Bear Hunt

So what do you do when you are stuck in the house all day with two young kids. This doesn't happen too often to me. I always find a reason for us to go somewhere. However, this morning I had no choice but to stay in. There was freezing rain coming down all morning long. So we had to entertain ourselves. One way we did this was by going on a bear hunt. Care Bear to be exact. Jace was dressed in camo with his gun in hand. He loved searching for the bear, but he wouldn't ever shoot him!

Ready for the hunt

What a trophy

Hayden followed Jace around most the time. He always wants to be in the middle of whatever we are doing.

Whatcha doing Mom?

Hayden one year pictures

Hayden(1) and Jace(3 1/2)

Me and the boys

Hayden at one

Jace at one

I put this last on in for comparison. What do you think? Do they look alike at all?

Our little one

is now One! I can't believe it. How the year has flown by. Just one year ago he looked like this.

Now he is such a big boy. We had his birthday party the other day. He didn't really get into the presents, but oh how he loved his cake! Clint's parents were there and we invited a few families over to celebrate with us. It was a fun time.

Hayden opening his gifts

Jace helping Hayden blow out his candle

Let me see what this tastes like!

Mmmm! I think I like this!

I think all that suger has kicked in!

Christmas

Well Christmas time came and went so fast for us. I am sure it did for many of you too. We spent the holiday in Texas. Our first stop was Odessa. I had the pleasure (or pain) of driving the 15 hour drive by myself with the 2 boys and our dog. I drove to Dallas the first night and stayed with my sister there. Along the way I hit Oklahoma City at rush hour and had Jace throw up in the car 5 miles from my sisters. The 10 hour trip took us 13 1/2 hours. The next day went much better. It was only a 5 hour drive. Once in Odessa we had a great time. Jace and Hayden got to play with their cousins and be spoiled by family. We saw some of Clint's family that we don't get to see very often. The following picture is all of Clint's Mema's great grandkids. (our kids are the boys, Clint's sister's kids are the 2 older girls, and Clint's cousin's kids are the 2 younger girls)
From Odessa we headed to San Antonio to spend Christmas day and the rest of the week with my family. We have a Christmas tradition of everyone wearing coordinating PJs. The following picture is of our kids and my sister's 2 children.
My family in our Christmas PJs. You may also notice our great stockings in the back. My brother in law made them for us.
Hayden enjoying his first Christmas. Opening his stocking to see what he got! I wasn't sure what to expect with him. I thought he might enjoy the paper at least, but he was kinda blah about the whole thing. He would play with a new toy for a few minutes but he mostly just wanted me to hold him.
Jace received a Bob the builder (by request) and a race track from Santa. He was very excited.
I will finish with Jace's letter to Santa this year. Happy New Year to all!

Dear Santa:
I would like a Bob the Builder please. I would also like a pink present. I have tried to be a very good boy and obey my parents and be nice to my brother and my dog. Could you bring Hayden a Bob the builder too, and bring Maverick a puppy Bob the Builder. Thank You. Jace

Happy Holidays

Videos

This is just a little clip of our little singer. He was singing "Go tell it on the mountain" This is one of the songs they are singing at his Mother's Morning Out Christmas program. I should add he is singing in his "funny voice". I couldn't get him to do it normal. In case you don't notice, he never stops moving. This is how he is if he is awake, constantly moving...and talking or singing.

This second video is of Hayden crawling. He has finally mastered crawling on all fours. Jace couldn't stand that I was trying to get Hayden on video and had to keep getting in the way. You may also notice the billions of toys everywhere. Hayden has figured out how to dump his toy bucket and this is usually one of the first things he does every morning.

Adventures with Santa

This past weekend we had a Christmas party with a group from church. The family that hosts every year does a bang up job. The food was wonderful as was the time to visit. The highlight for the kids is that Santa and Mrs. Claus make a guest appearance. When the door bell rang, the kids all ran up stairs screaming "Santa's here, Santa's here!" All but Jace off course. He slowly came up the stairs and then as soon as he saw Santa he ran and climbed into Clint's arms. We went downstairs for the kids to receive their gifts. Jace stayed about as far away as he could be, but still be able to see what was given out. Hayden received a cute teddy bear and Jace got a car from the movie Cars. Here are some pictures.

Mr. and Mrs. ClausHayden getting his first gift from Santa

Jace getting his gift as fast as he could and then running back to the safe zone

Mrs. Claus reading a story

The best picture we could get. It took awhile to get Jace to sit on her lap.
Hayden's first picture with Santa

All the kids