Christmas in H-town

Granny and the great- grandchildren

Last weekend, we traveled to Houston to celebrate Christmas with my mom's side of the family. Ben always gives me a hard time because we have like three Christmases with my family...just one more than his might I add. My brother took one for the team and drove my mother and Granny. Dustin said Granny sat in the front with him and retold the same story over and over and my mom sat in the back singing Lady Gaga the whole way. God love em. My uncle, who is closer to my age than my mother's, has two little boys who are 7 and 4. So Davis and Wilson had a lot of fun playing with them.

During these trips to Houston my mother travels to Wal-mart/Target at least three times a day on average because she's so excited that my uncle's house is only a mile away. We're used to driving at least 3o minutes to get to the nearest Wal-mart around here, but by the time you wait at the 50 red lights between the two points you've wasted thirty minutes anyway. Needless to say there's a lot of Wal-mart shopping on these trips.

Riley, Davis, Walker, Brianna, and Wilson

Matt's little boys both got bow and arrows so we all went outside for target practice.

Davis standing by where he hit the target.

Even Granny took a shot at it.

Counting Down the Days

This is our family elf, Eli. He came to us last Christmas right after Thanksgiving. Every night after getting some good dirt on the boys he uses his magic to fly back to the North Pole to tell Santa all about if they've been naughty or nice. When he returns early the next morning he is always in a new spot. The boys love to look for Eli first thing each morning when they wake up. The only thing about Eli is that you can't touch him (or he'll lose his magic) and Santa will not allow him to talk to the children. He can, however, listen to your Christmas list and report it to Santa. Every now and then I will catch Davis or Wilson whispering to Eli what they want for Christmas. Last night Eli came in extra handy when he was hanging out in our dining room during dinner and Wilson refused to eat his red beans and rice. I just reminded that little deviant who was watching, and I have never seen him lap up dinner so fast. If I had only had an elf when I was little then maybe I would have received the white kitten I wanted instead of the stuffed one Santa left me, or the Barbie Ice Cream maker that I asked for that my friend Katie Stephens got down the street. I tried to tell someone that he dropped it off at her house by mistake. I'm still sore about that one! Hopefully these elves will prevent any more of Santa's mess ups in the future.

This is our homemade advent calendar. I found the idea in some magazine I was reading and thought it was too cute! It sure beats the 70 dollars I wanted to spend on the one from Pottery Barn. I just went around the house collecting miscellaneous socks from all of our drawers and used jute string, thumbtacks, and clothes pins to put it together. Here we have mixture of hunting, skiing, baby, (I had the pink baby sock leftover from a school art project...no pink babies here)running, white, soccer, t-ball, dress, and christmas socks I picked up at the DG just for festiveness. The plan was to put candy or small toy in each of the socks for the boys, but I've missed a day or eight. I could probably just find a few small forgotten toys from our play room and they wouldn't know the difference. I guess Wilson had the same idea because on morning he put Davis's C3PO in a sock and told him to look in it.

Thanksgiving Visit

I don't have much to write for this post, but I wanted to share this picture. The baby, Mary Ellen, belongs to my BFF from high school, Ellie Axford, but doesn't she just complete the picture? I think we need some pink in our family. The boys have been asking for a baby sister since last year's Thanksgiving in Dallas where they spent time with baby Edie (Ben's cousin Ann's little girl). Anyway, I got to visit with Ellie and her family over Thanksgiving. In the brief time we were there, Ellie's husband Tommy managed to convince my boys that the rocket pack they want for Christmas is not only obtainable, but that it will actually make them fly. Thanks Tommy, I'll be returning the favor. Also, I posted this because I know Ellie is a loyal reader of my blog and is going to take the next step and actually become a follower. AND if she doesn't everyone who reads will know about it and frown upon her treasonous defiance.

Little Soldier

Tuesday morning we took Davis to have his tonsils out. We had been trying prepare him for this day for over a month and he was ready....at least we thought. After we arrived at the hospital his enthusiasm quickly turned to anxiety. The nurse gave him some medicine that she said would make him "brave" aka and I quote "drunker than Cooter Brown." And that he was. We had a good time with him for about an hour before they took him back for surgery. I took a short video of him in this state, but decided not to post it for fear he would hate me later.

After they took him back for surgery, we only had to wait about thirty minutes. The doctor came and spoke to Ben and me after he was done and informed us the surgery went well and that to expect his voice to be higher-pitched. I didn't believe him, until we were walking to see Davis and he opened up his mouth to show me his throat and said in a squeaky voice,"Mom, they took my tonsils out." Indeed they did my precious little chipmunk. He sounds like he has been sucking on helium. I can't remember if the doctor said this was a temporary thing or permanent.
Nevertheless, he has been doing so well since we returned home. He requested macaroni and cheese for breakfast the following morning and would eat pretty much anything if we would let him. Several family and friends have stopped by to visit bearing gifts, and this has also kept his spirits up as well. He told me "Wow! So many people are bringing me so many presents." It has definitely been an early Christmas for Davis, and it hasn't hurt that he's been able to eat unlimited amounts of popsicles and ice cream!

Before "brave" medicine. Nothing like a little angry birds to calm the nerves.

After "brave" medicine

Bye Bye tonsils!

So glad Uncle Scott came to help entertain Davis.

Charlie was allowed to go back in surgery with Davis and had his tonsils removed too. He even had a bandaid on his paw where the i.v. had been.

Enjoying the first of many popsicles

Going home!

Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast

Last Friday Davis's Kindergarten class hosted a Thanksgiving feast for all of the parents. Before the feast, the students helped prepare the food, some of which included chopping and mashing potatoes, cutting up fruit, and measuring and mixing ingredients for pumpkin pies. Davis was so excited that he helped cook the food that we were going to eat.



During the feast the children dressed up in their Indian costumes that they made themselves. Each student drew a picture of what they were thankful for and they each had a turn sharing what it was. One of Davis's friends said he was thankful for road lizards, snakes, and alligators. Davis said he was thankful that he was getting his tonsils out and drew a picture of his family watching him get a shot. I've never seen a child so excited about surgery. Poor thing hasn't been able to breathe through his nose in over a year, and it didn't hurt that he was promised all the ice cream and popsicles he could eat. Anyway they were all so cute and proud of themselves for their hard work.

Cutting up fruit for the fruit kabobs

Festive artwork that the Kindergarteners
made for their table setting.

17 Little Indians

So proud of our little boy.

Enjoying the feast

Beffie and Davis

Davis loves "Miss" Traci !

Christmas Tree Farm

Since Davis will be out of commission after his tonsillectomy on Tuesday, we decided to do some early Christmas tree shopping. We took the boys to Curry Farms in Start. After we got there we jumped out of the car and the first tree I saw I tagged. It happened to be a tree that wasn't grown on the farm, but the only ones they grow are Leyland Cypress and Carolina Blue Spruce which don't hold ornaments or three year olds very well. Ben commented "Well this kind of defeats the whole purpose of the Christmas tree farm experience! We could have done this at Wal-Mart." Well maybe so my love, but you cursing as you hand-sawed last year's Christmas tree at the farm in Texas kind of also defeated the warm and fuzzy feeling of the Christmas tree farm as well!

After tagging our tree we set the boys loose to play. They had fun climbing and sliding on the hay bales, playing in the corn, riding the horsy-go-round, riding the caterpillar caboose , and just wreaking havoc in general. If you live near Start, LA, I highly recommend this place to buy your Christmas tree. They will even mount it on a stand and tie it on top of your car which will save the Christmas tree another good cussing. Minus the buzzing sound for the hour drive home, it was by far one of the most pleasurable Christmas tree experiences we've had yet!

I think he would make a good elf!

Playing in the hay!

We've never seen corn before

Funny Goats

Wilson on the caterpillar caboose. Davis refused to ride. I have no idea why.

Wilson is so funny

Monkeys!

Corn Angels!

Having a ball!

Riding on the horsy-go-round

Racing Ducks!

More Critters

Here are some more photos from Ben's trail cam on Eddington.

Pumpkin Sheet Cake

I don't know where this recipe came from other than it was passed down from my mom. She usually makes it for Thanksgiving and it is something I look forward to every year. The cake is extremely moist and it is topped with a cream cheese icing. I made one last night and took it to work today. Some of the other teachers wanted the recipe so I promised to post it for them. Make it for your Thanksgiving this year. It's a nice change from plain old pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin Sheet Cake

1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin

2 c. sugar

1 c. vegetable oil

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2 c. all-purpose flour

2 t. baking soda

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. salt

In a mixing bowl, beat pumpkin, sugar, and oil. Add eggs and mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; add to mixture and beat until well-blended. Pour into a greased 15x10x1 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool

Cream Cheese Icing

1 (3 oz) cream cheese, softened

5 T butter (soft)

1 t vanilla extract

1 3/4 c powdered sugar

3 to 4 t. milk

chopped pecans (optional)

Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a mixing bowl until smooth. Gradually add sugar; mix well. Add milk until frosting reaches desired spreading consistency. Frost cake. Sprinkle w/ nuts.

Trail Cam

Saturday, Ben took the boys with him to put out rice bran and corn and to set up his new trail cam on Eddington. I uploaded a few shots of the wildlife he captured from his camera.

Boys helping put out the rice bran.

Boys playing in the rice bran.

Say Cheese!

This little guy was up to the devil's business.

Not quite what we were hoping for.... maybe she'll bring her boyfriend.