Be Prepared

Braeden received his Arrow of Light badge last night at pack meeting. This along with the religious knot are the only badges that you can carry forward to Boy Scouts. He actually earned it quite a long time ago but our ward isn't on top of things when it comes to Cub Scouts. Joshua finally got his Bobcat badge. We are hurrying to get his Wolf done. I am now his Bear leader....I know it's hilarious. Not my favorite thing, but I am doing it for him. Next week is our first Den meeting. I think that's what it called, anyways it should be interesting.

It's Horrible

So, tonight as I was making dinner Kate was sitting at the kitchen table listening to my mp3 player and coloring. Her requests were several songs by Taylor Swift followed by Single Ladies by Beyonce. It then shuffled to a song by the Jonas Brothers which she loved and sang along to. Up next was a song by ABBA. This was Kate's reaction...."What the heck is that?" ME: "That is Abba. I use to roller skate to that with my sisters when I was little." Kate: (with a very serious look on her face) "It is horrible!" Meanwhile I left the room to help Joshua who is in the tub. I come back just seconds later with the same Abba song playing and Kate with her fingers in her ears says to me, "Turn it off, it's hurting my ears!" Haaaahaaaahaaa!!!! I wonder if she would feel the same about New Kids on the Block. :)

White Christmas

* still updating from Christmas Vacation

We went to bed on Christmas Eve with the beginning of ice turning into snow. This is what we woke up to on Christmas day. It was so beautiful and perfect for Christmas morning. This picture was taken from my mom's front door.
After opening gifts and a delicious breakfast of Belgium waffles with cream cheese and strawberries we headed out the door for some snow fun! Grandma even got in on the fun sledding down the hill with Kate.

The trek back up the hill....not so fun and a work out I might add.

I take all the pictures so I had to do a little photo session of my own in my borrowed Eskimo coat, gloves, boots, and scarf. Thanks Ashley!

There were several wipe outs.....
some done on purpose...

Kate coming down the hill with Dad

The boys tried some snow boarding..

We had lots of fun in the snow but I can only do so much. I am a warm weather girl and would much rather be sitting in the hot sun by the pool. While the snow is pretty for a few days it is obviously way to cold and begins to get really ugly after a few days. The snow stuck around for the entire time we in Missouri.....10 days! I was sick of it by the time we left. It doesn't help that we are never prepared for this kind of cold weather living in Texas. All we need for our Texas winters (usually) are a heavy sweater or a hoodie and some sweater gloves. All in all the kids has a great time and we did get a white Christmas.

Storybook Tradition

Every year my mom puts together a "storybook basket" for me, my sisters and our families. This tradition started about 5 or 6 years ago and it has become one of my favorites. I look forward to it every year. My mom picks out a Christmas book and then fills a basket, or box, or some form of container with things that go along with the story. A few years ago she gave us "Bear stays Up" with a blanket, popcorn, hot chocolate an several other goodies. This is one of Kate's favorites. Last year it was "The Christmas Candle" with a lantern, candle and a gift card to help someone in need. This year she picked "The Christmas Sweater" by Glen Beck. On Christmas Eve we all gathered together in her family room with the stockings hung, the fireplace lit, the glowing Christmas tree, and all the little grandchildren gathered around in front her and she read us the book. She then gave a gift to each family and we all opened them at the same time. This year it was a big hat box with the book and a sweater for each of us. I love this tradition and I plan on carrying it on with my children when they are grown and have their own families.

Santa Claus is so funny

When Santa Claus comes to our house he has such a sense of humor. He almost always does something wacky. This year he decided it would be funny to wrap all the goodies he brought onto the furniture so that the kids could not see what they got. He even left a note for each of them so they would know which wrapped spot was theirs.

Joshua didn't find this very amusing. He woke up at 3am, got dressed, went upstairs to find this....We gave our kids instructions not to wake us until 7:30. So, Joshua fell back asleep next to his pile of loot.

Back to Reality

We are home from Missouri, the Christmas decorations have been taken down, the kids are back in school, and I have tons to blog about. We had a great Christmas break. We slept until at least 9 every morning sometimes later, laid around a lot, watched some really good movies, ate lots of good food, and I even read a book. Here is a sneak peak of our holiday...

Today

I promise to make a real post......maybe