Christmas Videos

Well, better late than never, but here is part one of my Christmas posts.

This is the first time since sometime last week that I've had the peace, quiet and time to sit down and post anything related to the holiday.

It's gonna be a short one though, because there are still things that need to be done today.

The first video is Christmas related purely because it has the song "Frosty the Snowman" in it!

Jude has taken quite the liking to snowmen in general(daddy likes them too) and really likes the Frosty song. Well Terry found a fun rockabilly version and Jude loved it.

You can hear him saying "snowman" through part of it.

Here he is dancing to the song

The kid has got some moves!

I especially like the little move towards the middle after he comes out from behind Terry.

The next video is from Christmas morning.

We got a better reaction than we were expecting from our 18 1/2 month old Jude.

He had the cutest grin on his face when he saw his toys from Santa.

He got a battery-powered 4-wheeler and I was certain that he would have no idea what to do with it.....boy was I wrong!

I do regret that I wasn't recording the moment he first hopped on it though, because he pushed the button and ran right into the tree! Haha!

Here he is though on his first real ride on it in the living room.

He looks so happy.

Well that's it for today.

I will soon post the rest of the Christmas pics.

We had such a blessed Christmas.

Hope you did too.

'Til then...

Just Kickin' It

Boys.

I truly believe that no matter how hard you try to teach a boy to be calm, well-mannered and clean, he will always manage to find a way to act out as a REAL boy.

Loud, destructive and always happy about being both.

That is a boy.

Here is my boy being a boy.

Take note of how meticulous he is about arranging the objects of his destruction.

I have SO much fear and fun to look forward to as I raise this little guy.

SNOW!! (or Part 2 of yesterday's video)

So I guess since this video uploading thing takes forever (or maybe I just don't have the patience for more than one video to upload), I will just post these videos one at a time.

This is a video shot just after the one in yesterday's post .

Jude was thoroughly enjoying those bubbles.

He even got upset when it was time for him to leave them.

Silly boy.

Sheesh...being this busy can't be good.

November.

Seriously....November.

That was the last time I posted anything.

And even then it was just to say how busy I was and that I would update again soon!

Well here we are...halfway through December and I am just now getting to this!

So many things have been going on.

I got through the craft fair (did so-so...bad weather day for sure).

Been getting quite a few orders for bags, so I've been having to keep up with that.

I also got an order for some scarves.

Not the scarves that I made for the Scarf-Along project...but a whole other project.

These scarves are so cute and I started with one for Cecilia.

Here she is modeling it:

And here are the ones that I made for the friend who ordered 3 of them.

She wanted 2 of the floral (similar to Cecilia's) and one that was a rocker print

Here is a close-up of the rocker print:

I love them and Cecilia has gotten MANY compliments at school on hers.

So although I try as hard as possible to keep life simple and unhurried...I guess there are times like these that being busy just can't be avoided...especially during the holidays.

So let me update you on what the kids have been doing these days.

Cecilia had her Christmas Choir concert last week and they all did so well. It's usually much more of a show with costumes and dancing and such, but their choir teacher is currently hospitalized because of cancer. So they kept the program simple and focused on their voices. It really made the whole thing short, but very very sweet.

Here is the choir (with my drawn-in notes):

A closer shot of Cecilia singing (second row, glasses)

Jude watching Sissy sing

Cecilia with my parents

And Cecilia with Bubby

Jude is definitely getting into that "independent" stage these days.

VERY opinionated about what he wants.

If you ask him to do something, you will get one of two responses:

If he wants to do it, he will repeat what you said.

(example: I say: "let's go to your room"...Jude says "room")

If he doesn't want to do it you will hear a simple "no".

(and although you don't want to hear a "no", it is the sweetest and funniest "no" you've ever heard)

Of course there's the random temper tantrums when he's tired or hungry.

But overall, he's a good kid...just testing those limits...especially when it comes to messing with things he knows are off limits.

I have a few videos of things he's been doing lately, but it takes FOREVER to load them on here for some reason.

So I will only show one today.

The other day I was cleaning the bathroom and Terry and I had the bright idea to fill up the tub and turn the spa jets on to run the water through since we don't ever use the tub.

Then I suggested we throw a little Mr. Bubble in there as a cleansing agent.

Now I am fully aware of what happens when you mix a Jacuzzi and bubble bath.

BIG TIME bubbles!

But we only put in a teensy bit of course...

of course.

Yeah, so the video only shows most of what the bubbles were like...not all of them.

The kids came in to see the bubbles after the tub had drained and I was waiting for bubbles to pop. (took forever!)

Well the kids obviously had a blast with this as you will see.

Anyway, there is so much more to post, but no more time to do it. Now that Christmas is almost here, things will finally begin to settle down. I will make sure to post more videos very soon.

Bye for now!

So Busy!

It's no secret that this time of the year is beyond busy for most, but methinks I've gone and given myself more to do than time allows.

Let's see...

Jersey Village Craft Fair on Dec. 6th to get ready for (I still have 21 bags to make!)

I am also making desperately needed belts for Jude using this great tutorial.

Oh yeah, there's also the normal mommy duties, thanksgiving preparations, Christmas decorating, etc, etc, etc...

So what do I do in the middle of all of this?

I go and get myself wrapped up(literally) in a NEW project.

A seriously fun one though!

When I find the time, I'll post the awesome patterns I've picked out for this project.

Until then, just reminisce over my old blogs. =)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Watch Them Grow

No matter how many times I hear this song, it always makes me cry those bittersweet tears that come from love and loss.

I cry not only because of the beauty and challenge of my children, but also for my own childhood.

Children just aren't children long enough.

Maybe God makes parenting such an involved process because He wants to make sure we will never forget that childhood.

Enjoy your children today.

If you don't have any or can't be with them...enjoy someone else's.

Every single life is precious and a miraculous gift from God.

(Turn your speakers on and push the play button so that you can fully enjoy this song!)

"Watch Them Grow" by Zach Gill

She's close to God, I'm sure of that
She sits him down, and they have a chat
She asks for sunshine, and he agrees
You see, for her, He'd do anything

You watch them grow, then you let 'em go

She is a monkey, and I'm her tree
And now she's climbing all over me
Swinging on my vines dancing on my limbs
Her monkey sounds sound like angel's hymns

You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go

She is an angel, she is an imp
She's got my big toe, and her mother's lips
She gives fishy kisses, and great big bear hugs
42 pounds of pure love
Then one day she'll be 17, feelin' too big for her home
Seems she was just only 3, oh how our children they grow

You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go

Then one day she'll be 33, maybe with a child of her own
Seems she was just 17, oh how our children they grow
He'll ask for sunshine, and she'll agree
You see for him, she'd do anything
He is her child, the center of her world
She is his mother... my little girl

You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go

She's 11 years old now....

Time goes by so quickly as you get older.

I remember time dragging by so slowly when I was a kid. Those birthdays took FOREVER to arrive. And I was never "old enough". It always seemed like the next birthday would be the best one for whatever reason, because as most of you know, a child can never (in their mind) grow up too fast.

Fast forward to adulthood....

Now you catch yourself saying "Woah! Where has the past year gone??" or "It seems like only yesterday that I was _____!".

But the thing that will make time fly the fastest is having a child of your own.

Those baby/toddler/pre-school years pass in the blink of an eye. And a school year?...like a nano-second.

So here I go with my "It seems like only yesterday" phrase...

It seems like only yesterday that I took this picture of my mom holding Cecilia the day after she came home from the hospital. My mom was the one there with me during the delivery (hence the shirt), but we never got a pic of her and the baby at the hospital.

So as soon as we got a chance, she put on the shirt and we took this shot.

Then something agonizing and amazing at the same time happened...

...she started growing up...

...VERY QUICKLY.

Here she is at 3 months (still a little angel) ;-)

And then what happened?? We turn around and she's 13 months already!

Then 2 1/2?!

And oh my gosh...Pre-K...


And here is when time started to get away from me...
...Kindergarten.


Next thing I know she's in the 2nd grade and playing soccer

And this...this is one of those pictures that your kid brings home and all of a sudden you go "What happened to my baby??"

~3rd grade~

But today...today she turns 11 years old.

Today she is no longer a baby, she is almost a teenager.

Today she sang at the Veteran's day celebration as a 5th grader.

She is in her last year of elementary school.

She is at the brink of a whole new era in her life.

But to her....I'm sure this has been the longest 11 years EVER.

For me...not nearly long enough.

No matter what I do, I cannot slow down time.

Can't turn back the hands of that clock.

A growing child causes a parent so much excitement yet at the same time, so much heartache.

Because you've been there.

You know the wonderful and horrible things that will arrive so unexpectantly in her life.

All that can be done is to prepare that child for what is to come so that when the wonderful and horrible things strike, she will afterwards be stronger, wiser and all the more beautiful.

I sat with her at lunch today and for the first time in years actually sang "happy birthday" to her at 12:44 pm...the exact minute of her birth. Those are the moments that seem to help stop time for just a bit...those are the moments that make it all worthwhile.

Happy Birthday Cecilia!

Wow...What happened to October? (or...Gosh I'm late with the Halloween pics!)

Yes, the past week slipped by me quite quickly and I just wasn't able to sit down long enough at the computer and write up a post about our Halloween festivities.

But better late than never, right?

We had a great night and all of the grandparents got to see the kids this year in their costumes.
We stopped by Terry's dad's house on the way to my parents' house(we always do our trick-or-treating in their neighborhood).

Terry's dad really enjoyed seeing the kids.

Here's our little "Spiderman" with daddy. Definitely a rare shot of him actually wearing the mask.

And lovely "Batarina"(AKA Cecilia) looking quite the aloof pre-teen in this shot.

We struggled to get a good shot of the 3 of them together since Jude is quite the wiggle worm these days, but we finally got it to work...kind of. =)


From there it was off to Nana & Paw-Paw's for some candy mooching!

But first we had to get the mask on to complete the costume...


Uhhh...no.

Instantly trying to take it off!

So we gave up and got on to the good stuff...CANDY!!
(My dad holding Jude and though hard to see, my mom is in the back wearing the green boa witch's hat)

"Too-cool-for-you" Cecilia getting the goodies... (but isn't she cute?!)

Here, finally, is a nice shot of her....beautiful smile and all. =)

(not sure where her wings are hiding though!)

Being the first Halloween where Jude could somewhat interact in the trick-or-treating, I made sure to get some of the "door" shots.

And a priceless Terry smile...rare to see one this big on his face, for sure!!

And though the boys (Terry & Jude) cut out a little early because of the chilly air and persistant mosquitos, all in all, it was a good night.

We managed to finally get a good shot of the two kids together just before heading home. Of course it took a couple of boxes of Nerds in hand to prod the little one into sitting still for 2 secs.

I do have to add my reason for being so far behind on posting these pics.

I have been extremely busy these past few weeks making "potato bags" for my first craft fair!

For anyone who doesn't know, I make these amazing bags that allow you to make perfect baked potatoes in the microwave! How awesome is it that you don't have to heat up your oven (AND kitchen) and wait an hour or more for a delicious potato?? What's even cooler is that the bag is just the right size for warming up tortillas and keeping them hot on the table! It actually reheats any kind of bread nicely that a microwave would typically dry out. Things come out so moist with this bag.

ANYWAY, didn't mean to go on like a commercial, but I'm super excited about these bags that I am making and I did really well yesterday at the craft fair. My friend Astrid and I shared the booth (she makes precious bows, tutus, and diaper cakes) and we both really enjoyed the time to be our own people for the day. Both of our husbands did beautiful (and much appreciated) jobs of caring for the kiddos so that we could jump feet first into our first craft fair event. Things went so well that we are already signed up for another fair in December!

So I have a day or two to breathe for now, but I will VERY soon be having to get a jump on making more bags.

Oh...one last thing...in little more than a day's time my little girl will be 11 years old...

....where does time go?

Have a beautiful and blessed week!

Zoo Boo!

Saturday was absolutely the most gorgeous day ever. Anyone who has lived in Houston for much time at all knows that days like these don't come very often and what makes it worse is that they don't last very long. It truly was a remarkably beautiful day. Highs in the low to mid 70's, relatively low humidity and a nice cool breeze.

But what made this day even better was that we had already planned a trip to the Houston Zoo. And if you have ever spent a day at the zoo, you definitely will be wanting a good weather day for it. Well everything was aligned just perfectly and we had a fabulous day.

This was the first weekend of the Houston Zoo's halloween celebration called "Zoo Boo". There were lots of little kids wearing their costumes, but our kiddos just wore their halloween t-shirts. They were handing out candy to the kids and had little pumpkins that they could pick out and decorate. So much fun!

This was also Jude's FIRST visit to the zoo amazingly enough. See, my mom has been a volunteer at the zoo for almost 25 years. I spent a good chunk of my childhood there...went to "zoo school" and everything. Cecilia went to the zoo for the first time when she was just a few months old. So for Jude to have been alive for 16 months and never have visited the zoo is very odd. But it couldn't have worked out any better!

So here are LOTS of pictures from our day (fair warning). I so can't wait to take Jude again when he's a little older and can enjoy it even more.

We started our day with a ride on the train that circles Hermann Park.

Jude was already looking tired! (guess he shouldn't have woken up at 6:45 am!)

But Cecilia was looking bright and ready to go as usual!

My dad took this photo of us with my mom


My parents with Cecilia



Took this shot of the Sam Houston statue during the train ride


Crossing the pond. You can see the entrance (flat silver thing) to the zoo in the distance.



After the train ride, Jude took a pic by the engine.
He loved the train whistle. He was choo choo-ing the whole time

Once inside the zoo we checked out the aquarium.

This was Jude's favorite part. Some of the fish made him laugh.

He really liked these jellyfish too

This was a neat tunnel that the kids could crawl through.

The surrounding tank is full of piranhas!

Another scary zoo creature....a vampire bat!!

Here is Jude showing us his giraffe impersonation

(you can kind of see the baby giraffes laying down in the background)

I thought it was so amazing how tall this giraffe was.

You can see my mom's reflection in the glass and compare their heights.

This baby elephant was swaying back and forth.

Here are the kids picking out their pumpkins.

Jude was very particular about which one he wanted.

Great pic of the kids with some pumpkins

Cecilia decorating her pumpkin

Jude was not wanting to let go of his pumpkin at all!

I finally got it long enough to draw a face on it

The kids then got to ride on the huge carousel.

This was also Jude's first time on one.

We saw a beautiful bald eagle...

...and then pretended to be birds while sitting in a mock eagle's nest. =)

This is the only time that Cecilia will ever be turtle-like...that girl is always on the go.

Even though Jude wasn't nearly as impressed by the goats as I thought he would be, he did take a moment to brush this one with Sissy.

So afterwards, everyone was completely worn out, but it was so worth it! Such a happy and satisfying day!

I found it quite funny that even though I had come down with a fever Friday, for the most part I felt fine all day Saturday (with the help of some acetaminophen).

Of course, I paid for it on Sunday as I was completely drained and back to fighting the fever.

I am feeling a bit better today though and hope to be back to normal soon enough!

Have a wonderful week!