Will's First Marriage

One of the things I like about all three of my kids going through the same preschool program for all these years is the fact that they participate in the same fun traditions. Today Will went through the ceremony of the wedding of Q and U. This is a very big deal and something they have been doing for a long time. Since Q and U are always found together in words, they drill this fact home with the children by having them witness and participate in a wedding. They make puppets for Q and U and they dress in top hats and veils. Twice before, the girls have come home with their veils, so today was our first top hat. Will was very excited about the ceremony and the fact that he married (just pretend as he says) his good friend Cambridge. Here are the words for the ceremony. I know they are super corny, but it's been a fun tradition in the kids' lives!

The Wedding of Q and U

Dearly belearned, we are gathered here today to witness the wedding of Mr. U an Miss Q, two fine letters who were truly meant for each other.

Miss Q, do you promise to be the strong, silent type speaking only when Mr. U is present?

"I do"

Mr. U, do you promise to help Miss Q when making words like queen, quiet, and quilt?

"I do"

By the power vested in me by the school of Chapel Hill, I now pronounce you Q and U forever.

Will On Stage

Today at church, Will got sing up on the stage. Every year around this time they do a small program on Chapel Hill Children's School during the service. The 3, 4, and 5 year olds that were in attendance went up to the front to sing a couple of songs, and then there was a slide slow presentation of the school. Will was very excited about singing on stage, and although he didn't do much up there, he insisted he wanted to sing more and couldn't understand why it was over so fast. When he saw these pictures of himself on then computer, he asked me why he looked so sad. He is just saying the funniest things lately.

When we got home from church I decided to take a few pictures of the kids before they changed clothes. I didn't get even a decent one of the three of them, but I did get some great ones of Will. For the past few months, Will has not taken a good picture. I have tried to many times, only to have EVERY single picture come out with his eyes completely closed or very close to that. He has also been sporting the very fake smile, and even when I told him just not to smile, his eyes still looked bad so many times. So today the first 10 or so pictures I took turned out the same way, but then he moved positions and I guess just relaxed a little bit, and I just snapped away. So, I know there are a lot of pictures here, but I just couldn't resist sharing them.

Grandma's Visit

We had Grandma here for a visit the past couple of days. She flew in on Thursday afternoon, and we met Forty, Robin, and Jack for dinner Saturday night, and she went home with them for a few days. She got to ride around with us and attend our activities. On Friday she had lunch with Caroline at school and then got to watch Will in his gymnastics class. We went our for Italian Friday night, and then she got up extra early Saturday morning to watch Allison's basketball game. Caroline's indoor soccer game was after that. She and Ray ran a few errands with Will and Allison while I took Caroline to a birthday party, and then we headed to Champs in Dallas for dinner with Forty, Robin, and Jack. It was a quick trip, but we enjoyed her visit. As always, the kids were very sad to see her go!

B Ball

Allison started playing basketball this winter and has really enjoyed it so far. Her soccer team is playing together, so it makes it fun for her that she knows the girls on her team. They are 5 - 0 so far, and I have been very impressed with the level of play from all the teams. Basketball is a hard sport to learn, and I have been surprised at the coordination they have all shown. The only down side is that all of the games are at 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Actually only 2 of the 8 are at 9:00, and the rest are at 8:00. The good part is that we still have the whole day ahead of us after the game. It sure seems early, though, especially on these cold winter mornings. So, here are some pictures of Allison in action. We really enjoy watching her learn new things.

Lights Camera Dragons

Today was the 2nd Dragon Pride Assembly of the year. Allison was recognized for perfect attendance for the 3rd six weeks and for completing the Dragon Pride Reader Project and the Dragon Pride Citizenship Project. The theme of the program was Lights Camera Dragons, and the students were to dress up in their very best for a night on the red carpet. The character qualities of generosity and resourcefulness were highlighted, and they were able to participate in a singing and dancing version of swaying in the rain. It was cute to watch and always fun to be able to attend these things with her. Next year, beginning in first grade, Caroline will be able to participate, too. Congratulations, Allison, on another great six weeks of 2nd Grade. We are so proud of you!!

Pajama Day

Will had pajama day at school today, and he was so excited about it. He had a very hard time choosing what to wear (okay Mom was the one really thinking about it). I knew I had gone too far when he finally said, "You choose, Mom - whatever you think!" I don't know whether he more excited about the transformer pjs, the new racecar slippers, or the fact he got to take his stuffed dog to school. They "slept" there, drank hot chocolate, and watched a movie. He really had fun, and I thought he looked adorable.

Will is also going through a phase where he is obsessed to talk about what he wants to be when he grows up. His main interest is being a dad at this point. When I asked him why he wanted to be a dad he said, "So I can punish kids, hang stuff, and, you know, always take a shower downstairs." Sounds like good reasons to me.

Lisa and Ellie

My good friend Lisa is in the process of adopting a little girl from Russia. She and her husband, Marc, have two beautiful boys and decided to expand their family by adopting. They have named their little girl Ellie, and after three trips to Russia already, they leave next week for one more to bring her home. To celebrate Ellie, Ruthann, LeeAnn, and I threw Lisa a shower at LeeAnn's yesterday afternoon. We had a great turnout, and it was a wonderful time to celebrate Lisa and the precious little girl Ellie that she will be bringing home in the next two weeks. After having two boys, Lisa was showered with girl things and is already having so much fun dressing her and decorating her room. Ellie is 18 months and is just beautiful in her pictures. We are all so excited for Lisa and her family and can't wait to meet Ellie in person very soon.

Wild Wacky Hair Day

This week in Kindergarten they are studying their last letter - W. In celebration of the letter W, today was Wild Wacky Hair Day. There was a lot of discussion that went into exactly what Caroline wanted to do for Wild Wacky Hair Day, but early this morning she said she had made her decision. She did not want me to brush her hair, and she wanted 6 ponytails on her head. She was very pleased with the results and could hardly wait to get to school.

On another note, this afternoon I took all three kids to the dentist, and you would have thought I was taking them to the circus. They were all soooo excited and performed perfectly. They all got great reports and got to chant to Dad when they got home, "Hey Daddy, look Daddy, no cavities." This was something I did as a child growing up, and it was really cute to hear them doing it now. We have had some not so pleasant times at the dentist through the years, and the fact that it was actually fun today is just another sign that they are growing up.

Welcome 2009

I have always loved the week after Christmas. In fact, it might be my favorite week of the year. Ray takes it off from work, and it is such a great time to catch up on sleep, fun, and household projects. I am usually ready to get back into our routine by the time it is over, but this year is different. It has been so nice to not have to be on a schedule with places to be all the time, and I could definitely keep doing this for awhile longer. I think the kids really enjoyed the break, too, but they are very excited about school tomorrow. I crossed the first hurdle and got lunches made and backpacks packed. The next hurdle will be setting the alarm and actually getting everyone up and out the door on time!

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We had a lot of fun as a family over the holidays. One of the highlights was taking the kids ice skating for the first time. We went to the Galleria in Dallas and had dinner at Mi Cocina before making our way onto the rink. I wasn't quite as good as I remembered being and this caused a slight problem because I couldn't handle any of the kids hanging on me. Ray on the other hand was a pro, and he handled taking them around the rink. Allison picked it up pretty quickly, and she and I had fun skating around slowly and independently. It was a fun family outing with lots of good memories. We also saw movies, played board games almost every evening, rode bikes, went for hikes, and played Wii Games. Ray and I were able to get out three times for date night - twice by ourselves and once with friends.

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One of the best things about this week is reflecting on the past year and making plans for the new year. There is something exciting and uplifting about the new start and all the possibilities that a new year can bring. I have never actually written out my resolutions, and while I believe in making changes throughout the year, this has always been the time of year where I have really thought about some things in my life I would like to change. I love the quote by Charles DuBois - "The important thinking is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become." Here are my hopes for 2009.

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I hope to make it a priority to get more sleep.

I hope to drink more water.

I hope to start playing some tennis.

I hope to have more fun with my kids and husband and to not worry so much about my to-do list.

I hope to place more focus on helping others in need and to teach my children how to make this part of their lives.

I hope to have a positive impact on the people that are in my life and leave things better than I found them.

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I'm sure I will have days where I fail at these aspirations, but I am grateful that I can wake up each day and with God's grace start again. I struggle with focusing too much on my to-do list, and I've thought a lot about how life is really not about reaching the destination, but it's more about the journey. I want to savor the journey and not miss out on the details along the way - especially while my kids are young. So, as I start 2009, I pray that it will be a year happiness and health for my family.

Happy New Year!

The Big 40

On December 20th Ray turned 40! I had been agonizing over what to do for him for several months. He had a big surprise party for me on my 40th last April, and he adamantly said he didn't want something like that for his birthday. I contemplated everything from having a big Christmas/Birthday party on the 20th to just having family over. I ended up having a small surprise dinner for him at Javier's in Dallas on the 14th. I had 4 couples from Northwest Bible Church. Ray was in a small group Bible Study with these guys for several years. He has been on Ski Trips and Mountain biking trips with them, too. After Ray stopped going to Dallas to work everyday, it became harder and harder for him to get together with these guys on a regular basis. So I wanted to do something that would be for RAY, and I think the dinner went great. He thought we were meeting my 2 high school friends and their husbands out, which we usually do around Christmas. I was able to get the small private room at Javier's, and it was really a wonderful evening. All of these people I have known when they were single, and it has been fun to watch our families grow together. Of course, now that the guys got together, they are planning a guy's ski trip at Doug and Becky's house in Red River for the end of January.

On the 20th I had my parents, Bill, Kristen, Katherine, Libby, Forty and Robin (Jack was already sleeping) all over for dinner. The kids and I had fun decorating the kitchen for a 40th birthday celebration, and I hope Ray felt like we really celebrated his special day. One thing I gave Ray was a framed picture of our family mission statement that we made several years ago. I will have to post a picture of his main gift when it arrives - a new road bike!!! I won't do a top 10 for Ray, but I will say that he a wonderful and very helpful husband and father, and we are all so proud of him.