Graduation–the Big D

In December, my “little” bro Brendan graduated from UNT and we went to celebrate for the weekend. Sorry Brendan, no matter how tall or old you get, you’ll always be my little brother :)

People always say we’re the most alike of all the siblings – maybe in looks, personality, and let’s just add charm while we’re at it :).  Thus, it shouldn’t come as a complete shocker then that he decided to graduate in Accounting.  And will be interning at Deloitte this Spring.  Not sure if Deloitte in Dallas is ready for 2 Knickerbockers!  But that’s probably why he decided audit…and I’m in tax.  Just sayin.

My parents and Chelsea’s family joined in the celebration.  A fun pre-grad celebration…

And yes, the whole family joined in for the graduation ceremony.  Don’t ask what I was doing with a sick infant at the noisiest place in all of Denton that was just getting started at her bedtime.  But it was worth it to see that smile on Brendan’s face. 

And Quincy was in her element – she was a huge fan of all the cheering and waiving.  I’m pretty sure she cheered for 99% of the folks, but she was the loudest for Brendan.  Brooke, on the other hand, didn’t have a clue what was going on.  And I questioned what I was doing with 2 little kids at the nosiest in Dallas. 

Tanner walked right up to Brendan and gave him a huge hug – he was so proud of him.  Tanner kept asking me, “Did Brendan win?”  Next time, I need to explain college for a preschooler.

The next day, we went to the new “Perot Museum of Nature and Science.”  Seriously, why did they have to wait until AFTER we left to finish the coolest museum ever.  Even I had fun!  This place was seriously high-tech.  The steps that played music as you walk down, the motion sensor scoreboard and race track, programmable robots, and I can’t even name all the coolest I saw.

Tanner would have been happy to stay in the Construction Zone all day.  Which was fine with me – which meant more talking with friends and family.

And last but not least, we went out to my absolute favorite Mexican restaurant, Chuy’s!  And even Brooke and Quincy approved!!

 

Thanks for the fun weekend.  Brendan – we’re proud of all that you’ve accomplished!  But looking forward to the future cause I know BIG things will soon follow.  “Oh the places you’ll go!!”

Christmas Letter - 2012

Just when I didn’t think 2011 could get any better, we decided to mix it all up. In 2012, we made every major life changing decision. We had a baby, sold our home, moved to ‘burbs of Kansas City, Anthony took a new job and I stopped working (well almost), and my sister Katelynn, along with her baby girl Scarlett, moved in with us. Now…we can only hope 2013 will be much calmer.

When interviewing for jobs in Dallas, Anthony was simultaneously offered a job here in Olathe, which happened to be right next to my family. Growing up in Dallas his whole life, he was itching for something different. That, and the hour plus commute every day was getting old. I, on the other hand, needed more convincing. It was hard to leave Dallas, my part-time job at Deloitte, my fellow book-clubbers in Lake Highlands, and my home that I had grown so fond of after 6 years and finally remodeled exactly how I wanted it. But after much praying, we felt it the right decision for our family.

So far, we’ve loved being here in Kansas. I love everything about the new house – especially all the extra space—which we’re still trying to fill. Anthony loves practicing dentistry in his brand new dental office and we love him being just a few miles away -- so he’s home in time for dinner, or better yet, to help make dinner. We love the wide open spaces, the rolling hills and green scenery, and let’s not forget – the rows of cornfields. We love instant access to highways free of Dallas’ horrific traffic. And we love being close to my family – my parents and siblings, and the kids growing up next to cousins. But for our friends and family in Dallas, there’s no replacement and we miss them dearly.

Brooke is now 21 pounds of pure joy! When she gets excited, she flaps her hands like she’s a bird and at her rate, is going to learn how to fly before learning to crawl. Rather, she insists on doing crunches until she’s sitting up and looking around. She claps her hands, insists on feeding herself the tiniest bits of food, eats anything in site, and begs until you share. She’s the quietly stubborn and already knows how to get her way, evidenced by having to be being rocked to sleep. Then again, she sleeps 10+ hours (well, on good nights!) so we can’t complain. She loves to serenade us with her sweet melodies and is quite the little jibber –jabber. If you ask my mom, she’ll insist that she’ll say Ma-ma when she’s crying or Da-da when she’s excited, which is 99% of the time. And if you want to hear her laugh hysterically, let Tanner enter the room and greet her with a big hug. There’s no sweeter sound!

Tanner just doesn’t stop growing. Every now and then, I still see in Brooke my little round baby boy, but it’s hard to imagine now that he’s so tall and lean. He’s just the happiest 4 year old to be left to his own imagination and play 24/7. He comes up with all sorts of adventures involving firefighters, superheroes, robbers, and pirates. His love for Legos has turned into border line obsession. Last year he would follow the instructions to a tee and point out our every variation, such as “No, that’s the wrong color, it has to be ___”. Now, he’ll freely builds all sorts of pirate ships, fire engines, space shuttles – it changes every day—and plays with the Lego minifigures like they’re Barbie’s – switching out heads, outfits, hats, and yes, even the hands.

Tanner started his first year in sports – starting with private swim lessons, playing “Me & Mini Me” Soccer with Anthony, gymnastics to get all that extra energy, and Rookie Basketball. Not to shatter any future in sports, let’s be honest and say he made a better observer than participant. We hope to change that one day…

But in spite of the chaos and commotion this year has brought, we have felt the tender mercies of the Lord blessing and enriching our lives. We hope this Christmas season you have time to pause – even if just momentarily – to feel the warmth of the Savior’s Light and Life. May His peace and joy fill your homes and hearts!

Family Pics–November 2012

Love, Love, love how the family pics turned out.   Thanks Kristin for working your magic and the fabulous pics!!

I guess pics always stress me out – but this year we kept it low stress and made it all come together at the last minute – so I didn’t have time to worry. 

Brooke was near impossible.  Getting her to look, let alone smile, was a challenge.  But when she did…she gave it everything!  She’s my favorite part of the pictures.

Tanner – 4 years and already counting down until he’s 5.  Then he’ll be able to do everything.  Just ask him. 

He already reminds me so much of his father, that handsome little fellow. 

Brooke – 6 months and stubbornly playful.  And impossible.

When Brooke grows up and isn’t a baby anymore, this is how I always want to look back and remember her.  My precious little baby girl!!!

Best buddies – I just love how playful these two are. And hoping it never changes! 

This is our family.  2012 has been a journey but we’re closer today because of it. 

Bring on 2013!!

Give Thanks!

Every year, it's seems like I need Thanksgiving more or more.  I need to be constantly reminded of the blessings I have in my life -- which are so very plentiful when I pause to reflect.  And I need to eat amazing food.  And be surrounded by amazing people, aka my family.  And after that, nothing seems to matter.  Nothing!

We had a special treat for Thanksgiving this year -- FAMILY!  We were so excited to have some of Anthony's brother & sister -- and all 10 members of their families -- come up from Dallas.

For the cousins, they were ecstatic to be able to have a "sleepover" holiday celebration.  In Dallas, we all lived close enough so families would return home at the end.  Now -- we got to spend 3 whole days together -- morning, noon, and night.  And it was a blast!

Honestly, I didn't think I'd ever get out of the kitchen trying to feed so many people on Thanksgiving.  But I had some amazing helpers -- and togehter we labored and made a delious Thanksgiving dinner.  

Afterwards, we topped it off with a hike around the lake in our neighborhood.  While it was a beautiful day, it began to get quite chilly so we opted not for the 5 mile version, but the kid version that lasted a few blocks -- maybe a mile.

But the kids collected leaves on the journey and turned them into these adorable crafts.  Seriously love how they turned out.  I LOVE how creative they are...

But then it was time for pie.  And games.  Lots of Apples to Apples to be exact.  My parents & siblings joined in for the festivities too.  My mom was going a bit out of control with all the excitement and game playing.  I've never heard her screech so loud.  But that's when you know you're having fun.  I even managed to squeeze in some quick Black Friday shopping late late at night too.  What a day!!

On Friday, we pretty much did nothing.  The kids enjoyed playing nonstop-  either in the basement, outside in the freezing cold, or just chilling.  We ordered food from our favorite BBQ joint.  Can't come all the way to KC w/o it!

And for special treat, we roasted marshmallows in the fire and made s'mores with a, secret ingredient.  Okay, I'll tell you.  But it'll be our little secret.  Reese's Peanut Butter cups.  Try it and you'll never go back.

We also played some crazy games of Tap, Tap, Oink (well, I should say Cassidy and Anthony played).  But I have to admit, the best part of the whole entire time -- was putting the kids to bed and enjoying some adult time.  Quite -- something we never get to experience when we got together in Dallas.  Cheryl whipped out the good chocolate and real treats -- and together we played more and more games.  Until Michael started laughing like a girl and kicked our behinds.

And before everyone said good-bye, we took the family into Kansas City to check out a few of our favorite places.

Union Station -- All decked out for Christmas

KC Railway Exhibit -- Model Trains and lots of them.  In Dallas, we'd always go to Trains at Northpark, but this was so much bigger

Tanner's favorite train exhibit, of course, was the Lego model train -- built entirely with Legos.  When Tanner thinks something is silly, it's a donut.  And if it's super silly, then it's a chocolate donut.  Don't ask my why, that's just what he says.  And guess what we saw -- Santa snoozing in a chocolate donut!  Seriously, this was made just for him.

They also had a few fun things for kiddos to do, like a wooden train track and metal train rubbings.

Then, we hopped, skipped, and jumped, just in time for kids creativity center at 

Sometimes, I wish I could be a kid again and go here every day.  I'm not very creative, but this place is inspiring.  They have the coolest art supplies and stuff to make anything and everything.  Totally free, thanks to Hallmark for sponsoring.

Most the kids loved the outer space room with dark lights, fluorescent markers and melted crayons to create their art. crayons

And if you look closely, it's not just for kids.

And these two little cuties were such troopers!

We had a crazy fun time together and hope we'll get to do it again...soon!

Halloween Highlights

Yup, when everyone is posting about Thanksgiving, here I am still thinking about Halloween.  That's how we roll around here.  One day I'll be caught up.  But until then, I hate to miss sharing all the fun we've had.

For Halloween, Tanner was a Captain Hook pirate and Brooke was Tinkerbell Fairy.  It was a last second when I realized our original idea of Firefighter and Dalmatians wasn't going to work -- closer inspection of Tanner's dress-up firefighter jacket revealed a huge gaping hole.  But these costumes ended up being so cute -- and providing hours of playtime -- so I can't imagine it any other way.

Tanner loved dressing up as a pirate and took the role very seriously.  Seriously!  He never once came out of character -- even when it meant putting his hook down for collecting some Halloween candy.  And you'd here him talking in his best pirates voice, "Aye, Aye, Matey!", "Oh, shiver me timbers!", or "Time to head back to the Jolly Rogers!"

He even brushed up on all his pirate moves by watching the old musical "Pirates of Penzance" on Netflix.  During the entire movie, he was dancing along whenever the pirates sang and danced -- and when he wasn't looking, I even caught it on tape!!

Trick or Treating

When we went trick or treating, Tanner was just taking his time (like his typically pokey puppy self) just looking around and admiring all the costumes, decorations, and chaos of it all.   He noticed every single thing around him, and could still tell you who had the witches brew or spider web front porch.  That's what I love about him.  He takes his time to basks it all in -- and enjoy every part.  Well -- most of it.  He refused to go to the really scary houses -- the kind that played creepy music and had stuff jump out.  Can't say I blame him!

 I tried to remind Tanner to say "thank you" after collecting a piece of candy.  He was quick to remind me, "Mom, pirates don't have manners!  They don't say thank you!"  Ummm, I guess he's right.  Maybe we read this book too much.

Brooke loved tagging behind in her stroller.

Our neighborhood goes all out for trick-or-treaters.  Tanner came home with multiple full-size candy bars.  And it wasn't just for the kids.  Multiple times, we were offered "adult beverages" and Jell-o shots.  When I was politely trying to say no, Avery pipes up, "Oh...I LOVE jell-o!  I'll take one!"

But every year, I'm reminded of the time when Tanner was just over a year.  Someone between opening the door and screaming “Trick or Treat”, Tanner would make a mad dash into the people’s home.  And just keep running.  It was quite cute and embarrassing all at the same time.

Pumpkin Carving

Tanner enjoyed getting his hands dirty...at least a little but.  More than anything, he wanted a pirate pumpkin.  This is where I let Anthony's amazing dentistry skills come in handy -- it's always his job to work the magic.

I think he did a pretty good job.

Brooke and I's job -- on the other hand -- is just to smile and look cute.

The more the merrier -- we had a whole gang of family join us for the special event

The Knickerbockers

The Smiths

Scarlett's Daddy -- Thaddeus -- was able to join us for the weekend.  

Along with super-Scartlett pumpkin.  Tanner thought this was so awesome!

Oh - and Scarlett joined us for trick or treating too -- from the comfort of her stroller.

Just look at that chunky monkey!!

I never realized until I saw them both together & close up -- Q has my mom's pretty green eyes

Trunk or Treat

We went to a church Halloween party as well.   Kids and candy equals shear madness.  

Anthony and I dressed up as a Dentist and Tooth Fairy.  Really creative, right?

Happy Halloween everyone!