There are very few positive things about being stuck in an airport for 8 hours on Christmas Eve. People watching IS ONE of them! Check this out...
12.29.2008
People Watching is Wonderful!
Christmas in Texas (a little late)
The day after we got back from Charlotte, we gathered at my sister Allison's house for a little Christmas celebration with my family. Leslie came in town, which was a wonderful treat! She got to meet Miss Chloe for the first time, which was great! We had a great afternoon and evening of playing, opening gifts and of course, eating too much!
Christmas in Charlotte
We had a wonderful time visiting Doug's sister, brother in law and their kiddos in Charlotte. It was tough getting there and getting home (flew stand-by), but the BEING THERE was wonderful! Enjoy this little montage of our trip!
12.17.2008
I've Been Tagged...
I've been tagged by LynnAnn! She wants to know...
8 TV Shows I watch...
LOST (just started season 4 last night! It's excellent!)
Damages (starting back in January...so excited about that!)
Law & Order: SVU
Criminal Minds
Without a Trace
CSI
The Office
30 Rock (occasionally)
8 Favorite Restaurants...
*The Tearoom (but it might not be anymore cuz it wasn't that good last time)
*Uncle Julio's
*Patrizio's
*Mijo's
*Del Frisco's (we're not talking about places I go often or ever, right?)
*Kincaid's (But I do like Burger Box, Bonnie!)
*Celebrity Bakery (mostly for the cookies!)
*Luby's
8 Things that happened yesterday...
*I was stuck in my office doing paperwork for the first part of the day...which stunk.
*I got cold.
*I laughed at my husband.
*I talked to my Mom.
*I looked at Christmas lights in Interlochen.
*I wrapped Christmas presents.
*I stayed up WAY TO LATE watching the 1st 3 episodes of LOST, Season 4.
*I went to sleep in a warm, snuggly bed, but couldn't sleep because I was thinking about people who are sleeping outside...Debbie Downer, right?
8 Things I'm looking forward to...
*My husband starting and finishing school and getting a new job.
*Having a baby someday.
*Buying a house someday.
*Finally losing the weight.
*Seeing my sister Leslie.
*Wake Up Weekend with our 10th Graders.
*Christmas!
*Seeing Brock and Chloe.
8 things I wish for...
*A house of our own.
*Time with family all together.
*That my furniture wouldn't have dust on it again RIGHT AFTER I dust it!
*That we could go on a trip with my family.
*That I was more motivated.
*Not sure what else...
12.14.2008
Happy 4th Birthday, Brockie!
Our sweet nephew, Brock, had his 4th Birthday today! We had a family party for him last night, which was such a fun time!
Brock is so precious, and we just love being with him so much.
Everytime we're together, I'm more and more amazed by how much he's growing up! This past week at his school program, he stood in front of an audience of 200 people and recited the Pledge of Allegiance! We saw the video of it, and it was truly amazing!! I know I'm probably biased, but I really think he's a genious! 
We are so proud of Brock and the sweet boy that he is!
Happy Birthday to our precious Brockie! We love you, Buddy!
Santa on the Roof 2008
Our sweet friends, the Goodyears, host an annual event called Santa on the Roof at their home. Doug has had the fun privilege of playing Santa for two years now! The evening is so much fun. I'll tell you how it goes in case you want to host one in your neighborhood.
Jessica's Mom, Kathy, got the idea many years ago from a person in New Hampshire. She then started doing it in her home, which happens to be the home my friend Jessica now lives in. So, it's a great tradition! Anyway, all of the kiddos and parents gather in the front yard (Jess had 100+ kids present this year). They sing carols, the last one being "Up on the Rooftop". 
At that point, Santa (who has been hiding in the backyard, goes up a ladder in the back and comes climbing over the top of the roof for all of the kids to see.
Then, Santa gets into his bag and passes out a treat bag to each child there. Jessica has all of the parents RSVP in advance so that she can have the bags pre-labeled for Santa. She also already has the bags on the roof for Santa to grab when he's up there. After Santa finishes passing out all of the treat bags, he comes down into the yard so that all of the kids can have their pictures made with him.
Then, she has hot cocoa and treats inside (and out) for everyone to enjoy. This is a very fun event, and one that I think we'll enjoy for many more years to come!
12.13.2008
How do you say, "Merry Christmas"?
So we have these "Merry Christmas" blocks. They're so cute, but the only problem is that they hardly ever actually say Merry Christmas while they are up. Someone has made it his game to see what else can be spelled with these blocks! 
The truth is, this tradition started LONG before I came into his life. His Mom has a set of "Merry Christmas" blocks as well. One time, she and Doug's Dad had taken some friends out for dinner. When they brought the friends over to their house after dinner, they walked in the door to find the blocks were not spelling "Merry Christmas" at all, but instead "CREAMY SH**S". Great. I know Faye was so happy about that!! I'll let you know what other sayings appear throughout the holidays! Can't promise they'll all be "sweet".
Some new decorations for 2008!
A new tree skirt!
My sister gave me a set of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" ornaments. Here's Day 2...I love them!
We bought this taxi cab ornament in NYC this year.
Doug REALLY enjoys Christmas decor!
Here he is wearing the new tree skirt!
Testing out the mistletoe.
Lighting the fire...
And finally, he's relaxed!
The Upcoming Downtown Arlington
At least we hope our Downtown might soon become a more "visit-able" spot! Last week we had a great time down there at the new Levitt Pavillion. The choir from our church performed there just before Arlington's Parade of Lights. It was a chilly evening, but we had a fun time with our friends the Fletchers. 
12.04.2008
A way to say thank you...hopefully!
This post was inspired by my friend LynnAnn' blog. She recently wrote about the lost art of writing thank-you notes. See the post here. Anyway, while reading her post I had an epiphany...or an epifery as my husband calls it. I realized that my blog might be a perfect avenue for saying "THANK YOU" for the not one, not two, but THREE gifts we received for our wedding that had no card attached when we went to open them. Yes, my wedding was a year and a half ago. But despite my efforts to find out who the dear gift-givers were, I came up with no answers!
So, it has been a worry in my soul (and my Mom's soul) since May 2007. After all, what if I've been in the presence of one of these people since that time? You know in their heads they're thinking, "What a jerk she is! I gave her the nicest gift and she never even took the time to say thank you!" I'm guessing this is what they'd say in their heads because it's probably, no definitely, what I'd say in my head. Sorry to admit that I think it's jerky to not write a thank-you note. But I feel I earned the privelege to say it's jerky to not write notes after writing 402 thank-you's following our wonderful wedding!
And the truth is, it IS JERKY! We were so incredibly blessed by the generosity of so many people during our wedding celebration. To think that they took the time to think of and purchase a gift for us is just amazing, and I hate to think that anyone would ever feel unappreciated after that generosity. So, here it is...my final effort to thank these people for three wonderful gifts:
1. A great toolset...fully equipped with a mini-drill, and a wide variety of tools...Doug has used this set on numerous occasions since our wedding. He loves it, and I love it because now that he has that, he can't claim to not have the right tools to complete my "honey do's". THANK YOU!!!
2. A 7" Santoku knife from Bed, Bath & Beyond...wonderful tool for the kitchen! THANK YOU!!!
3. 16 piece glasses set from Dillards (Libby brand)...also great! They've held up well despite my talent of dropping dishes in the sink while I wash them. THANK YOU!!!
If the givers of any of these gifts happens to read my blog, and you know you didn't receive a thank-you note from us, would you PLEASE tell me! I want to thank you appropriately...not just on my blog! And, if you know who the givers might have been, or know of anyone that has been cursing my name for a year and a half due to the neglect of a thank-you note...please tell me! If they've been cursing my name for a year and a half for other reasons not related to thank-you notes, don't tell me. :)
12.01.2008
Thanksgiving Festivities
**FYI...there are several new posts...
We had a very nice Thanksgiving. Our celebration actually began a week early when we went to have Steffens-Gobble (as Doug and I like to call it). This event is held each year at Doug's Aunt Linda's home. She cooks a most spectacular meal, and we gather there with lots of family and friends. It was truly a wonderful time!! Unfortunately, we did not get any great pictures of that day...
On Thanksgiving Day we went to my cousin Kristin's house for another fabulous meal. (Things aren't looking good for the other blog this week I have a feeling!) Anyway, we gathered there with lots of my family members and had such a nice time. Then we went back to Allie's house where I spent most of the evening staring at Chloe. As you can tell, my pictures are a little heavy in Chloe's honor! Proud auntie, I suppose!
We did have a wonderful holiday, and we have so much to be thankful for! We thank God for our family and friends, for good health and for all of His many provisions for our lives! Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving too!
I got to give Chloe a bath the other night. I was amazed at how much she loved the water, and enjoyed the whole experience. I was definitely prepared for her to freak out, but she didn't. Maybe she was holding it in, and that's why she got a bad case of the hiccups!
Brock was cracking us up the other night singing all kinds of songs. My favorite was "Father Abraham". He did all of the movements...right arm, left arm, right foot, left foot, chin up! So cute! But of course he wouldn't do it again for the camera. So I got him to sing some other songs and secretly turned on the camera! Our little star... Don't mind the awful singing at the end by the crazy lady holding the camera!
Marble Slab Party
We had such a fun time with our 10th graders the other night. We had a Marble Slab party over at the Goodyears. They own their own slab! Jess and I bought all of the toppings and ice cream, and the kids got to make their own "creations"! Then, we played a CRAZY fun game called (of all things) "Big Booty". I'm not going to even attempt to explain this game. All I will tell you is that when I got the bright idea for us to play this game, I promptly stood up and said to a whole room of (mostly) 10th grade boys, "So, who likes Big Booty"? Hmmmmmm....they weren't sure how to receive that question from their Sunday School teacher! Needless to say, I was talking about the GAME!!!
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