It's a Snowy Day in St. Louis!

We woke this morning to a beautiful blanket of snow on the ground, and it is still coming down as I type this at almost noon!  We are supposed to get around 3 inches all together, but I am starting to think they underestimated this storm.  It is so exciting to see so much accumulation after 9 years in Houston where we were lucky to even see snow in the winter and it rarely, if ever, accumulated at all.  Here are some pics from our patio and one from our stairwell just outside our door.  It is bitterly cold and we are supposed to have a low of 8 degrees tonight with a windchill of -5 degrees.  Who wants to come visit now??? ;)

From our door looking out onto our balcony

A side shot from our balcony

Look at it blowing in the field to the left!  BRRRRRRRR!!!!

Our stairwell right after Neil and Bobby took the dog out.

Neil was SOOOO excited when he woke up this morning and couldn't wait to go out in the snow, but after he and Bobby came back in from taking the dog out, he told Bobby, "I am not going back out in that snow, Daddy!  It's too cold!  You can go out later and build me a snowman, okay?"  Smart kid!  ;)

Neil's Christmas Program

Tonight we had the pleasure of attending Neil's, much anticipated, Christmas Program at the church where he attends preschool.  We got to get all dressed up in our "Christmas best" and celebrated the birth of our Savior.  It was nice in all the hustle and bustle to have the opportunity to stop and remember the true reason for Christmas.  Here are some pics from our evening and a couple of video snippets of our little guy singing.  Enjoy!

Ella getting all dolled up to go watch brother sing!

Neil walking with his class to take their places on stage.

In case you can't find him, he is the second one from the right on the top row.

They look like they are standing at attention here...must be the nerves. ;)

Now the younger kids have joined them.  Can you find Neil now???

Ella was being such a little stinker about the picture!  She kept trying to escape.  You can tell here that Neil is holding on to her to keep her in place.  This is the best one we got.  At least they are both smiling!

I decided it wasn't fair to not get a good pic of Neil just because little sis didn't want to cooperate, so here is our very handsome little boy posing at the bottom of the Christmas tree.

And here are a couple of short snippets of the program.  There we over 100 preschoolers and they did such a fantastic job!

It was truly a wonderful evening!  Neil is growing up so fast on us.  He reminds me almost daily that he is 4 1/2 now.  Funny how when you are young you want to count even the halves of your age and when you get older you wish you could take years away! ;)

I hope everyone is enjoying this Christmas season!  Our pastor gave a great sermon on Sunday which urged us to question whether or not we had true JOY in our life at this chaotic time of year...the kind of JOY that only Christ can give...that peace which transcends all understanding.  So I pass that thought on to you and urge you to "cast your cares upon HIM" and not let the craziness and the worries that accompany the holiday season steal your JOY.  I have challenged myself to do this and I hope you will, too!  Merry Christmas!

A Texas-sized Thanksgiving

The kids and I set out on a great adventure back to Texas for the Thanksgiving holiday.  We left at 5 AM Saturday morning and drove to my Granny's house near Wichita Falls.  It took us 13 hours, but we made it safe and sound.  We visited with Granny and celebrated an early Christmas with her, visited with my dear friend, Misty, while Neil and her daughter played the Wii, and even made friends with some cute little piggies.  Here are some pics of our time at Granny's house.  It was wonderful to see my kids enjoying some of the same things that I grew up doing!

There is nothing like getting to open Christmas presents early!  Here Ella is "helping" Neil with his.

A V. Reader for Neil!

This will be perfect for helping him learn to read!

Oh, she thinks she is something else ripping that paper off all by herself!

A baby for Ella!

Who hasn't tried this one before?!  I think it's like a right of passage into childhood, or something!

Ella was sure she could climb the ladder to the slide all on her own.  Just call her "Miss Independent"!

Here she is with a little help from Mommy!

Playing in the leaves was fun!

Showing sister how to make it rain leaves

Pushing her car up the driveway

Of course we had to take the Spiderman bike!  He had so much room to ride it at Granny's house!

Ella trying to sit on an old piece of pipe.  She didn't quite make it! ;)

Neil and Alyssa playing the Wii at Misty's house.

More Wii action

These pics were from Misty's dad's barn.  Her parents live right up the street from my Granny, so we just walked down there one afternoon.  Neil was so cute with the pigs!

This one was especially friendly!

Too cute!

We left Granny's house on Wednesday and headed to Ft. Worth to visit Lito and Grandma for the rest of the week!  Bobby flew in to meet us that night and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner the next day!  Everything was so delicious!  We made some wonderful memories, and I am so excited that Neil is getting old enough to retain some of them!  Here are some pics of our visit with Lito and Grandma along with a little song I used to sing with my Kindergartners back in the day.
 

Neil and Lito working hard to build a fighter jet kite out of newspaper.

Believe it or not, it actually flew!  Neil loves it so much he brought it home with us and has been trying to get it to fly inside by running under the ceiling fan! :)

Ella and Daddy reading a story

And, as promised, here is the song I was talking about.  I thought it was fitting to add it right before the pics from our "Turkey Dinner"! ;)  It always made my students giggle right out of their little seats, especially the end!  Too cute!  Can anyone out there relate???  I know I sure can!

Turkey Dinner
(tune: Frere Jaques)
 

Turkey Dinner, Turkey Dinner
Gather round, gather round
Who will eat the drumstick
Yummy, yummy drumstick
All sit down, all sit down

Cornbread muffins, Chestnut stuffing
Pumpkin pie, one foot high
All of us were thinner
Before we came to dinner
Me-o-my, me-o-my 

Ella enjoying her first turkey dinner

Judging by that smile, I think she liked it!

Neil and Lito digging in!

Daddy and his little girl

Bobby with his mom, who was also the one responsible for the yummy turkey dinner!

Neil and Lito posing this time.

 Unfortunately, every good thing must come to an end, so at 5 AM Sunday morning we set out on the LOOOOOOONNNGG drive back to Missouri.  We were able to make it back in 11 hours, which was way better than the 13 it took me to get there.  I was able to help Ella with her food while Bobby kept driving, which saved us a ton of time!  It was sad to leave, but we are thankful for the time we spent with loving family and dear friends.  Speaking as someone who spent last Thanksgiving in the hospital having an emergency Appendectomy, this was truly a blessed Thanksgiving.  This time last year, I could never have imagined I would be typing on my blog from St. Louis, MO!  It certainly hasn't been easy, but as I reflect on all the difficulties we faced in the last year, I am ever so thankful to God for where we are today.  I know that, although we miss our family and friends in Texas so bad it hurts, we are right where HE wants us to be, and that is what it is all about!

Wanna Come up for a Visit???

I took a picture of our 7 day forecast yesterday...any of our Texas family or friends wanna come up for the week and enjoy these balmy temps?? ;)  A little different from November in Houston!

More Surprises in the Mailbox!

Today, the kids and I stopped by to check the mail, and, much to our delight, there was a package mixed in with our mail!  It was from Aunt MeMe and Uncle Dick, who live in Pittsburgh!  We got a sweet Thanksgiving card and the kids got some super cute winter hats with the Steelers insignia on them!  Thanks Aunt MeMe and Uncle Dick!!!  They will wear them with pride!

Here are Neil and Ella modeling their new hats!

Lovin' the sweet hugs they give each other!

Neil insisted on wearing his backpack for the picture.  He said it was his jet pack so he could blast off!  Then he really cracked me up because he had to keep checking the pictures as I took them to make sure he looked "cool" in them.  What a mess!  I gotta give it to him, though, he does look pretty "cool" here!  My little cutie pie! ;)

Sweet little sis still practicing her "CHEEEEESE"!

Even though Bobby grew up in Texas, his family roots are in Pittsburgh and much of his extended family, on both sides, still lives there.  That being said, although he considers himself a Houston Texans fan, he always keeps one eye on those Pittsburgh Steelers! (And I have, on occasion, seen him jump up out of his seat and dance around the living room like a wild man when they score, but, shhh, don't tell him I told you!) ;) 

Ella is 15 Months Old

I can't believe our sweet little baby girl is already 15 months old!  She is walking and talking and into everything.  She feeds herself finger foods and is learning to use a spoon.  Pat-a-cake and Peek-a-boo are her favorite games.  She loves to climb and thinks she can do anything her big brother does.  She is also very sweet and loves to give hugs, kisses and cuddles.  She especially loves her 'nunny' that her cousin Shea gave her when she was born.  She sleeps with it every night.  I love the way she wraps herself all up in her blankets when she goes to sleep.  It's too cute! 

Here she is riding her Bounce and Spin Zebra.  Neil played with it occasionally, but really never took a big interest in it when he was little.  Ella, however, rides it all the time and can't seem to get enough of it.  I think it's her favorite toy right now.  I guess we got our money's worth after all! :)

Yes, the shirt says 'Daddy Adores Me'...need I say more?

Something Old Is Something New

I was going through all our digital photos and remenicing the other day when I came across a really special one that I had forgotten we had.  It is of Bobby and his sister, Nicole, playing on the floor with their Grandpap Hepp.  I couldn't even begin to describe it in words, so here it is so you can see for yourself.  They are obviously having a ball!  Such a fun memory!

Of course, when I showed it to Bobby, he decided he wanted to try it with Neil.  We tried to get Ella to participate, too, and sit where Bobby is in the picture above, but she wasn't really interested just yet.  We'll give her a few more years and she and Neil will be fighting over who gets to stand on Daddy's hands! ;)  Here are the pics I took of Bobby and Neil repeating the same "act".  A fun memory passed down from generation to generation...

Here they are on the very first try...still a little shaky!

By the next day, Neil was like an old pro, even doing it one-handed!

Special Delivery!

The kids got an unexpected package yesterday from PapPap and Nana!  Thanks PapPap and Nana!  Here they are showing off their gifts.  Neil got a Thunderbirds t-shirt from the air show and a Zhu-Zhu Pet and Ella got a prayer doll and a pink and purple pony onesie, which she is not wearing because it has long sleeves and, amazingly, it is too hot here today for long sleeves (high 70's)!  She will definitely enjoy it in the next few days, though, when high temps are going to be in the 40's...brrrrr!  It has been CRAZY weather here this year and everyone is talking about it.  Supposedly, we are looking at a really snowy winter, too, but only time will tell.  If so, I will be sure to post about it.  Anyway, here are the pics of my two little models! 

Neil: CHEEEEESE!

Ella: How do you do it again?

Together: CHEEEESE!!!!!  (Ella's cheese isn't very smiley, but she is sure trying hard!)

BIG hugs for the Zhu-Zhu and "baby"