Christmas cookies

Cole joined us this year in our annual baking. They succeeded in coating the kitchen floor and themselves in flour and eating as much raw dough as possible while I wasn't looking! Oh, and we got a few dozen cookies done too!

Christmas Card Pic

Hopefully by now everyone has received this picture on a card from us, but just in case...Merry Christmas!

Broken Dreams and Chic-Fil-A

At the beginning of December, Gran gave the boys both money to visit Build-A-Bear and build a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. It was a special "limited time only" deal. Well, between hosting two cocktail parties, shopping, wrapping and card making, I didn't get around to taking them until this afternoon. When we reached the store (an ordeal in itself between traffic and the general Christmas hysteria that encircles any mall) we were told they'd been sold out of the reindeer for weeks...for weeks!!??!! It's only December 18th! Well, now I know when they say "while supplies last" they REALLY mean it! As Travis dissolved into a puddle of despair, Cole, who actually has no idea why we're even at the mall, begins to wail in sympathy for his brother. And the same weary shoppers on the benches outside the store who, just moments earlier, had watched two red and green clad youngsters eagerly skip into the store with anticipation, now tried to avert their eyes as I staggered out one sobbing boy clamped to each leg. I suggested we head upstairs to the food court for some Chic-Fil-A and a few rides. As we topped the second floor on the escalator, we discovered the food court was undergoing renovations. The Chic-Fil-A was open (a small miracle) but the rides had been taken out. Not a coin fed spaceship in sight! Travis then said the quote of the evening, "I want to speak to the owner of this mall right now!" I laughed out loud at that...and so did the people from the next table. To prolong the pain, I had to stop at Macy's before we could leave to buy some makeup. Travis was still bummed out and Cole just knew if Travis isn't happy, then he can't be either. The wonderful woman who checked me out at the make up counter gave the boys both a lollipop. She'll never know how much that random act of kindness helped the three of us. We made it to the car and home and I'm sure the whole thing will soon be forgotten with all the other excitement of the holidays to distract. I'd taken my camera to document the stuffing of the reindeer, but I think these shots tell our very different story.

A Walk Through Bethlehem

Travis and I had an amazing experience this morning at church. As a new addition to the yearly Birthday Party for Jesus, the church added a Bethlehem marketplace where the kids could follow a map from one activity to another. All the adults were in costume and "in character." The first stop was the census taker where we signed in with our family name and village. The other activities included toy making, fabric dying, stone carving, rope making, mosaics and bread making. When the bugler blew her horn, we all visited the living nativity (complete with petting zoo animals) and then went into the Family Life Center to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and enjoy a cupcake! The gifts we brought go to the children placed in foster care by CPS during the year. It was a great

morning and a great way to spend some "Mommy/Travis time!"

School Pictures

Cole--Preschool, age 2

Travis--Kindergarten, age 6

Haven't had time to cut and mail these to relatives, but wanted to share our cute school boys this year.

Santa's Lap

Santa came to Travis' school tonight. Travis couldn't wait for one more chance to tell him what he wanted...Cole just couldn't wait for the whole thing to be over!

Santa Collection

I've started a Santa collection of both figures and ornaments. It's fun to look for new and interesting Santas everywhere I go. We bought a bigger tree for downstairs this year and it's decorated solely with Santa ornaments and ribbon. The boys have had fun looking at all the fun ornaments and surprisingly only one has gotten broken so far.

A Tree for Everyone

This year we added a few trees to the house...one in Shayne's study for all his "manly" ornaments. And the boys finally have their own tree in the playroom complete with multi-colored lights (which Travis think are the prettiest) and all their cartoon ornaments and the ones they've made at school.

First Deer

Our yearly tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving at the cabin took an exciting turn for Travis this year. As he and Shayne discussed the possibility of shooting a doe on Friday, they practiced how they would position themselves so that Shayne could brace the rifle and Travis wouldn't get hit with the kick back. All was good until a long day of not seeing anything made Travis declare that this would not be the day he killed his first deer...no sir, he was prepared to wait until next year...so convinced was he that this would not be the day, that he climbed off of his Dad's lap and took his own seat in the deer blind. Just then, a big doe walked out in front of them. Travis looked at Shayne and said, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" In order not to spook the deer away, they kept their seats and modified the original plan. Travis took aim, fired, and dropped the doe in her tracks! Yea! Unfortunately, Shayne was not in a good position to reduce the kick of the rifle, and when it fired the scope came back and hit Travis above the eye leaving a large gash. Four hours and one trip to the emergency room later, Travis not only had his first deer, but his first set of stiches--six in all! I'm really proud of myself for not completely flipping out...the worst thing I did was offer him extra Christmas presents for being so brave. (A video game for every stich...that was before I knew there would be six!!!) But all in all we're very proud of him. And he's proud of himself as you can tell from the pictures. Unfortunately, as a result, Cole will probably be in college before he gets to shoot!

Thankful???

Today was the Thanksgiving Feast at Travis' school. The kindergarteners prepared all the side dishes themselves yesterday and he enjoyed that tremendously. But today when it came time to actually eat, well, that was a different story... He was nearly in tears as he took his seat and reported that "Just a whiff of this stuff makes me want to throw up!" Even with his bad attitude, I thought he was so cute in his Native American get-up complete with a handmade head dress and the obligitory brown paper bag vest. Here is our sad little Indian on his "worst day of school ever!"

Get that buck!

It's deer season and that means lots and lots of Monster Bucks DVDs being viewed around here by the guys. In preparation for the big Thanksgiving hunt, Shayne has been watching the DVDs with Travis in the playroom. Cole has become obsessed with them and during each hunting scene he gets a toy rifle and shoots the TV. Then he screams, "GOT THAT BUCK!" I think pretty soon Daddy will have two little hunters to take out and Mommy will have some solitary shopping time!!!

Thanksgiving Feast

Cole's preschool had the annual Thanksgiving Feast today. He got to wear this cool "Native American" outfit handed down from big brother. Unfortunately it was in the mid-80s today so he was a bit warm, but hey, it was appropriate for the occasion! He didn't do too much feasting, but he ate all his applesauce and mine too for that matter!

I Wanna Be Like You

I had to get a picture of the first time they wore these Jungle Book shirts. I think they're so cute and so especially appropriate for the way Cole looks up to Travis. He is Cole's complete hero...he copies everything he does all day long. Luckily for us, Travis is a great role model most of the time! And although the mimicking gets annoying at times, I know Travis really loves Cole back! I keep telling them that someday they'll be best friends...I hope I'm right.

HURRICANES!

Travis' soccer team, the Hurricanes, had a double header on Saturday. They are nearing the end of the season and sooooo much improved! We've gone from losing every game to a four game winning streak--the league doesn't keep score, but Travis and Shayne do! Here is a pic of our little soccer dude on Saturday showing off his "Goal!" temporary tattoo on his hand.

Opening Weekend

This was opening weekend of deer season, so of course we headed to the Hill Country. Travis and Shayne went out on Saturday evening and saw seven deer from their new two-man deer blind...none of them were shooters and Travis was totally exasperated, "I just don't know why we sit out here for three hours if we're not going to shoot anything." He opted not to join his Dad for the early morning Sunday hunt and of course, that's when a turkey hung out at the feeder for over an hour...Shayne was so disappointed that Travis wasn't with him to see it...maybe he'll be back in time for Thanksgiving dinner! Here are a couple of pics of Travis with his little "Cricket .22" and all of the guys in the new hunting vehicle.

Two Li'l Punkins...

Two li'l punkins...and one HUGE one! I promised Travis that if he'd cooperate for some good Pumpkin Patch pictures, we could buy the biggest and fattest one...he did and we did!

Fall Festival

Preschool had their Fall Festival for Cole's class on Tuesday. The classes rotate from room to room while volunteer moms run games and activities. I've always volunteered for Travis' classes and was sooo excited to get to do the same for Cole this year. The two-year olds didn't quite know what to think of all the excitement, but I could tell he was glad I was there. Our activity was making a bracelet out of Froot Loops and a pipe cleaner...Cole thought it was a fancy snack...

Nursery Rhyme Play

Travis' kindergarten class held the first annual Nursery Rhyme Play this week. He was Jack, of Jack and Jill fame, and was responsible for providing his own costume (pail and all!) He wasn't too thrilled with dressing up until we got to school and saw it could've been worse...he could've been Mary's little lamb...

The whole thing was soooo cute...they had a set, music, the whole works... Here is a picture of him with "Jill"

Halloween

For the last two years, we've gone to the downtown "Treats on East Street" Halloween party where the merchants set up in the street and have games and treats for the kids. We thought Travis enjoyed it, but this year he asked to "trick-or-treat the right way." So, since we have no big neighborhood of our own, we went with his friend Austin's family in their neighborhood. We took out a Transformer (Travis) and Buzz Lightyear (Cole) Everyone had a great time. This was Cole's first year to really get it...the only thing he loved more than his Buzz costume was the candy! Shayne pulled he and his friend Evan (Austin's little brother) in the wagon while the bigger kids ran ahead. Travis was the epitome of Halloween safety reminding everyone to look before crossing the street and never, ever to go to a house without their light on..."they probably forgot to buy candy--or they're asleep!"