Thanksgiving

Dearest Colt and Jackson,

You are by far two of the things I am most thankful for...but, also on the list this year:

Gorgeous weather that allowed us to play outside over and over again...

This adorable little lady...

Your contagious giggles that are tricky to capture via camera...

A patient dog and a big backyard...

A comfy stairwell that's just your size...

This yummy restaurant that The Lakes introduced us to with a dessert counter selection that comes straight from heaven...

Impromptu aerobics classes...

And especially y'all hosting us at your place this year!

Muchas gracias!!

Thankful for mini-golf

Dearest Boys,

On our second day of Thanksgiving break, we ventured down the street (literally) to an "action park".  This park has batting cages, video games, bounce houses, race tracks, and two mini-golf courses.  We eased into things today by trying mini-golf only.  It was the first time for each of you and that was obvious!

Hole #1 started out with proper form and patience from everyone  : )

While not pictured below, there was even a hole-in-one made by you, Jax!

But then there were water distractions...

And when the golf club didn't get the job done, the pick-it-up-and-throw-the-ball-at-the-hole technique was implemented...  (Also note that the club was used as a pretend horse and *someone* galloped around the course screaming "Giddy up!")

Turns out, this course was LAME!  The positives there are that 1) any course we go to next will seem that much better and 2) practically no one was there!  Although I was unimpressed. I checked with you two when we got home and you assured me that you thought it was AWESOME!  (Which you're telling me in the photo below, Colt!)

Cool course or not, I'm just thankful to get to spend this whole week with you boys in this GORGEOUS weather!

Picture Perfect

Dearest Jackson and Colt,

We met with a photographer a few weeks ago to attempt some family pictures.  Every day leading up to "the big day" was gorgeous and every day since then has been sunny and warm -- but, that one special morning was....well, not.  The temperatures were in the 30s and we were all literally shivering the entire time.  And that cold is the only thing I can think of to blame for a super grumpy attitude by you, Mr. Jax.  You gave the photographer about 10 cooperative minutes and then you just had a mini-meltdown.  Colt, you, on the other hand, were a total ham.  While you were all smiles - you took the "never stop moving" approach to staying warm.  The only time we could get you in the photographer's frame was when one of us was holding you in place!  Even with all of that, she still managed some shots that I love.  I used a few of them for this year's Christmas card but here are some of my favorites that I didn't use:

After our speedy little photo shoot was over, we were quickly heading back to the car to warm up -- but, on the way there, you boys ventured off the path into the woods and had an impromptu leaf fight.  She sent me this little bonus montage of you two just being boys.  So candid...so very you...so my favorite part of the morning!

Grinch?

Dearest Boys,

Daddy is out of town again this weekend - this time on a fun trip with Uncle Andy - so we had a lot of time to fill together.  In between shopping, laundry, riding bikes, visiting the park, and going to church, we did a little decorating.  The word little is to be emphasized in this case.  While I want to make things festive for the two of you, my heart is no longer in love with this house and barely has any desire to "holiday it" up.  I dug out a few Christmas boxes and we put the tree up together though.  Colt, you're too young to know what's going on so you played on the computer at first.  Jax, you were pumped right away and wanted to put every ornament on the tree by yourself.  The first ornament you picked was your Toy Story ornament that you received last year.

You kept at it, Jax, and only one ornament was injured in the process (a bear with a broken hand that is no match for super glue!).

Before I could even lay down the tree skirt, you told Colton to pose with you on the ground - just like y'all did two years ago for our Christmas cards.  So sweet!

Once things were in place, you finally took notice, Colt.

I quickly snapped this picture of you and what appears to be your favorite ornament before having the "ornaments are not toys" talk with you.  I've only heard that ornament's song - you know, the one that plays when someone turns the knob - 7 more times since then so it seems our little chat was muy effective.

Now I just need to hang up the stockings...and I think that will be it for this year.  

Does that make me a total grinch?

Gold Medal

Dearest Jackson David,

Your first ever soccer season is in the books!  It’s unbelievable to think of how much you've improved over the season!  Not only did you learn a lot about a new sport, but we learned a lot too!

We learned that you anticipate events.  Positions weren't taught or assigned but you took on the roll of “fullback” at every game.  While the rest of the kids would be running around the field “large school of fish style”, you’d be hanging in the defensive third, all alone, but intently watching.  You waited for the ball to come in “your zone” and then you attacked it every time!  We talked to you about moving up to midfield but you told us “The ball will be coming here soon!” – and you had a good point.

We learned that you are fast!  It wasn't until we saw you darting around the field that we realized that you run faster than most of the other kids out there.  On more than a few occasions, other parents commented to us about how quickly you run.  I even heard parents on the opposing team refer to you as “the fast kid” in last week’s game!

We learned that you are tough!  You took plenty of spills throughout the season but almost always jumped right back up and kept on going.  Coaches, refs, and even your teammates would try to check on you after a fall, but you’d be running down the field again before you could answer them. 

We learned that you are a natural!  We saw how awesome you were at baseball and wondered if it had something to do with your team dynamics, coaching staff, etc.  Well, this experience was different in the fact that you were on a team with 7 other kids who had no idea what was going on and a coach who was barely present – much less teaching you any skills.  However, you still showed amazing athletic ability!  That’s a God given thing, son – because it sure didn't come from Mommy or Daddy!

We learned that you are not aggressive by nature.  You were quick to note the most aggressive player on the team and you made it a point to stay away from him as much as possible.  The cool thing is that you still stepped it up when the situation called for it though.  This was an interesting personality trait to watch each week and it surprised us about you!

You earned a medal for completing the season and you are so incredibly proud of it!  And we are so incredibly proud of YOU!

And it looks like you inspired someone else to get into the game ; )

Fort Wildflower

Dearest Boys,

While life is amazing and we live it well, a few "bleh" days still slip in there every now and then.  Considering that this is our memory book, I want to document it all and yesterday and today have been 2 of those bleh kind of days.  Yesterday started on a high-note with you playing another solid game of defense at your soccer game.  Things started going downhill though when we tried to go get breakfast and almost every aspect of our order was messed up.  After that, Daddy had to go to work, which is always a downer.  We hung out at home for a bit, had lunch, and everyone took a nap to try to sleep off the funky moods.  We woke up, made plans, and headed out for some fun.  But plans promptly changed as you, Colton, threw up all over yourself and your seat as we were driving down the road!  

Today was better though.  We took it easy at home for most of the day just to make sure your throw up incident was isolated.  Daddy only had to work for a few hours and we each took naps again today.  Once your dad was home, everything went back to normal again and it was all good.  We checked out the newest playground in our area and ran into fun friends there - making it a super ending to a less-than-stellar weekend.

Now let's get back to our regularly scheduled fun, please!  ; )

Texas Football

Dear Jackson and Colton,

Although your birth certificates already sealed the deal, last night we made y'all "Official" Texans as we took you boys to your first high school football game!

It started at 7:30, which meant it really messed up bedtimes -- but, it was a huge rivalry game between two of our local high schools so it was special.  

Ms. Steph saved us some seats and you were thrilled to see her outside of "school"!

Y'all were precious as you sat there taking it all in together!

Colt, as usual, you didn't stay put anywhere for very long.  You took advantage of various laps and proved to me that this tradition is better suited for ages 4+.

We stayed to watch Steph's daughter, Kristin, do her thing during half-time and then we called it a night.  

For memory's sake - we were fabulous good-luck charms as Marcus was victorious over Flower Mound (34-14)!