Reading Material

Upon seeing that we got a magazine in the mail, TJ said:

"Is this for my bathroom or your bathroom?"

HA!

It was a National Geographic just in case your wondering.

Alli's First Arrowhead!

Alli found her first arrowhead on our family camping trip at the ranch this last weekend. She's making daddy very proud!

The Difference Between Men and Women

A few months back I was amused by a conversation between Alli (then 4) and TJ (3) that showed a difference in the way a male and a female handle things even at such a young age...

The conversation was about some over aggressive geese ("ducks") that we encountered at a roadside park we had stopped to have lunch at. Needless to say, we ended up doing lunch in the car instead. Much later while thinking about it, Alli started...

A: Those ducks were mean, like when they bit my arm and made a blood spot.

TJ: We should run over them.

Alli, being a typical girl, just wanted to express her feelings and talk about how it scared her.
TJ, being a typical boy, offered a rash solution.

I had to laugh.

Future Rockstar

I think we need to add singer/songwriter to Alli's list of aspirations...

She never actually ends. I just stopped recording eventually. It gets pretty funny if you hang in there and watch. The only problem with this video is that it was recorded at 10:30pm. I could hear her singing in her room long after I put her to bed and after she had already been out of her room to sing to me in person. She finally fell asleep shortly after this.

Alli in her cast

Alli landed wrong after being tossed on the bed Sunday night and it resulted in a broken left radius. So, it has been a very long week with an ER visit, a trip to the orthopedic surgeon's office and surgery at the hospital. Yes, surgery. Apparently, the location of the break generally requires a pin to be placed in order to set right. That was a shock that caused a great deal of stress and angst for mom and dad, but she was a champ through it all...

The x-ray for those of you that are interested.

The morning after the ER visit in her temporary purple cast and hospital gown. Did you know they give those away "free"? She was pretty excited about all the "free" stuff she got from her hospital visits.Following doctor's orders and keeping that arm elevated while watching morning cartoons. She carried her own pillow in the living room and set herself up. Apparently she was listening during discharge instructions.

A few hours after surgery in her new light blue cast to match her eyes. Those little bumps are spacers to allow for swelling and will come out at her follow up appt next week. The pin itself is completely internal and will be removed in about 4mos.

We were instructed to keep her resting with her arm elevated for 48hours. Easier said than done. After about the second movie, Alli said "Kids are supposed to play! I don't want to rest anymore." Getting her to take the yucky pain medicine was another impossible task. In her defense, that stuff was awful bitter.

So, this was the best we could do most of the time. She loves her new coloring book! As you can see, she has been all smiles through just about all of this.

Some things we have learned:

-We have to be a lot more careful. Turns out, kids can break.

-Alli is hilarious under the influence of Versed, otherwise known as happy juice- wished we had that on video. Just imagine a drunk 5 yr old slurring "Those doctors are crazy. That medicine didn't work. I didn't fall asleep. HOORAY! Look at those fans falling from the ceiling..." All the while trying to sit and stand up in bed, but falling back down. At one point she got real quiet and zoned out but then her eyes lit up and she said "They should call it quiet medicine."

-There is a point at which Alli gets tired of watching TV after all.

-Most importantly, we are surrounded by God's love in the form of family and friends who prayed, visited, called, encouraged, supported, sent gifts and offered help of all kinds. We are truly blessed. Thank you all so much.

Hopelessly Devoted

Dwaine had a beautiful, sweet, kind hearted date last Friday night and she wasn't me. He took Alli to their 3rd ever Father Daughter Dance. They had such a great time at the first two, so they were both really looking forward to it again. Alli was doing a daily count down in anticipation.

I'm really a little bit jealous that I don't' get to be a part of it, but I know that if I was it wouldn't be the same, so I just look forward to getting her ready for her special night. We even had a special shopping trip with Grandma to pick out her dress this year. And here is the happy couple ready for the big night...When Dwaine got home, he said they had a good time but also mentioned that this was the year he lost her. She was really excited to see all the other little girls she knows and had fun socializing with them. I was a little sad for him, but when I asked her about the dance she said she was "as snug as a love bug with daddy." Her time with him was still very important to her and she really cherished being with him. I think it was just extra fun for her to be able to see all her friends at the same time.

Something else that made the dance extra special this year. Our close friends, the Westinghouse's were in town and Corry got to take his 2 beautiful daughters, Autumn and Shelby too! This pic was taken when they all got home. They came home screaming, squealing and dancing with excitement and apparently had done so all the way home in the car with Dwaine. I think he needed a little stress relief at that point! Three giddy girls can be a bit much to take especially in a confined space.

And while the girls and Daddies were away at the dance, Miss Steph and I took TJ to eat at El Chaparral and apparently he liked it, cause now he says that's where he wants to have his birthday. I'm sure that has something to do with the fact that somebody was celebrating a birthday and did the whole sombrero and song thing while we were there. He's so funny sometimes. He still keeps reminding me and telling other people that is where he is going to have his birthday. Crazy boy cracks me up.

A Budding Artist

Remember when I said that Alli wants to be an artist when she grows up. Well, she has stayed true to that, still consistently says that is what she wants to be, and has been practicing a lot. She loves to draw...

A unicorn (drawn back in November).

One of her most recent creations and one of my favorites- a bird. Is that cute or what?

Holmes Family Christmas

Grandma and Pawpaw's grand kids: Maddy (7), Gavin (almost 6), Alli (almost 5), Lainey (5 1/2), Cade (8 1/2), and TJ (3 1/2).

TJ was really excited about present time, along with all the other kids.

So apparently, Alli didn't want the Dirt Devil vacuum and she made it known. It was really more that she was expecting something else (which was in the next gift she opened), but she was not happy. We need to have a little talk about showing gratitude regardless of whether or not we like our gifts. What's even worse is that this was a gift from my mom that my mom gave me money to pick out for her- sorry mom. I had no idea it would receive such a negative reaction.

Alli and Wilson- he loves her and she loves him- some of the time :-)

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!"