Christmas Visitor

My brother-in-law, Phillip, came and visited us for the Christmas break. He is stationed in North Pole Alaska but he will be doing some training over in San Antonio until March. Since he was unable to go home he came and spent a couple of days with us. He drove his Motorcycle over and got stuck in a lot of rain. A three hour trip turned into a seven hour one. I felt so bad for him because he was wet and covered with dirt from head to toe when he fianlly made it to Crosby. Keegan and Mya were super excited about the motorcycle though. They dressed up in all of his motorcycle gear and Phillip let them go out and sit on it and both of them were laughing histerically. The thing that he will be most remembered for in our house is his homemade chicken noodle soup. It was fantastic and I didn't even have to do anything because he just took over the kitchen.
The other visitor of course was Santa Clause himself. The kids spent the 24th baking christmas cookies for him and then they frosted them all by themselves. (I am still sweeping up sprinkles). The Missionaries came over that evening and we had a big dinner (ham, potatoes, rolls, salad and green beans). We watched Mr. Krooger's Christmas and had hot chocolate and cookies. Mya told me before she went to bed that it was going to be really hard to go to sleep because she was so excited. We got up at 7:00 and they were able to open up gifts. Keegan's favorite was the remote control car and Mya's was the barbie doll that she had been asking since the beginning of December both of them sent by Grandma.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Christmas Vacation Has Finally Begun....

It felt like it was never going to get here. I think that I look forward to the time off more then the visit from Santa Clause. It is amazing how your perspective changes the older you get. I am looking forward to first and most importanantly... SLEEPING IN. It is going to be great to have Gerald home more and spending time as a family.

Friday was a half a day of school for everyone. We started the day off with Mya in the bathroom with an upset stomach. (great way to start the vacation) When I told her that she wouldn't be able to go to school she was devistated. She told me that everyone was going to be having fun without her because they would not be learning anything.... it was a fun day. Today she was telling me how much she was missing her teacher Mrs. Taylor and how her teacher was probably disappointed that she wasn't there yesterday. It might be a long vacation for our little five year old.

Today we had our ward Christmas party. Last year we had an issue with Keegan not wanting to go anywhere near the big man in the red suit. I had to settle for a picture of him next to the Christmas tree. This year he waited patiently in line with all the other kids, ran up to him and sat on his lap telling him that he wanted a "lighting mcqueen" car under the tree Christmas morning. I think that he has figured out how it all works now. After visiting with Santa Clause the kids were able to decorate cookies and santa clause hats. It was lots of fun!

It's a ...........

Last week we were scheduled for an ultrasound to find out what we were having. Gerald got off work early. Jessica came and got her kids early and a really good friend Kareena volunteered to watch Mya and Keegan so that we could go to the appointment. We ended up being late for the appointment and they could not get us into the ultrasound. To say that everyone was disappointed was an understatement. Well we went home and waited it out for one more week. Today we did it all over again and this time we were on time just to wait 35 minutes in the lobby. Don't you love that they expect you to be on time to your appointment but if they are running late then it is okay? So the long awaited new is that it is a.........

BOY!!!!Now is the hard work to come to an agreement with the name. It is a good thing that we have 16 more weeks to figure that out.

Feet

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

They said that the snow scrappers were sold out in the stores by 8:00 this morning and that there was a mad rush to the store to buy warmer winter coats. The news reported it as a historic event. Two years in a row with snow and this is the earliest that they have seen it snow here in Houston since they started keeping records back in 1870. It snowed most of the day, with 1-2 inches predicted, only a few specs actually stuck. The cold front came in and with freezing temperatures there might actually be some slick roads out tonight, but I am not going to venture out to see if it is actually true. There are just too many people down here that don't know how to drive in these conditions. Schools were released early today. Mya has been asking when we were going to see snow and when I told her that there was an actual chance that it might happen today she was elated. Today I was thankful that I am not a kindergarten teacher that had to control the mahem of all the five and six year olds. On the up side, Gerald was home early!

We put up the Christmas decorations this week. Now Mya and Keegan are so excited about Christmas. I had to laugh at my mom when she said that she had to take two vacation days this week so that she could make it till Christmas vacation. She said that if she had to hear "jingle bells" one more time she was going to scream. I guess first grade teachers don't have it easy either.

Mya lost her second tooth yesterday. Does anyone else out there have light sleepers? I have decided that it is kind of hard to be a discrete toothfairy when you only have coins to offer.

So Much To Be Thankful For....

This is the couple that made all the preperations and were gracious enough to invite us over.

We had such a great thanksgiving.

#1 because I didn't have to cook and I just got to enjoy the festivities

#2 because I got to spend the holiday with great friends.

What is Thanksgiving without a kiddie table. We had two... one for the boys that was so appropriate with a cars theme and one for the girls that was a tinkerbell theme.


The missionaries. The one on the far right if from Idaho Falls, Idaho and I give him a hard time and we enjoy talking about Idaho when both of us are feeling homesick.


The yummy dessert table.

All the really good food. The turkey was one of the best turkeys that I have ever eaten and it usually isn't one of my favorite dishes at Thanksgiving.

More food!

I am just noticing that we both wore red today.... no it wasn't planned.

I have so much to be thankful for. I feel so blessed with all the the Lord has given us.

Busy and Fun Weekend

Wow! I don't think that I have done so much in one weekend. Mya had her first field trip to Old McDonalds farm on Friday. I wasn't able to attend because I had a doctors appointment that was rescheduled for that time. The doctor said that eveything is going well and the ultrasound to find out what we are having is scheduled for December the 9th. Mya had lots of fun and actually rode one of the horses. She said that she was really brave and that she wasn't scared one bit.
We started off the weekend with Bunco at our house. Ten amazing women having lots of fun. One of my best friends came and spent the night with her three children. It was so much fun to have a guest in the guest bedroom. It doesnt' get utilized like it should! To end the weekend, we were blessed to be able to attend an amazing baptism last night. It was such a bad weekend for the camera to be out of commission so you get to hear about it through my ramblings instead of letting the pictures do the talking.

The women at bunco wanted me to post the recipie that I used to make Pumpkin Cheesecake. I am kind of ashamed to post it because then they will know just how little time spend in the kitchen. So..... here is a super good cheesecake that is also really super easy. This recipie makes 2 cheesecakes.
First off, I buy the graham cracker crust. (everytime that I try to make one it always ends up so crumbly one big mess)
2 cream cheese bars
2 tsp milk (you can a little more milk if it isn't as creamy as you would like)
2tsp sugar
Beat cream cheese, milk, and sugar in a medium bowl. Pour mixture into pie crust and set in fridge.
2 pkg of pumpkin holiday spice pudding.
3 1/2 cups milk
Mix together pudding and milk for 3 minutes. Pour over the cream cheese mixture and let set for 1 hour.

Trick or Treat

This was the first year that we have officially taken the kids trick or treating. We have gotten away with it because of all of the other activities that we go to and because Mya and Keegan didn't know what they were missing out on. Now that Mya is in Kindergarten I have a teacher to thank for informing her just what she was missing out on. She kept asking when we were going trick or treating today. Some friends invited us a hay ride around the neighborhood and had a good time even though it was a little nippy outside. THANKS MATT AND APRIL! There were a couple of times where Keegan and Mya were scared of the haunted houses or the adults that had dressed up in scarier costumes (I hope that we didn't traumatize them, I guess we'll see if they have nightmares tonight).

Yesterday was Mya's Halloween party. They decorated pumpkin sugar cookies, played pass the pumpkin, and made halloween necklaces. It was kind of disappointing that the Crosby kindergarten outlawed witches and devils as costumes because "they are too scary." However, Mya was excited that she got to ware her costume all day long and she came home and told Gerald that she got 100 candy to bring home.

I am so thankful to have all the festivities over with! I am Halloween'd out!

Ward Halloween Party

Mya and Keegan had tons of fun tonight at the ward Halloween party. There were lots of people, lots of games, lots of candy, and lots of fun. Mya has wanted to be a witch for a long time now. There were tons of witches at the party. I counted 15 of them. Keegan kept telling Mya that witches were scary and that he wanted to be a ghost so that he could be scary like Mya. I talked him into a pirate. He was so excited when I told him that he could pack his sword around. Both of them have really gotten into the dress-up game and so it was fun this year because they were both into character. Keegan went around saying "I matey" and Mya went around cackling like a witch.

The Festivities Begin

October is always full of fun things to do. Yesterday we went and supported Atascosita in the fall festival carnival. You could tell that they put in a lot of work. They had a petting zoo, and a camel that you could ride that both Mya and Keegan chickened out on. They had all the typical carnival games with soda pop toss, cake walk, face painting, baloons and a haunted house. (If only they could of had better music) the live band was loud and off key.It was a good way to kill an afternoon instead of sitting at home and wrestling with the kids until Gerald got home from the bank.

This was one of Mya's favorite booths... The ASL group at the school put together a wax hands where you could mold any sign that you wanted into a wax sculpture that you could take home. Mya thought that it was too hot at first but she wanted to prove to Aiden how brave she was. After it was all over she turned to me and stated, " I didn't cry mom, even though it was hot."

The petting Zoo. They had food to feed the animals and Keegan Callahan ate it. We laughed about his green tongue and he just kept saying that it tasted really gross. It was kind of confusing because they had put the food into an ice cream cone and I guess it looked appealing to him. I think that he is going to take a second thought next time we offer him people food in an ice cream cone.

Another Mya Post

Yes, we have another child. It just seems like there is more going on in Mya's little world then in Keegan's right now.


Yesterday Deedra came and did makeovers for both Mya and I. I had to take a picture of Mya so that you can see that she truly does get the full treatment and that it is a serious undertaking when it comes to doing her hair. Here she is, sitting under the dryer with curlers in her hair getting her fingernails and toenails painted. She was so disappointed when I sent her to school on Friday morning with just a ponytail and barretts to hold back the loose hair. She is such a princess.

Mya Lost Her First Tooth

On Sunday Mya came and asked me what was wrong with her tooth. Upon examination I told her that it was going to fall out to make room for her big girl teeth. She has been patiently waiting and wiggling it in hopes that it would fall out. Today Keegan and I met Mya for lunch and took her some McDonalds. While we were eating she pulled something out of her mouth and asked what it was. I told her that it was the tooth that she had been waiting for. She had to tell all her friends that were sitting around us and then she got to put her name on the tooth chart in the classroom. She was asking at 5:00 if we could have dinner so that she could go to bed early because the toothfairy doesn't come until you are asleep. I don't think that quarters will cut it like they did when I was five. I was talking to some of the kids in Mya's class that had already lost teeth and couldn't believe that amount of money that they got. There are a lot of expectations of the easter bunny, the toothfairy, and santa clause. I have a deeper appreciation for all that my parents did for me to make all those times special.

Football Parade....

Go Crosby Cougars!!!!

Yesterday the high school football players went and visited the kindergartener's. They read stories with them, ate lunch with them, and played football at recess with them. Mya was so excited about it.

Today we got a call from Kareena telling us that a parade was going to be passing by the entrance of our subdivision and that it was in honor of the football players.We had a "tail gating" party in the Crosby Stake Bank parking lot waiting for the parade to arrive. Keegan's favorite was the police car and the firetruck (such a boy). Mya had to say hi to all the football players and her favorite was the Crosby Cougar mascott. We got a lot of candy because the road had to be cleared before they could let traffic back on to FM 2100. It was a lot of fun.

First Day of School

Today is the first day of Kindergarten for Mya. It was really hard to watch her skip up to the bus without even a glance backward or a "goodbye mom." She is super excited to start school and that summer is finally over. I think she was beginning to wonder if summer was going to last forever.

Here is everyone waiting for the bus to come.

Semenary started bright and early this morning. I had four students this and I am working on getting two more to come. It is a classroom full of all boys. I have two new freshmen, one junior and a senior. I am really excited to be teaching the Book of Mormon this year.

It's Been Awhile

What can I say, this summer has flown by. It has been a very busy summer for us. I haven't been as good at posting what is going on in our family. I looked, and that last post was almost over a month ago. Since Gerald got his Iphone he has been better then me at posting what is going on. If you really want to keep in touch maybe you should befriend Gerald on Facebook. =)

This week we found out that we are expecting baby #3. It was kind of a suprise to both of us, but we are both happy and looking forward to the new addition to our family.

Mya is looking forward to starting school next Monday (the 24th of August). Gerald went and helped her pick out a new backpack and Mya couldn't understand why school wasn't starting because she was ready to go. We will find out who her teacher is on Friday when we go to orientation. I have mixed feelings about her starting school. I think I will mourn for about a day and then enjoy the rest of the school year.

This week has been very interesting. Gerald, Adam, and Jessica have all went back to work. That leaves me with Mya, Keegan, Aiden, Colten and Keegan all day long. I have been trying to think of things that we can do to fill the day so that they aren't getting bored and driving me crazy. Yesterday I pulled out the swimming pool in the backyard. Just when they started getting bored, Aiden found a poor little frog that was unable to get away. It kept everyone entertained for another half an hour, but the poor thing had to prove how long he could hold his breath under water and he had to prove how brave he was to jump off the "high dive" (or Aiden's hand) into the pool of water below. The frog eventually outsmarted Aiden and got away under the fence when Aiden put him in the sandbox to dry off.

Spending the Summer at the Library

We have an amazing library. They have planned activities for the community to enjoy for the whole summer. We have been taking advantage of the free entertainment. This last week on Tuesday they had some Yoga instructors come. I was suprised at the consentration that Keegan had to get the poses right. Mya was very excited to do it as well. They handed the kids some pipe cleaners and let them make their own Yoga man so that the kids could twist them into their favorite poses. Keegan took that Yoga man around with him for the next couple of days.

On Thursday they had a marionette production of Rumplestilskin. The kids laughed and loved the marionettes. Mya loved the queen and couldn't wait until dad came home so that she could tell him all about it.

UPDATE.....

Mya turned 5 years old this past Friday. "It takes a long time to turn 5" said Mya when her birthday finally came. Since we celebrated Keegan's birthday at Chuck E Cheese's she would not be persuaded to go anywhere else. Everyone had a lot of fun. What can truly top pizza and arcade games in the mind of a five year old? One of her favorite rides was a virtual roller coaster. The capsule moved up and down and around as if you really were experiencing it at an amusement park. Now that the birthday has come and gone he focus has turned to when school will start and tells me that summer vacation is to long. What kid says that summer vacation is to long? I will definatly have to ask her next year after she has experienced a "real" summer vacation if it really is to long.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MYA!!!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game....

My first and only experience with MLB up to this point in my life was at Cincinatti Ohio when I was a kid. We watched the Reds play the Pirates. It rained for most of the game and we spent the majority of the time watching them take the tarps on and off the field. The home team lost that night and when the game was finally over it was past 1:00 in the morning and because of the noise ordinance they were not allowed to let off the fireworks.


Today's game with the Astro's Vs the Royals was so much better!!!! The Astro's won 5 to 4. The best play was when Lance Berkman hit a home run that brought two runs in. It was such a neat experience and I was captivated the whole time. With a little reluctance I will let Gerald know that it was a great activity to do as a family. (Reluctant, because I don't like to admit when he is right.)


GO ASTRO'S!!!!!

A New Pet

Jessica and I let the kids play in the water this morning. We filled up a kiddie pool and turned on the sprinkler. We were eating our ice cream when this little guy came out of the garage......

The kids just kept wanting to touch it and we kept telling them that it would hurt if he pinched them. Jessica caught it and put him in a bucket so that she could show Adam when he got home. My question is, where did he come from?