Santa or Scrooge

Parties, parties and more parties...almost partied out! I love Christmas and I love parties, but I think we have our fill for the year. Here are some of the highlights:

Ward Christmas Party (why do 6 yo ruin cute pics?)

White Elephant Exchange (Gav lost..obviously!)

Santa's Visit #100

Adult Work Party

Creative Housekeeping

When I just cannot take another hand on my mop, or another tupperware thrown on the ground...and I just would like to complete a cleaning project, much to my better judgement, I give Shane his "wa-wa". Surprisingly, we didn't have any casualties...and my kitchen was clean for 10 hours!

Life as a mom...definitely not bon-bons and soaps (does anyone still watch soaps??)

If I only gave one child the attention they wanted, my whole day would be gone.

And yet I LOVE it!! It takes so little to remember why I do what I do. Just look at this face!!!

10 Mile Radius

How many people cannot seem to get beyond their 10 mile radius of errands, school, church,work... yep, us too!! It was great this past week to have a reason to bust out of Corpus for a short time....and then get a different take on our secluded island.

Gav's parents (aka Gammie and Papa) came into town on Wednesday and are headed out on a plane right now. We picked them up in San Antonio...which gave us the opportunity to make our first official stop as a tourist in San Antonio. We visited the Alamo, took a boat ride on the RiverWalk and saw the festive downtown SA.

The rest of the time they were here, we came back to Corpus. Poor Papa had quite the "honey-do" list of fix-its around our home...for which I am so thankful. They helped us get the outside holiday decor done...and also our beautiful tree.
Saturday morning we went to our squadron kids party where Santa and his elf flew in on a T44 to bring the gifts. SUPER Cute!! I love to see the magic in the kids' eyes. Christian is at that magical age. Shane's still at the FREAKED out age!! We showed them our beaches, downtown Corpus, the Texas Surf Museum, and a cool park on the bay...just check out the slideshow!
We are just so lucky to have them in our lives and are glad to have a few special days with them. We miss all our family and friends...come visit!!

Houston Turkey Trot

Thanksgiving morning:
5:30- arise, bundle up
6:15- leave for downtown Houston
7:00 hung out in WARM McDonalds
8:00 Ran a 5K with friends, Shirley and LUCy (Shout out to Lucy who is only 8!!!)
8:30 Finished race (now, mind you have to delete at least 3 minutes off my time as I was back in the pack!)
9:15 Christian ran his first RACE!!-- a kids 1K....Ok, it was SUPER cute! And he got a medal on top!
10 Went back to hotel to shower, check out and get some post-race grub...

The rest of the day we spent with my cuz, Deb, and her fam...including her parents that came in from CA. It truly was a wondrous time to be near family and feel a part of a bigger whole. It got me really excited for Christmas time, where I get to be with my family...including ALL my brothers and sister. This is a big deal since our family has been rocky, at best, for many of the last many years. And even more eventful because my bro, Joe, is coming home from his mission on December 28th!! We have missed him greatly. Our Shane got to meet him at his birth but hasn't seen him since he was a week old. YEAH for the holidays that make all of these great things happen.
Back to Thanksgiving...on Thursday I had several thoughts of the countless blessings I am grateful for. Here are a few:
1) I am most grateful that my husband is here with us. Being a part of military often means, deployments during this time of year. And for his presence and the promise that he won't have to leave us, I am so very thankful for. He is serving our country here in TX...doctoring up our brave pilots.
2)As one who has struggled FOREVER to be a mom, I feel so eternally thankful that I have been able to have my two boys. They bring Gavin and I so much joy and laughter. I love to see them growing and learning...even though it is sometimes mischievously. I would be a mom a million times over if I could...my children are such miracles. Not to say, I do not HOPE and pray that I can have a girl some day. But for now, I am all about swords and wrestling!!
3) As I ran Thanksgiving morning, I could not help but be so grateful for a healthy, vibrant body. I love to be active and adventurous...and I recognize this blessing in my everyday life!
4) Where would I be without my knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father. Amidst all the challenges I have faced in my lifetime, my constant has been the overwhelming comfort of my Heavenly Father's love.
I could literally go on forever...but here are a few key ones!
We hope everyone else enjoyed some delicious goodness, over-endulged, and are enjoying the rest of the holiday weekend.

Reality Show Junky

I admit it freely...I love many reality shows. My latest fetish was The Bachenator (as Gav calls it). But I am also a hopeless romantic and was SOOO dissappointed with the finale. How lame is that? Why even have a show like that all to end up a single, loser dude. At least date one of them and let me think the romantic notion is possible. ARgHHHHhhh!!

To say the least, I was very disappointed. Well, at least we'll have American Idol in the new year. Some of these reality shows are lamer than the cartoons I have to listen to day in and day out....but there are a few that are very intriguing. And obviously, some produce real results...weren't there several AMA nominees who were AI alums.

Ok, I'll get off my reality high horse and go pack my stuff for Houston. We're going to spend Thanksgiving running a race and having yummy goodness with Debs and the fam!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING Y'ALL!!!

End of Soccer = Free Saturdays= No more Soccer

This morning was our finale soccer game for Christian. He had a fabulous season...and closed out the season with 8 goals against a team with players usually a head taller than most of our team!



He even got his trophy today at the Season-end Pizza Party. What a fun experience! I feel bad that my parents chose not to put most of us kids in more (or any, for that matter) sports....they missed out on these fun family experiences (not to mention, us kids were pretty gypped!) But, to think optimistically, we did learn how to work hard every Saturday morning!!



Here is the season video I put together for everyone.

Shawna was sick of seeing the scary Burger King guy at the top of our blog, so I'll help her out with a new post. My birthday was just over a week ago and when I walked in from work there was a sweet new board waiting for me.......my wife is the bomb ! It is a fun little 'fish' that is perfect for the Gulf surf. And of course, I already got in trouble for riding it the 3 days in a row right after I got it. But why did she buy me a new board if she didn't want me to surf ????????huh??????????

Holiday Cheer

Shawna said that she was ready for some cheerful Holiday music, so I thought I would post my favorite Holiday tune. Its beautiful.

Anybody need some CANDY??

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

We took a pretty chill outlook on Halloween this year. We had a great night of fun with our friends-- dinner, a belated cake for Gav and trick or treating, of course!! We had a few parties earlier in the month...and today we all awoke with a sugar hang-over. And a LOAD of candy...which I am already sick of. That's pretty bad for someone with a sweet tooth like mine. My Halloween decor came down today and now I've got to find my Christmas music. The end of Halloween marks the beginning of the "feel- good holidays"...and since there is really no Thanksgiving music...I get to listen to my Christmas music. It only means I have to search for it...wherever it landed in the latest move. We hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Halloween also.......

He's all grown up...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY G-Love!!!

The baby of his family, now a daddy to 2 mini-Gavs. I honestly do not know any children who love their "DaDA!" more than ours love Gav. I could not ask for a better father or husband or best friend! I thought as a tribute I would list some of my favorites about him...(especially since he declined his chance at the tag): My Favorite Gav Quirk: Pacing the floor when he talks on the phone
My favorite Gav physical feature: his EYES
My favorite Gav nickname: G-LOVE
My favorite Gav saying: "...but the surf's actually happening and I haven't surfed in a whole month!"
My favorite Gav personality features: his lovability and his charm
My favorite Gav meals: WAFFLES...and frozen lasagnas when he breaks the oven ('member that!!!)
My favorite Gav moment: Within the first few years of our marriage, Gav's birthday came up and he LOVEs to uncover my surprises. So with his mom's help, I had arranged a nice weekend get-away. But was able to let Gav trick himself into thinking it was a surprise party for him... So our trip home from La Jolla that night...the whole way he sang "PARTaY, Surprise PARTay..FOR ME!!!" And was so pleased with himself for discovering the surprise....jokes on you SUCKA!!
My favorite Daddy Gav moment: When Gav takes the boys into the culd-e-sac and plays baseball with Christian...with Shane either hot on his heels or already on his hip!
My favorite husband Gav moments: grabbing my hand for no good reason and intertwining with mine.... and our trips to Puerto Rico and Palm Springs.

I thank my Father in Heaven DAILY for sending you to me and cannot express how overwhelmed I am by your love. I know I am going to spend eternity trying to be your equal!!! Love-Shawn