kids imaginations...

It will never cease to amaze me at what kids can dream up......one day they turned a regular chair into the Tea Cup ride with Grandpa. Oh to be 2 or 4 again! We all had fun with this one!

For Grandpa

This is waaaaay over due for my Dad but, I couldn't get the video loaded for some reason.

Here is Samantha singing a priceless song for her Grandpa on his big 60th birthday! We love you Grandpa!!!!

Where did Christmas go???

Well, just like the rest of 2008 Christmas has come and gone way too fast. Especially for our girls! They had such a great time this year (as I hope your families did as well). It's getting more and more fun as the girls get older and start to understand Christmas - and all that it means. Neal often says that our girls are going to be "tired" of our many Christmas traditions when they are older but, I really hope they don't. What are our many Christmas traditions you ask??? 1) decorating our trees (all 4 of them - could be 5 if I had more room). 2) putting out our manger scene that was made by my Mom. 3) Going to the Santa's Village in Richardson. 4) Going to see Santa at Mimi Susie's open house (I do think her Santa is the BEST). 5) New for this year is "Ernie" our Elf on the Shelf. 6) Driving to Nebraska to spend Christmas with Grandma & Grandpa Johnson. 7) Decorating a gingerbread house with grandparents. 8) Celebrate Christmas Eve at Uncle Randy's with all our Aunts, Uncles, cousins, grandparents & Great Grandpa! 9) Stay in PJ's all day on Christmas Day ( one of my personal favorites)! 10) Making and decorating a birthday cake for Jesus with Grandma. 11) Singing "Happy Birthday Jesus" on Christmas day. And #11) The long drive home from Nebraska! And can't forget going sledding and making snow angels when they have snow!!!!!

The girls really thought that Santa came through for them this year - all they have both been asking for is "Barbie and the Diamond Castle" and boy were they happy! Their faces were priceless as they came up the stairs to see what Santa left them under the tree! (Yes, my Dad's house has a basement which is so great!) The other thing they got which ranks right up there are their many horses (thanks Uncle Randy!) and their cats from Aunt Jill - they aren't real but, you sure would think that they are. Enjoy the pictures...it was hard to choose! May 2009 be one of your best years yet...be safe.

Winter Wonder Land

This past weekend Neal was able to take a litte get away trip to Colorado to visit his friend Rob. Neal and Rob met while in the Army - they have been friends for a long time now and haven't seen eachother for quite a while. Rob is a Jag officer still in the Army (a lawyer) and has been called up for his 2nd tour to Iraq starting in Feb '09. They got to go skiing on Saturday and took Rob's oldest son Tomas...they all had a great time!

So much to say so little time....

Santa's Village

Six Flags

Neiman Marcus Parade

Wow - so much to catch up on! First of all, I am very sorry for the long delay in any blog updates! We got a terrible virus on our computer (which was my fault) due to facebook! Never, never click on a video that looks strange! Please learn from my mistake.
We've had lots going on so, I thought I'd put it in an easy to read Top 6 List...(guess I don't have 10)....
1) Neiman Marcus Christmas Parade in downtown Dallas - this was last Saturday and boy what an event! Aunt Jill joined us and The Willson's Klan met up with us downtown as well. We had our own mini version of a tail-gate and made breakfast burritos (thanks Neal). The weather was beautiful so everyone one had fun.

2) Six Flags Holiday in the Park - we decided at the last minute to take the girls to Six Flags...Neal had some free tickets that we had to use before the end of the year. The weather was amazing (for December - even in TX)! Sydney went on a pretty big roller coaster twice - we were so proud! I'm glad she's not afraid of them because both Neal and I love them! I think the girls and I went on the Tea Cups ride atleast 6 times! There really weren't any lines which helped alot too!

3)Gymnastics - Sydney has gymnastics every Monday evening and loves it! She's getting to be pretty good at the things she really enjoys - like jumping on the trampoline and tumbling. I can see her starting to get stronger each time we go - it's exciting to see her confidence increase when she will finally do something right. It's great!

4) Dinner w/the Beall Girls - Lori and the girls came over for dinner on Tuesday (thanks for picking up dinner...we love Pei Wei). It was so nice to finally have more than 5 min. for Lori and I to catch up. The girls always play so great together so that makes it easy.

5) Santa's Village - tonight Aunt Jill and I took the girls to Santa's Village where there are little houses all with their own theme that the kids go into, make a craft, play music, face painting, petting "zoo" (really just goats), puppet shows, music and thousands of lights! I was surprised that it wasn't very crowded which made it nice that the lines weren't as long as in years past.

6) Saturday.....all I can say is that I just can't wait....I have lots to do to get ready for our trip up to Nebraska for Christmas but, hoping most of it can be done from home...especially since I am a "single parent" this weekend. :) Neal flew to Colorado today to spend the weekend with one of his best Army Buddies! Rob found out a few months ago that he will be leaving in Feb. for his second tour to Iraq. So, it will be fun for them to hang out. Luck Dog...he's going skiing tomorrow at Loveland!!!! I so wish we all went too. Next time for sure!

A few of my favorite Christmas things....

I am starting to get things pulled together in the Christmas decorating category now! whew....I was getting abit stressed about it getting done so late. We still haven't touched the outside of the house - hopefully this weekend or it's just not going to get done. So, tonight I wanted to share with you one of my most favorite things that I get to take out each Christmas and I've mentioned it before - my nativity scene that my Mom hand painted. Each year I go to pull it out I just hope and pray that it's all in one piece as I'd put it away the year before.

I love decorating the Christmas trees with the girls - this year we actually have 4 trees in our house which the girls are LOVING! (And so am I) oops - took the picture of "my" tree before I got my angel on top....It's so fun! I am really looking forward to spending time with my family over the holidays and continue some traditions and share them with the girls....some old and some new. We've started decorating a gingerbread house over Christmas and everyone loves that! The girls also make a birthday cake on Christmas day with Grandma....and we sing Happy Birthday Jesus on top of many other things! We are all hoping that there will be snow again at Grandma & Grandpa's house so we can go sledding like last year. What a great time that was!

A quick Happy Birthday to Carp tomorrow! Love ya girl!!! Only 1 more year till the "Big One" make it the best yet!

Thanksgiving fun.....

Wow, are the days going by faster and faster for anyone else other than me??? I had this entire last week off on vacation and feel like I accomplished nothing! I think I am the type of person who gets more done when I have too many things to do than when I have "nothing" to do! I really wanted to have all my Christmas decorating done - I've not even really started. Tonight after work Neal went to gymnastics with Sydney and Samantha and I went shopping for a new pre-lit Christmas tree. She had a good time just having some alone time with Mommy and I had fun too - just wished it would have been 3:00 in the afternoon instead of 7:00 in the evening. So, we finally found one that I liked, bought it and got it home (gotta love a suburban). Trying to put it together in between all the calls for "MOMMY" (I know you mom's know what I'm talking about) I discover that one of the branches isn't attached! It's missing the "bolt" to hold it in place. Ofcourse at this time the store is closed and now I have to wait till tomorrow to even think about getting anything further done. UGH!

Thanksgiving has come and gone and everyone has quickly moved on to Christmas but, I have many things to really be thankful for this year....first of all my family (yes, all of you!), my friends (where would I be without you....thanks Lori for the many nights of therapy!), my health, my job, my home and I could go on and on. God has so richly blessed me and my family that I can't begin to list it all!

We spent Thanksgiving with Neal's family in Amarillo this year - boy was it windy and cold! We had a good time - even though Neal was really sick - sorry Brian & Candy for all the germs he left at your house....hope you don't come down with anything!

There were some pretty big highlights for the girls this year that helped make this a great time...playing with their cousins, jumping on PaPa's trampoline and going on a horse back ride! They really had a great time!

Neal and I got to visit with some of his very close friends too which was nice - Lance, Michael & Charlotte (thanks Brian & Candy for taking the girls and putting them to bed for us)

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the time of preparation for Christmas....

What a great time to be a kid!

Well, it's nearing my FAVORITE time of the year - Christmas! I love everything about Christmas and I think the reason why Christmas is so important to me is because of how important it was to my Mom. This January will be 9 years since she's past away and it still feels like it happend just yesterday. I can just see her when those boxes of Christmas decorations would be brought out again. She loved putting up our tree and putting the angel on top, putting out one of her most prize possesions the nativity scene that she made herself (which I now have and cherish even more) and baking....she always loved to bake and cook but, Christmas were some of her best! And I wonder why I'm smaller now than I was while growing up! hahaha

My parents instilled in me the Real Meaning of Christmas which I pray that Neal and I instill in our girls as well. Family is so important to me and I can't imagine a Christmas without being together. I'm so blessed to have been able to spend every Christmas that I've celebrated with my Dad!
Tonight was the start of our Christmas traditions which was a new one for us.....the girls each have their very own hot pink Christmas tree in their rooms this year. They were so excited to decorate it! It is going to be a very blessed year for everyone!

Yes, one that actually starts with Thanksgiving and giving thanks for all that we have been given...family, health, jobs and much much more.....we are traveling to Amarillo starting tomorrow evening so, had to get some things started tonight!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Football, Friends, Football and more friends - what a great weekend!

Wow - it's Sunday night already! Who knew a weekend could go by so quickly! Thank goodness I am on vacation this week! YEAH!!!! This is my first full week vacation all year and I'm so excited!

We had a fun family weekend which was great! We had friends over to watch some football, eat chili and ice cream too on saturday night and today Neal and I went to the Cowboys/49'ers football game - thanks to our good friend Jamie who gave us tickets! He plays for the 49'ers so it was great to go today! We got to meet up with him for a few minutes after the game which is always a good time too. Now, what to do tomorrow while the girls are at school....huh! It's all about mommy tomorrow! Yeah!

A pre Thanksgiving Feast

Today the girls had "Thanksgiving" dinner at school and the parents were invitied to join them. I wasn't going to go because I was worried that they would cry when I would have to leave to go back to work and they would have to stay at school abit longer. Sydney asked me twice if I would come have lunch with her (so sweet). After explaining that I would have to go back to work and making sure that she wouldn't be upset about it I told her that I would join her. She was so excited! It is so amazing how important things like not being the only kid without a parent show up is to them! It really put things into perspective for me today and what an invaluable role us as parents play in our kids lives on a daily basis. Not that I didn't already know how important being Sydney and Samantha's Mom is but, today it brought it down to a new level for me. I am so thankful for my kids, my husband, our health and that we are together! God has so richly blessed us in so many ways! Hope you enjoy some pictures from today and a very special early Thanksgiving greeting from Sydney's class. The friends above with Sydney are Gage & MacKenzie

I'm going to marry a prince....

Tonight was pretty busy with going to gymnastics with Sydney - we don't get home till about 7:45. Then it's eat a quick dinner, get in the bath, play with Samantha, read books and head to bed. Well, tonight while the girls were playing dress up (like they do nearly every night), Sydney informed me that "Tonight I'm going to marry a prince"!!

The conversation went something like this...

Sydney: Tonight I'm going to Marry a prince!

Me: Really, I've not gotten to meet him yet - I have to meet him before you can get married.

Sydney: Really - okay

Me: Is he nice?

Sydney: yes

Me: is he a Christian? Does he go to church?

Sydney: Yes

Me: is he handsome?

Sydney: why yes, he's little and abit different, but he's funny.

Me: does he have a job?

Sydney: yes.

Me: what does he do?

Sydney: he does lots of things. I do lots of things too...

Me: What's his name?

Sydney: Neal

At this point I was trying so hard not to laugh I couldn't stand it! It was so sweet and she was very serious about all this too! I just love it when I can get the girls going on something!

Have a great week!

Is it munchkin land or Off to see the Wizard.....

This weekend we've shared one of my favorite movies as a kid with the girls....The Wizard of Oz! They love it! Infact we watched together last night (except for the parts that Neal fell asleep) and then it's on again tonight! Samantha was telling me today about the bad Witch and the flying monkeys....and how the bad witch was trying to take "her" glass slippers! She was so cute! Ofcourse one of Neal's favorite songs of the movie is "munchkin land" which he has so thoughtfully given that song to my family as our "theme song"! Not Funny!
Sydney's favorite character is the scarecrow and has now started skipping through the house....we're off to see the wizard!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzw0JEvRA5E&feature=related

Whew....

This week has been a long one already - thankfully it's Wednesday....I think! I started my new job on Monday of this week! It's been a mix of starting my new position and trying to wrap up my old job all at the same time. I'm excited about my new adventure - still at JCPenney but have been promoted to be the Brand Director of our Intimate Apparel private brands. Yes, I'm back in intimate apparel.....I've come full circle now as some have said it.

The girls were really good tonight when I picked them up from school - they were excited to go to church for Veggie Tails and pick up McDonald's for dinner. I think Sydney is going through a growth spurt right now...tonight she ate her cheese burger, 1 chicken nugget that Samantha shared with her, apples and then when we got home she was still hungry so I made her a ham/cheese sandwich....wow! hungry girl!

Well - off to read with Sydney and get some sleep. Have a great week - it's starting to cool off down here for my friends up North....it was only in the low 60's this morning! :)

Happy Halloween

We had a fun weekend with Grandparents in town! Bummer that both of the girls were sick! ugh!!!! Sydney had a temp and wasn't up for much. Samantha carried the entertaining of the grandparents quite well....she just had a cough! Good job Samantha! ;) Sydney is doing much better now and their coughs are nearly gone. I say that as I can now hear Sam coughing in her sleep. Trick or treating was abit limited this year - the girls were both butterfly fairies and really enjoyed their costumes! I even dressed up with them which was fun too. We always love it when Grandpa and Grandma come to visit - we celebrated my Dad's 60th birthday this weekend....just a week early. Happy Birthday Dad! Samantha sang to him - will have to try to upload the video later...it's not working now.

More weekend pictures

Here's the girls with their faces all painted from our Saturday trip to the arboretum...we all had a blast!

This is Dedicated to the GRHS Class of '88

After more than 20 years (yes, you did read that correctly), I finally got to go see Rick Springfield in concert last night! Although when I woke up early to go to the Arboretum with Neal and the Girls I had no idea what the rest of the day would have in store for me! I thought Neal and I were going out for a wonderful steak dinner and then to a friend's house for her Halloween costume party. Little did I know that we would be picking up our friends Mark & Taylor to join us for dinner - nice surprise since we'd not seen then since their wedding earlier this summer. Then while driving downtown Neal asks us all to listen to his new cd that he'd picked up (by the way - thanks Mark for helping him with that one!)...Rick Springfield! I ofcourse loved it...then Neal hands me a piece of paper to read....it took a minute to figure it out but, soon read that we were going to the Rick Springfield concert at the House of Blues that night instead of dinner and a costume party! It was such a great time! I had no idea and loved every song! Half way through the show Rick came down on the floor and yes, my cheerleader girlfriends from GRHS....I touched his arm! I felt like a little school girl to be so excited but, it was a great time! Thank you Neal for such a wonderful time! I love you! I did take a video of him singing "Jessie's Girl" check it out!! enjoy!

Before all the events of the concert we went together to the Dallas Arboretum - which I really think is one of the girls most favorite places to go - they get to run in the grass, play in houses that are replicas of houses long ago, eat a picnic lunch and just have a great time! This time of year there they have all kinds of things for kids - hay bail maze, face painting, crafts and more....check out our "scary" tiger and cat.....what fun! It's getting late - I will uplaod more pictures of the girls tomorrow...night!