Other Cute Stuff - 2014

After looking back on the second half of 2014, I realized we take too many pictures of our kids and boy, are they cute! Here is a random collection of pictures from August to December that didn't make it into the other posts.

Going for a ride in the wagon with some animal friends.

Playing a little golf with Popo on a summer day after church.

This little train was a great purchase (by Lolo).

Modeling his new helmet with fire. Such a big boy!

That smile melts my heart. And I notice he was eating puffs, which means Olivia must have been given puffs first. I wonder where she learned to be such a mooch?

Only two things could have caused this...the "lawn boys" or the school bus. Both can cause an immediate trip to the nearest window to watch.

Go Cowboys!

I think this was the first time he wore these pajamas. Clearly they made him super...

and strong...

with heat vision...

and freezing breath. You know, the usual.

Another favorite super hero. Not too long ago he asked me when he can invent web shooters. When I asked what he meant, he said, "Peter Parker put on his costume and became Spider Man and invented web shooters. When can I invent web shooters?" I didn't really have a good answer. I think I said we'd have to ask Daddy.

"Oh, hi. I seem to have a little bit of paint on me, Mama."

"Mommy. Sister put paint on her arm like this."

Buddies

I don't know where Jimmy and I went that night, but when we came home this was waiting for us. Pretty standard and the easiest way for a grandma to get him to finally calm down and sleep.

What? You don't cruise around the house in your Momo's wheelchair? What a boring life.

Daddy reading to his little ducklings. I believe it started with just Daddy and Nathan and then Olivia decided to come listen too.

This is Nathan's first "bad note" home from school. He wasn't allowed to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse before bath that night (serious punishment) and occasionally still tells me at the end of the day, "Mommy! Miss Cloud didn't write me a bad note today!" 

As if it weren't obvious: Daddy is Prince Phillip, Sister is a good fairy with "wand" and Brother is Maleficient (as the fire breathing dragon). Thank you, Sleeping Beauty, for family time.

This was sent to me during the Pampered Chef party I was hosting downstairs while Jimmy "watched" the kids upstairs. Thank goodness for technology.

Bubbles on a Sunday afternoon.

Nathan invented a game with two step stools and my secure ID for work. He is trying to explain to Olivia how to play the "right way." 

Daddy is not the only one to use technology to keep them still and quiet for brief periods of time. Here is Lolo using the same tactic while Mommy and Daddy escape go out to dinner.

No gender roles in this house. Vacuum away, my boy! Your future wife will thank me.

Nathan and Olivia providing supervision and assistance while Uncle Cantrell and Daddy put together a new TV stand.

Sooooo much help!

Photo credit: Nathan

Christmas in Katy and New Year's Eve

This year was the first year that Nathan really understood the Christmas tradition of gift giving and Santa Claus. Olivia, predictably, was clueless. As in prior years, we celebrated Christmas day at our home with Jimmy's family. This year Ashley made it over from Hawaii and Cantrell came up on Christmas Eve, too. Our own little tradition that we are establishing is a big dinner on Christmas Eve and opening presents on Christmas morning followed by a big breakfast. For dinner the menu varies, except for the ultimate ratatouille (served with goat cheese and toasted bread rounds) which has become an annual staple. I'm really only up for making this once a year anyway since it takes over an hour of almost constant stirring. But oh my, is it tasty!

As in prior years, the pile of presents was bigger than the tree could handle. That didn't seem to bother Nathan or Olivia, though. Before we went to bed on Christmas Eve we put out some milk and cookies for Santa. We put two cookies on the plate and Nathan tried to convince us that Santa really only needed one cookie and he could have the other one. No such luck, Buddy. I was so worried that he would be too excited to sleep, but he fell asleep while we were reading books in his bed.

Christmas morning came and we woke up the kids. Not sure how many more years of that we'll have! When we came downstairs we found that Santa had left a Puff the Magic Dragon book (and CD) and big boy bicycle for Nathan. Olivia had comfortable chair, purse and a soft baby doll. Both of them seemed pleased with their spoils. Then we started opening presents....for, like, an hour. Part of the reason it took so long was we had to un-box every single present Nathan opened as he opened it. Safe to say he loved everything he received. We had to keep reminding him that he had more presents to open. A sure sign he got too much stuff. One of Olivia's presents was a princess castle, so we stuck Uncle Cantrell in the corner to put it together while she slowly made it through her own pile. She is still kind of hard to buy for, but she enjoyed stealing Bubba's toys and playing with them, so all in all she did just fine. I'm not quite sure how our living room contained it all.

My favorite part of Christmas is enjoying the munchkins and having family around. It has been several years since I've been able to be with my own family for Christmas day, so it was nice having Cantrell around, even if it was only for a little while. Sitting back and watching Daddy, Popo and Aunt Ashley playing with my babies was wonderful. I am so thankful for the amazing family we have and the blessing they are to our little family. Even though I get really stressed out during the holidays, I love and appreciate all of the gifts our gracious God has given us.

We enjoyed the Christmas break at home this year and decided for New Year's Eve we would buy sparklers and Black Cat snaps (you know, those little white packets of gun powder that you throw on the ground and they pop). Nathan is obsessed with fire, so we though he would enjoy them. Mission accomplished! He was a little afraid of the sparklers at first, but eventually enjoyed swirling them in the air and making circles. Olivia was not really on board and stayed safely in my arms the entire time.

Looking back, 2014 was a fun year. Nathan's imagination was blooming and Olivia's personality was developing. We now get to look forward to more fun in 2015.