Christmas and the End of 2011

Like I said in my last post, we were very thankful that the boys slept well and didn't wake us up at 4 am. We waited for everyone to wake up and come downstairs before we let the boys dig in to the pile of presents. James was in Pokemon heaven. He got a jumbo card and lots of packs of cards, Pokemon books, a new Super Hero Squad game for his DS, a mini pillow pet, and Captain America on BluRay. John received a Puss in Boots book, a mini pillow pet, a Diego DS game, Rio and Kung Fu Panda 2, and a Scentsy Warmer for his room. Jude received a Tag Junior along with some books for it, Cars 2, a mini pillow pet and a Scentsy Warmer for his room. Jonah received a mini pillow pet, a musical instrument set and a shape sorter. All of the boys received money from Muddy and some wonderful presents from Mimi and Poppa Mike - a remote controlled star wars vehicle, a knight costume, a bulldozer, and a pillow pet blanket. Brian also got some of the things on his wish list - a cool map, tie downs for his truck, a 4 GB flash drive, Green Lantern and X:Men First class.

Once all the gifts were unwrapped, the mess was cleaned up and everyone was dressed, we headed up to my parents house for more presents and yummy food. We arrived just as the monkey bread was coming out of the oven and the turkey bacon was cooking. Much to James' displeasure, we waited to open gifts until everyone had eaten breakfast. The boys had another round of wonderful gifts. James got more Pokemon stuff and John got a fantastic arts and crafts box. I can't wait to see all the wonderful art projects he's going to create. Jude got a little 4x4 ride on toy that he hardly got off of the whole day. Jonah got some great books and toys to play with at Gammie and Poppa's house. We spent the afternoon lazing about watching movies and playing with new toys while the wonderful stand up roast cooked in the oven. We had an early Christmas dinner and then did more relaxing before heading home for the day.

We had a wonderful Christmas and were extremely thankful for all of the rain we received over the long weekend. We desperately needed it.

The last week of 2011 has been spent recovering from the nasty cold we've all been fighting since before Christmas. Lots of cold and cough medicine for the boys and Allegra-D for Brian and I. It's now Wednesday and we're finally feeling better. We haven't been doing much other than hanging out and being lazy. We've run a few errands here and there. The boys spent their Christmas money at Target the other day and I finally made it to the grocery store. James and I went to see Arthur Christmas. It was a really cute little film and I'm glad we saw it before it left the theaters. Today we got a visit from the Weatherwaxes. The kids had a great time playing together at the park and Brian and Jay had a good time catching up. Tomorrow we're meeting up with the Keaslers for some fun at Gattitown and then Friday we're headed out to the land for the long weekend. We've never taken Jude and Jonah with us so it will definitely be a new experience for us. Hopefully they will sleep ok at night. We don't have any plans to get anything done so it will be more relaxing and letting the boys run around outside. The end of 2011 should be lots of fun for our four boys.

December Activites

December has been a busy month for us. Lots of different things going on. Jonah had his 15 month check up. He continues to grow well and is right on track. He had to get three shots and handled them well. Whinnie also had a check up and had to get shots. We celebrated Kristen's birthday on the 4th and then went out to a nice adult only dinner on Monday night. It was so nice to have a peaceful meal with out good friends. James and I finished our Reconciliation preparation by attending the second workshop on the 10th. He's now ready to celebrate his first Reconciliation at our church. Not sure when we'll do it since the service for the kids is the same day as Pinewood Derby in January. Then Sunday we went to the Pack Christmas party at La Finca. We enjoyed yummy Mexican food and the boys got to visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

During the last week of school, we had our annual Christmas celebration with our friends. Since they always go up to PA for the break, they didn't feel like decorating their house this year. Thankfully I got the tree up and decorated, the stockings hung and the nativity scene out before our party on Wednesday. We all ate dinner together and then the kids exchanged presents. All of them enjoyed the gifts they received. The Christmas season was off to a great start! Thursday the boys both had their class Winter Holiday Parties. Thankfully the two little boys behaved during both parties and I was able to spend some time with John and James. During John's party, they played in the "home center" in the Kindergarten room. They played with the kitchen and the vacuum. Then during James' party, Jude enjoyed making cookies and listening to the stories. I helped the kids make their craft - a jingle bell made from a solo cup, ribbon, a pipe cleaner and a bell. All the kids got to wear pajamas that day so it was fun to see all the kids enjoying PJ day. Friday morning the boys enjoyed a sing along and then were released from school early. Friday after school, Brian took James and John to Home Depot for a Cub Scout den meeting. The boys learned all about tools and then built a helicopter from a kit. After that we hit the road for a mini vacation!

Friday afternoon we made the long drive to San Antonio. As usual Jonah was not happy riding in the car but what can you do. He has to ride in a car seat. We stopped at Buckee's for dinner and snacks before finishing the drive to our hotel. We stayed at the same hotel as in May. Unfortunately Sea World didn't open until noon so after breakfast, we spent some time in the pool. Everyone got showered and dressed and we hit the road for Sea World. We ate at one of my favorite BBQ restaurants - Bill Miller BBQ. It was so delicious. I LOVE their potatoes. We had a great time at Sea World although we didn't have time to see and do everything. It was chilly but pleasant outside. The boys rode Journey to Atlantis with Aunt Jocelyn and then Brian and I joined them on Rio Loco. Since my mom was turning 60 this year, we planned a surprise party for her at the hotel. We invited all of our family members who live in San Antonio to join us for pizza and cake Saturday evening. Thankfully they all arrived before she returned to the hotel and we were able to surprise her. We had a fantastic time catching up with our Aunts and cousins. It stinks that we can't see them more often but we're all so busy with our families. Sunday we packed up and made our way home. Thankfully Jonah was really tired and slept most of the way home and didn't start fussing until we reached the outskirts of Katy.

On Monday, Judy, Steve and Grandma came to visit us for a few hours. We enjoyed a spaghetti dinner with them and then the boys got to open their gifts from MaMaw and Poppa Steve. They really enjoyed everything the received, especially the Pokemon cards (James) and the Wizard of Oz goodies (John is obsessed with the Wizard of Oz right now). James spent some time showing Great Grandma how to play Pokemon while we waited for their laundry to finish up. James and John went back to Georgetown with them for a few days to visit.

On Tuesday, the little boys and I joined Brian's co-workers at Spring Creek for lunch. Our family friends, the Weatherwaxes, are in town for the holidays and we enjoyed a nice lunch with them and spent some time catching up. Then Wednesday, the little boys and I drove to Austin for another surprise gathering for my mom. This time we conspired with her boss to plan a surprise party for her at work. We ate lunch and then went to DPS to decorate the conference room. I was so thankful that Judy and Steve drove James and John into town so they could attend her party. She was in a meeting when we arrived and had been told they had another meeting to attend after that. We really shocked her and she was moved to tears. We had a nice visit with her co-workers and the boys got to see where Gammie works. She also had a great time showing off her grandsons and daughters. After the party was over, Judy and Steve picked up James and John for one last night in Georgetown and I headed home with the little boys. Jonah had another nice long nap in the car and didn't fuss too much.

Thursday was my mom's actual birthday and we treated her to a special dinner at Perry's where she received her final gift - ticket to the Nutcracker performance on Saturday afternoon. Friday was spent relaxing and gearing up for Christmas, then Saturday John was picked up by Aunt Jocelyn and Gammie to go see the Nutcracker. He had such a wonderful time. He loves that story and watching all of the dancers. I cooked dinner that night - chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and salad. Then we all sat down and watched Muppet's Christmas Carol. Our copy must have been really scratched because we missed a lot of the movie. I guess it's time to get a new copy. After that it was showers/baths, into pajamas and to bed. John stayed up really late which meant a late night for mom and dad. Thankfully they all slept well and didn't wake us up super early.

November Activities

I'm such a horrible blogger. Another 6 weeks has come and gone and I didn't update the blog at all. For that I apologize. I guess we're just too busy living life to stop and write about it. Let's see, the final six weeks of the semester brought lots of activity for the Hadley Family.

I'm not sure if I wrote about Halloween but all the boys had a FANTASTIC time and came home with way too much candy. I swear we were eating it until after Thanksgiving. James dressed up as Thor. John was Wolverine (huge shock to us). Jude was a member of Lightning McQueen's pit crew and Jonah was a cow. We carved pumpkins at Kristen and Darren's house the night before Halloween and then joined them after dinner for trick or treating. I LOVE to see the first time trick or treating clicks for one of the boys. Jude had a BLAST ringing doorbells and saying trick or treat to get candy. Hopefully we'll get to experience the same thing next year when Jonah is just over 2.

November was also the fall camp out for Cub Scouts. Again, I had a Scentsy event to attend so I couldn't go but Brian, James and John had a great time. Our pack went to a new campground out near Columbus. It was kind of like a KOA but it still had nice campsites. The boys participated in a service project and picked up all of the branches and small pieces of wood around the property. This was very important since there still had not been significant rain so danger of fire was fairly high. John made a new friend and had a great time getting dirty in the sand pits with him.

The following weekend I had a Scentsy event to attend so Brian took the boys to the zoo with the Keaslers. They had a wonderful time and Jude especially enjoyed spending time with Abby. Apparently it was a great day to see all of the big cats. They are rarely out and about, especially the tigers. Brian got some fairly good photos of them.

Thanksgiving was just around the corner and we were so excited about the holiday this year. Since Brian's grandfather passed away at the end of the summer, Judy and Steve drove out to Tucson, AZ to spend the holiday with Grandma. We normally go to their house but since they were out of town, we invited Sally, Jason and Blaire to come spend the holiday here in Katy with us. It was so much fun to spend some time with them and get to know Blaire. Thanksgiving day I ran/walked our local Turkey Dash. Man, it was really cold and my legs were not happy with me. I was really sore for several days afterwards. I don't think I'm cut out for running outdoors. I'll stick to my elliptical machine. After a night hot shower and a nap, we got to work on our dishes for Thanksgiving dinner. We made the stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn and rolls. We just barely finished cooking in time. Thanksgiving dinner was DELICIOUS and as always we had too much food. After dinner, we spent some time looking through the ads and didn't find any real reason to head to the stores that evening/night. Sally and I ventured out after breakfast on Friday to see if there was anything worth buying. We picked up a few items but nothing big. Later that afternoon all of us went to our favorite portrait studio - The Picture People - to take some photos of the boys and Blaire. It was definitely difficult getting 5 kiddos all looking at the camera at the same time. We gave up on trying to get them all smiling. We ended up with a couple of decent photos. Saturday after lunch the Stanfields headed home and we relaxed the remainder of the weekend.

That wraps up November. On to write up December's update.