A Christmas Eve Dust Storm

Matthew thought today was Christmas Eve. Silly boy. He loves Christmas so much. We have been opening a Christmas book each day (compliments of Cory & Tiffany-thanks guys!) and we had two books left marked Christmas Eve. We decided not to transport the books with us so we had one left to open today, and one for tomorrow before leaving out of town. Since we got to open a Christmas Eve book, Matthew was certain today must be Christmas Eve. First we had to turn our house into the North Pole. So we cut out some snowflakes and taped them to the fan. We also had to keep the lights off all day because apparently it is dark at the North Pole. Then he wanted to build his reindeer cave. We have made this a few times this week. It involves blankets, couch cushions, and the kitchen table. Then, he needed to dress up as Santa. "I need a cherry nose, and a fluffy hat, and a red suit, and black boots, and a short mustache." Well, all I came up with was my Santa shirt, but he loved it and wore it all afternoon. Later he decided it was his turn to be the reindeer and he made me wear the Santa shirt. Anyways, after dressing up we had to make his sleigh with the reindeer. And he needed a "santa stick" (like a whip) to make the reindeer go. He would say "Dash away, dash away" and call off as many of the reindeer names as he could remember. I was Rudolph and he would say, "Rudolph with your bright nose, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" It was super adorable. And since Koyle kept knocking our reindeer down he became the Abominable Snowmonster. (Can you tell which Claymation Christmas movie was his favorite this year?) A super adorable day with a very excited for Christmas boy...but I must admit that about 2 o'clock my interest and patience in playing the Santa game wore off.

Also this morning I was going through the snow clothes to get them packed up and had the boys try their stuff on. Then Matthew didn't want to take it off since it was Christmas Eve, he needed to wear his snow clothes. So the boys wandered around outside for a little while.
And then the dust storm hit. Last night I randomly got an alert text message that there was a dust storm coming. It hit about noon today and is still raging outside, seven hours later. Here are some pictures for your viewing interest of what a dust storm in Lubbock, TX looks like and what it will do to your house.
Yes, this sky is normally a beautiful Texas blue. Today, it is full of red Texas dirt. We have had dusty, windy days before where the sky gets murky but nothing like this and definitely not for this long.I had just swept the back patio off yesterday. This picture was taken about 3:30, so add another 3 1/2 hours to it and it is even worse now. When I went out to throw a diaper away this evening I left dust footprints in the sand. And the windowsills....
Do you remember when I cleaned my windows when I moved in and I was sure they had never been cleaned before because they were SO full of dirt and SO dirty? Now I am beginning to see why they were so dirty. Looks like I am going to get good at cleaning my window sills.
And this is what blew in under the door: I

I guess I will be adding a few more cleaning tasks to my list of things to do before leaving. I wonder when it will stop blowing outside?

Santa and Christmas Stuff

Well, we survived to the first test. We did REALLY great until the last two days, and then we kind of tanked. So now we are making up with Christmas festivities and such. Last night we went to our friends' Christmas party. It was a lot of fun. We ate yummy cookies, had a rootbeer tasting competition...which I won!, and did a white elephant exchange. A fun night out, even if Matthew and Riggs had snowball fights and sword fights and got into things they shouldn't all night. (Thanks for being a good sport Brittany). This morning we cleaned the house because it was a little crazy. The boys were getting restless and so we turned Rudolph on for them. I gave Koyle a cookie and his blanket and he fell asleep on the couch. There is a first time for everything folks! I love his sleeping face. And it is something I don't get to see very often.And of course Matthew wanted me to take a picture of him.
 And then Justin decided it was time to finally finish my Christmas wreath. I started it a few weeks ago and have been keeping it safe in his clothes drawer. So he sat down with me and we busted it out. It turned out great and I was so glad to finally find a good use for all those Christmas balls I have been storing since my wedding.


This afternoon we took the boys to see Santa Clause. Instead of battling the mall crowd, we took him to a little shopping complex where we heard Santa might be. We found him right as we walked up and Matthew got so giddy and started giggling and dancing around. He wasted no time in asking Santa his question he had been dying to know, "How do you exercise Santa?" Santa hesitated for only a moment and then answered, "All the walking." True to character Matthew was a little shy and didn't spend a lot of time with Santa but did nothing but talk about the experience until he fell asleep in the car on the way home. Koyle didn't love Santa as much but in his defense he fell asleep on the way there and was pretty tired.
  
They also had a free carriage ride around the parking lot. Matthew loved the jingle bells on the horses. It was a low key, noncommercial Santa visit...just the way I like it.


And I remembered I have never posted pictures of my awesome chairs. They really are so fabulous.
One more week until are driving to Idaho. Lots to do, lots to do. But we can hardly wait.

Snow Day

Snow makes whiteness where it falls.

The bushes look like popcorn balls.

And places where I always play,

Look like somewhere else today.

Marie Louise Allen

 I love this poem, because it is so true! Snow makes your ordinary front yard a magical place. My little boy's wish came true last night and we got some snow!!!!!! When he woke up and we showed him the snow out the window he got so excited and immediately started running to the door saying, "We have to have a snowball fight, and build a snowman with a carrot nose." As he was trying to open the door Justin asked him if he was going to go out with no shoes on. Then he started to laugh and decided he better get dressed first. As he was getting dressed he said, "We have to sing our Merry Christmas song because it is Christmas now!" Then he went to the window and sang We wish for a Merry Christmas. (Sometimes he sings it We wish for you a Merry Christmas-super adorable). Anyways, we got the kids bundled and headed out the door. It really was cold this morning- about 15 degrees. But both of the boys loved the snow. Koyle got pretty cold after a while and wanted to go back inside but then he would cry because he wanted to be out with the boys so I would take him back out and then he would cry because it was cold. It's hard to be little. Matthew thinks it is Christmas Eve today because it snowed. We are truly grateful for our Christmas miracle of snow for Matthew.

Our little snowman. There wasn't very much snow, and it was all powder. As you can see Justin had to use a squirt bottle to get the snow to stick into snowballs. This snowman only lasted long enough for the picture and then Matthew took it apart to use the balls for his snowball fight!

Embracing It/ Deer Hunting

I have finally decide to embrace the fact that Koyle only takes one relatively short nap a day. I was talking to a friend the other day who has three kids, ages 3, 20 months, and 1 month. All of her kids still takes naps every day and her problem was that once they went to sleep, they would sleep for too long! And she would usually have to wake them up. Yeah...so not my problem. I guess God knew I could handle it, or something like that. But attitude goes a long way so if I just think of one nap as the norm then it doesn't seem like a failed day when Koyle only sleeps for one hour. And randomly today he slept in until 8 o'clock!! He usually wakes up at 6:15 so this was a welcome surprise. I know better than to hope it will happen 2 days in a row.

Matthew is...well...he's 3. We love him to death and he is cute and hilarious. But he is also whiny, emotional, rambunctious and defiant. Not to mention potty training. He stretches me every day as a person and as a mother. I guess God knew I could handle that too. Or something. I wish  I was better at documenting the awesome things he says all the time. But I did want to record the deer hunting game. I don't think I have shared this before. Matthew LOVES to play deer hunting.
 Sometimes he is the deer and sometimes he is the hunter. When he is the deer he will hide behind the couch, the hallway wall, or the hope chest usually. Then he will slowly creep out pretending to eat grass and the hunter has to shoot him. We have two kinds of guns we use most often. The yellow bat that we just make shooting noises for. Or the buzz lightyear dart guns that don't actually shoot the darts anymore. When you use this gun you have to manually throw the darts to shoot the deer. A very important point for Matthew. Then when you kill the him (he decides whether it takes one shot, or 10 to kill him) he will fall down on the floor. Then you are required to walk over and check out your deer and make comments about what a nice deer you shot.
When Matthew is the hunter, the game goes pretty much the same. But I love what he does when he shoots a deer. So after we fall down dead he will come over and check out the deer. Then if we are on our stomach he will roll us over onto our back (which is hilarious because we are obviously to heavy for him but it's great to let him try for a minute before rolling over.) Then he will cut open our stomach and take out the guts. And often he will then cook you over the fire and eat you. We better end up in Idaho some day because the kid hasn't even been hunting with his dad yet and it is already the coolest thing ever. I fear for the day when he is old enough that I actually have to send him off to the mountains with a real gun.
And tonight Koyle was holding the bat and shooting Matthew, making the noises and everything. It was so adorable.
Oh, and I might add that sometimes Matthew is a bear. He likes to attack the hunter when he is a bear. It doesn't matter how many times you shoot him or cut him with your knife, he will still pretend to attack and eat you until the hunter dies.
And on that lovely note, I will say good night!