Christmas 2010

Our Christmas was filled with all the F's...food, family, firearms, and  FRENZY.  It was magical to Lila and I think we all had such a good time watching her get so excited.  She loved every part of Christmas...We would go look at Christmas lights almost every night, and she had to make sure we plugged in all our lights the second we got in the house.  She loved looking at wrapping paper and was a big helper.

 Here she is opening Christmas cards.  Every day she would ride her bike down to the mailbox and bring the cards in and open them, and then hang them all up.  

Gingerbread Train

This was a new experience for us.  I don't recall ever making a gingerbread house...we always made very elaborate cookies.  This is pretty much how the project went.  Shawn read and re-read the directions, and Lila ate the icing. ( I ran out of patience with this project in the early stages)

I had no idea a simple pre-fab gingerbread train could be so frustrating...first of all, the pieces broke and had to be glued together, then we used the wrong pieces in the wrong places and had to take it apart and start over...We kept saying "are we on candid camera"

Christmas at Granny and Papa G's.

We went to the Children's Mass on Christmas Eve (I was such a proud parent.  My little girl walked by herself up to the altar to sit with all the other kids...then she slowly starts walking back, and says "what are we going to do up there?)  After church we went to Granny and Papa G.'s 

Lila really enjoyed being the Christmas elf and helping to hand out the gifts

I think her favorite gift was a hat and gloves from Jeanette...who would've known?

Christmas Morning

We were all so impressed with this scene.  The adults had so much fun sneaking around.

.

We couldn't wait for Lila to wake up and go crazy.  That's not exactly what happened (of course).  Natalie brought her out of the bedroom, and she just stood there; maybe a little overwhelmed.  Slowly, she started coming out of her shock.

This is Minnie.  This dog tried to open presents for days.  Here she is finally getting to open her gift.  She was frantic to get in that bag.

Christmas with the Schneiders

On Christmas Day, we went over to the Pettus's for the Schneider Christmas

It was about 39 degrees and the wind was blowing about about 20 mph from the north, but that didn't stop these fools from trying out J. Gard's new skeet thrower.  Once they started keeping score, no one was going to give in to the elements.  

We were perfectly happy in the warm house playing air hockey

Here she is on her maiden voyage on the jeep...Notice she is sitting on the wrong side

And, of course, playing with Papa's iPad!!!

We had a wonderful time.

Remember when you were a kid, and it seemed like Christmas would never get here.  I can remember having that nervous Christmas energy.  Everything would be dark in the house, except the Christmas tree and the glow of the lights made shadows on the wall, and I would get a magical feeling.  Lila is at that age.  She has to have all lights on at all times, and she just giggles every time we plug them in.  She has not been sleeping well for about a week now...here was the conversation last night we had last night, after about an hour of trying to get her to go to sleep.

Me:  Lila, you need to go to sleep.  I know it is hard, but Santa is not coming tonight, so go to sleep.

Lila:  I just so sited (excited).  I just sited for the reindeers to come flying by.

Me: Oh

Lila:  They come flying by, up in the air, and I hear the jingling of their jingle bells.  They fly Santa all around to deliver the toys.

Little conversations like that make all the hustle and bustle worthwhile.  I can't wait to see her face on Christmas morning (I just hope we get some sleep before then)

Christmas with my Cousin

Last weekend, we went to Ft. Worth to celebrate an early Christmas with Aunt Jana, Jai and Aiden.  

We did so much cool stuff.  As soon as we got there, we opened presents

 Then, we got dressed and went to this big, fancy hotel where they had so many beautiful Christmas lights and decorations

The hotel had neat exhibit  you could walk through.  It was the Charlie Brown Christmas made out of ice.  That's right ICE.  It was freezing cold in there, and we had to wear these special coats.

 Of course, we had time for a little mischief

On Saturday, we went to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch.  We really liked watching the crocodile open his mouth.

 After lunch, we went to this really fun place called Build-a-Bear.  You make your own stuffed animal, and you give them a bath and buy them clothes.   I made a reindeer and named her Callie, and Aiden made a monster and named him Gorky.

I had a great time, and so did my Mom and Dad.  

Thanks Aunt Jana and Jai for having us over.

Last weekend, it was just Mom and I.  We lived it up!!!

We started the day off, bright and early, at the Bevo Store (aka University Coop), and look what was there...The World's Biggest Longhorn!  I was so excited.

It was so big that Mom had a hard time getting us both in the picture

After a little shopping, I packed up and headed to the tailgate area.

I took a little rest...

(this wagon sure comes in handy)

and when I woke up, my friends were there...and, they brought Cheetos.  I love those chicks!

After a quick wardrobe change into my new pink longhorn t-shirt from the Bevo store, it was time for a group photo

Then onto the game.  

My little legs walked all the way to and from the game.

Anneliese and I had so much fun "cleaning" the bleachers.

We topped off the day with a stop at Costco.  We got a table at my favorite spot where I can watch the workers make the pizza.

A few weeks ago, we took Lila with us to the UT game.  She had such a good time.

Of course, the band was her favorite part (the band was the best part...it was the game we played Iowa St., which was the beginning of the implosion by the Horns)

 We walked all through campus and downtown.  Lila has a book about campus, and she had been wanting to go to The Tower for a while. (and she was very adamant that her Daddy take her to the Tower, not realizing that her Daddy is not a Longhorn fan).  

It was worth the wait!!!

Here is Lila and Daddy by the big star at the Bob Bullock Museum

Just a swingin'