Christmas Eve

The stockings are hung, the cookies are decorated, and the reindeer food has been made. The boys  now await the arrival of Santa.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve Eve

Tonight we drove to Nashville to see ICE. Forget the beautiful ice sculptures and the attention to exquisite details, I can only see three adults and a child in this picture. When did my boys become one boy and one boy-as-tall-as his-mama? 

I'll tell you when. When he woke up on Wednesday morning and I noticed his NEW jeans were a little short. When he wore a different pair of jeans this past weekend, and they, too, were too short. When I noticed on Sunday that his brand new Addidas shoes had holes on the sides because his foot busted the seams. This seems to be a reocurring theme in our house.

That's okay. The taller he is,the better he will be able to see over the line next fall when he's playing middle school football.

As for the exhibit, we all agreed it was nicely done and a great holiday event, even with temperatures around 14 degrees.

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

One of These Days

Basketball Week #5 may have brought new competition, but the same bleacher comments were made that have been made almost every other week.

1. What do you feed that boy? He's a big 'un.

One of these days I am going to have a really good come back. Today I just smiled and said, "Well, yesterday he ate a three pound bag of cutie oranges for his afternoon snack."

Evan's team won again today, even without two of the starters, 21-13. Evan got a three pointer, and I was the only one who seemed to notice.


2. Where did that little 'un learn to play basketball?

One of these days I am going to be bold enough to lie and say, "Those mad skills came from his mama. I can ball like no other."

Keagan's team won again today 14-11; this makes a two game winning streak. Keagan had an awesome pick that allowed another student to score. It just so happens that he and Coach discussed it at halftime and Keagan was able to incorporate it like he had been doing it all season.

We're on break until January. You will be able to find the boys in the driveway with the hoop, though, practicing those 3s and setting up picks.

Christmas Vacation is Here

We came home today and did the "It's Christmas Break!" dance. Which basically means I danced, Wes took a nap, Evan perused random football videos on the computer, and Keagan played video games. So maybe it was really like any other day in our house.

We celebrated our first night of vacation by going out for Mexican. We spent way too much money on baskets of chips and salsa. Evan decided he needed to walk it all off, so we drove downtown to the walk-through Christmas light display.

The boys smiled only because we promised that they would get to open a Christmas gift if they stood long enough to snap a picture. I think Keagan's eyes might give you an idea of the real thoughts behind those smiles. Apparently, taking pictures in public is the absolute worst thing you can be asked to do. I mean what if someone sees you standing in front of the tree smiling? It's the worst. I mean the worst.

But I got my picture.

Academic Honors

A month ago I received a letter that stated Evan had been nominated for membership in the Junior Beta club. I was so proud of him - so proud that he transitioned to his new school with such ease and success. It never occurred to me that he might NOT want to join. So I was devastated when he told me that only the "strange" kids join Beta Club. It took me three days to convince him to turn in his application and annual dues. I finally persuaded him that he needed to join because of the emphasis on service and helping others. Despite his firm legalistic view of the world, he does have a heart for the unfortunate.

Tonight he was inducted into the Junior Beta Club. He decided maybe it wouldn't be too bad when he learned that the first service project, entitled "Super Bowl", included food for the needy and the NFL play-offs.

Of course, it also helped when he learned that his friend Jack was also nominated.

I could not be prouder. We are blessed beyond belief to have such talented, intelligent, hard-working boys.  

Magical Season

Just when I thought the boys had outgrown our tradition of placing a boot by the door and awaiting St. Nicholas's arrival, Evan reminded me this week that December 6 was almost upon us. As we hunted for the combat boots last night, Keagan admitted he believed in the Christmas magic of Santa and St. Nick, and I said a silent prayer thanking Him for one more year of believing.

St Nicholas did visit our house last night and he brought the boys soccer jerseys from their favorite players. I think it was a big hit because the boys stripped down in the front hallway and put them on almost immediately. And then they posed for me.

Aren't they sweet? And cute?

Evan tore into his Hershey's Peppermint bar and said, "Mom, this is soooo good that I will call it Jesus food."

I let them eat all the candy from the boots they wanted and then ushered them outdoors for a game of football on our first snow day of the year!

A snow day without snow. Who says the Christmas season is not magical?

Thanksgiving Holiday

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Texas. It was everything a Thanksgiving should be filled with family, food, and football.

We especially enjoyed our time with the little ones. A visit wouldn't be the same if my boys didn't leave a lasting impression on the girls. This trip they perfected the use of the word, "DUDE!" We, on the other hand, will never hear the song "The Boys 'Round Here" the same. These two had their own version that went something like "Chew Bucket, Chew Bucket, Chew Bucket, Spit."

With the other side of the family, we ate our weight in fried venison for dinner, drank Big Red soda like it was water, and took the kids for a ride on the John Deer tractor. There's just not another way to do a holiday in East Texas.

The boys were content to sit back and enjoy the Texas countryside....until they decided trees would make excellent hiding spots and hiding spots mean enemy attacks and enemy attacks mean battles with the Russians. One broken gun later the Russians retreated and the boys were back to hanging out on the hay bales.

We recognize that too few military families are afforded the opportunity to spend the holiday with their families. We are lucky to live only a day's drive from "home" and blessed to have family that always welcomes our visits. For this we are thankful.