When Jeremy and I bought this house we were excited to be able to do a little hands on comsetic fix-up. Well, we quickly realized that's not really our deal. So we worked on the house for about three weeks straight before the "fixing" began to tapper off. You might ask why I would take a picture of my ceiling??? Well, we thought it would be a great idea to scrap off the old popcorn ceiling to make the room look more modern. That ended up being a disaster and thankfully Jesse was able to fix that mess for us. Apparently you can't scrape off your ceiling unless you intend to re-float it. Of course all that was done with the intent of painting our bedroom walls and ceiling. Unfortunaltely we sort of ran out of steam before we quite made it to the paint part. So since August of 2006 I have had painter's tape covering the crown molding in my bedroom. I decided enough was enough and I'm determined to get that tape down soon. We're not quite there but we are making progress. Hopefully I'll be posting the finished picture soon.
Last night both the boys were gone so the girls decided it was perfect time for some reality tv. We all got in our pj's early, ate dinner in the living room, baked brownies for dessert and cuddled up on the couch. Nadirah has really been looking forward to the new season of American Idol so we started our marathon with that before proceeding to Deal or No Deal followed by Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader. Wow, I don't think I've ever watched that much tv in one sitting!
On the 26th my little brother Justin, his wife Lori and daughter Jordan flew in from North Carolina for a visit. This was our first time to meet baby Jordan and she is super sweet!! We basically spent all week at Jesse's house playing games, Wii, goofing around, eating and of course lots of talking and reminiscing. Now that they're gone I realize we should've taken more pictures ~ typical. But we'll try again this summer. Justin keeps reminding me now it's our turn to go to North Carolina and I'm all about the sun and the beach!!
Every year we let the kids open one gift on Christmas Eve. Today's been a crazy day filled with last minute shopping, coffee drinking, a little cleaning and finally our annual Christmas Eve candlelight service. After the service we headed home for dinner and gifts. The kids all got pajamas. As you can see Bailey is super excited because she got a pair of footed pajamas. I must admit I always loved them when I was little too and even still owned a pair when Jeremy and I met!! Nadirah and Riley love there's too ~ we're all pajama people but Jeremy so he was excited to get and put on his new shoes. I think my gift was definitely the best though. Riley got me Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Wii. I've wanted it for awhile but everyone just kept making fun of me. Nadirah said she won't play that "old school" game, but I'm about to make her and once she plays I know she'll be hooked. Riley and I played first and I actually won!!! I've never been able to beat him at any other game so this gift just keeps on getting better and better. 
Jeremy came up with this idea to go Christmas shopping all together and make a whole day of it. He made us wait until it was cold, which sounds pretty easy in December but not in Texas. One day might be unseasonably warm followed by a freeze ~ our weather is so crazy. It's been in the 70's again this week. Anyway, last Saturday finally met all of Jeremy's criteria so we all loaded up with money and ideas before we set off. Of course we were all buying for each other too so we had to take turns breaking up into smaller groups. We each had our own trashbag in the car to put the gifts we were purchasing in so that no one was able to see what they were getting. And of course no day is complete without Starbuck's so we made a stop there too. We had a lot of fun and we got all of our shopping done in one day!! We had all of the presents wrapped and under the tree by Saturday night. I know that probably sounds crazy too, but that's just the way we are.
Today Nadirah ran in her first KMS cross countrty meet. We were all excited to see her run and Jeremy even took off work early to make it. So I'm driving Riley home from school when I get a call from Nadirah telling me her bus broke down! They had to transfer all the girls onto the boys bus, but they still made it on time. Nadirah did super!! For most of the race she was in first place for KMS...then she fell in the mud and her shoe fell off. The route was pretty bumpy and apparently at some point a girl elbowed her, she fell first and then the other girl fell on top of her. But I was so proud of her because she didn't quit. She finished the race and we'll get her time tomorrow.
On Friday night just the girls headed over to my friend, Becky's, for a girl's night. We watched High School Musical 2 which is totally corny but you love it anyway. Jeremy hates musical's so I'm so glad I have at least one friend to enjoy them with ~ thanks Becky! We also made homemade pizzas and baked holiday treats. I'm not exactly sure how Nadirah ended up with chocolate on her nose but it's a cute picture so I added it anyway.
Bailey has known she needed braces for a long time. Her mouth is just too small. Last summer we took her in for her first ortho appointment not really expecting to hear anything other than she would need braces in a few years. Well, they wanted her to start "phase 1" immediately which includes expanders on top and bottom, braces, a lip bumper and possibly headgear. She was so excited and could hardly wait ~ crazy I know. Anyway on Wednesday she got her spacers. Her teeth have been pretty sore so she's only been able to eat super soft food and it still takes forever. Now she wait's until January 3rd for bottom spacers and on the 16th she'll have it all. 
Riley's now 13! Jeremy took him out to dinner at Texas de Brazil for a special guys night out being a teenager and all. Jeremy also gave him a new pocket knife which he was so excited to actually use. Of course we did the whole cake and present thing too. Riley got new basketball shoes and Reese's peanut butter cups from Bailey and cologne from me. He's growing up so fast and he's completely outgrown me too! I always said he'd catch up to me by age thirteen ~ guess I was right.
