Sic 'Em Bears!!!!

A road trip to San Antonio with no kids (thanks Papi and Grammy)

+ Marcus and Jenna


+ Tailgating with my KD sisters



+ watching RG3 and the Bears play at the Alamo Bowl

+ a nail-biting 67-56 win over Washington

= A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR DANIEL!!!

Christmas Part 2 and 3

We got back from Comanche in time for Aidan's surgery on the 22nd. He was scheduled to have tubes put in his ears (he failed his hearing test at school, and we had been noticing that his hearing at home wasn't great either) and ended up having his adenoids taken out as well. It went great and his recovery was just as smooth and quick as Avery's was when she had the exact same procedure done in 2009. And we immediately noticed an improvement in his hearing...hooray!!

Papi and Grammy also came in town that day and Uncle Jason arrived a couple days later. We did our traditional Christmas Eve activities (new pajamas for the kids, making cookies with Grammy to give to Santa, reading the Nativity Story and A Pirate's Night Before Christmas) before the kids went to bed. Santa left Aidan a Star Wars spaceship, pirate legos, and a few action figures...and he left Avery a Rapunzel tower, My Little Ponies, a ballerina doll, and some Polly Pocket princesses. Their toys were a huge hit and they have been playing with them ever since!







Aftermath:

This was the first year Avery has really been "into" Christmas. Watching her reactions to Santa and some of her gifts was so much fun. Here she is getting her favorite movie on DVD:

The day after Christmas, Papi and Grammy headed to West Texas for a few days, and we had Grandpa, Nanna, Kathleen, and Jacob Steward up to celebrate with us. We exchanged gifts and went out to dinner!

Christmas Part 1

We had a wonderful Christmas filled with laughter and love. We have always made time for all three sides of the family and this year was no exception. We went to Comanche the week before Christmas (we timed it to sync up with Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Jason's days off work so that we would all be there) to visit Gigi, Cookie, and Jeff. Cody, Amy, Sage, and Logan were there too and the kids loved playing together, although poor Logan was a little bit sick. Then Santa came over to visit! He looked a lot like Jeff :) The kids loved sitting in his lap and getting one toy each that they had asked for. Avery's reaction after getting her much-wanted Rapunzel doll was the sweetest thing ever...she threw her arms around Santa (without prompting!) and said "Thank you Santa!!!" Aidan got GI Joes, Sage also got Rapunzel, and Logan got some plastic animals...although he wasn't too sure about this Santa guy. I really wish I had gotten the whole thing on video. Oh well.

Making gingerbread cookies with Aunt Amy and Gigi:


Hot chocolate:

Aidan and Logan playing piano:

Leaf fun:

Santa!



After we all opened presents, Cookie helped the kids put on a show. Aidan told jokes (he's really into joke-telling these days), Sage and Avery did their ballet recital dance, then they all sang Away in a Manger:

A cheesy picture of the newlyweds:

Happy Early Birthday To Me!

I am very blessed to have an amazing group of friends that took me out to celebrate my Christmas birthday a week early! I met them as a first-time mom (through MOMS Club) back when Aidan was a baby and as our kids have grown up we have become such good friends! The last pic is of all my goodies that they surprised me with even though they DID NOT HAVE TO! My crafty friend Julia made me a run bib holder (with a special "1225" run bib for my birthday!), Rita gave me a gift card for shoes, Tracey made me some Oreo truffles (*drool*), Amy got me some strawberry daiquiri mix and fun straws, and Luisa gave me a bunch of inside-joke gag gifts...powder, a plastic snake on a leash, arm tattoo sleeves, and heavenly body spray! Thank you Tracey, Jennifer, Kimberly, Ginny, Susan, Holly, Vanessa, Julia, Amy, Luisa, and Rita for a night of Tex-Mex, drinks, silliness, and birthday love!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

We went to see the Northpark Santa yesterday! It just doesn't feel like Christmas until we have done this tradition :) This was the first year we got a real smile from Avery!

Otto the Elf has been keeping the kids in line! He pops up around the house and reports back to Santa each night. We also caught him taking one of Avery's princess out for a joyride.



Aidan's Christmas party at school was yesterday, and all the parents had chipped in to make a gift card wreath for Mrs. Heidelberg. There are some super-creative and helpful parents in the class, which makes my job as Room Mom so easy!

This is what happens when you do most of your shopping online...and when your parents live in Florida and have their presents mailed to you before their visit!

Yay Christmas cards! Adding to my Christmas card display is one of my favorite parts of the holiday :)

And here is ours (LOVE our family picture, taken by my friend Kelly!)

More Singin' and Dancin'

The kids both had their school programs this week. Here's Aidan's (I'm a tad mortified by his lack of rhythm with the drums...maybe it will improve?)


Here's Avery's:

Singin' and Dancin'

Aidan and Avery have both been doing preschool choir up at church and they had their program last night (right before the elementary school kids' Christmas play). Aidan has done this before but it was Avery's debut. As you can see in the video she was more excited to see me than she was to sing :) Poor Daniel already had a flight scheduled for a business trip so he had to miss it!


Avery also had her dance recital last weekend. The December recitals are at the Wylie Arts Festival which is outdoors, but this year it got moved indoors due to the weather. Great, right? Wrong! It was super crowded and we didn't even have a view of the stage. I held my camera up to take a video and then watched it at home. What a nightmare! She had practiced the steps (she's in the front on the left) but only remembered a little...partly because there was no one to "watch" while she did it, it was too loud to hear the music over the crowd, and it was just plain overwhelming! Daddy came and brought flowers...but I know he wanted to be watching the Baylor game instead, and I didn't blame him! Oh well, the recital in May is supposed to be more formal, and a lot better :)

Before the show. The girl in between Avery and Cousin Sage looks like she's not too sure of things (and ended up crying on stage). Poor thing!

I Heart New York

Daniel and I had only been home from Disney for a week and a half before we turned around and jet-setted again, this time to New York! Daniel was working and I got to tag along (first class!). It turns out my parents were also there at the same time! Daniel's co-worker Nick and his fiancee Katie also came, so I hung out with Katie on Wednesday. We braved the drizzle and walked to FAO Schwartz and then took a cab home since it had started pouring. And we practically swam to dinner with the guys later. Ugh! I spent Thursday and Friday with my mom, and it was much better, weather-wise. Cold, but I was fine with a good coat and good pair of comfy boots. She and I saw the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall, then did some shopping and even saw a segment of The Today Show being filmed at 30 Rock (Melissa Gilbert was being interviewed by Kathie Lee and Hoda...you can kind of see my mom in the background but can't really see me). We went out with Daniel and my dad for dinner that night, then she and I went to the Museum of Modern Art on Friday. It was so fun being there during Christmastime and we had a blast!!! And huge thanks to Grandpa and Nanna for coming to stay with the kids while we were gone :)

The Chrysler Building, which was close to our hotel:

Radio City Music Hall:

The Rockettes!

My mom and I at the 30 Rock Christmas Tree:

Ice Skaters:

The Today Show:

Grand Central Station:

Plaza Hotel overlooking Central Park:

Shopping at Bryant Park with a view of the Empire State Building:

FAO Schwartz:

Back at 30 Rock with my parents before dinner:

Times Square:


At the MoMA:

Pollack:

Students studying Picasso:

Georgia O'Keefe: