Christmas Parties Galore

Christmas time is a busy time of year, but not too busy for parties at school. This year the kids' parties were all at different times, so Corey & I got to go to all 3 parties!

Maddie & her teacher, Mrs. Douglas

Maddie & friend Jacey

Maddie & friend Lauren

Cason listening to a Christmas story read by Mrs. Channon

The cutest reindeer ever

Jackson waiting on his Christmas cookie to decorate

Jackson & Dad painting an ornament

Jackson finishing his ornament

Another Year Older

Jackson turned another year older on November 26th. We are proud parents of a 7 year old! We had an early release from school, so we took Jackson and some of his friends bowling to celebrate his birthday.

Cole, Cade, McCray, Luke, Jackson, & Cason

Cole, Jackson, & Luke wait for their turn to bowl!

Jackson & McCray

No birthday is complete without cookie cake!

Mom & the birthday boy

Jackson's actual birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day, so we gave thanks two-fold this year.
Because of Alese's work schedule and the A&M vs UT football game, we had our Thanksgiving lunch in College Station at Alese & Casey's house. This was our first Thanksgiving away from Waco, but was definitely worth the trip!

Jackson opened his birthday presents before Thanksgiving lunch.

We had our normal Wednesday night dinner at Bubba's the day before Thanksgiving. Since Aunt Genean & Uncle Gene couldn't make it to dinner, Aunt Genean left Mamaw in charge of making Jackson's birthday cupcakes. She also left candles that were also sparklers. The kids thought they were pretty cool! After dinner we let Jackson open an early birthday present.

It's so hard to believe that Jackson is already 7 years old. It seems like yesterday he was coloring the top of Cason's bald head with a Sharpie!

Girls Night Out

Madison's 10th birthday party was a 60s Disco meets Girls Night Out themed party. She invited 3 of her best friends to come over after school. When we got home, we found the playroom had been turned into a 60s style disco. Corey made this transformation all on his own. I had no idea he had done it until I got home. Maddie has such a cool dad!

After the girls examined the disco and took all the necessary photos, we headed to town to get their nails done. They each picked out how they wanted their nails painted at least 5 times. Once they made their final decision the painting began. Lucky for us there wasn't anyone else in the salon (or maybe lucky for anyone else), so the girls all got their nails painted at the same time. Watching them brought back many memories!!!

Here is a picture of the final product!

Everyone knows getting your nails done works up an appetite, so our next stop was dinner at Olive Garden, Maddie's favorite. Once again, being around these loud, silly girls brought back so many great memories.

Once all the bellies were full, we went home where the girls painted t-shirts, ate cake, and opened presents. I tried to stay awake as long as possible, but I finally had to go to bed. I think the girls stayed up until about 2:00. I'm pretty sure Maddie had a great 10th birthday!!!

A Decade Ago

It's so hard to believe that a decade ago, Corey & I brought a beautiful baby girl into this world! Madison turned 10 years old on November 18th. We had a little surprise party for Maddie on the eve of the big day! While Maddie was in the shower the boys and I got everything ready. The boys were more excited about surprising Maddie, than Maddie was excited about being surprised! They each had their own cupcake with a candle to blow out, and then Maddie opened her presents. It was a nice little pre-birthday celebration!

You Can't Catch Me

The kid's Great-Aunt Genean gave them a gingerbread decorating kit. They couldn't wait to get their gingerbread boys and girls out to decorate them! This was the first time they could decorate on their own-and it was niiiice! I didn't have to help them at all, and the gingerbread boys and girls looked great. Ok, good enough to eat.

State Bound...almost

The Lorena Leopard football team was State Bound, and played their first playoff game in Corsicana against the Brownsboro Bears on November 14th. Corey decided that taking a limo filled with 15 kids to the game was a fabulous idea, so that's exactly what we did. Our 3 kids, along with 12 others and 8 adults, loaded up the Hummer limo and headed to Corsicana. We stopped at CiCi's Pizza for a pre-game meal and then got our game-faces on. We even had a huddle and a

"Go Leopards" in CiCi's. The "Go Leopards" helped because they won! The kids had a blast at the game and in the limo!

Slade, Cole, Jackson, Cason, Cage, & Paige in the limo

Luke Smith, McCray, Luke Davis, Cason, Jackson, & Cole in the limo

Cason, Maddie, & Jackson at the game

The Leopards continued their winning streak until the Quarterfinal game against the Carthage Bulldogs. They fought a hard battle, but lost 28-21. It was a great season-way to go Leopards!!!

Maddie's Awards

Maddie had her first award ceremony in 4th grade on Friday, November 6th. She received the Super Speller Award, the All A & 1 B Honor Roll Award, and she was recognized for making the UIL Creative Writing team. Way to go Maddie girl!!!