The New Pets Come Home 12-27-08

Well...We did it! We went to the pet store today to pick out Natalie's hamster and Nate's Leopard Gecko. Choosing the gecko was pretty easy because one of the 4 in the cage stuck out color wise more than the others. He was beautiful, with a bright yellow spot in the center of his back by his neck. Nate was so excited.

The hamster on the otherhand was a different story. Sam and I thought we were going to buy Natalie a Teddy Bear Hamster. They are cute, and fuzzy, and large enough to be durable for kids. What a joke. Natalie found this black and white hamster that she really liked, and as the lady put her hand in the cage to get it out, the hamster started hissing, cowering, then lurching at the lady's hand. There was no way we were going to give that thing to our 4-year-old. The lady then asked us why we were getting a Teddy Bear Hamster. She said they are mean, aggressive, and bite frequently. (Why didn't she tell us that before!) She said we should get a Robo-Hamster. She showed as that as she put her hand in their cage, they just ran around and let her pet them. We were very pleased, and that is what we ended up with, a baby Robo-Hamster.

Introducing the New Hardy Family Pets:

Leo the Leopard Gecko

Amelia The Robo-Hamster

And we can't forget a picture of Chip, our favorite cat!

Welcome Christmas Day! Happy Birthday Jesus!

Christmas Day has a funny tradition in our family. If you wake up early, you are not allowed to come downstairs to the tree until Grandpa or Dad has the Christmas music playing (loudly) and the video camera rolling on you. The kids have been well trained to this. (The kids and I have come to know that the process normally takes about half an hour, but they are very patient. I just play safety patrol.)

As this kids came down this year, it was a priceless moment because one of William's presents could not be wrapped so it was left exposed in the wide open. When he came around the corner and spotted a brand new(to him) Power Wheels Monster Truck, the whole Christmas tree, almost hidden with presents, did not even catch a glimpse from him. Willam has been pretty much obsessed with Monster Trucks since he spotted a neighbor around the corner from us with one. Now we drive by that one oh.... at least 3 times a week. The guy, whom we do not know, must think some crazy family in a Honda Oddysey is stalking him or his belongings. One of these days Sam or I will muster up enough courage to go ask the guy if William can sit inside of the REAL monster truck.

The other kids were very surprised at their gifts this year. Natalie had been begging us for a Disney princess baseball bat, and was so surprised to find it under the tree. She also found a cage for a new hamster too. She is really becoming quite a responsible little girl. She has been such a great helper with Chip with thought she might enjoy having a pet to call her own.

Nate found an X-Wing Starfighter Lego set that he had been eyeing for almost a year, a really neat I-Pod Nano, and an aquarium for a new Leopard Gecko. He was so excited. Nate has wanted a pet of his own for a while, but it has been hard to figure out what would work with a very dominant cat in the house. I can't wait to see what his gecko is like.

Brianna was the hardest to shop for this year. She is such an easily pleased kid, and hardly ever asks for anything. Since she loves to read so much, she got the rest of the Redwall series books. She was very excited to see them. Every time she has saved money, she will go to Half Price Books to buy the next one she hasn't read. She also got a new bike because she keeps outgrowing hers, and an I-Pod Nano like Nate.

When all the presents were open, everyone helped to clean up all the papers, then went to the kitchen for our Christmas Day breakfast. I love this meal because everyone takes a part and helps put together this delicious Christmas feast!

After filling up on breakfast/brunch, Sam and I went with the kids to Chad and Amanda's home in Mesquite. We had a blast! The kids helped Amanda and her 2 sisters make a birthday cake for Jesus, and when it was done we all sang Happy Birthday to Him. It was quite a spiritual moment.

Then Chad brought out his automatic, machine-gun style, Nerf gun and started shooting Nerf darts all over the house. The kids jumped right in, and had Nerf battles the rest of the time we were there. I wish we would have had the camera to get pictures. Chad and Amanda's house had Nerf darts all over the place. We had a great time! This Christmas was one for the memory books!

Christmas Eve Arrives!

One of the most aticipated days of the year in our household is Christmas Eve. This year Sam decided to stay up almost the entire night before to make homemade cinnamon rolls. (He has never done this before, so there were many failed attempts that night before he got it right.) Boy did he get it right too! They were delicious!

William finds the frosting.

Natalie does too!

"Quick! Hide the Evidence!"

After we ate Daddy's cinnamon rolls, we got dressed and went to go see Disney's Bolt in 3-D. What a great movie. All the kids sat still through the entire movie. Even all the adults enjoyed it! It was equally entertaining for everyone, and didn't use the crude humor or "adult jokes" to make it funny. I recommend this movie for any family.

When we finished at the theater, it was off to Grandma's house for her signature Steak and Shrimp Christmas Eve Dinner. It is wonderful to have all our family members together for such a special dinner.

After dinner, we watched Christmas movies, sang carols, and got to open our Christmas jammies and one other special present. By the end of the night, everyone (except the kids who were racing on too much sugar) was exhausted! This year we chose to stay at Grandma & Grandpa's house over night to reduce the Christmas Day rush and chaos.

We got a 1-year membership to the Dallas Zoo! Yeah!

When Sam and I got ready to go to bed, it was hillarious. William was going to sleep with us, but Nana had given him a chocolate Santa and a huge pinwheel striped sucker. We told him he could not eat it until after breakfast Christmas Day. So, for safe keeping, he chose to bring his treats to bed with him, and us. No night sleep is better than having dreams of "Sugar Plum Santas," and listening to the crunching of plastic wrappers all night long as William twisted and turned in his sleep. LOL!

Our Trip to Bethlehem 12-07-08

Several years ago, before Natalie and William, we down went to Waxahachie to see a city created by a church there that depicted Bethlehem at Christ's birth. It was a great experience, but we had not made it back since. Well, this year we made it more of priority to see and got the details of its dates well in advance. We are so grateful we did.

Bethlehem Revisited brought the true meaning back into Christmas for us. We were able to see the angel appearing to the shepherds, the wisemen searching for the Christ child, and the beautiful stable sceen resembling what Jesus' first moments of life were like.

The kids were able to press grapes, watch weaving demonstrations, taste unleavened bread with honey and rosemary, receive a Widow's Mite (a coin from Jesus' time), and pet several animals located throughout the city. We will not miss this again! If you live in the DFW metroplex, it is very worth the drive and usually takes place the first 2 weekends in December.

Wintergreen Tree Farm 12-06-2008

After a wonderful morning at the parade, we headed north to Van Alstyne to cut down our Christmas tree. This is the second year we have cut down our own tree, and we will definitely continue the tradition for years to come. Our kids, and us too, absolutely love the experience we share together doing it.

Wintergreen Tree Farm is a family run farm that has so many cool activities to do while getting your tree. Our kids love these antique tractors that they have around the property. (We just have to keep them all taking turns to drive.)

To get your tree, they take you on a hay ride through the wooded areas of their property to the trees. It is pretty bumpy, but lots of fun.

Here is our tree, with a bit of a crooked top.

After all the kids have a turn to saw, Dad gets the final cut!

Once cut, we drag the tree to the road for the tractor to take back to the shop, shake out the dead needles(and hopefully spiders), and then load it on to our van. While we wait, we all get hot chocolate or apple cider.

Bowling Fun 12-23-08

Our friends the Angells invited us to go bowling for Kevin's birthday at the Plano Super Bowl. We had so much fun! We have never gone bowling as a family before so everyone was on even playing ground.

Sam had a blast but probably was breaking doctors orders less than 1 week post op.

We both bowled a few strikes, but also several gutter balls.

Nate and Brianna caught on pretty quick, but got frustrated that their balls kept going in the gutter. It wasn't too long before they had the bumpers in place. However, the crazy thing about putting the bumpers up was that as soon as we did, most of the older kids' balls didn't hit the bumpers any more. (Mind over matter, right?!)

Natalie bowled "Granny-Style." She would lay the bowl on the ground and give it a big shove. It worked great, and she actually came in second on her little kid team.

William was hilarious to watch. His idea of bowling was slamming the ball on the ground right in front of him, then we had to watch it roll so slowly down the lane, we were blowing trying to help it go all the way to the pins.

We had such a great night. We ate pizza between bowls, sang "Happy Birthday", ate Ding-dongs and Twinkies, and at the end got to sign a bowling pin for Kevin as a souvenir of the night. Thanks so much Angells for inviting us to come along! Happy Birthday Kevin!

Watching the Parade 12-06-08

This year our family decided to go watch the Neiman Marcus Adolphus Children's Christmas Parade in downtown Dallas. (boy that's a mouthful!) Our last experience with downtown activities was the Fourth of July right after 9-11. We went to watch fireworks there and it was an overcrowded nightmare. We were hoping the parade would not be that way. We were plesantly surprised. We bundled the kids from head to toe, since the morning weather was going to be in the 30's, then picked up breakfast at McDonald's on the way. When we arrived downtown, we found a great parking spot right away and only had to walk 3 blocks to where we would watch the parade from. The great thing was that we only had to wait about 10 minutes before all the action began. There were clowns, cars, bands, horses, balloons, and Yes!, even Santa. Other than Nate getting really cold, we had a great time!

Anything with a cat would of course be Brianna's favorite.

Nate and William both loved the Star Wars characters!

William was very excited to see Bob the Builder roll in on his big bulldozer. We just wish he would have been on our side to get a better picture.

Natalie thought the enormous My Little Pony was fantastic!

And here's Santa and his elves!

William's Surprise

It never ceases to amaze us what William comes up with. After taking pictures, we wore him out so he fell asleep on the couch. When he got up I noticed he was pretty red in the face. I didn't think anything about it until he put his hand on me. I noticed he had what appeared to be mosquito bites covering his hand. I picked him up and lifted hi shirt to find him covered in hives. William has broken out in some of the craziest rashes, this was nothing different. If we only knew what caused it we'd be okay.

These crazy things came and went all over him, face to foot, for almost a month!

When they finally went away, we had no clue what we changed or did to help it. It still remains a mystery! A William Mystery!

Taking Family Pictures 11-23-08

We finally decided to have professional pictures taken of our family and we are so excited to show them. Raechal's good friend from her homeschool group is a professional photographer so we asked her if she would like to do them for us. We think she did a great job! If you are in need of a photographer go to http://www.earthmamaphotography.com/ . Her name is Elizabeth Boyce and she is fantastic! We had her for 2 uninteruppted hours to run through the park with us and get all our moments on film. She was great with our kids, and didn't even get frustrated with Natalie refusing to do what she was being asked to do.

Brianna

Nate

Natalie

William

Sam and Raechal

We had to finish with the "Always on the Run" pic!

....Our Family Nativity Party.... 12-15-08

This year we wanted to continue one of our favorite Christmas traditions, Our Family Home Evening Nativity Party. We started this two years ago and just loved it, except last year instead of a Nativity party we had an American Girls Club End of the Year Party at Christmas time (which was really nice). Our Nativity party consists of having some friends over, eating dinner, then all of the kids act out the Nativity from Luke 2. Our kids pull out of a hat out ahead of time who will play each part and everyone dresses up just like they did back in old Jerusalem. After acting out the Nativity this year, we were going to go caroling and deliver cookies to some of our other friends. However, it decided to sleet and ice pretty good and it was freezing cold, so we thought it would be much safer to stay inside and eat the cookies ourselves. Everyone really seemed to enjoy it, and it was a great way for all of us to remember what this time of year is all about - and have FUN doing it!

(We left the picture taking up to our kids, so we have some interesting pics.)