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.