Christmas Eve and Christmas morning

Christmas eve was a very busy day for us with NO NAPS - no time for that. Well, okay, so the whole no nap thing was really my plan to keep the boys in bed all night, but I had to do something. You see Jonathan still very frequently gets up at least once each night. Since I had not managed to get a single gift wrapped prior to this moment (yes, I know it was Christmas Eve - I was feeling quite stressed) I needed to be SURE the boys would not wake up before our santa-ing was done. But I digress.... the boys were bathed and dressed in their special Christmas pajamas. We picked out the pefect cookies for Santa from the homemade sugar cookies I made earlier that day and set them out on our special gingerbread man plate with matching cup of milk for for Santa. The boys were ready to snuggle in their beds and I decided to take pictures in front of the Christmas tree. I have a really great and handsome picture of Donovan, but I decided, instead, to post the one that really shows the "true" Donovan. It's so hard to get a good picture of this handsome kid. Not because he is not photogenic. No, it's because he is just so GOOFY! Just pick up a camera and this kiddos starts putting on a show. I end up with 20 silly face pictures and one really great picture. Since I usually post the nice photos, I thought you should see him in his "usual" form instead. He's showing me his "robot moves." Did you notice the very appropriate saying on his shirt? It says "Dear Santa I was framed." If you know Donovan, you know this is the PERFECT Christmas shirt for him.

And while it looks like Jonathan is either saluting the Christmas tree or perhaps offering a big finish to a great holiday song, he's actually saying "Ta da" and waiting for us to clap.

Christmas morning was full of fun and too many gifts. We all had a great time with gifts, food and best of all, time with family - my favorite part of Christmas. It just all ends too fast and everyone starts to head home. I think next year Iwould like to do Christmas a little differently. How do you do Christmas with your family to make it special? I would love to hear about it.

Christmas baking

I really wanted to make homemade sugar cookies for the boys this year. I guess I'm feeling confident because my recent baking endeavors have been surprisingly successful (see photo of the ice cream cone cupcakes from Donovan's birthday in the slideshow on my earlier post). So, I ambitiously decided to do just that. I made the cookies and frosting from scratch. It was lots of fun and I must say, once again a success. While my decorating technique needs some improvement, overall, I think they cookies were fairly attractive and pretty tasty, too.

I also made some fudge - sorry no photo of that because our biggest elf got into it as soon as it was finished and cooled. And, of course, I made our secret family recipe for rice pudding that has been handed down for generations. Kevin wanted me to make banana bread, but the boys ate all of the bananas before they were ripe. That's a good reason not to make it, not to mention that if I had, I would have eaten more than anybody else in the family.

Christmas Update

Yes, it happened again. I'm updating my blog before the boys are all grown and headed off to college. We've done several fun things this blessed season - again, it's amazing what some time off of work will do. Here are just some of the fun we've had...

A good friend who happens to be Donovan's former pre-K teacher, blessed the boys with a Gingerbread House. So, we assembled and decorated it. Turned out pretty cute. It was lots of fun and my first time to build one.

We also visited Santa's Wonderland to see some extreme Christmas lights. If you have not been there before, it is just outside of College Station and they have over 40,000 lights. You can drive through (on selected days), take a hayride or even a horse drawn carriage. They lights were fantastic. And, if I may make a recommendation, DO have the fresh made kettle corn. It's CRAZY deeeeeeelicious!

They had curtains of lights - see below. They had different "scenes" of lights, for example, in Texas you must have the obligatory longhorns, which I loved. But my favorite light display was actually about Easter, not Christmas. You see, the owners of Santa's Wonderland have created their version of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior with Christmas lights. It's the last display on the tour and it was magnificent. The TRUE reason for the season. It gave me chills. The photos cannot capture how powerful it was, but check them out below and maybe you'll want to go and see for yourself.

Christmas Photos

Here are a few Christmas pictures I took of the boys. Are they too cute, or what?! Have I mentioned that Jonathan has grown more than 1/2 an inch since school started and even more amazing... Donovan has grown a full inch since his first day of Kindergarten. No wonder he woke up one morning and his pants were all too short!!!! It goes so fast. :(

Christmas Miracles.....I actually updated my blog!

Yes, I finally did it!!!! I updated my blog. Maybe you received our family Christmas letter and you are checking to see if I really did add a post. If so, I'm sure you must be shocked and amazed that I actually did.....finally. It's amazing what a little time off will do. You see, my last post was just as school was starting. So, now you know that I am not the best at juggling being a wife, a mother, a school teacher and a blogger (not to mention a few other hats that I wear). I guess if I have to compromise one of those things, blogging has to be the ball that I drop. Sorry!

If thoughts count for anything, I do frequently think about how much I should post an update. And I regret how many great stories about the boys I would have loved to share and probably can't even remember now.

So, to try to make up for my long absence, I have make a photo slideshow to share what we have been doing since August. Some of those things include: Donovan's first day in Kindergarten (photo, not part of the slideshow), Jonathan's 4th birthday, dressing up for Halloween and attending Fall Fest at school, Donovan's karate lessons and his 6th birthday party and now preparations for Christmas. Oh, I almost forgot...the ice cream cone cupcakes in the photos I made myself for Donovan's birthday party. There is NO ice cream. Everything else is either cake or frosting (oh, except the candied cherries on top). I couldn't believe they actually turned out! And they tasted pretty good, too. Just lovin' this Mommy stuff!!!

Can you believe it is only 2 days away!?!?!?! We are ready and very excited to see how the boys react to Christmas this year. Last year was their first Christmas with us and perhaps their first "real" Christmas ever - at a minimum, it was the first they would remember. On Christmas morning we didn't know what to expect and both boys were so CALM! And that is definitely NOt like them. :) It's like they couldn't take it all in. Kevin and I were both surprised at their reaction.
This year we are expecting a bit of a different response. All indications are that they boys are VERY excited about Christmas and that they will go CRAZY when they see the gifts under the tree. Kevin and I are actually hoping for a little bit of uncontrollable mayhem. Thats the way it should be, right?!

Tomorrow Donovan, Jonathan and I are going to don our aprons and make cookies for Santa. We're going to do the whole sugar cookie thing - cookies cutters, frosting and all. They will be fresh and ready to set out for Santa tomorrow night. Nothing but the best for the jolly elf. ;) I don't know how they will taste or ultimately look, but I don't think Santa is too picky when it comes to cookies. I do know that we will have fun making them no matter how they look or taste. Maybe we'll have another success like the ice cream cone cupcakes.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. To anyone who may actually read this message, our family wishes yours a VERY BLESSED AND MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Love,
The King family

DONOVAN'S FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

Sand

Boys love sand. At our new house, Kevin brought in some sand to level the backyard. There was a great opportunity for the boys to go out and play in the huge piles deposited by the dump trucks before the tractor leveled it for us. They had a BLAST as evidenced by these pictures. What more could a boy ask for?

Back to School

Wow! I can't believe that Donovan starts Kindergarten a week from tomorrow. Time certainly does fly. I'm so excited about all of the opportunities that he will have in the coming year.

Jonathan wishes he was going to Kindergarten, too. He has been thanking God for Kindergarten in his evening prayers. TOO CUTE!!!!!

They have both changed so much since this time last year. Especially Jonathan. The "baby" is going away and a little boy is very quickly appearing in his place. His language skills are just astounding me. He is SO smart and hysterically funny.

This week one of my favorite things seems to have disappeared forever. Jonathan used to call his brother "DONONAN" and then he transitioned to "DOVAVON", but now he is suddenly saying "DONOVAN" and the precious mispronunciations are gone. I will miss them, but it is very exciting to watch our baby boy turn into a curious and enthusiastic little boy.

REALLY?

Wow! This move was SO difficult for us. Maybe you are thinking that it is because we moved for 4 people this time and not for just 2. That wasn't it. It will probably seem like I made this stuff up, but I promise I didn't. Here is a summary of the things that made this move so hard:

1. Day before the move, Kevin was going to pick up some lunch and a car was travelling the WRONG direction on the road and hit Kevin's truck, then left the scene. Hit and run accident. Thankfully both vehicles were travelling slowly and Kevin was not hurt beyond having a very sore back for a few days. Payment of insurance deductible number 1.

2. Movers were AWFUL. Used them before and they were great. No so this time. They broke some things, damaged 2 walls and a door frame in the new house, took clothes out of dressers that I was told they would move while still in the drawers and they threw them on the floor, took our dining room table apart when Kevin told them not to and it took over 1 hour to put it back together..... RRrrrrrrggggh.

3. Second night in the house. Kevin gets up to take his truck to the repair shop to get it fixed after hit and run accident. Back wheels on his truck are GONE! Stolen right out of our driveway in our brand new house. What is up with that? We didn't even know who to call. So, we called the city first and they directed us to the county but told Kevin that other wheels were stolen in our area the same night. Later learned that the wheels were stolen from the truck belonging to Donovan's pre-K teacher's husband that night, too. Payment of insurance deductible 2. :(

4. A couple of days later there was a wild electrical thunderstorm during the night. Kevin's nephew decided to send him a text message at 4:30 a.m. Kevin went to look to see what was so important and when he picked up his phone, it shocked him!!!!! Popped so loud I heard it, Kevin yelled and I and jumped out of bed certain that I needed to do CPR and call 911. Not only was Kevin okay (praise God), but it didn't even hurt the phone (much to his disappointment - he does NOT like his cell phone and surely could have upgraded early if the lightening had fried it). Text message was NOT important at all. Nephew had just figured out something that Kevin had told him the previous day.

4 (continued): Lightening that poppped Kevin also caused our newly installed alarm system to go off. Since our electricity was knocked out at the same moment, it rendered the key pad unusable, so we couldn't turn off the alarm. Had to call the alarm company to cancel the police request (they couldn't reach us when they called because electricity failure kept our phone from working, too) and get someone to come out in the horrible weather to stop the alarm from screaming through our house and neighborhood. Boy, is it ever loud!!!! Took about an hour by the time our house was quiet again. Kudos to our electricity provider. They were able to restore our lights REALLY fast! :)

4 (continued again): Next day we discovered that the storm did more damage than we expected. Part of our alarm system was fried and had to be replaced. Our internet service was knocked out because the modem was also fried by the electrical surge. I had just gotten it connected the night before after several very LONG and frustrating conversations with Verizon's scripted customer service department. And our garage door opener that was only 2 days old was also rendered inoperable by the storm. The board was damaged by the electricity and had to be replaced.

5. Kevin tried to move his gas grill on his own. One wheel fell off the corner of the patio and it caused the grill to land on Kevin's big toe - definitely appears to be broken. Very red and swollen. He says it hurts really badly, but there is really nothing you can do for a broken toe. :(

6. Got a new sofa. Kevin brought it home in his truck. I was all ready to show off my arm muscles (thank to lifting a 3 and 5 year old) by helping Kevin bring it into the house. The neighbor lady across the street comes outside and says "Wait. My husband will help." Okay. I don't want to insult his manhood by saying I can do it, so we wait and he comes right over. There is a bit of a height difference between the neighbor and Kevin. So, they begin to lift the sofa out of the truck, some physics occurs with the assistance of the static plastic that is wrapped around the sofa to protect it. Sofa falls, they catch it, but the neighbor yells "Ouch!" We set it down (I'm helping now after all). When we pick it up again, he yells "Set it down, set it down." Doesn't sound good. We ultimately got the sofa in the house. Next day we check on the neighbor. He had to have orthopedic surgery to repair the muscle that he ripped from the bone trying to lift the sofa. I'm sure they are SO happy to have us as neighbors!

6 (continued) Forgot to mention that the store didn't strap the whole sofa and matching ottoman into Kevin's truck very well. On the way home, the ottoman flew out and tumbled end-over-end tearing the fabric. Had to get a new one. But that is nothing compared to the damage suffered by our new neighbor.

7. Our plasma television died, too. I hooked it up and it was working great. Took Jonathan to the bathroom, came back and the picture was gone. After about an hour of troubleshooting with our satellite provider, we determined it was the television. Finally bought a new one last night.

I'm sure I am forgetting something. It has been overwhelming. But the house is finally starting to come together. I'm getting things unpacked and put away. Pictures are getting hung a little at a time and it is starting to look and feel like home. And home it will be until Donovan and Jonathan graduate in a blue cap and gown. After this experience, we will NOT be moving again until retirement. :)

A BIG Change

After a year of having the boys as part of our family, Kevin and I made a big decision. We need a bigger yard to accommodate these active little guys! So, we put our house on the market and it has sold. We found a house closer to where the boys go to school and where I work. It's new construction and will be complete about a week from now. The boys will have full acre to enjoy - they can run and play to their hearts content.

Please pray that the house will, indeed, be finished by about this time next week (stay away rain)! And also pray that our move will go smoothly and nothing will get broken in transit.

It is exciting. We hope that this will be our final house until retirement. The boys deserve a place that is "home" so when they are grown and think of home, there is only one location that they associate with that word.

My... How Time Flies

Yesterday was one year. On July 3, 2009, my mom and I drove to a McDonalds in central Texas and waited. We were sitting in a window in the play area closely looking at the passengers in every car, truck and minivan pulling into the parking lot since we did not know exactly what kind of vehicle we were watching for. It seemed like an eternity, but a short while later a small car pulled in and a precious brown-headed boy in the back seat spotted me in the window and started furiously waving. They had arrived!!!

We went outside to meet them and I introduced the boys to their grandmother. The CPS worker cried. She said she always does when she knows God is creating a family. We moved the boys' belongings from her car to mine and the worker drove away. Then, we went into McDonald's to have lunch and play on the playground. After, we headed home.

We didn't have much notice of this day. It was only 2 days before that we learned this was going to be permanent placement day and not just a weekend visit that was part of a gradual transition. After all, we'd met the boys for the very first time only 5 days before at a different McDonalds. But we knew this was God's plan for us and evidently after all our years of waiting, He was now in a hurry.

So much has happened since that day. We don't remember what life was like before these little guys joined our family and stole our hearts. They've grown and changed so much. I wish it would all slow down. Time truly does fly.

Here are pictures from "Gotcha Day".