Going to see Santa...

So we totally put this off this year. Usually we go to Matt's company kids' Christmas party where they have a holiday show and then you stand in line for a year to see Santa (unless you learn like we did to sit on the far side and leave the show just a few minutes early to get to the front of the line)...but we skipped it this year because we had house stuff going on that day (big surprise, I know).

This morning, we headed out to the Bass Pro Shop to see Santa and have a little fun. It's been forever since we have been anywhere besides the new house as a family, so I have loads of pictures. Bear with me...

While I stood in line (which wasn't too long), the boys and Matt played:

Here we are after Santa in front of the reindeer and a scary looking elf:

Jace wanted his picture by Frosty the Snowman:

Jace also wanted his picture in front of this:

So cute in front of the waterfall:

Matt and the boys:

Jace intently watching his stick as it made it's way toward the waterfall:

And the Brett's smile again:

School Christmas Parties

Both boys had Christmas parties at their schools yesterday. I decided to not sign up to help with all the house stuff we have going on right now. Turns out I could have helped, but it was just as well...it gave me a chance to come back here and do some laundry and dishes and go for a run since I hadn't been in a week (man, it hurt!). I made it to the end of Brett's for the present opening and to the end of Jace's to grab a picture or 2. They were both satisified that I made the effort, so I guess I'm not such a bad mom!

At Brett's party, Mrs. Elliott's santa hat has "I've been naughty" on one side...
...and "I've been nice" on the other.

The kids decided she should be the "nice" side:

Here's Jace and his friend, Michael, at the end of the party:

And Jace with his teacher, Mrs. Meineke, who he thinks hung the moon:

Brett's School Christmas Program

Brett got to portray Joseph in his school Christmas program. He took his role very seriously and got upset when he could reach the floor to stomp his feet on the "Joseph Works with One Hammer" song. He did great working with 1, 2, and 3 hammers, but adding that fourth one really frustrated him because his feet could reach the floor at the same time! He recovered quickly from the sadness and was great the rest of the program! Here he is:
With his teacher, Mrs. Elliott (the greatest teacher ever):

His signature cheesy lipless smile:

Singing Away in a Manger with the donkey and Mary:

Picking his nose in the middle of the program:

Mary and Joseph:

Dancing to one of the songs:

Decorating the tree...

We got back from Odessa Saturday evening, and I had Matt go ahead and pull the tree out of the attic so we could set it up the next day. I figured with the house moving along, we would need to do it now or never! So, Sunday it went up, and then Monday night for family home evening, we decorated.

Jace decorating (just ignore the photographer in the mirror, please!!!):
Chelsie, one of my girls from church, was on hand to help us this year:

And Santa goes on top (until I can find a cool star or angel or something having to do with the nativity). Brett got to top the tree this year. When Jace was about Brett's size, he decided that after putting the topper on that it would be a good idea to jump OFF Dad's shoulders to the floor...nearly gave me a heart attack and it hurt him, too...so now Brett gets the honor...Jace doesn't want it any more!

Thanksgiving in Odessa

We went to Odessa for Thanksgiving this year to spend it with Matt's family. Here are some highlights:

Lindsey (Matt's sister) and Briley (Matt's 2nd cousin) during Thanksgiving dinnner:
Steve (Matt's cousin), Matt, and Henry (another cousin) after the meal and pie:

Matt's mom (far right) with her mom and sisters (we ate in the garage...see the sprinkler controls on the wall? Nice backdrop, huh? I guess I'll be playing with photoshop on that.):

The day after Thanksgiving...Grammy and Pop taking a nap:

Ah, and now for the highlight of the trip for the boys. Pop took them to the shooting range twice, much to my dismay at first. They both loved it and were pretty good at it, too!

Jace's turn (he reminds me of Grandma with his tongue sticking out for concentration):

Now over to Brett:

The results (Brett's are red, Jace's are blue):

Figure Skating?

Did he say, "finger painting?" (You Cutting Edge fans will recognize that line...one of my favorite movies ever, cheesy or not!)...

After working outside all day on the rock path, Brett decided to make his own ice skates out of zip locks. Instead of putting them on his feet and just zipping them around his ankles, he decided to tape them to his feet:
TA DA!!!

A new path...

See? We do get SOME work done at Mom and Dad's in between working on house stuff! Here's a new rock path down to the backyard built with rock from our new place. We're almost finished, but we ran out of rock so we had to put the project on hold until we could go pick up some more. Now we have the rock, we just have to have the time to finish it!

Laurel Sleepover

The same day as Brett's Thanksgiving Feast, I had my girls from church over for a sleepover. Four of them were able to come. We got pranked by the other 2 advisors and one of our former laurels...but we caught them in the act!!! Their sidewalk chalk was left abandoned in the driveway with a 1/2 drawn body sketch. Pretty funny...

We realized we had pranksters on the loose when we opened the door to find this:
So, we went searching and discovered a very familiar car parked by the mail boxes. Sister White and Matt boxed it in so there would be no escape:

We gotcha! Here are the culprits:

Brett's School Thanksgving Feast

Every year it's the same program, but so cute!!! Here are some pictures of Brett's Thanksgiving Program:

Brett being an indian:
Performing 10 Little Indians (in English and Spanish):

Little Red fox killing a deer with his bow and arrow (everyone's favorite part):

Beating his drum:

And finally, play time after the program but before the feast! A little basketball for Brett. Look at that follow-through:

Brett's Class Field Trip to the Quadrangle at Fort Sam

Before Thanksgiving, Brett and I got to go with his class to the Quadrangle at Fort Sam Houston. The Quadrangle is basically a large courtyard surrounded by buildings on all sides and there are lots of animals that live there: deer, ducks, geese, peacocks, and many birds. There is also a really cool sun dial that Mrs. Elliott likes to show the kids but unfortunately it was cloudy the day we went. Here are some pictures of our trip:

Brett's class in front of a helicopter before we went in to the Quadrangle:
Some deer that were there when we first came in. They ran away when the birds came to see what kind of food we brought:

Brett enjoying feeding the birds:

A mommy duck and her babies:

Brett feeding a deer: