...and a Happy New Year!

First of all, I apologize for not getting Christmas cards out to you this year! I promise next year I will send the most amazing Christmas card you have ever seen...well, a good one anyway.
We hope you have had as wonderful a year as we have and we wish you all the best in 2009!

Tis' the Season to be Jolly!

We wish you a merry Christmas! We wish you a merry Christmas! We wish you a merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!!

I didn't get around to a Christmas card this year...so here are a few pictures of our day today. We have spent time with Nana and Papa, Uncle Matt and Aunt Nina, Aunt Bertie and Uncle Nick, and Uncle Dukes (Micah). Santa brought Colin a new bike and Clayton a golf set. Nana and Papa got a new John Deer four-wheeler for all the boys but guess who is using it the most...Carter, of course! We love you all and hope you are enjoying this fun holiday as much as we are!!

Colin Swallows Penny/Andy Catches Cooper's Tail on Fire

Howdy, all! Sorry it has been so long, but here we go...
Andy caught Cooper's tail on fire, and many of you have already heard that story. (Cooper never had a clue...Andy just smelled smoke...)
Then there's our financial situation: on Thursday night in the middle of the night Colin reached onto his night table, grabbed a penny, and ate it. I freaked out, but apparently it's common. And now he calls it, "my penny." "Mommy, my penny is hurting!" We've tried to stop him from flushing the potty so we can see if anything shines, but instead we hear the flush and Colin gasp, "Oh no!"
Other than that, Colin is doing well! He is doing especially well in school where he is learning his vowels--he is sweet, he does sign language while he sounds out each letter.
Carter is his usual serious self. He asked me where my mole came from and I said from God and he said, "Did he come to my home and give it to you?"
Clayton is talking all the time now. He says the following words fairly well: Daddy, Mommy, ball, balloon, shoes, juice, there he is (during peek-a-boo!), down. Clayton laughs all the time, he opens his mouth really wide and throws his head back-he is a really happy baby!
We went to the pumpkin patch last weekend with Aunt Bertie and Uncle Nick, who celebrated their first anniversary today!!

This is a funny conversation...

Carter: Colin, where does God live?
Colin: God lives in our hearts.
Carter: But, Colin, God does not live in Mexico.
Colin: No, Carter, God does not live in Mexico.

Soccer

Over Labor Day weekend we spent time with our neighbors and also went out to Plano to visit Uncle Nick, Aunt Bertie, Doyle, and new family member Dixie (an American Bulldog)!
Tuesday we hosted a new life group through our church (New River Fellowship) and had a great time with some new friends! Colin had a really great time playing with his friend Noah, and Carter got a ton of ant bites...you win some, you lose some.
We started soccer practice this week...Carter on Wednesday, Colin on Thursday. Carter's coach is pretty intense and the team did a good job. There were a lot of water breaks but there was also a lot of running, kicking, etc. Carter played sharks and minnows and had a fun time playing soccer. Colin, on the other hand, mostly collected bones. Yes, that's right, bones. So anyway, here is a cut and pasted copy of Coach D.'s latest email to the team regarding Thursday's practice:

"Good afternoon everyone, Thanks for the practice last night. I think it was an overall success for our first time; a little kicking, running, getting to know each other, and we found 7 bones."

Colin Starts KINDERGARTEN!!

This has been a very busy week--we started school on Monday and Colin had his first day of Kindergarten! He looks SO precious in his uniform! Throughout the week they hunted for gingerbread men and finally found them (and ate them!) on Friday. He loves his teacher Ms. Purifoy and was (mostly) a very good boy. ;) Carter is in K3 and Clay is with his SuSu until he moves into the K2 class in January. Carter is desperate to be in Kindergarten and brought his belt to me the other day to ask if I would put his "seatbelt" on like Colin wears to Kindergarten. My classes are awesome--the kids are great and I am looking forward to an exciting year!
The boys start soccer this week, so this weekend (along with a few FF drafts, picnics, and pool parties) we'll be purchasing our first real sports equipment--shinguards and (how do you spell kleats?) kleats!
Have a fun Labor Day weekend!!

Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?

The other morning Andy and I woke up to find cookie crumbs on the office sofa, cookie crumbs on the living room sectional, cookie crumbs on the floor of the dining room, and cookie crumbs (but no cookie container) in the kitchen. Hmmm...a traveling cookie eater who has left a major trail. There are three potential culprits. Now Clayton hasn't yet learned to climb out of his crib (I'm sure it's a matter of days, but this simple fact exempts him as a suspect). So...this leaves TWO...and both, who have less than perfect records in the areas of tomfoolery and ballyhoo, are equally qualified to commit the crime. But who would do such a thing? Make such a MESS? I mean, really, who eats cookies in every room in the house?! This is actually another clue because Colin is not necessarily concerned about having a clean record, but he is most definitely interested in having a clean house. A-HA! This can only mean one thing.... "Mommy, my tummy hurts," says sweet, sneaky little Carter.

Critters

Since we moved to Texas we have had many critters in our house. I honestly can't remember a single critter in Maryland other than the occasional dead bird or mole Peeky (our family cat) would drag to the front porch. Either my parents did a good job of hiding it from me or Texas is just ridiculously overloaded with bugs.
So our battle with the critters started off pretty normal...a few "worms"(millipede-looking insects) near the doors after we first moved into our new house--no big deal. It was kind of funny--one day Colin came up to me and said, "Mommy, mommy, I found another freaking worm!!" Oops.
Occasionally we'd find an ant here and there, maybe a cricket or two, and I can handle all that. Yes, Ross Pest Control was on speed dial, but I can handle those types of insects. This is reasonable, after all, we do live in the "country" now.
Then one day Colin was supposed to be taking a nap and after his fifth or sixth trip to "tell me something" he said a "scorpion needle" poked him. Sure, get back in bed, Colin. I mean, my brother Joey had a scorpion for a pet once, but it was in a cage and certainly those things do not run loose. Hmmm...nope, that is definitely a scorpion. "Ross Pest Control...my son received a scorpion sting...brown...not too poisonous?...ice...ok, great...see you tomorrow...thank you."
And so it began...
After Christmas I was putting our decorations in boxes and I set a box in the garage. I saw a rear end sprinting away from me along the floor of the garage. Take a deep breath. That must have been a...a squirrel or...or a raccoon! Yes, raccoons love Christmas decorations! Yes. That's it. That explains everything. Call Andy. "Andy (remember to breathe) I think I saw a--" "Let me call you back real quick, I'm on another call." "But--" CLICK. Ok, you can handle this. You are an adult, and it's just a little m--Dad! Call Dad, he can help you. Ok. (Dialing) "I think there's a mouse in my garage!!!" "Umm...ok, kill it." WHAT?! "WHAT?!" "Um, kill it. Look, this is Mike, I don't know who this is but maybe you could just kill the mouse." DON'T KNOW WHO THIS IS??? "THIS IS YOUR DAUGHTER!!" Apparently my voice was so high pitched he didn't recognize me. And he lives in Maryland, so that call was not so much help to me. Call Ross Pest Control. Bait stations? Fantastic.
Ok, so at the beginning of summer things are looking better, and instead of "several families of mice" we have "low traffic"!! Fabulous!! There is now an enormous toad that lives on our front porch, but whatever, there is only one of him, and sure he craps all over the place, but he's not a mouse, so he can stay. But what's that I hear in the attic? Scratching? No. Ross Pest Control said we have low traffic. I heard it myself. And this sound is too loud to be mice. No, this is the air conditioning. Yes. Hmm...this air conditioning sure does sound like rat toenails. Just breathe. Don't stay up all night tracking their routes. Just go to sleep. Ross can come out on Saturday! Great.
Their advice? Get a cat. "What?" Take a deep breath. "Well, ma'am, you live next to a field. Just get a cat." WHAT? Are you kidding me? WE JUST GOT A DOG! I DON'T WANT A CAT! I WANT NO MICE OR RATS. I WANT FEWER CRITTERS! NOT MORE CRITTERS! Ross is fired and now we're going with another company.
So this is not the end. Colin, Carter, Clayton, Cooper and I went for a walk through our neighborhood the other day, and as we're walking, Carter says, "Aww, look at the baby deer!" Wow, cool! Maybe living out in the country isn't so bad after all! Sure enough, I see a baby deer with those sweet pointy ears and long...tail...do baby deer have long..."That's not a baby deer that's a coyote," says Colin. Nice.

Colin Turns FIVE!!

I meant for Colin's birthday pictures to be at the top...oops! Today we celebrated Colin's FIFTH birthday! He was born at 8:11 p.m. five years ago in Tampa, FL. We had the best day today. I woke up at 6:30 and he was right behind me. We opened a few presents, then the rest of the crew woke up and we had breakfast, then opened a few more presents. The party started at 10 at Jumping Party and we jumped until 1. Then on to the pool for phase two where Andy, YaYa, the boys and I swam until 4:30. We originally planned to go to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner, but we all decided it would be better to stay at home and play with our new toys. (Whew!) Thanks so much to everyone who called, partied with us today, sent cards, gave gifts and showed Colin love!
P.S. Carter has a new passenger, I have a new haircut. =)