Hug it!

Little Easton loves to give Hugs.  Instead of asking us to pick him up, he frequently reaches up and says "Hug it."  His "Hug its" constantly get giggles out of spectators.  When we are at a store, he makes us walk extra close to the shopping cart so that he can put his arms around us.  Yep, it's pretty awkward to walk around that way.  But, no one can resist Easton hugs.


Yesterday we took the whole crew to the Comal county fair.  They had a super cute kids area with all kinds of animals for Easton to hug.

And "Hug it" he did.  He went around the petting zoo hugging every animal.

Some baby chicks got a few of his hugs as well.

No hugging here, but we did get to watch some baby chicks being born.

And finally, Easton proved his gaming skills on the Midway and won a new pal to hug.

It will be a sad, sad, day when Easton stops asking to "hug it"

We are here...we are here.

Yep, we're still alive and kicking down in good ol' San Antonio.

Just too busy enjoying ourselves to keep up with blogging.

Or, more likely we're just lazy.

But, we do still like our snow cone followers.

And are still true blue Americans.

Our top news story is that Chad will be graduating in 1 month with his MBA!  Woohoo!  He's not around much these days, so Liam designed a substitute for when we're missing him.

Hope to chat again sooner than later!

Christmas came

 We spent Christmas this year peacefully at home without guests, so for those who missed the action, here's a re-cap.


Christmas Eve the kiddos opened their new p.j.s and a book from Grandma to start things off.

We fed the rain deer oatmeal with glitter on the front lawn and left Santa a plate of cookies.  I love the note the  boys made for him.

Later that night Santa came.

He really came.

We showed the above picture to the boys and Carter just said, you downloaded that Santa off the internet didn't you.  Sheesh, he's to tech savvy for his own good. 


The boys had a joyful morning.  Seriously, no one cried or whined.  It was just fun.  Success!

 Liam had a very Lego Christmas.  I think he got six sets.  That's all he asked anyone for and is still upstairs in Star wars Lego heaven.

 Carter's favorite gift was Epic Mickey for the Wii.

Although he was pretty ecstatic for his 750 sheets of fresh paper and Creationary as well.  Hopefully those gifts will help keep his mind going completely to mush.

 Easton was in heaven with all his favorite things -- balls, books, and all things with wheels.

 Hope you all had a very merry Christmas as well!

Our little Nativity

Every year we try to combat the sugar soaked over indulgent excitement of Santa and extreme Christmas light displays with a healthy dose of religion.  It never works.  But, at least we try.  Our method is to spend Christmas eve acting out the nativity.  This year, my mom, who must be a glutton for punishment, although a very talented one, made her grandkids costumes for the events.  WOW!  They were cute.  Very cute.

 Easton was a very tired shepperd and had his moments.

 Liam, aka Joseph was very curious with baby Jesus' eyes.  It's like he's never seen a baby doll before or something.

I realized the afternoon before our big show that our boy filled house did not possess a single baby doll to be baby Jesus.  Since I grew up in a household of all girls, it was pretty funny to me.  Walmart came through with one of the $5 variety.  Easton saw it and was very curious.  First he drop kicked it while saying hiya.  But later I caught him doing this.

He gave his most favoritest blankie and put him to bed.  Maybe he's not so tough after all.  That cradle is one my dad made me for Christmas one year.  I keep waiting to pass it down to a little girl but so far, it hasn't worked.

Christmas outfits - Thanks mom!

Every year, my most excellent of mothers, buys her grandkids church outfits for Christmas and Easter.  Awesome huh!?  She definitely deserves some pictures of them in the new attire so, here you go.

Holiday Programs

Tis the season for watching your kids perform at school.  Last week we had our fair share of performances around here.  First came Carter's second grade holiday program.  They felt so grown up going to the high school.  That is one state of the art high-school.  I kind of hope my kids end up getting to go to school there because it is such a great facility (think high school musical but even newer, better architecture, and better colors.)  I seriously wanted to photograph it.  Three fourths of the students in our school district have at least one parent in the military.  And that leads to all kinds of bonus federal money for the schools. Its really hard to get hired into the district because the teachers never want to leave.  I have a friend who took a job this year working as an aid.  She has a dozen years of teaching experience, and over 100 extra education hours in math and science, but took the job as an aid anyway with the hope that it will someday lead to more.  I've been told there isn't a bad teacher in the district and I sure have been impressed so far.  Sooooo grateful that we are one of the few who don't have to worry about the quality of our kids education right now without spending a fortune on private school.  Really, really grateful. 


Now on to the performance...here's a wide angle shot of the stage:

and one closer up.  Carter was on the far right side second row up.

And for you very patient viewers, we got some on film.  Carter is kind of hidden but you get a few peeks at him.

Isn't that choir director snazzy!


Liam's preschool performance followed a couple days later.  Their's was on a slightly lower budget but had no lack of cuteness!

You have to see these videos.  They are priceless! (at least to me).

We wish you a very joyful Christmas!

Movember

My husband (who never ceases to crack me up) is bringing the Mustache back this month as he competes to raise money for men's health. It's all part of an initiative known as Movember.Click on this link to learn more:
http://us.movember.com/mospace/783638/index/tp/1


He'd love a donation if you're able. The funds raised through Movember’s US campaign benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) and LIVESTRONG, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

My Grandpa passed away from Prostate cancer when I was sixteen. It was extrememly sad to see all that he went through. I'm sure you guys have been somehow affected by men's cancer in your lives as well. It's a great cause to support.


I'll post a picture of Chad's mustache the end of the month. I'm voting on a handlebar. What do you think?