It's Almost Christmas

Yep, that is Zach with Emma's tights on his head. Sometimes you just have to laugh at your kids. Everything is going well, except my sanity. Both Zach and Josh are on Christmas vacation for the next two weeks. This means I have four children to try and take on errands. I tried to take them clothes shopping for our family pictures and it was a disaster. I did learn that I should probably go shopping after everyone is in bed for the next little bit. Other than that everything is about the same.
We are staying here for Christmas and everything is just about ready. I decided that we needed new family stockings since Emma didn't have one, so naturally I took on the project just weeks before they need to be in place. Three are now done with three to go. I also have a few Christmas projects to finish. So in the next six days I am going to be busy.
Today is also my ninth anniversary and Troy is in Austin and won't be back until about 7:30 this evening. It isn't bad though because we are going to celebrate next weekend. Joe and Melissa have said they would watch the kids while we go out to a movie. We are both excited.
The kids are doing well. Grandma Karen has sent several crafts in the twelve days of Christmas presents so they have things to keep them occupied. The weather has also been unseasonably warm (even for Texas) with temperatures in the mid seventies. This means that I can send all the boys outside for hours at a time.
All in all we are doing well and having fun this holiday season. The kids are so excited about Santa they can hardly stand it, and Mom and Dad aren't far behind. But the best part is the remembrance of what the season is all about. The boys have an advent calendar where we read from the scriptures surrounding Christ's birth each evening. It is a wonderul reminder of what the season truly represents.

Thanksgiving Vacation

You might be looking at this picture and thinking "They actually had snow in Texas?" Of course, the answer is not a chance. We went to Washington for Thanksgiving to see my family. Where my parents live, they actually don't get very much snow. However, while we were there it snowed just enough for the boys to have a good snowball fight. They couldn't have been more excited. The one thing they wanted to do when we were there was see snow. Normally we would have had to drive for about two hours to allow them to see the snow. It was almost like the whole event had been planned. They had a blast playing and I enjoyed watching them. Emma stayed inside with Aunt Monica and had her own version of fun.

It has been a while since I last wrote, but everything is about the same. Zach and Josh are both still doing well in school. Flag football finally ended four days before we left to go out of town. The last game was actually quite cold, but they enjoyed themselves. They each showed significant improvement from the beginning of the season. I don't know who enjoys the football season more, Zach and Josh or Dad. Now we move on to basketball season in January. It seems there is always something to do.

Matt is the same sweet little man. He has really started to express what we wants and needs much more. Emma started pulling herself up the day before we left for Washington. Needless to say, I had forgotten how much more they get into. You would think our house was baby proofed, but it seems each child has discovered something the others didn't. For Emma, she loves the bathrooms. Our new house rule is "Always close the bathroom door," as she has already put many a disgusting thing into her mouth.

Other than that our lives are the same...always crazy. Hope your day is happy and healthy!