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.