Just Say "No" to After Christmas Let Down...

It was great while it lasted, but alas, another Christmas has come and gone. Looking forward to the holidays is as much a part of the fun as the actual day. But I will not let dreary January get the best of me.

Our Christmas(es) were filled with fun, family, and food! The night before Christmas Eve we had the most beautiful snowfall. Huge flakes floated down...the next morning we woke up to a blanket of snow on the ground. It was a real treat since the LBK doesn't normally get a White Christmas. The kids had a blast building snowmen and pounding us with snowballs!

So Christmas may be over, but we still have New Year's to look forward to...and Chad's parents are taking us to San Antonio for the TTU game next weekend! Way to go, Leach, on getting suspended :) We will still be there with our guns up. Riverwalk and Uncle Brant, here we come!


Family Pic.


The tree


Ready to open presents!


He tore into that bag.


Sydney, Averi, Taylor and Molly the Mannequin.


Snowman #1


My Snow Angel


Soft Landing


Gramps!


Snowman #2


She nailed Poppi!

Braces...

Last Tuesday Taylor got braces. She was sore for a couple of days, but it didn't slow her down one bit. I always wanted braces. I used to straighten out paper clips and put them across my teeth like they were retainers. Now I have a kid old enough for braces...that's a little freaky. She wears them well!

She chose blue bands.




We had to make the rounds afterwards to show off her new smile!

Proud of You, Miss Averi...

Averi was chosen to be Student-of-the-Month in her Kindergarten class for the month of November! Way to go, sweet girl!

First Piano Recital ♪ ♪ ♪

Last night was Taylor's first piano recital. She started taking lessons in July and has learned a lot in a short amount of time! Her teacher is actually the art teacher at Honey. She is so sweet and only has three piano students. It was a fun evening.


Juilliard, here she comes! She played Jingle Bells and Jolly Old St. Nicholas.


Lillian, Kate, Mrs. Holeman, and Taylor

Pet Peeves...(:

These make me smile.



http://www.weheartit.com/

Bear Tree...

I love the Bear Tree tradition at Honey :) And I love my two Honey Bears!

Top Ten Things to Do This Christmas...

10. Listen to my favorite Christmas album.


9. Relax.

8. Bake cookies.


7. Enjoy tree-lit evenings!

6. Watch the best Christmas movie ever!! "You'll shoot your eye out"!


5. Hop in the car, grab some Starbucks, and look for the best Christmas lights in town (there is a great house on 59th? and Indiana...a light show set to Transiberian Orchestra).

4. Read this to my kids!!


3. Start a new family tradition. Maybe Elf on the Shelf??

2. Give.

1. Slow down and remember the Reason for the Season.

Changed My Mind...

I couldn't stand not to have a Christmas card this year. It just wouldn't be right without one :)



And just a few minutes ago this happened!! Now, literally, all she wants for Christmas is her two front teeth! I keep making her say words that begin with "th" :)


And I am proud to announce that Connor has peed on his potty three times today!!! We are so proud of him! We bribe him with candy-canes and suckers, and it works. He is totally ready and loving that he gets to wear big-boy pull-ups. Oh, and he found a pen and decided to draw all over himself. He is covered in circles...his favorite thing to draw.

Hill Happenings...

I had to video Connor playing ball. He lifts his leg when he throws...just like a baseball pitcher. It is so cute. FYI...Chad thinks it's really funny to make tooting noises whenever he sees someone bend over.



Here is a pic of the kiddos while Chad and I were gone last weekend. Besides decorating Granna and Gramp's tree, they saw two movies, played with cousin Sydney, and learned to play UNO. I don't think they missed us much!


I found this paper in Taylor's backpack. Apparently this is what she does at school. I think she has entered the doodling phase...which pretty much means she's growing up!


And this definitely means Averi is growing up! All she wants for Christmas...:)

I am done with this semester! Hallelujah! It still astounds me how fast they come and go! I'm pretty sure I have kept my 4.0!
In the Christmas card department, however, I have failed because we do not have one this year. Oh well. We will just enjoy receiving them!

Weekend of the BUTT...Day 2

Day 2 was GAME DAY! We started it off with lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (spicy cashew chicken!!) and some window shopping in Southlake.

We arrived at the stadium around 1:30-ish. The game didn't start til 5. We had fun walking around looking at all the tailgaters and smelling all the yummy food. Tech tailgaters outnumbered Baylor tailgaters, probably ten to one.

Chad and Luke ended up scoring some sweet suite tickets, thanks to Angela's cousin. So at 3:00 we parted ways and Angela, the kids, and I went inside to tour the stadium. It took us a good hour before we finally got to our seats. We climbed, what felt like, a hundred flights of stairs. We decided it was the stairway to heaven.

All that climbing made us hungry, so in our desperation we doled out ungodly amounts of money for snacks. I guess it's all part of the atmosphere.


BUTT Day! I think they did that just for grins :) Maybe not, but we thought it was funny!


Cowboys Stadium and TTU tailgaters.


It's nice having kids that are old enought to operate a camera! I think Evan took this one :)


That T.V. was huge! Hard to tell in pictures, though.


Wreck Em' Tech!


Very cool!


Huddle


All good things must come to an end. After the game it was time to say goodbye to our fun weekend :)