Days before Christmas

Not too much running around, but lots of getting together with family and friends. Asa made cookies and notes for his class. His last day of school was the 18th, and they do not go back until the 11th! So excited though because Helena and Asa will go together that day for the first time. We had some great picture opportunities, but I only took a few pics! I am lucky to get out the door in one piece so the camera gets left behind.


We decided to head to Houston for a few days to see cousins and spend time at Aunt Dora's. Then we drove with her down to Corpus. The kids were ...well not too good on the plane. They just love to irritate each other. They go back and forth between loving on each other and then fighting. They were great on the drive though.






Helena! She ate through everything while in Houston.

My cousin Joey's son, Ben. He totally took care of Helena all through dinner.

My great friend Felicia!

One of Shenna's fabulous parties.

Asa's cookies for his friends at school.

Asa wrote notes to all his friends to put on the cookies. This took a long time (24 kids). I was impressed with his patience.

Ready for the roadtrip. Wulfie wanted to sit in the back with the kids. We were stuck on the highway at a standstill for an hour! The kids were really really really good.

This is Aunt Dora & Uncle Ian's home. You can't see it all in this picture. It is beautiful and I feel so relaxed there when I visit. It has so many amazing things, but at the same time it is hard to be there without Uncle Ian. It was entirely his work of art and it is filled with so many pictures and articles of him. His library is amazing and reminds me of everything he accomplished during his life.

This month, we had two great reasons to get together. Mari's baby shower - for Luke Aidan Panko and Joanna's Engagement party. I have know these girls for almost 20 years and 2 of them 25 years! Cannot believe it. From our days at Windsor Park & Carroll High. We all went to different colleges and live in different cities now, but it takes no time at all to pick up where we left off everytime we get together. And thank god - the husbands/fiances all like each other!! So glad we have lots of parties the next year to see each other. We also take a yearly trip in the summer.




I love this pic. Stephanie and Bianca with their daughters, Kimberly & Julianna.

Hostesses!

Pam & Julianna.

Engagement party in Corpus. Congrats Joanna!

Christmas Spirit

Last night was a great way to remember what this time of year is all about. One of the organizations I am in hosts a Make A Wish Christmas Party every year. Over 100 wish kids and their families attend. These kids are precious, gracious, and hopeful. Their siblings are just as amazing. We have dinner, desserts, activities, gifts for the kids and siblings, pics with Santa, and entertainment. It was a great night and great way to celebrate this season.


Then I came home to the two sweetest kids in the world feeling very blessed. They were still talking about watching charlie brown's christmas when I was gone. Every year with Asa, he asks more questions about Christmas. He is so fascinated by it and very excited. I really need to buy an advent calendar or something because every day he asks how many more days before Christmas. I wrapped some presents the other night and put them under the tree so... the next morning he came down and thought it was Christmas. Slow down there son. Those are from mom and dad!!! But you should have seen his face! He was so in awe.




Here are some random recent pics.

ASA holding a butterfly his friend Sam caught. We had to really convince him to let that little guy fly away. He did not want to let go!

Asa's first big catch!!! He went fishing with Uncle Nathan and caught the biggest one.

Helena sporting Dora Christmas PJS!

I thought this pic was hilarious. Asa gets into the mail alot, opens it. It drives me crazy. He pulled out address labels from some organization and went to town.

Christmas tree ornament that Asa made for school out of a recycled orange juice bottle.

Helena not so excited that we are headed to shop at DFM!~

Love these PJS.

Thanksgiving Festival

Asa's Thanksgiving Festival was much more than I expected. The past two years, they performed a few songs in English and Spanish. This year they put on a play...pilgrims, indians, feast, and all. Then they had a costume change and of course did thanksgiving ala mexico. Here are some pics of him. Such a proud moment to watch your kid enjoy enjoy himself so much. He had been talking about the performance every day and all day. So we were just as excited as he was that day to finally see it.

Thanksgiving Holiday

Our Thanksgiving Holiday was very very relaxing. We spent the day in Weslaco with Ryan's family. His Aunts are fabulous cooks and there is always way too much food. Lots of food, football, and fun. I thought it would be neat to join the crazies that evening. At 10:45, I drove by Toysrus and I was so out of my league. There were at least 300 people in line. I quickly left and decided to drive by a few stores for my amusement and there were people setting up tents to spend the night for 5am openings. We also had our lights put on that morning. The sweetest man in the world if anyone needs lights put on. He insisted he had time Thanksgiving morning. Can't believe we got them up before December. I forgot my camera for our Weslaco trip, but here is a pic of the house that night.

No pics

NO pics from last week. I was lazy. We went to a two very creative b-day parties but I forgot my camera. We had a very nice and relaxing weekend - No commitments. Tyler did participate in UIL improptu speaking and I took the kids on a picnic while Ryan attended a skeet shoot. What did happen Sunday night was Ryan's side mirrors were stolen!!!!!!! I could not believe it. This is apparently a very common thing in the Valley. I know many people with suburbans, tahoes, escalades that have had this happen to them. I thought - not us! And why did I think that? An inconvenience. Between that prick and the one identity thief, I feel I should at least carry around a BB gun so I can be prepared to shoot these people if I am so lucky to catch them in the act. We will be here for Thanksgiving and Helena & I head to Corpus for the weekend. Excited for the High of 70's this week. Not cold, but I will take what I can get.

The Mighty Rockets

I had no idea how exciting Soccer would be. From the first games where the whistle would blow and the boys would be hugging, to the last game watching these guys truly play some awesome offense and defense. The days of yelling "that is not our goal" are over. All the boys are so adorable. I am already excited for next season which starts mid February. I am thinking team t-shirts and pom poms for Helena?

Goodbye Week

The end of the week was a little rough but ended with a lovely date night. We were attacked from every direction, I got a flat tire, Ryan's car stalled almost on the expressway, and our AC started acting up. At the time when this happens, you are trying to cart kids around, Ryan is trying to work, and the November day decides to almost reach 90. After you have gotten completely frustrated while fixing these problems, you realize they are not that big of a deal. You get a new tire, the suburban thank god was a minor problem that was easily fixed, and same with the AC, minor repair. Everything is back up and running. We ended Friday with a relaxing night out, delicious dinner. Most of the time when we go out it is to attend an event or party. It is nice to be alone, too! We really enjoyed ourselves after a hectic week. What added to the week, was HELENA falling victim to the croup. We are croup virgins and poor baby sounded like some 90 year old smoker lady. She is much better, but it required a trip to the doctor for them to say there was nothing they can do. We have been to the doctor 4 times before that, so I am worn down. She probably got the croup from the doctor's office. She had an ear infection that was persistent and required 2 rounds of antibiotics, then the followup, then the visit for the flu shot! I don't have a cheap co-pay so it is all very annoying. But anything for her. I am lucky that they are usually very healthy. We don't get stomach viruses, my kids don't vomit, just some stubborn ear infections.



So we are done with the week and looking forward to a relaxing weekend! Last game of soccer for the season. We will start back up in February.

Sarah's Shower

Thursday night, friends and I hosted a shower for my one of my closest friends Sarah. She is having a boy, Landon Charles Meyer, due in January. The shower was at Lorin's gorgeous home. Lorin truly hosted this party with every detail in mind. Here are some pictures of the night. It was so much fun getting together will so many great girls and celebrating our friend's bundle of joy.





Delicious homemade enchiladas by Katherine. She is due in January, too. Very impressive.