You May Be Confused, But We Are NOT Related to Tony Hawk

Santa brought E a new skateboard this year.  D got some sweet hi-tops and a jacket that actually has an iPod hook up in the pocket and the ties for the hood are the earbuds. 

If you judge a girl by her Christmas gifts, then we have two, future skateboarders.   If that's your future, there's not better time to practice that Christmas morning.  You've got to get the sweet riding skills in before you go back to school!

You're supposed to stand on it without it moving out from under you.

That's really hard, so we'll practice sitting down first.

Then the master has to show them how it's done.

I'm pretty sure he can't stop.

Nope, the girls had to go get him.  They tried warning him how hard it was!

The ole, "don't try that girls, it's only for the pros" talk.

Apparently now that she's seen N fly down the sidewalk, she is totally able to do the same.

D's turn!  I think she may be leaning a bit too much.

Yep.  That darn wheel caught the edge.  Good thing for helmets.

At least they look the part. 

She Got Like Three Feet of Air That Time

Christmas Day was filled with lots of wrapping paper, cool presents and play time.  The morning always seems to be hectic as we do our annual breakfast bar after all the presents are opened.  By noon things have settled down, the girls can play with their toys and we can just enjoy the day as a family.

Typically that evening my mom comes over for dinner and anyone else we know that doesn't have a home to go to and we eat. 

Because the food isn't ready the second the girls sit down, they entertain themselves.  This year that included mini skateboards.

Can you see it in the TV? 

While the older girls were trying to hit the ceiling fan with their skateboard, Zoe was practicing her princess wave.

A girl can never have too many accessories!

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

Christmas Eve is the big day in my family.  Since my sister has a couple stops to make on Christmas day, our family does our celebration on Christmas Eve.  Usually we come in jammies or armed with jammies, so we can rush home, set out cookies for Santa and sleep for a very short time before we all do it again.

Some fond memories have been made at these gatherings.  Like the time when MJ was 2 and I was videoing him playing with his Monsters, Inc. Scare Factory and he informed me he was pooping.  You can't forget moments like that.  Ever!

Or moments like this:

T-Dog is always ready to pose for a picture for me.  I spent most of the night trying to get a smile out of him.  It wasn't until he opened an MP3 player that I got the golden nugget I was looking for.  Rather than this type of golden nugget.  I'm just sayin'!

For my first two nephews, my sister had a strict no guns or swords policy.  She didn't want anything that promoted violence.  The two older boys, MJ and T-Dog go for the disgusting instead.  While CJ has different rules.  Maybe my sister has just been worn down with all the bodily functions that she doesn't have it in her anymore to enforce the rule.  We got CJ a sword.  That makes noise.  He's already a pro.

I'm pretty sure it's like that Red Rider BB Gun and he did put someone's eye out before the holiday was through.

None the less, it was a great time had by all.  I even got to try out my new camera a bit (a Canon Rebel XSi).  For a brief moment got the whole family to look somewhat in my direction and smile. 

Except for CJ because he's defending the family and you can't let your enemy think you're soft.

Because that picture turned out so well, I wanted one of N, Zoe and me.  T-Dog somehow flashed that smile I begged and pleaded for and asked to take our picture.  I handed over the new camera, ran to the couch and got ready for our big smiling picture.

I think he caught our best side.

Three Angels

We have so much to be thankful for this year.  Here are our top three reasons we feel so blessed.

Merry Christmas.  May God richly bless you this holiday season and in the coming year.

C Is For Captain

Winter is one of my favorite times of the year.  I loved to see the trees covered with snow.  There is just something about getting all bundled up to go outside and play in the fluffy stuff.

It's also the time of year my absolute favorite sport is played.  Hockey and I go way back.  It was 1992 and I was a young girl.  It was a Friday night and my mom said, "let's go to the movies, they're showing a double feature."  Four of us ended up going to see a little movie called "Cutting Edge."  It was about a hockey player and a figure skater coming together to skate as couples in the Olympics. 

It's one of my all time favorite chick flicks, but that D.B. Sweeney is a cutie.  From then on I was hooked on hockey.  Even though he wasn't a real hockey player!

Our town has a great Western Hockey League team that has won the Memorial Cup a few times.  I'm not gonna lie, I love the speed, the game and the fights.  Hockey has bonded my family.  I used to have season tickets with my sister and her family.  It was tradition that we would get together every weekend and watch some hockey. 

During all this bonding we learned to love the Canadian National Anthem as much as our own.  So much so we've all sang it to our kids in the dark of night just to get them to fall asleep. 

Apparently it had some effect on them.  All three of my nephews play the game well.  MJ is on a rep team that travels all over the Pacific Northwest and Canada to play.  They even won a championship game against a Canadian team.  Those boys up north are basically born with DNA that makes them great hockey players.  To beat them is a real victory.

My youngest nephew Con-Man is just starting.  He's a great skater and equally amazing snow angel maker on the ice, when the puck it as the other end of the rink.  It makes his mother crazy, but he's truly following in the traditions set before him!

Yet, it's T-Dog, my middle nephew, that had his moment to shine this past weekend.  He's been playing hockey for as long as he could walk.  He's both talented and fast.  I got to see a side of him this past weekend that I knew he had, but am so glad it's finally recognized:  leadership. 

This past Saturday he was named Captain for one game.  He got the coveted "C" on his jersey.  Behold Captain T-Dog.

Doesn't that look awesome on there?

I also got to see a side of him that made me even more proud.  As a captain you get to name your assistant captains.  I'm sure it's similar to sitting at the cool kid table at lunch.  One of his choices was the goalie.  It's rare that goalies get picked as captains or assistants simply because they aren't the player that skates all over the ice either trying to make a shot or defending the goal.  Their whole purpose is to protect the net and it's rare that they leave the area for anything. 

Yet T-Dog recognized their goalie as an assistant. 

He's got all the skills on the ice and the heart to motivate and lead.  He is truly Captain T-Dog even if he only got the "C" on his jersey for one game.

We're Like the Partridge Family, But Without A Bus

Our family is all fairly talented in the arts.  We all have talents that entertain.  Some of us sing, some of us act and some of us play instruments.

The best part of this is we all get to be on stage.  Our girls sing when given the chance.  I love to act and am actually known as Ronda because of a character I played at church during the 40 Days of Purpose. 

N is musical.  He plays the trumpet and bass guitar.  He's never gotten the opportunity to play. 

That is until this past Sunday. 

He's joined the worship team at our church.  I don't think I've seen his face light up as much as it did this past Sunday.

The best part is our brother-in-law Chris was in town from Austin.  He plays the drums.  Since he used to be on our worship team, they handed over the sticks and let him work his magic. 

We are so blessed to be part of a church that encourages us to use our talents to bring Him glory. 

I'm also equally blessed to be married to one very handsome and talented bass player.  Maybe I can convince our worship director to allow my family on stage for a little "C'mon Get Happy" as a prelude.  Nothing gets people ready for church quite like a 1970's song.

Happy Birthday Jesus

We are the family that celebrates Christmas as Christ's birth.  We also do the whole Santa thing too.  One way we keep the focus on Christ rather than Santa and presents is to celebrate the holiday as Jesus's birthday.  We get a cake and this year Zoe requested we have party hats too.  We get our cakes made at Happy Cake Company.   They are also delicious and beautiful. 

This year we served it next to the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, which is always a special treat this time of year!

We did a celebration early as N's parents were in town AND N's twin sister Bev and her family were here too.  It was a bit like the Griswolds and a bit like The Christmas Story, except without the leg lamp.

One of the great things about having Bev and her family here, was Micah.  Last time we saw him was at Easter.  Several things have changed.  He has hair, teeth and can walk.  Next time we see him he'll be singing carols and probably doing advanced calculus. 

One thing he loved was Zoe.  Being an only child he doesn't get to see too many people his size.  Even though she outweighs him and is a bit taller, he still thought it was totally fun tackling her.

She wasn't too keen on it.  Anytime he'd come near, she'd yell, "NO, TOO BIG!"  Fortunately she's faster, so she'd run away and he was spared any hitting that might of come out in self-defense of the ole' cousin tackle.

Then her back-ups came.  D and E loved to chase, hug and love on Micah.  That was until present time came.  Then they were all about opening and posing.  Until they opened their gifts from G.G.  A cookbook and an apron.  They immediately channeled their inner Rachael Rays and started planning our meals for the next year and a half.

It looks like we'll be living off gelatin blocks and some french toast.

The best part of the whole thing was sharing the joy of family.  It's rare that we are together in the same place, let alone around any holiday.  Typically it takes a birth to get us all together and usually the mommy in that situation isn't ready to party. 

Thanks Mom and Dad for coming up to the icy north for a visit.  We had a blast.  Next time we're coming to you and we can party it up with some sunshine and temps above freezing!