While I do love the Gaylord Texan, I’m pretty sure if my last name was Gaylord I would pick another name – even a rhyming name – to plaster all over my billion dollar properties.  Anyway, continuing with our Christmas activities, Saturday night we went to the Gaylord (seriously, what an awful name) with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousin.  We walked around to look at all the trains, saw Mrs. Claus and the live reindeer, ate a wonderful dinner, saw the lights, etc.  If you live in the metroplex and haven’t been…GO!  Clay and I did the ICE! show last year, but we didn’t really have time for it Saturday.

And I did have an interesting experience while waiting for the guys to get the cars.  I think at some point before having children I said something to this effect…”I will NEVER be one of those parents who let their children just roam around like wild animals at a public place.  I can’t believe people think that is acceptable behavior.”  Hmmm…

I’m a little overwhelmed thinking of all the Christmas pictures I’d like to put up here, so I’ll just start at the beginning.  My grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousin drove in from Tyler on Saturday and stayed until Christmas morning.  We always have so much fun just hanging out, playing games, shopping, eating, etc.  After lunch on Saturday my mom surprised all of the girls with pedicures!  I don’t know the last time my grandmother had a pedicure, but she was loving life.  Thanks, Mom!

I was in Rachel’s room this morning putting some clothes away, and I hear her screaming in the hall.  The following short conversation ensued:

Me:  Ethan, why is Rachel crying?
E:  silence
R:  WAHHHHHHHHHHH
Me:  Ethan William, why is Rachel crying?
E:  I just want to ride her like a horse!

Let me preface this picture – Thursday night I had my teachers Christmas party, so I was out until around 11:00.  I called Clay on my way home just to see how the kids had been for bedtime.  When I got home he had the camera out to show me this picture:

He has no idea what time Ethan came downstairs, but Clay was on the computer with his headphones on, so he couldn’t hear him.  We asked Ethan the next morning if he remembered coming downstairs.  His response was, “Yes!  I was just hiding from Daddy.”  Nothing like a good night’s sleep under table on top of Dad’s shoe.  (And Clay – I’m so proud of you for taking a picture!)

I’m pretty sure one of the first chapters in every parenting book is on proper nutrition for your children.  I think we must have spilled coffee on that chapter.

Ethan at 10 months

Rachel at 10 months

I forgot how much fun 10 months can be. Rachel is:

• cruising
• standing
• thinking about taking a step
• having fun showing off the 2 front teeth Santa brought her for Christmas
• loving the Leap Frog table Tracy gave us
• saying “dadadadadadadada”
• pointing to the light and say “liiiiiiiii” (as of today)
• trying to put on her socks and shoes
• clapping for herself at every possible moment (maybe a little too much self-affirmation?!?)
• closing every door in the house (I think she learned this from Libby)
• into anything and everything that Ethan does not want her to be into
• pointing to her hair when you ask her – quickly followed up by yanking her bows out
• enjoying being outside all bundled up
• eating the Christmas ornaments
• eating very small leaves that she finds by the door
• eating old McDonald’s fries from the trash
• eating the mail
• eating nuts still in the shell
• eating Christmas light replacement bulbs (okay, only once did she do this, but I’m sure she would try it again if she could figure out how to get them off the tree)
• happy, happy, happy
• loving yogurt and bananas
• happiest when she’s with Ethan

I’m not sure about her “stats” right now, but she seems very comparable to Ethan at this age. The only other thing I didn’t mention is that she LOVES her daddy. Clay worked on getting lights on the house this weekend, and he bundled her up in his jacket – made for some sweet photos.

Some of you already know this, but this past weekend was a very difficult one for our family.  Clay’s cousin – Robin Reynolds York – lost her life on Thursday in an act of domestic violence by her husband, who then took his own life.  She was 37 years old - the oldest of the grandchildren on that side of the family.  I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone who loved their family as much as she did.  This is so tragic for her immediate and extended family, and it’s still hard to process that she’s gone.  She leaves behind an 8 year old son – Caleb – who will now live with his aunt (Robin’s younger sister), uncle and cousin.  He is so loved and cherished, but I can’t even fathom the hard road he has ahead.  If you are reading this, please stop and say a prayer for this amazing family who is putting all of their hope and trust in the Lord right now.  As it was said at her funeral, it is not God who causes evil, but He conquers evil.  And, if you are reading this and feel compelled to do so, please leave a comment for Robin’s parents, sister and son.  I think it would bring them a lot of comfort to know that they are being thought of and prayed for by people that never had the chance to meet Robin.

December 2005 with her sister, Holly

Caleb – December 2005

Robin & Caleb at our family reunion in September

Lisa has been asking me to update the family site, so I finally broke down and did it. I hope you all like the new look. Please let one of us know if something isn’t working.

Enjoy!

While it was a bit chilly yesterday, it was a beautiful day so around 4:00 the kids and I went on a walk around the neighborhood.  Ethan can actually go uphill on his bike now, so it’s doable with him riding and me pushing Rachel in the stroller.  I think that walk is one of the most fun times we’ve had in a while.  Thankfully I had no expectations to be back home at any certain time because it took us over an hour to make the circle around our house.  Sometimes I forget how curious Ethan is and how many questions he has about the things around him when we’re playing inside so much.  He asked about all of the hay on the ground (pine straw), why so many cars and trucks were taking naps that late (parked on the street), why the cat wouldn’t come closer so he could pet him, if every tree was a Christmas tree or just a regular tree, he asked if we could pick up all the acorns so the ants wouldn’t eat them, he asked how someone could draw such a big circle on the ground (cul-de-sac), and lots of other things that have already escaped my memory.  And all the while Rachel was just kicking away in her stroller.  Probably our best find of the day was this…

became this…

…a stage!  I’m not really sure what it is, but this was Ethan’s pièce de résistance.  It was a trampoline, then a stage, then just a good place to smash acorns.  And Rachel was laughing so hard she could barely breathe.  I think we’ll start making this a daily ritual – if nothing else I can feel better about myself that I’m getting some form of exercise for the day. 

Yesterday afternoon we took the kids to the library to get a new stack of books and movies, and then went to Blockbuster to trade in our mail-in movies for ones in the store.  We told Ethan he could pick a movie, and he had several he was carrying around.  Well, as fate would have it, he innocently wandered through the Wii aisle and was grabbed by the Cars video game.  It was all over from there.  He was itching to get home and play the car game with Clay…a dad’s dream come true. 
 

They played again this afternoon before Ethan’s nap time.  I told him he could play one more race, and then it would be time to go upstairs.  About 7 seconds after that statement, this is what happened…