...delay his deployment until Feb (hopefully the trial will be done by then). The last one is what we heard about a week ago...from what we understood it was approved and that was when (1 Feb) he was going to deploy. We have been out of town so Eric has been trying to call his office/first sergeant/deployment manager etc...anyone who might know something. (Not easy to do during the holidays) Then a random phone call came...from the travel office...yes you read right. He was the one to let Eric know that the delayed reporting was denied and he was scheduling his flight to leave San Angelo on the 31st.

First thing this morning Eric called and talked to his Commander (it appears he is the only one that works). The first sergeant was supposed to get a hold of Eric yesterday (he is our neighbor), but didn't realize we were out of town. After a few more calls to the legal office, he is leaving and going to fly back to testify around the 17th of January.

Life in the military...you can never make plans for anything...cuz you never know what will happen next.

Oh yeah...my battery in my camera is dead so I have no pictures...Merry Christmas.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

December Fun!!!

Well Christmas is around the corner and that means a crazier schedule for the Lescarbeau household....

Alex:

It has been awhile since we have talked about him. He finished up fall soccer and was kinda on the just hanging out time (not normal for him). It has been okay because he spends everyday practicing soccer at the field by our house (the best blessing ever). All of his practice and hard work has paid off...he made the JV soccer team. We were excited and worried. They carry 22 players on both the JV and Varsity teams and they probably had 3x's that trying out for the teams. We are excited for him. He has taken it upon himself to pay attention in his classes. This has paid of tremendously receiving A's in almost all of his class combined with no absences he was exempt from about half of his finals. He enjoyed the extra time off. As of right now his focus is soccer.

Emily:

She is the one keeping us busy. School projects, basketball, church, etc...We think she is enjoying herself. She is growing up and eating more...like a teenager not a little kid...so Polly is still trying to adjust to the increase of food intake in our home. (We rarely have leftovers.)

Savannah:

Talking more and more each day. She can repeat almost every word you say (scary). She is more and more attached to her mom. She refuse to be left with anyone she doesn't know. She enjoys pushing anything she can...baby strollers, laundry baskets, shopping carts, tennis rackets, the mop, the broom, the vacuum, etc. She has a great personality and she loves to make everyone one laugh. Oh yeah did we mention she is obsessed with babies.

Eric:

Going crazy...He has been busily getting ready to deploy only to find out he might not deploy until later, or maybe he will. They still haven't decided and he is supposed to leave on January 4. The problem is they need him to testify at a trial that doesn't start until January 18th. With all of this going on he tested for promotion. We hope he does well. He didn't have as much time as he would have like to have to study...we will see. We are not too worried. He is looking forward to his job in Colorado more and more each day.

Polly:

She has had project after project to do. Somehow we made it out of our house in time to catch our flight...even with the last minute package drop off. She enjoys staying home with Savannah, driving the kids around town, and everything else that is required of a mom. We found out the exciting news about a week ago that we are expecting and the baby will be arriving in our home around June 24th. Not that we want to make anything more crazy...We are supposed to move three weeks later. What would the Lescarbeau household be like if it wasn't crazy.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Snow in Texas...

Savannah loves to go outside, even when Polly thinks it is too cold. With an upcoming move to Colorado we often wonder how she will react to the snow. Luckily for us Texas decided it wanted to have a small little winter itself.

It SNOWED!!! Yep you read right....SNOW.

Brother, waiting until the last minute hoping they would cancel school, missed the bus. Dad had an hour delay for work, so he had plenty of time to take him to school. That gave everyone the opportunity to play in the snow. (Including our dog Angel). Alex was so excited to take Savannah outside to show her, he helped get her dressed.

Bundled up and ready to go!

Walking with dad!

Angel coming along for the fun.

Look Savannah its Snow...you can eat it.

Sister what do you have?

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Christmas Tree

Its Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, Eric and Polly decide to wake up early to hit the stores for some sales. When they get home the first thing on their list should be rest...not in the Lescarbeau household. It is time to re-arrange the furniture to put the Christmas tree up. A few small changes and it was up and ready to decorate. (Lights included...the only way to go)

In the beginning...there was nothing.

We decided to save the exciting part of decorating to do as a family on Sunday. (Yes, this was torture for our kids. They managed to wait it out...and all were way excited to find their ornaments and put them on the tree. (We started exchanging ornaments in our family when Eric and Polly got married.)

Savannah putting on her first ornament.

The whole family helping out.

Savannah trying to help put an ornament on.

Still no fighting...yeah!

The angel on top...

(Savannah calls the Angel doggy...our dogs name is Angel)

The finished product.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Family Picture Day...

One of the least favorite things to be said in our house is "Today is family picture day". We are not sure why it is such a hard and difficult task for children to undertake but for our family we never know how anything will turn out. We tried to make it a little fun for the kids by taking a picture of them with their favorite things. This turned out okay, with the exception of Savannah. She has a favorite baby...that she wanted to hold in the pictures. I hope you enjoy them.

Alex....