Proud of My Boy!

Yesterday, John David's teacher came to the car to tell me that she wanted us to know that he is doing an excellent job reading. That bit of news made my day! He really is doing good. We practice spelling and reading words all throughout the day and it's just so exciting to see how much he's learning. I'm so proud. =)

An Exotic Afternoon

This afternoon we took the kids to a special magic show with exotic animals at the mall here in town. We had planned to pay to let the kids play with the baby tigers after the show but the wait was just too long. The line to have pictures taken was shorter so that's what we did. They were very excited to hold a real baby tiger! I'm sad I didn't get to pet him. =(

My Dolly & Her Dolly

Aulora Laughs

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Here's Aulora laughing! She was sitting in her bumbo seat while I made dinner tonight and she started laughing at me. I grabbed the camera to share....

A REAL Snow Day

My last post was titled "Snow Day", but today was even better. It snowed all day yesterday and when we woke up today everything was white! School was originally delayed until 10:00 but we later got a call from John David's teacher letting us know that school was cancelled. We also just found out that church tonight is cancelled too. My friend earlier said they only got about 2 blocks from home before they had to turn around because of all the ice. I'm glad we went to Walmart last night for more milk! =)

When Aulora went down for her nap, I bundled the kids up and we headed outside to play. They were very excited about making snowballs and running around. We were only out there a few minutes before they wanted to go back inside. John David went in first. I thought he was staying in the den while I got Julia but the next thing I knew he was hysterically crying. He had gone straight to the kitchen without even taking off his shoes. His shoes were snow-covered so he slippped and fell flat on his back. It scared him so much he even wet his pants! Poor little guy. So then he was hollering that his hands hurt, his pants were wet, and his head hurt too. If you know John David then you know this was quite a scene. I finally got his clothes off and put him in the warm shower. All is good and calm now. What a morning!

John's flight to Houston to preach for the youth rally has been delayed for now too so we're all happy at home for now. How very nice...

Snow Day!!!

Yea! It's finally snowing here! It's 30 degrees but I don't think it's snowing enough to accumulate much. When Julia saw the snow she gave me a big hug and said, "Oh, that makes my heart so happy!" She has to be the queen of all drama.

Julia's Penguin

Julia and I have been in the house for what seems like days now because it's just too cold to go out if you don't need to! So we decided to make a penguin today and Julia named it Holly. Julia loves coloring and using glue. Her newest thing is "let's talk!". She wants to play with dollies or other little toys and she wants you to act things out with her ALL the time. I can't do anything without her coming and saying, "Let's talk!" I told John she's like a little woman already, always wanting to talk.

Callie the Cat

The newest addition to our family is a little cat named Callie. She ran in our house a few nights ago and when I picked her up to put her out she started purring and nestling in my arms. I couldn't resist! The kids loved her right away and played with her all weekend. Of course, this was only possible because John was out of town. He got home last night and this morning he finally saw the cat. He was not impressed. Callie liked him just fine but the feeling was not mutual. So as of a few hours ago, Callie is an outdoor cat. =)

Christmas Portraits

Here are the pictures taken for our pastoral staff Christmas cards this year. I think they are going to end up being New Year's cards instead because Delana's stepmom died right before Christmas and they didn't go out. Just so you know who people are...

From left to right: Lennon Noland (his wife Crystal was gone that day) is our college pastor, then there's us, then Neill and Melissa Miller our new children's pastors, and David and Delana Henry, our senior pastors.

Aulora's New Chair

Aulora got this seat, called a bumbo, for Christmas. It helps her sit up and she really likes it. She likes to watch John David and Julia play.

Christmas at Gran & D's House

We got to spend Christmas week at John's parent's home in Wichita Falls, Texas. (That's about 2 hours north of the Dallas area and 4 hours away from us.) We got there on Christmas Eve around dinner time and didn't leave until January 2nd. We ate lots of good food, exchanged wonderful gifts, helped Mimi (John's grandma) get moved into her new house there, went to church, went shopping, made a gingerbread tree, went to Chuckey E. Cheese, and played with new toys. It was a fun week!

The first picture on this entry is of Julia "directing" all the musical Christmas decor with the candle snuffer. That was one of her favorite things to do all week. =)

Silly Uncle Maka

We went out to eat one day and Matt kept spitting stuff (spitwads? lemonseeds? I really don't know) at John David. It took him awhile to figure out what was going on but it was pretty comical when he realized it was Uncle Maka.

Pictures...

Pictures...

Pictures.....

Pictures...

John David's 1st Chess Lesson

John was very excited to give Little his first lesson in chess. I think he's been waiting a long time for this! John David did really well and learned all the different pieces and how they moved. I thought maybe he was too young to learn but he's actually not. Check this out:

http://www.deanofchess.com/benefits.htm