Gramma and Pinkalicious

For 20% off all products at the discount book store this week, we hit the sale racks today after Diva Camp at the dance studio.

Merry Christmas

May God's blessings be yours this Christmas season.

Lego Camp

Three days of building simple machines, constructing motorized masterpieces and having lots of fun.

At the annual Cousin Christmas Party...

We crafted

played games

met Santa

and got a gift from him.

Thanksgiving

Our day began super early with the race down in the Galleria.

and ended that evening with yummy food, wrestling with uncles, and family time up north of town.

our lucia

St. Lucia's Day is celebrated in Sweden on December 13 during the darkest day of winter. Martyred St Lucia portrays the “bringer of light” at festivals throughout Europe and reminds us of the light Christ’s birth brought to a dark world. Lucia dresses in a white gown and wears a crown of lingonberry leaves in which are set seven lighted candies, symbolizing the promise of the sun's return to the cold darkness of winter. In Swedish homes on Lucia's Day, young girls in the family dress as St. Lucia and present their families with breakfast in bed while singing. That breakfast tray includes mulled cider, cheese, meats, cookies, and St. Lucia Buns or Lussekatter.

Her work begins before dawn on the longest night of winter

and ends with a tired momma, whose Lucia isn't old enough to manage the kitchen on her own yet.

a Christmas wish list for The Little Master

The kidlets went through the toy catalogs to cut out pictures of everything they would love as gifts this year. I wanted to publish them here, so they could be found by anyone interested in the information. Once Thanksgiving hits, the children are only allowed to be thankful for what they already have and to think of others. They're not supposed to talk to anyone about their own desires, so this list will work instead. Thanks!

Star Wars Operation Game
Power Rangers Deluxe Megazord
R/C Mario Kart
Lego Ninjago Battle Arena
Hot Wheels Video Racer Micro Camera Car green - taken
Captain America Shield Launcher - taken
Sonic the Hedgehog Action Figure Set - taken
HexBug glow in the dark - taken
Hexbug Nano Hive Habitat Play Set - taken
Build your own light saber - taken
DS game - taken
GraveDigger Monster Truck - taken
RipStik Casterboard - taken
Lego Transformer kit - taken


Photos show Buddy at a dinosaur class a gal from our home school group hosted last month. TLM had a great time excavating and making a paper mâché Dino egg. The three year old he's hugging is Jacob, but TLM calls him, "Little Buddy.".

a Christmas wish list for Sunshine

The kidlets went through the toy catalogs to cut out pictures of everything they would love as gifts this year. I wanted to publish them here, so they could be found by anyone interested in the information. Once Thanksgiving hits, the children are only allowed to be thankful for what they already have and to think of others. They're not supposed to talk to anyone about their own desires, so this list will work instead. Thanks!

Glass stirrer
Glass beakers
wardrobe to hold American Girl doll clothing
doorbell answering machine for her bedroom
microphone with stand
set of hands free walkie talkie Headsets
car, bus, RV, airplane, locker, storage container, etc. for Barbie dolls
Barbie Designable Hair Extensions and Doll
container for Squinkie toys (Barbie or Hello Kitty one)
Test tube holder - taken
Ken doll to marry her Barbie - taken
a dollhouse that would fit Barbie dolls- taken
baby sister LaLaLoopsie doll - taken
pink or purple Fijit Friend - taken
clothes for American Girl Doll - taken
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These photos show Sunshine practicing the titration lab for her chemistry class with our home school group. The curriculum is really kicking my tale because I never wanted to remember what an ion is or the properties of noble gases ever again. Thanks to Gramma and Grampa P for hooking Sunshine up with these great supplies so that she can work on her labs at home and in class. It makes a huge difference for her to be able to practice before class and after class.

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Happy Thanksgiving

About to start our 5K at the Houston Turkey Trot!!!
I finished at 34.12, which is good for me, so I was happy.
The kids got medals fir participating and a chance to play in a bounce house.
All winners!

basketball for tiny folks

Don coached TLM's Kindergarten basketball team this year. It's a year round sport at the YMCA, which is exciting to me for many reasons. First of all, I don't have to find a new sport for him to play when the season ends over and over again. Secondly, it's indoors and air-conditioned. But most importantly, it's Don thing and I have nothing to do with it. Ahhhhh.

Buddy loves it and he's quite good on defense. There is one girl in the league and the other boys don't like to guard her. Buddy goes straight at her. It's fabulous. He's also good at getting fouls, which I think is a really effective way to keep someone from making a basket. I encourage it. Sometimes, he doesn't get caught. =)

And Buddy's favorite part of the game:

In the photo below, please note the little boy next to Don as he's coaching. After the first game had been going for about 45 seconds, he walked up to Don and said, "Uh, Coach Don, I'm ready to sit out now. That was enough." Don said, "But we just started!" and he replied, "Ya, that's enough." You can see in the photo that their hands are doing the same thing. He would mimic Don during the whole game, only taking breaks to hold Don's hand. So sweet.