Our 2-Year Old Now

If I have learned anything lately its that a busy preschooler means an ever-messier house. And it's not just the toys and books strewn everywhere. James also likes to remove things from shelves and drawers. He draws on walls. He spills juice, tears paper, flings clothes and balls in the house.

James is more in control of his movements. Now he can play with small objects easily and stack (not just knock over) towers of blocks. He can also concentrate for slightly longer periods of time, as much as 20 minutes if he's deeply engaged. Sometimes he'll become so absorbed in playing that he'll resent my interruption. Transitions are easier by warning him in advance, as in, "You can play with the blocks for five more minutes, but then it's dinnertime." Sometimes I may give him a few warnings before I insist that he finish up his play.

Another thing I have learned is that messes have many different triggers behind them. Part of the upheaval is James' lives-in-the-moment mode; easily distracted, he abandons one thing right where it is and moves onto the next. Curiosity plays a role, too. James just has to know what's in this cupboard or what happens when he pulls every last tissue from the box. It takes time and practice — encouraged by lots of parental patience — to learn that there's a right place for dirty socks and a wrong place for crayons. Let's just say that my expectations for tidiness are low while James climbs this learning curve.

We are proud parents!!!

Darrell and I attended the first semester awards ceremony for sixth grade at Ashlee's school. The principal used an interesting analogy during her speech to the students. She stated that this moment was like half time in a football game. The students should remember and use what was learned this past half to make the next half successful and even better. We are very proud of Ashlee's hard work in honors classes!  All the late nights studying and doing homework has paid off.  She made the A/B honor roll and "is a delight" to all her teachers. Woo Hoo!!! Go Ashlee!

Crib Talk

James has begun to talk to himself when he is alone in his bed. Usually it's when he wakes up and is playing in his crib. I believe his little monologues may be helping him make sense of his day. At least, that's my theory. I know there is evidence (somewhere...there's gotta be!) that shows that small children who chatter to themselves are re-creating their world by retelling and interpreting key experiences, such as being left at day care or playing with his toys. By talking these experiences over, James finds meaning in them and this, in turn, enhances his developing sense of self.

These special musings are part of James' growing emotional and cognitive skills. So I decided to really listen to what he had to say without interrupting. You can understand my surprise when I heard my own scolding voice in his baby talk "you sit in time out for 2 minutes" and then an imitation of my comfort talk "sorry, hug you!" He's going over everything that happened to him, which naturally included what goes on in our family which now-a-days includes many time outs! So I could just picture him sitting there in his crib with hisn Lightening McQueen car putting the Chic car into a time out! Sooo cute!!!

Vaca in New Mexico

Our family winter vacation was a whirlwind of events! After a wonderful time in Alvin with the Higgins and Powell's on Christmas day we packed and got ready for our week long journey. A day after Christmas we borrowed Darrell's parents camper and headed out for Ruidoso, NM. Our first stop was Corsicana where we picked up Ashlee from her Mimi Jones. Then we headed to Hurst where we had Christmas with Aunt Wendy and Uncle Bill for a night.

The next morning we climbed into the truck and pulled the camper to Monahan's State Park near the border of Texas. The park was very interesting with rolling hills of sand dunes. We bought plastic sleds at the office, waxed them up, and had a blast sledding down the sand hills.
The next morning the snow started to move in. We packed up early and left out to beat the storm. We battled some of the blizzard driving slow with our windshield wipers on high but the roads up into Mexico were fine as long as we drove slow and stayed in the middle. Once we reached New Mexico the weather cleared out. We arrived in Ruidoso and set up camp just as the sun went down.

The next morning we woke up to a sunny clear day full of snow. The RV park we stayed at was backed up to a beautiful national forest that turned out to be a huge playground for the kids. We built snowmen, forts and had a blast sledding down the hills. These plastic sleds payed for themselves between the sand and the snow. Even James had a good time on his sled that we pulled on hikes through the mountain side with a rope attached to it.




The second night in Ruidoso another snow storm came through. I was extremely nervous as we drove through the streets slipping and sliding in our 2 wheel drive truck to a restaurant where we met up with our friends, the Hectors and family. Let's just say that once we got back to the camper I was able to breath once again! One thing is for sure...Momma does not like ice and roads! I don't think God has heard from me that much in one week in a long time!

After a snowy night we woke up to a beautiful blanket of new snow that covered the national forest play area from the day before. It was smooth and absolutely beautiful! Darrell caught a ride up the mountain with Glen to go snowboarding for the day. The kids and I played in the snow with our friend Bobbie and baby Garrett. Bobbie and I went shopping that evening and I realized just how cute Ruidoso really was. The night before I hadn't noticed due to the blizzard. But without all the snow falling I was able to see the quaint little lit up town.

The next morning was New Years day and it was time to head back to Texas. Another beautiful sunny morning but we hadn't anticipated the frozen pipes and connections. We ended up leaving a lot later than we actually planned waiting for everything to thaw out...including the roads. By noon we had the camper all packed up and we said goodbye to our friends and headed out. Next stop...Circle B Ranch!

We arrived in Bracketville at the Baughman ranch about midnight. Pat and Travis greeted us at the door with open arms. For the next couple of days we broke in the new year hunting and hanging out with dear friends and family. Then before we new it it was Sunday the 4th and time to get home. Once again we packed up the truck and camper and drove another day to back to Pearland. All together we drove over 2,000 miles and I have to rate this as one of our most exciting adventures as a family.



This is a picture of the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen. Taken at the ranch from a deer blind.

Ashlee and Darrell sitting in "Stairway to Heaven" deer blind.

Our Superb Performer!

This past first semester of school Sydney participated in her school choir. Every Monday afternoon she attended choir practice getting ready for her performances throughout the holiday season. She sang her little heart out at two senior homes and at the city hall. She sang in front of all her peers in a school performance and then that night she sang for the parents at a PTO meeting. We were supposed to go caroling and sing to all the neighbors around the school but the below freezing temps and rain put a damper in the fun. The most exciting performance was halftime at the basketball game where the Pearland Police played against the Alvin Police Department. We are very proud of our choir performer.

Sydney also performed in her class play. Each performing class group acted out their parts in front of parents and teachers during the holiday party on the last day of school before the Christmas break. She was a little bit nervous but had so much fun doing it!

Santa is here!

Look who we ran into at our favorite restaurant in Pearland...Chick-fil-a. It was a raining, cold busy holiday season evening. Darrell was at the Woodway campus helping out with Angels of Light. Angels of Light is a huge production...25 years in the making. Second Baptist busses in kids from all over Houston every night for a week to give them a hot meal, presents and most of all to tell them about Jesus. Anyways, it was a school night so the kids and I stayed home. We decided to run through the Chick Fil-A drive through and grab some dinner with the gift card Gma had given to us. So we are sitting in the car line and we could see into the restaurant and lo and behold sitting right next to the Christmas tree in the lobby was SANTA!!! Needless to say we picked up our food at the window and immediately parked and ran inside. Thank goodness a friend of mine was there with a camera so we could catch the memory on film. The JUMP team also was there from church. They did a few fun dances that the kids enjoyed. So much fun at Chick-fil-a!!!

Snow Day in Pearland!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Two Decembers in a row now it has snowed in Pearland! Yesterday morning it began with a slush falling from the sky and by lunchtime the sky was full of fluffy white snow. It snowed heavily for a couple of hours and made a few inches of snow to play in. At first James thought it was too cold and wasn't at all impressed. The schools closed down early so the girls got to come home to play too. James changed his mind when he saw his sisters having so much fun. Before I knew it we had our very own Frosty the snowman in our backyard. He was a little dirty...but a snowman none the less! The girls had fun playing "snow" ball with James' plastic bat. All it took was about an hour for the fun to wear off before they were ready to come in and sit in front of the fire with hot chocolate warming their tummies. Amazing how quickly the cold gets old! The last bit of snow was still hanging around this morning too. Although Frosty looked as if he was the leaning tower of Pisa...he hung in there until this afternoon before he completely fell over.



Right about the time things started to slow down it was time for the Pearland Christmas parade. We usually walk in it with our church float but decided this year to sit and enjoy it from the sidelines. We bundled up and headed out to get there early to get a good seat. Our dear friends, the Bohannon's daughter Shelby came along with us. Soon the sun set and the cold was on once again. But the kids had a blast and had a good excuse once again to cuddle by the fire and drink hot chocolate. Gotta love the Christmas season!