Christmas in Waco

We just got home from our annual trip to Waco for Christmas.  It is a wonderful few days spent with all of Andy's family.  I have no pictures from the trip.  I intended to get copies of the pictures Jenny took, but that did not happen.

We arrived on Wednesday afternoon.  Thursday morning we opened gifts with Andy's family.  Thursday evening we had Christmas with Mamaw and Papaw.   Friday morning is the annual Cloverland Bowl.  Andy invited RG3 to come, but I guess he was busy!  Kayla has a great time playing in the football game.  Andy looks forward to it all year.  He did end up with a bruise above his eye and a bloody lip, but he loves every minute of it.  That afternoon is Granny's Christmas.  Jim and Darlene have everyone over for appetizers and dinner.  Then we all head over to Granny's house for dessert and the gift exchange.  There is also a visit from Santa.  Caroline was so happy when she saw him walk in.

 She waited very patiently for her turn.

Caroline once again gave Santa her list:  sparkly headband, perfume, and a surprise.  I really hope she likes her surprise.

 Kayla was a good sport.  She got on his lap, but told him she had no idea what she wanted.

On the morning of Christmas Eve we head home.  We stopped in McKinney to see my grandma.  I have not seen her in several years.  I have some great memories of her and my grandpa from when I was younger.  It was great to see her again.  My girls made me so proud.  They were so sweet to her and extremely well behaved.

What a wonderful Christmas is has already been!

Santa Visit

I finally took the girls to see Santa.

Caroline was really excited.  Kayla pretty much just humors me.  She feels like she is too big for all of this.  I think she still believes, but sitting on his lap is just not cool.  I told her she could stand next to him, but it did not happen.  Caroline has a fairly simple list:  perfume, a sparkly headband, and a surprise.  Kayla wants the last Diary of a Wimpy Kid book.  That is it.  That is not very helpful!




I guess it won't be long before we find out what Santa brings.  Merry Christmas!

Caroline's Big Day

 What started as a trip to the mall to see Santa turned into something completely different.  Caroline decided she wanted to get her ears pierced.  I can't believe it, but we did it. 

She was a very brave girl.  She did not even flinch.  Kayla was nervous for her and could not even watch.  Caroline is so excited about her new pierced ears.

Earthquakes

This has just been a crazy few days!  I experienced my very first earthquake Saturday night.  I slept through one at 2 am (with the help of my beloved Tylenol PM), but I felt the one at 10:55 pm.  I had gone to bed because I was not feeling well.  I think it was the noise that initially woke me up.  It took me a few seconds to comprehend the fact that everything was shaking.  It is just not something I ever thought would happen.  It was really kind of creepy.  It lasted about a minute, but it seemed like forever.  I walked out into the living room.  Both girls stayed asleep.  Andy came down from upstairs.  It was just very strange.  The next morning I was telling the kids about it.  Caroline did not know what an earthquake was.  I reminded her of an exhibit at the zoo.  You stand on a platform and it vibrates like the ground would in an earthquake.  She asked me "Is it dangerous?"  I told her that the one we had was small and things were fine.  So she said "Is it just to make the city fun?"  Like it was a ride at an amusement park.  I thought it was pretty funny!

I saw this on a friend's facebook page.  I had to steal it.

I stole this from the website of a local news channel.  I don't know what any of it means.  I do know they said that it was a 5.6.  

We just had an aftershock that was a 4.7.  I did not really feel the shaking so much.  It just sounded like thunder that went on for a long time.  I think for a while I will panic just a little bit when I hear thunder always wondering if it will be an earthquake.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween.  Here is Kayla as "an 80's chick"

 And here is Caroline as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.

On Sunday we went to a Fall Festival with Kayla's friend, Emori.  The girls had a great time.

 Kayla loved this...they got to beat on an old car with a baseball bat.

 We ran into all of the cousins at my dad's house.

Kayla wanted her daddy to dress up.  Here he is as the tacky tourist.  The girls loved it.  Andy was a great sport.

Kayla actually had dance tonight so we got a late start.  I don't think we even made it half-way through the neighborhood.  I could not get over all of the activity.  There were kids everywhere, almost all of the houses either had their lights on or they were outside passing out candy.  There is one place where the road kind of dead ends in a cul-de-sac.  It opens up to a field where a group of people had a large fire, hot dogs, chips, candy, and drinks for anyone who wanted to come by.

We got home and let the kids dump out their candy and pick a piece to eat.  Only one - it was 9:00!

We had a great night.  I hope that next year we can get an earlier start.  We all had fun.

Livesay Orchards

Caroline's class went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago.  Lone Star always went to the pumpkin patch in Bixby.  Now that we live in Bixby we go to the pumpkin patch in Porter, Oklahoma.  It is called Livesay Orchards, and it was a lot of fun for the kids.

Here is Caroline's class

They first go into a small theater where they watch a video about everything at the farm.  This is also when they learn the rules for the day.

Then it is off to Pumpkin Playland where there are all sorts of things for them to do. 

This is Caroline and Jaselyn leaving the hay maze.  They were fast.  I could not keep up!

Next, it was a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch.

They actually got to pick their pumpkin right off of the vine.

Caroline and Jaselyn with their teacher, Mrs. McCracken.

We all piled back onto the hay ride for a trip to the apple orchard.  The kids all got to pick 2 apples off of a tree.

Lunch Time!!!!!

After 2 1/2 hours it was time to head back to the bus.  The kids had a great time.  There was so much for them to do on this trip.  

 * For those that do not know, Jaselyn is Caroline's friend she met on the first day of school.  I was so happy that they stayed in the same class after all of the kindergarten classes were switched around.  A few weeks later we discovered that Jaselyn lives almost directly behind us.  What a small world!  Now they ride the school bus together in the mornings when I am not able to take the girls to school.  I don't think Caroline would have been so agreeable to the whole bus idea if it were not for Jaselyn also being there.  They are so cute together.