Things I've Learned this Christmas from a 3 year old

Collin has taught me so much about Christmas this year! I'm not sure where he comes up with this stuff, but it sure makes me smile!

1. The Sherbets came to see Baby Jesus. (He didn't specify orange or rainbow, but my guess is orange!)

2. Jesus' mother's name is Mary Jesus. (He couldn't give me a scripture reference for that one, but he's very confident about it.)

3. The angel told Mary not to be scared because she has a baby. (That one is pretty accurate, but I think it's out of order. When he plays with his Little People manger, he always tells Mary not to be scared after all the sherbets and wise men have come to see Baby Jesus.)

4. We can pray for anything at any time! He's right about this one. Collin is pretty spiritual, Spencer discovered recently. Today, while watching an early Bowl game, Collin told Spencer "we need to pray." Here's his prayer: Dear God, Thank you for the goldfish and for everyone gathered together. Protect us from the "bominable" snowman that he will get scared and run away and to behind the tree. Amen. That's the story of prayer. (He was eating goldfish at the time, and I think we've watched "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" many times!)

Christmas Cookies

This year I decided that we would start a new tradition (or at least I hope it turns into one). Since Collin loves to help out in the kitchen so much, I thought we could bake & decorate Christmas cookies. Since cutting out the cookies involved using loose flour, this year I did that part without any help. Collin has helped with cookie cutters before, but couldn't keep his hands out of the flour, so this time he watched a Christmas show while Mommy cut out and baked cookies.

So, tonight, after the boys went Christmas shopping Bailey and I (mostly I) made frosting. It took two tries! I tried to half the recipe the first time, but forgot the half the water, so I ended up with sugar soup! Oops! Once I got the frosting right, we all sat at the table and decorated cookies. Even Spencer, who is not Mr. Christmas, got in on the action! We had lots of fun!

Collin really just wanted to eat the cookies, frosting, and sprinkles-but before we decorated. He didn't want to wait until we were finished. Bailey sat and watched, and Collin did include her. He was very thoughtful and gave her some sprinkles to eat. Thank goodness she couldn't pick them up!

Here's some pictures of the festivities!

Collin just dumped the whole bottle of sprinkles on this one cookie (it was only half full)

Here's the result:Don't they look yummy!

Collin stuffing his cookie in his face!

Snow in Austin

Yep. It really happened. At about 11:00 tonight it started snowing in Austin, Texas. I didn't believe it when one of my collegues came over to let me know. Jokingly I asked her if it was all glittery and plastic, like the decorations, but it was really snowing outside! I'm a little dissappointed that it was in the middle of the night when my kiddos were already asleep. Collin would have loved it! I'm pretty sure Bailey wouldn't have cared too much. I tried to get Spencer to take pictures of it (he was at home & I was at work), but it was too hard to see. I guess it wasn't as heavy at my house as it was here at the hospital. So, there you have it...it really snowed in Austin tonight!
I have really missed the winters we had in Dallas, (sans the driving) so I am pretty excited that there's at least potential for some winter!

Here's a picture to prove there was really winter weather in Austin...I took it when I got home this morning!

I know, I know...

I know, I said I started this blog since Spencer never updates his, and here I am, not updating mine! I must apologize! It's pretty terrible, I know...
There have been some days when I've wanted to blog, but just couldn't figure out what I should blog about. I thought about politics, but I was just glad when the election was over. I didn't want to get too involved in that mess. I voted. I did my part. Then, I thought about posting some stuff about Bailey & Collin, but haven't got any pictures uploaded. We went to Longview for Halloween and Barrett's last soccer game. When I get pictures uploaded, I'll have to post about that weekend! Collin was Mister Personality for the weekend! Lately we've been passing around a stomach bug. So, this weekend I had to leave my house, where I was taking care of my own sick family, to take care of someone else's sick children. What a bummer!
Spencer was ordained October 29 in a very nice service at the church he grew up in, in Sugar Land. He also had about 3 weeks "off" from work, but was asked to come back and is pretty grateful to be back. I'm just working 2 nights each week (mostly weekends) and think it's really a good schedule for us. I do not like that I never have weekend time with my family, but I am very grateful that I don't have to put the kiddos in daycare, and that I get to spend the week with Collin & Bailey at home. We have a great time!
So, tonight I'm at work (obviously, not working) updating my blog about how I haven't updated my blog. Hope that's enough for you until I can get more pictures posted.

The Many Faces of Bailey

I wonder what she's thinking!

The Real Baseball Game

Last weekend we took Collin (and Bailey) to a baseball game at Minute Maid Park. Collin was so excited (or cited, as he says) about it, that he talked non-stop the entire way to the game, through Houston traffic, through all 9 innings of the game, and all the way back to my parents house in Sugar Land! It was so funny! He had such a great time cheering for the Astros and for Lance Berkman (Big Puma) and Hunter Pence. Collin is used to watching baseball on TV at home, but he's only been to a few games at the ballpark. This is probably the first time he's actually paid any attention to the game. A few minutes into the game he turned to us and said "This is the REAL baseball game!"

This was Bailey's first baseball game, too. I think she is older than Collin was when he went to his first baseball game. She did very well, too.

Now that the Astros season is over, we're focusing on Cowboys football! As Collin says: "Go Tony Rony! Go Cowboys!"

Here's some pictures from the game:

Chess and Baseball

Q: What's the difference between chess and baseball?
A: In chess, the pieces move!

My dad told me that joke.
I used to be terribly bored with baseball, until I met my husband. Now I'm a pretty big baseball fan. Well, a pretty big Astros baseball fan. We watch the Astros games on TV just about every night of the week. Only off days and Sundays (since the games are shown in our area) do we get to catch up on all the other TV shows we've recorded during the week. The only time we really run into a problem is when the Cowboys play a Monday night football game!
Even though we love to watch baseball on TV, nothing compares to going to Minute Maid Park to see the Astros play live. (On a side note, I just heard someone call Minute Maid "the Juice Box" and I like it!) I always enjoy going to the ballpark, but there is one thing that disappoints me: people doing "the wave" at a baseball game. SO, for my first blogging rant, I will discuss my feelings on the horrible phenomenon known as the wave being done at a baseball game.
First, and foremost, it's just annoying! I'm trying to watch a baseball game and people are standing up, screaming, and blocking my view of the game! Second, it communicates to the team that their hard work is boring you. When you're doing the wave, you have to concentrate on watching it go around the stadium so that you'll be ready for your turn, instead of focusing on the game. Common wave etiquette dictates that it is supposed to be done when "your" team or the home team is on offense, but I've never been to a baseball game where this is the case. If you can't do it right, don't do it at all! Third, baseball stadium seats are not in a contiguous. There's a big gaping hole in the middle of your wave. It just looks dumb! The wave is meant for, and works much better in a football stadium that has seating all the way around the field. It's much more impressive looking in that situation. SO, feel free to "wave" all you want at a football game, but don't do it at a baseball game!

Pot Pie Chicken

The other night as I was gathering items to cook dinner, all of the sudden there was a chair pushed up to the counter and Collin was telling me he wanted to help me cook. (Collin loves to cook and even has his own apron and spatula.) Usually if I have something to stir I'll let him use his spatula and help, but this night I was making a chicken pot pie and was limited on safe tasks he could do. So, he just stood in his chair and pretended he was cooking the entire meal. When Spencer walked in the door from work Collin proudly announced "We're making pot pie chicken!"

Spencer said, "Wow, you're making chicken pot pie?" but Collin insisted, "No, we're making pot pie chicken!"

When I make chicken pot pie, I cheat and use a rotisserie chicken (thanks for the tip Erin). Here's some pictures of Collin "helping" by eating the chicken. I think this was is favorite part of helping cook dinner!

Isaiah 59:11

Ok, so I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and start my own blog! We've had several requests to update our family website since Bailey's arrival, but it has yet to be done. It's not that we don't want to, it's just that Spencer is the only one who can do it. He's offered to show me how, but it has to be done on his computer (a mac), and his computer is with him most of the time, so I figured "what's the point?" I'll just start my own blog that I can update when ever and where ever I want. SO, here we are...

Now, on to the title. For those of you who actually check those scripture references people post, you're probably thinking "what is that about?!" (for those of you who don't check, don't worry about it!) It's actually a funny story.
One night Spencer was trying to encourge me, since I've been a little discouraged about our current situation (having to return to work soon, and Spencer being out of work again). He just told me "you just need to remember and think about that verse, you know, Isaiah 59:11. The one that says 'I know the plans I have for you'." Spencer is admittedly not good at remembering "addresses" for scripture, and I know Isaiah 59:11 doesn't ring any bells, but I do know that Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future an a hope." (I also like verses 12 & 13-look it up) So, we looked up Isaiah 59:11 and discovered it says "We all grow like bears"! We had a good laugh and I felt better, which was Spencer's goal when we started our conversation, anyway! The entire verse is actually pretty depressing, but we've sort of adopted Isaiah 59:11a (the first line) as our verse, and Spencer has a greater understanding of the importance of knowing accurate scripture references. Hopefully when he has the opportunity to minister to someone he'll be able to use the right references to encourage people instead of depress them!

I'm pretty excited about blogging. I've never been really thrilled about having people read what I write, but maybe I'll get over that. My goal is to use the kids' naptime as blogtime, but since Collin says big boys don't need naps, I might not have not have as much time to blog as I think. Hope you enjoy!