Our Christmas season

This Christmas season has been incredibly fulfilling.  It's been a fast season, and at times hasn't seemed to be filled with the Christmas spirit, but it has nonetheless been meaningful.

Our time in The Woodlands with the Woodyards was nice, but lonely.  We all missed Bob more than can be expressed.  I think all of us quoted him at one time or other throughout the days.  We were all together on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  He would have been happy.  He's still there, very present in each one the kids and Teddy.  It is clear to me.

Our time is Austin was equally nice.  We were blessed to be surrounded by my entire immediate family, including my dad.  It was me, Michelle, Mark, mom, Kyle and my dad.  It was the first time that any of us can remember that we've spent Christmas day with our dad in a house.  It was surprisingly comfortable, which makes me happy and relieved.  It was, as my mom said, what Christmas is supposed to be about - grace, redemption and love.  My sister is now engaged (thanks to Damon Knight), so it was even sweeter. 

Life is good.  We are certainly blessed.

Check out our videos

It's not just the one video, it's a whole channel:  http://www.youtube.com/ploppintoopy

The Juice - A Cearley Short

Starring Max.  Nick, Gracie and dad round out the supporting cast.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ploppintoopy

Let's start Christmas

Bass Pro Shops. The Cearley 5. Santa Clause. Fun times.

I think Steph and I were the most excited out of the bunch.

And what a perfect Santa Clause, right?

What everyone loves right now

Max loves tractors.  And trucks.

Nick loves balls.  And watching football.

Gracie loves talking.  And singing.

Story time at Gracie's school

I read to Gracie's school this morning. I was under the impression that I'd just be reading to her class, but it was the entire school - maybe 40 students. It was all good. I welcomed the larger audience :)

Gracie picked out the story last night - I Love it When You Smile. It's about a little kangaroo was wakes up in a grumpy mood and everything his mom does to make him smile doesn't work. They go out to breakfast and on the way, while hopping side to side, Roo's mom slips and they both wind up in a muddy pool at the bottom of the hill. Roo can't do anything else other than smile. :)

The kids loved it and Gracie was so proud and happy. I enjoyed being there for Gracie. These are the moments that I can never replace and certainly never have back.

I felt the story wasn't long enough, but Steph assured me that if they wanted me to read more, they would have asked me to.

Mr. Mom

Long time, no talk. I apologize for the lapse in communication. The work transition has kept us busy, needless to say.

I have been playing Mr. Mom since Wednesday afternoon. Stephanie is teaching at the State thespian conference in Corpus and has been planned for months now, I'm taking the reigns.

Busy and fed - as in, keep them busy and keep them fed - has been my strategy and so far, it has worked. Wednesday after we dropped Steph off at the airport, we went to Target (after our hour drive back to Wylie) and rolled around there for awhile. I had multiple snacks at my disposal and even though they might have curbed the kids' appetite for dinner, they got us through.

Yesterday, we did the Ikea trip. While Gracie played in the playland there, the boys were enthralled with the store and the new environment. Again, snacks in hand got us through.

Yesterday afternoon, we went to the choo-choo train park at Firewheel where they could run and play. And they did. Then I fed them.

In between each one of these outings, they get fed some more and put down for bed. While all that's going on, I try to squeeze in as much work as I can.

My mom is coming today (YAY!) and while I don't think I need the help, it will certainly be welcome. It honestly hasn't been as challenging as I thought it would be. To do this day in and day out, that might be a different story. God bless Stephanie (and all the other stay-at-home moms & dads out there) for doing this everyday.

Pictures

Some recent pics of the kids (from October 2009)

Our (sick) day at the "Festival"

Gracie and I were the only non-sickly Cearleys so we decided to lug everyone down to the Festival. They loved it. Especially Steph. :)

The flu of swine

The swine flu has infected one of us. Max - poor guy - got it, really out of nowhere. Ironically, we thought Nick and Gracie might have it, but the doctor cleared both of them. At the time, Max, too, had a clean bill of health. Overnight, it changed.

His breathing has been the most concerning, but today, a day into taking medicines, he sounds much better. It's weird, he's not even showing signs of the 'flu.' No fever, no tummy issues. i don't know if his body aches, but by his demeanor, he's just normal ol' Max.

Last night, Nick started running a fever, but we've been able to control it with Tylenol and Motrin.

Stephanie has a twinge in her throat. Most of all, she's got a serious case of cabin fever. Woo-sah, baby, woo-sah.