Last MOPS Meeting

12.12.13

The varnish has dried on the table that Brent built so we moved it from the garage into the house and it looks perfect!  Brent worked so hard to get the table ready for the Krueger Christmas party but it looks like we will end up rescheduling it once again.  There are so many that can't make it this weekend but next weekend is better for everybody so that gives us another week to get ready for our first party.  Lol!

I used the table for the first time to wrap 24 Christmas books so that Beck and Kinsey can unwrap a book each night for the next 12 nights. 

Today is our last MOPS meeting until the next semester begins in January and we were asked to wear an ugly Christmas sweater.  (I had to borrow this sweater from Misty because I got rid of my old Christmas sweaters.  But, I did have a turtleneck shirt to wear under the sweater.  Lol!)  I really enjoyed getting to know the girls at my table and look forward to meeting a new group of girls next semester.

(Cassie, ?, me, Shelby, Lindsey (table leader), ?)  (Unfortunately, our table mom, Connie, could not attend.)

The lady on the right, Judy, is a table mom and she leads our Devotional time.  I have really enjoyed her lessons.

After MOPS, Kinsey and I usually grab a quick bite since my meeting ends at noon then we pick up Beck.  While we were eating, Kinsey gave me many poses.  Oh my, she cracks me up!

This afternoon, we met my friend, Shannon, her kids, Conner, Emma and McKenna, at a bounce place near our house and we had so much fun!  Shannon put on the body suit for the Velcro wall and I went down the slide with Kinsey.

Check out the giant boxing gloves that Beck and Conner are wearing!

This has been a fun-filled day just like Tuesday of this week!

Terrific Tuesday!

12.10.13

My cell phone takes terrible pictures at night but I still like to capture some special sleeping moments with Beck and Kinsey.  One time, I took a picture of Beck snuggled up to his stuffed animals which melted my heart.  They are sleeping buddies for now.  I wonder how long this will last?  Beck and Kinsey are almost completely opposites.  Beck will wear winter pj's all year; Kinsey will wear summer pj's when it's cold outside; Beck wants me to brush his teeth; Kinsey does not want me to brush her teeth; they both love the night light and they love picking out a book for me to read to them every night.

I forgot my phone last Tuesday so that's why I didn't post any pictures of Kinsey's dance class.  My mom didn't carry a cell phone and she survived but I was totally lost without my phone.  I felt so disconnected with the world.  What if Beck got sick at school but his teacher couldn't reach me because I didn't have my phone?  What if Brent needed me?  I met Dana for lunch and what if she had to cancel?  Many questions ran through my head but I worried for nothing.  Anyway, Kinsey's dance class went from eight to five girls.  Two girls quit because they really did not like to dance and our church friend, Eden, also quit.  The girls are working on a balloon routine for the recital in May and it is so stinkin' cute!

The Tyler parade was scheduled for last Thursday but there was talk of inclement weather so the Junior League rescheduled it for tonight.  It was really cold tonight so the kids watched the parade from the back of my vehicle.  Let me explain how we were able to get this awesome parking spot.  After Kinsey's dance class, we met Brent on the square and we found a parking lot that was perfect!  Brent took us home and my friend, Janna, picked up Beck at school and brought him to our house.  I've helped with her kids, Blake and Cash, before so that's why I didn't mind asking.  Plus, she was the one that told me how to get the perfect parking spot and she offered to help me with Beck.  

This is our first time to see Tyler's parade and I would rank it as OK.  I'm assuming that rescheduling the parade caused conflicts with some of the participants. We will have to do this again next year and see if it's better.  I hate to say it but Gilmer's Christmas parade was better just because of the fancy Ladies-in-Waiting floats.

Check out this little bitty 18-wheeler.  It's so cute!

A very bright light was shining on Santa which is why he looks ghostly but I did like how they decorated the fire truck.

I'm not sure why the kids look so sad.

Out of all the hats that I have, I ended up wearing Beck's because I was cold and he wanted to wear the hat that was attached to his jacket.

After the parade, the mayor gave a speech then the Christmas tree lights were turned on.

Then, we happened to be very close to Santa's house and didn't have to stand in line for very long.  Kinsey was too scared to tell Santa what she wanted but I did get this super cute picture of Beck and Santa.  He told Santa he wanted a Transformer.

I got a free cup of hot chocolate from the Junior League, the kids got some cotton candy and we got corn dogs so I would say this has been a terrific Tuesday! 

Ward Christmas Party

12.07.13

Even though we were on the Christmas planning committee, we had not planned on attending our ward Christmas party because we had already planned on having the Krueger Christmas party at our house.  However, Dallas received a significant amount of ice last night therefore it was going to be too dangerous for the family to drive here which means we will get to go to the ward Christmas party after all.  Yeah!

Brent volunteered to make the fireplace for the party and this is how it turned out.  How incredible is this fireplace!!!  I think it looks awesome and the girls that were setting up today at church thought the same thing when we delivered it.  Way to go my super-talented husband!

This is what the stage looked like for the program that will take place after dinner.

All of the tables were decorated with a Christmas tree made by a man on the planning committee that holds a lot of suckers.  And, Kinsey completed our table by looking like a present.  By the way, the headband bow lasted all night!

After dinner which was so delicious by the way, all of the kids were called up on stage but Kinsey did not want to go with Beck.  Bishop Hill read the story about the birth of Jesus and we (everybody sitting at the tables) sang Christmas songs in between the scriptures.  Our very last song was Jingle Bells and the kids on the stage all received a necklace with a bell on it.  They all shook the bell as we were singing and that's when Santa made an appearance.  Santa passed out candy canes to all the good little boys and girls.

We stayed to help clean up.  What is Kinsey doing?  Is she already looking at boys?

My good friend, Misty, offered to take our family picture if I would take one of her family.  I was more than happy to do that for her.  Misty's daughter, Maddy, is in Young Women's with me and she is such a sweetheart just like her mom.

I think my kids as well as the others in our ward had a fantastic time tonight.  I think all of our planning meetings paid off because it really was a nice evening.

I'd like to end by showing you how I decorated our fireplace and the front entry table with the Jim Shore collection that I bought last year. 

First Week of December

12.02-06.13

It's hard to believe the year is coming to an end and Christmas will be here in three weeks!  Wow!  Well, I'm about to share a bunch of random things that happened this week.

Kinsey wanted to place her stuffed animal in a safe place while she used the potty.  Lol!

Kinsey loves sitting in Beck's car seat while he's at school...looks like we need to move her from the big car seat to a booster seat.  Looks like I better start shopping for a seat like his.  And, she's wearing his cowboy boots! 

On Thursday, we went to MOPS and Kinsey made this really cute craft.

Kinsey is a diva in training!

I'd like to know who came up with the bright idea to line every stuffed animal on the stairs!  Oh yeah, it was a sweet little boy by the name of Beck. 

It was too cold to go to school on Friday so we stayed home and played.

I think there is a little girl hiding under the Transformer blanket.

It was so cold that the water in Beck's sand/water table froze!

Our first fire this year! 

Good-bye Family

We had an impromptu photo shoot before we saw the movie yesterday...

We celebrated this sweet little boy's second birthday before the Mask family takes off to Big D to catch a plane home.

Thanks for a wonderful and interesting Thanksgiving week! I enjoy watching all of the kids play and look forward to the next family get-together. Love y'all!

I told Beck that we could not put the Christmas blow-ups out until the first day of December so that's what we did tonight.  I wish you could hear him giggle!  Pure joy and excitement!