Weekend recap (12/19-12/21)

I saw this adorable tree as I headed to TCU for my cousin's pinning ceremony (the day before her graduation)

 

A picture of the horned frog grads in front of frog fountain

 

Angela pointed out that now the Horned Frogs outnumber the Aggies.  Originally it was 2 Aggies, 2 Horned Frogs, and one Sooner until this silly girl came to her senses!

 

Proud mommy and daddy

 

 

For fun I decided to take a selfie.  Unfortunately I think I should have taken off the autofocus...or something. I don't know. I really need to sit down and learn how to use all the features of my camera.

 

 

Saturday we celebrated Sylvester Christmas which I already recapped.

 

Sunday the boys enjoyed their cereal.

 

And this busy boy played in his room with blocks for more than 10 minutes.

 

Then Mimi and Grandpa showed up for a visit.  I love this picture!

 

We ate at a local cheese steak place that I thought was pretty good. Then the boys went down for a nap and I headed to the grocery store.  I decided to pick up stuff for chili and invite the Tobola's over to play and have dinner.  Mac Mac had been asking to see our house.

 

The kids were playing so well together (or at least 3 of them) that we decided to play some games.

 

 

After bath I caught this picture of my boy 'reading' book after book in his room.  He was so content.

 

It was such a fun family-filled weekend and we enjoyed our first of many play dates/meals with the Tobola's.

Sylvester Christmas *Updated*

*Added pictures to the end from my nice camera.

The Saturday before Christmas we celebrated with the Sylvesters (my mom's side). There were 43 of us all at my Aunt Sandra's house. We started at 3pm with appetizers and visiting.  At 5pm some people went to mass. At 6:30 was dinner, then games, grandkid gift exchange and more games.  We also had dessert, Chinese Christmas amongst the adults, and a family game.  Then at 11:20 we started a traditional card game of murder.  I left around 2am!

 

Luckily Kyle took Casen home around 9 and my parents took Cooper home around 10:30.

 

Here are lots of pictures from my phone or other family members (the blurry ones I stole from Facebook)

 

Sweet cuddle time with Cameron

 

We enjoyed some Christmas punch!

 

All of the appetizers

 

The main course (after we had already gotten started)

 

Dessert table

 

Below is my grandfather with his four daughters.  My Uncle Wayne wasn't there yet for the picture.

 

We were supposed to wear ugly sweaters but I forgot.  Amber found matching mother/daughter sweaters and they were just adorable!!

 

Sweet cousins and friends

 

The only babies right now. And for the first time in several years no one is expecting a baby for 2015.  This makes us all very sad.

 

Grandaddy was more than happy to hold both of them

 

 

 

The kids were listening to a story while gifts were passed out.

 

This was some of the kiddos waiting for their dinner plates.

 

Another kids table, but Casen ended up at the table above.

 

I photobombed this cute couple!

 

Playing a game

Mary and I

 

Ella got this Frozen nightgown from one of my boys so when I saw this pictures I was thrilled to see how excited she was.

 

Casen with his new truck

 

This year was our first time to play a game as families.  Melisa and Cooper were cheering for Babi and you can tell they really got into their cheer.

 

We had such a great time with family.  The only thing is that we forgot to get a picture of all of the kids that were there.  We will have to try again at Easter.

 

 

New Year's Resolutions

I hadn't given much thought to my New Year's resolutions until this morning.  Then I started getting overwhelmed with financial goals, physical/wellness goals, spiritual goals and before I know it my list is way too long.  I would love to read more books, work out more often, eat more vegetables, volunteer more time, pay-off debt, get more organized, clean my house more often and a lot more. But instead I will have one goal this year.

My goal is to work on my faith and relationship with God.  I know that if I put God at the center of my goals but more importantly my daily life then the rest of my goals will work themselves out. Or at least be manageable. 

I do not do some of these regularly and that is a tough pill to swallow, but the truth hurts. So here we go-

• Praying more often
• morning prayers on the way to school with the boys-I started this two weeks ago on our short drive to day-care.  We do a simple prayer and it is going well.
• before meals especially at dinner time with the boys
• prayers before bed-I do this each night with the boys, but I want to start working on scriptures with them.  Then I want to make sure I pray each night before I collapse in my bed either forgetting to pray or falling asleep part of the way through.
• Attend mass weekly- which also means decide on our official church home now that we have moved
• Read and learn about my faith and the Catholic Church- I have recently been asked some questions that I didn't know the answer to or didn't feel like I knew enough to answer it fully.  I want to work on this.  I own quite a few books that I have never read plus my mom has some good ones I would like to read.  I might even try to find some that I can download and listen to on my commute.
• Go to reconciliation

I could continue on with more goals related to this but I think this is good for now.  I have a daily goal, weekly, monthly, and one for the year (or maybe twice).  I know if I stick to these goals they will likely blossom into other goals that weren't listed here.

I am ready for another blessed year.  Happy New Years!

Great day

On Tuesday I used my last vacation day of the year to hangout with Kyle.  We slept in until the boys woke up and it was almost 8.  By the time we got out of the house the boys had missed breakfast so we decided to have a donut date.

 

Cooper has the cutest cheesy smile when he sees us take a picture.

 

Then Kyle and I went to Fort Worth to run some errands and we ate at Mi Cocina for lunch.

 

Then we went and picked up our new dining room table that was finally ready. I was nervous about how it would turn out, but I love it! It is the perfect size for our space.

 

We took a family selfie of our first meal at our new table.  I am so excited about our table so we can finally enjoy family meal time together.  Even in our old house Kyle and I ate in front of the table, Cooper at his little table, and Casen in the high chair.  I am looking forward to working on the kids table etiquette in hopes they do better eating out and also remembering to pray before each meal.

 

It was just a wonderful day.  We enjoyed the time with the boys and Kyle and I enjoyed our time together.