This and That

Nothing major has been going on here, we've just been keeping busy with school and activities! Cookie Season has started and Avery has done an amazing job selling cookies!

Cookie, Gigi, Jeff, Grandpa, Nanna, and Kathleen all came to town on the same day! They all got to see Aidan play basketball, and Avery and Sage cheer.

Aidan has made the Honor Roll two semesters in a row!

Avery was Star Student for her class last week.

Some cute extras:

Upward Basketball and Cheer

The kids have started a season of Upward Basketball (Aidan's 4th) and Cheer (Avery's 1st!) and they are loving it :) Aidan is on a team with the same coach he had in kindergarten, and Avery is on a squad with Cousin Sage and her friend Margot. Aidan's game times vary but Avery cheers at all the 9:00 games and has to be there at 8:40. Good-bye, Saturday morning sleep-ins until March :( The girls did a great job cheering courtside, then they performed a couple of cheers at halftime. Aidan played great...he scored 7 baskets and made 10 rebounds. Go Rattlers!

Cotton Bowl

Daniel and I had tickets to the Cotton Bowl on January 1st, so in exchange for Cody and Amy keeping our kids that day, we offered to keep Sage, Logan, and Ellie the night before for New Year's Eve, so the kids had a pajama party and enjoyed lime sherbet floats and had a great time playing!

The next day was cold and rainy, but we made it to Cowboy Stadium where we got to hang out in a field-level suite with Marcus and Jenna, and some people Marcus works with. There was catered food and drinks, and we had a great view! Ken Starr, the Baylor president, even came by for a photo op. We also saw Robert Griffin III a couple of suites over! Too bad he wasn't close enough for us to meet him.

We had fun laughing with the Brookses, and I also got to see several of my KD sorority sisters at halftime!

There were a lot of exciting moments before and during the game. The Kilgore Rangerettes performed beforehand, and there was a hilariously awesome play in which 390-pound lineman Laquan McGowan scored a touchdown. Definitely the highlight of the game, as in the last few minutes we lost our lead to Michigan State and the stadium was soon filled with green and gold disappointment. But all in all, it was a fantastic day. I couldn't have asked for a better way to ring in 2015! Sic 'Em Bears!!

Merry Christmas!!

We had a nice Christmas Eve brunch with Cody, Amy, Lindsay, Jason, Sage, Logan, and Ellie! We opened the first of our Christmas presents with them and had fun just hanging out as a family:

We then went to a candlelight Christmas Eve service at Lavon Drive Baptist (associated with the kids' school) for some beautiful Christmas music which I LOVE every year! Afterwards the kids helped Grammy make Christmas cookies, Otto the Elf left them some pajamas, and we read some Christmas books before bedtime!

Santa stopped by our house and was very generous! Aidan got a Wii U that he's had fun playing (I think Daddy is benefiting from this toy too!) and Avery got a Frozen lego set. Frozen was definitely a theme this year :) They each got several other cool things and so did the rest of us!

I also had a GREAT Christmas birthday this year! My mom made my favorite meal of chicken fried steak, rice, gravy, and fried okra. She also made a cake which Aidan decorated, and Avery baked me a "delicious" "cookie" with her new Easy Bake Oven ;) Then Daniel surprised me by making reservations at a sushi restaurant downtown! I have never been able to eat out on my birthday so this was a first! And Papi treated us all to dinner. I'm so thankful for these five wonderful people for making my birthday so special, and the rest of my friends and family for their sweet calls and messages!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Christmas always sneaks up on me and I'm overwhelmed by all I need to get done, but I've knocked out my shopping, mailed out my Christmas cards, watched my kids perform in church and school productions, and taken them to see Santa. So I feel like I can now relax and ease into the approaching holidays :) Otto the Elf made his appearance at the McCabin right after Thanksgiving and he's been keeping an eye on things around here!

The kids performed with their church choir and Aidan and Avery even had a duet during one of the songs! Aidan was VERY nervous about it and I wasn't sure he'd go through with it but he did and I was SO proud of both of them!

The elementary Christmas program is always a big production and this year was no exception. Both of my kids had to be lambs but Aidan had a lamb costume left over from his 1st grade pageant so Avery wore that, plus Grammy helped me with Aidan's tail and ears (thanks Grammy!).

And we of course took the kids to see Santa at Northpark Mall, a yearly tradition for us! Daddy met us there for dinner and we had planned to drive around and look at Christmas lights but the weather was yucky and the kids were tired (plus Avery had just recovered from the flu the day before) so we decided to wait until next week when school is out :)