A Christmas Pageant

Taylor and Chandler decided that this year we should begin our Polk family Christmas festivities with a reinactment of the story of the birth of Jesus. They worked so hard on assigning parts and making costumes and did a great job managing all of the "actors."Taylor called me the day before to tell me that Collin, Henry, and Parker would be the three wisemen, and that if I had "like a cape, or a crown or something fancy he could wear...that'd be great." Sarah Kate was the north star. They firgured that this would work because she could just roam around and everyone would follow her. What sounded to me to be nothing more than a recipe for disaster actually turned out to be the highlight of our Christmas together. It was great to see the kids work on something together, and even better to have our time together centered around a celebration of Christ.

Our directors take the stage to make a we're-not-sure-this-will-work disclaimer.

King Herrod (Colton) orders the death of all firstborn sons.

Edie plays the role of the baby Jesus. (Gender, age, and presence in the 'manger' before Mary and Joseph arrive are to be ignored...they were working with what they had.)

Mary (Lexi) and Joseph (Patton) travel to Bethlehem where they gaze lovingly at the baby, as does the donkey (played by the ride-on dog dubbed "Mr. Nippers" by the kids. We were delighted to see that Mr. Nippers had landed a role.)

The north star (and baby) shines, leading the way to the baby Jesus!

The three wisemen bring their gifts to the baby. (It was impossible to get a good picture of the three of them...this is the best I could do.)

The proud Mama....and wiseman? Looks a little confused.

Chandler performs "Silent Night" in sign language.

The entire cast performs a Casting Crowns lip sync, and takes a final bow!

Happy Monday

I saw this in church yesterday and laughed way too hard. Pretty sure I embarassed David...and anyone else sitting near me. Happy Monday!

Thanksgiving

Watching my kids grow into a relationship with the Lord has been one of the biggest blessings of parenthood so far. They are still so young, but I love to watch them pray. The other night as we were sitting down for dinner David and I pulled SK's high chair to the table and watched her, for the first time, fold her hands, bow her head, and say, "Dear God..." in her precious little voice. Of course, I started to cry.

It had just been one of those days. The garage door broke, kids were sick, I was forgetting things and felt pulled in a million different directions and her words hit me hard. I don't think I cried because I was giving myself a virtual pat on the back, or that I was touched because of her innocence. I think that I was convicted that God wants prayer to be exactly what it was for SK in that moment, an immediate response. It should be an ongoing conversation that we carry on to each new day- a part of what we do and who we are. I was reminded that too often I fail to spend enough time with the One who wants so desperately to hear from me.

So this Thanksgiving, I was reminded of how blessed we are to be able, as children of God, to call upon Him and to access the power of the Holy Spirit. I am so thankful for that! I am thankful for my sweet husband and our precious children and the gift of a loving faithful extended family. I am thankful for friends who encourage and challenge me. I am thankful for the life of Dr. Prentice Meador who so eloquently and boldly taught me the gospel from a very young age and the legacy that he left behind. I am thankful to live in a country where I live so comfortably that my biggest problems are kids with runny noses and to-do lists that never get finished.

And, I'm really thankful that David can fix garage doors! What a man!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Must have been a page-turner!

The First of Many

This is the first of many make-up posts, and it's a post about the first of many camping trips for my little family. We went camping a couple of weekends ago with our sweet friends the Feekes. It was the first time I have ever been tent camping, much less with two children. It was AWESOME! The kids played hard, slept well, and loved every minute of being allowed to get dirty. The boys ran around doing boy things- sports, fishing, throwing dirt, eating s'mores, etc. And the girls just loved getting messy. Food, dirt, whatever! They were hilarious. Thanks Melody, for these awesome pictures!

Some of my favorite moments from our trip:

1) the sound of the leaves falling on top of our tent throughout the night. It sounded like a soft, slow rain.

2) Jackson and Collin around the campfire at night telling stories.

3) The adults around the campfire telling stories!

4) Waking up in a tent with my sweet family.

5) Relaxing on the beach (yes, the lake has a beach!) with Melody and the girls.

6) broomstick pies...good call Andy!

7) The laundry that I had when we got home...not really.

It was a wonderful time for us!

Cowboy Fever

Last night we went to Parker's party at Texas Stadium and had a blast! Collin loved being able to wear his uniform out of the house, and all the kids (and dads)enjoyed playing on the field. They even got to try on Romo's jersey and pads...it was precious! Thanks to Brittany for thinking of such a cool birthday idea, and to Parker for making it so fun for all of us. We love you Parker, and happy birthday!!!

The sweet birthday boy!

The family pic (my kids getting double use out of their Halloween costumes!)

Playing hard!

Dad hosting tryouts for the "favorite grandson award"...kidding.

And presenting...our little Romos. From youngest to oldest, Collin, Colton, and Patton (who actually looks a lot like Tony- beautiful boy!)Well, we tried on this one. Definitely not Christmas card material.

FDOS and SK

Collin had his first day of school a couple of weeks ago. We were so exctied to be starting a preschool that's closer to home, but a little nervous about leaving all of our sweet friends at Sunshine School. We made our final decision to switch when both Collin and Henry got in to the same school by our house. We thought that even if they weren't in the same class, they would see each other a lot. Oops. This preschool is so large that they never cross paths. but they have proven that kids just adapt. They don't even mention it at all and are both doing great.

Here is Collin before we left the house that day.


And here he is at school. Hilarious. Mrs. Lara keeps telling me that he is really quiet and I keep telling her that it will pass!


Here are some pics of Sarah Kate. She's walking all over the place and having so much fun! The A&M uniform pics are for her dad. The one on bottom is of her throwing a fit when I told her that the Aggies stink.

The Anti-Toilet

Life as a stay-at-home mom is always changing. You feel like you're always juggling, running, comforting, folding, washing, diapering, and just spinning in general. While I'm used to fielding this type of chaos, I wasn't at all prepared for the curve ball I experienced in a public restroom yesterday.

Automatic toilets flush automatically. Correct. Automatic toilets flush automatically when you stand up. Incorrect. That's not always true. Sometimes, when you least expect it, they like to flush when you sit down. Wet surprise.

Toilets flush automatically and then stop. Again, incorrect. When you are sitting on the extra special toilet that flushes when you sit down instead of when you stand up, it also likes to continue flushing for the duration of your stay. Back draft issue.

I got over it. Re-entered the seminar that I was attending, and laughed as I entered the bathroom for the second, third, and fourth time. (It was an all-day affair that necessitated large intakes of caffeine) By the end of the day,I had tried all of the stalls that this lovely establishment had to offer.

Toilets that flush automatically, when you sit down, and continue to do so are an exception. Apparently, this is also incorrect. Much to my surprise (and at this point, my utter disbelief) this hotel ordered the anti-toilet rather than your standard flusher.

When I went to wash my hands, I lathered them up with cow dung and then dried them off in stagnant pond water.

There are some obvious conclusions that I could draw between my anti-toilet experience and the fact that I was at a CLE trying to figure out whether I'm ready to hang out my shingle and begin to practice law. But I don't like lawyer jokes, and I really don't like upward-flow flushing toilets.

If this is any kind of omen, pray for me.

What we're up to...

I can't believe that summer is coming to an end! We are enjoying the rainy weather, cooler temperatures, and the idea of school starting in a couple of weeks. Here are just a few of the things that I'm doing lately. A list of August faves if you will...



I'm probably WAY late on this one, but I found this website the other day and really love it! It's a great way to organize your family calendar, lists, photos, etc. I think it's great for my little family, but would be even better for those of you with older kids with more activities. I'm buying stock...check it out.



These pedipeds are the only shoes that fit SK's little feet. Diva. Seriously, they are so cute and look super comfortable! Since she hasn't really worn shoes at all yet, I was shocked to find out that her feet are really short, but fat on the top, and that they are super hard to fit into shoes. Ergo, the pedipeds. More of an investment than I wanted to make, but cute nonetheless.



Sarah Kate is obsessed with books, and this one is her favorite. She loves to sit and look through books and talk like she's reading. She even wants to go to bed with one. If she this particular book, she starts saying, "boo...boo!" wanting us to read it. She automatically begins laughing when you turn to the last page, which is one of my very favorite things she is doing right now.


Collin and I LOVE watching this movie. We only watch it in about 20 minute increments, but it's still great.



Facebook...what? I don't really get it, but I'm trying.

And for the grand finale...our summer vacation! We had a blast in the Ozarks and would highly recommend the Lodge at Mount Magazine to anyone who's looking for a close-to-home mountain vacation. We stayed in a three bedroom cabin with Angie and Jason and my parents. It was beautiful! Brand new, the only thing on the mountain, smack dab in the middle of the woods, hot tub, big porch- and relatively inexpensive. We loved it. Even though it rained the first two days we were there, we were able to get the boys out quite a bit! Check out the pictures.

Birthday Pictures

Sarah Kate really enjoying the limelight!

"Hold on...I really need to take this."

"Hmmmm...interesting."

"Thanks Mom!"

Before...

...And After!


This party is so lame!



And for the grand finale...a caption contest! A grand prize (leftover cake) will go to the blogger to find the perfect caption for the following well-timed photo by Uncle Drayton:

Here's what I have so far:
1) "Who in the world hid in my dress, increasing its volume by 400%, thus making me look 97 weeks pregnant?" (I REALLY can't get past this one)
2) "Um, Dad...a little help?"
3) "At least he's using a spoon."
4) "Could I get another spoon?"
5) "Those Blackstocks sure can tear up a buffet!"

Special thanks to Pops and Drayton for all the wonderful pictures! You're the best!