preparing for Christmas

Landon has been so excited about Christmas. This morning I made pancakes & he helped me cut out "Christmas shapes" with the cookie cutters. We enjoyed eating pancakes that we shaped as candy canes, angels, stockings, gingerbread men, etc. The pancakes were definitely small. I started laughing when Jeff said, "I'll take a angel, candy cane, stocking, ginger bread- man, & a bell. "

more Christmas

This has been such a fun Chritmas for us. Landon has really enjoyed decorating the tree, Christmas light looking, & especially making cookies.

Doggy too

The other day Landon dropped his snacks on the floor. Naturally, Tuffy, Speck, & Sassy ran to his aid to "help him" pick up the mess.Not only did the dogs eat the food off the floor, so did Landon.

Christmas Party pic

My Prince running his 1st RACE!

Here's a few pics of Landon running with his Aunt Lacy in the Jingle Bell Run. I was so proud of my little man that day! Isn't he the cutest thing...running his little heart out for a hamburger & donut. hahaha...Oh yeah, I was proud of Lacy & dad too. She took 2nd in her age group. My dad took 3rd in his age group. It's almost not fair to the citizens who participate in runs in the Wichita area. My dad & sister dominate...hahahaha!

Little Blessing...baby Joe!

One of my oldest friends, Jen, recently received the most incredible blessing....her son, Joseph Micheal. Jen & her husband, Mike, have been praying & waiting for almost 3 years to adopted a baby. Last month, God granted their prays, & the prayers of so many others, baby Joe was born.

This weekend, I was invited to have lunch with Jen & her sister Angie, & meet baby Joe. Some of Jen's friends & family, hosted a baby shower for Jen & Joe on Saturday morning. Joe is so precious. At the shower, all of us were fighting with one another over who gets to hold Joe next. If I could have smuggled Joe in my purse & out of the party without anyone seeing me, I would have! hahahaha....I would keep him for my own. He's got the most amazing brown hair. It stands straight up & he has sooooo much of it too!

I tear up every time I think about baby Joe, & how he is truly a blessing. God is so GREAT....He always hears our prayers. If we are patience & wait according to His will, he will never let us down.

Christmas Time in Wichita

This weekend Landon & I went to Wichita for a baby shower. While we were there, we stayed with my sister, Lacy, & her family. Landon & my nephew, Judah, have so much fun together. We took the kids to the Christmas festival in downtown Wichita on Thursday night. The kids enjoyed watching the fireworks after the parade. There was even a carnival set up & the boys walked away with all sorts of prizes & candy.

Friday evening, Lacy & Kenton had a Christmas party with some of their friends from Church. I, on the other hand, had a date with two men! Landon & Judah. Lacy's neighbor is an actress & she gave us tickets to the Children's Theater performance of "The Gingerbread Man." Both the boys enjoyed the show. I enjoyed holding the two of them on my lap, kissing the tops of their sweet little heads as they both cuddled with me.

Saturday morning, Lacy & Kenton took Landon & Judah downtown for the "Jingle Bell Run!" My dad registered the boys in the fun-run, & Landon ran his 1st mile run. (with Aunt Lacy's help) According to my family, Landon did so good! He ran his little heart out up until his Aunt Lacy tripped him causing him to fall down face 1st. hahahahaha....Fortunately, Landon was wearing several layers of clothing & his fall was padded. hahahaha...Landon crossed the finish line with Lacy, & he got a medal, a hamburger, & all sorts of other goodies.

Saturday night, my parents took us out to dinner, & afterwards, Kenton drove all of us around Wichita to look at some incredible Christmas lights.

Needless to say, Landon & I are exhausted from our weekend! But what a good weekend it was...

something funny...

This evening Landon, Jeff, & I popped some popcorn & sat down together to watch"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" on t.v. When the show was just about over, Santa stopped at "Misfit Island" to pick up the misfit toys & then he flys away to deliver toys. Landon asked me, "where's he going mommy?" Jeff & I don't have a problem with the make-believe story of Santa, but we haven't told him much about Santa either, so I explained to him that Santa is going to deliver toys to good girls & boys. Landon asked me, "Is Santa going to come down our fireplace?" I told him, "he just might." Next thing I know, Landon hops off my lap & shouts, "I better turn off the fire then," & he runs over the switch that turns the fireplace on & off, & he turns off the fire. Jeff & I were laughing so hard...I was nearly in tears! Jeff explained to him, that Christmas is in 22 more days, & at that time, Santa will visit us.
I don't recall explaining to Landon that Santa comes down the chimney. I think he's gathered it from watching some of the Christmas shows. In fact, a few weeks ago Landon told me that Santa will drive his car to our house on Christmas Eve. He explained that Santa will have dinner with us for 3 hours, & Santa will eat a salad & drink water. Where he got this idea is beyond me! I decided that we will leave out a salad & water for Santa on the mantel instead of cookies & milk this Christmas Eve. hahahaha....

Tulsa Trip

We went over to Tulsa for a few days after Thanksgiving. Landon got to spend some time with his Gramma & Uncle Mac. (Papa went to Dallas early on into our trip) While we were in Tulsa, we took Landon to BassPro Shop. He enjoyed looking at the waterfall, the animals, the fish, etc. BassPro had their Santa's Workshop set up. Landon was able to draw a picture for Santa & write a letter to him while we were in the workshop. (Santa wasn't due to arrive for another 3 hours or more) He also played a few hunting games & he asked me to play checkers with him. He had so much fun...& so did we up until he had a "melt-down" over a bag of gummy-worms. hahaha...

Gingerbread houses

Our friends, Jen, Joshua, & Jonah, invited Landon & I over to make gingerbread houses the other day. This is something I have never done before, & I was eager to share the experience with Landon. Jen, the prop-mom that she is, whipped up icing in a flash, threw some incredible, yummy, candies on the table & away we went. The kids were so excited because they were able to eat candy as we put the gingerbread houses together. Landon didn't care what kind of candy we put on the house, he just wanted the candy to be yellow. So....his gingerbread house is covered in all yellow candies. hahahaha....

For me, the most enjoyable part of putting the houses together was watching Joshua turn his back away from his mommy, so she wouldn't see him eating another piece of candy. hahaha...OH AND, watching Jonah shake with excitement over getting the eat candy! It was hilarious....

What a fun activity!!!

It's stuck

Landon has been so excited about Christmas this year. While my family was visiting us last week, we took the kids to see Santa. Afterwards, we noticed some of the homes around our neighborhood had their Christmas light up already. Landon wanted to get a closer look at the lights. I slowed the car down for my family to get a better look at the decorations at one particular house when Landon says to me, "Look Mommy, they have their Christmas out!" hahahaha....So now everytime we see outdoor lights, we say "they have their Christmas out." After Thanksgiving, Jeff got up in the attic & pulled out our Christmas decorations so we could get our Christmas out. While I was pulling decorations out of boxes, I heard this loud, high pitch, sound. When I turned around, it was Landon. He got into the box of stockings & put one on his head. The only problem was he could get it off & he was screaming like a little girl because it was too tight around his big head. hahahahaha.....

(yes, I have pants for my son, but he doesn't always put them back on after he uses the potty...hahahaha!)

Thanksgiving

Since Jeff was scheduled to work on "black Friday", we decided to stay home & invite our friends, the Wallers family, over for Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving morning, I was hard at work, cooking up a storm in the kitchen when I discovered that my husband & son were missing. When I finally found the two of them, they were sitting in the back of Landon's monster truck, out on the driveway, drinking roots beers & Jeff was smoking a cigar. I asked both of my boys what was going on, & Jeff replied, "we're tailgating". hahahahahaha......

more birthday party pics

Landon's 3rd Birthday

Landon turned 3rd on Saturday the 22nd. Jeff & I decided to have a

party at home with our family & friends. The theme of Landon's party was "Thanksgiving Feast". The kids wore pilgrims hats & indian head-dresses. They made pilgrim & indian vests, they played pin the pilgrim hat on the turkey, & they even decorated their own turkey cookies. Afterwards we all enjoyed a big Thanksgiving Day style meal! Hands-Down, this was the best birthday party yet!

"It's a wonderful life...Jeanie"

This weekend my family celebrated my mom's 50th birthday. A while back my dad was looking for party idea's for my mom's birthday. I suggested taking my mom to Springfield, MO where she was born. I thought my grandmom could share with our family about where my mom's life began. I didn't think the idea would go over very well, but it did. My dad was very receptive to the idea, & so was my grandmom. My grandparents are originally from Springfield, MO & that's where they had my mom. My dad rented a mini-van & we all loaded up in Pittsburg, KS where my grandmom is currently living. We headed over to Springfield, MO for the day. We kept calling my grandmom, our GPS. She navigated the "It's a wonderful life tour" as we referred to it. She took us to see where my granddad (who passed away 9 years ago) grew up, where she grew up, the hospital where my mom was born, the house they brought my mom home to, etc. We even went to the cemetery where my great grandparents were laid to rest. We noticed what looked like the original "Steak 'n' Shake" & my mom hollered out, "Hey, Nana use to take me to that "Steak 'n' Shake" when we all would come over to Springfield to visit her." With that being said, we stopped & had lunch there.

Later that afternoon, we headed back to Pittsburg. My mom's siblings joined us & we had a little party for her at grandmom's house. My dad took us all out to dinner at none other than Pittsburg's famous, "Chicken Annie's."

We had such a fun day, despite the miserable weather. I know my mom enjoyed it... she was smiling the entire trip.

Mom's 50th birthday