Tree Trimming

Jas and Miss O put up the Christmas tree yesterday while I lay in bed, a big ball of head-cold misery watching all of the OnDemand episodes of The Good Wife (which rocks by the way- I am hooked.) So all day today Miss O has been bugging us sweetly enquiring about when we could put up the ornaments. So this evening we turned on the Chirstmas tunes, discussed how much nicer it would be if we had something festive to drink... and trimmed the tree! This was the first year that Luke really understood what we were doing. (I say that, and just this morning he wanted to know why there were no presents under the tree... Oh, well...) He LOVED putting the ornaments on the tree. Jas laid out the ones that he couldn't break and he went to town. We had to have a little lesson on the "One Ornament Per Branch" rule though! Growing up, we all had our own boxes filled with ornaments that had been given to us or we made over the years. I still have a glittered Christmas tree cut out of a recycled foam-tray with my little kindergarten picture glued to it. Alot of them my mom made, or my grandmother had tied to presents- each one a memory of something that had happened that year. Before my little sisters came along, my Nanna had given my brother a ceramic Kermit the Frog ornament and me, a Miss Piggy one. I am embarrassed to admit, that being a chubby kid, there were years that I deliberately didn't hang Miss Piggy up. Seriously. So dumb. Now I love her. She's such a classic- and not a chip on her after all these years. I always think of my brother when I hang her up- I hope he still has his Kermit. Since marrying Jas, my family has bombarded him with ornaments, trying to get his collection equal to mine. The first Christmas we shared together, I put a new ornament on almost every present I gave him! He has such a soft spot for Santa, so most of his have something to do with Santa..or Golf... or Santa playing golf. And Elvis, we can't forget his love of Elvis! My mom has even found little kid ones that say "Jake" which is his nickname from when he was young. Too cute. But check this one out that my mom gave him years ago: We just about die laughing everytime someone pulls him out of the box. We affectionately call him "Proctologist Santa" Looks like he's snapping on some gloves getting ready for an exam. BLAH!?!? So gross, but we love him just the same...

We had to put Morgan Jane in the porta-crib while we did the hanging. She has been caught trying to eat the lights off of the tree, so we knew that she couldn't be trusted during all of the hustle and bustle decking out the tree. We don't know what she thought we were doing, but she kept clapping and yelling "yea!" When I finally let her out, she just sat on the hearth and kept cheering. I guess we did a good job!

Miss O has always been in charge of putting the star on the top of the tree. Just let me say for the record: I will cry like a big ole baby the day she is too big to get on Jas shoulder to put it up there. I have pictures of them every year- and while the star has changed over the years- it is always the last thing we put on, and something special just for her.

And what is a Yarbrough event without a dance party at the end??? Rockin' out to Christmas tunes... even Romo joined in!

Ta-Da! Here she is in all her glory- A tree full of memories!

Now on to the rest of the house...

Something's Missing

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break- full of food, family and fun! We made it to Austin and back- and while I am now worn out and sick as can be- I am glad we went. Thanksgiving has always been the one holiday where we always make plans to head down to Austin to see my mom's side of the family. And they are all there: my mom's two brothers and their wives, and her sister. And all of my cousins, there are 10 total. And of course, my grandfather. And this year, I can't tell you why- but it really hit me hard that my grandmother wasn't there. And she hasn't been for over 4 years now. Maybe its all of the joy and loss we have experienced over the past year that has made me stop and take in all that I have to be thankful for- and I realized how lucky I was to have such an amazing woman not just be my grandmother, but a role-model for me, as well.


I think back about her and I have some of the sweetest, fondest memories. I remember how when Fan Target and I were small, just for fun, she bought us little fur coats. And if I remember correctly- it was in the summer! There was a little hallway from the garage to the kitchen, and she made us wait while she introduced us like little princesses to whoever was visiting in the kitchen, and we walked in all fancy, showing our new coats off. I can remember how those coats smelled: like gigantic rabbits' feet. But I loved it. Loved the silliness of it all. I will always remember how pulled together and beautiful she always looked. Always. I remember how she always smiled and genuinely complimented me on something every time she saw me. I remember how her hands looks and how she always gave me sideways hug and then stood there holding on to me, her hands around me shoulder. She always remembered all of my friends names and asked how they were whenever we came to visit. She always wanted to hear about who I was dating, and I can remember how she said Jas looked like "movie star" when she phoned to tell me she had gotten the prom pictures I had sent her. I will never forget showing up to the Zeta house on Pref Night only to find her dressed to the nines waiting in the greeting line, all of the sisters and alums giddy with excitement that she had "just stopped by"! They all thought it was just the sweetest thing- a grandmother passing on her Zeta legacy, while my grandmother, seeing my shocked face just gave a little grin and winked at me. She had sealed the deal for me. And she had plotted it all along. She would have done anything for us grand kids- and she did. Spoiling us like crazy, but at the same time expecting proper manners, grammar and respect from us all. And she got it. She deserved it. I often think about how Olivia came when she did for not just Jas and I, but for other members of our family, too. Gary was able to watch her grow up some and have one of his grandchildren really know and remember him. And she made my grandmother a great-grandmother, even if was only for a few years. She got to see Olivia was she was a teensy baby. Got to bathe her, which was one of her favorite things to do- "Hydro-therapy" she called it. She got to see her as a little toddler and hear her say her name. I love that my grandfather always wants to have his picture made with my kids when we come to visit- he loves that he has great-grand kids and thinks that are "a hoot!" But I wish my grandmother was here to feel the same way. She always had a special place in her heart for little boys, and I know she would have been crazy about Luke. It was nice to have so many aunts and uncles come up to us this week and tell us how fun our kids are, that we are doing a good job of raising them... But I just wish she could have been here to see it. Something was definitely missing this Thanksgiving. A chair was empty. I missed my grandmother.

Its just one more thing that makes me grateful that my children have such great grandparents who love and adore them just as much as she did us. I feel in my heart that she does know our kids, does feel proud of us and that she watches over all of us from above. And I am thankful for that, too.

Mother Hen

This is me.

A proud Momma Hen.

I could not be more proud of my precious best friend.

She has been given an amazing opportunity share her talents, to "Let It Shine!"

XOXO

(Psst... check out the Dallas Morning News next Saturday, the 5th- to see what she's been up to!)

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I'm so excited!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Ladies Man

Somtimes in your life things happen and you see your future: What is holds, whats to come... We had gone up to schol to eat a Thanksgiving Lunch with Miss O. As soon as we approached the tables, two of her precious little classmates were begging and asking "Luu-keeeeeey" to sit by them. Needless to say, he was a little intimidated. But as the lunch went on, he warmed up to all of the attention being paid, and agreed to go sit between them once he had finished eating.

And in that moment: I say his future. All of Miss O's friends treating him like a cute little pet for the rest of his life: "Luu-keeeeeey."

Ha! poor, poor Bubs. :0)

Check out my little Indian representing at his Thanksgiving Feast (According to Luke, the menu included grapes, bananas, marshmallows and cheese cubes! My kind of feast! heehee.) Have I mentioned how much he is loving preschool???

Priorities

It seems that Morgan Jane's love of Kai-lan has gone south over the past few month. South of the Border that is.

Dora. Damn, Dora.

"Dita!" as Morgan affectionately screams out whenever she sees her- whether its on a pair of pajamas hanging on the rack at Target or her bizarre appearance on the chicken noodle Campbell soup can. (Of course I bought it. She hugged that can of soup the whole time we were in the grocery store- showing it to everyone who would look, screaming, "Deeeee-taaah!!!!" like she had a handful of diamonds or something!)

So the other day we had a garage sale to finally get rid of all of the things we have moved with us over the years that we just. don't. need. I opened the box of Miss O's million and one baby dolls and all of their accessories, that I had planned to save for Morgan. And I will admit: I pulled one out and set it aside to give to her later that day. Well! It turns out Jason had the same plans, because the next day he came in our room cracking up: Turns out, he had gone in Morgan's room to wake her up from nap with one of the baby dolls he had pulled out of the box for her, carrying it like a real baby. He said she FREAKED out, shaking and whispering, "baby, baby!" and then signing to tell him to "shoosh" (because that's what we always tell her when we see babies.) So needless to say, she was THRILLED to have a bunch of new babies to play with!

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to document her joy of motherhood. She is a notorious "let-me-see-what-you-see-on-the-camera" kind of kid, so she won't sit in front of the camera very often. Luckily, I got a few good snip-ettes. She was being awfully cute: kissing the babies, dragging them by their legs, showing them to everyone in the house, throwing them on the floor, telling them to go "nigh-nigh"... You name. It was pretty adorable.

I am lov-ing that I am getting all of this on tape and then, whoooo do you guess comes along to ruin my footage? You guessed it. Damn Dora.

Priorities, I guess.

(At least she didn't leave her children unattended!)

Mario Kart King

Its happened. Luke has figured out how to play MK on his own. After sitting along side us and watching us play for over a year- I guess it was bound to happen. He loves to watch the "pros" play the races we book mark for him on YouTube and he obviously studied from the maters, because he wins. Alot. He's scary good for a 3 year old.

He was really into a race this morning, so I thought I would document is serious love for this silly game in a tribute to his favorite track: Rainbow Road.

In case your wondering: Yea... he won.

Gratitude: Miss O

I feel like I haven't written about Miss O in awhile- and the past couple of weeks have been kinda of hairy around here- being a parent is so tough sometimes. What an uphill battle! She and I are SO MUCH alike: perfectionists with tender hearts who feel things very deeply. Sometimes this is a lethal combo when conflicts arise. I am working on my end to be more patient, and look at things so that I can teach her from them- not just be on her case all the time. And something happened the other night that kinda of snapped me back into reality: We really do have one of the sweetest little girls on earth as our daughter.

I was sitting at the kitchen table the other night filling out the forms for Bub's new preschool (starts Monday- YEA!!!) And she came in with her box of (new, beautiful, 64-count.... Oh! sorry, I love art supplies..) crayons and a stack of construction paper. She told me we were going to do a project where we would trace our hands, decorate them and them make a heart with them together. ??? I did what she said- and I could totally tell she was making it up as went along, which was even more endearing! Then that project turned into a book. She said to write, "5 Things I Love About You" on the front and then fill it in. She gave me permission to add more if I felt like I needed to. (wink) So she worked feverishly on hers, and I geeked out that I got to use all of those new, beautiful crayons worked hard on mine and then we swapped.

She loves me because :

And I love her because:

I just of feel that I am walking around lately with "These Are The Days" playing on a loop in my head. Our kids are just so funny and so cute- I am grateful that I get to be their mom everyday.

These are days
These are the days you might fill
With laughter until you break
These days you might feel
A shaft of light
Make its way across your face
And when you do
Then you'll know how it was meant to be
See the signs and know their meaning
It's true
Then you'll know how it was meant to be
Hear the signs and know they're speaking
To you, to you

Nov. 8 Gratitude

I am thankful for...

...my mother-in-law, Martha. I feel so blessed to be a member of the Yarbrough family. Her love and support means so much to me.

...my new camera- an early Christmas gift from Martha. LOVE IT. I felt like so many memories were slipping away when I wasn't able to document all of the funny moments of our lives!

...patience, and the ability to gain it back as quickly as it is lost. Case in point: Our 2009 Christmas Card Photo Attempt #1. Seriously!??!? How HARD is it to sit still for 2 seconds!! Here are some of the out-takes...(You'll notice there are NONE of Miss O. She's the only one around here who listens to me without having to be bribed with marshmallows!)

(my feelings exactly, Bubs...)

Nov. 7 Gratitude

I am thankful for...

...my precious, sweet, darling, funny (and quite handsome, if I do say so myself!) husband. He is the light of my life. He makes me smile everyday. He keeps me from taking everything so seriously.

...Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. And that the above mentioned husband has recently begun to share this love, so we are NEVER out.

...getting to share the above mentioned coffee with my husband every. single. morning. I love that he is now able to be home so much more. I am so thankful that the words, "this weekend" can be spoken to him because what we have planned now actually applies to him too! It took over 8 years to get to this point, and I can only hope that we are blessed with continued success with our new business so we can keep things how they are for many years to come!

Nov. 6 Gratitude

I am thankful for...

.... little piggies....
... and staying home....

and....roast beef...???

;0)

Welcome To The Dollhouse

... because playing with her own toys is NOWHERE near as much fun as sneaking into Miss O's room and playing with hers....

Til the next break-in....

Nov. 5 Gratitude

I am thankful for...

...spray paint...

...hot glue....

...and my best friend who understands and shares my need to constantly create...