Favorite Things: Walkway of Lights

When Kayci was 2, Jhido came in from Washington for Thanksgiving and he and Adam spent the holiday with us.  We had Thanksgiving at Ronny's and then headed to Fredericksburg for the weekend.  That was the first time James and I had been to Fredericksburg since our weekend trip with Jennifer and Steve when Madi was a baby--it had been a while!  Anyway, we absolutely LOVED Fredericksburg all decorated for Christmas, and we had a great weekend even despite James' food poisoning (completely unrelated to Thanksgiving at Ronny's, of course).  Looking back at pictures of James, Jhido and Uncle Adam at Enchanted Rock, I can't believe how Adam has grown up in the past 6 years--he's grown into a wonderful young man.  But he was just a little boy a few minutes ago, it seems...

The next year was our first year in Brenham.  Kayci was 3, and we decided to make a big weekend of it again.  After Thanksgiving, we headed for the hill country.  And again, we had a BLAST!  This time, as we were driving through Marble Falls we noticed the lights by the lake and decided to check it out.  We had such a great time, and I'll never forget Kayci's conversation with Santa Claus that year (that was the whole, I want the Dora with the thing you push on her forehead and her hair grows)...legend has it, Santa was already done shopping that year but he was able to find the very. last. Dora. doll. in the Brazos Valley for his Bitty.  Phew.  

And so it went--we went to Fredericksburg and Marble Falls the next year, but not her 5 year old year (Grandpa was sick, it didn't feel right), and then the next two years we didn't even get a hotel in Fredericksburg but just stayed in Marble Falls.  This year, we didn't have the budget for a hotel room in Marble Falls or the patience for Fredericksburg (it's just gotten too, too crowded Thanksgiving weekend, so we're going to make that a spring trip for peach ice cream from now on), so we decided to just drive over to Marble Falls after our Friday Thanksgiving dinner at Ronny's.   Good thing, since it rained on Saturday, when we'd planned to go! 

This year was wonderful, even though it was a fairly quick trip.  We got to share it with Ronny's kids, which is always a good time.  The Walkway of Lights, if you've never been, is low-tech by today's standards, but it's just beautiful down by the lake.  We love to stay in the La Quinta up the hill and look at the lights from our balcony, but that's another year...

Here are the kids--we love these knuckleheads like our own.  I'm so grateful (probably another post!) for all of the time we spent with them when they were little.  Ronny and Amy were great about always inviting us to church and school stuff and just having us over, period.  And the kids have spent...gosh, I don't know how many nights with us over the years.  They've been such a blessing to us!  

We weren't sure about Noble and Santa (kids, don't read--Kayci doesn't believe this guy's the real Santa, and she never has.  It's okay to talk to Santa's helper sometimes, though).  Noble was okay, but it turns out, neither of our kids has a Christmas list this year.  Guess Santa gets to wing it!  

I was a little worried that Kayci's too big for Santa...turns out, I didn't need to worry.  I love that girl!

Keely took our picture.  I don't know if you can tell, but it was warmer than usual...my hair was HUGE.  :)

And finally, the cousins...I think they're smiling because they know Starbucks is next on the agenda.   But maybe they're just smiling because it was fun, and a special experience to share.  I hope so.  But the Starbucks was good, not gonna lie.

Thanks for going with us, big kids--we had a blast with y'all!  

Favorite things: fir & 4!

So, this morning James walks out to find me attempting to take a picture of our tree with my jacked up phone.  Usually having a broken phone doesn't bother me, but I'm tired of not being able to snap quick pics and blog...how lazy am I, really?  Anyway, my sweet Boy takes my phone out of my hand and says, let me work on it.  At that point I was totally frustrated with it and was like, "you can't fix it...it's just broken."  I may have growled.  I'm not sure.

He comes back to the living room a minute later and says, "try it now."




How thoughtful is he?  You know, I wouldn't have spent the money on it right now...actually, not until I *had* to do so.  But he works hard, and if this makes him happy, then who am I to argue?  Besides, how lucky am I to have a Boy who'll spend his freelance check on a phone for me instead of on something for himself?  Have I mentioned how grateful I am?  :)  Thanks, Boy--I loved you before the new phone, and I love you even more for making it happen.  You take such good care of me!




Back to the original post:  my favorite thing for today?  Fir trees!  This year we got a Noble Fir--it was too fun to show Noble his name on all of the Christmas trees yesterday, and this one just jumped out at us and begged to be our tree.  We'll decorate it this weekend, and the kids can't WAIT.  I'm not sure who's more excited, us or them.

And an addendum:  my other favorite thing today is 4...for my iPhone 4s.  :)  I've lost track of how many iPhones I've had since June 29, 2007.  This is my 3rd of the 4s, alone.  Yikes!

Ready or not, here it comes!

(2010 Lighted Parade)

We have pretty strict rules in our house about holidays.  

No Halloween talk or decorating until October 1.

November 1, Halloween comes down and harvest/Thanksgiving goes up.

December 1, Thanksgiving comes down...and then things either go really fast or really slow.  :)

December 1 is when Advent starts in our house.  We have a blast counting down the days until Christmas.  When I first started blogging, I posted about what we do to make this time fun for the kids...here's a blast from the past (2008, to be exact!):

http://ipharaon.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-fun.html

This year, I'm not sure what December is going to look like.  I'm still in SIMPLIFY mode...but we'll see if that holds.  :)  

So far, here's what's going in the Advent calendar (not the one I still haven't made, we'll use our "old" one again this year!):

December 1:  buy our tree!

December 2:  Christmas parade & stroll!

December 3:  decorate the tree

December 4:  Church and decorate outside

And then each day will be a mix of things we're doing already (Kayci's piano recital, PTO Christmas program, etc.) and Christmas fun (wrapping gifts, making ornaments, making playdough--we need Alex for that one, H!).  

Um, have I mentioned that I *love* Christmas?  :)  This year, I just want to do a good job of focusing on the why of Christmas, not just the whats...our kiddos totally understand about Jesus' birth, but it can get lost in the Santa and reindeer and elf stuff that I love so much.  

And I understand what a hypocrite I am, talking about keeping it simple while I'm looking around at our Elf on the Shelf (Taylor, who's 6 years old this year!) horsing around on the duck and the two wrapped gifts on the table (they unwrap a book a day)...but really, for me, that IS simplifying.  :)  

I'm NOT doing 12 days of Christmas this year...that was something I loved last year, but that can totally go.  That's progress, right?

I'm NOT making my new (sniff) Silhouette Advent calendar this year, because this mouse doesn't have time for that cookie...and the new banner, and the new stockings, and the new tree skirt...it was not a good 4 weeks of stressing about that stuff, and I've given it up.  :)

I'm NOT doing snow & snowmen this year, unless Kayci insists.  I'm serious about keeping decorations simple.

Ha.

And last but not least, a favorite thing...another of my favorite December blog traditions:

Today my favorite thing is quiet time in the morning with my Boy.  We've had an hour to sit here and read and, for me, to do my quiet time...now I'm on the computer for a bit before we get up and he heads off to Bible study.  This time with him makes all the difference.  :)  

The Write Stuff

Here's a video James made of Bubby writing away this weekend.

http://ipharaon.blogspot.com/2011/11/noble-writes-his-name.html

I'm still amazed that Noble just wrote his name out of the blue last week--trust me when I say that teaching him to write was NOT on my radar!  Sure, we've been talking about the letters in his name forever...I was happy he'd mastered that.  Just goes to show what kids are learning when we think they're "just playing," right, girls?  :)

Silly Boy

This is his, "silly, stupid old Girl" look.

And I love him anyway.

Or, more importantly, he loves ME anyway.

Creative Christmas

When I think of Christmas, I think of the month leading up to Christmas...

...Advent activities (and this year, making our new Advent calendar!)
...spending a month immersed in reminders of what Christmas is really about, and celebrating His birth
...making,
...baking,
...buying,
...and wrapping gifts
...creating,
...sending,
...and receiving Christmas cards
...decorating the house,
...inside and out,
...and the tree
...wrapping books for the knuckleheads to unwrap each day
...watching them decorate their own Christmas trees (guess who's called the pink one this year?!)
...time with friends and family
...Christmas lights
...Christmas traditions
...looking for Taylor the elf each day
...watching Christmas movies
...listening to Christmas songs (especially the ones Kayci plays on the piano!)
...telling stories of Christmases past
...sharing family stories and traditions with Kayci and Noble
...hearing stories about when Daddy was little, and their family traditions
...there's so much to love about this season.

Now that we're back home and Thanksgiving is over, I'm ready for the Christmas season.  But I refuse to be rushed into it...we'll do it one day at a time, and we'll enjoy each day as it comes.  I'm hesitant to let go of the anticipation that comes with Thanksgiving...I'm not in any hurry to get the tree or decorate the house (partially because our house is still TRASHED from Thanksgiving preparations and fun).  I want to hold on to this feeling of something awesome heading our way.

Something awesome is heading our way, and my prayer is that we'll all enjoy the ride this holiday season.  We have so many blessings, so much to be thankful for.  I don't want to lose focus...especially during this season, I want my family to keep first things first:  faith, family and friends.

And I want to keep first things first, too, and not get bogged down in our busy schedule.  Keep me accountable, friends!

More shirts!

Here are some of the shirts I've done this week...I have had a BLAST!!

This one was inspired by Rachel's pin, and it's the only one I printed (instead of using vinyl). Love it!!!



Jennifer saw Noble's Bearkat orange shirt and thought it would be fun in Preston's school colors. I was more than happy to make one for our Godson!


We were unable to attend the twins' party a few weeks ago, so these were overdue. My first Christmas shirts!


Mandy had the idea for these a while back, and I had so much fun with them! I added the onesie, based on the cute one that's floating around Pinterest. :)


Okay, a little brag and a little inspiration: Noble wrote his name for the first time...surprised the CRAP out of me!


I bought these cute vintage-y ringer tees for the knuckleheads but I wasn't sure what to do with them. Truthfully, both kiddos have Christmas tees already, but I couldn't pass up that soft cotton. I was watching Noble write this morning, and it totally came to me...luckily, I hadn't taken the other shirts to the press, yet! I'm sorry, guys, but these make be laugh!


I have one more group to share, but we'll all have to be patient!