December Part 1

There has been a lot going on around here! We are currently in the middle of a fun filled week of house guests that are helping us celebrate Christmas. It has been so fun to have everyone come to us this year and Will has had a blast. This is the first year that he has really understood what is going on and he has definitely caught on. He is very concerned about what Santa is going to bring everyone -- and that he brings him what he asked for. :)

Here you can see him making sure that Santa understands his requests. "I want a combine, a Johnny tractor, a barn, and some animals. That's all I need." Whew! Good thing Santa has a big sleigh!



Dad and Jess were here for the weekend and Will had a chance to do a few of his favorite things with them. We took a trip to the dinosaur museum, went to Rosenberg to see the trains, and enjoyed a little early Christmas. Here is Will having Grandpa read him one of his new books.



I got a combine! Grandpa comes through with the perfect traveling size combine -- it has already made trips back and forth to Miss Wanda's house so he can show her how to cut wheat and corn. I have a feeling we may have the beginnings of a combine collection by the time the week is over...;)



So Grandpa and AJ headed back to colder climates and the possibility of a white Christmas on Tuesday and my mom flew into town to enjoy a Southern Christmas with us. It has been great having her here and Will is certainly enjoying having someone else to show all his new stuff to.

Baking cookies with Grandma!



Having a great time!



Mom brought Will my old baking set to make cookies with -- here are their rolling pins hard at work. :)



To finish off the cookie baking, Will had a friend over to decorate the cookies. The kids had a blast -- and thank goodness Mom was here! I think Prasaad did more eating than decorating, but it was a great time for everyone either way!





What a great start to the holidays! I hope everyone has time to enjoy with friends and family throughout this next week. We love you all and wish you a very Merry Christmas. Or as Will is saying, "Happy Christmas party everyone!"

Will's Big Secret

I'm not telling...



Shhhh....



Maybe I'll tell you...



It's official! The secret is out -- Will is being promoted to Big Brother -- effective June 2011!

Nebraska

Can I just say that the holidays is one of the times I love being in education? I mean don't get me wrong, we both love our jobs for lots of reasons all year long -- you know, changing lives, working with kids, yada yada... But we are so lucky that we get great breaks around all the major times we like to spend with family -- and the fact that our school district lets us have a whole week at Thanksgiving makes it a great time for a Nebraska trip!

Of course, for some reason, I was completely terrible at taking pictures this time so I don't have much to show for our trip. I guess we were just having too much fun...at least that's my story. :)

We drove this year -- and Will did awesome! We packed some new toys, including a travel DVD player, and he was as content as could be the whole way. We stopped along the way to see our friends the Lee's in Kansas City on the way there. I am so disappointed that I didn't take any pictures -- Brody and Will are just 6 months apart and had a great time playing together while we were there. It made me sad that we don't live closer so they could see each other more often. :(

We spent a few days in Omaha and then headed out to Farnam for Thankgiving. While we were there we made a stop to see Will's little buddies Noah and Faith (also known as my friend Nicole's sweet twins). They are just a few months older than Will and we always try to see them when we are in town. I did get one picture of the three of them -- on my phone, so not great, but hey, it's better than nothing! Again, really need to live closer...



When we got to Farnam and my grandparents' house is when Will's fun really started! Hayden showed off all of Grandma's toys -- hungry hippos anyone? :) It was fun to see Hayden and Will getting excited about playing with all the stuff that my cousins and I spent hours playing with as kids. And kudos to Grandma for always being prepared for anyone and anything!

Then came Thanksgiving morning -- and our little city boy got his first ride on a tractor! He loved it -- and I think Grandpa loved showing it to him. They didn't go anywhere, but he did turn it on for him and showed him a few things. So fun!

Grandpa had to show him a few tricks...



Look at him, he's ready for life on the farm!



We headed to Uncle Jack's for Thanksgiving lunch -- and it's always a good time to catch up with people we never get to see. The Bellamy family Thanksgiving includes about 50 people, so there are always plenty of kids to play with and people to talk to. Will had a great time with cousins and trying to keep up with the big kids. Case in point -- the zip line!

Leave it to Bellamy boys to find a way to hook up a zip line in the front yard. Words I was not prepared for -- my cousin came inside and said "Sara, I thought you might want to come watch. Will's on the zip line." What??? Will watched some of the big kids ride on it and then decided he was ready -- and didn't want to quit! I think if we had been there a little longer (and the adults hadn't gotten cold) he would have gotten brave enough to try and ride without help.

Getting set up with Todd and Kyle...



Zooming down the line with his spotter, Kyle.



And his last ride down before we had to leave -- see how Kyle's barely hanging on to him? He was having so much fun!



After all this excitement we headed back to Omaha to watch some football and prepare for our trip back to Texas. The week went so fast! We didn't come close to doing all the things we would have loved to do, but at least we had the chance to see and spend time with some of the people we love.

Next up -- Christmas fun! There is a lot going on around here so I'm going to try and do a better job of picture taking so we'll have lots to show all of you. Love to everyone and hope to see you soon!