On the Ranch with Honey & Grandaddy

Honey and Grandaddy came for a week after Christmas. Since Ray C. had the week off, we went to San Marcos to stay in our friends' ranch house. It was such a great, restful week. I love that the kids can just run around outside without me worrying about cars and people!Check out my mom! She is looking so good!


The kids think the ranch is the best place in the world! Why not? With four wheelers, guns, and a fire to roast hot dogs and marshmallows, what else do you need?




It rained several days while we were there, but we were prepared with plenty of board games to play and books to read!

Rodeo Houston Salutes the Military

Mary Frances and I got to go to the rodeo with Grandaddy last week. It was the night that they recognized the military. So, there were men and women in uniform everywhere. Each branch of the military brought in an exhibit. So, we saw tanks, jets, and all types of things! Mary Frances wanted her picture in the top of the tank!Of course, there was plenty of bare-back riding, bull riding, and mutton-bustin' (that's when 5-6 year old ride sheep). We also got to see Trace Adkins in concert! He put on a great show! I was surprised at what a great performer he was on top of his bass voice that vibrated the stadium! That was really cool!

In the last few years, Texas fairs have become well-known for frying EVERYTHING! Check out this menu - as if Snickers, Twinkies, and Nutter Butter didn't already have enough calories and fat! The day we went to the rodeo, the radio station had a nutritionist on the air talking about rodeo food. She said the best thing to eat at rodeo is the Cotton Candy with only 200 something calories. In fact, she said cotton candy is practically a health food compared to everything else! One of those fried oreos has 156 calories in it!
Yeehaw!
Everyone is excited that Grandaddy has been able to spend so much time with us the last few weeks!

My favorite part of the rodeo was when the Special Ops guys rapelled down from the rafters of Reliant Stadium along with the American Flag! It was an amazing sight!

Papa, Peppy, & Uncle Glen come to Texas

We were so excited to be able to stay home for Christmas this year and have family come to us! We are usually the ones doing the traveling at Christmas. So, it was very nice to be able to enjoy the holidays in our own home!Papa, Peppy, and Uncle Glen came a few days before Christmas and then left Christmas day. We loved hanging out with them and getting to know Peppy better!

Two Peas in a Pod - The older Thomas gets, the more I think he is like Papa!!
We were excited to take our company to NASA. My favorite part is visiting the Mission Control Room!
We were excited to see that NASA had a LEGO display this time! Check out the dragon behind us!

Pretty Little Girl

Christmas 2010

No one's watching...

Here are some scans of some pictures I found in my office a few days ago. Apparently Mary Frances and her friend, Kylie, were having a good time!!

FRAGILE

What were my parents thinking?Ray C. grew up watching "A Christmas Story" every year. He can quote every part of the movie, and we hear it all year long for different occasions! Anyhow, my parents just couldn't resist the leg lamp they found at CVS a few weeks ago. So, my dad fixed up a box with "FRAGILE" written all over it and packaged it just like in the movie! Ray C. quoted the movie the entire time it took to set it up -- even the kids were quoting it! And now, it sits by our bed in a lovely spot in my haven of the world! YAY!! Thanks mom and dad! :)

(Chase's face in the picture fits perfectly with the movie!)

We are the Champions...

Chase's baseball team played a nail-biting game for the championship in the fall and WON! It was a long game for the boys, but they did so good. We are so proud of them and love watching the way they play. Their skill and love for baseball is so much fun to watch!



Chase with his teammates and Coach "Daddy".
The pitcher and his 1st baseman! Man, they make some awesome plays together!
Chase and "Hunt-man"
Trent plays for the team we were "versing", as they boys say!!! He is one of Mary Frances' best friends. They have been in the same class the last two years, and I think they have the neatest friendship. I love hearing about the things they do and say to each other!

it's too early...

This past Sunday was an early day for us. Ray C. had to be at church at 5, and I had to be there at 6:40, which meant all the kids had to be up and ready by 6:30 --- no small feat to accomplish on your own. Of course, I do it every week, but we usually have about 30 more minutes!

Anyway...I told the kids we would be leaving the house while it was still dark. So, we would need to get up very early. So, Thomas and Mary Frances wanted to use Thomas' alarm on his clock. I set the alarm for 6:00, but I knew I would need to go to check on them as well!

At about 6:10 I went upstairs to find both kids in a heavy sleep and the UNPLUGGED alarm clock laying on it's side as if it had been thrown. So, I woke the kids up and asked if it had gone off, and they both said a sleepy & annoyed "YES...very early". So I questioned Thomas, "So you decided to unplug it?"

His reply was, "It was making a very annoying beeping sound. So I just unplugged it!" After laughing at the idea of experiencing your first early morning alarm signal I informed him that all he had to do was push SNOOZE and it would give him 10 more minutes! "Ohh..."

I love to relive all of these firsts from their perspective!

Boys & Guns

For Thanksgiving, we were blessed with the opportunity to go back to a friend's ranch and enjoy the unplugged life! It was so relaxing. We were able to lounge, read, enjoy the fire outside, grill, and make s'mores. We were also able to shoot clays and b.b. guns!


We had a b.b. gun for each child, but Mary Frances forfeited her chance. She didn't want anything to do with the guns but really enjoyed the sling shot - which I reminded her was all little David needed to take down the giant!

Anyway...Ray C. very smartly sat the kids down for a lesson on gun safety before we started! The boys listened very attentively dying to get their hands on those guns, and then they were off! We had lots of stationary targets and clays for them to hit.

Thomas gets a lesson in aiming steady! I love seeing Ray C. like this. Everyone here sees him as a city boy, but this is the guy I fell in love with --- jeans and boots, loving the outdoors!
Sugar LOVES the ranch as much as the rest of us! She loves to run all around, but she will not leave us. She's happy to go on a walk if we go, but if we stay at the house, so does she! She is such an amazing dog! I'm so glad Santa brought her to us 2 years ago!!
We had some friends join us for a few days. Zach is on Chase's baseball team. The boys had a great time "hunting" together! By the way, no animals were harmed on these adventures!

We took a walk down the road one morning and saw the freely roaming longhorns and the donkeys. The kids were so excited to see them all!

We even saw a deer that Sugar jumped out of the bushes only about 2 feet from Chase. Chase was holding his b.b. gun at the time and said, "Aw...I missed him. My safety was on!" I love the things that kid says!! He is hilarious!

Anyway..we had a wonderful time enjoying the outdoors while we were gone and can't wait to get back to San Marcos!!

Girl Scout Camp

Mary Frances and I went on a girl scout day camping trip a few weeks ago with a few other Daisies in her troop. It was a gorgeous day to be outside!
I'm in love with this picture of her!
The younger girls went to the horse farm and "groomed" the horses with all types of special brushes!
This horse made me wish I was getting my hair brushed! She was really enjoying the attention!
After a long day of hiking, grooming, playing games, singing, and crafts, the girls crashed in the car.

We are so excited to be involved in scouts and to have all the opportunities that come with it!

...next up...GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!!!

School Christmas Parties

I spent several days this week at school parties! We had a blast. The elementary school had a fun festival-type event for the kids. They brought in blow-up slides and had stations set up in the gym for a candy-cane walk, snack time, tree decorations, and this precious photo op! I was so impressed! Thank you Warner PTO and Mr. Maness, our Principal!
Maya and Mary Frances are always up for a picture!

Payton and Mary Frances enjoyed their popsicles from Frosty the snowmen even though it was quite chilly outside!Mr. Maness even got in on the rides - in between classes!!
Chase's class sang some precious Christmas songs to us and then invited us to their room for snack time. We are really going to miss Foundry next year when Chase goes to kindergarten!

This is Chase with his teacher, Mrs. Zarazee who was out earlier in the school year from cancer surgery. She is now cancer FREE and having her last radiation treatments next week! Merry Christmas, Mrs. Zarazee!

I love my baby! Now that I've been substituting, I was afraid that I'd lost him to daddy, but over the last few days, I've had LOTS of unsolicited and surprise kisses! I needed them more than he could know!!