POLAR EXPRESS

So Tuesday afternoon we come home and watch a movie... BUT... 45 minutes into it we have to stop it. I tell Ty and Pop to go put on their new pajamas and robes and we are off! They have no idea what is up. We pull up at Samuel Jackson Depot where a train awaits with many others in their pajamas! It was 20 degrees and the wind was blustering snow flakes by us!!! Ty's eyes light up!!! So do Pop's! They get in line to board where the conductor yells out.... "ALL ABOARD! NEXT STOP, NORTH POLE!!" This is when Ty REALLY gets excited! This was a special surprise for Pop too because his dad, my Paw Paw, was an actual train conductor. Every time we are in the metroplex he takes Ty on some sort of a train ride.. ... its kinda their thing together! I tell Ty, Happy Birthday and they take off on the train while the rest of us go eat and meet them back later. I was told that they drank hot chocolate and listened to the story and then arrived at THE North Pole (AKA Santa Land) where Santa boarded and talked to each child and handed them a bell. They even sang Happy Birthday to Ty! They de-boarded ALL smiles! I think it was a night to remember!

Michael Ty is FIVE

Its hard to believe this guy will be in kindergarten next year! Wow, this is a milestone. Pop and Cita came in Monday evening and were able to share a meal with several other family members here in Lubbock in honor of Ty's birthday. Trent made redbeans with jalepeno sausage and rice and mexican corn bread! SO yummy on such a cold day! We celebrated with family the day before because Ty and Pop had a big surprise the next day which was the real day. That will be in the next post. Ty was a little embarassed this year and does not like attention to be drawn to him but made it through the song and really enjoyed opening his presents. Among them were some HUGE Incredible Hulk gloves, an Iron Man mask and launcher, and Batman and Joker action figures along with many nice clothes! He and Olivia had fun the rest of the night playing!

Some things to note about Ty at age 5:

*Favorite color is still green

*Can not get enough of any type of super hero but is big into the hulk now

*Loves school and his teacher

*If asked his preference on dinner... always every last time says the hot dog place (Weinerschnitzel sp?)

*Favorite sport is baseball and asks on a daily basis when he will get to play again

*Has a MAJOR sweet tooth

*Loves to snuggle and crawl up in bed with his Daddy early in the morning

*Will eat just about anything you put in front of him

*Loves to play with his cousins

*Likes to pick out his own clothes everday and is picky about this and the shoes that go with it!

*Can be found sleeping in his spiderman tobagon and gloves most nights

*Also found in bed with his sister many mornings

*Very neat little guy, like things in order

*Loves to color, write letters, numbers, and sing

He is my favorite little dude ever. Makes me laugh daily, almost hourly! I say this every year.. but I think this is my favorite age yet with Ty! It just keeps getting better and better. He has such a dear heart and shows concern for everyone he knows and prays for him without any nudging! I love him to bits! He will have a Hulk party this Saturday with 9 other little boys at The Main Event for a bowling and hotdogs! Its so nice to be at this place where he can pick things and help out so much. Here's to Five years buddy!

Thanksgiving Holiday

Our Thanksgiving started the day before with a wonderful meal out at LCC with my in-laws and Trent's siblings and their families and my father-in-law's side of the family. We then went over to Meme and G's for some fabulous desserts and visiting by the fire. It was really nice to all be together which does not happen as often as it once did.

The next morning we got up at 4AM, loaded up the Burb, made coffee and were on the road by 4:30! Travelling early with small children is SO much easier! They slept until Weatherford!!! I am unfortunately unable to sleep in a car but this is always a nice time for Trent and I to visit and enjoy music on the ole ipod! We were there in time for breakfast and preparation for the turkey feast! It was a wondeful time with all of my family and I stuffed my self ridiculously!

The next day we picked up Sonic and headed out for the Fort Worth Zoo! Ty had been asking to go for sometime now and it turned out to be the best day ever for it! The rest of the metroplex was busy shopping so we got a front row parking spot at 1:30 in the afternoon! The high that day was in the mid 50's and it was perfect with a coat. The kids and Big Kids (Cita, AKA my mother) had a BLAST! My mom got the lion mad by roaring at it and he put on a nice show because of it! There are reasons that I am the way I am people. Afterward we went over to Camp Bowie, my favorite area in Ft.Worth and ate at Uncle Julios for dinner. I hadn't been there since right after college probably! It did not dissappoint!

Saturday we headed to the Dallas side where my good friend Bethany met up with the girls: My mom, Olivia and I, to do some shopping in the Sam Moon Center. I made the most of that trip to say the least! Bethany and I went to ACU and went through the Interior Design program together. We had the blessing of working together for three years at the same firm. It was nice catching up and made me miss her all the more! That evening we met our friends Mike and Chistal Yoshita for Sushi!!! They are the ones who introduced it to us years ago now, boy am I glad they did! It had been too long and we soaked them up!

We all ended up with sinus issues while we were there which seems to be typical now if we stay more than two days. I think Olivia's has turned into an ear infection and Trent may have the flu now. I just sound bad but am fine. O has a ped appt. this afternoon after school so we shall see! Maybe I will get my tree up finally?? I have kinda put it off since we are not on my schedule!

The good news is we are all home safe. The bad news is I left my cell phone charger and its now dead, so if you have tried to call me and I have not returned your call... that would be why. I really have come to realize how lost I am without modern day technology!

I am now getting ready for Ty's birthday which is the 9th. There is a super fun surprise which I cannot write about now but for sure will after. Lots of showers and Christmas parties as well.. a full month to come!

Twas the week before Thanksgiving...

I am about to tackle getting in the attic to put up Halloween and get down a few Christmas things. I am actually a little sad to do it because as I have stated before, it is our tradition to do this Thanksgiving night but we will be leaving early that morning for the metroplex. I do not want to come home to have all that to do and I am actually going to wrap presents today b/c I have no more room to hide them! I just really want to relish in the idea of Thanksgiving a little longer and feel that society is so caught up in the "Give Me" and materialism they have made Christmas out to be, that being thankful is lost! Thanksgiving is completely looked over these days. Costumes come out of the store and the huge Tree goes up! At least in school our children are still taught about it and I think as adults we should be more reminded of it.

School is going great for the kids. I continue to be more than impressed by our pre-school. This is our second year to be there but the pre-K is just blowing me away. Every year that we have been doing this pre-school thing we have been blessed with not just a good teacher but an INCREDIBLE one! I fully believe that this is not by coincidence and God has his hand all over it! Ty is not only learning memory verses and Bible stories but also his alphabet in English, Spanish, and Sign Language along with phonics and words. He also has learned the states in alphabetical order. He loves to write things out on his magnadoodle and is sounding out words that he sees all around him! He can count to one hundred and is learning to tell time. Wow. I don't know how they do it and in such a fun loving way.

I have also been incredibly blessed with a whole new group of people from Calvary whom I have gotten to know even better this year. God has placed some really neat people in my life from there and I am very grateful. I have really enjoyed getting to know people my age with children the same ages. When we first moved here it was evident that I was the minority in being 29 with no children. Also, the majority of the people I was getting to know all either grew up together or were close friends from college, kind of the way things had always been for me up until we moved! It was weird starting over. Don't get me wrong... I am also very blessed by my younger more recent friends too in ways that I could not have known. We were just in such a different place for a while with me having been in the professional world for quite some time before even getting married let alone having children. There are several mothers and teachers at Calvary that I have a lot in common with and am so enjoying their company! I know that this is a temporary environment for me but am hoping to make some lasting friendships from the circumstance. I believe that God has also placed these people in my life who have not only encouraged me but have kept me accountable as well.

Well along with the cold weather we have experienced for the last week, allergies are back in our lives as well! We stayed home from school Thursday because Olivia could not breathe and the high was only 48 with 60 mph winds! I thought it best not to get her out in it. It ended up being a very productive day though. I got all of our laundry done and cleaned the house- well that part lasted only a few hours but you know how that goes! Late that afternoon they both crawled up in my lap and fell asleep on me! That never happens anymore! Especially for Ty but what a precious time for me. These babies are growing into big kids before my eyes and I just feel so much joy in times like these.

On a totally different note, our computer of 11 years died forever last week. I finally get it set up at home and love it for about a whole month and it dies. So its back to the laptop whenever I occassionally have access to it. All this to say that I will be out of the computer world more so again. We will replace it but that is a process.

Olivia Lane is turning THREE!

Not officially til Tuesday but we celebrated yesterday out at Coyote Run Ranch. Very fun place if you have not ever been there. Funny story there... I thought I had not but indeed I had just two months earlier! I am such a disaster people. There really was a time when I lived by a dayplanner and was quite the organized person! Now, just a big ball of mess- I probably appear close to pigpen from Charlie Brown!

Anyways.... the party was great. I was a little concerned about attendance at first because it was not the best weekend for it with such a big game in town and the time being at naptime. There was also another party for a little girl to which we have many common friends but I was limited on the date and time so there ya go. It all worked out nicely though with a perfect number for the festivities... turns out its good to over-invite despite the place told me we were limited to just 25 kids! The kids pet and fed many farm animals, each got to ride a horse, and we all took a hayride! I made the ugliest cupcakes you have ever seen but the kids seemed to like them. I will not be doing that again, ordering would have been a better idea but for some reason I thought I could draw a flower, I was wrong. I did large rice crispie treats for party favors which were a hit! Why did I not think of that before??!!! We made them this time with dried cherries - red was sort of the theme. Olivia had a ball! So did I! This was the first year I think I had as much fun playing with all of her stuff when we got home as she did! She was very blessed and was just now introduced to Cinderella, Snow White, and more girly type items! Her best friend is her brother and she loves everything he does so up until this point she has been all about super heros and trains!
My parents were able to travel to be here despite my Dad's continuing health problems and it was a blessing to have them. The kids just ate them up as always. Olivia got an incredible story book with every one of them you can imagine in it! My mother read a bunch of them and the kids couldn't get enough.
She is becoming such a big girl and I cannot believe my eyes! MY BABY! She is just really coming into her own. She has become a real yapper, don't know where she gets that!?! She is still loving baby dolls and her favorite thing was a baby that moves and coos. She also is enjoying her purse and the lip gloss in it and loves to pretend to be a mommy. Her favorite color is still yellow but she has added pink to be top second. Her favorite thing to eat is chicken and LOVES candy, mostly suckers. That would be my fault for using them as a reward! She always wants to have her nails painted and is very into jewelry. I guess a typical girl! She is super special to me though and I am going to enjoy the snuggling and holding while it lasts, at this rate it will be gone before I know it!

YEA WARRIORS!

Time Out

Team with Coach Jeff and Coach Kevin

#1 Fan and cheer leader!

The season ended today. We even got trophies!! Crazy day with O's party in the afternoon which will be a later post. What a beautiful day we had. These are from this past month for soccer. We are really proud of the way Ty has progressed and is now scoring goals! He even had one today! He had such a great time with his friends who he has been in the same class with since he was born! It was fun to be with so many parents we know and are friends with as well. It was a great season and we look forward to next year!

Happy Halloween

This has been the best one yet! Plenty of time to eat pizza and get ready first! Grandmom and G and Meme stopped by as soon as we were ready and then we headed to Greenlawn's treat night. I found that the key was to go late and miss the crowd!!! Very enjoyable this way. Afterward we came back to our neighborhood and Trick-Or-Treated for the first time. I will give you $5 if you can guess who Olivia is. She insisted on "Cat Woman" from an older Spiderman cartoon who she is actually referred to as "Black Cat". I am sure you have not seen it but she looks just like her! Nobody but us knew it but she was super happy and excited and that made it worth it! She spent alot of time with her hands on her hips in the mirror saying, "I'm Catwoman!!!" The weather was just perfect for it and we met a lot of our neighbors. They are watching a Halloween Diego movie Meme brought them right now as they eat their candy! Very fun. Hope everyone had a safe and fun one like we did! Oh, I am also including some pics from the hayride at school this past week. The little boy in one is Olivia's friend Cade. It was a lot of fun!

Funny Conversations with Five Year Olds

Yesterday I grabbed a tacoritto from Taco Villa along with my addiction of Diet Coke. A little girl in my class who also happens to be named Olivia sat across from me.
Olivia: Ms. Lisa are you drinking a coke?
Me: Yes, its my favorite!
Olivia: Well I used to drink those and regular coke too but I don't anymore because they are not good for children.
Me: Yeah, probably not good for me either. Thanks for the input Olivia!

At Ty's Table sitting with his friends Winston, Aaron, Airic, and Jonah
Lots of loudness and growling going on. ....
Ty: Look out Jonah here I come!
Jonah: Aggghhhh!
Ty motioning large arms in a biting motion.
Me: Ty what are you pretending to be?
Ty: THE WHALE SILLY!!!!

Later we are on the playground...
Olivia (again) :Ms. Lisa look at my pretty fingernails! (They are pink with sparkles)
Me: Oh those are fabulous!!! Did someone paint them for you?
Olivia: Yes! Why are your nails not painted Ms. Lisa?
Me: I don't have my mommy here to paint them for me!
Olivia: Well you have to make an apppointment like I did for a manicure and pedicure!
Me: Well that costs $$ which I don't have for that.
Olivia: Yeah, my aunt had to cough it up. Can you cough up money?

Our "sort of" new house

Ty's Room

Dining Room

This is the first of three posts having to do with the new house. Scroll down for before and after shots of the most drastic changes. I didn't include pics of all the rooms but you get the picture. As anyone who live in a house knows, it is ongoing! There are still things I want to do but am just plum worn out with what we have done to this point. If I did it all at once what fun would that be?! There always have to be future projects to look forward to right?!!! Sorry it has only taken me four months or so to do this. We actually moved at the very end of May. I think we will tackle the trim color and yard in the spring and as I mentioned there are and always will be various projects inside. I am just enjoying the time I can right now. If you haven't been by, consider yourself invited. We love to have guests and chances are there will be a hot pot of coffee to share when you arrive!

Kitchen

Tin Backsplash-not easy to install like the dealer said! Trent and I did it with a dremal bit! Yes, took close to five hours to trim and cut out outlets!!! We are proud of our work and will appreciate it more than anyone!!!