Christmas is over...

Well, Christmas has come and gone. I'm a horrible mommy and didn't take pictures Christmas morning. I had every intention of doing so, but completely forgot. I'll take pictures of the boys new stuff sometime soon. I was more excited about them opening their presents then receiving mine.

We ended up at the last minute getting the boys cell phones. We have told them time and time again that they could not have a cell phone until they had a job so they could pay for one. Well, we contradicted ourselves (kinda). They will still have to pay for their cell phones through doing chores. At the end of each month, they will be paid so much per chore that was completed. The cost of their cell phone is $10/month, so anything they make over $10, they get to keep. Here our reasoning behind getting them cell phones. We do not have a house phone. We thought about getting a house phone, but it was cheaper and more cost effective (since we will be moving in 4-6 months) to get a cell phone for the house. Well, it is $10/month per phone line to add to our current plan, so we ended up w/2 cell phones. With my sister-in-law watching the boys after school now, there are days when she needs to leave 30 minutes early to get to her evening classes. The boys need to be able to reach one of us in case of an emergency, so this is how we ended up where we are w/the cell phones. There are rules and restrictions w/the phones, but the boys are on cloud 9. I'd like to hope that we are teaching them how to manage money and the value of a dollar through this new cell phone thing. They both received money for Christmas and immediately asked me to put it in their savings account, so I think we've got a good start on managing money. They also got new wheeled baseball bags w/their names embroidered on them. They got scooters, clothes, movies, game boy games, board games, and cases for their iPods.

Jason got a new iPod nano, case for his iPod, RoadId, clothes, The Love of Baseball book, Texas Rangers Nike pullover, and lots of other little things.

We all had a very nice Christmas and are very thankful for everything that we have. Next year we are starting a new tradition w/the boys. They will both be picking an angel from the Salvation Army Christmas tree and buying gifts for a needy child.

Christmas

Christmas is finally here. I'm sitting at work trying to waste away the day. It is 1:48pm and I'm seriously contemplating sneaking out of here in about 30 minutes. I'm excited for Christmas to be here as I can't wait to not only give some great gifts but also receive some great gifts. I think the boys will be surprised by a few of their gifts, and I know Jason will be surprised by a few a of his gifts. We are staying here in town for Christmas. We will be exchanging gifts with Jason's family on Tuesday evening and having dinner at our house.

I'm sure some of you are wondering why you haven't receieved your Christmas card from us. I have had absolutely no time to put something together, so I'm hoping that after the new year I can send out New Year cards.

Here is a not-so-good picture of out tree. As you can see, it doesn't have a TON of ornaments on it. We decided not to put up quite a few ornaments b/c last year we were constantly battling with Tigger, our dog, eating or pulling down the ornaments. Now looking at the tree, it actually looks pretty crappy from that picture. I'll have to attempt to retake a better picture.

Updates....

Kiddo Update - Boys are done w/their 2nd 6 weeks of school. Time is flying by! Colby made all A's!!!! :-) Tristen had all A's and B's! We are very proud of both of the boys! We hope the trend continues. Colby had a charity baseball tournament this past weekend. Although his team didn't fair too well, it was all for a great cause - Toys for Tots. Colby has been getting some experience catching and we hope to see him play catcher more when the Spring season starts back up.

We've slowly started the house search. We are currently toying with the idea of building. We've looked at a couple of communities online, but we haven't physcially gone out to the communities yet. To try and time it right, we would need to start building in March. Right now, we are looking in the Frisco area.

Christmas is finally upon us and we've had our house decorated since before Thanksgiving. I cannot wait to be in a house and have more room to spread out all of my decorations. I told my sister-in-law that I was going to have to start a 'Christmas decoration' savings account so I can go all out! I'm hoping to find a few good deals this year after the holidays. I have most of the boys' shopping done, but have not had much luck buying for Jason. I've purchased one thing and have a few other things I plan to purchase for him, but I cannot figure out his 'big' gift. So frustrating!

Thanksgiving

Well, Thanksgiving is finally upon us. The fall weather is arriving here just in time. I'm stuck at work today and wish I would've taken today off. I originally had planned on taking today and Friday off. With my change in position though, I opted to work today and have time off at Christmas instead. I'm sure I could've taken today off as well, but oh well, it is a little late now.

I went shopping last weekend for me some new work clothes for my new position. I'm so horrible b/c I go shopping for myself, but end up w/more clothes for the boys (when they really don't need any more clothes). The Children's Place was having an awesome sale and so I couldn't pass up clothes for $2.99/each. I got them each 2 shirts and a pair of camo pants for $2.99/each. The hoodies were orginally $19.50, but were marked down to $14.99 + another 30% off of that, so they were $10.49. I love finding good deals. Too bad I couldn't find any awesome deals for me. I did find some stuff at Banana Republic and everything in their store in Grapevine Mills Mall was 40% off. Too bad Banana was my last stop on the way out and I was exhausted, otherwise I probably could've found some more stuff. I might venture out on Black Friday, but I doubt it.

We are putting up the Christmas tree tonight and I can't wait. I already have wrapped presents to put under the tree and more presents to wrap. All of the clothes I bought for the boys last weekend are the presents for under the tree. Their new baseball bags should be in by Friday. I'm hoping to get them embroidered this weekend and get them wrapped as well. I have NO idea what I'm getting Jason. He won't give me any good ideas. Apparently he already knows what he is getting me. I have no clue though.

Fancy New Title

Well, I finally got word of my new title for the position I've accepted. For the time being, I will be the Member Relations Manager / Private Client Manager. Eventually, I will just be the Private Client Manager dealing with our high end depositors. I'm uber excited and start my new position on Monday. I'll miss my staff at my current branch, but I'm ready for a change and think this is a wonderful opportunity and a nice promotion!

Tristen's Science Project

Tristen is known for waiting until the last minute on many things, including science projects. Although this project started off very scary, Jason and I have to try to remember that we can't do the project FOR him. It is hard for both of us to remember that b/c we are both perfectionists. Anyways, this was a 5 week project w/a piece of the project due each week. The first part Tristen made a 70 on b/c he turned it in late. The other 4 pieces of the project he has made 100. The whole project came together when he had to put it on his display board.

Tristen's 11th B-day Party

Tristen's actual birthday isn't until Nov. 23rd. Due to his birthday being so close to Thanksgiving, we always have his party prior to his actual big day so his friends can attend. Here's a picture of Tristen w/his skateboard cupcake cake.


Tristen wanted a skateboard and Tech Decks - finger skateboards - (the new verison of what we knew as Hot Wheels). He got a skateboard, along w/the helmet and protective pads from us. He got TONS of Tech Decks, and parts for his skatepark.