Beautiful Day

The Dallas weather has been so gorgeous for the last few days. We've been trying to take advantage and play outside as much as possible.

Jacks is such a super big brother and Luke thinks the sun rises and sets with him. They had some fun with Luke's new ride-on.
Luke also enjoyed playing peek-a-boo with one of the columns of our gazebo. :)
This one is, "Ta-DA! Here I am!" He does actually say ta-da, although his version is just "Daaaaaaaaaa!" We had a really nice visit with Anthony's brother and his family this past weekend, too. It's always great to see them and especially to watch the cousins play together. They always have so much fun. Here are my older boys with their best 'cuz, H.

Merry Christmas 2008!

Last night we headed over to Gramma and Grandad's house for our annual traditional Christmas Eve dinner of tamale pie. Not long after we ate, the boys got a special Fed-Ex package direct from the North Pole! Inside were awesome rock star PJ's, encouraging the boys to get ready for bed so Santa could get started on the long night ahead. ;) The boys immediately stripped down and donned their gay apparel (hehe).

Here are the little rock stars with their Aunt Kate (AKA K-K). Think they like her?
And then Santa himself showed up...though he looked a lot like Daddy. ;)
Santa let Luke borrow his hat for a bit....Jacks was ready to head home so Christmas would come faster...But Cody found Gramma's cool headphones and had to rock out. He's with the band, he HAS to rock! Later, Anthony and I readied the house for the next morning. One of Luke's presents was his own green Anywhere chair from Pottery Barn. He has been coveting Jackson's and Cody's, who have both had one since they were about Luke's age. So now he has his own, and I had to get a shot of the 3 chairs together. :)
Before heading to bed, Jackson made sure to open the fireplace for Santa so he wouldn't get stuck in the chimney. Looks like Santa couldn't hang the stockings with care because they were so full!Santa was here! And he left a few cookie crumbs behind...In the morning, the ride-on FJ Cruiser got the most attention. But hold on, WHOSE present was it again? Clearly, Luke thought it was meant for him.
"Wait, this isn't mine?""What do you mean this is Cody's? I like it! Hey, no fair!"Cody's so sweet, he didn't mine sharing...But he was pretty glad when Luke finally decided to play with what Santa REALLY brought for him.Luke took the message on his PJ's to heart and practiced his rock star face.Meanwhile, Cody tried on the work goggles that came with his new tools and ran around the house fixing things.Then he and Luke (and therefore I) braved the cold to road-test the FJ!And where was Jackson during all this? He parked himself at the kitchen table at around 7 am with his Santa present, the Lego Cargo Train Deluxe, and didn't move for a few hours, until the whole thing was built! We're having a quiet morning at home before we go back over to Gramma and Grandad's to celebrate Christmas with them this afternoon. Merry Christmas to all!

Super Santa and his Helpers

Yes, even Superman is in the holiday spirit! And he managed to get Jacks on board with his Christmas cheer as well. Luke was very skeptical about the whole thing, but gamely played along. :)It's the day before the day before, people!!! We're almost there!

All He Needs is the Kilt

"They may take our cookies...but they will never take our FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Our little Braveheart has developed quite a love for dressing up. If he doesn't have shoes on, he'll bring a shoe or two (doesn't matter if they match) to whoever is nearest and demand help getting them on his feet. He often tries to steal the glasses off our faces and put them over his own eyes. And just yesterday, he found one of my scarves and was thrilled when Daddy wrapped it around him, sash-like. A metrosexual in the making? :P

Cody's Christmas Open House

This morning I joined all the parents in Cody's class for a special Open House in their classroom. The kids sang a couple of songs and then served us cookies and punch. They also presented us with a special Christmas present: a handmade tree ornament with their school picture inside.

Though Cody is always such a serious customer at school, he loves music and we've been listening to him sing these songs for the last couple of weeks, so I knew he was looking forward to today. He rocked his Baby Jesus like a pro, wished us a Merry Christmas, and hopped Santa right out of the chimney. It was so great to watch.
Notice that he is a full head taller than every other kiddo in his class. And doesn't he look so much like Anthony? Merry Christmas Codes!

When Luke Grows Up...

You know how you often see family photos of famous people when they were little, as evidence that they were always destined for greatness in a certain area? Like the one of a 2 year-old Tiger Woods holding a golf club. Well, here's ours of Luke.

"Wise men say.....only fools rush in....thank you, thank you very much."

The Trains at NorthPark

We headed down to Dallas this afternoon to see the train exhibit at NorthPark mall. Considering the insane crowds, we were very worried we'd face long lines, but in fact, Jackson, Cody and I walked right in (meanwhile, Daddy and Lucas visited Auntie Anne's for some pretzel sticks...yummy!). We had a lot of fun, and my 2 little conductors already want to go back for another visit. :)

Santa Visit 2008

Luke was there, but he just wasn't feeling it today. The nice photographers took a delightful picture of him sliding off of Santa's lap, screaming, but I opted for this fun one of my older boys. Don't they both look ready to give Santa a hard jab to the ribs with their elbows? Haha...

Luke and I might try again with just him some morning next week. Today we went after school, and though the line wasn't nearly as long as it is on the weekends, we had to wait close to 30 minutes. Luke had just had it by the time we actually reached Santa.

But Jacks and Cody had a wonderful time. Jacks told Santa he wanted "Cargo Train Deluxe" and when Santa looked at him blankly, Jackson obligingly explained (with not a little 'duh' in his voice), "Legos."

Cody said he wanted Power Wheels. That's a ride-on car that he saw in a commercial yesterday. Unfortunately, not the one "Santa" already ordered for him from Walmart. Uh-oh.

Christmas is that much closer now that we've actually seen Santa! :)

We Elfed Ourselves!

Last month we turned ourselves into Superheroes...and now, with Christmas only 16 days away (yes, we're counting), we decided to Elf Ourselves. Again, the boys just can't get enough of watching these. Give it a try!

Elf Disco!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Elf Barn Dance!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Eyes Have It

I've been working on learning more about Photoshop and how to make eyes really stand out in pictures, but I swear to you that I didn't doctor these at all. Luke's eyes really ARE that shockingly blue and filled with light!

The eyes are the window to the soul and all that and....what? What do you mean he's got something on his face? I'm talking about his eyes here! Pay attention!

(Holy wow, people, do you see what I have to live with? How can she not see the evidence of the yummy brownie I just ate? Is she blind?)

When I was using Photoshop to tinker with some other pictures, any attempt at bumping up the crispness in the eye area had my subject ending up looking like a member of the Borg. But with eyes this big and blue, no tinkering is needed. I wish my eyes looked like that! Isn't he perfect? So fresh and handsome, he's totally ready for his close-up, don't you think? What? What crumbs? Come on, now, you're just jealous you don't look this magazine-ready.

(Yeah, if the magazine is all about dirty children. Or advertising Boston Market's chocolate brownie goodness. She's so clueless. I'll try planting myself right in her face. We'll see if she notices anything then.)

Oh my, I just swoon looking at those eyes. They're SO big and blue. I can't see anything but them. He's going to be such a lady-killer with eyes like that...some woman is going to dream about swimming in them, they're so deep and aqua and I bet they're the perfect temperature.

(What the heck is she talking about? She's gone off the deep end...just to continue with the swimming pool metaphor.)

In this next picture, I imagine I can see the man he'll become. Doesn't he look so serious and no-nonsense?

(That's because I'm very seriously considering calling Daddy to report her crazy talk.)

I just love it when I catch glimpses of the future versions of the boys in their little baby faces. I can't wait to see all that they're going to do and be. Before Luke gets much older, though, I should clean that dessert off his face. It's kind of embarassing, isn't it?

(Finally! It's about time she noticed. But it's not that she's clueless...she just loves us a whole lot and that can be distracting. And the fact that she always eventually figures it out...that's why WE love HER. Even if she is nuts.)