Matthew's Favs from Christmas.

Happy Birthday Brogan!

Brogan turned 3 today!

The Best Christmas Gift

Just what every cowgirl needs! 
A head lamp to to wear when helping Jackie
with chores in the dark.

Merry Christmas!

Mallory- 12, Hannah- 6, and Matthew- 10.

Snow Day.

It snowed last night, so school was let out a day early for Christmas Vacation.  Matthew and Hannah were eager to get outside this morning to play in the snow. 

They spent a good chunk of the day outside cleaning our vehicles off, making snow angels, and just enjoying the day.

This gave Mallory plenty of time to recuperated from her
knee surgery but also from the nasty stomach bug
she got once arriving home.

Surgery, Again.

Mallory had surgery today to remove the plates in her knees.  The plates have done their job correcting the deformity and since Mallory is still growing, it has become pertinent take them out.

Surgery was short and went as expected.  No cast this time around. With having both knees worked on, I was not fond of the idea of two casts.  We chose to work on some preventative measures instead to keep Mallory from picking at her incisions.

As always, Mallory charmed the hospital staff.  The nurses loved her.  She impressed them with her resilience. 

Mallory's Christmas Program

Mallory had her first vocal music program for middle school this afternoon.  She has been so excited to participate in this event.
Sometimes the excitement can be too over stimulating for her, so this year we kept everything pretty low key.

Mallory handled herself very well.  No meltdowns, at all.
She walked to stage and actively participated.
You could really tell that she enjoyed the songs and knew the words to them.

She participated in the actions and dancing that were involved.
She did it all with a smile on her face.



Always the social child, Mallory looked for every opportunity to wave at someone she knew in the crowd.



I owe a lot of the success to one of her para's who was ever present throught the program and helped to keep Mallory on track and grounded.

Hannah's Christmas Program

Hannah's First Grade Christmas Program was tonight.  She has been practicing her songs for weeks.  I love how excited this program has made her.

Hannah had to make sure her outfit for the night was just right.

It was a wonderful program filled with the spirit of Christmas.

Afterwards, Hannah met us back at her classroom to show us what First Grade is all about.  She loves the students in her class and her teacher, Mrs. Nuss.   

Christmas Home Tour



One of the many charms of living in Abilene is its magnificent collection of stately homes dating from the late 1800's and early 1900's.  Our home falls in this category and this year we were asked by  the Heritage Homes Association to participate in their annual Home Tour.  The tour falls on the first weekend of December.

Although the prep leading up to the event made us a little crazy, in the end we were really glad we participated.

Nearly 600 people purchase tickets to attend the tour. 
People attended from over 40 cities in Kansas.

Saturday evening is a lighted Christmas Tour.
The weather was spectacular for the event.

The Sunday afternoon tour was well attended. 
The weather was unseasonably warm. 

We loved the overall graciousness of all those touring the homes.
It was such a pleasure talking with so many people that were interested in the history of our home and how we make it work raising a family.

It wouldn't have been possible to pull this event off successfully without the help from our family, friends, and neighbors.

Late Night at LifeHouse

The Faith Rocks kids participated in Late Night at LifeHouse tonight.  Hannah spent countless hours in front of the computer singing along with a YouTube video of Carrie Underwood's "What Child Is This?".  The words would scroll across the screen so that Hannah could learn the song corrrectly.  It was a pretty impressive performance by this wonderful group of kids.

You can view the highlights of Late Night at LifeHouse here.  The Faith Rocks kids start singing midway through the 3rd minute of video.

LifeHouse Bowling Night



Our church had a family night at the bowling alley.  Todd, Matthew, and I were unable to attend but Mallory and Hannah went with some friends.  The girls had a wonderful time.  Mallory had quite the crowd cheering her on every time she bowled.

Mallory with Pastor Kerry

Hannah

Wreck It Ralph

Hannah had a day off from school and got to spend the day with her friend, Taylor.  They headed to Salina to see the movie "Wreck It Ralph". 

Dance Class- Halloween Style

Hannah's dance class celebrated Halloween by dressing up in their costumes this week.  This is my favorite class day all year!

She Survived!

Hannah had her first overnight camping experience.
Of course, it had to be on the coldest night so far this fall. 
Her horse lesson group, Faith Rocks, had a fun evening of story-telling, s'mores, trail walks, and camp fires.
The plan was for the group to hang outdoors as long as possible but to move indoors as the night got colder. 
Well, they persevered with coveralls, gloves, and blankets galore. 
All of the group managed to sleep in their tents the whole night!

Hair.

When Hannah was 2 1/2, we went through the dreadful process of growing her bangs out. I knew that in the end the result would be beautiful.  But boy, was it a pain to get there.

As her hair grew, we were constantly modify our approach.
 I pulled her bangs back as best as I could, but she always managed to undo what I had painstakingly done. 

Her hair usually hung right in her eyes.
It's a wonder that she could see anything!
There were so many times that I wanted to go in and have our hairdresser just cut the bangs.

 We tried head bands.

 

A variety of ponytails.

 

 Messy Updos.

Her hair even hung in her food.  Bleh!

Forever having bad hair days.

 By the end of preschool, I felt we had made some progress.

And finally at the age of 6, the results we were after.

 

Success!