Biker Santa

I never thought I'd have biker parents, but I do.  I never thought my mom would wear leather chaps and a dew rag, but she does.  As crazy as I think it is sometimes, it is really great that they have something that they love to do together.  I hope Chris and I still have things in common after 35 years. 

Anyway, I also never thought we'd go see Santa Clause at a Harley Shop, but we did.  Grandma was wrapping presents there and invited us up, so we went to see Santa with Caden and Emma. Tucker was more excited about the motorcycles than Santa and Reese was more excited about the popcorn, but we managed to get them both on his lap without any tears.

Caden and Emma went first to show Reese and Tucker how to be brave.  Caden was a great sport... even though he's a little too cool for Santa these days. 



Tucker jumped right up on his lap of course... the boy doesn't know a stranger.  He was still more interested in all the bikes than telling him what he wanted for Christmas though. 

Reese took a little more coaxing.  She wanted to be in the picture, but stood as far away as she could.  She got a little closer when I held her and then finally said she wanted to sit on his lap.  She surprises me every day!

They were excited when Santa gave them each a candy cane and now tell us they want candy for Christmas every time we ask.  I guess we should enjoy that while we can.  In a couple years they'll be asking for Ipods and dirt bikes.  

Christmas Cookies

I've felt like a total deadbeat mom these last few weeks.  Instead of us going to see Santa and Christmas lights, we've been at home... not doing fun Christmas stuff.  I sleep when the kids sleep, avoid cooking and laundry at all costs, and want to do nothing but lay on the couch most of the time.  I really need to be through with the first trimester like TODAY. 

This weekend, we did manage to have a little Christmas fun by getting all snuggly in Christmas jammies and decorating cookies...

We're not "sprinkle happy" or anything.  Would you like some cookie with your sprinkles?  Reese didn't mind it... she thought it was mmm mmm good.

Tucker only agreed to mess with the sprinkles because I told him he could eat a cookie when he was done.  He would have been just as happy to let the girls do the decorating so he could just stuff his face.

Hopefully the teachers will enjoy these cookies for dessert at our tamale luncheon tomorrow.  I don't think they'll mind that they were made with little fingers. 

Next weekend I'm determined to get out of the house and really have some Christmas fun!

Christmas is Coming

"Christmas is coming."  I hear this from Tucker about 3 times a day.  I'm not sure he really knows what it means, but he loves to say it.  It's like he keeps reminding me that it's coming whether I'm ready or not.  And I'm definitely not ready.  By now I've usually done some shopping, gotten all the decorations up, made cookies, etc, etc, etc.  But this year, I'm moving a little slow.  We finally got the tree up on Sunday... the kids were excited and saying "it's about time" since grandma and Nana both already had their trees up. 



Tucker was very busy trying to fit as many ornaments on the same branch as he could.  I couldn't get the boy to smile or even look at me... he was concentrating on getting them all on there just right. 

I've said this before, but the kids really do make everything more fun.  Putting up the tree can be such a beat down, but this year it was really fun.  We listened to Christmas music and danced around the living room.  Speaking of Christmas music... Tucker is obsessed!!  He'll throw a level five fit in the car if I can't find Christmas music for him.  It's crazy - I've even tried to "pretend" that something is Christmas music to pacify him and he totally knows the difference.  There's no fooling this boy. 

Okay, so a couple hours after we finished decorating the tree, I came back and found this....  

I guess Reese thought she made a nice addition.  Crazy kid. 

In the Belly

You'll have to excuse Reese in this video... she's on toddler crack or something.  If you can focus despite the two little wiggle worms, they have an announcement to make...

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Yes... it's true.  I have a baby in my belly.  That's the reason for my blogging slump.  I've been pretty sick and extremely TIRED.  Hopefully all that will come to an end pretty soon.  Baby # 3 will be arriving at the beginning of July!  It's a good thing we have months to prepare... after watching this video, I wonder how we can handle another one!

Abundantly Blessed

Abundantly Blessed... that's how I feel right now.  That's how I felt on Thanksgiving and that's the feeling I want to hold on to all year long.  We've had our share of hard times... and its so easy to get bogged down by the "don't haves" and "didn't go as planneds" that I sometimes forget how abundantly blessed we truly are.  This year I want to be blissfully grateful... the way Reese and Tucker were when we spent Thanksgiving morning on the playground...

Man I love these boys!!!!

 And when we spent the day after Thanksgiving at the petting zoo...

Can you believe Reese??  I'm not sure what happened to this girl... she ran right up and couldn't wait to feed the horses.  There's hope for her after all.

We spent Thanksgiving in Houston this year.  The weather was beautiful so the kids got to do some fun outdoor stuff with all the cousins... we all enjoyed time on the playground and feeding the animals.  Another thing that we're abundantly blessed with... lots of family and lots of love... 

We were all amazed that we could get everyone on that staircase... and there weren't even any crying babies this time. 

Reese Taylor Tims

Tonight at dinner Reese said, "Yummy, Mom.  Thank you Angela."  She had us rolling.  She's learned all of our full names and has moved on to the extended family.  How crazy smart is this girl??

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Wait till you hear her say "Dabid Alex Doyoyoyyoyle".  Grandpa's real name is David Alan Doyle... and she thinks it's hilarious. Especially the Doyoyoyoyle part.  Funny girl.

Three Days of Halloween

Halloween should always fall on a weekend.  It just seems unfair to the holiday when it doesn't.  This year, we took full advantage and celebrated 3 days of Halloween.  They got more use out of their costumes this year than they did out of some of their baby clothes. 

Friday night we went to the Fall Festival in Brock.  They had food, games, prizes, bounce houses and all kinds of other fundraisers.  The kids are way into bounce houses right now so that's pretty much what they wanted to do all night. 

Saturday night, we went to Trunk-or-Treat at our church.  Everyone decorated their "trunks" and really got into it this year.  One family even brought a pony and some other animals and had a petting zoo.  What people will do to win a gift card.

This crazy clown was giving away beanie babies instead of candy.  Jackpot.

It didn't take long for them to really get into this whole I say "trick-or-treat" and you give me candy thing.  It was a mad house, but we managed to play some games after trunk-or-treating.

They had so much fun and of course Mom and Dad were totally pooped after chasing them around all night.  It was a good kind of pooped though.  Totally worth it to see them having so much fun.

Sunday night we had dinner with Andrea and her family, followed by some good ol' fashioned trick-or-treating.  It's hard to believe that 15 years ago, we were running around together collecting candy in our pillowcases.  And now we're taking our kids...

Can you say Arranged Marriage?  Reese says Campbell is her boyfriend.  Chris was really excited to see his daughter kissing a boy at such a young age. 

How cute are they?  They held hands for much of the night.  I know what you're thinking, but Andrea and I had nothing to do with this. 

 Nolan and Campbell were so cute... a scuba diver and a fish.  So creative. Campbell did a great "Fish Face."

 I really didn't know how the kids would do.  Reese especially... you know how shy she can be.  As soon as they saw the candy, they were good to go.  They even went through a "haunted house"... who'd have thought? 

It was a fun-filled weekend and for once, none of the activities fell into the "forced family fun" category. 

Pumpkin Picasos

This year I decided to let the kids paint pumpkins instead of carving one.  Okay, call us lazy, but Chris and I just weren't excited about all that work.  This way the kids got their own pumpkins and paintbrushes.  They were more than excited and I didn't have to mess with pumpkin guts.

It looks like Reese is going to be a lefty.  You know Chris was wishing Tucker would be the one to bat left, but no such luck.   Okay, so I'm totally neurotic, but I'm already worried about teaching her to tie her shoes and having to buy left-handed scissors. 

Luckily I only have one child that likes everything messy, so we managed to finish this project without ruining any clothes.  Success.