Friday, December 30, 2011

Last Week B4 Christmas

We had a GREAT Christmas with PowPow & PopPop on the Sunday before Christmas since we traveled to Tucson for Christmas.


The boys helped open the adults presents.


Carter & Grant bought Lyndon a 3DS game which he loved.



We enjoyed a great meal, lots of visiting time, & of course presents.


Lyndon came home with oodles of gifts.

Lyndon made a GIANT snowman cookie during his art lesson.

Lyndon did a great job in planning and decorating his cookie!

Lyndon had his school Christmas party on the last day of school which was the Thursday before Christmas.  It felt really weird going to school so close to Christmas and also made me do lots of pre-planning to have everything ready for Christmas and for our trip, but it will be VERY nice to not be in school come June!

The teachers had a great idea of ordering pizza for the 3rd graders and having their party as a whole group.



The parents also brought a $5 gift for their child.


Lyndon was very excited about his Wii bowling game-I had purchased it on clearance months ago.

From OUR Family to YOURS

Austen

One of Santa's elves made his way to our home this year.  Lyndon named Austen after reading the book, Elf on a Shelf.  Lyndon asked me to get his baby book down and he picked Austen's name from a list of possible choices we used when picking Lyndon's name.

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of all of Austen's mischief behavior!

The night that Austen "TP"-ed our Christmas tree was one of Lyndon's favorites!

Austen also: hung from the ceiling fan-upside down, posed as one of Lyndon's nutcrackers, made a bed out of toilet paper, turned the milk green, drew funny faces on our family ski picture, peeked over the living room curtains, read Lyndon's library book, hid in the wreath on our bedroom door, hid in the greenery above the kitchen window, made Lyndon a silly lunch from random items in the pantry, climbed in Christmas presents, hid in the cup holder of the car, wandered into the Wyndham in El Paso to hide in Lyndon's backpack.  Lyndon enjoyed finding Austen each morning and even wrote a few notes to Austen and for Austen to deliver to Santa.  I was beginning to worry about what Austen might do next, which made it more fun for Lyndon.
We are excited to see Austen next year as he spends his summer with Santa at the North Pole. 
My only regret is that I didn't purchase Austen years ago.....why did I wait so long??????

God's Greatest Gift


 The 3rd graders at our church pick their part in the Christmas play.  After the 3rd grade picks their parts the other parts are then given to the older students.  I teach the 3rd & 4th grade class and have for years so the play is definitely memorized by myself, but the students must memorize their lines.  Lyndon wanted to be one of the 3 Kings.  Lyndon actually had a speaking part when he was in kindergarten when the student to be Joseph was home sick.  I bribed Lyndon into playing the part and we quickly memorized his lines.  With all of this being said, he wasn't nervous since he already had experience and had weeks to prepare instead of hours.


Lyndon is in the red.

Lyndon spoke first.



After the adorable play the families enjoy a meal followed by a visit from St. Nick.

Anticipating the arrival of Santa.



All of the students did a wonderful job presenting the Christmas Play to all! 

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Decorations, Snow, & UIL

Is this ridiculous?  I am thinking that it is especially for our small little home.  This is all of our Christmas decorations.  I did sort through things this year.  I have been in a 'Less is More' mood for over a year so it was time to purge.

 I took my 1st ever personal day to stay home and get things accomplished.  It was a WONDERFUL day & I could use a day like that monthly for sure.  I had plans to hit the ground running as soon as I dropped Lyndon off at school, but Mother Nature had a surprise for us......

our 1st Snow of the season.  It was beautiful & school was delayed, which meant I spent until 10:00 playing in the snow & building a snowman with Lyndon.  It was a lot of fun!




The snow was perfect for a snowman!


On Wednesday Lyndon competed in the U.I.L. Academic Meet.  I was a nervous wreck all day-it was his first year and I worried about him getting lost!  He had great sponsors who kept me informed throughout the day & made sure he made his way to each meet.  Lyndon participated in Spelling and was the alternate in Music Memory for 3rd grade.  I was very proud of him.  It was definitely an experience for him.  His spelling test was on the computer, which was a surprise to both he and I.  

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Our 1st Christmas of 2011

We had our 1st Christmas for the year at the Ranch the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  This is everyones year to spend with the other sides of their families on Christmas, but we all still celebrate on another day together.


Mimi had a delicious meal of enchiladas-yummy!

Parker is ADORABLE!!!!








Lyndon shared his 3DS with little Cody.







We had lots of visiting and family time!






Mimi & PawPawbought the boys LEgos and it didn't take long before they began building.


The GIRLS Christmas exchange.



Trying to decide WHERE to celebrate Mimi's Birthday Girl Trip....




I LOVE Christmas time!!  We have so MANY things to be thankful for as we are a BLESSED family.