My Birthday Boy

Well, I can add to my list. You know, the list you made before you had kids of things you would never do, but now have?

Last weekend we celebrated Tyler's birthday at one of those huge birthday party places. (Poor kid will never get a party on his actual birthday, December 26. We will always have to plan for the beginning of December or wait until January) It is a place full of inflatables just up the road from our house. I was never going to do one of those gigantic parties with a bazillion kids that costs more than any parent should ever spend on a birthday party, but we did. And, cost aside, I loved it.

It started when Tyler went to a party there in the fall. He totally wanted his own party there. So the seed was planted, and Dan and I began thinking about it. Then, we talked about who we should invite. As we started to name kids from school, I felt that we really ought to invite his whole class. And as we named kids from church, and from the neighborhood, suddenly we found ourselves with a large number. There was no way I was doing a party for a small army in my house, so we went with the big-ol' birthday party.

Like I said, it was really fun. All I had to do was show up with cake and write a check. They took care of everything else, down to a helper in the room to serve the pizza and write down the gift list. So happy birthday buddy!

(I am sure you will get another somewhat sappy post as his real birthday rolls around.)

One for the grandmas

Tyler wanted to show grandma this. He had his picture in the small, local, free paper when his preschool was part of a food drive. Which of course to him was the coolest thing ever. We promised grandma we would show her a copy, so here is the poorly scanned photo from the paper. (His name is below the photo, I just didn't want to post the names of the other kids.)

That time of year

Ah yes, that most wonderful time of the year. And I'm not talking Christmas. Nope. Tax time. I just got done writing out checks for thousands of dollars to pay our property taxes. It stinks, but we would rather keep that money in our own account all year and write the big checks than let the bank escrow it. Bye-bye money! Hopefully we'll see you soon in the form of wonderful schools and superb roadways!

My cute family

While we were in Utah, we had family pics taken. I just got ahold of the files tonight, and thought that I have such a cute family. See:

My family: Mom and Dad, next to my mom my older sister Rebecca, me on the left, my sister Maren on the right, and my little brother David.

And the whole family:

Baby it's cold outside

But it is supposed to be 74 on Sunday.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I love it. The weather here is cold (for Texas), all the decorations are up, and I just downloaded me some new Christmas songs. Yeah for Christmas!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving visiting my family in Utah. It is always so great to see them; we have so much fun playing together, and laughing. My sister is especially giggly when she gets tired. We also made sure to hit all the regular Utah stops: Seagull Book, Roberts Crafts, Shade, and Cafe Rio. We were also thrilled to be able to attend the annual trim-the-tree party. When we were little, my grandparents would host a party where we came down, helped decorate their house, cracked a pinata, and received a new Christmas ornament. My mom has carried on the tradition with her grandkids. Tyler has only been to it once though, when he was 11 months old, so we were so happy to be there.

We had a safe trip home and pulled out Christmas stuff the night we got home. It is all ready, and I actually feel pretty ready for Christmas. I am by no means done with everything, but I feel like I am in a good spot. Only a few more gifts to buy, one preschool party to organize, presents to wrap, okay maybe a bit more than I realize. I hope you all have a great holiday season!

Book Club

Just a reminder about our new book club: Thursday, 7 pm, my house. It has now become an official Enrichment Activity, but I think the only difference will be that we can advertise through RS. Anyone is welcome to come. Please bring a few ideas of books to read for 2009, and let me know if you have questions!