Laid Back

We have been really busy just trying to keep up with the two little ones! Grace is talking a mile a minute, full of excitement and joy that the Christmas season brings. And Collin, well he has made the trasition from military crawling to all fours to pulling up and cruising all in a week's time! He now has SEVEN teeth...and still gnawing on everything in sight! He has been making successful efforts feeding himself as well.

We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, and we will see you in 2010!

Santa's Fly-In

Santa made his yearly debut at NAS Kingsville...although his mode of transportation was a T-45! The kids had a blast! There were coloring pages, bookmarks, and jingle bracelets to be made. The wives group hosted an informal cookie swap, and a light breakfast was served. Santa greeted over forty children waiting to tell him what they wanted for Christmas! He also handed out candy canes to all the kids. Grace wouldn't go near him, but in true Grace fashion, she got just close enough to get a candy cane! Collin was most interested in crawling around and hittin' the bottle!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

On the last day of school, Grace's class had a birthday party for Jesus! Parents were invited to attend all the festivities. They feasted on PB&Js, fruit, carrots and dip-dip, and a multitude of cookies, candies, and sweets! After lunch, they headed into Kleberg Hall where everyone enjoyed music circle, story time, and arts and crafts. The kiddos are wearing their Christmas outfits that Grandmommy made for them...Grace loves to twirl in her dress!

Tippi Toes Winter Recital

Well, there has been some improvement since the last recital back in the fall! She knows all of the songs, but whether or not she chooses to sing them is another story entirely. She stayed on her pink line most of the time, and she really enjoyed the time with the pom-poms! However, she spent the last third of the show picking up the pieces of pom-poms that flew everywhere...needed a clean space to dance ;) Her buddy, Jarred, came for support; and Collin, once again, seemed to really enjoy the production! The picture of Grace with her teacher is her taking a bow in front of the class!

Winter Program

Grace and the Jingle Bells! I think the video will give you a better idea as to how the performance went...she mostly stared at all the others...the one little boy shaking so hard is bells flew off, the little girl who cried the whole song, and the others scattered here and there just sitting down! Grace was sure to applaud her self and the rest of the class at the end of the song! Collin really enjoyed listening to the classes singing!

Gobble, Gobble Says the Turkey

We spent Turkey Day with Kerry, Jarred and Jarred down in Kingsville. We were in charge of the desserts--Eric helped me make a red wine caramel apple pie and a double chocolate cheesecake. Both were delicious! Kerry transformed Collin's highchair into a turkey with tails, and Jarred and Grace had pilgrim hats and bibs! Dinner was great set with turkey and all the fixings. Then, we headed outside for a little play time!

Ranch Hand Breakfast

King Ranch is located in Kingsville and they have a ranch hand breakfast each year at the beginning of the holiday season. It is traditional in the sense that the meal is cooked in huge kettles over open flame. Scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, OJ and cowboy coffee. There is a live rodeo, cattle and wild mustangs roaming, stories of the ranch in the 'ole days, and many photo ops! It was quite cold and muddy--we had rain the night before! Grace really loved seeing all the animals, and if she could have, she would have run wild in those pens!

Thanksgiving Production

Grace had a production at school to celebrate Fall and Thanksgiving. She made her shirt she was wearing the week before at school. The turkeys on the shirt are her hand prints and then around them are the things that she was thankful for. She performed the song "Pumpkin, Pumpkin" and was the loudest in her class! I wonder where she got that from? After the show, we had a potluck dinner with all the other families from school.