December 2012 updates

12/31 - Fredel had given the kids snowman soup for Christmas (hot chocolate with marshmallows and peppermint) and so we made it in the morning.  We started moving stuff in our room getting ready to paint the walls.  You don't notice how dirty walls are until you do this.  Also don't realize how much dust and stuff gets behind furniture.

We took the kids to grandparents in the afternoon.  Greg and I headed to see the Hobbit.  Very exciting how many movies we got to see - kids and adults over the holidays.  Then we headed to Blue Fish for some dinner.   They said it was a 2 1/2 hour wait, but that the sushi bar area was open for immediate seating.  We took that.  We had some good Sushi then headed to Juan and Marissa's for the annual New Years Party.  We had a great time with friends eating, drinking, setting off poppers with kids (their neighborhood kids are much older than ours).  We ended up staying until about 3am.  Staying up that late is getting harder....


12/30 - We found out that A&M was having an hour football practice that was open to the public.   Greg and I decided to take Landon for a little while.  The Allen Eagles coach was there so Greg and Landon got their picture with him.  He's an Aggie was there to see a few of the guys that went to Allen.  We got to see some of the players and coaches up close, and then watched some of practice.  They were doing drills, and had motivational music playing loud during practice.  It was fun to see.  Landon liked seeing Johnny Football practice.  We left early because it was cold.


12/29 - Kasey was feeling better so we all went out to lunch at Freebirds.  Landon made his name out of foil.  With new legos, we decided that Landon  needed a new larger lego shelf.  We found one at Container store and got that for him.


12/28 - Kasey wasn't feeling well today so we spent most of the day hanging out at the house.  Greg and Landon got out some going to see a few movies in the theater - Monsters Inc and Rise of the Guardians again, and I got to have dinner just me and Landon.


12/27 - Kasey woke up at 6am getting sick.  She got sick several times during the day.   Greg took Landon out of the house to run errands and see a movie and be away from Kasey.  She was actually ok when she wasn't getting sick.  Poor thing.  That's just how she gets sick.


12/26 - with the snow and freezing temperatures we just stayed inside.  We slept in, kids were in pajamas all day, I didn't shower until almost 3pm.  We never have days like that so it was nice.  We watched some movies and ate left overs.


12/25 - I told both kids they could get up and go see what Santa brought, but they should go back to bed.  There were some crazy storms over night.  It hailed, thundered and rained most of the night.  Kasey really doesn't like storms so she ended up in our bed.  Between her and Greg both giving off heat I was pretty warm.  None of us really slept very well.   Kids actually let us sleep in until about 8:30.  We needed more than that. 

We got up for a small breakfast.  Opened our family and Santa gifts and stockings.   Kids seemed happy, and I always enjoy seeing them get excited.  Next year we all should just give Greg money :)
We got ready, finished sweet potatoes and headed to Richardson for lunch.   I had left my purse at my parents and left one of mom's gifts at home.  I headed back home and met them on the way back to Richardson before the weather got to bad.  Glad I got to say Merry Christmas in person even for just a minute.  It was supposed to keep getting cooler and  maybe snow.  It rained all day long then about 1:30/2pm it started snowing.   Big snow.  It took a little while, but started sticking on the grass.
We had lunch with Greg's family and then opened presents with everyone.  Landon spent time with cousins playing new Star Wars Angry Birds game he got.

We headed home and then the 4 of us went outside to play in the snow.   In Allen we had 3-4 inches in our back yard so the kids had fun.    Hard to make snowmen, but we made snowballs, snow angels and Kids just had fun.  


12/24 - We wanted to have breakfast and not each much else til Christmas Eve dinner.  I made eggs, sausage and biscuits.

We did it last year and signed up to do it again.  A friend from high school owns a Pizza place in
McKinney (Durkins), and he has people deliver pizza to fire stations on Christmas Eve just to say thanks.  We got to check out the new fire station in Allen with the new big fire truck and nice area.   We also delivered to one other Allen station.   They guys gave the kids tours and let them see the trucks.   They were all very nice and appreciative of the pizza and fudge we brought them.
We went by Steiners for a little bit to exchange gifts for the kids.  Landon and Kasey were glad to see Elizabeth.

We headed to my parents for Christmas Eve.  We had a good time everyone opening gifts, had great dinner of tacos/enchiladas and fixings, yummy dessert (Greg's apple pie and Red Velvet swirl cake).  Then we all played bunco.  Landon and Kasey tied to win.  We had a really good time.   There is a big pink fussy dice that Kasey was super excited to get.

I read the kids night before Christmas on the way home so they could get in bed.  Of course we had things to do to get ready for Christmas morning.

12/23 - Greg and I got to sleep in because the kids were at the grandparents.   We got ready, and went to get them around 11ish.   It was kind of last day of warmer weather so we got home and took the kids to a park near the house for bike rides.  Landon is doing great on his own even getting better at turning corners.  Kasey likes to go slow and talk the entire time about her kids and dad, and what' is going on with life.

After we got home, kids and I watched Polar Express which I love, and then we just ate cereal at home.  We all were hanging in our bed a little later watching parts of Sound of Music.
Greg made 2 apple pies, made dough for homemade biscuits, cooked sweet potatoes.


12/22 - We had our annual friend holiday dinner with the Steiners, Doug and the Solis'.  We went to Steve Fields in Plano which was great.  Very good dinner, drinks and company.
Greg and I decided to go see Lincoln afterwards.  After being up late all week, I fell asleep several times, oops.

12/21 - Had kind of a  crazy week.   Always a lot working, getting teacher gifts ready and normal kids activities.  I ended up staying up til 1am several days this week to get fudge ready for teachers or write notes to them.

Friday I worked a little in the morning to finish a couple things up and then took the afternoon off.  I smiled a lot when I was on vacation for a while.  Work has been pretty crazy so it felt good to have another focus.   Greg and I picked up Kasey from school, took her to her swim class, had a great lunch at Zorbas, and then we headed back for Landon's school holiday party.  We were a few minutes late because of traffic.

Kids had run at the party.  They got to have cookies.  Several people brought different cookies, we were the only ones that made cookies.   They also got to make hot chocolate.  They could add marshmallows, peppermint and chocolate and sprinkles.  Several of the kids wanted all of it.    They had  little dough toss in snowman's mouth and body.  Landon and one of his friends were pretty confident because they were baseball players.  Then all the kids got in a circle with their book and Greg read a story.  Every time the story said left they passed left, and every time it said right they passed the books right.  It was cute and kids had fun.  Kasey really wanted to play but didn't get to, then Landon wasn't thrilled about the book he got because it was to easy.  So Landon gave Kasey his book and all was well again.

12/16 - Happy 12th Anniversary to Greg and I :)  We went to brunch at Bonnie Ruths which is always great.   We spent a lot of time cleaning the house (not as fun).  Then we went to Greg's moms to help with her computer.   Landon and I played some football in the backyard.  He's to fast for me :)  Kasey and Grandma were raking leaving.  

12/15 - I got up to go work out, and Greg slept through me getting up which is good.   I got the kids after work out, and then we headed home.  We all went to Elkas for lunch, and got to see the Kearns there.  We did some clean up at the house in the afternoon, and then headed out to Kasey's Christmas dance performance.  Her class did a little ballet performance which was really cute.  We gave her flowers and she got her picture with Santa.

After the performance we headed to the Cooks house for a Christmas party.  The kids had fun playing and we had a good time as well.

12/14 - After a long week, the kids were at the grandparents and Greg and I went out for our 12 year anniversary.  We went to dinner at a nice restaurant called Mignon.  We know the owner of the restaurant because he used to own a burger place up by the soccer stadium that we went to several times.   We went early so there were very few people in the restaurant when we got there.  They took us to the back for a little table kind of in a cove with a big circular booth that had a little Christmas tree and a candle on the table.  It was perfect.  We had a great dinner.  The owner comped our desserts with yummy crepes.   We were headed to the movie but had some extra time.  We decided to have a MacCallum's 12 after dinner.  We figured it was fitting for our 12 year anniversary.  After that we headed to see the new James Bond movie.  We joke because now with kids getting to see adult movies is sometimes rare.   Overall it was a great celebration for us.

12/13 - The dealership called Greg just after 11 (they had told us the night before it would be between 1-2pm).  They looked at our records that we were loyal customers to them and offered to either give money back or give us a 2012 loaner car with 2600 miles on it for the same price.   After discussing, and looking at it we took the newer car.   It's not maroon, it's black, but I'd rather deal with that then worry about things going wrong because of a major wreck with the other one.

I had taken today off.  I spent the morning judging the science fair at Landon's school which was interesting.  Then I went to meet Greg at the dealership to check out the possible new car.  Then I headed to get my hair cut.  It had been 4 months since I'd gotten a hair cut.  I guess it's been a little crazy. Then I went to get Landon from school and he went around with me to do some Christmas shopping.  We met up with Kasey and Greg for Landon's baseball hitting clinic, and then we went to dinner as a family.  Now I know why Greg doesn't have time to get as much done during the day as one might expect :)

12/12  -  We thought it would be fun because of 12 being such a big deal for A&M, but it turned out to be a rough day.  I got a call from my mom that my uncle's health had taken a turn for the worse, and later that afternoon she called back that he had passed away.  This was an uncle that was very special to me.  He was my mom's only sibling.  I grew up going to his house in Nevada, and I have so many memories of those times.   I remember hearing the easter bunny outside the room we were sleeping in, getting into make up more than I should, playing games with the family, eating tacos, going to death valley, play with fun and different toys etc.  As I grew up and my aunt and uncle came back to Texas we still got to visit them.  I went to their house during college to relax and do laundry.

 We went on a family cruise in 1999 after I graduated that was great fun.  My uncle drove me from my wedding ceremony to our wedding reception.   After Landon and Kasey were born we have kept going down to visit and spend great times with family.  He was always encouraging to me and a great man to set example for many.  He was married for 58 years to my wonderful Aunt, had 4 great children, and several grandchildren.  Family was so important to him, and he will be missed very much.  We know he's in a better place now.  My uncle was such a significant part of my moms life as well. It's been tough on the whole family.

On top of this, we had a car issue. We decided to get a used car because mine needed more that $1500 in repairs, and we were close to getting a new one anyway.   We had bought a used car 2011 Acura MDX on 12/11, which looked great on paper and in person and it was maroon which is great for any Aggie.  Greg was clearing out the glove box and found several pages of detailed paperwork that the car had been in a head on collision and had over $6000 in damage that was fixed at the dealership we bought it from.  Of course Carmax report and everything else had nothing about this.
Greg decided to take the MDX back to the dealership and confront them with it.  He asked for money back.  Of course at 8pm at night the key people weren't there so they said they would get back to us the next day.

12/11 - I picked Kasey up and was talking to her on the way home.  We talked about what she should give Landon for Christmas, what she wanted, and what she wanted to give Greg.  She wanted to give him a costume because he didn't have any.  I asked what she would get.  She said a ghost, Elmo or Cookie monster.  I explained daddy probably didn't want a costume.
After dinner she got a chocolate that Grammy had given us.  She came running in with it saying she loved chocolate.  I was so proud.

12/8 - We had a busy day.  Kasey, Grammy and I had lunch with another family with daughter, mom and grandmother.  We went to Chocolate Angel in Plano which is always good.  Then we headed to Eisemann center to see another friend from the neighborhood in the nutcracker.  Kasey wasn't to into the first half, but she did good the 2nd half.  We let the kids walk around at intermission.  Kasey practiced dance some.  We had a good time and got some good pictures.

That afternoon after some drama at home, Landon and I went to target to look for some things for his Christmas list.  We also got a few toys to donate and birthday gifts.  Then we  met up with several boys from his cub scout troop (and their dads - which was part of the drama) to see an Allen Americans hockey game.  At 2nd intermission the boys got to go onto the ice and pick up pucks that everyone was throwing onto the ice trying to hit a little can in the middle of the ice.  They also got to give 5 to the team as they walked in and out of the ice.  I think they had fun, and of course Landon stayed up late again and didn't sleep in again.


12/6-12/7 - Thursday night Greg got sick.  He was freezing and didn't feel well.  By next morning he was a little better but didn't feel to well.  I took car in for oil change.  It needs about $1500 worth of work, we are considering trading it in and getting a new car

Friday night we had neighborhood party which was fun.   It was nice outside.  They had snacks, a candy shop, hay rides in the neighborhood, crafts for the kids, a puppet show and Santa.   It was fun to visit and let the kids run around.  Of course they got to stay up later than usual.

12/3 - Kasey had her 4 year old dr appointment today.  I wasn't going to be able to go then several meetings got cancelled so I got to go.  We got her from school a little early and went.  She weighs 40lbs 3.2 oz (83%) and is 40.55 in tall (68%).  She was funny answering questions.  She was asking her about good foods to eat, and what else you need to do.  Kasey said exercise first which I was a little surprised, but we do say that a lot.  Then she asked what you do to keep your teeth healthy.

Kasey said keep chewing.  Anyway, she's doing great!  Unfortunately she got 3 shots at that visit.  She had a tough time and cried.  We pulled out the blanket for a 1 day special occasion.  We got to go to lunch, and she did ok.  I ended up working from home the rest of the day which was nice.  I kind of needed a lower key day after last week and weekend.


12/1- 12/2 - We thought when sports seasons ended that our schedule would slow down.  Not the case.  Saturday I went to work out, then we met up with the cub scout troup for a short hike and nature/weather discussion.   That afternoon we had a baby shower for some good friends having their first baby.  Landon and Kasey wanted to help out - picking up pencils from games, getting gifts to open and helping clean up wrapping.   Greg was not so much into shower activities :) 


Saturday night we made cakes and started making food for Kasey's parties the next day.   The first cake got stuck in the pan, but it was great.  The 2nd cake was to runny. The 3rd one turned out just right.   I did simple decoration.  I made two Rapunzel suns out of Fondant, and then iced the cake and put Rapunzel, Ryder, Pascal and Maximus on the cake.  I thought it turned out cute.

Sunday we had two parties for Kasey.  One at a great place called Kreative Kidz Parties.  She had Rapunzel and a cute Knight hosting the party.  All the girls got to dress up, play games, be princesses.  Then they got to have cake.   The decorations were awesome and I thought it was really neat.  Kasey had a good time.   I didn't have to do anything at the party other than take pictures and help with the parachute.  They did everything else even making the party favors.  YEA!
During Kasey's party Landon was with his cub scout den in a parade.   He probably enjoyed that more than being at a princess party.  That evening we had family party.  We made strawberry shortcake, chicken enchiladas, homemade guacamole, and nachos.  Good stuff.   Kasey was super excited to open all of her presents.  She had a good time, but we were all pretty tired at the end of the day.