Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Here is our favorite video of the year.  

Click on play and then the square to see it full screen, make sure your volume is turned on too.  

Tracking Santa

We love to watch where Santa goes through the world.  Here is the site. If you have google earth on your computer, click on view in 3D and it is even a better experience.  

It's 6 am on Christmas eve morning as I type this and Santa is in Malaysia right now.  He's probably dropping of presents at our friend's house.  Watch out your window, Revere Family.  

Hope Santa makes it to your house!

The Three Wisemen

This year our three Wisemen are bringing gifts of hugs, chew-toys and balls to the puppy King Max.  The Wisemen are having a hard time sharing King Max.  They want to be the one to hold him all the time.  

Christmas in The Woodlands

On Wednesday of this past week, Houston got a little taste of snow.  It hasn't snowed here since 2004.  The kids thought is was cool to see the snow even though it didn't stick to the ground. It almost felt like Christmas.

Santa showed up at our church Christmas party this weekend in style.   A red ferrari.  Isn't that how Santa always comes?  He also comes by boat in our neck of the woods.

The boys were good sports to have their picture taken with Santa.  I wanted them to sit with Madelyn because she was scared.  Well, she would have nothing to do with getting near him.  She just wanted one of those big candy canes and the boys were nice enough to share theirs with her.  

We then had a good time going ice-blocking.  We grew up going ice-blocking and my kids have never done it.  They thought it was great fun!

So even though we don't get snow in Texas, we still know how to have a good time sledding!

We have two Champions in the House

We just finished our baseball season.  I have watched 26 games and over 30 practices this fall. This equals over 200 hours of time spent watching the boys play and drive time to/from.  It's like a full time job somedays!  But all the time has paid off.  Christopher made it to the semi-finals with his team The LA Dodgers.  They came in 3rd Place out of 14 teams.  He did an awesome job pitching this season.

Garrett's team The Kansas City Royals were the Champions of their league.  They came in 1st place out of 13 teams.  Garrett made some great plays at 3rd base!

I am so proud of both my ball players!!  

Christmas Books

I love to read Christmas Books.  They are my favorite books to buy!  A few years back, I starting collecting books.  I wanted to have a least 25 Christmas books so we could read one each night before Christmas.  Now, we have more than we need.  Last year, I even wrapped 25 books for the kids to open one each night.  I have been lazy and I didn't wrap up the books this year but we have been reading.  These are some of our favorites. Do you have a favorite Christmas book?

December Birthdays and Birthday Wishes coming true!

December 1st was Brooke's 17th Birthday. Brooke is Matt's sister's daughter. Madelyn wishes she lived closer to Brooke so she could play with her all the time! We hope you had a special day even with all the craziness that is happening at your home.

December 2nd is Preston's 3rd Birthday. Preston is my brother's son. He is the smartest kid we know. Just ask him what the state capital is of any state and he can tell you. Happy Birthday Preston. We love seeing you grow!



Matt's Birthday is December 5th. He has two more years left before he hits the big 4-0. The scary part is that I am right behind him.



The boys can't get enough of their Dad and he can't get enough of them. They love to fish, thrown the football, play catch, watch sports and spend time with their Dad. Matt rings the doorbell when he gets home from work and they all go running to the door like little puppies.
Madelyn's love of her life is her Dad. She was destined to be the only girl in the family and to be spoiled by her daddy. Hence the reason that she still doesn't sleep in her own bed.
Those of you that know Matt know how much of an animal lover he is and how much I'm not. When we were first married our cat Jackson ate my nylons. The nylons twisted around his intestine so bad that they had to cut half his intestines. Matt loved that cat so much that he went over to the hospital everyday to feed him through a tiny syringe. I would have put him down, but not Matt. We had that crazy cat for many years. Next came a golden retriever named Brutus. Brutus had way to much energy for a pregnant mom with two tiny boys. I wasn't sad one bit that Thanksgiving day 5 years ago that Brutus ran away. I swore after that I would never have a pet again. Well, I guess I have given in. Matt and the kids dream have come true. Happy Birthday, Matt. I hope this is the best birthday ever! The puppy won't be ready until Christmas. The kids have a countdown on the Christmas Advent Calender until it's time. I hope this is a Christmas that the kids and Matt will always remember. And if they forget...I will be sure to remind them! The puppy is a King Charles Cavalier and I am sure there will by many more stories to come.

Last but not least, Little Miles is turning ONE on December 30th. Miles is my brother's son. I can't believe it's been a year since you were in the hospital in your big ol' christmas stocking! You will always share your birthday month with your brother and your favorite uncle Matt! Miles, thanks for going to see Twilight with me! Your the best...even though I didn't care for the movie or Edward!

Thanksgiving By Christopher and Garrett

T Turkeybowl ~ Playing Football Thanksgiving Morning

H Holiday ~ Daddy's Home

A Absolutely Full Stomachs

N Nice Indians

K Kind Pilgrims

S Sweet Pies and Spotless Kitchen (we're eating out this year)

G Giving Thanks and Gathering Together

I Indians taught the Pilgrims

V Vegetables

I Incredible Turkey

N Natalie loves her family and friends

G Grateful for all of you

Deep thoughts by Madelyn

Madelyn loves to ask questions. I wonder who she gets that from? Last night she came up to me and said, "Mom, will you cry when I go up in the sky?" Yes, Madelyn I will cry but hopefully, I am there to greet you...

She was crying yesterday because her friends keep moving away. 

When we moved from Utah, she had to say goodbye to her best friend, Paige, who lived next door.

Then earlier this year, our next door neighbors moved to Malaysia.  Michael moved away and Madelyn was sad.

October came and another friend moved away, Carter moved to Seattle.  Madelyn was again sad!

November came and Madelyn's friend, Roary, moved to California.  (Roary is the Robot) Madelyn cried for her friend yesterday.  Maybe she needs to play with the girls more often because the boys keep dumping her.  Hopefully, this is not a theme for her teenage years.  

December is coming and another boy-friend is moving away... I hope Madelyn will survive.  For now, I think she should stay a single lady.

Little does Madelyn know, that her mom keeps losing her friends too when all Madelyn's friends move away.  I miss all of  you too.

Kristen

Trang and Nicole

Chelsea

Chanelle (in her halloween costume)

Election Week and Tagged

This past week we elected our next President, Barack Obama. The kids voted at school this week, too. Their results were different than our nations outcome. This is the beauty of our freedom to Vote. Sometimes our canidate wins and sometimes our canidate loses. But we should all in the end support our newly elected President. That's all I'm going to say!

This past weekend Matt's Parents came to visit and watch the boys play baseball. We had a great visit and it was nice to have them come spend time with their grandkids. We're are grateful to have them in our lives.

Tagged 8

My 8 Favorite TV Shows

(I have never been a big follower of TV shows and I don't have a DVR so I watch whatever is on)

1. King of Queens
2. Everybody Loves Raymond
3. Dateline or 20/20
4. Law and Order
5. The Cosby Show (all time favorite)
6. American Idol
7. Oprah (sometimes but I am NEVER watching TV at 4 pm)
8. Food Network

My 8 Favorite Restaurants

1. Pappasitos (Mexican)
2. The Melting Pot (Fondue)
3. P.F. Chang's (Chinese)
4. Rudy's (BBQ)
5. Jason's Deli (Sandwich/Salad)
6. California Pizza Kitchen (Pizza)
7. Hires (Hamburger)
8. The Spaghetti Factory (Italian)

8 things that happened yesterday

1. Walked with my walking buddies
2. Went to Presidency Meeting for Primary
3. Made Lasagna with Madelyn
4. Watched the kids play outside after school
5. Took down Halloween Decorations
6. Rented Baby Mama and Journey to the Center of the Earth
7. Jumped up and down because Baseball was canceled tonight
8. Drank Candy Cane Hot Chocolate..yum!

8 things I look Forward to

1. Going back to Utah or Ohio for a visit...sometime
2. Putting up Christmas Ornaments
3. A vacation with Matt (does anyone want 3 kids for the weekend)
4. Turkey and Pumpkin Pie
5. Reading Christmas Books to my kids
6. Madelyn being tall enough to ride all the rides at Disney World
7. Going to the Beach
8. Seeing my Mom again (but I can wait...I'm not ready to go to heaven just yet!)

8 things I love about Fall

1. Anything made with Pumpkin
2. Cool mornings and evenings
3. Back to School
4. Leaves changing colors...they're not great here in Texas though
5. Soups
6. Putting blankets on our beds
7. Honeycrisp Apples
8. Watching my kids enjoy Halloween

8 things on my wish list

1. a vacation
2. the economy to be more stable
3. for Obama to not mess this country up
4. to be a good example
5. to be a better friend/sister/wife/mother/in-law
6. to not yell at my kids
7. not white carpet!! it's so hard to keep clean!
8. for my kids to love their childhood

Shouldn't kids sleep in after all that sugar.

Mine didn't. They've been up for way to long and it's still dark outside. We had a great Halloween week. Last week we kicked if off with Trunk or Treat at the church. The trunks of cars were decorated so creative. The kids picked out their pumpkin and carved it on Tuesday. Christopher had a party for cub scouts on Thursday and they had a contest for the best carved pumpkin.  Christopher's won for happiest. (on the right)

Thursday was Madelyn's party at school.  They had a parade, sang to the parents and made these "bootiful" frames.

Friday, Garrett had his story book parade a school.  He is the Joker.  Madelyn also had a party at her church teacher's house.  She decorated cupcakes and ate pizza.  

That night we went trick or treating and got enough candy to last the rest of our lives.  Madelyn was a princess, Christopher the Dark Knight and our scary Joker, Garrett.  After trick or treating, the neighborhood had a block party.  The kids made a spider web out of yarn that was pretty cool.  Everyone stands in a circle and you pass the yarn back and forth, holding onto a piece before you throw it.  

Now, that it's over....what should I do with all this candy??