Ty was dressed immediately to ride the new skateboard and scooter that Santa brought!

We had a wonderful break. We captured some great moments of really the first Christmas the kids have truly enjoyed! We had a sweet lil family Christmas at home and then left the following Saturday for Arlington. I was able to see lots of friends that morning and then had my family's Christmas. The next day Trent and I went to Austin for the Texas Junior Golf Tour's tournament at Barton Creek. It was a BEAUTIFUL resort and had breathtaking golf courses. Trent did recruiting and I learned a lot about what he does! He also surprised me with a spa day there! I have never felt like Cinderella the way I did that day! A full hour deep tissue massage, an hour facial, mani & pedi, and lots of time in the sauna relaxing and getting warm. They even served me lunch in the middle of all this! Just a wonderful day. It was nice to get away for a few days with man too. I could totally live in Austin!

We have been back into the swing of things for a week now. Last week started LCU basketball games again. We ended up at the ER in the middle of the first one! Ty collided with a coke machine when I was not looking. I did not think it was very bad at first until we got all the blood out of the way. Three stitches later, he is doing great. Nice little scar to go above the last one he got three months ago! He is only five and we have not even started sports yet!!

Somehow I ended up getting the flu yesterday afternoon and am still wiped staying home today. I am however doing the never completely done LAUNDRY.

Liv Can Cook!

The day before Christmas Eve Ty was away with his cousins playing and Olivia and I had such a fun mother/daughter day! We went to McDonalds to eat. Then we went to Target to shop. We came home and she wanted to make brownies so I let her! She did everything but put them in the oven and take them out for safety reasons of course! We took them to Meme and G's later for dessert after eating chili out there on such a cold night!

100 Random things...

From a friend, I know nobody will actually read this. Maybe someday if I ever take the time to have my blog bound my kids will find humor in it?! I tag Amy Davis, Nicole Brantley, Kerri Thompson, Sara Kemp, Linnea Oxley, Jodi MAC, Emily Thomoson and Mandy Davis




100 random things about me:




1. I am EXTREMELY cold natured!


2. My favorite color is red.


3. My favorite food is sushi (rolls)- thanks for the introduction Mike Yoshita!


4. My favorite car I have ever had is my current one- Chev. Suberban! The passat was a close 2nd!


5. I married my exact opposite! God really knew what I needed!


6. My favorite thing to do is sit on the couch with my family Saturday mornings watching Batman and drinking coffee!


7. There are not many people that I have known and lost touch with- maybe three!


8. I drink way too much coffee and diet coke.


9. I love the smell of clean laundry and bleach


10. My favorite candy is 100 grand bars


11. My favorite stores are Forever 21, Target, and Hobby Lobby


12. I have a strong appreciation for golf, thanks to my husband who is one of the best I know


13. LOVE to go to movies!


14. I get way too into the Barbie aisle at the store.


15. I love to 'comfortably' dress up



16. Love long hot baths and sitting by the fire


17. I wish I would have stuck with dance longer


18. I used to be a Hospitality and Corporate Designer for an Architecture Firm in downtown Dallas- seems like it was all just a dream now!


19. I get together with my highschool friends more often than those from college


20. I have lots of strange names for the ones I love!


21. I really do wish I were I dream of Jeannie!


22. My middle name is Renee


23. I am an only child


24. I love old people and children probably more than the average person!


25. I have come to really love this brown town that I have now lived in for 6 years!


26. I have control issues


27. Lubbock drivers irritate me greatly


28. My 'church' family really IS my family! Wow am I blessed there....


29. I can't wait to see my children open their Christmas presents!


30. LOVE girl's night out!!!


31. Also love dates with my husband!


32. I drink wine.... really its the only alcohol I enjoy and maybe only once a year!


33. Roast is my all time favorite home cooked meal


34. I miss my Nana and Paw Paw on a daily basis. Both of which have been gone for quite some time now.


35. I really enjoy cooking and baking but rarely feel I have time to do so. Yea for our quarterly casserole swap!


36. I almost enjoy the satisfaction of laundry and don't mind folding it, but for some reason have real issues with putting it away!



37. I could be in the movie 27 dresses! I actually was in 9 before I had my own wedding and related a lot to that closet!


38. Because of the way the previous number played out, my husband and his mother did the majority of the planning of our wedding! I did however pick out my dress and found a picture of the cake! They even went and registered for us. I was just a bit over it by then and working my biggest deadline ever at work!


39. We had a family only wedding and still had 150 guests. 8 of them were my side!


40. I had no attendants in my wedding, it was seriously the happiest day of my life until my children were born. I cried at all three events!


41. I was nearly 30 when pregnant with my first child, wouldn't change that for anything!


42. I had a blast with my roomates after college and am so glad I was able to experience the single life in the way that I did.


43. I had to have two epidurals when I had Ty. The second worked rather well.


44. When I had Olivia, I only lost feeling from the epidural on my right leg from my knee to my toes. I was a little peaved.


45. I have scoliosis


46. I am double-jointed


47. I laugh out loud every time I watch Elf and Raising Arizona regardless of the fact that I have seen them both hundreds of times!



48. I cry everytime I hear the song, "Remember When" by Alan Jackson and "God Bless the Broken Road.. That Led Me Straight To You." by Rascal Flatts- I picture Trent's face the length of both of theses songs!


49. I can still do the splits and a cartwheel at almost 35 years old!


50. My parents and I were baptized together when I was 13


51. One of my favorite memories with my Dad is sitting out on the tailgate of his truck on Christmas Eve with the binoculars looking for Santa.


52. I graduated from Abilene Christian University a year late in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design and a minor in Biblical Studies.


53. I use different accents to make my kids at school laugh, such as Italian Woman, Farmer Dan, and Burly Man! I also do a great Choir Girl when singing!


54. I can stare at the Christmas Tree for literally hours.


55. My favorite Christmas song is O Holy Night


56. I once went 150 on the George Bush Tollway in our old Passat, it was great. We made it from Lewsiville to Plano for a wedding in 10 minutes!


57. I absolutely love to be in a tank top and flip flops with the temperature near 100.


58. I am comfortable speaking in front of people. Weird.


59. I LOVE my bed.


60. Home is my favorite place to be.


61. Dave Matthews holds a dear place in my heart and envelopes our (Trent and mine) dating years! I have only missed one concert in 12 years!



62. Fort Worth will always be home to me.



63. I ran the track with several of my girl friends in our underwear the week before we graduated, it was late at night! We spent hours later laying on a huge track mat just talking and laughing!


64. My friend John Miller taught me how to drive a stick shift, reluctantly, when I was 16.


65. Savannah Georgia is my favorite place I have ever visited.


66. I have a HUGE love of Art. I miss visiting the DMA on a regular basis, my building was directly across the street from it so it was very convenient at one time.


67. I just recently become somewhat of a reader. I have read three books this year, that is a record for me!





68. I love being a mom even more than I thought I would.





69. I truely believe that everyone who has entered my life did so for a reason. God has made many many attempts to mold me through others.





70. Text messaging is the best invention ever! No talk, to the point!





71. I have acquired a strange love for hip hop in the past couple of years, probably from working out- also a recent acquirement!





72. I did locks of love a year and two months ago and will probably never have long hair again.


73. I had LASIK surgery almost two years ago and LOVE IT!


74. I am starting to see myself age in my face. I am not as scared about it anymore.


75. I am not a touchy person. I like to be left alone for the most part, but have come a long way!


76. I spent a lot of years caring too much what others thought, now I am almost the other extreme.


77. Shopping really does give me a high!


78. I crave something sweet after every meal.


79. I wore my slippers to school today! No, it was not pajama day... that is this Wednesday!


80. I love to watch my children sleep.


81. I think everyone should be required to watch The Pursuit of Happyness and read The Last Lecture


82. I am TERRIBLE at math!!!! Yet somehow swung an A in Geometry! I still count on my fingers and do long multiplication! I am scared of when my kids might need help with their homework someday!


83. The Rockettes Christmas show at Radio Music Hall is the best show I have EVER seen!


84. People talking loud on their cell phone annoys me to no end!


85. I am not big on peanut butter.



86. I drug jumper cables under Trent's car the entire way to church Sunday before last to church.



87. My husband gives the best massages ever, I LOVE THEM!



88. I love to have my hair messed with.



89. I really enjoy coloring!



90. Milk duds in popcorn with a diet coke at the movies.. priceless.



91. 82nd Street Cafe in Lubbock Texas has the best Vanilla Creams on the planet.



92. I have been converted to sweet tea.



93. I do not claim a denomination anymore although I attend a Church of Christ now. Don't assume I agree with everything.



94. I am shocked if ANYONE reads this!



95. I feel 16 everytime I go home.



96. I get intoxicated by looking into my daughter's eyes.



97. I put things in strange places and then lose them forever.

98. I don't fold underwear.

99. I love holding a new born baby!

100. I have a purse fedish.

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?