Happy New Year!!!!

"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
---Philippians 3:13-14

May you have a blessed 2010!!!!

Christmas 2009

Christmas was a a big success this year and so much fun! Rhonald's parents set up a Christmas train under their tree which Cole was obsessed with . We finally had to tell him that the train had to go night night so that we could all get a little break from it. We continued a tradition that Rhonald and I both had growing up and we let Cole open 1 gift on Christmas eve. He got a doctor's kit and kept saying he was a "doctor like gaggy" (yes, he still calls Rhonald "gaggy"). It even came with a pager that worked and Rhonald taught Cole how to say "No Pages!"

On Christmas morning we woke up at our normal time and opened gifts. Cole was really funny. He loved opening his stocking but after a couple of gifts he made me unwrap them and then he would hand them to Rhonald for him to take it out of the box. After that he would play with that gift while I opened another one of his. It made me glad that we didn't go overboard this year. Maybe next year he will be more in to it.

We had a yummy dinner and ate way too much! Cole finally got to meet his Great, Great Grandma Katie and his second cousins on Rhonald's mom's side of the family. He really enjoyed having other kids around the play with. It was a whirlwind of a day but it was so nice to sit back and relax and be with family. But, I must say, as much as I love Christmas...I am glad that it only comes once a year!

Cookies and A Gingerbread House....Oh My!

Baking cookies has quickly become one of Cole's favorite things to do. Luckily we got to Searcy just in time to help back Christmas cookies with Grandma and Paw Paw. Cole had a blast digging through cookie dough. By the end of the day he was covered in flour, sugar and sprinkles! Rhonald's mom showed Cole how to roll to dough in to balls. At first I did not think he would be able to do it but with a little bit of help he did great. In fact I think he made more cookies than anyone that day!

I brought a gingerbread house kit with us to make on Christmas Eve. None of us had ever made one before so I thought it would be fun to give it a try. Let me just say...it did not disappoint and it will be a tradition from now on. It was super easy and really fun to show Cole how to follow the directions and be patient. He loved decorating the house with candy (and sampling some too). Even Rhonald enjoyed it - he was the master of the roof! It was a really fun and easy activity to do together. I realize our house is not the prettiest in the world but hey - it was good for a first try! Now that we know how to do it we are looking forward to next year. I even mentioned trying to make one from scratch - we shall see!

Another tradition that I love (and that I stole from our friends, AJ and Matt) is what we call our prayer jar. We wrote down the names of all of the people that sent us a Christmas card and put them in a jar. Each night at dinner we pull out a name and pray for that family. It has been so much fun...something I think we will actually continue year round. I love praying with Cole. We do it before bed and before dinner and it is so sweet to see him start to "get it." He holds our hands and closes his eyes and yells a great big "AMEN!" when we are done. He evens reminds us to pray when we get busy and forget - he will say "Stop! Prayer!" What a precious spirit that boy has!

Fireman Cole To The Rescue

We traveled to Searcy for the last time this Christmas and one of the fun things that Rhonald's parents had planned was to take Cole to the fire station where Rhonald's dad used to work. Cole loved it! The guys let him climb all over the trucks and even gave him his own fireman hat. He got to pretend to drive the truck and turn on the lights with a little helps from his Paw Paw. Cole was not afraid at all and had so much fun running all over the station and giving high 5's to all of the firemen! He was able to point out the hose, the ladder, the bucket on the ladder and the lights all without being prompted. I think his favorite part was when they turned on all of the lights - he really enjoyed watching them and pointing them out to Rhonald and I. The guys really enjoyed seeing him and all of his excitement. And I think they really appreciated it when I asked him what firemen do and he said "they help." You could just see the pride in their eyes....thank goodness for men and women like that!

I Heart Motherhood

I mean, who wouldn't love it? I get to look at this sweet face every day!

"Savor the moments that are warm and special and giggly."

-Sammy Davis Jr

Jumping Around!!!!

Today we met Haley, Katie and Jacob at a place called Jump Zone. WOW! It is a huge building filled with blow up jump things and it is so much fun! When we walked in Cole kept saying "Whoa!" and running in every direction. Katie was very sweet to show him around and once he learned where things were he was off. It was a very hard place to take pictures in because there is so much action but I had to try. There was an under 5 area in a huge Sesame Street bouncy house and Cole loved that because he could go in and out all by himself. He also loved the big slides but I had to carry him up them and slide down too - it was so much fun but so hard. Can you imagine walking up a huge blow up staircase carrying a 30 lb toddler...yikes! But we made it and had a blast! I don't think any of the kids (or us moms) stopped smiling the whole time we were there. After Jump Zone we enjoyed lunch at our favorite place...Chick Fil A and after lunch the kids played there too. I promise you that Cole was asleep as we pulled out of the Chick Fil A parking lot! What a day filled with so much fun! I am already excited to take Cole back there...but next time we will take Daddy along to help with the carrying!

My Loves

On this day, along with every other day, I thank God for these 2 amazing boys in my life!!!! I can't imagine what life would be like without them.

Christmas Party Fun

Whew! Christmas time can really wear a person out! We have had so much fun attending so many Christmas parties and spending time with good friends. Cole had a play group party at Miss Kerri's house which was super fun! The kiddos made Christmas cards and danced to carols all morning long! Then we were able to hang out with the Burrow family, the Cornetts and the Lowerys for a Christmas party this past weekend. The kids had a blast playing "Ring Around the Rosie" and watching Frosty the Snowman. They opened gifts and had so much fun playing together. It was so hard to get a picture of Cole, Audrie and Ben that we had to bride them with Christmas cookies to get them to sit still! Cole also had a cute Christmas party/program at his Mother's Day Out. They ate and opened gifts and then put on a little show about the birth of Jesus. Cole's class was a herd of sheep and they kept yelling "baaa" at all of the wrong times but it was precious! Then Santa made an appearance and Cole went nuts! He was the only child in the school to run up to Santa and then he started dancing along to Jingle Bells with him! It was great!!!! What a fun time of year this is....but how tiring too!

Give Away Day

Wow. That is the only word I can think of to describe the Give Away Day our church hosted last night. Our church has a ministry that reaches out to the children of underprivileged families in NWA called Potter's House. It is a huge thing and one that Rhonald and I have always wanted to know more about and get involved in. Last night was their annual "Give Away Day." Families from all over NWA that are in need of a little help at Christmas are able to come and receive one gift per child, a hot meal, enjoy some praise and worship time and meet people who truly care about them. We had no idea what it would be like...and boy were we shocked and blessed at what we were able to be apart of. 450 families signed up to be blessed by this day....450!!!! The families came in the morning to register and get a number and then they came back that evening for the actual event. One woman told me she came at 1 am to line up and people were already there!!! What was so humbling to us is that we live in a very wealthy community...very low crime and an area very focused on education...and there were 450 families there. Wow. I was a gift wrapper and Rhonald was a gift carrier (after I wrapped he carried gifts to cars) and I will say, we were so busy and tired when we left there - but it was awesome! We met some of the sweetest families and got to know people from our church even better too. The smiles we saw were priceless but really, as much as those families were blessed, we were blessed so much more. And we are thankful - for everything we have and especially for getting to be apart of this night. There are so many stories I could share, and I will, but it would take all day. I pray you have a blessed holiday and that you take time to remember where those blessings come from. We were definitely reminded of that last night and I pray we never lose sight of the real meaning of this time of year.

Here Comes Santa Claus...And Ben?!

What a fabulous day!!! We started out the day cuddled in bed (yes, all of us) watching cartoons and enjoyed pancakes and bacon (a Cole favorite) for breakfast. Today was a day that I have been waiting for since December 1st. It was Santa day!!!! After relaxing at the house for a little bit we all got ready and headed to the mall to see Santa. Santa was not a favorite for Cole last year so we have talked a lot about him and looked at a lot of Santa things to get him ready. Oh my -what a difference a year makes! I did have to carry him up to Santa but he did great and sat in his lap so well (the sucker Santa gave him helped a lot). Cole even told Santa that he wanted a Thomas train for Christmas..oh, and a Frosty (the snowman...a new Christmas obsession). When we were done visiting Santa we let Cole ride the rides in the food court area. As he was riding around I heard him shout "Ben!" and there was Emily and Ben! The boys had a blast playing on the cars and walking around. Once they had time to run of a little energy we all went to lunch at a local pizza place. The boys loved it and the grown ups had fun talking and catching up. When we sat down we noticed Cole was saying "Go Hogs!" and "Woo Pig Sooie" over and over. We finally realized there were football highlights playing on the TV near our table. I guess he thinks every football team is the Arkansas Razorbacks!!!! We ended the morning with a nap...yes, all of us. It was a wonderful day - one I will hold dear to my heart! I mean, hearing that little voice say "Thomas Train" to Santa was priceless!

O Christmas Tree

Rhonald and I decided to set up all of our Christmas decorations last night after Cole went to bed. So at about 8 pm we popped in a Christmas movie and put up our tree. It is always so much fun to get the ornaments out of their boxes and talk about the memories behind them. We were laughing and talking and having so much fun. What we were really excited about was seeing Cole's reaction to the new addition in our living room once he woke up. And, as usual, he did not disappoint! As soon as he saw the tree he yelled "big tree!" and went over to check everything out. He named all of the ornaments and enjoyed seeing the ones that we bought just for him (trains and trucks of course). The only problem with the tree turned out to be the presents. Cole noticed them right away but was very good about not touching them. About an hour later as I was brushing my hair I heard paper tearing and ran in to the living room to see that Cole was unwrapping his second gift. Well, needless to say, the gifts are now hidden away until Christmas eve! Another sweet thing he has done all day is that he says "Hi tree" and "Bye tree" when we go anywhere. It is so cute!!!!! I swear, Christmas is so much more fun when you get to share it with kids!!!!