Lisa's Birthday

December 28th, 2007

This was Lisa's 40th birthday. While I went to the YMCA to workout, Jon and the kids put together my awesome gift from my Mom. It's a beautiful porch swinger for the back yard. They were out in the cold for almost 2 hours! But it was well worth it, I love it!

Abigail's Birthday

December 27th, 2007

Abigail enjoyed part of her birthday with Granny & Donnie and then headed back to Texas. Here are picture of her goofing of in the car with her brother. The other photo is her with her favorite gift, a Hannah Montana stage, complete with lights and music! How cool!

Christmas with Granny & Donnie

December 26th, 2008

Jon and the kids headed to Tulsa and spent Christmas with Granny and Donnie (and Buck). They came back with lots of great clothes and new Nintendo games!

Christmas Day

December, 25th, 2007

Christmas Day was filled with lots of Hannah Montana, Roman soldiers and Ninetendo games. Michael & Misty, Dad & Uncle David all came down. Lots of nice gifts and good conversation.

Christmas Sleep Over

December 23, 2007

Caleb and Richard enjoyed the last sleepover before Christmas. Padme' helped wake them up Sunday morning!

Christmas Party

Wednesday, December 19th

Yesterday, was our 3rd annual McDermott Road Christmas Party. It's so cool that there are now 8 families homeschooling! We made Christmas ornaments, sang some karaoke, ate lunch and exchanged gifts. I love having the house filled with friends!

Angel Tree

December 11th

Today the 2nd truck came for the rest of the Salvation Army Tree Angel gifts. Between the Plano & Russell Creek YMCAs we collected gifts for 450 children! The kids and I loaded the truck in the drizzling rain today. We were so excited to see the truck come, the living room, dining room, kitchen, hallways etc were over flowing with packages. Padme' supervised the truck loading!

Ancient Treasures

Sunday, December 9th

Today we visited the Ancient Treasures, the largest collection of Holy Land antiquities to ever hit U.S. soil. See over 350 Biblical artifacts, many dating back to the time of Abraham. Inscriptions over 4000 years old from Abraham's home, the city of Ur. Canaanite lamps and pottery from the time of the Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The ossuary (casket) that many archaeologists think contained the bones of both Simon of Cyrenia, who carried the cross of Jesus, and his son Alexander, also mentioned in the New Testament account of the crucifixion. Lots of cool stuff, and this was a field trip that Jon got to go on with us!

Sweet Shop USA

Friday, December 7th

Today we enjoyed our field trip to the Sweet Shop USA in Ft. Worth, we also enjoyed truffles,
Mrs.Weinstein’s Milk Almond Toffee. We visited the chocolate factory where they still hand dip their chocolate. Abigail has discovered a career path!

Salvation Army Angel Tree

Thursday, December 6th, 2007

The kids and I set up a Salvation Army Angel Tree at the Plano & Russell Creek YMCAs again this year. People pick up the angels at the Y, purchase gifts and bring them back to the Y. The kids and I pick these up, sort and tag the gifts. Last night the Salvation Army sent a truck to our house to pick up gifts. We had 27 large bags and two boxes, so approximately 189 gifts were picked up last night. We already have another 40 gifts in my living room!

Paint 'N Party

Wednesday, December 5th

Today we went to Paint 'n Party, this is a do-it-yourself ceramic and pottery store. The kids picked out trivets and painted Wizard of Oz characters on them. Frankie painted the Scarecrow, and I wrote on it 'Your smarter than you think!' Caleb painted the Lion and I wrote on it, 'They'll erect a statue of me some day!' Abigail painted a Tim Man and I wrote on it, 'A heart is known by how much it is loved!' And I painted a Dorothy with 'I never have to look any further than my own back yard!' When these are fired in the kiln, I'll upload photos.