Christmas Tradition

Like I've said before, I'm into holiday traditions. I thought it would be fun to decorate sugar cookies with Santa, so we would have some tasty treats for the jolly guy. We got up on Christmas Eve, and I baked those pre-cut ones. Then, I let Katie decorate them. She loved this activity. Katie thinks the more stuff, the merrier. I think Santa enjoyed them because that night, he ate two of them.

The day finally came....Dave's Graduation

It was a day Dave and I had waited for what seemed like forever. Dave started at UTA the spring after I had Katie. Most of his TCC credits didn't transfer even though he had his associate's degree. Well, Dave and I had many disagreements about this day. I thought it would be a great lesson for Katie, and I felt that we had sacrificed a lot for him to finish school (without a doubt the best thing we did.) He wanted to finish, and I totally supported him. I wanted him to walk the stage when he announced he was graduating in December. With lots of prodding from family and friends, Dave walked the stage at UTA on December 13. I will never forget this day. Dave, I am so proud of you and love you more than you will ever know. I don't think you know how much this meant to me. Did I mention that Dave was a first-generation graduate?

Happy Birthday Lisa!

We went with Brad, Lisa, Carol, and Ed to Brio's Tuscan Grille to celebrate Lisa's birthday. Don't worry Lisa, your secret is safe with me. I know...you're only 26, right? The food was incredible, and we had a blast.

THE Gingerbread House

I'm all about creating holiday traditions. Katie loves doing holiday activities. So, I saw an adorable kit for a gingerbread house at Target, and I thought, "How hard could this be?" Boy, was I wrong. It took almost 30 minutes just to get the stupid rock-hard cookies to stick together. Katie kept asking when she could add the candy. We started letting her decorate. The house quickly deteriorated like a mobile home purchased with FEMA funds. I will post a picture of what it looked like about 2 minutes before the whole thing collapsed. Katie did enjoy eating the candy as she assembled it. I know that's the important part, but Dave does not desire to make one of these again...for a long time.
P.S. Our model did not turn out like the picture on the box.

Thanksgiving Feast

Katie's school has a feast every year on the Monday before Thanksgiving. I don't know how you call it a "Thanksgiving feast" when you serve: Chick-fil-A nuggets, fries, fruit cocktail, green beans, rolls, and ice cream, but the kids love it all the same. Katie doesn't normally attend school on Mondays, but we make an exception for the feast. It starts out with a short program from the kiddos. They sang, "I'm a little turkey" to the tune of "I'm a little teapot." It went like this and was adorable, "I'm a little turkey, short and fat"...then there was a lot of mumbling, and it ended with "Gobble, gobble, gobble." Katie sang this song for a good month, and now I can't remember it.

Allie's Birthday

Allie's 4th birthday party was at the carousel at the Parks mall. Katie loves the carousel. Actually, she just loves parties period. Allie had a beautiful cake of Cinderella made by Becky, and Katie was shocked. Allie got lots of good loot, and I think everyone had a good time.

Happy Halloween

We headed to Jaxson's house for a costume party! Katie had been asking all day what Jaxson would be dressed up as. All the party participants were dressed up except Dave and I. I didn't know everyone would take it so seriously. Next year, I will dress up, I promise. Katie had a great time playing with Jaxson (Bumblebee) and Blake (Tony Romo.) She was quite the fairy. If someone ever called her a princess, she would quickly let you know, "I'm not a princess, I'm a fairy."