WHITE LIGHT

It may have come at the very end of January, but at least this time the weatherman was right, and it finally happened. SNOW!!! It didn't look too promising at first, but the kids were still super excited at the sight of snowflakes. Okay, I was just as excited!

It actually kept blowing and going all day long.

They really thought they would be able to jump on the trampoline. I thought it would be fun, until I started to worry about it cracking or something. I don't know if that can really happen, but I didn't want to risk ruining it.

Apparently, the snow continued to fall all night long, too.
Nothing too heavy, but a good steady flow.

This is right outside our front door. The snow crunched and cracked everywhere you stepped. No fluffy stuff here. Underneath was as soft and powdery as sugar.

This was kind of a big deal for us.
The kids had never seen this much snow before.

Of course, we all rushed to check out the snow when we woke up on Saturday morning. The white light was blinding and seriously difficult to look at...Especially since our eyes hadn't even cleared out the crusties yet. It sure was beautiful though!

The snow was covered in thick layers of ice which made it too hard to build a snowman. I was determined to build something, so I settled for some ski mountain snow moguls.

We drove around to see more snow everywhere. We were originally going to search for a good hill to slide down, but the consistency of the snow wasn't ideal or safe for kids. One wrong fall could have knocked Brooke's wiggly front tooth out.

So, I finally got my snow in Tennessee. The temperatures were still so cold that most of it hung around for several days. And for some reason, the city wasn't plowing many of the roads. That was very frustrating because the kids ended up being out of school for 6 days straight (4 school days). Basketball and karate were cancelled, and many of the stores, businesses, and banks were closed. It really wasn't that bad, but everyone sure went about like it was. I don't know, maybe it's more than what they're accustomed to here, but I loved it.

COUNTRY GIRL

This girl has no problem blending in here. She's quickly becoming a country hick...Or at least sounding like one. That's all she hears all day long at school, so I guess it was inevitable that she would just go with the flow.

It's so annoying though. She has the sweetest voice, but now we often have to remind her to talk normal like Brooke and not like a hick. I don't care who you are, any thick hick accent just really dumbs you down. No offense, y'all. :)

The only thing Cole tried to pick up when we first moved here was saying, "No it ain't!" Ummm...I don't think so! I nipped that in the bud real quick.

For Brooke, it seems to be more of a comfort thing to help her step out of her shy box and talk in front of people. She has done so well in school these last few months with finally answering her teacher and letting her know that she does know the answers, so maybe we'll just let it slide until we move elsewhere.
Awww...She looks so adorable in her matching boots and vest from Nana. She has been waiting to wear it while horse back riding, but the weather has been too cold for that for several Saturdays now. I guarantee I'll be snapping tons of pictures as soon as she does though!
I suppose the hick accent doesn't really hurt anything. I just don't want people to think that we're from Tennessee because we're darn proud to be from Texas!

BASKETBALL IS BACK

Somehow 2 years have gone by since Cole last played basketball on a team, but he's started up again now and hasn't missed a beat. He's playing at the YMCA and stands out like a sore thumb, but he can definitely hold his own on the court. All of the kids are a little scatterbrained out there, and it often ends up resembling more of a rugby match. The majority of the them haven't even played before and have no clue of what to do besides attack, grab, and yank the ball. It gets very annoying when the referee blows the whistle about 20 times a game for a jump ball. It's not the ref's fault though. The coaches need to tell their players not to wrestle kids while constantly trying to snatch the ball. Hands up! Hands off! No fouls! Come on!

The ages are 5, 6, and 7 right now so hopefully the games will be a little more controlled when Cole moves up to the next age group. He's having lots of fun though and really enjoys being out there. He's gotten so bored with karate, and I think this was just the fast paced action he needed.
I don't know why, but Cole wants a cool nick name so badly. I suppose it's because his coach asked some of the kids if they had one that might be easier to remember. His name is already short and easy to say unlike half of the kids on his team that have apostrophes or 5 vowels in their name.

He runs pretty fast so maybe he could be "White Lightning". But then he runs similar to Forrest Gump, so "Gump" is a pretty good option. I don't think he quite appreciates "Powder" like his Uncle Tim once said.
These are some clips from his first 3 games. The video is a bit longer than I thought it would be, but I wasn't about to delete anything after waiting so long to upload everything.

They actually have a quick prayer before each game.
That was a nice surprise.

Cole is stoked that his team is the Longhorns.

That's right...Gotta represent Texas where ever we go!

It's funny to overhear the random comments from other people watching...

"I'd like to see that #2 play when he's older."
"That boy needs to be a quarterback."
"Look at Dirk go out there!"
"That white boy is fast!"

And today's comment was my favorite. I got a tap on the shoulder and this lady said, "Your son is good! I love to watch him play!" And Cole was playing against her son on the other team! Ahhhaha...That was cool!

JANUARY 15th- BROOKE'S 100th DAY

Brooke has officially been in kindergarten for 100 days. I really can't believe that I haven't gotten a phone call from the school to come rescue her because she wouldn't stop crying. I seriously did expect that call every single day for the first month that she was in school. She has completely proven that she is a big girl now. Sad, sad, sad times here folks...This girl doesn't claim to be a mommy's girl anymore.

There have been a few days here and there where she would cry over something at school, but nothing the teacher couldn't handle. Evidently, when she gets upset at school she says she wants her brother. They always tell her that Cole is busy doing work, but really he would probably care less if he saw her crying.

Her mini meltdowns were usually because some little punk was picking on her and hurt her feelings. I can't stand it when that happens. I wish I could shield both of my kids from every insult and threat, but it's just not possible. There are just too many jerks out there who were raised by jerks and get sheer enjoyment out of being a jerk.

I guess we just have to try and teach our kids how to be a good person and do the right thing. But it's kind of hard to get that message across to a 6 and 7 year old.

Anyway, the theme for Brooke's 100th day was 101 Dalmations. The teacher cut a potato in half and the kids dipped them in black paint to make polka dots on their shirts. They normally wear uniforms, so it was a special treat to get to wear something a little different, even though they pretty much still all matched. I thought her shirt was going to be one messy, black blob, but it surprisingly turned out to be quite adorable. I was shocked that Brooke managed to do that so neatly and all by herself. Hmmm...Maybe there's a hint of her ridiculoulsy talented Great Aunt Jan in her somewhere.
When I went to pick the kids up, lots of the kindergartners were wearing these black contraptions on their heads. I had no clue what they were. Obviously, they were dog ears like a dalmation. Duh, Mom!

Good job, Brooke! 100 days down and thousands more to go!

JANUARY 8th- IT HAPPENED

Well, it happened. I really didn't want to blog about it but since I outed Nathan on his 30th birthday, I suppose it's only fair that I mention mine. Technically, it's just another day and nothing to make a big fuss about. It's not like you go from 29 one day and 30 the next day and instantly feel old. It just sounds really old. I don't mind being 30, I just feel defeated when I say it out loud. Even more so when my son says, "Man, 30 is OLD!!!"

Of course, it was inevitable that it would happen and I would no longer be able to crack on Nathan for being 30, but I wanted to remain in my 20's for as long as possible. However, my loving mom had other plans. I know it was only because we were in Texas and she wanted to take advantage of my whole family being together, but forcing me to celebrate increasing the first digit in my age 15 days EARLY was seriously a low blow. And on Christmas Eve. I saw the cake earlier that day but chose to ignore the obvious that was staring me in the face. I really hoped it was for dessert since everyone was coming over to eat dinner and open Christmas presents.

After all of the Christmas action was completed, my mom announced that it was time to do birthday stuff. Wonderful.

The extra candles were for my dad since his birthday is just a few days after Christmas. We've done a joint party for a while now. I know he was especially excited about the pretty pink cake.

At least the birthday attention was over and done with quickly. We left Texas and I figured the birthday surprises were complete. Boy, was I wrong. The day before and the actual day of my birthday were full of surprises....And not in a good way like you would think.

Thursday, January 7th...

Surprise #1: School was closed for a snow storm that didn't even happen

Surprise #2: Colt McCoy was injured very early in the game and wouldn't return
Surprise #3: The Longhorns lost the game that they probably would've won with Colt

Friday, January 8th...
Surprise #4: School was closed again for a snow storm that still didn't happen
Surprise #5: I was awakened by discomfort in the wee hours of the 8th with lovely pain that could only be a kidney stone. It's not possible to sleep or do much moving around with that. You just have to deal with it and wait it out. And because school was closed, the kids were at home and I couldn't even rest in bed all day like I so desperately wanted.We weren't able to watch the National Championship football game at home because we still don't have ABC (grrr!). We ended up at Chili's amongst several Alabama fools. Those people were so stinking annoying! The bartender was the only other person there cheering for the Longhorns. We continued to hope for a miraculous win until the last couple minutes of the game. You could feel the joyous stares from the crimson tide fans burning a hole in our backs as we shamefully walked out. Not cool.I think maybe I was so sickened by the injury of Colt McCoy and the Texas Longhorns losing the championship that my insides went haywire on me. All of which were just awful.

The highlight of my actual birthday day was all of the birthday wishes from friends and family. And the fact that Nathan left work a couple of hours early so I could get some rest and relief from the kids. That was seriously awesome. Here's hoping next year will be much better!

NEW YEARS

So our New Years Eve was nothing special. Not that it ever is since we're not really big party people. Besides, where would we go? What would we do? That's right...A big bunch of nothing...Because there's not much of anything to do here. Plus, we don't have anyone to watch the kids for us.

Even if I did manage to somehow pull back a little on my protective stance of who watches the kids, Nathan had to work. He chose to work some absurd hours so that someone else wouldn't have to on a holiday. As much as he hates working crazy late night hours, he will do it nearly every time to prevent any drama of putting someone else out. He's such a good guy.

Wait a minute...I forgot that we did do something a tad bit special. I made some oh so simple, refrigerated, break apart, chocolate chip goodness on my new cookie sheets. I slaved in the kitchen for all of one minute preparing them, but I did it all with love. :)
My new cookie sheets that my mom bought me really do sparkle and shine. Evidently, she thought my 11 year old rusted cookie sheets were no longer satisfactory. I don't see the big deal. A little rust never hurt anyone...Right, Leslie?I let the kids stay up late and then realized a few minutes before midnight that we didn't even have the stupid channel that was showing the big ball drop. Directv is so ridiculous with their zoning guidelines here. Brooke was already about to pass out on the couch so they went straight to bed.

So, dealing with the kids for many more hours on my own turned out to be a big, fat waste of time. Nice. I could have been sitting in a quiet house and diligently working on the mighty blog without being interrupted 95 times.

On New Year's Day we did actually do something special. Nathan shockingly suggested we all go to the movies to see Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squekquel. I really don't like going to the movie theater and Nathan doesn't really care to see kiddie flicks, so I was surprised that it even came up. When we got there and went up to buy the tickets, he tried to say that he would go see The Blind Side while the kids and I saw the Chipmunks. Uhhhh...I don't think so!
The movie was cute enough but definitely more of a rental. The kids enjoyed all the silliness from the rodents and their adventures. Nathan enjoyed getting smacked in the head and having his seat pushed, pulled, and kicked by the toddler behind him. This kid came with a group of 8 people with the oldest, who I assume were the parents, sitting the farthest away from the wild child. I even waved my finger and told her to stop at one point, and the 10 year old "watching" her looked at me like I was crazy. Some screaming baby didn't help the situation either. Nor the brats running up and down the stairs. Pay attention to your kids and respect your surroundings, people!

In the midst of all that, Nathan still managed to doze off a few times. Granted, he did work from 3 am - 11 am with only a couple of hours of sleep between his normal hours, but still. Now if movie ticket prices weren't so outrageous, I wouldn't have cared as much. I took this picture of Brooke before the movie while the boys were in the bathroom. When we got out of the movie I was going to take another picture with Cole, but someone had knocked down all of the Chipmunks. After sitting through all that chaos that was supposed to be entertainment, I kind of wanted to punch those overpaid rodents in the face, too.

A CHEESY THANK YOU

Say Cheese! I love sending out Christmas pictures for the holidays, but getting the right shot is such a hassle. It's hard enough with one kid, but add more than one and it's just about impossible to capture the perfect picture. These were taken in early December, but I didn't have many of them ready before we left for Texas. Plus, I got sidetracked by all kinds of activities. I made sure to mail them out to my family hoping they would arrive a couple of days before we did, but I slacked off on the rest of them. At that point I just decided to hand them out to those I saw and didn't have their addresses.

So, if you didn't get one because you didn't meet up with me like you were supposed to...Unfortunately, you didn't get one. Ahem! You people know who you are :)

Here are some of the better shots that I got. I wanted to order a fancy photo card with multiple shots, but the program's automatic crop was testing my sanity. I just couldn't ever get it to work out right and finally just got multiple copies of one picture to put inside a normal card.
I waited an hour for Cole's ears to stop beaming like Rudolph's red nose, and eventually said screw it. Then he wouldn't put that stupid football down. Ugh! If they would just be still at the same time and not act like dorks, I might not have to flash their eyes 50 times.
It was so hard to decide which one to use, but this is the picture that I ended up using for our Christmas cards. The flash was a little bit bright and Cole's man size ears were still beat red, but my time had expired and everyone's patience was exhausted. It's still pretty cute though.

To everyone that we did get to see...

Thank you for all of the presents, the hospitality, the meals, the activities, and all of the precious time spent together. We cherish it all and can't wait to see you again this summer! We love you!

Be sure to save time for us around mid June!