Catching up with the Joneses

A few weekends ago we packed up and headed to San Antonio to see Greg, Sarah and their precious boys. It was such a fun weekend and our kids had an absolute blast. Collin is still asking when we can go back!

We went to the lake and stayed at Greg's parents' house which is beautiful. Not so beautiful after we left, though. We broke a dining chair, the wall (yes, we broke the wall) and a decorative plate. Banner weekend for us in the accident department. It reminded me that we just need to wait a couple of years to buy good furniture.

Highlights from the weekend:

1) Taking the boys (and the dads) to a really neat bounce house/play area thing. It was so much fun! I really think that David and Greg enjoyed just as much as all of the kids.

2) Vanilla yogurt with fresh blueberries. Thanks for this Sarah! Sarah Kate and I eat this all the time now!

3) Discovering my allergy to mountain cedar. Yes, I looked like a beating victim all weekend because my eyes were red and swollen- but everyone loved me just the same!

4) Benadryl.

5) Hanging out with Sarah! I love this girl! We don't get to see each other enough, but I love it when we do...just one of those friends that you always pick right back up with.

6) Learning how much I have to learn about my new camera, and being reminded that I do in fact have a creative crush on Sarah. She showed me some of the basics about my new camera, which was awesome. I'm just not as cool as she is when it comes to being artistic, though. My camera sits on auto most of the time.

7) Collin's "are we there yet" phase beginning! We tried to remind ourselves that it was cute, not frustrating. After 5 1/2 hours, this got a little bit harder.
8) Seeing our famlies together. It still amazes me that I'm a parent and I am with my kids every day. So it's even more strange to see my friends with their kids, being moms and dads. Sarah and Greg are great parents and their boys are adorable! Our boys got along really, really well and had such a good time. And David and Greg had a lot of fun too (minus the time that David almost died mountain biking.)
9) Meeting precious Holden. He is such a sweet boy! He seriously doesn't cry or fuss...what a blessing!
10) Meeting baby Gracyn! Heather and Drew brought their sweet baby by on Saturday and we were able to meet her! She is a doll- she came complete with her prissy bow and all the accessories as you might imagine! :)

Enjoy the pics!

Sarah Kate thought we were crazy for making her play in such cold weather.

Playtime!!

We initially thought this would be fun for the kids...Greg and David liked it even better.

This was right before we left to head home. Pretty sure we wore him out.

Want This Recipe?

It really wasn't the chicken- preschool is just hard!

Papa

My dad, Papa, has quite a gift for storytelling. Or, as he claims, Collin isn't really a discriminating audience. I think it's a little bit of both. Lately Dad has been telling Collin and Henry a lot of stories. It's something that I think each of the grandkids has, at one time or another, loved doing with Papa. He keeps it pretty simple which is probably why his stories are so fun for Collin. Like any good story, Papa has all the elements:

1) Main character(s): always two little boys; always named Collin and Henry- but he still acts like he forgets their names every time to encourage a little crowd participation from Collin.

2) A villian: usually an animal, sometimes a pirate (recent favorite)

3) A problem: Collin and Henry are in distress; about to get eaten; about to get taken away forever (this one induces nightmares)...you get the idea

4) A hero: always, without fail, every time...Papa.

5) A solution: Papa kicks the named villian in the bottom, saves the boys, and everyone goes off to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

So last night at bedtime Collin looked at David and me and said, "Do you know any stories?" We didn't have time to answer before he made the assumption that we probably didn't. So we called Papa who told Collin his bedtime story via speakerphone. It was sweet, hilarious, and so Dad.

Oh, and the pirate got a swift kick in the bottom!

Thanks Papa!

Drive-Thru Christmas

Here is a condensed version of our Christmas 2008! I figured since it's so late anyway, the pictures can go without explanation!

We had a wonderful time celebrating with all of our family and the kids were at such fun ages this year! Sarah Kate is quite taken with her new baby, and Collin is warming up to the idea of a bigger bike (he came downstairs Christmas morning and said, "I didn't really want that one."...awesome moment for us!)

Enjoy!

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!