All I want for Christmas is...ammo!?!?

Today as we were going to school, I told the boys that we needed to go shopping for a Christmas present for Daddy.  Brody responded, "Oh.  I already know what we want to get him."  "You do?" I asked.  "Yes.  We need to go to Cabela's and Barrett and I wanna get him a machine gun and a rocket launcher!"

I had to hold back the laughter that wanted to burst out of my mouth and instead said, "Well...I don't think you can just pick those up at Cabela's...but maybe there's something else at Cabela's that Daddy would like."

I don't know why I was surprised that the boys wanted to get Mike a machine gun and a "real" rocket launcher.  Here are some of the things from the wishlist they gave us and Grammy:

Brody:

• Pistol BB gun
• Regular BB gun
• Cross bow and quiver
• Camo muzzle loader
• Machine nerf gun
• .22 pistol
• Walkie talkies
  (Not to mention he asked Santa for a "whole package of BB guns")

Barrett:

• "Bow arm holder" ie a quiver
• Bow and arrow
• Little pistol BB gun
• Double barrel shotgun
• Air soft gun
• Pocket knife
• Walkie talkies

The only other thing Barrett has really been asking for is a skateboard (that's what he's asked Santa for every time he's seen him...3 times now!).  Yet another thing that I don't think he's old enough for....or maybe I'm just not ready for a hospital visit for broken limbs. 

Our boys' Christmas list is most definitely a boys dream list....but can you see why we're having just a little bit of trouble figuring out what to get our FOUR and SIX year olds?!?

Homemade Snow Globe....filled with money!!

According to my resource for all things teacher (Audria), one of a teacher's favorite gifts is a gift card.  I can see how that would be more useful than 22 bottles of smelly lotion (that you may or may not like the scent of) or 22 baked goods (which we all love...but if each student brought baked goods...well...even I would suffer from sugar overload and holiday binging regret!)  In the past I have given teachers gift cards...but I try to think of something more inventive than a card to give it to them in.  This year the boys and I made snow globes and I think they turned out super cute!!

This was one of the easiest craft projects I've ever done (and if you know me...you know I haven't done too many craft projects! lol)  I took the lid off a mason jar, put a strip of hot glue on the inside of the lid, and stuck a gift card in the glue so that it was standing upright.  Then I glued a little tree I found at Walmart (it was $0.75 in one of the bins by the snow village decorations) next to the gift card.  Next Barrett helped me by pouring some glitter into the mason jar.  Then we filled it to the top with water, dropped in a few little ornaments, and (once the hot glue was good and dry) put the lid back on the jar.  Add a bow and a gift tag and there you have a snow globe gift card holder!

 

It's all about the cupcakes!

Seriously!  That's the point of having a Christmas party at school....at least in Barrett's mind!

Hometown Christmas Festival

 

Fireside Chat

This morning I got home from the gym at 6:30 am to find Mike cuddling with the boys in front of our fireplace reading the Bible.  What a precious moment!  Barrett woke up super early because he's excited about his Christmas program at school tonight so Mike siezed the opportunity to spend a few precious minutes Brody & Barrett.  He stoked the fire and shared his morning devotional time with his boys.  Our boys have no idea how blessed they are to have such an amazing father...but I do!  I think God every day for blessing me with Mike!

Chuck & Lou Ann - Christmas Portrait

 

H Christmas Portraits

 

Jimmie & Laura - Family Portrait

 

 

The Squirrel Hunter

Watch out squirrels!  He's an expert marksman.  Since the freeze hasn't killed our peppers yet, I want to keep them growing...and my man will make sure you don't eat them before we can!

Christmas Cheer

If we are at home, our tradition is to decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.  This was the first time in 14 Christmases that Mike got down all the Christmas decorations from the attic without me asking!  I just might have gone a little overboard with my enthusiasm when I realized what he was doing.  I hugged him really big and said, "I've waited our whole marriage for you to be excited about decorating for Christmas!!"  He said, "I got them down. That's it."  lol.  BUT....he then headed outside and hung up all the lights on the house!!  I think he now loves decorating for Christmas...he just isn't ready to admit it.

Everyone else was more than happy to express their enthusiasm about decorating!  It's amazing how fast it can go when everyone is helping!  Grandma Brown, Grammy, Brody, and Barrett helped me with all the inside decor.  We had everything decorated and all the tubs back in the attic by dinner time!  It was awesome!!

Barrett loved helping with the tree.  We've had the same tree since 1999 and it's held up great!  The branches have letters on them which tell you which level they go at on the trunk of the tree.  Barrett did a Christmas cheer as he put each limb in the correct pile.  "K!  You got your K you got your K!" for every branch he'd dance across the kitchen announcing the letter of the branch and then put it in the correct pile.  It was hilarious!  He had us all laughing.

After decorating, we took Grandma on a drive so that she could see Cowboy Stadium and the Ballpark at Arlington.  Then we went to dinner at Abuelo's.  After dinner we drove around to look at Christmas lights.  The boys were super excited to turn the corner and see our house all lit up!  It most definitely is "the most wonderful time of the year"!  

 

GG's Family Thanksgiving

The Saturday after Thanksgiving (November 24th) we had a family gathering with Namaw's side of the family at Daddy Steve and Namaw's house. I didn't take many candid shots, but I did get some group shots. I set the camera up in front of their house and then everyone came out for the annual family picture time.

GG with all her grandkids and great-grandkids

Ron & Jan's family

Daddy Steve & Namaw's family 

Now this picture is a strange one!  Someone came up with the idea to have everyone who "chose" to come into this family in one picture....meaning they're not blood relatives of GG.  Not sure what we'd ever do with this picture....it's not like we'll all print it off and frame it?  I guess it'll be forever memorialized in my blog book ;)  Below are: Cindy (Jon's wife), Cara (Josh's girlfriend), Ann (Tyler's wife), Ron (Jan's husband), Mike (my husband), Steve (Joan's husband), Matt (Julie's husband), and Audria (Caleb's wife)

 

Grandma came for Thanksgiving!!!!

 

 

 

 

Temple Thanksgiving

 

 

 

 

 

After School Surprise

Brody said, "Axton is a WAY better surprise than a toy or a piece of candy!" Barrett and I surprised Brody by bringing Axton with us to pick B up from school :)

Great Wolf Lodge Staycation