All I Want for Christmas...

...is another vacation in the Caribbean. Last year during this week, we were on a cruise with the Wrights, Parsons, Beatons, Woodalls, and Armstrongs--a total of 11 kids. We had a fabulous week and found plenty of time for fun, relaxation, and lots of sun! Wish we were there again this year!!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year???

You'll notice that my daughter and her friend are standing in front of a really pretty Christmas tree. The problem is that it is not our Christmas tree. Yesterday, after spending the morning convincing my 3 kids to smile for Christmas pictures, Laiken went to Kaitlin's for the afternoon. Our dear friends, Frank and Monica, Kaitlin's parents, began decorating a week ago. No, I'm not kidding. If there were a 12-step program for Christmas decorating addicts, Frank and Monica would need to be the first ones at the meetings. We lovingly call them the Griswolds and my daughter fully believes that she has somehow been robbed of her birthright because her parents won't buy out Garden Ridge so that our home can look like the Wrights'. So, Laiken came home yesterday from her playdate expecting that we would be putting up our tree (since, after all, the Wrights' home already had multiple trees up, inflatables in the yard, wood cut-outs, music playing, and lights all over the place.) She was bordering on furious when she went to bed last night and our home still showed no signs of the approaching holiday.

I got up this morning thinking, "O.K., we will decorate." It was raining outside, Farrel had to work a playoff game in Tyler, and the tree needed to be put up before school started up again. Farrel was already dressed for work when I asked him to help me move all the boxes of decorations from the garage into the living room. He just looked at me at first--until I said, "When you get home, it will all be done..." A smile spread across his face and we quickly moved the boxes so I could get started. Mayhem ensued as soon as the boxes made their appearance. "THE TREE!!! WE ARE GOING TO PUT THE TREE UP!!!" Due to all the allergies shared by Farrel and the kids, we have never braved having a real tree, so ours is nicely stored in about 10 zillion pieces in a huge container. Each branch fits into a color coded hole and has to be manually "fluffed" before it is placed. The result is a beautiful sight, but, oh, so much work!

I'll admit...I've never been much of a decorator. The walls and windows in my house are pretty sparse. It's just never been one of my talents. But, I can do a pretty tree. Years ago, I started paying attention to trees in stores and I made mental notes on how to recreate them. I am a little crazy about how everything is placed and for weeks after the tree goes up, I will walk by and rearrange ornaments, lights, and ribbon to make the tree more balanced and aesthetically pleasing. Farrel jokes that the tree finally looks perfect to me about the time we have to take it down. It's true... I have a problem. (That's why I can't decorate much...I drive myself crazy worrying about the end result.)

So, it seemed like a good idea to decorate the tree today while Farrel was working and it was raining. The kids were excited and ready to help(!) so we began to put the tree together limb by limb, fluffing and placing until it began to take shape. About 1/3 of the way through, Nolan got bored and started throwing all of the limbs out of the container onto the living room floor. I stayed calm and told him that I needed him to stop. Then, he decided he needed to play with the grocery cart full of pretend groceries, a ball, the Bullseye Ball game, his Hot Wheels, a piggy bank, and his ride-on motorcycle--right in the middle of where we were trying to put up the tree. Macey, who was thoroughly worked up because there was an array of items that SHOULD NOT have been in our living room, was barking and stealing toys and chewing on anything that she could find in an attempt to calm herself down. I stopped putting the tree together to take the items away from Macey. Then, Laiken and I continued to put on branches as Carson and Nolan began to play ball around the decorations and then Nolan decided it would be really funny if he laid down on top of the box of decorations. My heart stopped and that is the point I began to rethink putting up the tree. "NOLAN--get OFF of the decorations!!" He, of course, smiled and stayed put. I got off of the chair I was standing on to physically remove him from the decorations. He started crying and said, "I DO get on that box." "NO, you do NOT!" "I DO!" That went on until he realized that I would win. O.K., crisis averted, the tree was completely standing, ready to decorate. I sent Laiken and Carson over with 15 strands of lights to make sure that they all still worked. I finally crated Macey who was diligently chewing up every piece of toy food that she could find in the pretend kitchen. She proceeded to bark at us because we continued on with our activities instead of paying attention to her. I asked Laiken to put on some music. I was thinking holiday favorites; she was thinking Radio Disney. So, when I ended up having to listen to that annoying Umbrella song followed by the even more irritating Beautiful Girls song, I began thinking "I wonder if anyone in my neighborhood has any Paxil that they will share?" The kids started bringing me rolls of Christmas lights that they had checked and it was only then that I remembered something about lead and holiday lights and that the kids shouldn't have touched them. I freaked a little and sent them to wash their hands (with soap and warm water!) and they looked at me like I'd lost my mind. They were right.

They could tell that Mom had had it and decided to organize a game with Nolan that kept them all out from under my feet until I could get lights, beads, and ribbon in place. Ironically, after 2 1/2 hours of work, we were finally ready for ornaments, but by then, it was time for lunch and Nolan's nap. So, the kids had to wait until late afternoon to get to the "good part." I flinched as the kids haphazardly placed the ornaments, putting all of the homemade ones right in the front. When the job was finished, we took care of baths and dinner, started a fire and waited for Farrel to get home. We sat for some time in the glow of the lights and the flickering of the fire admiring our work until Nolan sat down on the edge of the couch, rolled off into the tree, knocked half a dozen ornaments off, pulled off three feet of ribbon, and twisted two strands of beads and a strand of lights into a knot as he fell through the bottom three limbs. Good times.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble...

...is pretty much what we did today. My mom fixes THE BEST Thanksgiving dinner ever and we were so lucky to be able to spend the day with her and my dad and Joe.

The cold weather precluded any great outdoor fun, but lots went on indoors, including:

• games of Battleship, Who Knew, Chinese Checkers, and Trouble


• lots of information and stories shared by Laiken and Carson regarding group dynamics at their school (funny and very insightful!)


• a quick lesson from Papaw on the correct way to play marbles


• Nolan kicking a football with such unbelievable skill for his age that I had to spend quite some time rethinking my staunch stance that "no son of mine will ever play a game as dangerous as football!"


• plenty of laughing and sharing with the people I love most in this world

We couldn't have asked for a better day.

After we got home and the kids were cleaned up, I had Nolan getting him dressed in front of the fire that Farrel had started. It was the first fire of the season and Nolan, not remembering all the fires in the fireplace last winter, stared at it and began to sing, "Happy birfday to Nowan..." It took me a minute to realize that he only associated fire with birthday candles. What a happy little unexpected connection. I hope all of his little moments are always that joyful.

Go Mavericks!

Yea Thanksgiving Break!! We have really enjoyed having this week to reconnect and have some unstructured time. Yesterday, we grabbed the Wright kids and met the Graves family at the Zone for laser tag and lunch. The kids had a great time and came home worn out from their multiple games of running around and shooting at each other.

Then, Carson got to use his birthday present from Uncle Joe--second row, center tickets to the Dallas vs. Toronto basketball game. To say Carson was ecstatic is an understatement. He and Farrel had a great night and the Mavericks came back from behind to win a very exciting game.

Art Gallery at the Admin Building

This month, Carson's artwork was chosen to hang in the district's administration building. His featured work was a fabulous interpretation of a T-Rex done in oil pastels. We went to a reception last week to see his artwork and to enjoy some cookies. Thanks to our district for emphasizing the importance of the arts in education and for our wonderful art teacher who always goes the extra mile! It was a very special night.

End of the Soccer Season

This has been a crazy couple of months. It was the first season that both Laiken and Carson played on two soccer teams each and we literally have lived on a soccer field for the past ten weeks. Fortunately, the weather has been great this fall and we have had so much fun watching their skills grow. Their competitive teams both did O.K.--towards the middle of the standings. Carson's rec team won as many as they lost and really improved over the course of the season. Laiken's rec team went undefeated!

The end of year parties are done and we are looking ahead to the spring when it all begins again. Laiken will only be playing competitive soccer next season. Her rec team is all moving on, after 5 and a half years together. Laiken got to share in two years of playing with that team and it is such a wonderful group of parents and kids. We will really miss the camaraderie. Fortunately, most of her rec team also plays on her competitive team so we will still get to enjoy spending practices and games with the same great people.

Veteran's Day

In case you haven't heard me say it, Laiken and Carson go to absolutely the most fantastic, wonderful, amazing school in existence. Last week, their school hosted a Veteran's Day Celebration and it was unbelievable! A group of teachers sang the National Anthem (WOW!), students sang patriotic songs, the Boy Scouts posted the flags, the namesake of the school spoke, and every veteran in attendance was recognized. It was a moving, memorable morning for all and we were so blessed to be a part of it.

Look What I Made!

We are so fortunate at our school to have after-school camps come right to campus. This fall, Laiken chose the pottery class. The students got to work with several different materials and they learned how to use the wheel. Laiken loved it--no surprise there--everyone knows how much she loves crafts!

Science Fair

Laiken loves the Science Fair. Carson loves looking at all the finished projects but doesn't really love the time that it takes to complete one. Last year, they got first place in their age group when we tested the absorbency of diapers. This year, we looked at what variables affected how well popcorn popped. No awards this year, but it was still a great night and I did learn more about popcorn than I ever expected to know!

Here they are with their project board....

Checking out a friend's project....

The book fair was also going on that night and all Nolan wanted to do was walk around holding the mouse's hand...

Field Trips!

November was the month for field trips! We just finished 3 trips in the last 2 weeks. Laiken's grade went to Green Meadows and saw reenactments of Native American and African dances.

Carson's grade went all around McKinney looking at the historical sites.

Laiken's other field trip was to the Dallas Museum of Art. My favorite, of course! We had a scavenger hunt and the kids were great!!