The Star of the Play

This year Alli was the star of the Grace Point Church Kids Day Out Christmas Program, literally...

"And it was the most beautiful star they had ever seen."

That's her doing her twinkling hand motion. Is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen?

That costume, and of course the pretty little girl wearing it, really did steal the show. People kept asking if they could take a picture with her afterwards. She was so proud. What's funny is that she was kind of upset about being the star. According to her, the star wasn't as important as the angel and she really wanted to be the angel. But on the way home she kept saying, "Everyone wanted to take a picture of me!" She was pretty excited about it.
And the star's little brother was quite a star too. He stood up there just like he was supposed to, did all the hand motions and even sang a little (especially when it came time to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus). He was one of the only kids in his class that wasn't either crying, running away or staring blankly into space. Dwaine and I were really quite proud of both of our little stars.

Events like these are truly precious memories that we will cherish forever. They won't be little forever so we are trying to soak them up in all their cuteness while we can.

Thanksgiving

Just as we were starting to think we weren't going to have any big Thanksgiving plans this year, we ended up with 2 family Thanksgiving dinners planned. One at my Nana's house on Thanksgiving day with my folks, my aunt and uncle and Nana. This is where I spent most of my Thanksgiving celebrations as a kid with aunts, uncles and cousins. Lots of good memories!Alli and TJ with Grandma and Pawpaw.

So happy to see Nana looking good and feeling good. She means so much to us.

Then we got to host the Dement family Thanksgiving at our house. Above: Aunt Christie, Meg and Alli.
Alli and TJ absolutely adore their cousins Lyndee and Meg and why wouldn't they? They played hide and seek with the kids, drew fun pictures, loved on them and gave them lots of attention. They are so sweet and we only wish we could spend more time with them.

Lyndee loving on TJ.

We are so blessed and have much to be thankful for! God is so good!

TJ's 3rd Birthday Party

Way back in August...

TJ turned 3! Blowing out a candle on his actual birthday, but being careful not to get too close because "It might fire me up!" he said.

Helping to fill his pinata.


TJ wanted a boat birthday, so that's what he got. One of mommy's best cakes yet!

We headed out to Canyon lake for some boat birthday fun with TJ's best buds Grant and Jake, Mr Travis and Ms Laura, and grandparents. There were quite a few mishaps including the boat not wanting to start, no dock or ramp near the pavilion, a lost flip flop in the lake muck, dead batteries in the air pump for the tube that daddy checked the day before, a popped float and crying kids that didn't want to swim in the deep water.

But after we worked out all the kinks, we were off and having fun...

TJ tubing for the first time. He loved it!

Jake getting to help Uncle D drive the boat.

Pinata time!!! All the kids took turns taking swings and swings and swings, but the thing would NOT break. Grant had some real power behind his swings that did some damage, but still no goodies falling out. So, daddy had to step in and do the job- the thing was made of cardboard- I guess that's what you get when you buy it from the dollar store.

Cake time!!

Present time!!

And after all our family and friends left, we headed back out for a little more boating and tubing. We just didn't want the fun to end...

Alli even decided she wanted to try tubing solo. So she did and she was so proud and just kept riding and tiding...

Daddy and the birthday boy getting a little tired but still having fun...

The After Party...

What a great day! Such a fun, adventurous, thrill-seeking little boy who truly enjoys life.

A Visit to Santa

The kids did really great at our Santa visit this year. We were the only people there so they were able to get to know him a little before sitting in his lap...

He was really sweet making sure he talked to them about behaving and going to bed on time. Too bad I don't think the talk worked (especially the bed time part).
For some reason Alli did not want to tell him what she wanted, but TJ was not shy about it. "I want a shooter gun!" And then when we walked away, TJ was looking all sad so I asked him what was wrong and in a pathetic little voice he said "He didn't give me a shooter gun." No wonder he was not shy about telling him what he wanted. He thought he was going to get it right then and there.
Back at home, trying to get a nice picture of the kids by the tree.

Never mind, just make crazy faces...
Somehow, boys are just instinctively better at making silly faces. Even Alli said "Ooh, TJ did a better crazy face than me!"

Handwashing Guidelines

TJ (after pooping) - "I don't need to wash my hands."

Mom - "Yes you do. You just poo-poo'd."

TJ - "I didn't poo poo on my hand!"

Thanksgiving Feast

The kids had a Thanksgiving feast at their kids day out program this last week and it was sooo cute...

TJ making that headdress look so good!

Alli's class was in full-on Indian costumes while another class was dressed as pilgrims...
Little Fawn (aka Alli) waiting to say a prayer before eating.

She was so proud that her daddy was there (he was the only daddy in attendance). She told him about it the week prior saying "...and you can come too! Will you come daddy?"

Daddy didn't hesitate saying of course he would be there. It's not often that he gets to see these fun events.

The Indians teaching the pilgrims some songs after the meal. I think Alli was having a hard time controlling her excitement.

...Gobble gobble gobble (or goggle goggle as Alli says), fat turkey am I
I'm not here for living, I'm here for Thanksgiving...

Is that not hilariously cute?

Squirrel Whisperers

A couple months ago, we took a day trip out to the Nueces River canyon. Daddy was going to dig for Indian artifacts while the kids and I played in the river and hiked around the property. As the kids and I were exploring, we happened upon this...

A baby squirrel that had fallen out of the nest. Is he not just the cutest little thing (ok, you might not think so, but I do)!

Listen closely. You can hear him snorting.

Not sure what to do, but pretty sure we would be playing animal rescuers, I went to get Daddy. Daddy picked him up, the squirrel immediately relaxed in the warmth of his hand, and at that point our hearts were in it.
So this is where he spent the rest of the day in the front seat of the Jeep, curled up in Daddy's hat and covered with a t-shirt for warmth. Alli and I decided "Tiny" was his name.

So we took Tiny home and made him a little nest in an old aquarium. I think he liked it. Then the research began- what would we do without the internet to tell us how to take care of rescued baby squirrels?

A few weeks and countless number of puppy formula syringe feedings later, he was growing, his eyes had opened and he figured out how to escape. Thankfully, he wasn't interested in going far. This is how I found him when I walked out into the garage one day- just chilling.

Playing with the kids. He liked Alli just fine, but not so much TJ. It was probably all the loudness and jumping around. He would kind of run and hide when TJ came around.

Getting some practice time outside.

He wasn't sure about hanging out in the grass at first. He preferred to crawl up in our laps or even more preferably down our shirt or up our pants. And it was hard to get him out- those little claws are very clingy. When Dwaine would set him on a tree, he would just hang on for dear life until his little body started shaking so Dwaine would grab him... until one day he started running up the branch. Thankfully with a ladder we were able to get him back down (he was not ready for the wild yet).

One of the many syringe feedings...

Now Tiny is all grown up and living in the chicken coop out back eating nuts, sunflower seeds and fruit. He's plenty old enough to live in the wild now, but we thought it would be kind of cruel to release him right before winter. So for now, he seems to like his home. He doesn't so much like to be held anymore but will still take food out of our hands and let us pet him while he eats. Maybe next spring, he'll get to join the other squirrels running free in our backyard.

If we seem a little proud, it's because we are. We have rescued a handful of baby animals before and Dwaine has probably tried to rescue countless animals in his life, and none of them have ever made it into adulthood. We were sure to prep Alli with this sad fact when we first brought Tiny home, but thankfully she didn't have to see it firsthand.

When they grow up...

When asked right now, this is what the kids want to do when they grow up:

Alli (at 4 1/2 yrs)
-Artist
-squirrel watcher
-bird watcher
-killer whale trainer
-babysitter

While this is a long list, I have assured her that I am pretty sure she can accomplish some of these simultaneously (especially before killer whale trainer was added to the list after a recent visit to Sea World). I mean who doesn't love a good squirrel painting?

TJ's list is much shorter, but maybe a little harder to accomplish...

TJ (at 3 yrs)
-Spiderman
-Scooby Doo

Looks like we may need to have a talk about earning potential before they grow up :-)

Fishing on Medina Lake

A family fishing and boating day on Lake Medina back in October...

That tree line is the normal lake level. This summer's drought was really rough. We've never seen the lake this low before, but are hoping it will be back up next summer after a wet winter and spring.

He's really getting the hang of it except that he keeps thinking he caught a fish when he sees his lure approaching the boat. Fishing with a lure is new- really cute.

Alli didn't hold an interest in fishing quite as long as TJ did, but she still really enjoyed the whole experience. They both wanted to stay on the boat the whole day and were not very happy when it was time to go. I just love days like these!

TJ after a long day of fishing. What a rough life. There's nothing like a good nap on the boat- I know 'cause I've done it more than a few times after early morning fishing :-) The warm sun, the gentle rocking, a nice breeze- it's just perfect.

Gymnastics

Alli has been wanting to take gymnastics class for a while and I finally got around to signing her up for a free trial class to try it out. I decided to let TJ try it too so I wouldn't have to entertain him while she was in class. They both did so good and had a lot of fun. And I was more impressed with the class than I thought I would be. I am definitely going to sign Alli up for classes and I would really love for TJ to do it too (mainly so I don't have to figure out how to occupy him while she is in class), but not sure Dwaine is on board for that.