Delaney's Presents

Wikki Stix, jewelry(Thanks Nana), stickers, BOZ DVD, Gigi DVD, Gigi Sticker scene, , huge bottles of glitter glue, games...honeybee hop, Horton Hears a Who game, Sing Your Heart Out game, Cat and the Hat I Can Do That Game, 2 sets of sticky mosaics, High School Musical Sharpay doll that sings Fabulous with a microphone, Disney sticker activity books, Ocean game for the Wii, barbie dance mat and DVD, Barbie Island Princess doll (thank you Nana), Barbie and the Diamond Castle I can Read Book, FurBerry bear (folds up and smells like strawberry) but she calls these Teddy Bear Smell, Furberry DVD, scratch magic, perfume, face paint crayons, 1000s of different beads to make necklaces, Ice skater paper dolls, Princess paper dolls, Leap pad Plus Writing machine, plus like 7 games cartridges for it (Thanks A. Lisa), a Webkin black poodle and a Barbie Girl MP3 player loaded up with with all sorts of her favorite music, like Christmas in Joyland and Christmas songs, and lots of accessory clothes and jewelry to go with it.

The Presents...

a hand beaded miniature Christmas tree that Kaytlynn wanted for her Barbie mansion...

It was crazy expensive...but this hug tells me it was totally worth it!

Papa praying just after Luke 2 was read. I would have never taken this picture, but I am glad Todd did.

Kaytlynn's rock collection. She couldn't WAIT for the next show and tell when she opened this present! Doesn't every 6 year old get excited about rocks?

Kaytlynn...Wikki Stix, jewelry box with necklace carousel(Thanks Nana), all 40 Junie B. Jones books, a nice rock collection, jewelry(Thanks Nana), stickers, Hermie DVD, Veggietale DVD, stencil factory, huge bottles of glitter glue, games...rat a tat tat, sleeping queens, The Mystery Door, 2 sets of sticky mosaics, High School Musical golf cart and Sharpay doll, Disney sticker activity books, Animal Crossing Game for the Wii, Animal Safari for the Wii, I Spy computer game, 2 Leapster cartridges, barbie dance mat and DVD, Disney Character Encyclopedia book, Ladybug habitat so she can raise ladybugs!, FurBerry bear (folds up and smells like grape), Furberry DVD, scratch magic, perfume, face paint crayons, 1000s of different beads to make necklaces, Little house on the Prairie paper dolls, Tinkerbell papergirls, Leap pad Plus Writing machine, plus like 7 games cartridges for it (Thanks A. Lisa), a Webkin white puppy (thanks Nana) and a Barbie Girl MP3 player loaded up with with all sorts of her favorite music...including a new Strawberry Shortcake C.D. and lots of accessory clothes and jewelry to go with it.

Christmas...

Two years ago, my sister and I bought so many presents for our children that the children got TIRED of opening their presents and just started playing with what they had. We would try to "sell" the unopened packages to them.
"oh, Wow, LOOK AT THIS" "I wonder what is in this (as we shook the present in the air) "its addressed to KAYTLYNN...
or
"This present looks pretty cool Jacob...what do you think would fit in an octagonal box."
It worked for a little while, but we both were still left with unopened packages by the end of the day. Ridiculous, huh?

We come about it honestly. Christmas was huge at my house. My parents didn't buy us a lot throughout the year, but at Christmas they made up for it. My mom was bad, my father...just outright uncontrollable! I can honestly say that I don't ever remember not receiving something that I didn't want. Each Christmas was the same...presents spilling out everywhere, while Lisa and I oodled over them and my parents smiled, laughed, bragged and took pictures of us as we took our trip of ecstasy.

Last year we did do a little better, but it was still a little over the top. Well, this year we spent the whole month of December bragging about how well we had done. I mean we were really tooting our horns! The week before Christmas, Lisa calls and tells me more stuff she has bought.
I said accusingly to her that "I thought you were done buying presents...that you were gonna be REALLY good this year."

She told me "Yeah, Caroline said the same thing to me and you wanna know what I told her?" I told Caroline that Judy says that she has only bought this little craft of this Barbie, and blah, blah, blah. And I thought that's really nice, but in reality...I think I am going to show up at Christmas and discover that Judy is just a big, fat liar.

Unabashed, isn't she? That cutie patootie sister of mine.

I stuck to my story. The girls would have a wonderful BUT simple Christmas this year. I show up to my parents...spend the whole night wrapping presents and put them under the tree. I really did think I did well. It was much less crowded this year. I think I did a MUCH better job this year. But as my wise old sister says quite often. Better is better...but that doesn't mean better is good...Better is just Better!

She was right. We had presents stacked all the way around the tree 3 and 4 ft high in some places and coming about 6 feet out from the tree.

So Lisa...and the rest of you...thanks for loving me...Big Fat LIAR and all.

Santa 2008

Christmas was wonderful. Todd took Christmas Eve off at the last minute, so we packed that day and headed up to Dallas that evening.

Santa made an appearance in my mom's house a little early, and then he ended up in her backyard to great all the grandkids. It is so amazing to see the kids wonder in their eyes as they speak to him to tell him what they are wanting and to chat with him a bit. We gave him a Christmas gift too, by singing Jingle Bells to him as he ran off to deliver presents to all the SLEEPING children...it was 11:00 and it seemed to be quite early to the children. The adults however felt a little differently.

That morning, things got really moving at about 8 am. Todd was setting the video camera up on the tripod when he dropped it. Smash...right on the tile. He did video it, but I am sure it didn't come out too good because the light is gone. We will have to buy a new one soon, because I love having a video camera.

Santa's gifts were sitting in front of the tree. He brought Kaytlynn the same snow globe that he brought her last year that she broke. He brought her 3 Thomas Kinkade angel ornament (where each angel has a small snow globe in the palm of her hands. She also received make-up, nail polish, and other girlie stuff.

Delaney received a princess dress, tiara, wand, make up, 4 dolls from Barbie and The Christmas Carol, and a sparkly hooded cape that she NEVER took off, after she got it on.

They also received ANOTHER barbie house.

I say it often, but this is such an amazing, magical age and I am so glad a feel so privileged to witness it.

YMCA Winter Wonderland

Our family found out about a YMCA family day at a YMCA camp that is literally only one mile from our house. We went and had a lot of fun. Both girls went on a horse trail and it was the first time that they had ridden a horse all by themselves. We also paddled a canoe on a very small lake, played pin the nose on Rudolph, horseshoes around candy cane sticks, and practiced our roping skills with a real lasso. The girls were fed cookies by Mrs. Claus, went on a hayride, Kaytlynn climbed a rockwall and Delaney bounced around in a bounce house. They also pet a goat...that was part of a petting zoo, but we showed up late, and he was the only one left.

Todd missed most of the day because he was meeting the insurance adjuster and roofer. We have been trying to get the insurance to cover our new roof...instead of them choosing to just "patch" the two large holes on the west side of our house. 2 previous adjusters said that the rest of the roof looked "terrific" and "great". We felt that the lifting of the shingles proved differently. Our prayers were answered when this new roofer showed the 3rd adjuster, shingle by shingle why we needed a new roof. We are so excited and thankful. It is sad to say and see first hand that the insurance people really aren't fair and have no problem taking advantage of you...I guess Ill post more this later, because this was post was actually supposed to be a "Hallelujah, it's finally over" post.

I hope everyone is having a great Christmas break!

Things I've Done...

So, I am wanting to create a bucket list...just haven't done it yet. Maybe that is something I can do over Christmas break...but I probably will just put it off again.

Anyway...I think that "want" caused me to like this list. It might not be filled with all of the things that I personally want to accomplish in my life, but it is a way to see that I've done a lot and still have a lot to do.

Put the items you've done in bold. I've italicized things I want to do.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon (ok, maybe a half, or just a 5K)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (do home movies count)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (I am counting Discovery Toys)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (but I have had a story published)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

SNOW DAY

Some of you aren't that familiar with Houston, Texas. The quick run down of the weather in Texas is that it is Hot and Humid. We are talking Africa hot. The summer starts in April and temps stay in at least the 90s until the end of October most of the time. The real zinger though is the humidity of it all. The heat index is above 110 a LOT of the time. Winter is not so constant. Winter is lovely most days, but there are MANY days that you flip the thermostat monitor of your home from A/C to heat IN THE SAME DAY!!!! Yesterday was in the 70s and we were wearing shorts outside. Today it is in the low 40s and will get down to the 30s by this evening.

Well...2 weeks ago we had snow. Ive seen it snow in Houston...I'd say it has happened 5 or 6 times in the 34 years I have lived here. But never like this. It started at about 4 when I was at my school getting ready to leave. I take Kayla to church each Wed. night for AWANAS and her mother called me about 5 minutes after dropping her off to tell me about it. We went outside, played and Kimmie took pics. with her handy camera. It was very small flurries and they would melt as soon as they touched you or the ground, but it was still fun.

We went to pick the girls up for Carmen's and they had already played a little in it, but did so again when Ms. Kim took them out there for some fun. By this time, the snow was starting to stay on the ground and cars. I didn't watch this, but Kim said they were making snowballs from the snow off of the hood of people's cars. Delaney got whacked in the eye accidentally, but was having so much fun that she didn't cry about it until that night! Then they started eating it and then....they gathered it off the outside of a trash can and ate it.....yep...kimmie said it was done before she even knew it was happening. So my girls mouths and tongues are going to fall off, but they got to play in snow. (We had a BIG discussion about germs that night ) Kimmie decided it was best, at that point, to go back inside!

We took a few pics of the girls outside again. It was Kayla's first snow, and it was also Baby Evan's (which is why Kimmie always has that camera with her). We left and had dinner at the church and then, instead of going to AWANAS right away, we skipped the first 30 minutes and let the girls play in the snow again. By this point the snow was nice and heavy and was gathering quite nicely. It was beautiful and the night was filled with innocence, giggles and wonder. I think I enjoyed that more than I did the snow.

Of course, it was all gone by noon the next day, but I think it will be a day the girls remember it for a long time.