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.

Allison's 8th Birthday

December 15th was Allison's 8th Birthday. This was the most excited she had been about a birthday, and for several months leading up to it, her birthday and birthday party were topics of daily discussion. She kept saying she really wanted it to get here because she was so excited, but then she would be worried that when it got here, it would be all over, and she couldn't look forward to it anymore. She really struggled with this. We decided to have an art party at The Art House in Southlake, on Saturday, December 13th. She got to choose her project, and she picked to have everyone draw a self portrait on a canvas bag. There were 16 girls that came plus cousin Jack, Will, and a few adults. They started off making candy cane bracelets while everyone was arriving, and then they started on the painting project. After the project we had cake and ice cream and then opened presents. There was lots of yelling and happy screaming when she opened up some gifts related to High School Musical or American Girl. I should mention that Allison wanted High School Musical 3 for her theme for the party. She had a lot of fun with her friends, and I'm so glad so many of them were able to come during this busy season.

Monday was her actual birthday, and I was able to go up to school and have lunch with her and take cookies into her classroom. This was another detail that she agonized over - which treat to take to class! She finally decided on iced sugar cookies with sprinkles.

After gymnastics that evening, we went out to dinner with Gram and Grandpa at Chilis. Here is where she got the gifts from us and Gram and Grandpa. The highlight was the American Girl Doll Mia from Gram and Grandpa. Allison has wanted Mia since she came out as girl of the year last January. She has red hair like Allison. Sometimes it is a challenge to really make a big deal out of her birthday in the middle of December, but I think this year was a big success, and I never want her to feel like her day is not special or important.

Here is my top 10 list of my favorite things about Allison.

1) Her enthusiasm for school

2) Her passion for her friends

3) Her desire to try every activity there is out there

4) Her sense of humor

5) The effort she puts into making others happy

6) The thank you notes she leaves for us around the house

7) Her beautiful red hair

8) Her love for God and studying the Bible

9) Her ability to live life to the fullest in spite of diabetes

10) The way her eyes sparkle when she smiles

Happy 8th Birthday, Allison. We love you.