Christmas Morning...

Twas the night before Christmas and we were up wrapping ALL the presents and daddy was putting together a see-saw in our living room!

Christmas morning before the sun was even up...

Brenna sneaking a peak in her stocking while waiting for Gage to wake up...

They opened all their gifts together. Brenna's 1st then Gages! It was so sweet...

REALLY??? Do we get to keep this thing in here...

I love it here...

Trying to get pics of them in their matching jammies...

Next, on to living room fishing...

Finally the swimming dollie she begged Santa for...

This year was no disappointment. Brenna graciously came and woke us up to see her open her gifts. Some of you may remember the great story from Christmas 07. Brenna woke up and opened all of her gifts and then came to get us up!

This year I kindly explained to her the rule that Santa made where if your mommy and daddy dont get to see you open your presents they all get to go back to him. She had no problem getting us up (at the crack of dawn, of course)!

T Family Christmas...

Aunt Christies cupcakes after uncle Walker slammed on the brakes. They were super yummy and cleaned up well (lucky for Uncle Walker)...

Famous Uncle Walker and cousin Jackson opening gifts. I am sure Uncle is reading the fine print on the 200 pieces you have to put together. We promise its a cool toy!

Brenna sporting a new fancy purse!

Brenna and Jackson hanging out on the mini tramp.

Brenna being silly with her really big present.


The next morning making cupcakes with B's new cupcake maker. Aunt Kelly and soon to be Uncle Mark stayed over so we had lots of baking to do.

Thank you everyone so much for the fabulous gifts, food and your precious time. We loved hosting and we loved having you all here! Wish the day didnt go by so fast!

(now how on earth did baby Sophia escape my camera this time...)

Shout out to OnStar...

I cant believe I forgot to Blog this! On 12/4 I had a lovely experience. My story is as follows, lol.

So, G climbed in the front of the Tahoe and I knew he was playing with the lock button. I got upset and just put him in his seat and forgot about the button because we were late to pick up sis. YES, I locked my 2 yr old in the car with it running.

So, after about 10 min of sales peeps at Lowes, calls to the pop a lock people I remembered...are you ready...I HAVE ON STAR!!!

One call and my car was open in seconds!!!

Thanks a million OnStar!!!It is worth every cent!!!

Our Christmas Angel...

Brenna had her 1st school play. The 4 year old classes put on a program filled with story and song at her school. Although Gage did not enjoy all the singing (he cant stand singing, go figure) Daddy and I (and even Kel-Kel) were able to take turns watching our little girl shine. She was so poised and perfect. There were kids twirling, dancing and just having crazy fun time. Brenna never broke her stand, missed a word or hand movement and just stayed perfectly in line. She was so proud of herself and so are we!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Stair Sliding...

PSA: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME WITHOUT A PARENT (you really shouldnt do it with a parent either)!!!

So, Geromi and I were down stairs and all we hear is "gu dump dump." We both paused, Gage is giggling hysterical, and we see a tunnel come sliding down the stairs. Brenna has decided that she will start practicing for the winter Olympics indoors! She would slide down through the tunnel and then lift up the top for Gage to dive in. This was a VERY long activity filled with an hour of laughter by us all.

Havent we all slid down the stairs in our childhood. Only difference is we have concrete floors at the bottom!

Ouch.

Christmas Cookies

What fun!!! The kids loved making cookies. Brenna was so patient with Gage. They had the most fun with the flour. After they were able to paint with some edible paint and have fun with sprinkles. We all enjoyed munching on their wonderful sugar cookies when they were done.

Brenna is so ready to make some more for Santa.

Really she is just ready for Santa!!!

The joys of having a big sissy...

He may be totally pissed when he is a teen but it was too cute not to shoot. He was so so proud of himself for being able to walk like sissy. I swear he loves her so much!

Double slide

Move over sissy...

Quick Gage look at the camera...
Down they go all smiles...

Dont worry Bub I got you...

But "moommm" I dont want to go inside...

Yes folks that is our G and his very tiny temper! How they go from utter glee to meltdown so fast is a medical mystery. All in all it was a great day and the kids are having a blast being country kids!

Star of the Week...

We have had a busy couple of weeks at school! Brenna was star of the week this week. This means sharing pictures, show and tell and taking a favorite book. We took our favorite book, thanks Aunt Christie, Llama Llama Red Pajama, and tons of pictures of Brenna and all her adventures. For show and tell Brenna took her favorite dolly, thanks Aunt Kel-Kel. They have matching outfits so Brenna and baby strutted their stuff for the whole class. All in all she was very proud of herself and loved getting all the attention.

I wonder where she gets that from?!?

When Gage spends the day with daddy...

Its really hard work keeping up!

G is for...

But that wasnt Brenna's first choice! Brenna was the letter detective at school on Thursday. She came home on Tuesday so excited and wearing a "G" around her neck. She comes bolting in the house yelling "Mommy I get to be the letter detective and I am gonna take GAGE to school!" How sweet is that!

After much explaining that her whole class may not know her brothers name we settled on a giraffe. She had to hide the thing, or a picture in a bag and give 3 clues so the class could guess. It is a great preschool excercise. She said (with help of some of mommys work friends, wink-wink). You can find me at the zoo. I have spots and a very long neck!

Next week she is star of the week so I am off to print pictures and get her ready! Have a great week everyone!

Why we vote the way we do...

"Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history. " Sen. John McCain, 11/4/08


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4fe9GlWS8

Living in the Texas Hill Country...

Geromi had his first auto vs. deer. Lovely. A day later the subject was the lead on the AOL banner. 3 days later its national news. Geromi is fine but it was a very scary wreck. The eight point went under his car and he somehow managed to get home to park until Farmers can get to us.

Here is the story from today. I edited some out it was long. After reading this it freaks me out so much more about his wreck!
News - Nation
Saturday, Nov. 01, 2008
Fatalities on the rise in vehicle-animal crashes
By FREDERIC J. FROMMER - Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON -- Fatalities from vehicle crashes with deer and other animals have more than doubled over the last 15 years, according to a new study by an auto insurance-funded highway safety group that cites urban sprawl overlapping into deer habitat.
The report by the Highway Loss Data Institute found that 223 people died in animal-vehicle crashes last year, up from 150 in 2000 and 101 in 1993.
Since 1993, Texas had the most deaths from such crashes, with 227, followed by Wisconsin with 123 and Pennsylvania with 112.
The Highway Loss Data Institute and its sister organization, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, looked at both insurance claims and federal crash data. According to the report, most accidents involving animals are with deer.
"Urban sprawl means suburbia and deer habitat intersect in many parts of the country," said Kim Hazelbaker, the Highway Loss Data Institute's senior vice president. "If you're driving in areas where deer are prevalent, the caution flag is out, especially in November."
The study found that insurance claims for crashes with animals is three times higher in November than it is from January to September.
The overall number of animal-vehicle crashes is also on the rise. The report says that State Farm Insurance Co., the nation's largest car insurer, has estimated 1.2 million claims industrywide for crashes with animals over a 12-month period ending June 30 of this year. State Farm says that claims for those types of crashes have increased nearly 15 percent over the last five years.

Halloween 2008

Brenna after her school carnival... A butterfly for dance class...

Then the BIG night... Tinkerbell and Doctor Gage

Gage LOVED it! Anyone who knows Gage knows he is a bit hard to please. Geromi and I decided maybe we should pay our neighbors to throw candy on thier porches a few nights a week and we will have Halloween year round. Anything to make our lil guy that happy again is worth it! Brenna, aka Tink, was very concerned over not missing a house with lights on, keeping Gage in check with his pumkin in hand and basically directing the show! It was an awesome night!

If Halloween was that much fun what will the lil guy thing of Christmas! We may have to do a Santa scavenger hunt for our presents. Good idea mom!!!

Our Doctors...

I got to hand me something down so I couldnt resist. This is Brenna at 2 years and now Gage at 2 years.