Clark's Birthday!

Today is Clark's birthday! I love birthdays almost as much as I love Christmas. But, Clark says his bday is just another day. Boo.

So, I got Walker on my side and we gave Daddy a little birthday cake! He probably won't admit it out loud, but I think he liked it! Kids make all these things more exciting.

Merry Christmas

Christmas is such a fun time, especially with kids. On Christmas Eve we took our kids to church and they were both wonderful during the service! I love having that family time with them.

After church, we had a fantastic meal at home with Bunny and RayRay.

Here's our little Christmas princess:



And, Daddy with both his babes:



Santa did not disappoint on Christmas morning.

Walker got a new four-wheeler!



Brother and sister had a great time playing together!



Here's the crazy part... they weren't even close to being done with presents! After playing Christmas morning, we were off to Lufkin! And, there is no doubt that Nanna and Bubba spoiled them!

Although, Walker enjoyed taking a rest on the presents!


(can you blame him? this is the perfect seat!)

Once we got him off the presents, he opened a cool new Longhorn from his cousin Aidan:



Everly was happy with a new book:



But, all of the excitement of her first Christmas wore her out!



She did wake up for more fun... Bubba read us the Christmas story from Luke 2. And, the cousins put on a concert (Anna on her new keyboard and Kyle and Aidan on the drums). Sweet Anna let Walker jam with her!



Whew, what a fun Christmas!!!

And, our babes got to wake up at the farm, which means more fun playtime!

Walker let us know that there are "Moooo" cows on the farm!



Anna took him on a tour.

And, everyone got to go exploring.



And, our fun-filled weekend ended with Walker doing some more jamming... this time on the drums!





I am always amazed at all the activities and fun the kids have at the farm. What a wonderful way to spend a holiday!

Finally, The Christmas Card Pictures

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about us taking Christmas pictures. But, I couldn't post the pictures because I wanted the Christmas card to be a surprise. Well, I'm finally getting around to posting pictures from that day.

This was the winner from the "entire family" category:


(for the record, Clark didn't smile much that day... he says he wasn't in a bad mood, but I'm not so sure)

This one was a close second... too cute:



And, I just love this one, because my little man is checking me out!



The babes with Daddy... oh, wait Everly, don't take your bow off!



Our attempt at getting the babes together in a shot... I don't think they cared much.



And, there goes Everly!



A try in the grass wasn't much better:



Individual shots are the way to go! These two made the card:





These types of pictures are the best... candid fun shots!



I loved how our card turned out... hope you all did, too!

Merry Christmas from the Woods!

Mr. Shuffleboard

We recently figured out that Walker is a master at shuffleboard! Bunny and RayRay have a table in their game room and Walker LOVES it. I am amazed at how good he is.... I feel confident that he will be beating his mommy very soon!

Check out his moves:



And, while we're talking about Walker, I have to share about the big milestone we had last week.

Walker is officially paci free!

For the longest time, he only had his pacifier in the bed. But, he's been napping at preschool without it, so we decided to try napping here without it. He went to sleep right away without shedding a tear. So, that night we put him to bed without the paci and again he went right to sleep, slept all night and hasn't looked for the paci since. Yep, this kid is amazing. It's just one more thing we can say was so easy for Walker! I'm hoping we can add potty training to that easy column!

It's Holiday Time!

We are already celebrating Christmas and I am loving it! I'm not sure if I've mentioned that I love Christmas... ha ha. I think all the readers of WoodWords have figured that out.

We took over 200 pictures and I added 30 to Facebook. But, adding pictures to the blog is a pain, so I'm trying to pick my favorite five pictures right now. Who am I kidding, five isn't possible... I picked my favorite ten pictures!

My most favorite picture from the weekend should be a really cute one of Walker opening a present or Everly smiling or something of that nature. Nope, my absolute favorite picture is this:



Oh yes, me and Trisha in our TCU snuggies! How awesome is this? Not sure if you all know this, but TCU is going to the Rose Bowl! I am ready. I will wear this the entire game!

Continuing the TCU theme... Everly got a Horned Frog.



I told her she shouldn't eat it!

Walker and Ryder:



Smiling Everly... love it when she laughs.



Bunny with Walker and Everly. Seriously, babies in Christmas PJs... the best!



Walker in front of the tree.



The Snow/Wood cousins:




Bunny and RayRay with all five of their grandkids:



Our attempt at a family picture... note to self. Little ones don't last in front of the camera long... do the immediate family first!



After our celebration in Bentwater, we celebrated with Peepaw and Maggie. Walker is a fan of more gifts!



I can't believe all of this is just the beginning... we still have Christmas Eve at home and Christmas Day in Lufkin... so much fun!!!!

A Magical Evening

There is a group of ladies that are very special to me. They are called the Tiffanys. I won't go into all the details about the name or how the group started... bottom line, it's a fun group of women!

If you were at my wedding, then you know about their handy work. The "flutter hearts" that you all threw as Clark and I left the reception... these ladies cut them out.

We don't get together as often as we used to, but Christmas is special. Diana hosted us at her house. And, her house at Christmas is a very wonderful place! Her decorations are out of this world. She served beef tenderloin, fine wine and fabulous champagne. (Have I mentioned that it's the Christmas season and I'm not pregnant?? It was quite fun to be able to partake in the fine wine and fabulous champagne!)

So, all that sounds great, right? Well, that was just the beginning. As we finished our dessert, we heard jingle bells from the back of the house. Low and behold... Santa had appeared!! Here we are, six adult women, and Santa came to visit. You would have thought we were five year olds. Each one of us got to sit on Santa's knee and tell him what we wanted for Christmas. (He soon realized that it was a tough room. The list? Tiffany's (of course) jewelry, diamonds, Louis Vitton, etc.)



Having Santa at our dinner party was such a treat. After we all told him what we wanted for Christmas, we sang Christmas carols with him and then he did "Twas the Night Before Christmas". But, he was quick to point out what his favorite Christmas story is.... the birth of Jesus. Then he read the Christmas story from the Bible and we all sang Silent Night. As the song ended, he disappeared... just as magically as he had appeared! Magical is the only word to describe it.



Christmas is not just for kids. Letting yourself get lost in the magic of the season is for all of us. Spending time with good friends and family is so much better than presents. Reading about the birth of Jesus makes you realize that nothing else matters. All of this coming together in one night... fantastic.

Having Santa come visit will be something that none of us will forget. Did I mention that it was magical? Seriously, so special and so much fun. Here are more pictures:

The group with Santa:



Walker wouldn't be happy to see Mommy and Bunny spending time with Santa!



Our lovely host, Diana, with the big guy!



I just had to add this one.... Debra doing her best Everly impression!



Diana, thank you for such a fabulous evening!!!!!!!!

Walker's New Toy

Oh, wait. It is actually Walker's old toy and Everly's newest toy.

I guess he wants it back!