our weekend was going to be pretty boring.

My Mom & Dad were set to arrive on Saturday morning at 10am. The kids were so excited.

They both got really sick on Friday though and in kindness to us and our upcoming trip to Florida…they decided not to come. We were all pretty sad.

Since we had originally planned on going to Six Flags with Gma & Gpa, we figured we might as well go ourselves once last time this year.

Thank goodness X is tall enough to ride things by herself because all the rides that E & Krys could ride had to be with an adult…leaving X to ride alone. She handled it well seeing it as a priveledge rather than a consequence.

E loved driving with Daddy in the car (regardless of the serious face he has in this picture)

He also rode the "school bus" twice and loved it.

It was actually a pretty cold night here in San Antonio. We were all quite chilly so we headed home early and had some hot chocolate.

BTW: X's other front tooth is now hanging by a thread.

Sunday, Ry and E stayed home from church because they were both coughing horrificly. Meanwhile at church I made plans with the Sprangers and Schlueters to hang out. Ry, however was still filling crummy and stayed home with E while the girls and I went to the Aunt Kara's house.

First we had to get the girls used to the dogs. Krys screamed every time they moved but I think deep down inside she liked them.

Aunt Kara was pretty super and prepared a Gingerbread house for the girls to make.

I loved watching X work on her decorations. They were so methodical and precise.

And (as if that wasn't enough) we went outside after dinner and made s'mores over the firepit.

Loaded with sugar and nowhere to go but home and to bed.

And BTW, I went to see Twilight with Kara Friday night.

Loved it.

I totally feel like I'm part of the Twilight cult now.

After opening presents we all watched Kung Fu Panda while the kids played with some of their new toys.

I decided to make "Christmas" pancakes for lunch since none of us really had a big breakfast. 

My red pancakes turned out pink and one of my fingers is still green from the food coloring exploding on me…but hey, they were festive.

After lunch E and Krys took a nap.

I decided I would attempt to do some scrapbooking. I finished Jan & Feb 2007 in the 2 hours I had. Small accomplishment but it's something nonetheless.

For dinner I made a turkey. We ate in the dining room (something we try to do for every holiday).

E yelled, "No gobble gobble" and only ate his cranberry and roll.

In his defense, his fingernail was hanging by a thread (from when it got smashed in the door at daycare) and he was a bit grouchy after his nap.

As was Krystal.

Ryan and I were going to have some wine with dinner but each bottle we opened had gone bad in some way. 

4 bottles and $800 in wine later we realized that wine wasn't a very good long term investment. Bummer.

After dinner and talking to Grandparents on the phone we went upstairs and played some Wii.

Ry got this "Rockster" guitar for Christmas from me.

And we did some Karoake. I got out the 90s CD (which totally brought me back to high school proms).

Kara & Ian stopped by and busted a few song out too.

Finally, it was time for bed.

We had a very relaxed and enjoyable Christmas day here. Just the 5 of us hanging out being a family.

The fun started Christmas Eve when the kids got to open their first present.

Christmas pajamas: a new tradition I started this year.

The kids really liked this. They were ecstatic to get bathed in dressed in their new pj's. As you will see, we stayed in the pajamas all day on Christmas day.

E and Krys were the first ones up. The happily played with their new kitchen they found downstairs until X woke up.

E made some eggs for us on the stovetop that actually makes "sizzling" noises.

By the time X got up around 8, the little ones were ready to open presents.

Ryan and I gave the kids 3 gifts each to represent the 3 gifts Jesus received from the Wise men. This was the best decision we could have ever done as it made shopping easy, the kids weren't overwhelmed by so many presents, and it was fair to each child.

E's presents were all Thomas the Train related. Imagine that.

Once E opened this Circus train and track set…he was done for the day. There was barely anything that could draw his attention off of that track.

X's gifts from us were all clothes and shoes (exactly what she asked for!) 

Krys had a mixture of things. Some clothes, PJs & slippers, and a Tinkerbell CD radio.

And, in case you are wondering, I had planned to "make my own" wrapping paper this year by using brown craft paper and stamping their names and Christmas images on the plain brown. Sadly, I never got around to it and the kids were given the presents as is with their names written in black marker. I didn't sweat it too much…..they could have cared less what it was wrapped in!

The kids also had gifts the Grandparents to open as well. 

X got a CD radio that also uses her iPod Shuffle. She was ecstatic.

And a Wii game.

E got a toddler bike, a riding CAT loader, and some more Thomas stuff.

Krys got some dress-up clothes which totally rocked her little world.

We hope your Christmas was as blessed as ours.

that I truly have the best husband in the world:

This should confirm it.

The new lens for my camera that I have been wanting all year awaited me after we arrived home from church tonight.

I cannot wait to take pictures tomorrow morning!

This was one of my first pictures taken with the new lens. 

This past Saturday we went to Sea World (one last time before our 2008 Season Passes expire). We met up with our friends (whom we always seem to go to Sea World with) James & his girls, and Yvonne, Scott & Brennah.

We Newcom's (coincidently) dressed alike.

I had on jeans and a long sleeve black t-shirt (what you will find me dressed in most days off work because I love it).

The weather was quite perfect. 68 degrees or so. No jackets required.

We went to the Shamu show "Miracles" where I was pleasantly surprised that they recognized Christmas as the birth of Christ. That in itself was a miracle if you ask me!

It was nice having my Digital SLR with me this Sea World trip. I was able to get some cool shots of Shamu.

We also went to see (a new show for us) Viva. I'm amazed out how mesmerized E gets when watching these shows.He loved the dolphins!

The girls were having such a good time together (minus Krys b/c she is extremely socially awkward around a group of kids). Yvonne offered to keep X while we took E  & Krys home to nap.

X deserved some time away from us like that. We let her stay and she had a blast with her friends.

As we were leaving though I realized we were 1 kid short of a Christmas photo shoot. O well. That's life.

I'm pretty sure that if I had them dressed warmer anyone would belive that snow was real!

And I'd probably get in trouble if I didn't blog this since I'm pretty sure Ry paid the $12.99 just to ensure it would make itself public.

This is me (talking on my phone-obviously) while riding the Shamu Express with Krys. Let it be known that I was talking to James so I could find out whether or not he was still coming or not. I consider that an important enough call to take during a "roller coaster" ride.

X and I decided to make her teacher, Mrs. Eoff,  a name canvas for Christmas. It turned out great. I absolutely love making canvases. It is so easy. Seriously. 

Here's my How to:

Paint your canvas with Acrylic paint. I use Folk Art which you can get at any craft/hobby store for around $1.00. For this canvas our background is "Mushroom"

I wanted my name to stand out on this canvas so I chose to use Chipboard Letters (instead of foam stamps with acrylic paint…which still looks great). These chipboard letters are by Making Memories.

I chose pink for my accents because what woman doesn't like pink & brown together? I chose 4 pinks (Ebony, Light Ebony, Hot Pink, and Raspberry Sherbert) and painted my letters use a foam brush. 

Once they dried, I layed them out on the canvas to see how much room I had for extra accents. I then glued them on using the stickiest glue tape I own.

The last "F" I used a premade chipboard letter I had because I couldn't find another "F" in my Making Memories assortment.

You can see to the side is one of my "deco" foam stamps. I use this later with the acrylic paint to make an accent.

Next, I rummaged through my misc. supplies in my room and found this brown leather frame with pink stitching. Love it. Gotta use it.

I added some flowers with the frame so it wouldn't look like it was floating.

I had no clue what to put in the frame so I flipped through cardstock and held the frame over the paper looking for the right fit.

After deciding on a piece that says "Live your dream" I attached it all together. Again, using the stickiest glue tape I had so that it wouldn't fall off.

Next I stamped on the right side of the canvas with my "deco" foam stamp. I liked it because it made the canvas balanced (the flowers and frame really made the left side accent heavy).

While rummaging through my supplies I also found a pre-made quote that says:

"To the world you may be just one person but to one person YOU may be the world."

I wanted to use that at the bottom. Since X really wanted me put some ribbon on the canvas I decided to "anchor" the quote down with some lines of ribbon (as you can see above and in the below picture as well.)

I forgot to take a picture of the quote once it was all put together but…I do have pictures of Mrs. Eoff receiving it!

X quickly said to her, "I made it for you!"

To which Mrs. Eoff responded with awe (a probably a little disbelief). She was thrilled and told X that she absolutely loved it.

Yesterday was X's 7th Birthday.

It was a great day.

In keeping with a new tradition, I will document all the details of the day for her.

6:10am…Daddy, Krys, and I came into your room and sing happy birthday to wake you up. You wanted to wear your new pink sprarkly belt (purchased with your Target gift card from Aunt Lori & Uncle Randy) so we selected a shirt that would match the belt.

After getting dressed you came downstairs and saw the decorations I've set up for you.

For breakfast we have some orange rolls. Not necessarily your absolute favorite but it was the "specialest" thing I had to offer.

After getting all set and ready for school you were allowed to open 1 present. 

You promptly changed your shoes to wear these to school.

E kept repeating, "Sissy's pes-ent" "Sissy's shoes"

It was foggy and rainy so I drove you down to the bus stop and we sat in the car listening to Barlow Girl Christmas songs while waiting for the bus. I made you believe I had to work today and that I wouldn't be home until later at night. You're so used to it, it didn't phase you one bit.

At 11:20am I showed up at your school with McDonald's to surprise you. Your were so excited. Humbly excited…which I loved. Not spastic excited like I've seen other kids get. You chose your friend to come with us to the cafeteria to eat. Once there we were told by the Cafeteria lady that the rule has changed and you can't have a friend with you. 

Sadness from the two of you. I felt so bad for your friend who had to go back to the classroom.

Regardless….you enjoyed your McDonald's.

After lunch I went back to your classroom to help you pass out birthday cupcakes to everyone. The class sang happy birthday to you and all were so thankful towards me for bringing them. What a great group of kids!

You and your friend, Megan, whose birthday is the day after yours (and whose party was scheduled for the same day as yours).

After home from school we left right away to get Krys and E from school then went to the restaurant of your choice: Pappasitos.

I have to add that this is the third time we have been sat at this exact table at Pappasitos. Daddy asked if this was their standard "family with 3 children table".

Dinner was great. Everyone ate and was full. 

The Pappasitos people came to sing you happy birthday and made you wear a sombrero.

You handled it with grace. Even when they announced to the restaurant, "Today is Nochy's birthday".

Once home you quickly got to your presents. The large one was mighty intriguing but you saved it for last, opeing first clothes, earrings, 20 Questions game, Camp Rock DVD game, another pair of shoes, and more clothes.

The giant box was a Karaoke machine. A serious karakoke machine. From Gma & Gpa Newcom (via Daddy who took they money they sent you and went to Costco!)

It really needs to be out of the box and usable before I think you get really excited about. I know you will love it though.

Then it was time for cake. Not just any cake but a Daddy-friendly cake.

And let me just say how amazing you are to get excited to have a cake that Daddy can eat. I think any other child may have complained not to have a "kid" cake (decorations, name, etc.) but you were thrilled just to have a cake that your Daddy could eat. You are so super.

And funny, might I add.

Around 6:15pm you got on the phone with Gma & Gpa Newcom and told them all about your day. By 6:30 I was calling everyone upstairs for bathtime. I was bound and determined to get everyone in bed on time at least one night this week….sorry it had to be on your birthday.

You and I read a couple more stories about the birth of Christ from your Bible.

I tucked you in – snug as bug in a rug gettin' a hug and drinkin' from a mug – which I'm required to say each and every night.

You, my dear, are amazing. I will never be able to express enough how lucky I feel to be your mom.