More of our Merry Christmas

Now I can check "Liberal" off my list of photos to share, but I still have to get to all the ones we took in Colorado! :) I especially love taking pictures of Gabe dressing up - such perfect blackmail. :) And the picture of Ashton - all muddy - by the John Deere sign... love it. It has become tradition for Gabe and Papa Joe to go out on the digger and dig up a huge hole. Then the boys have a blast running down one side and climbing up the other. You can see just how big the hole is, too - DEEP! Boy Stuff - I'm getting used to it. Ashton though, I don't know what he was thinking, he just laid down, face down, and licked the bottom of the hole. Yuck! :) Crazy kids.

Last, I will share pictures of Ashton's dramatic haircut. We are all still getting used to it. He has two crazy cowlicks in the back, his hair grows in fast and thick, and it's always a mess! But the military hairdo is quite the change... Fitting in attitude for our little "shooter" but... something to get used to. :)

So, if I don't get the chance to say it.... HAPPY NEW YEAR! :)

We are very much anticipating a fun evening at Brandy & Alfredos, where we will all rock out to their new Singstar WITH Dance! Crazy! :)

Merry Christmas Medley

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!


Today's post is an assortment of Christmas photos and memories from this month. We have had a LOT of celebrations this year, a lot of good times. To start, just some pictures of everyday life.

The boys, after shopping with us in Wal-Mart. Gabe picked out a present for his class gift exchange and something for his teacher. They were good and got to ride the Winnie the Pooh after...

And at home, sitting in the clearance buckets I got at Wal-Mart. Gabe is hugging the Puppy he has had since his first Christmas in Pittsburg, that he still sleeps with every night. Ashton looks ornery, doesn't he!? (that's his usual look!)

Jermie and I went to our first Ugly Sweater Party! We even got a babysitter for the boys - the first time ever for Ashton to have a highschool girl watch him instead of family! Wish I would have shown the front of the sweater more - it was prety awful in full-view! :)

I think it should be recorded that we have had Great weather so far this year. These are pics of the boys playing in the front yard, mid-December, and they didn't even need winter coats. In one of the smaller pictures, Ashton is carrying Monkey - who he Loves - and asks for every night. This developed pretty suddenly, but he likes to sleep with Monkey every night. Pretty sweet.

And now, some actual Christmas Pictures!

This is our first Christmas Celebration - with my mom's side of the family out near KC. Lots of cousins and aunts and uncles. Lots of great food, big laughs, and time for the kids & adults to enjoy each other. Growing up, this was always "Pittsburg" Christmas, but we have loved having the get together at my uncles' home - it is so grand and gorgeous.

Sorry - I know the pictures should be bigger - but I was pressed for time and just did one photo collage. :)

And the much-anticipated Trinity PreSchool Christmas Program...

Gabe, Maverik & Whitlee were hard to get pictures of before the program - very distracted by everything going on - Gabe upset that he couldn't stay in the church and sit with Haylee. And during the program it was impossible to see them, with our seats in the back of the church and the kiddos so short at the front! I did go to the front, but they were lined up on the opposite side, of course, so photos were kind-of a fail... I think the whole program was a slight disappointment. Their portion of the program was a brief part of a big play and there was no applause and no big stage for them to get on... After the play, Gabe went down to the basement with all the kids, and his teachers let him go to the bathroom, and then he decided to go back upstairs by himself. Jermie, Ashton, Grandma Peggy and the other families went outside. When I got down to the basement, he wasn't in there. When I hollared into the bathrooms, he wasn't in there. When I went upstairs, he was in a man's arms, with the man trying to calm him down and saying his mom would be there soon... Argh! A moment of small panic for me, disorganization from the school, and poor Gabe was just UPSET - that he still didn't get to see Haylee! Ah, well, it was still an opportunity for us to show Gabe our support and be proud of him.

Good times.

One thing about sending Gabe to a Christian school - I have loved hearing his explinations of Christmas, his descriptions of heaven, his prayers, his songs, and his thoughts about Jesus and God. Even when he gets it wrong, it's cute: zalvation, referring to when Christ was 'boring' instead of born... :)

Another favorite: these are from Grandma Peggy. Gabe, Ashton & Maverik - ready for Christmas!

Kids are so fun this time of year. They make the season - and all its business and stress - worthwhile.

I want my kids to always embrace the holidays with the enthusiasm they have now. To always have the unconditional love for their families and excitement to see them as they do now. To have dreams about Santa and his reindeer, to sing Christmas songs.

I want my boys to quit growing on me! :)

Here is a memory of last year. The boys with Santa, 2009.

... Still to come - a post about our Christmas in Colorado, a look back on the year, and maybe a couple New Years resolutions! .... but not for awhile. Getting back to working on a Syllabus right now! :)

OMG 101

Last week I had a secret. I shared it with only a few people. I had a million thoughts, but most of those I didn't share at all. ;) But all my worries were for naught. Sometimes, things are just meant to be.

So, last week I got an email from Cowley College. They had my resume on file and were looking for an adjunct English teacher. So, I got Pretty Excited about the opportunity... I mean, what Am I going to do in 18 months? And how many times have I considered teaching?

So, I convinced myself that the opportunity was too good to pass up - something I needed to try for - and then got worried about my chances at being hired, so I kept a pretty tight lid on the whole thing. I spent the weekend thinking of possible interview questions and answers, doing research, updating the resume...

And now I have good news: next semester I will teach English Comp II for Cowley College. Interviewed & Hired this morning. :)

First day of class: Jan 13th.

The Good Part: I will still work (hopefully the same hours) at the Grant office!

I will teach FROM Wellington High School, because the largest amount of my students are taking the class from Wellington as dual HS/CC credits. So, the classroom is Right Next To the grant office.

Classes are Tues/Thurs mornings from 8 to 9:20 a.m. (This freaks me and my babysitter out! LEAVING Winfield 7:15 - 7:20 a.m. UGH.) But it makes my other boss happy - starting work those days at 9:30 means I only have an hour of work to make up through the week - pretty easy.

I will have about 10 in the class with me - but I will also have this video system to learn - yikes! - because there will be classrooms in Ark City and Mulvane, too, each with 2-3 students.

I thought I had a sample syllabus to follow - and I certainly do have a set standard of assignments to do: 1 Research Paper, at least 3 other essays, etc. But as it turns out, all I have are the headings for What Topics to teach - and it's up to me to choose the reading materials/write the quizzes/plan how to spend the class time...

Class Time: 1 Hour, 20 minutes - 2x week.

LOTS to DO to get ready. Reading, planning, reading, planning, and getting my plan on paper...

Many things to worry over. Many future hours to spend grading papers...

But also, Pretty Excited to try my hand at something new and see if it's something I've got a future in... :) Wish me luck!

Good morning

Good Morning!

Lots of updates I could post from our busy house, but since I am on Jermie's laptop I don't have the pictures... SO... that's not as much fun. But, I can get started on a recap...

• The boys and I were invited to join Grandma Peggy, the girls, Jill & Maverik for a Christmas Program at their Grandma's little country church. It was a very welcoming atmosphere, the kids were more than excited, they all got to Sit on Santa's Lap & then we stayed for the program. We did sit at the FRONT of the church - with all eyes on our busy kiddos - but even my boys behaved pretty well! A fun night.
• My mom's family Christmas was this past Saturday near KC. We rode out with Matt & Alli and Kaden - the boys were great in the car! Then we hung out with Grandma, my aunts & uncles, my cousins and their kiddos. My uncle has an amazing new home and it's nice to get together with everyone. The kids had a LOT of fun, me too. We buiy presents for all the kiddos - so Gabe & Ashton came home with a real loot. Lots of great gifts that they have already LOVED playing with. :)
• I love the GlassLocks tupperware I got in the gift exchange - glass bottoms and snap-on tupperware lids. I've Never had any before, actually, but I love it! :)
• Sunday was spent getting out the new presents, building a fort over the floor heater, hanging out. Unfortunately, Jermie still hasn't kicked his cough and feels miserable most of the time. He needs to get WELL!
• Monday night we made an impromptu drive to Hutchinson to buy an entertainment center. It will go in the front half of the living room and hold our OLD TV. Jermie worked on setting it up last night and it's looking good. I like the way it fills that wall space...
• At work we are working on our bidget for the next 18 months of the underage drinking grant. After that, I'm jobless. :/ Yuck! And budgets are stressful times, too!
• Last night I worked on cleaning bedrooms and putting away laundry. Gabe was able to wear size 3T jeans when he started school this year - hard to believe now. He's grown so fast since this summer! He's bigger and taller and just keeps growing up on me. What's up with that!?
• Ashton is ready for his terrible 3s. He's sneaky and bratty. He put my mascara all over his face yesterday. steals my gum any chance he can get into my purse, and likes to hide things in socks. Mmmmm....
• Plans for this weekend: an Ugly Christmas Sweater party on Saturday night, Gabe's FIRST Christmas Program on Sunday. :) Awww!

Hope all is well with you. Hope I can post pictures soon! :) -df

Smiley

What a great weekend. I'm so ready for winter. Hibernation is calling to me!

Spent the weekend in our warm home. Friday night - boys stayed with Grandma Peggy. Jermie and I enjoyed dinner out with Jill & Adam, El Magueys (loved it!) Crashed on Jills couch while the guys worked on their basement remodel. Saturday - decorated the house, movies. Saturday night - Matt & Alli over for cards and SingStar. :) Sunday morning - Jermie's famous big breakfast, followed by movies and Naps and movies. Happy boys, good times.

This morning - the first morning I've had to defrost my windshield this winter! :)

Work is also calling to me... Hope you all have a good one! :)

PT Rockstar

Potty Training Rock Star:

Maybe Ashton has finally decided to potty train for good!? Yesterday he did great at Grandma Peggys - even wore underwear during nap time and stayed dry. So, he came home in big boy undies and was dry all night. Went to bed in big boy undies and woke up in the middle of the night to potty... Woke up with his big brother and they pottied together this morning. :)

Big boy Ashton? I hope so!

Thankful

* I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! *

Hello! I'm back to work from Thanksgiving break this week, which means once again time is rushing by, as it always does. Dec. 1st today - really!?

Last week was a nice break from it all. All of us at home Wednesday-Saturday, then I went to moms and saw all my siblings and everyone was together Sunday afternoon for the BIG Thanksgiving dinner. It was like a very extended weekend. At times productive, at times lazy. We watched movies, played games, and now I have our big, beautiful Christmas tree up in my living room - right next to my Thanksgiving table cloth because I can't find where I put my Christmas one last year... :) Much more Christmas decorating planned for this weekend... Jermie and I got a slight start on the holiday shopping on Black Friday - went to Wichita with Jill & Adam, started shopping at 5:30 a.m., so we got a lot of great door-buster deals but also missed all of the crazy 4 a.m./store-opening/elbow-throwing madness. Jill & Adam got some big deals, Jermie and I some smaller items. I'm probably most excited about the curtains we ordered for the downstairs guest room ~ beautiful! (Hmmm... I wonder if they're in yet?) Got Gabe a lot of clothes, the boys a few toys, but nothing too big. Still planning that...

BIG NEWS at our house - Jermie is OFFICIALLY DONE with his classes! Bachelors in Business from Friends University... YAY! It was nice to have him home this Monday night - no more homework to stress about - no more papers to write - wonderful! Very proud of my hubby for taking on school on top of all the work he does here, too. So much going on! Give him a big congrats if you see him! :) He hasn't decided if he will walk in the May graduation or not, but he and his classmates have a big schindig planned for this Saturday so there certainly will be a celebration!

I have to apologize - I really haven't taken many pictures lately. Last week the boys and I made a WONDERFUL leaf pile and we rolled around in it. I took dozens of pictures on my camera - Fun pictures of smiley, handsome boys - but they won't download due to a corruption on my disk. UGH! So, I pouted through the week and took very few pictures of Thanksgiving! :/ New card in my camera now - so I should be back to my usual shutterbug self in no time. I am trying not to hold a grudge against my camera!

HEY - a cool thing - I won a Twitter jackpot with a coupon to the online site Picaboo - which is a photo editing site. You know I'm like a kid in a candy store with free money to spend on pictures and photo books! I just wish I could complete those photo books a LITTLE faster! Jeez! You'd think I had too many pics to choose from or something! :) Lucky me!

Guess what this Christmas will bring: Gabe's first Christmas Program! He said they're learning new songs for it at school and I'm so excited! It's his first program of any kind... priceless! :) Ashton and I are going to go into the school this morning to browse his book fair, look for some Christmas presents. I'm such a nerd when it comes to Gabe's book fairs - I always find a handful of things to get the boys, and then have to narrow it down so I don't spend a fortune. So far, the favorite has been "Words Are Not for Hurting!" :)

Better get going this morning - trash day and all. :)