The Stories of Boys (and two girls!): Arrghh! Where does the time go?

Luke, my personal assistant

Matt informed me today that it has almost been a month since my last post. He lives with me, so he already knows everything that has been going on, right?

Matt celebrated his 34th birthday on the 12th! The boys and I made him a pound cake with fudge frosting, and we made his favorite dinner, pepper steak. At this age, there is not nearly as much to be excited about.

We were extremely busy the month of November while David and Jean were in Houston for her to finish out her treatments. She had 22 days of radiation, twice a day, five days a week. She left on October 27th and returned home on December 1st. So, I was in charge of the mail and checking on the house, while Matt had to work with the cattle. Thankfully, Chris was around to help, but that left me at home with the boys most evenings. We are so glad to have them back home!

Thanksgiving day was relatively uneventful. I fixed turkey and sides, while Mimi fixed dressing and gravy, Chris and his parents and kids joined us, so we had a good time eating and talking about the black friday sales. I got up early on Friday and made a few stops to finish up my Christmas shopping. By 10:00, we were packed up and headed to Houston. Mimi was riding with us, and she was great helping keep the boys occupied on the 13.5 hour trip.

Jean had asked us to come out during her time in Houston, and we decided the last week in November would work out the best for all of us. Jean met another lady undergoing treatment in Houston who happens to have a vacation house on Tiki Island (just across the bay from Galveston). So, we got to stay in their house during the week. It was really nice, and we all didn't have to sleep in the same room!

We arrived Saturday night and went to church with David and Jean and Mimi on Sunday. David and Jean were renting an apartment from the church, they call it their oasis apartment, and they rent it to people visiting for medical treatments. It seems to be a great outreach and mission for them. Sunday night, we visited Moody Gardens and their Festival of Lights. The boys got to talk to Santa, and there were hardly any other people around, so it was a treat.

That night, Joshua finally lost the tooth that had started to stick out in the front. Whew, what a relief, I was sure that the dentist was going to have to remove it. Here he is showing off his new smile. See how his adult tooth is almost completely in already?

Not even 10 minutes into the zoo visited, Luke fell and busted his lip. He just seems to have an issue with his mouth, falling on it and making it bleed. So, here is his picture from the next day. It's been a week and a half, and he is still trying to pick the scab off his lip and making it bleed!

We also visited NASA, Space Center Houston, which was really neat. They had a lot of activities for kids, and the boys loved playing on the 3 story space themed playground. We learned so much about space travel, and Joshua says that it's too scary to be an astronaut...but he still wants to be a soldier, go figure.

Car shopping was also on our list for Houston. Matt doesn't seem to have time to do that while we're home, so we went to several dealerships in the area. We finally settled on a 2007 Honda Odyssey which we bought on our way home in Georgia. Yeah! The only trouble was that we had to unload a week's worth of stuff from the Windstar into the Odyssey. But, I wasn't going to argue, because I knew that it would be another year before I could get Matt to go car shopping again. :-) The poor sales guy (a single 21 year old) had to help, and I asked if he had ever seen such a mess..."yeah, my closet".

So, back to Houston, we visited Galveston, and I tried to remember what Hotel we stayed at for MaryEllen's wedding, but I couldn't. The boys got to pick up seashells from the beach. We attended Jean's "graduation" from treatments on her last day. Even though she is done with the major treatment, she still has appts in Houston for Jan, Feb, and Mar. February is when she will have her scans to make sure she still has the "all clear". Here is the plaque that she had to read aloud and ring the bell three times. She was too fast, and I didn't get a picture of her ringing the bell. :-(

On our way home, we spent the night with Chet and Amanda. Elizabeth turned five this past weekend, so we got to attend her Hannah Montana birthday party. We were all exhausted from the week, but it was nice to get to spend time with them.

So, we are home, and the suitcases are unpacked, the laundry is done, and our Christmas tree is finally up and decorated. I can now officially welcome the Christmas season! Christmas parties start tomorrow night, woo-hoo!

Lastly, I can't neglect to mention that my little Caleb turned 4 today. What a blessing in our lives...although sometimes quite difficult to deal with, he is always thinking and coming up with some little saying that makes us laugh. He is such a free spirit as you can see in his picture from the zoo. Happy Birthday wishes to my sweet boy. We'll have a Thomas the Train party this weekend.