The Pine Tree Parable

Alli and Cole participated in the Christmas program at our church called, "The Pine Tree Parable." It is a very cute story about a couple who have a Christmas tree farm. The farmer's wife saves the most beautiful tree on the farm year after year for themselves, but then gives it to a very poor family who cannot afford the tree. The kids did a wonderful job showing everyone that having a giving spirit pleases God.

Alli was especially excited this year because she was assigned a speaking part, a bible verse which she memorized extremely fast. As show time came around, you could tell she was starting to get nervous, but wouldn't admit to it. Then when she stood up to the microphone, she looked down and crossed her arms (oh no!), but then looked back up and spoke her verse clearly (whew!). When she got to the book of the bible and verse numbers, she stumbled and said a wrong number. You could tell by the look on her face she was crushed. There were 2 performances and after the 1st one, she found us and just burst into tears. "I said it wrong," she cried. We comforted her and reassured her that she spoke the Word of God beautifully. We also told her that being nervous is normal and that she will do just fine the next time. And she did. She stumbled a little but was pleased with her performance. We were very proud of her for sticking it out and trying again. Poor girl, unfortunately stage fright comes naturally. Her Mom will not speak in front of a crowd for anything.

Cole was unfazed by the audience. He stood up there and said all the words to the poem the little kids performed, but didn't do the hand movements until the second performance. Not sure what that was all about.

Anyway, they had a good time participating and we look forward to next year.





"Children are a gift from the Lord." Psalm 127 verse 3

SANTA!!!

We went and visited Santa this last weekend. The kids were excited!! Well, Alli and Cole were. Nolan wasn't so sure he wanted to sit on his lap, but he stayed there long enough to take a picture. Alli and Cole were very eager to tell him what they wanted for Christmas (Nintendo DSs), but Nolan wouldn't talk. He did say "Thank you" when Santa gave him a candy cane. Then, when his candy cane was gone, he was determined to go back and see Santa for another candy. Go figure! Maybe Santa should have given him the candy cane first.

Cole's Christmas Program

Cole ringing a bell.


Cole had his Christmas program at his school on Wednesday night. He did an amazing job!!! He went from screaming the songs last year, to singing them loudly this year. And yes, there is a difference. :) He was dressed as a shepard, sang every word, did all the hand gestures, and even rang a bell in one song. Here are a few pictures.



Shhh...the baby is sleeping.



Someone has a birthday on Christmas Day! Jesus!!

Halloween Pictures...Finally!

What a scary crew!


Nolan the Monkey


Spiderman (a.k.a. Cole)


Alli the punk rocker. What a pose!


A new neighbor/friend of Alli's set up a hayride for the neighborhood kids to ride on and trick or treat together. The kids had a blast and we trick or treated the neighborhood in record time!


Alli taking care of Nolan and Cole enjoying the ride.


Alli, Nolan and Mackenzie going to their first house.


Cole being a goof as always. It was a good night.

Story Book Forest

Last night we went to a fun little Halloween event that Edmond hosts every year. It is located near Arcadia Lake and they use a little patch of "forest" and turn it into "Story Book Forest." You walk along a lit path and every little bit they have little scenes from favorite storybooks and nursery rhymes with people dressed up as the characters handing out candy. The kids loved it and recognized many, if not all, of the characters. The characters did a really good job and all was done so that there was nothing to scare even the littlest trick or treaters. Here are a few pictures of our fun evening.


Roasting marshmallows


Cole and Nolan listening to storyteller


Rapunzel


The Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe


Peter Pumpkin Eater's Wife in her Pumpkin Shell


Red Riding Hood

The LONG T-ball Season

We finally finished this fall season of t-ball. It was supposed to wrap up the first week of October, but due to many, MANY games being postponed due to rain, we finished Monday. We didn't necessarily want it to end because Alli and Cole did so well, but the scheduling and rescheduling really started to get old. Anyway, here is a little note on how they did.
Alli, to put it bluntly, really ROCKED (this Mom is not at all proud of her softball girl:)) !!! She practiced quite a bit in the backyard this summer and it really showed. She had many solid hits, doubles, triples, and a home run. But, it was what she did out in the field that really impressed everyone. She played 2nd base almost every inning of every game and made on average 2 outs per game (in this league a team making 2 outs in a game is doing really good). She even got all 3 outs in one inning a few games back. She was sooooo excited!!
Cole was a star also. He smacked the ball to the fence every time at bat!! His team of little boys unfortunately fought over the ball quite a bit in the field. Many times it was a dog pile on the little boy who got the ball first, but Cole was still able to get a few boys out. In fact, in one play, the ball was hit to him at short-stop, he got the grounder but the 3rd baseman came over and jumped on his back. Cole just stood up with the kid on his back and ran over to 3rd base and got the runner out. We knew he was strong, but not that strong. Anyway, he really loves to play and is begging to try soccer, too.
I know I did a lot of bragging on how well the kids did this season, but what matters most is that they had fun. There is nothing like watching them play with big, beautiful smiles on their faces!

Great Wolf Lodge 2009

We just returned from another wonderful "Fall Break" vacation at Great Wolf Lodge, Grapevine, TX. It is a wonderful hotel with an indoor water park. Boy, did we have fun. Once we arrived on Friday, we didn't leave the place until noon Sunday. All we did was play at the water park and then go back to the room to rest. It was awesome! We didn't see daylight for 2 days! (I brought food for breakfast and lunch, but they also have all kinds of vendors and restaurants.) Alli was our true daredevil and rode every slide in the park (a few twisted her tummy pretty hard). Cole was a little reluctant this time around, but had a blast in the little kids park and then warmed up to a few bigger slides. Nolan had a lot of fun kicking the water and rode a few slides. By Sunday, we were all pretty tired. Here's a few pictures. We didn't get very many pictures for 2 reasons. 1. We were too busy having fun. 2. It was just too dangerous having a camera in your hands. If you were anywhere near the water, you had a huge target on your back. You never knew when a stream of water would be turned your way, or a huge bucket of water would drench you! Enjoy!

Cole and Nolan's 1st Day of School

The day finally came. Cole has been begging to go to school ever since Alli stepped foot on the bus a few weeks ago, and today he finally started Pre-school. He had a good day, but was disappointed to be the only boy in his class (the 2 other boys in his class were absent). So his only comment about his day was, "There were lots of girls!" Poor boy! His buddy, Kristian, will be back from vacation and be at school Thursday.

Nolan also started "school" (Mother's Day Out) today and...no tears!! His teacher told me he cried a little before nap time, but that was all. I guess he is a little more ready for school than I thought. :)

Cole's Shot at Dad

The last few nights, Jeff and I have been playing catch with Alli and Cole. Their throwing and catching is improving a lot. You wouldn't believe what a "vacuum" Alli is becoming. Tonight, our tee was broke to work on hitting, so I decided to pitch to them a little. Alli tried and tried and finally got a hit. Cole stepped up and hit everything I threw at him. Jeff decided to go get the video camera and when he returned, Cole couldn't hit a thing. Just as we were about to give up for the night, Cole smacked the ball, it bounced off the side of the house and hit Jeff as he was video taping. Watch for this short video to shake at the end.

Cole Turns 4!!!!

Cole turned 4 today!! He had a pretty good day picking out a Spiderman backpack for school (can't wait to go to school), playing with Nolan outside, going to one of his favorite restaurants Louie's for supper, and then having cake and ice cream and opening a few presents. He acted like he was shy by hiding his face when we sang Happy Birthday to him, which was pretty funny, because he isn't all that shy. It is amazing to see how big he is now and to hear him talk (our speech therapy is working!!!). He is a pretty awesome boy!!

Nolan's 2nd Bday

Yesterday, Nolan turned 2. Hard to believe, I know. He seemed to enjoy being told Happy Birthday alot and he really liked being sung to. He just sat there and smiled and then blew out his candles by himself. He got really excited and then shouted "Again!" We lit the candles again, he blew them out again, and he shouted "Again." This went on for a while until we finally told him no more. He just smiled and giggled and then dug into his little cake. I asked him if he wanted a fork, his reply was, "Um, No!" So funny. He was so excited last night! He opened a few presents and when Cole wanted his new toys, he gave him one and said, "Here, Tolester." So sweet! We had a good time yesterday and look forward to some family coming this weekend to celebrate Nolan and Cole's birthdays.

Some Swimming Pictures

Our 3 little fishies.


Alli living it up in the pool.


Colester and his trusty goggles.


Nolan and his floaties.


Alli being thrown in by Daddy.


Cole being thrown in...


and Nolan being thrown in. They all love it!


Alli and Cole racing after a ring and both coming up with it at the same time.


Daddy, Alli, and Cole diving in.


Nolan kicking up his feet.