A. Dunn Yahtzee

This is my last creative project of the year.

I took these:


And made this:


the cute little box to keep these in:
(which I also made)


What? You ask.

It's a family Yahtzee game!

There are six people in our family and six sides on a die. Each die has a picture of each member of our family. Like traditional Yahtzee, there are five dice in each set. (I made four sets) It is so much fun to play!

I also made a Yahtzee score sheet in excel that looks much like the traditional Yahtzee score sheet but it uses our names. (Alecs=1, Dixies=2, Noble=3, Williams=4, Hewlett=5 and Joseph=6) A small straight would be 4 in the order of age; a full house is three of one person and two of another. So much fun!

Let's Go Fly a. . . BIKE

Hewy got a Toy Story bike from Santa. He can ride it just fine... but his Dad (who is super cool and a really good dad) takes him flying on it sometimes. Aren't those the best memories as a kid - when your parents did things that were out of the ordinary and your life seemed magical if even just for that minute? Alec only does this for a minute or two at most but Hewy talks about it all day. I wonder what he would think if he ever saw the movie E.T.?

Christmas Eve dinner

I love good food.


Christmas Ham
Roasted Stuffed Roma Tomatoes from here
Steamed Broccoli
Roasted Carrots from here
Yummy Creamy Potatoes from here

And sadly, not pictured but oh-so-yummy-and-easy

Buttered Rosemary Rolls found here

Christmas Morning '09

The Santa bells rang just before 7am and we all gathered at the top of the stairs to say our Christmas morning family prayer before we stormed downstairs to see the goodies.

I love Christmas Morning.


Noble and Liam both got Ripsticks, a leather jacket, a book of Shel Silvestein book and stuffed stocking. Hewy received a Toy Story bike, Leather jacket, Shel Silverstein book, PJ's and stuffed stocking. Joseph got a car toy, diapers, wipes, Goodnight Moon and the Julie Andrews book of Poetry.

Liam loves Joseph.
Liam reads the coin collecting book he got from New G & G.
Santa brought a Laptop for the boys to share.
Grandmama and Grandpa on the stairs with the dogs.

Dad and Joseph check out the new mirror
Joseph likes his bouncer A LOT!
Daddy and Joseph
da Momma with Hewy
Hewy and the Lego toy from Dell and Anna Family

Noble models his leather Jacket
Hewy delights in Christmas morning
Hewy asked for a Spiderman Spin Brush - and got it!
Noble and Liam in their jackets with Ripsticks

Christmas Eve Breakfast

We went to our favorite breakfast place for Christmas Eve breakfast.
Le Peep.



They have a huge cup of cocoa called a Chocolate Kiss.
We let the boys get one all for themselves.
So happy to be together.

neighbor gifts

We have been given so many gifts this holiday.
Here are some of my favorites.


Chips and homemade Salsa
"The Holidays are Heating up!"

S'mores kit

Rosemary tree
So that I can make more Rosemary Cashews.

Snapshots of our life this week

We are dog sitting this holiday.
Her name is Trixie and she is a very good dog. It has been good to give the kids a chance to take care of dog.

We made gingerbread houses in preschool last week and Hewy was not impressed that we used graham crackers. So sweet Sarah made him real gingerbread and he made a house. All the other kids had broke theirs into pieces and his is still in one piece on the counter. He was proud of it.

My kids don't normally sleep.
Getting them to go to bed is the hardest part of my day.
But for some strange and still unknown reason they all fell asleep on the couch the other night before 9pm. All of them. Asleep. At one time. Before 9pm. What?

Biggest and Littlest brothers.

legendary christmas

It's a tradition.
Legendary Christmas at the Weston.


SNOW in Texas?

Noble, William, Hewy and Henry.

Makin' Dust (the Cowboy) hosts and sings with the kids
It was a little chilly so the bon fire was nice.
I love the way William and Hewy are looking at each other in the picture on the left.

more pix Disney

da Momma and Hewy

Like I said, I spent most of my time at WDW with Joseph
and half of the time I was nursing him.

da Momma and Liam

No body does a Christmas tree like Disney.

Related?

I love this picture.

They all have the same look on their face.


My Dad, Joseph and Hewlett

Remarkable

Isn’t that such a wonderful word.  “Remarkable.”  I like the way it sounds, the way it bounces around the mouth as it makes it way out of lips.  Remarkable.

Tonight the boys and I went to “Legendary Christmas” at the La Conterra Resort.  A San Antonio Christmas Tradition.  Alec had meetings so it was just me and the four boys.  We had gone this year with Dell and Anna and few other friends and their families.

One by one they all left us there by the fire drinking our Apple Cider and eating our cookies.  All that was left were the two strangers sipping their wine and watching us and whispering to each other.  The only thing they said to me up to this point was “is he yours?” as Hewy did a summersault on the two oversized ottomans near the fire.  I said confidently that yes he was in a way that said I was proud to be his Mom. 

As we left I said my usual “let’s leave this as good or better than we found it.”  (One of the 55 Essential Rules) My sweet boys went to work cleaning up paper cups, napkins and chocolate wrappers and throwing them away; picking up jackets, mittens and silver bells.  Noble straightened the ottomans.  I buckled Joseph into his car seat and as I picked him up to go Noble turned and took my bag from me.  The two women murmured again.

Were they happy the lady with four kids was finally leaving?

No, as I wished them good evening they said.  “We have been so impressed with your boys and think they are just remarkable!”

Remarkable.  Warms a Mother’s heart.

I thanked them and made sure the boys heard what they had said.  I could really tell the women were in awe of them and honestly I was a little too.  It was one of those times where they really demonstrated what we have taught them.  I have such REMARKABLE boys.

Jack Sparrow

Walking through Adventureland I noticed this pirate in the blue vest roping off an area and calling attention to himself. I had hopes that the Captain would show up so I stopped our group to have a look see. Sure enough, Jack Sparrow came! Then he said he needed to recruit some new help. I have trained my kids to look like the life of the party to get into shows like this. Delighted and proud - Liam was picked.




Jack taught them all a sequence and then to say "Oh look, the Governor's daughter!" to trick the other pirate and make their escape. He left Liam for last. . .

And when it was Liam's turn - Jack said to the other pirate "Step aside!" and he dueled with Liam. What a treat for Liam! When Jack asked his name he said "William" with a smirk on his face. Jack played along and said, "I have a good friend named William." They then did the sequence but when Liam said "Oh look the Governor's daughter!" to distract him... Jack said "She isn't that attractive William." So fun for my boy!

When it was clear that they were going to call in more kids for part of the show I told Hewy to jump up and down and raise his hand and say "pick me pick me!" and Jack did pick him! They all received honorary pirate certificates.

WDW day 6

Another day at Magic Kingdom.
It was hard to believe to was all coming to a close! How does a whole week that was jam packed from dawn til dark seem to have evaporated? We were busy all day everyday, arriving as the parks opened and staying until they closed. And yet. Here it was. Our last day.

Hewy had been asleep the first day we were at Magic Kingdom as we walked through Fantasyland, so we had decided to come back to it. We didn't make it back the first day, so we rode the train from the main gate directly to Fantasyland on this day. There are certain rides that are rights of passage of childhood... Tea Cups and Dumbo.

I laughed so hard on Tea Cups. My boys loved it. I think that Alec may have felt ill just watching us.
Alec took them all on Dumbo while I (can you guess?) nursed Joseph. I feel like 1/3 of my trip was spent nursing that baby - but that's okay, he's worth it.

This is what it was all about.
These three boys and their happy childhood memories.
So happy to see them so happy.
The bottom left picture - all I have to say is, "really, I bring you to WDW for a full week and you end up playing some make believe game that involves this root cellar door being your safe base?" Boys are boys and they will play what boys play where ever they are! :)

It was also this set of pictures of the boys that led to solving the mystery of the missing jacket. When night came and cooler temps fell - Liam said "Where's my Jacket?" We looked at him dumbfounded like - you don't know? Thank goodness for digital cameras. I looked through the pictures and said... "You had it at the root cellar, but not at lunch, did you leave it where we ate?" Sure enough, that's where it was. Had I not had pictures - I would not have known where to begin looking for it in the HUGE park.

Random Cuteness

Joseph in the car. He was such a good baby traveler.
Unless it was nighttime and we were leaving the park and driving home.
Then he cried.
And cried.
And Cried.
Typical Disney Over stimulation. :)

Hewy tries to stay warm and dry.
I totally think he pulls of the poncho look.

Many of us enjoyed pin trading.
Liam most of all!
I think he left the parks with 20+ pins.

We got the most "Awe, Cute!" comments from this outfit.
Red coat, white mittens (okay, they are really just socks!) and his cute woolly inside plaid red hunters hat that Auntie Anna picked out for him.