Tree 4: The Disney Tree

This tree is the girl's favorite, by far. It's one of mine, too!



This one started in 2002, the year we went to Disney over Thanksgiving with Bill's parents. I found a store in the Disney Village that sold Disney Storybook Ornaments. They come about 6-7 to a set, and the set is packaged up like a big storybook. They are so cute! I bought several sets the first year, and I add a few every year.



Of course we have Tinkerbelle on the top:



And lots of other ones in between.


In this spot, you can see everyone from Christmas Carol Mickey to Kermit the Frog. Jasmine from Aladdin, Nala from Lion king (facing backward), Goofy, Donald and Daisy, Frozone from the Incredibles (way at the bottom), and Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast halfway out of the shot at the top right.

If the traditional tree is the least expensive tree, then this one is definitely the most expensive. But I love every single ornament on there. OK, maybe not the ones in the back, (the girls decorate this tree for me, and we all know the rule is the ugly or evil ones go in the back - like the ugly monsters, Jafar, the evil queen from Sleeping Beauty).

This is definitely one of my very favorite trees!!

Tree 3: The Irish Tree

The Irish tree is the smallest tree, and one of the oldest trees I have. When we first got married, we bought a 6-foot tree and it came with a 3' table top tree. I used to just put little ornaments on it, but when I decided to have themed trees, it seemed only logical that I would put up a tree devoted to my roots.



There are a few Waterford ornaments on there that JoJo (Bill's brother) and Jodi (Joe's wife) gave me, and a Belleek ornament at the bottom (the white china circular one on the left of the picture). There is a Tara china cross that my mom gave me as well as a few Irish Santas she found for me. There are a few shamrocks, and of course an Irish Flag!

I leave this one up in the dining room all the way through St. Patrick's Day. Then I switch it to an Easter tree before packing it up until Christmas. Definitely one of my favorites!

Tree 2: The Wizard of Oz Tree

This tree wasn't the first of these trees, I believe it was actually the fourth of these trees I bought, but it was the one that started the idea of having multiple themed trees.

Here is the current Wizard of Oz tree:



It just moved up to this slim 7.5' tree this year.

The way it all began . . .

Bill's mother ordered a set of wizard of Oz ornaments for me. They are very cute, and look like little kids dressed up like characters from the Wizard of Oz (these 2 are a munchkin boy and Dorothy).



This was probably 5 or 6 years ago. I knew I wanted a larger main tree for our house, but I really loved these ornaments and I knew I didn't want them to get lost on a big tree, so I decided to keep the old tree (actually trees, since the old main one had come with a 3' table tree) and buy a bigger one also. I decided to put up all 3 trees, but put only the Wizard of Oz ornaments on the old one. Except I didn't have nearly enough Oz ornaments to fill the old tree, and they were too heavy for the 3' tree. Then I decided to buy a 4' tree for the Oz ornaments and put some teenie Beanie Babies I had been collecting from McDonald's happy meals onto the 6' tree. And the rest is history.

I now have a nice mix of the Wizard of Oz ornaments Sarah bought me, plus some Hallmark Oz ornaments, plus some other stuff we included (like the "ruby slippers" Abby wore for Halloween when she was 4). Plus a beaded rainbow the girls helped me make.



The lion, tiger, and bear are there, as well as the witch (she's below the lion's courage medal on the left side of the picture) and the witch's broom along side the tree. Just in case we need to persuade the wizard to help us get home. :-)

Tree 1: The Traditional Tree!

I promised to write about all my Christmas Trees as I put them up this year, so we'll start with the first one: The Traditional Tree.



KC calls this the Holiday Tree (she calls the large one in the living room the Traditional Tree - I call that the family tree) and I sometimes call it the Krystal ball tree. It started 4 years ago from a suggestion by my friend and librarian Krystal. I was trying to think of a new theme for a tree and she suggested a traditional one, filled with glass ball ornaments.

It was such a great idea! The ornaments are all inexpensive ones (fortunately, since we lose a few to dropping each year). We decided to go with an angel on top:



The tablecloth/tree skirt was given to me by my Aunt Eileen years ago. I might get a new tree skirt for it after the holidays, but I love the red plaid even if the color doesn't match the burgundy tree exactly. And it reminds me of my extended family in Massachusetts.

This tree lives in the hallway right as you come in the front door. This year, I'm using a new pre-lit tree that Bill's mother bought me last year as the Traditional Tree (she traded me for the Texas tree which now lives in New Braunfels at their vacation house). I think it really looks beautiful at night (although in the interest of fair disclosure, this photo was taken at 5 a.m. not truly evening. It was dark, though.



I love this tree because it makes me think of Hallmark card Christmas scenes, with snow covered treetops and hot cocoa by the fire. This is usually the first tree I put up each year because it reminds me that things don't have to be complicated or expensive to be beautiful. A lesson I need to keep in mind before I head out shopping!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated on time, it's just taken me a few days to write. We had all our family together for Thanksgiving, the Langstons, the Barnetts, and the Coles.

Since there were 12 of us, we had our very first official "Kid's table." Mostly my kids plus my niece Sierra, who is almost as tall as I am these days:



They actually enjoyed having a table to themselves. KC kept coming back to the big table to get food, salt, butter, etc., but they seemed to have a good time away from the big people.

We had a big people table, also. My sister Jill, Tom, my mom and dad, Bill's mom and dad.



We really are lucky that our families all get along and we can share the holiday with both sides.

I am thankful for so many things, I couldn't possibly list them all, but mainly for the continued health and presence of our entire family.

Blessings to everyone, and I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Bill's Birthday

Last weekend was Bill's forty-something birthday! We ended up visiting Sea World, just like we did for my fortieth, but it was really just a coincidence. Or he's a copycat - you decide. LOL

Rain threatened, but the weather ended up clear and warm. It was the Monday of Thanksgiving, so there was a very small crowd (for Sea World).

We rode the Texas Splashdown. Bill and I rode it once, Brady and KC rode twice. Abby didn't care to ride at all.



Then Bill, Brady, and KC rode the Great White. Bill rode once, Brady and KC twice. The first ride, they were the only three on the coaster at all!




Later, we fed and petted the dolphins. This was definitely my favorite activity!



Abby opted for a smaller coaster. KC went along for the ride. They decided to do this one twice also.



We caught the Viva show, which is one of our favorites!


Bill and the kids fed the Lorikeets. One decided to perch on KC's head.


We caught the sea lion show and finished off the day with the kids running around the playground area.

Busy Fall Weekends

Hopefully I can get caught up a bit this week as we are off for Thanksgiving!


We have finally recovered from last weekend. Not the most recent weekend (although that was busy as well). It's taken us almost a week to recover from the weekend before that.


Here's a walk in my world . . .


November 9th - District Inservice Day (7:15 am - 4:30 pm)


AHS hosted the Social Studies department on our District Inservice day. No photos of me turning projectors on and off at work, but the hardest part of being the hostess is that you have to arrive first and be the last to leave. A long day, but better than many as I didn't have to actually teach any classes.


Of course, poor Bill had to dash home and back at lunch to drop off KC at a birthday party and deliver Brady to Fun Tiki to hang out with some friends on their off day. These stay-at-home parents really do set the bar far too high for the rest of us - LOL


Evening of November 9th - All-Region Band Clinic (5:45 pm - 8:45 pm)


Brady made All-Region band! Concert band, not symphonic, but still a great achievement for a 7th grader!! He attended the all-region band clinic Friday night to begin preparations for the concert Saturday Night.


Saturday, November 10th - Nutcracker Market for Jeannie (10am - 3pm) All-region Band Clinic for Brady (8:00 am - 3:30 pm)


Normally I would take a day off from school to spend wandering around the Nutcracker Market with my mother, our annual Christmas kick-off tradition. With the district in-service day on Friday, though, I had to work Thursday just to make sure everything was ready. So it was off to the Market on Saturday, but it was well worth it to see everything. Found a few treasures, too . . .


Brady spent the day rehearsing for the band concert to be held at Clements High School that evening. They were released about 3:30 pm to go home at change for the concert. And to rest and eat for a few moments. Brady also had to get ready for the rest of his weekend - a baseball tournament in Round Rock that he was missing on Saturday!


All-Region Band Concert (6:30 - 8:30)

Having absolutely no musical talent of my own, this was the first time I had attended an all-region band concert. This was, without a doubt, the best concert I have ever attended. The students in both concert band and symphonic band were simply outstanding! The music was wonderful! It absolutely took my breath away. And, really, what makes a mom prouder than to see her son in a bow tie?

Driving to New Braunfels (9:00 pm - 12:00 pm)

After the concert, we ran by Barnes and Noble to purchase a book on baseball physics for the science fair research due Monday, then drove to New Braunfels so we would be within driving distance of Round Rock in the morning. Arrived a bit after midnight to collapse in bed.

Off to Round Rock (and Georgetown, as it turned out) (6:00 am - 7:55 am)

We had spoken to Brady's baseball coach the night before and he told us the Warriors were scheduled to play in Round Rock at 8:00 am. We left New Braufels at 6:00 am to make sure we were there by 7:00 am.

There were two fields, one in Round Rock and one in Georgetown, both north of Austin, which is about 45 minutes north of New Braunfels. The coach assured us we were playing in Round Rock. We drove to the fields and arrived at about 7:10 am to find . . . no one. At all. No other team, no Warriors - not a soul. Called the coach. Yep, it's Round Rock, everyone else is just running late. Round Rock - off East Main street. Yep.

We drove to McDonalds to get some food for the kiddos (they'd slept on the drive). Still no teams. It's now 7:40 am. Coach calls us. Which exit did you take? 251? Well . . . gosh . . . it's exit 261. Close, but no cigar.

Off to Georgetown. We arrive at the field at 7:55 am for the 8:00 am game. Brady has no time to warm up in the cages and hasn't swung a bat in a week. Oh, well, how hard could it be? He could warm up and sit out the first inning, maybe?

Nope. Starting second baseman runs out there. Time to get started! One of the other moms comes over to tell me how happy they are to see us, as the dads had to try to keep a scorebook on notebook paper the day before. I explain we were late because we went to Round Rock. She looks puzzled - aren't we in Georgetown? Next time, I'm calling her for directions . . .


Here are the girls (plus Katie) enjoying Georgetown.

Game 1 in Georgetown (8am - 10am) and Game 2 in Georgetown (10:15 - 12:15 am)

The Warriors come in as the number 7 seed (of 10 teams). First round draw is a low-seed playoff so it should be easy. Never works out that way, does it? Still, we squeak out a win, 8-7, scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th as time expires.

Next game is against the number 2 seed in the tournament. Yikes. CC pitches an outstanding game and the offense goes crazy. We win 10-3. Great defense, including this nice catch of a pop-up in the 2nd inning:



Our next game isn't until 4pm, so we head to Rudy's for barbeque. Fabulous brisket! We still have some time to kill, so we head over to a park near the baseball fields to relax. Sort of. It's part relaxation and part keeping-the-boys-out-of-the-water. A mixed bag, but a nice break and beautiful weather.



Game 3 - Los Diablos! (4pm - 5:45 pm)

At 4pm we play Los Diablos from Lorado. These boys look old enough to not only shave, but to drive themselves to the game. Two of their players have numbers in duct-tape on the back of their jerseys so we are thinking they are late additions to their roster. One is the starting pitcher, so we start to worry . . .

At some point here we learn that if we win, the championship game will start at 8pm. Lasting until 10 pm. Then a 4-hour drive home. Brady already wants to know if he has to go to school the next day. It's Veteran's day on Monday and Brady has to play with the band in a Veteran's Day Program . . . so yes. Some sulking ensues, but life's tough.

The Warriors play great. By the bottom of the 4th we are up 9-3. The other team's runs include a homer by the other kid with a duct-tape number. Or his dad - it's hard to tell at this point. The opponents' coaches wear the same uniforms as the players. I wouldn't wear white pants at 40 if it was for an appearance in the actual world series. But that's just me . . .

Anyway, we are doing well and I have resigned myself to the fact that we won't be home until close to 2am on Monday. Maybe I can call in sick and sleep all day . . .



Brady scores on a passed ball . . .

Have you ever head that expression, Men make plans and God laughs? Well, God laughed, but kindly. More of a, "Don't worry, you'll be home in plenty of time. Well, not plenty of time, but still early enough that you'll feel guilty if you call in sick. Besides, Brady has to play in that program anyway, and Abby has to sing in a Veteran's day program at her school . . . yes, you do have two daughters also, you may recall (even if they don't play baseball or in band, but still have to get dragged all over central Texas . . . )"

Ahem . . . anyway, God had other plans for us.

Los Diablos came back and scored 7 runs, and we lost and got to go home. Dark was quickly approaching, and we had a long drive ahead of us. Still, the boys played great and we had a good tournament.

Home again (6:00 pm - 10:30 pm)

Brady finished the Science Fair report in time, and he played well on Monday and Abby sang her little patriotic heart out. But you can see why it took a week to recover! More later on this weekend (back to New Braunfels). Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!!