Christmas Caroling

Here's a little Christmas blessing from our kiddos. . .

I recommend clicking the video and watching this on YouTube since part of the right side gets cut off in this version.

Health Update

This morning I had a follow up procedure with the cardiologist to check on what they found this summer. Click here if you want a refresher about our summer. So Rob & I left our house at 6:30 and headed to presbyterian for another echocardiogram and then a Transesophageal Echocardiogram(TEE) to check the "lipomatous infiltration of intra-atrial septum" or in lay man's terms--fatty tissue that has connected to the heart.

So basically it looks the same which is GREAT! That means that it is not growing, and therefore not a threat . I am supposed to hear back from doctor, but that's what we know for now. So if I don't post about it again, just know that I'm fine :) I will most likely have another check-up done in 2009 sometime, and I'll mention it again then.

Praise the Lord for a healthy heart for the holidays! I'd much rather concentrate on His sweet gift of life that He has given us through His son.

Ice

We in Texas don't quite know what to do when it gets so cold. Schools close and parking lots don't get sanded. What do I mean you ask? Well, Ridge had his two year appointment at the doctor, and Cobb's school was closed. So Cobb, Charly, & I headed to Raintree Pediatrics where the parking lot was a solid block of ice. Ok, I may be exaggerating slightly (only slightly), but it is true that I drove to a parking spot that did NOT have any cars next to me for fear of sliding & crashing into a shiny new Lexus.

I carefully step one foot out of the car while cautioning my kiddos to NOT get out til mommy can help them. I stabilize my left foot, shift my weight ever so carefully in order to remove the rest of my body from my tall Sequoia. Then, the "stable" foot slips right out from under me causing me to fly in the air. Failing to catch myself with my other foot, I land right on my hip(cushioned thankfully!). Cobb begins laughing because I looked like the poor girl who falls off the table in that youtube video (yes, he's seen it). See below if you haven't seen it. . .




When I told Cobb that I was really hurt, he became empathetic & helped me ice my foot in the pediatrician's office.

Well, I went to see Dr. Bindra today because the pain continues. The result? I now have a sprained toe joint and a possible chip in the bone.

Celebrating RT Productions

We had our 5th Christmas party last night! In the past we've had the company Christmas party at restaurants, but this time we had it at our house. It was so fun to have everyone over. Stacey & I hung out and prepared for the party all day Monday, plus Martha & Stacey were over helping decorate on Sunday. Here's a few pics:

Then the party began:




This is an envelope with Santa's favorite things in it. Rob picks some awesome gifts that people may not buy for themselves, but would love to have. Everyone gets to pick one thing off that list.

Here's all the envelopes on the tree, and an example of the top of the Santa's favorite things(not to be revealed to the public).

Here's some looking at their options:


Thanks everyone for coming over!

Happy Birthday Ridge

You make me smile daily, and often laugh out loud at your "yep," "uh oh," and "Oh NO!" comments. And I love the way you laugh at yourself, laughing out loud with a sweet little chuckle. I love your sly look, your requests for kisses and hugs, your soft cheeks, and your winning smile. You love your brother & sister, and you are never shy about showing it. You have a stubborn streak, but you are also a softy. Thanks for bringing us such joy for the last two years! You are a blessing from the Lord, and I can't wait to see what this next year brings.

Santa

Last Friday we went to see Santa(A.K.A. Fred Fifer) at the Fifer's house. Every year since Cobb was just a baby, Sarah has convinced her father-in-law to pose as Santa so her friends can avoid the crowds. It's so fun. Click here for her post.

Here are some pics from the day.


The boys:

The girls(Charly with Abby & KK Fifer):


This year, Cobb ran in ahead of us and jumped right into Santa's lap. And here's pics of Cobb's first two years:


Thanks Santa Fifer!!

Sleep

Why is it that the one morning I have to be out the door by 7:45, my kids decide to sleep past 6? Yes, they are STILL sleeping. I'm absolutely amazed. It's 7:15, and I'm going to actually wake them up. Don't get me wrong, I've been grateful for the extra time this a.m. I'm just shocked.

For those of you who don't know, my daughter usually gets up between 5 and 5:30. She' s been encouraged strongly to NOT come downstairs before the sun wakes up. However, she will usually make her way down at 6 saying that the sun is "almost" up or "Cobb is up" or "Ridge is up." There's no sending anyone back to bed when two or more have opened their eyes for the day.

All Ye Faithful

All Ye Faithful from Igniter Media on Vimeo.

All Ye Faithful is a video that Igniter just completed for Christmas... it's a call to worship video, similar to our Easter one, Because He Lives.

I loved getting to work on this project because I got to bring in all my friends that have great voices and hang out with them... an hour at a time. As you can see, there are some familiar faces from 'Because He Lives' and this time I was able to get two family members in... Kyle and Elle (my niece). Also, Chuck Adair, my youth leader from Skillman days (1987-1990) is in there.

Of course it's always fun to work with Cary Pierce, Jon Abel, and Patrick Ryan Clark... all three so talented.

Alright if I'm listing everyone... I love Linda Martin... she has such a rich voice. And Sasha nails that last note perfectly. Tyrone Johnson has such an amazing voice and he's hilarious. Sean, Valetta, Aaron, Tamar, and Russ were either new friends for me, or new to this experience... and they all did great.

I know, I know... I should have gotten Charly to sing a part... at least that's what Haley and my mom keep telling me.

As for Ridge. . .

I can't say that he still has a head full of hair. Nor can say his hair still looks cute. But oh well. . . we still have MUCH to be thankful for.


Hats may enter the wardrobe more often.

The New Do!

We went over to Aunt Missy's today to see if she could try to fix Charly's hair. This is what she had to work with:

You can also see other pics from the photos in the last post.

Missy is a genius.

It looks really cute. Missy parted the hair on the other side so we could create some length on the left side, and it turned out to be a really cute little bob. Charly has had a hard time with it today, but she'll get used to it. Here she is at the beginning of the blow dry. . . holding in the cry

On the verge of tears:

And then there was a total melt down. She cried over the loss of her long hair. She was so so sad, and so it made me sad. This is after the meltdown when we were able to talk about it. I had just finished saying that I wished I could make it long again, but I can't. She made a choice, and it's going to take a while for it to grow back.

This is such a great lesson to learn. We need to be thankful in all circumstances. Her hair is adorable, and she still has a full head of it. Thanks to Missy, it still looks cute too! There is MUCH to be thankful for, and mommy is SO SO grateful that Ridge & Charly weren't hurt. Those scissors had come awfully close to the scalp on both of them (safety scissors really aren't THAT safe).

Charly + Scissors

Yes, Charly cut her hair. I'm so sad. I was just talking to my friends Brandy & Jessica about how Brandy's daughter Selah had cut her hair. We talked about how important it was to put the scissors away. But somehow (not sure WHY I didn't heed the warning) I thought Charly was responsible with the scissors. She had never even hinted towards using them on anything other than paper. And she's almost 4! Shouldn't she be at least slightly responsible?? HA! Lesson learned by mommy for sure.

And poor sweet Ridge. He didn't know he was allowing his sister to butcher his hair. He looked like one of those cats who has mange. His daddy tried his best to repair it by buzzing it.

The Mug Shot

The Cut:

The evidence:

The innocent bystander:



More pictures to follow tomorrow as we try to correct the damage. We're praying Aunt Missy may be able to do something with her hair. We'll see.

Christmas Prep

This weekend we decorated for Christmas. I love it when my house is all decorated. I wish I could leave Christmas decor up longer than just December. Oh well.


Here's the little elf in our garage returning home from getting our Christmas Tree at our local Christmas Tree farm (Home Depot. . . ha ha!).

Saturday I ran out of lights for the Christmas tree so we went back to Home Depot. To our surprise, Santa was there!



The kids loved telling him what they wanted, and I enjoyed how this Santa took the time to encourage each of them for something. He praised Cobb for being a good big brother, Charly for helping her mommy, and Ridge for being sweet. All true.

Then the kids and I returned to the house to decorate the tree so we could surprise daddy when he got home. Rob was painting over at T & M's new house.

At first they had all the ornaments on the bottom, but were glad to move them higher because that meant they got to stand on the stools.


Later, we put lights on the house. I really enjoy climbing and heights (wonder where my kids get it!), so I begged Rob to let me get on the roof to do the lights. He agreed. Here's me on the roof:

Here's how Rob feels about me being on the roof:

And here's the big picture of all that was going on. Our neighbors were also decorating so it was a busy outside on Saturday.

Don't worry about the strand hanging down. I wasn't quite finished when Rob took this picture.