"Mater...like ta-mater, but without the ta"

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!

(Pictures taken by Maggie at the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at Alpine.)

'Tis the Season

We are all ready for Christmas!!! We have our tree up and gifts underneath, lights are on the house, and the wreath is hung by the door. What do these things have to do with the real meaning of Christmas??? I love the fun and celebration as much as the next person, but the decorations and shopping somehow swallows the true meaning of Christmas. We are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ our savior! Without whom we would all be lost souls.
I am having trouble teaching my children the story of Jesus's birth. They seem to lose interest when I am telling them or reading it to them. We talk about the nativity characters, but they still call the baby Moses and just want to play with the characters. I told them they each have 3 gifts under the tree because Jesus got 3 gifts. They still seem uninterested. I am praying for an interest in their heart to learn this wonderful sweet precious story. I know they are both so young, but I still think they can grasp the story as a whole. I want nothing but the best for my children, and I know that the best thing for them this Christmas is to celebrate the birth of our KING!

Longview Christmas Parade

Last night we not only attended, but we were actually IN the Longview Christmas Parade. The kids and I sat on the Alpine Christian Academy float while Aaron walked next to us to ensure the huge blow up snowman did not fall over on top of anyone. The parade was so much fun! We just smiled and waved and told everyone on the streets, "Merry Christmas!!!"

Here is Aaden on the float waiting for the parade to start.
Here is Kendrah and her kiddos, Olivia and Aubrey. Kendrah was the mastermind behind the whole float. She entered the school and got all the rules, and then she built the float and organized everything! Yay for Kendrah!!! And, thanks to her Alpine Christian Academy won the "Grand Marshall's Award". Our name was even on the FRONT page of the paper!!!

Here is Rylan...I know it's blury, but I had to show how bundled up she was. It was soooooo cold!! BRRRRRRR.

Here is my pal Christy and her two sweet kiddos, Kinzie and Jackson. We rode the float together and laughed and waved the whole way through! (Especially when Jackson fell asleep, but kept waving! He's a trooper!)

And, here is me and my sweet babies. We had a great time! I would encourage anyone who has not gone to go next year. It is so fun, and totally worth the frozen fingers and bad traffic.

Aaron Got a Deer

An 8 point buck to be exact! Yay for Aaron!!! (This picture was taken on his cell phone while he was still out there...so that's why the quality isn't awesome...but I think you can get the point.)

Gobble Wobble Completed!

Here are the kids and me after I ran. It was fun! I finished in 37 minutes. (Aaron keeps telling people 35...he's so sweet!) There were a bunch of people there! (I tried to count...I'm thinking between 100 and 150) I pray the mission made a lot of money so they can better serve the community!

Gobble Wobble

The annual Gobble Wobble run is THIS Saturday, November 29, here in Longview. It is a 5k or 10k walk/run/wobble benefiting the New Gate Mission. The run is free, but donations are accepted. I just want to encourage everyone in East Texas to come out and wobble with me. Registration is at 8:30 am and the race begins at 9am. It is at the Cargill Long Park Trail on 4th Street. I think it is a fun way to help out our community, and get out and get some exercise!
If you want more info you can go to the New Gate Mission website www.newgatemission.org
Hope to see some of you there!!!
(Also if anyone would like to sponsor me I would love it! I will be running the 5k and a donation of a dollar a kilometer can go a long way! It says on the New Gate website that $1300 can feed 1000 people lunch for a MONTH!!! Wow!)

Yikes! It's been a month

It's been a while, but nothing really has been going on. We made it through Halloween (we had a princess and a power ranger). The kids are loving school and are so crazy and silly. They are very creative, and I love being around them (good thing, I guess). Thanksgiving is almost here. Since I am the music teacher at school I taught all the kids a thanksgiving song. So here it is for those parents who don't know the words and your kids are "singing it" or if you want to teach it to your kids to sing for Grandma or Aunt Jenny or whoever you are enjoying the holidays with.

Tune - "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"
Sweet Potatoes, Deviled Eggs
Buttered Rolls, and Turkey Legs
Carrot Cake, and Pumpkin Pie
It's Thanksgiving, My Oh My
Sweet Potatoes, Deviled Eggs
Buttered Rolls, and Turkey Legs

Now here are some recent (as in the past month) pictures.
Our kids LOVE tattoos! They are HILARIOUS! They think they are so cool when they get these pictures on their skin.

Breakfast with Santa. We went up to the mall and waited in our Jammies (ok, not me, but the kids were in their Jammies) for Santa to arrive. (He came on a fire truck.) It was crowded and wild, but totally worth the $5 per kid. (Obviously the kids were not too into taking pictures.)

Here is Aaron with his long hair. It has since been cut, but my boss saw him and called him Wooley Booley. I liked it long, but with so many people giving him a hard time he has since gone to the beauty shop and gotten a hair cut. (Oh, and ignore the TT behind him, there was an aggie sign there too, but it just didn't make it in the picture.)

The kids on Halloween before Trick or Treating. We all had a good time.

Ok, that's all for now. Nothing too exciting. I do hope that everyone has a safe and happy thanksgiving, and that you all stuff your faces to the MAX!!!

Pictures of Pictures

Here are the pictures I said I would post once we got them.
The first is our family picture for the pictoral directory at our churh, then the kids' school pictures, and lastly Aaden's soccer picture. Enjoy!!!

Road Trip

Last weekend Aaron and I made the trek to Asheville North Carolina for my cousin's wedding. It was a beautiful mountain wedding with a fun reception after. (There are NO pictures. We had our camera and took no pictures...sorry!)
We decided to drive to eliminate some of the cost and stress that accompanies flying. We drove there on Thursday, getting up about 3:30am to leave by 4:30am. It took us about 14 hours...whew!! We enjoyed ourselves Friday and Saturday and then got up Sunday morning and drove the 14 hours home! We had a great time, and we are almost fully recovered. Our legs and backs are still sore. By tomorrow I figure we'll be fine.

While on the road we decided to do a science experiment...do different gas stations' gas get different gas mileage?? The answer is YES!!! Exxon gas got us (in the Jetta) about 2 miles more per gallon...doesn't seem like that much? Well, it got us 30 more miles per tank! That ain't bad! I am not an advocate for Exxon, but I thought I'd just share our findings. (These findings are compared to Murphy, Fina, and Chevron.)
**Remember this is also highway driving, and it may not be so significant in town.
**This experiment has no official authenticity.

Fall is Here!!!

First of all are a couple pictures of my little worker bees. After the hurricane came through we had a mess of branches in our yard both front and back. My sweet babies were ready to lend a hand in the time of need.



Saturday evening we went to Moore Farms (in a little town called Bullard right outside of Tyler). It is this wonderful little pumpkin patch. We all had a blast.

Aaron and Rylan checking out the scenery.

Aaden in his duck hat. Why was he wearing that? He just decided that it was the thing to do.

Aaden poking his head through the pumpkin.

Rylan poking her head through the pumpkin.

The scarecrow lost his glove so Aaden was happy to help out.

Now Rylan has to take a shot. (We never got the glove to stay on his hand.)

Aaden holding hands with the tin man...aka the robot.

(We realized our kids have never seen The Wizard of Oz.)

Aaden was showing Rylan how to hold his hand.

She figured it out!!!

My sweet kiddos on the hay ride.

There are both their smiling faces!!!

My sweet handsome loving husband!

And he's off!!!

There she goes right behind big brother. They had so much fun running around the red dirt.

Rylan wanted to pull her pumpkin to the car in the wagon, only her pumpkin weighed only a few ounces. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen! She is very good at making me laugh.

Pumping water by hand is very fun.

And lastly we had a wonderful surprise on Sunday. Our friends the Steele kids were in town visiting their aunt and grandparents. (They moved to Fort Worth at the end of the summer. It was a very sad occasion. Not only did they go to school and church together, but they only lived about a block away from us.) Garrison came and sat with us during church. The boys (who are best buddies) loved seeing eachother. It was a very sweet reunion.

Busy Busy Busy

I just want to say hey to everyone and let you know we are still here and sooooo busy. I am working at the school 2 days a week, doing a bible study (which takes up 2 days a week), the kids are going to school 4 days a week, and they are going to bible study with me one day a week. Aaden is doing Tae Kwon Do 2 days a week and he has soccer practice one night a week and a soccer game every Saturday. Soooo, we are very busy.
Last week was my birthday, and it was uneventful for the most part. One more year closer to 30! (I know those of you already in your thirties...or older...don't feel sorry for me one bit.)
So that's all that has been going on.
We took some family pictures at the church not long ago, and the kids had school pictures taken last week, and I will post both once they get in.
I hope everyone is well, and has a blessed week.

Three Firsts

We had our first soccer game this weekend. Aaden is officially a "Mad Dog"! We are very excited and the game was super fun. All the kids did a great job. Everyone stayed running and was willing to get in the action. There were a few tears, but they were short and sweet. Aaden did a great job running, and kept up with everyone else.

Here is him making his "Mad Dog Face"...GRRRRR!
I didn't mean to put this picture on here, but here it is...the kids hanging out in the front yard before the game. Rylan was a good sport and cheered her brother on.

My mom was here this past week hanging out with us before school really got kicked off. Here is the mad dog growl!

The second first was the first day of school. (Actually it was the first first but the pictures were opposite, so here you go.) Here is Aaden with his awesome Pre-K (I know I can't believe it either) teacher Mrs. Christy. She is a very loving and sweet Christian woman, and we are blessed to have her teaching Aaden this year. (I did sniffle some while dropping him off, but it wasn't too bad.) Here is Rylan with her teacher, Mrs. Kasey. She too is a very sweet woman, and we are excited to get to know her better this year. (In the background is Rylan's friend Cooper coming to greet Rylan on the first day of school.)


My friend Maggie shared with me one of her time honored family traditions, and I have borrowed that idea from her. She always took her kids' first day pictures out by their mailbox. You can see how the kids change and grow with a constant in the picture. I love this idea...so here it is.
Here is Aaden out by our mailbox all ready to go on the first day of school.

Here is Miss Priss out by the mailbox on the first day of school.

Here are both kids out by the mailbox on the first day of school. (This wasn't the best picture I took, but you get the idea of the cuteness and size of my kiddos.)
Aaden and Rylan walking into the school.
First day at ACA!!!

There was one more first this week, and that was the kids moved up into new Bible Classes (aka Sunday School). Aaden is now in the 4 year old class (taught by my good friends Amy and Jaymie) and Rylan is officially out of the nursury (Cradle Roll) and in a big kid class with the other 2 year olds. There are no pictures, and there were no tears this morning (no time I guess), but it was wonderful and sweet to see my kids moving up in our church. They are growing up with wonderful friends who come from amazing Christian families. I love seeing all the kids grow and learn together.

**Just a side note**My first day of school is tomorrow and my first Bible study with the kids is on Wednesday. I am both excited and nervous about both, so if you think about it Monday or Wednesday, just say a little prayer for me that everything is going well.