Christmas Madness 2013

December 24th morning:  We woke up and opened gifts at home because I had to be on call for work that evening, and I wanted to make sure I got to enjoy watching the girls open their gifts.  Landry was all into opening presents.  Audrey just wanted to throw away the wrapping paper

 Lila became the proud owner of, what I think may be, the world's ugliest bike helmet

 That evening it was on to the Burlesons, where we were joined by more Burlesons for the first time.  Lila considers Ashton to be her personal playmate

 It was Baxter's first Christmas, and he looked very festive in his Christmas plaid collar

 By this time, Landry had figured out the gift thing, and she would open the present, and yell out "oh, thank you" and "so pretty" each time

 Audrey was over it, and she let Landry open her gifts and sat in a chair and played with her toys.

The girls were so excited to see Gracie.  When they came in, Audrey ran right up to her like she remembered who she was

 They had a good time showing Gracie all of Gran's Christmas toys

all the crew was there, and of course the house looked like Christmas magic

On Christmas morning, we woke up to find out Santa had been to visit 

Then, it was time to pack up and head to Hallettsville.

Of course, we can't forget to celebrate the birthdays, too.

Natalie and Aunt Debbie had fun making everybody pose for family photos.  It was actually a good idea, because I realized that we were all there and that may not happen again for a little while.  My Dad, Uncle Freeman and/or I, are sometimes missing due to work, and next year Michael will be joining the workforce of people who don't always get holidays off.

After a little tinkering with the camera, Shawn was able to figure out the timer setting so we could get a group shot

...and then we all started to fade a little

But, no rest for the weary...there was still more fun to be had at Nana's

And, another year of Christmas madness in the books.  I am tired just talking about it

Thanksgiving

This past Thanksgiving wasn't just "Thanksgiving"...it was November 28th, and that means that someone turned 40!

There was lots of good food, plenty of fun

...and then FOOTBALL!

Yep, I was the lone longhorn fan.  Despite the freezing weather, we had a great time

I snapped this pic of the beautiful sunset right before kickoff

Friday, we headed down to Hallettsville to go to the annual Courthous Lighting and parade,

where we had more fun, more food, and more family!

Lila was too cool to sit with us

This was a picture of Audrey's reaction right when they turned the lights on

 This was my favorite family entry in the kiddie division

and this group from West, TX was my favorite.  It wasn't a parade float, but they came a long way, and danced their way through the town square to Polka music, and the banner on the truck said "Czech your Stocking", which is too cute.

Fall Fun

Where did the time go????  We have been busy, busy, busy.  A lot has happened. Lila played Fall T-Ball with the Stars.  She had a blast, and was always second place when they would do the "hardest hit" contest, which I think is a great accomplishment when you are half the size of everyone on your team.

She is still loving school, and we love her school, too.  I was so nervous about her going to a big public school, but they are so family oriented there.  I cannot say enough good things about the teachers.  They are a "Leader in Me" school, and are teaching the kids "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", so Lila comes home saying things like, "Mom, you just need to be the water", and "we are sharpening the saw".   Her teacher Mrs. Spivey, takes a lot of pictures and shares them with the parents.  Her class is called Spivey's Superheroes, and Lila has gotten the Superhero award twice, which means she gets to bring a (stuffed animal) superhero home with her for the night.  Lila loves science class, and they have gotten to study snails and isopods.  Her school had a school wide Sock Hop to celebrate the 50th day of school, and they just had a week to celebrate kindness and solidarity and the whole school formed a peace sign, which Lila thought was really cool.

We managed to make it to a few UT football games...we always love seeing all my college friends during football season.  They have decided to build a medical school in our tailgate spot, so after 15 years, we had to say good-bye to our beloved, fully shaded tailgate spot.

Halloween was WILD, as always.  You may remember that I have mentioned that my neighborhood does Halloween BIG, and this year it got BIGGER.  Started off on the Tuesday before with a Zombie Run, which was a kids' 1 mile fun-run around the hood.  So cute.  Lila was really into costumes this year, and she was very particular about her mummy wrap.  

Lila decided that she wanted to be Batgirl, and she decided that Audrey would be a dog, and Landry would be a cow.

Audrey didn't really care that much about trick-or-treating (she is still really regimented about her bedtime), by Landry got stronger as the night went on.  Once again, a good time was had by all.

Yada Nitschke

Lila:  Mrs. Spivey taught me Spanish today...Yada Nitschke, it means "Oh my goodness"
Me:  That is not Spanish.  Grandma Mozisek said "yada nitschke" all the time.
Lila:  Grandma Mozisek was Spanish?

11/9/2013-I just learned the correct spelling is Jejdanečky

Tuesday, August 27, 2013.  First day riding the bus.  Mrs. Laura came to the bus stop to cheer you on, and she snapped a picture for me.  So thankful for our great neighbors.

Mondays

I am usually off work on Mondays.  In the summertime, Lila stays home with me, and we do whatever she wants to do, no matter how big (within reason) or small.  Here's a little recap of our summer Mondays.

There was a lot of pool time.

We rode the "subway" (light rail) downtown, and had lunch with Natalie at Moonshine.

Daddy joined us for a trip to the Capitol...Lila's favorite part:  the stairs

More swimming

And for our Grand Finale...

Bungee Trampoline at the mall.  Lila has been waiting for two years to be heavy enough to do it, and she had a blast, then...

lunch with Natalie, and then...

ROLLER SKATING!!!!

I am not sure which one of us had a better time.  Brought back memories of skating on the driveway in my Rainbow Brite skates with my Tiffany cassette playing. 

 We had a blast, and can't wait to go back.  Perfect way to end our summer Mondays.