Getting to Know Me....Christmas Edition! 1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? - Wrapping paper. I always have a special kind that I buy for each year. 2. Real tree or artificial? - Artificial....I hate the needles that I have to clean up. 3. When do you put up the tree? - Usually we start the weekend after Thanksgiving, but since having Jacob sometimes it takes us a little longer. 4. Do you like eggnog? - NO! Disgusting! 5. Favorite gift received as a child? - I think the best gift I ever received was a CD player boom box. I think I got about 5 CD's that year, MC Hammer, New Kids, Vanilla Ice, and some others. I know bad taste. 6. Do you have a nativity scene? - Yes, but I didn't put it out this year because it is breakable and the little man has his hands all over everything. 7. Hardest person to buy for? - My husband. He never says anything that he wants. And when he does it is usually something for hunting and I am clueless. 8. Easiest person to buy for? - Jacob. He's only 15 months so of course he's not to picky right now. I could wrap an old gift and he wouldn't know the difference. 9. Mail or email Christmas cards? - Mail! I love mailing Christmas cards and I love going to the mailbox everyday during December to see if we received any Christmas cards. Which means I better get to work on sending our's out. 10. Favorite Christmas movie? - The Christmas Story. As a kid we would always watch it and now it has become a tradition on TV for 24 hours straight of "The Christmas Story." 11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? - Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving and I usually finish mid December. 12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? - All the dinner sides. I love all the casseroles and potatos. I am not a big fan of turkey, but I don't mind it. 13. Clear lights or colored lights on the tree? - Clear lights. I don't like colored lights for some reason. 14. Favorite Christmas song? - I really don't have a favorite Christmas song. I actually don't really listen to it that much. Too many of the songs get stuck in my head. 15. Travel or stay home at Christmas? - We usually stay at home because all of our family lives in the area. 16. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? - Dasher, Prancer, Donner, Vixen, Comit, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen, Rudolph!.....that is all I can name. I was trying to sing the song in my head. Ha! 17. Angel on tree top or star? - usually some kind of bow that I have made and an tree topper ornament. 18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? - We always open presents on Christmas morning. 19. The most annoying thing about this time of year? - Nothing really bothers me about this time of year. I love it! It is my favorite time of year. 20. What I love most about Christmas? - Spending time with my family. I love the togetherness. I also enjoy going to Children's Mass on Christmas Eve.

Christmas 2009 Santa Pictures

We fought the mall traffic and got Jake's picture with Santa today:

Here is his December 2008 picture with Santa, what a difference:

I would like Jake's 2009 picture with the 2008 version of Santa. I am not sure whats going on with Jolly Old Man but he has those deer in the headlights look about him.

Since its one of my favorite pictures, here is Santa Jake from last year:

Jakes 1st TCU Game and the Like

We took Jacob to his first Football game this past weekend, a 51-10 TCU beatdown of New Mexico. Now on to a BCS Bowl to be named later (please be the Sugar if not the National Championship)

We could only stay the first half because as you can see in this picture he was all over the place in typical Jacob Style. Oh and he likes to feed Seven his dog food when we happen to leave the laundry room door open:

I apologize this has taken me this long to put together. Thanks to Raegan at http://hansonsdallas.blogspot.com/ for nominating me for this award. Sorry it took so long, I couldn't think of anything say about myself. Here are the rules for the award: 1) You must thank the person who gave the award and list their blog and link it. 2) You must share "10 Honest Things" about yourself. 3) You have to present this award to 7 others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you. 4) Last, you must tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving the award. "10 Honest Things" 1) I love to design and decorate. You would never have guessed it by the piles of projects that I have all over my house. Just ask my husband what my favorite thing to do when he is out of town, I guarantee he will tell you she's painting the walls again. 2) I am very OCD and ADD. What a combination!!! There are some things that drive my husband crazy about how attention to detail I am, such as ironing the sheets before I put them on the bed, making sure all the clothes are hung on white plastic hangers, the blinds all have to hanging at the same height, etc. I could go on and on about the tiny little things that I am obessed about. But then you turn the corner and I've become the ADD girl that can carry on a conversation in multiple directions it would make your head spin. I seriously can start a conversation off on the topic of the Economic crisis we are in and somehow end up on the discussion of pureed dog food, a do or don't. It's just the way my brain connects things. 3) Same as Raegan, I love shoes. I pretty much have about 90-100 pairs in my closet. I did finally get rid of few so there aren't as many. And yes, they are all in clear boxes, stacked on top of each other and divided up into categories, color, season, and style. I told ya OCD!!! 4) I love the smell of the bathroom after we give Jacob a bath. It smells so fresh and clean from all the baby soap. If only I could get my whole house to smell like that all the time. 5) I secretly want to be Martha Stewart. Okay maybe not actually be her, but somehow build an empire like hers with crafts, designs, and cooking. I just need all those people that work for her to come help me build my empire. Of course it would be for free. Sounds like a deal to me. 6) I can stop whatever I am doing and always sit down and watch a chick flick. Even if I really don't like the movie. That's the ADD in me because it means that I was probably in the middle something that wasn't very interesting, like filing the bills and I wanted to procrastinate. 7) I really like to watch Reality TV. A lot of it is because I like competition and I want to see who would win, but I guess you can't consider The Real Housewives... a competition unless it's a race to determine who is going to use up their last brain cell first. And yes I still watch them all. 8) I love to read other people's blog. Regardless of whether they are happy or sad. I mainly read blogs about people that write about their children. I love reading about other people's perspective on their little ones. It is so cute and funny to see how we all look at our children and try to figure out who they will become based on different character traits and funny situations that encounter each and every day. Some days, it would seem as if Jacob is going down the path of a WWE ring fighter and then other days because he is so whiney I think he might become a politician. 9) I have the worst diet in the world. It amazes my husband that I will go a whole day only eating junk food and that I consider it to be normal. I am trying to get better at cutting back on the sweets and adding in more nutritional food, but it does creep in there every once in awhile. OMG I was horrible during my pregnancy. I am surprised I didn't gain over 60 lbs. I lived on KFC mashed potatoes, sour patch kids, smarties, and Arizona lemon tea in a can. Empty calories!!! 10) Becoming a mother has changed my life more than I will ever know. Jacob has been one of the most wonderful little boys I will ever have the pleasure of getting to know. I feel guilty sometimes about being a working mother because I don't get to see him as much as I use too. But then I realize I am a better mother for doing what I have to do for my family. Right now at this age he doesn't understand why mommy and daddy have to leave every day, but one day I hope he recognizes the sacrifices we've had to go through for him. While Vince and I enjoy both working, if we had a choice or of course won the lottery we would much rather be with Jacob.

These are the other peoples' blogs that I read and find inspirational in some sort.

1) MckMama from http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

2) Kelly from http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/

3) Patrice from http://patriceandmattwilliams.blogspot.com/

4) Joy from http://threecalhouns.blogspot.com/

5) Sue from http://thelifeofsuz.blogspot.com/

6) http://mysweetsavannah.blogspot.com/

7) http://roomtoinspire.blogspot.com/

Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch 2009

Here's a few photos of our trip out the the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch 2009!!!

Pumpkin Painting 2009

We hosted our annual Pumpkin Painting at our house this year. We invited all of our friends and their kids to come on over and join in the festivities. We had such a great time. I guess I didn't really plan the timing all that great because it was in the middle of the UT vs. OU game. So that basically meant all the dads were pre-occupied with football. Oh well we all still had a great time. I think the kids really enjoyed themselves and the clean-up was not that bad. Basically you take the regular kind of paint and mix it with dish soap so that it washes out better.

I put down tons of newspaper in the rotunda and basically let the kids go at it.

Jacob even got to paint his own pumpkin. I think he paint more on his hands and face.

Austin was the master of the painting the pumpkin. He covered the whole thing.

"Jason say cheese!"

McKinnely looking at another pumpkin.

Mia was just content being the little artist that she is. She was the last one done and took her time. I see a gallery opening in her future.

Mia was so tired afterward she decided to take a little cat nap with Aunt Marisa.

We lined up all the kiddos with their pumpkins. McKinnely, Jason and Austin.

We had to take seperate pictures of Jacob because there was no way he would sit still with all the other pumpkins lined up.

He was so tired by the end of it he kept laying his head on Big Daddy's shoulder to take a little nap. Too bad it didn't last long because he kept getting interested in everyone around him. I am so glad that we decided to keep the tradition going. I think painting pumpkins is a much better idea than carving when it comes to kids. I know I didn't want a trip to the ER that day.

TCU 56, Tx State 21, Vince Negative $300

On the 19th our Alma maters met on the football field for the first time, Tx State traveled to TCU. We have had this date circled on the calender for a couple of years ever since I first started hearing of the possible match up. This was going to be an all out civil war in The PorterHouse. Of course my Bobcats play in the FCS (Football Champion Subdivision formerly known as Division IAA) and TCU is a FBS school (Football Bowl Subdivisions formerly referred to as Division IA). The difference between the divisions in football is fairly apparent as FCS schools rarely knock off a FBS school on the football field , therefore going into this game I knew my Bobcats stood a tall task. In fact before the game I found a website that had TCU favored by 35 points which is a huge spread in football. However with me being the homer for Bobcat Football I was willing to challenge Rebecca to a wager on the outcome of the game, not straight up but with points. With that said Rebecca would give Tx State 28 points and the winner got their bragging rights and a little something extra. For those of you that don't quite get point spreads, basically TCU would have to win by more than 28 points for her bet to win or else I would win (essentially the game was 28-0 Tx State before it even kicked off with my point spread). Anyway I threw this wager out at the last minute thinking it would be for bragging rights and maybe a massage or a something to pamper the other spouse. Well Rebecca's idea of being pampered was a Coach Purse. Not quite what I had in mind but I thought my Bobcats can keep it close and I get a new shotgun out of this deal so my win was a new 12 Gauge. Now I did not really need a new shotgun so I am fairly sure had my team won that I would not have pushed for this new gun. Rebecca on the other hand damn sure did not need another purse as she already has a few. Well as the game wore on it was 28-14 at the half and I could care less about this wager as I am hoping my Bobcats can pull off this miracle and win straight up. In the 3rd Quarter we get it to 35-21 and we have the ball on the 10 yd line about to push it in for a 35-28 game when our QB throws an interception and the wheels shoot off from there and TCU and Patterson proceed to run up the score in the 4th Qtr to make it a 56-21 final , as you can see the Horned Frogs covered the Rebecca/Vince 28 point wager so she wins. Of course she pokes and prods and enjoys her bragging rights as they won but the ensuing week she would not shutup about this purse. Every chance she got to rub it in she would, I would be sitting at my desk working hard on tax returns and get an email from Rebecca with a subject line of "Look at What I found at Coach.com" as she would send me the exact purse she had wanted. So yesterday I finally owned up to my part of the wager and we went to the Coach store in Southlake and she picked out the one she wanted, here it is with TCU Purple Lining and all to make sure I never forget to the score of the PorterHouse Civil War:

All in all this game was a lot of fun. We had a big 20-30 person tailgate with a lot of folks we went to school with and really enjoyed ourselves. I absolutely love football season and getting a chance to go out and tailgate and mingle for a few hours with our friends, it was a lot of fun. However , the next time we face off on the football field I might take more points or knock down the prize as Coach is certainer proud of their handbags.

The week before last was also our 4th wedding anniversary and we got my mom to come to the house to watch Jacob and we went to Trulucks in Southlake for a anniversary dinner (Now that I think of it Southlake is taking all of my paychecks here recently). We had a great time going out as Rebecca has never gone before and gotten to indulge in their famous chocolate cake, wow that some good stuff. Here is a picture we coaxed the waiter into taking of us :

Good Times!

Birthday Photos

Hey everyone. We got the proofs back from the photographer from Jacob's birthday party. I love the pictures. Take a look yourselves. Go to Jacob's 1st Birthday Party Click on client proofs and then you will see Jacob's gallery. These aren't all the photos, there are more to come. Enjoy!!!. I promise to write a whole blog about the birthday party later once I have a little bit more time.

Goodbye Brodie Bear

I am going to use this blog as therapy today to eulogize our beloved dog. On Thursday we lost Brodie, a big part of the family. He was the sweetest , most gentle, easy going dog I have ever been around and I have had my share of good puppy dogs through my days. Brodie was Rebecca's dog from her TCU days that she adopted at 6 months from an neighbor in an apartment . Being the dog person that Rebecca is she took him in and gave him all the love he could handle for the better part of 9 years. Seven and I came along back in '03 and the four of us could not have gotten along any better. In fact we always had to get onto Seven because he would always want to show Brodie how much they got along and Brodie was never the wiling recipient of Seven's affectionate ways , if you get my drift. I could dive off into a thousand different stories of our dogs and how much they are a part of our day to day lives, but the remarkable part of Brodie was his disposition. The best example I could give is how he was around Hurricane Jacob. Jake is all over the place moving 600 miles a minute and when he approaches Seven he either completely leaves the room or gives a snarl before his exit. Not Brodie though. Brodie would let Jake climb all over him, hug him , kiss him, let Jake pull his ears all while just looking up at Rebecca or I as if to say "No big deal guys but this does deserve an extra scoop of Dog Food or perhaps a Rawhide would not be out of the question!". Brodie's disposition was cool , calm, and collected. The only thing that would get him out of his nonchalant ways would be the occasional thunderstorm. He was the most low maintenance dog you could ask for in that way. What Brodie did have was Canine Epilepsy. For the past four years we have dealt with seizures with Brodie that were unsettling no matter how many times before you had gone through it. We were able manage most of his seizures with medication from the vet but the seizures never went away. In fact Brodie was my alarm clock 7 days a week at 6am as he would sit next to my side of the bed and grunt until I got up to give him & 7 their morning cheese with his medication. He would have a seizure about once every 3-4 months it would seem like. The seizures themselves were about 1 minute long in length but nonetheless a traumatic event to the guys health and to witness. This Thursday he happened to have a seizure while we were at work and he could not quite snap out of on his own. I actually came home early that day out of the blue at 4:30 since I had a client appt that ended in the afternoon and decided to come back to the house. I found the grumpy bear in the mist of his last seizure and felt absolutely helpless as I held him and said goodbye before he drifted into a peaceful sleep. The house feels so eerily different and lonely without him. Seven deeply misses his brother as do Rebecca , Jacob and I. We love you Brodie, we miss you so much!

Big Boy Room!!!

Okay as promised I have finally finished Jacob's big boy room. It has taken me forever. One reason is because I am way to picky and couldn't quite narrow down exactly what I wanted to do. Secondly, have you ever tried to paint a room with a wild child running all around your feet and legs. Sometimes I could only paint to a certain height on the wall because I could go too low or someone would have their fingers all in it. What a mess. So here it is! Tell me what you think? I did all the painting by myself free-hand and that is probably what took the most time. In the Jungle, the mighty jungle the lion sleeps tonight...