Must Be Christmas

 It must be Christmas because our calendar is booked with lots of fun for the next few weeks.  :)

Here's Owen supervising Dustin.  Someone has to make sure Dustin puts the Christmas lights up the right way.  Besides, out of the three boys I think Owen has the best chance of being actually helpful.  ;)

Having some fun paper cup tower building fun with Dad while he's home on Christmas vacation.  Wasn't it nice of everyone to work so hard to building something so fun for Owen to crash down in mere seconds? :)

This year the kids couldn't wait for Mom and Dad to get around to setting up Christmas so they took matters in to their own hands.  The day after Thanksgiving they got out the box with the tree, the strings of lights, and all the ornaments.  Bekah directed the tree assembly, Loyd strung all the sparking lights, and Xavier instigated the decorating of the tree.  I think they pulled it all off quite beautifully.  We will be hiring out their decorating talents to anyone who is interested.  Just let us know. 

 Here's Xavier huddled under snugly blankets and pillows on a chilly winter morning in southeast Texas.  I think it was around 68F on this particular morning.  Brrr.  We've been enjoying sea-saw weather for the last month is temperatures ranging anywhere from the upper 40sF up to the low 80sF. Crazy December weather!  We have every coat and jacket we own out and ready for use depending on what season the day should feel like being.  My coat closet is a totally mess.  Oh well, it's a price I'm willing to pay to celebrate Christmas Day at a balmy 77F.  :)

And we can't forget our annual trip to the Dickinson Festival of Lights.  As always, it was a ton of fun.  Owen was super excited to see the school buses pull up to take us to the park, but then had a sudden change of heart when he found out he was actually going to ride on one.  He cried the whole time we boarded the bus and found our seats, telling me, "I'm scared!  I'm scared!"  The boys were good to distract him with things to see inside the bus and interesting things to look at out of the window.  By the time we arrived at the park a few minutes later Owen was feeling a lot better about his bus riding experience.  Everyone oohed and awed over the fun Christmas lights, and before we knew it we had seen the whole park.  It was time to board our bus and return to our car.  When we boarded the bus to go home Owen refused to get off at our stop.  He loved the bus now and wasn't about to let us tear him away from such a fun ride.  He pouted in the backseat of the van the whole car ride home.  Silly boy.  :)