New Photographer in the Family....

Well, I think it's safe to say that Kaylyn LOVES her new V-Tech digital camera since she has managed to take 215 photos since she opened it yesterday! Above I uploaded one of the photos she took of her little brother Jack while he ate dinner. Pretty good for a beginner. We'll have to see what pictures she takes when we go to Disney World in a week!!

Christmas in Lufkin

Brian took Kaylyn and Jack up to Lufkin earlier in the week to spend time with Nia and Papa. Nia and Papa had birthday and Christmas festivities planned. Unfortunately I had to work and missed out on all of the good food and fun, but Brian came back with great pictures and the kids had a wonderful time as usual. They celebrated Jack's birthday on Wednesday night with cake and presents. Thursday morning (Christmas Eve morning) they celebrated Christmas with a nice lunch and gift-opening before heading back to Houston. As a nice last-minute surprise, Scott and Kathleen were also able to make the drive up to Lufkin for the celebrations. Click here to see pictures.

Christmas in Houston

I had to work Christmas Eve Day and it was a busier day than I expected. I finally got home at 8:15pm and we got ready to go to my Tita Joan and Tito Manny's house for Christmas Eve. We brought macaroni and cheese casserole and cheese potatoes. We also brought a Thomas the Tank Engine birthday cake to celebrate Jack turning 2 years old. We had a great time. We sang Happy Birthday and Jack blew out his candles (with Kaylyn's help). At midnight, we passed out all the gifts and had a mass gift opening. By then, the children were waning fast. We headed home shortly after 1am. The kids were asleep by the time we got home. Everyone slept in and we opened gifts from Santa the next morning as Brian and I drank coffee and ate sausage fondue casserole....YUMMY! Click here to see more pictures.

Dear Santa...

Kaylyn is taking a computer class as part of her curriculum for school. She has already learned the names for the monitor, CPU, mouse, CD, and keyboard. She also had learned how to correctly hold a CD without leaving fingerprints and how to load it into the computer. She can also point and click to navigate. Her class is now learning how to type on a keyboard using two hands. Last week, she typed the above letter to Santa Claus with her teacher's assistance. Now for those who don't possess the eyesight of an eagle, here is what the letter says:

"Dear Santa,

I have been a very good girl this year. Some of the really good things I have done are help my mommy clean up, play nicely with my brother, and help my daddy work in the yard.

What I would most like for Christmas this year is a tinkerbell hot air balloon. And, if it's not too much trouble, I would also like bubble and clank hitting fireworks.

I also want to tell you Merry Christmas.

Thank you,
Kaylyn Davis"

Kaylyn Idol

Check out the impromptu performance Kaylyn gave of "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story. She was listening to music on the new iMac....I only wish I had whipped out the camera sooner!

Kaylyn's Christmas Program

Last night we attended Kaylyn's Christmas Program at her school, Colony Kids. Kaylyn was so excited to see Grandma, Grandpa, and Auntie Clarissa in the audience. Kaylyn is in the 4-year olds pre-school class. They sang 3 songs: Frosty the Snowman, Away in a Manger, and We Wish you a Merry Christmas. The program was great. It was interesting to see the 3-year olds perform Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and remember Kaylyn performing that song last year. She's come a long way! Unfortunately, my video didn't record for Away in a Manger, but I am uploading the videos of the other two songs to this post. Also, you can click here to see pictures from the event.

Festival of Lights in Dickinson

Last Thursday Brian, the kids and I had dinner at Russo's New York Pizzeria before driving out to Dickinson, Texas to see the Festival of Lights. It was a cold night, so we brought the wagon and a blanket for the kids. We arrived about the same time the Christmas Parade was wrapping up so the streets were all blocked off and we had a difficult time getting in to park. Once we parked the van, we loaded up the kids in the wagon and walked through the park. The kids loved all of the lights. Best of all, the event was FREE!! Visit the web page here if you are interested in going! Click here to see more pictures of our visit.

December Happenings...

Well, there has been so much going on since my last post, I feel behind.

First, we have had an unexpected snow day when temperatures dropped to the 20's and large snowflakes fell from the sky for hours. The kids had fun playing outside and taking pictures.

Last Saturday I took the kids with grandma to a Winterfest type party at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land where grandma works. There were lots of activities there. We rode the train twice, visited Santa, and played in the fake snow. We also ate sausage on a stick, hot dogs, churros, popcorn, and sugar cookies.

On Sunday night, Kaylyn and I put together the gingerbread house that Nia gave us. We had a great time putting it together and it turned out really nice. Thank you for the fun project Nia!!

Click here to see a random assortment of photos from all the goings-on.

Thanksgiving Activities

Well, I worked on Thanksgiving Day. It was a typical Thanksgiving Day in the EC, nice and slow. We had a potluck luncheon and I brought a baked ham, cheese potatoes, and Oreo Cookie Pudding Dessert. All the food was eaten up quickly. After I got off work I had to drive to Brian's job and switch out the cars (car for minivan) and wish him a quick "Happy Thanksgiving" so that I could take the kids to a Thanksgiving dinner party we were invited to. We went to the Casipes house for a late dinner and the kids had fun as usual. Friday afternoon Brian, the kids and I drove to Lufkin to see Mike and Chris. We had spinach dip and hamburgers for dinner. Saturday, Scott and Kathleen arrived and Chris prepared a nice traditional Thanksgiving meal of turkey, dressing, green beans and pecan pie! Yummy! That afternoon Kathleen and I watched New Moon at the nearby movie theater while Chris and Kaylyn went on a shopping spree. Unfortunately, I was too distracted to remember to bring a camera to the Casipes house. But, we took lots of great pictures in Lufkin, including a few family photos using the time delay on my new camera. Click here to see more pictures.