Saturday Morning Playdate

Since I started working, we don't have play dates quite as often. Saturday morning, however, we had our friend Nate G. over while his big sister went to a sibling class at the hospital. Nate was a perfect friend to have over because he's Maggie's age, but loves to also play with Cameron. We played outside, had a yummy snack, and did some art.

It's a race!

Buddies.

At this point I told Chris, just don't come into the living room you don't want to see it til I get it cleaned back up.

Thanks Robert & Emily for letting Nate hang out with us. He was a lot of fun!

Meeting New Cousins - Narisha & Perry

While in Arlington we were also blessed to get to spend some time with new cousins Narisha & Perry. Actually they are already a year old, but this is the first time we've gotten to meet them. The twins were an exciting addition to Mark & Ah's life, and keeping them both on their toes. God has big plans for this family!

Perry was named for Chris & Mark's grandfather - Perry Doyle. (That's where Cam get's his middle name from). He's the first boy born on that side of the family in a long time, so I thought it was so sweet that they carried on a family name. Doesn't Perry have beautiful eyes!

Narisha enjoyed Maggie & Cameron. I'm not sure that Maggie was as thrilled, you see she has a princess complex that she should be the only girl around. Narisha was doing a pretty good job of taking steps, but Perry's not quite there yet.

I also just love Perry's hair because it's so wild and sticks up every which way.

Narisha, on the other hand, has this sweet silky hair that just lays perfect. She has more hair than Maggie, so jealous!

It was so nice to finally meet the twins and play with them.

2011 Rangers Fan Fest

Cameron is the luckiest little boy, I tell him that all the time. Because his daddy is a kid at heart, especially when it comes to sports, Cameron is "dragged" along to all sorts of events. Chris really wants to foster a love for sports and particularly the teams that he loves in Cameron. Last weekend we drove up to Arlington for the boys (David, Chris & Cameron) to take part in the Rangers Fan Fest - and so did a million other people.

They were able to meet two players (like I said, a million people made it too crazy to do more than that), play in the whiffle ball park and see some neat memorabilia.

Chris got a few different shots of Cameron at various of these posing stations, but this one cracks me up the most because his head is so clearly displaced.

Antlers with the Dot Racers!

I think he's trying to break dance.

This is a fun shot with the team, but I kind of wish Cam had on his red jersey as well, so he looked like he was a bat boy or something.

My Rangers boys.

Later in the evening, we sat around with Chris' family telling stories, and laughing really hard at silly things. One story told was about a recent visit Chris & I took to Austin. We stopped by the Round Rock Express Stadium to see their new logo (they are now a part of the Rangers). While in the shop, Chris eyed a Senators jersey in the discount section that spurned a conversation with the shopkeeper. The Senators used to be a farm team in Austin and sometime in the last year they had played a throwback game with the Express. The game jerseys in the discount section were leftovers. Chris got excited over the jersey because the Rangers used to be the Washington Senators. Now, I know that there are only so many names out there that teams can use, after a while some just start to sound silly, but the irony of the situation was exciting.

So that story spurned both Chris & David to find lists on the internet of farm teams from throughout the years. That's when we all really started to crack up. Angie's favorite was the Texarkana Casketmakers (1902). Jeanne's favorite was the Polka Dots. And so you get the idea, it's midnight and we are all just laughing up a storm.

Thanks again to Aunt Sue & Uncle Gary for hosting us. We always have such a good time at your house.

Christmas in Austin

This year we spent Christmas Day in Austin with my family. The kids had such a good time visiting at Grandma and Pawpaw's house and then getting to play with their cousins.

Santa brought Maggie a princess castle, which she had to crawl on the box in order to open. Immediately after she opened it she wanted to know where the princesses were (those arrived at New Years.)

Cameron got a DSi from Santa and he has played it every day since. We are loving this new electronic device, even I have played it.
While visiting my cousin's house on Christmas Day, we let all the kids have Nerf guns and they wrecked havoc on the adults and each other.
One of the gifts PawPaw really wanted Maggie to open was her princess dress up accessories. She even got her Daddy to wear some of the pieces. Heehee!
One night we visited a drive thru light show in San Marcos. There were some amazing creations in Christmas lights, but I really liked the castle and dragon best.
It was such a blessing to visit with all of the family that we can't see every day. It's amazing how quickly the kids fall into playing together like they've spent no time a part. And giving gifts this year was so much fun because I was able to use my embroidery machine and make each family monogramed towels.

New Years

New Years was spent celebrating Christmas with Chris' family. Chris, Bekah & Jeanne held an enchilada cook off for our meal. All three were yummy but I think Bekah took the prize this time.

The picture below is a little off because Cameron was our photographer.

Trying to get 4 kids to stop moving long enough for a picture was hard, but I think this one came out pretty good.

Maggie got her princesses, plus some. On this night she also received a singing Ariel from Aunt Bekah and a bathtime Ariel from Angela. She had all her Ariel's "dancing" with her throughout the night.

I got my Sound of Music on Blue-Ray, yipee!

Scary Monster Book

We were so lucky this year to receive an iPad for our family from Chris' parents. The kids LOVE the iPad so much for games, books, and movies. We have to wrestle it away from them each day to get a chance to use it ourselves.

One of their favorite purchases from the Apple store has been The Monster at the End of This Book with Grover from Sesame Street. Chris had the book as a child and still has it. I caught a picture of Maggie with both the real book and the iPad version the other day. The bonus of the iPad version is that it's interactive and the kids can "knock" down a wall and tickle Grover.

I have a video I need to get off of the camera where Maggie is talking through the book.

Pancakes with Santa

Saturday morning was spent at church having pancakes and visiting with Santa. The decorating committee did an awesome job with some super cute gingerbread people and lollipop designs. The kitchen crew (Chris included) did an awesome job churning out the pancakes and keeping the cocoa hot. It made for a nice Saturday morning with friends.

Making a foam Christmas tree. We used A LOT of those stickers.

Some of the cute Gingerbread decorations.

I just love Santa's face in this pic, like he's really listening to what Maggie has to say. Cameron's request to Santa in his letter and when sitting on his lap was for a Harry Potter Wand and a Nintendo DS. Maggie wants a pink castle with a tower.

Hope Santa gets those orders to Austin!