Lego Train Tracks

After 2 hours of me building it, it only took 2 seconds to break it down. Grrrrrrrrr......

Library Card

Mark this date in history. Shelby got her first official library card. She was so excited and so proud. She checked out 8 books today and has already read them all. Looks like we will be going back this week now that she's feeling much better.

Urgent Care

Just got home from spending 4 hours at urgent care. Shelby is sick sick sick sick sick. I took her in once her fever hit 104.1. Unfortunately it's "flu like" and not the type A or B flu so they can't give her tamiflu. And it's not strep throat. So basically alternate between Tylenol and motrin every 3 hours.

It breaks my heart for her to be this sick on Christmas Eve. We missed going to Nanny's. When we got home she went straight to bed. She wasn't concerned about leaving Santa cookies or anything. I pray tomorrow she is feeling a little better.

Sick for Christmas

Sick for Christmas just isn't cool. :-( Hopefully tomorrow she is feeling a little better.

Monkeys

Have you ever been to Gallery Furniture? I swear it's like all day FREE entertainment! We went over the weekend to buy furniture and they have so much for the kids to do. Besides crawl over bunk beds with hidden compartments, they have a HUGE playground where you can drop your kid off to play, they have these super cute monkeys that wear diapers, they have fancy talking birds, free food, and all sorts of neat photos and treasures to check out.

Busy Weekend

It has been one VERY BUSY CRAZY EXHAUSTING weekend.

Let's start with Thursday night. It was Dickinson's Christmas Parade. Our church had a float in it so we all got to the church early for pizza and costumes and then headed over to the start of the parade line. Thankfully it wasn't brutally cold this time like it was last year. Shelby and Tucker both were dressed as elves.

Friday afternoon I went to the monthly ladies luncheon with my mom and Ann. It was what mom wanted for her bday, so of course I said yes. It was a very nice luncheon with about 40 women in attendance. Saturday morning was Christmas Pageant practice starting at 9:30am. Tucker wasn't going to be in the program, so Lonnie took him to a classmates bday party.

Saturday afternoon we went to Kemah for lunch for my mom's bday. Lee, Theresa and Madeleine are in town from Singapore so we got to spend some time with them. Mom was just loving all the attention from all her grandbabies.

Lonnie captured this photo of Tucker blowing a raspberry to Shelby and her prompt reaction. LOL

Then Saturday evening Shelby and I started working on class Christmas gifts. We did the same thing as we did last year and melted crayons into holiday figures. Then we put them in a cute gift bag (thank you Hobby Lobby) and attached the ornate candy canes (thank you Sams). 88 crayon molds in all. My hands were tired and discolored. Shelby gave up after about 30 minutes.
Sunday morning was the pageant and we had to arrive quite early. The pageant was a huge success. This year there were about 40 kids in the play and the church was packed. I hadn't seen it like this in 20 years. Shelby was an angel this year. Tucker said he wanted to be an ancestor but then backed out at the last minute. Maybe when he's 10 he'll be willing to be in it.

You would think by now I could go home and enjoy a nice looooooong nap. Yeah right! That's wishful thinking. I came home to get started making 50 bags of candied pretzels for my coworkers to pass out at the end of this week. I might have been able to make more, but a certain someone kept snagging them off the island as they were drying.

Then we headed over to my parents for a fish fry where Tucker proceeded to teach Madeleine some of his bad habits. (Sorry Theresa!!)

Pageant practice

Currently at our Christmas pageant practice. Who knew with twice as many kids it would be twice as hectic. Poor Zo!

Polar Express Day

Today is Polar Express Day at school. The day Shelby looks forward to the most. Not because they watch the movie (which they do) but because she gets to wear pajamas to school.

Book Nook

We've been discussing building Shelby a book nook for the past few months. Hopefully we will get started soon. The longer we wait, the more elaborate her ideas get. She already wants a big screen tv in there. What do you need a tv for for a "book nook"???? Her room is big enough that this can be done, and I think it's a super cute idea and anything that helps her love for reading grow, I am all for it.

So this morning she was flipping through a pottery barn catalog and saw something similar to the first photo below. I went online and ended up finding the plans on how to actually build it, including a list of the material.

This one seems a wee bit easier, but I'm thinking maybe she's getting a little to old for a slide.

Then I saw this one and thought it was soooooooooo cute made out of actual books! So definitely not building this, but I had to share the idea.

And then there is this. Totally not a book nook, but I think it's the cutest thing ever! I know Lonnie could totally build this but we would have no place to put it. Our back yard is too weird shaped and small.

On our way....

On our way to go take photos with Santa.

Tangled

Last weekend I took the kids to see Tangled, the latest Disney Princess movie. Shelby declared it to be the best princess movie ever. I think I have to agree. I absolutely LOVED this movie and even willing to pay money to go back and see it again! It's a definite "must buy" when it comes out on dvd. I think the funniest character of all was the horse. And I love that Mandy Moore was the voice of Rapunzel. I highly recommend taking your kiddos to see it. It's not just a girly movie. Tucker laughed a lot, along with all the other girls in the theater.

Retirement

The day has finally come. Dad retires! It's been such a long time coming! 33 years!! He's talked about this day for years, yet we never knew when he'd actually follow through. I'm so glad (and proud) that he finally took the step.

Mom and Dad already have plans to head out to Vegas Thursday and I'm sure they have a few vacations in the work for the year 2011. And knowing Dad, he'll be taking TWO naps a day and doing A LOT of this......

Gingerbread House

Today after church the kids created (and ate) their gingerbread houses. The houses are still standing but there's not much candy left.

Lowes

Now I see why Tucker wanted to run errands with me instead of Lonnie. I was going to where there were "fun" things! LOL And HE is the one who told me to take his picture.

2010 thanksgiving day parade

We just finished up at the Thanksgiving Day parade in downtown Houston. It was soooooooo windy that they couldn't keep the floats upright!

Poppy's Fish

Tucker has been talking about this fish for 2 days now.