The beginning of Christmas!

Well, we really broke tradition this year....we didn't go see Santa today, OR go out to eat for Mexican food like we do every year!  It took us two days to put up decorations (are we getting old?), and Nathan had a sleepover with Chance last night, so we really didn't have much time.  We'll just change it up this year!

We decorated the tree, listened to Christmas music, drank hot chocolate and ate cookies.  The kids had fun, and are VERY excited it's finally close to Christmas!  They are also super excited to see Clover and are wondering when he'll make his first appearance.

Zoo...

Brynn invited Madison to the Ft. Worth zoo today, and she had a lot of fun!

Her favorite part was seeing the baby monkey's, and also feeding the birds.  It was perfect weather for the zoo, they said it wasn't too crowded, and she had fun being with Brynn.  I just love that these two girls are still so close (7 years later)!

Six Flags!

We've missed the past two years at Six Flags, and while Disney World was MUCH better, it was still nice being able to go again!  The rides are a lot more intense at Six Flags (which is great for the kids - not necessarily me).  We brought some friends with us since they have season passes, and we had so much fun with them!

We couldn't get Madison on SuperMan or the obnoxiously high swings (I don't blame her!), but she rode everything else, and even tried Mr. Freeze this year!  Nathan loved Superman and the swings though....anything that goes high and fast, he loves.

They all loved the Shock Wave, and rode it several times!

Of course, we had to do the old fashioned cars...they're always a fun and relaxing one!

It's really nice that the kids are older and can ride rides without mommy and daddy now.  They rode this one several times in a row, and managed not to get sick!

Madison still has a hard time with the Conquistador....she likes it, but is a little iffy about that feeling in her tummy when it goes high!

While Madison was riding Mr. Freeze and Batman (which Nathan was REALLY bummed that he wasn't tall enough to ride), Nathan and Graysen rode Superman about 8 times in a row.  They would get off, run to the front, get right back on, and ride it again!  It started getting dark and they thought it was pretty cool riding with the neat green light shining on them.

These kids had a BLAST, and are quite the daredevils.  They both rode Texas Giant and Titan, and loved them!  Madison rode the Titan twice, and Nathan rode the Titan four times in a row.  I'm not sure how many times today I heard from Nathan, "This is AWESOME!"

I love how Mary Kay does this for their employees, and I hope they keep doing it!  It's a great day to go to Six Flags with no lines at all.  They rode everything they wanted to ride, some multiple times, and it was gorgeous weather today.  It was a fun day!

A love of books...

The kids and I were having a conversation about Jesus coming back, and Nathan says, "It could be in 1 minute?  15 seconds?  I sure hope it's not THAT quick, because I want to finish my book"!  Oh this boy....I'm sure glad he loves books so much!

Thanksgiving lunch...

Nathan's school had a Thanksgiving lunch today, and I went up to see him!  He wouldn't touch the school's turkey meal, but he still enjoyed having me there.  I love that he still gets excited and wants me to come to things at school.  I want to freeze time and not let him grow up anymore!

Camp-out...

Every year, our church has a weekend-long campout.  We've never been before, because we're usually getting ready for DisneyWorld.  This year we decided to go for the day.  We didn't stay the night because we have to teach class in the morning at church, it's Michael's bday tomorrow, and well, we just aren't big on camping!  One day though, one day.  We all had a lot of fun being out in nature and bonding with our friends!

This tree swing was the highlight of the day!

Getting to dissect a fish was another highlight, for Nathan.  We have a future surgeon on our hands!

Madison was a little mommy today, making sure Graham was having a good time!

We went on a hayride tonight, and the kids liked that.  It got a little chilly at the end once the sun went down though!  We were hoping to see some deer, but we had to settle for cows.  Lots of them.

At one point, he stopped for a Chinese fire drill.  The kids were SO confused and had no clue what they were doing!

They roasted marshmallows for smores...

We had a great devo (by Michael!), sang songs, ate dinner, and then started to pack up for our hour and a half drive home.  The kids were whooped from a long day!

I'm glad we made it this year, and maybe we'll even stay overnight next year.  MAYBE.  We have a year to think about it!  It was a great day with perfect weather and lots of fun!

Nathan and his Post-it notes...

Nathan makes me laugh so much!  He writes a Post-it note for EVERYTHING....even for playing the iPad on the weekend (like he'd forget that).  It's a daily activity for him - writing Post-it notes for something.  I noticed this on his door today, and I couldn't stop laughing!  Apparently, it hasn't helped though...maybe we should stick this somewhere more visible?