A Cowboy Christmas in the Lone Star State

It has been such a blessing to be "home" with my mom, dad & brothers. My parents are still living in the home we grew up in which makes it all the more special to celebrate a holiday or enjoy the day to day life while remembering years past. We had some good laughs watching a home video from Christmas morning from the mid 90's.  It was the year of the Talkboy toys for my brothers, a gigantic cordless phone for my room & a cd tower. There were moments of (current) embarrassment like when I received a set of sheets from a grandparent & acted like a complete brat.....my how the times have changed considering linens might be on a most wanted list for me these days. Kyle at age 5 or 6 was capable of stripping the wrapping paper from a gift in about one millisecond which made us laugh time & time again. The best part was that we were watching in the same room where it had been recorded years before. I know a house is just a house & my parents may move onto a new one someday where we will still enjoy spending time together but it is pretty special to bring my children to the place I grew up. 

Christmas morning was another relaxing time for us. The kids woke up at their regular time & we moseyed on down to the kitchen to fix a quick breakfast for the little ones. Our little reindeer were happy in Daddy's arms watching the birds outside while I got the oatmeal going. 

The uncles awoke & we tidied up the living room while my mom & dad got breakfast going. Kyle & Scott were so happy to pose for a picture by the many stockings.  My mom made hers & my dads when they were first married.   My Grandma Shirley cross stitched mine & Scott's, our great Aunt Ruthie cross stitched Kyle's & good ol' Pottery Barn did a fabulous job on stockings for the fab four.  I felt so bad that I did not bring one for Rob....everyone gave me a hard time ; ) 

While waiting for breakfast to cook, these two cuties watched the train go round & round the Christmas tree. Mighty O got a hold of a car on more than one occasion with his go go gadget arms.  Thankfully no one is crawling quite yet or it could have been disastrous!

and the fab four....

The day before my parents were headed up to Dallas, the electric breaker for the oven was diagnosed as no longer working & they were told that it could not be repaired till after the first of the year. Plan B was to buy "The Big Green Egg" & cook everything possible in it for the week. Thanks to Dad & the big green egg, we have had lots of delicious food!  Christmas morning, my mom made a Mexican breakfast casserole to be cooked on the egg & Dad fired up the Coleman stove to cook a family favorite "Arkansas'" My mom ate these on camping trips growing up, the Ellis family continued the same thing on our camp outs & us Valentine's are still loving them! Here is the outside chef...

Arkansas'- Easy & delicious- heat up oil in a pot, cut refrigerated biscuits into fours & drop them into the heated oil. They turn over when one side is done, cook for a couple minutes longer then remove from oil, deliver to the ladies & roll them in one of three bowls of powdered sugar, regular sugar or cinnamon/sugar mix.  They taste like donut holes...yum!

The girls did some swinging in the backyard before we all gathered at the table for breakfast. The boys were both down for their morning nap when we started to open gifts. Eloise got Charlotte a book about Space which Charlotte is totally obsessed with right now. She was overjoyed & has done lots of "reading" this week.  Charlotte was SO excited to give Eloise the game "Zingo" that she picked out for her. Eloise was quite excited to receive it & gave her big sissy a hug.

There were lots of smiles as gifts were given & received.

We got Charlotte her own sleeping bag & shared the news that she would soon be going on her first camp out with her Daddy. We would love to do this as a family & are just trying to figure out when it will be easier than it would be right now ; ) Charlotte has gotten use out of her sleeping bag each day for rest time, has snuggled in it with her sis & has even gone to sleep in it over night. We got Eloise a scooter so she could scoot along with her sister. She ran to get Charlotte's pink one & "rode" both for the picture. She calls it a "shoota" & I love it. She is getting the hang of riding it around & will be flying around the cul de sac with Char in no time at all.

Kyle got a cool tool with a flexible arm & could pick the bows off of packages without anyone noticing...that was pretty fun to play with & will hopefully be of use to it's new owner.

I call this a Cowboy Christmas because all members of The Valentine Nest were outfitted in cowboy boots by Gaga & Paw Paw! That was quite the fun surprise!

First the cowgirls....

Then Daddy & Mommy...

and then the little buckaroos.....

Now we are all ready for the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo in March & a western party for two little cowboys turning ONE! Yee haw!

Good thing the little guys didn't have spurs on those boots....

Eloise wrestled Owen like she was ropin' a calf except for he was squealing like a little piglet the whole time which is his new favorite sound to make when frustrated. 

Owen decided to play it safe & sit with Gaga for a minute while Anson went for another wild ride...

Anson & Owen added toothbrushes to their travel bags & seemed to know just how to use them although we haven't really used them yet....that is on the list of things to do with child number 3 & 4 in 2014.

Eloise is officially ready for the squirrel hunt now that she has her own binoculars that can be tossed on the ground...

and a few family shots...spending time with this crew was immeasurably better than any gift purchased.

For the rest of the day the kids stayed in pajamas, rode scooters, read the book about Space, went "shopping" & "checked out" with the new cash register & played a LOT of Zingo...

Scott's old roomie Topher is married to a NICU nurse who happened to be working Christmas Day joined us for dinner. He jumped right in on the Zingo fun & even helped with the twins.

We cooked our second meal of the day on the big green egg which was Prime Rib & turned out to be amazingly delicious. Dinner time is always a wee bit wild with lots of extra noise from two hungry babies & little girls still learning table manners ; )

Once we got the babies in bed, we broke out the old Play Station & Guitar Hero.  It was pretty funny. Kyle & Scott are rock stars & killed me in battle of the bands. It didn't matter though, I still felt like I was in a real band & could not help but dance around while strumming. Char even got in on the fun & Elo was our groupie dancing like a maniac to my favorite song to play, "Psychobilly Freakout."

Being a nurse I have worked many a holiday which is just part of the job but, it sure makes the holidays off that much more special! Thankfully it has worked out that I have been off for each of the little one's first Christmas. This year was a gift from God to celebrate with those healthy baby boys who were growing in my womb twelve months ago and their big sisters who bring much delight to our hearts.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

We spent about eight days in Dallas before heading to Kingwood. There are soooo many photos & stories to share of our time there but for now we will skip ahead to to Christmas Eve.  

Christmas Eve day & night were wonderful! We got to meet up with a few of my very best girlfriends from high school that morning at the nearby elementary school a few of us attended. We were sad that Lisa had to work & missed out on the freezing cold playground party but we did enjoy a quick visit.  I made the mistake of making our family leave a little early to get there without checking my phone to see that everyone else was going to be a tad late....oops! It was super cold at the shady Gazebo across from the sunny school playground. The boys lasted about 15 minutes & were cold & screaming so Rob took them home. Kristen arrived first & we made the executive decision to relocate across the street where it looked more like the Sunshine State  ; ) 

Here are 4 out of the 5....

Natalie, me, Kristen & Laura

Natalie is a Certified Nurse Midwife in the Austin area, Kristen teaches elementary school in Round Rock & Laura is the head Volleyball Coach at a highschool in Frisco along with teaching various classes.  I feel like I have missed out on a lot of life with these friends while living in Florida since it has not been so easy to sneak away for weddings, baby showers, girls weekends etc but it was great to see them at the cold cold park. I had not met any of their children so that was quite the treat. We have definitely multiplied since we were all together last!

Patrick & Laura, Gabe & Natalie with Christian (5), Madi(3) & Emma(1),
Kristen & Daniel with Liv(2) (Sweet Layne(9m) was missing) & our bunch on the end.

Lisa, the missing friend is coming to visit our family this afternoon. We can't wait to see her! She is engaged to Euan & they are making plans for the big day which will be March 1, 2014. All of us girls are in the wedding & are looking forward to celebrating with Lisa!

The rest of the day time was fairly low key with some naps for the little ones & hot tea by the fire place with the big people. Uncle Scott & Uncle Kyle were packed up to spend many nights at my parents house so we had a great time relaxing with them. Everyone was up & moving by 3pm so we got cleaned up & dressed up for the Christmas Eve service at my parents church. They all looked pretty spiffy!

Eloise has been bringing much laughter to this family with her silly faces when we ask her to smile. Really hilarious girl we have on our hands.

The boys were looking good with their first hair gel application.  Owen rooster poof in the back went right back up within 20 minutes. It may be hard to tame.

We attempted a family of six picture with absolutely no success. There are 20 in a row with weird faces, hair flying, whining etc. We decided to load up & head to the church instead of forcing more unhappy irritating moments.

We attended the service at the church that we got married in. I loved having our family all together. One fun part is that we got to sit with another family just like ours. My mom met a friend named Leslie through the MOPS program she helps with at her church. Their family has 4 year old & 2 year old girls & identical twin girls that were born just weeks before our boys. My mom has been able to help her a bit by lending an extra hand to manage the new found busyness in her home. Their girls were all beautiful & did awesome during the service. We on the other hand had a noisy little bunch to tend to.

I had Owen up & down in the back while Anson sat in Robby's lap. My mom was in charge of Eloise who at one point was laying across the aisle with my mom attempting to capture her when I peeked in from the back.  I was thankful for Mr. Bob Adams who knew me a young child at that church. He was seated on a small pew in the back while his wife blessed us with her lovely talent on the organ. He happily entertained whatever combination of children I had in my lap. He pulled kleenex out of the box for Eloise & let her stuff them back in. He picked up the same toy about 8 times in a row while Owen played the "uh oh I dropped it game" & he invited Charlotte to sit next to him. The best part was when we lit the candles while we sang the final song. Mr. Adams kept Anson entertained by moving his candle all over the place just barely out of reach. I was grinning ear to ear while watching the rest of my family all in a row singing, Charlotte had her own candle lit & was moving it very carefully which still made me nervous. I was waiting for someone's hair to catch on fire! I laughed when I saw that the candles lit within reach of crazy Eloise were quickly blown out. One other thing that made me laugh was when we were taking communion. The cracker was in my hand as we waited for the pastor to lead us through the act of taking it. Eloise was obsessed with finding out what was in my hand! I was balancing one baby on my lap while trying to stop her from grabbing it & eating it. She kept whispering loudly "I wah see it! What you have mommy? Show me, show me! I wah eat it!" Once it was in my mouth she continued to say "What you eating mommy? Open your mouth! Show me!" Haha! We made it through just over an hour & I didn't get to listen but enjoyed singing with everyone.  I could not have felt more thankful with our little crew in tow. That is precisely how I wanted to spend our time on Christmas Eve.

We arrived home hungry & devoured some gigantic backed potatoes with all the toppings. We got the fire going, read our favorite Christmas book from last year & our new one for this year (Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story &  Humphrey's First Christmas)  once we were in our jammies.  The kids went to bed easily since it was a little later in the evening than they are used to & we settled into a relaxing evening watching Home Alone 2 & hit the sack on the early side as well.

Celebrating Christmas with Grammy & Papa

We enjoyed a fun filled three days with Grammy & Papa before making our way to Texas in mid December. They had planned to spend Christmas & New Years in Orlando & offered to come early, stay late & take care of ol' Beller while we were away. It was a pretty good deal for us considering big Bob likes to stay busy & took on touching up some paint around the house which turned into repainting all the baseboards, sanding down the inside of the front door & repainting that as well. You may ask why the front door might need to be sanded down prior to painting....thanks to that sweet Benny boy's claws that shredded the paint when he ran full force 25 feet before smashing into the door to say "hello" to anyone who might knock...it was necessary ; ) All that to say, we are blessed & thankful to have a live in handy man for the time we are away!  Bella has been happy to have someone around to offer her a snuggle or a scratch & Jenny, Steve & the kids have enjoyed spending time with this lovely couple as well.  

Back to our time together.....

Aunt Jenny & Uncle Steve got Eloise the classic "Let's Go Fishing" game which Papa jumped right into playing with them. It got a LOT of use in a short period of time!

We cooked dinner together one evening & exchanged gifts which is just more & more fun with kids getting older! Owen got the hang of tearing the paper off once a big sis got it started & Anson was pretty excited to have a paper snack ; )

The boys got their first real "boyish" toy. It was a Fisher Price Wheelies car wash & garage plus 9 cars to go with it. SUPER fun for all to add some boy toys to the mix at this girlie house! 

Charlotte got the neatest what I like to call "learning toy." It is called Imaginets & is a skinny case that latches shut with magnetic/dry erase board on the inside. It comes with a set of magnet shapes & cards that have a picture of how to arrange the magnets to make an animal or design. Eloise decided she liked it too. Bella on the other hand was angry no one got her a gift ; )

Eloise received a Hair Stylist costume fit with accessories that Charlotte really took a liking to. I guess they figure Papa's hair needed the most attention because he was stuck in that chair for a LONG time!  

We were laughing so hard when Eloise was working on his hair. She was blow drying the same spot for about 10 minutes & Bob kept saying "Ma'am, I think you are burning my scalp, you haven't moved your dryer in a long time! Ma'am, please, it hurts." Hahahaha! What a great addition to our playroom! He gave them a dollar for a tip that ended up being tucked in the pocket on the smock so when one of them comes to cut your hair they give it to you when your appointment starts so you can give it to them when you are pleased with the final result. I do realize that pretend scissors & pretend haircuts could have some really bad outcomes when mixed with reality so we do pop quizzes all the time that include the questions "Do you ever cut your own hair? Do you cut your sisters hair?" Keep drilling that in...

Grammy got some attention too....

Bob & Jeannine surprised us with a creative & thoughtful gift. We got a basket filled with assorted Starbucks coffee, mugs that say "Good morning" & a book for each of us to enjoy on our trip which we have. I just know that this family is excited I finally came around & started drinking coffee after 10 years of saying "no thank you" ; )

I love this one of Anson & Papa while dancing in the kitchen...

Grammy got some snuggles in with her girlies while watching Frosty the Snowman.

Another gift for me was that Grammy & Papa were on kid duty for a couple chunks of time while I could get some laundry & packing done. It was SO very helpful as we were preparing for our trek to Texas. 

We can hardly wait to get home & spend some time with them! We are hoping to have a family Pierogi Day & go on our annual squirrel hunt if weather permits. I must say I am a tad excited to see & smell all that fresh paint too ; )