Deck the Halls

What a wonderful Christmas we had!

Its been a while since I posted...because we were gone for 2 whole weeks! Before we left, we gave the kids our presents. (Mostly because all but Jacob's were huge and we didn't feel like schlepping them to Florida). Jacob loved his iTouch, Parker screamed when he saw his Razor 360, and contrary to how it appears in this picture, the Diva was in love with her kitchen!...(she was having a moment)...


We left for Florida the day after that. The first half of our Christmas break was spent in Florida with my family. *That* is always a HUGE party and of course this year was no different. The typical day goes something like this:

Wake up
Breakfast/run
Shop
Shop
Shop
Lunch
Shop
Shop
Shop
Champagne
Dinner
Sleep

Sounds fun huh? Well it IS!! It is awesome and it just gets better and better each year!

Eden showing off her pretty dress for Christmas eve Church

Cookies for Santa!

Bebe and Jacob

Poppy and the kiddos!

Time for Bebe's annual 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' reading..

The kids were enthralled..



Even Sixer was paying close attention. Or maybe it was the Santa cookies he was after..


Christmas morning was a blast! Eden was super into it this year and actually realized what was going to happen! I think the boys at 2 were completely oblivious, but not her. She was very excited!

Up at 6:30 and ready to see what Santa brought!

Present time!

Ive really got to get a new "I like your new present" face. I have this very same picture of myself from the last 7 years and it's hideous.

I don't think the teenager in the family was quite as excited to be up at 6:30 as the children were....

WOW, we are getting some major skunk eye from Laura. And I think Jacob smelled a fart. But don't worry, Iron Man is there to save the day. *click picture to see it in all it's glory..*

Lovin' on my girl. :)


After the shredding ended....we were off to Orlando to go to Disney World with Mike's family! If I told you that Mike and I *both* had the flu while we were there, it was 20 something degrees everyday, and we were also dealing with a freshly potty trained Diva, it wouldn't seem like any fun at all. But it was. It was a blast! Here are some pictures to prove it...





I think Belle was cold..


After 2 days of parks, we decided to take the kids to Downtown Disney. There are lots of restaurants, shopping and other things to do. We had lunch at Planet Hollywood and then headed over to the huge Disney Store.





This picture is courtesy of Parker..


And speaking of our budding photographer....I think he may be onto something. I dont mean to brag, but he has some mad picture taking skills.





This family is wondering who the weird kid taking their picture is.
I also might add that he had his Heely's on, so he was skating/weaving in and out of everyone in sight. It was so annoying awesome.

EYE EYE EYE. I had about 200 pictures to delete after I downloaded these.

Bygones.

So in a nutshell, we did Animal Kingdom one day, Epcot the next...then Downtown Disney on our day "off" and ended with Magic Kingdom...and it was great. Thank you so much Mimi and PopPop for a fantastic trip!

On the way home from Orlando we decided to take the kids through Tallahassee and show them our old stomping grounds. Jacob wanted a picture in front of the Baseball Stadium "so when he plays baseball there he can have the picture from when he was only 7."


Of course after seeing his big brother doing it, he wanted a picture also. I told him to stand still but he said "Hold on! I am slicing Pirates!" Oooooh Kayyyy.



And finally, Jacob sitting on the famous fountain by the football stadium. Its blurry but I had to include it.


Annnnnnd that wraps up our Christmas vacay. There were lots of other good times to talk about like sitting in E Care for hours on New Years Eve, Mike getting a speeding ticket for a Christmas present, or how much fun it was to try to shush Eden during Christmas Eve service while she was loudly doing cheers (bang bang choo choo train; come on Eagles do your fing!!).....but I wont bore you with those details.

I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday season and really enjoyed their family and friends. That's what its all about.

Merry, merry!

Holiday cheer!

As promised, this week has proved to be EXTREMELY BUSY! I haven't had a moment to breathe and I love every minute of it. Gym and parties and shopping and school stuff...such happy times! I spent a HUGE part of the week baking for the teachers. I always give them a gift card, but also like to include something homemade. This year I decided on cupcakes. I made 4 different kinds; Italian Cream Cake, Red Velvet, Chocolate Espresso and Lemon. I put them in darling little boxes and they look so cute! My neighbor paid me an awesome compliment when he asked his wife where I had gotten them!





After that huge project was complete, we were off to Eden and Parker's Christmas program at school. Of course I cried...I just cannot get through a performance of children singing no matter what....and especially when it involves some of my own children!

Parker and Eden pre-performance. The little ones were supposed to wear their jammies because they had them on stage sitting down listening to a story.

Parker was very first to come in!

Oops, Eden spotted us and was very excited to see us!

So Parker looks unhappy in this picture but he sang his little heart out and had a great time doing it. He knew all the words to every song. When Away in a Manger came? Oh gosh, the tears!!

Away in a Manger and O Holy Night are the 2 songs that get me EVERY TIME!!

And last, our annual Santa picture. The quality is bad since our scanner isn't working and I had to take a picture of the picture. Jacob told Santa he forgot what was on his list, Parker asked for the North Pole (seriously what is he smoking) and Eden just screamed "MOMMY!" What a cheery bunch!

Holiday Cheer for all!!

Vegas and Dallas and running, oh my!

Well I haven't blogged since Thanksgiving, and we have been so busy! Jacob had Grandparents/Special Friends Day. Since we don't have any Grandparents in town, I was his special friend!

The weekend after Thanksgiving was my race in Vegas.I did it with my friend Erin who fund raised with me

and we had a BLAST!! And and Ashley came to cheer us on and we had waaaaaay to much fun.

This weekend was awesome! Saturday morning Jacob and I ran the Frosty 5K in Frisco with Ashley, Kat and our neighbors. Jacob did AWESOME! Placed 3rd in his age group with a time of 25:28 which is an 8:11 pace. I am so proud of him! To see his results click here. And the 2 boys that beat him were both 10! Here's a pic of our team!

and Ash and I and the kids...

That night was the company Christmas party down in Dallas at Hotel ZaZa. Swank City! We stayed downtown at the W for the night. We had a GREAT time and the party was just as chic as can be!





So now for a CRAZY week ahead with school Christmas parties, Christmas prgrams, baking for the teachers, etc, etc. Loving the holidays!

Happy Friendsgiving!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had! We celebrated with friends since we couldn't make the trip back to Florida and we had a great one. We love Friendsgiving!

To know me is to know that the day before Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year. I stay in my jammies and apron ALL DAY LONG and cook, cook, cook! It is heaven for me. This year I decided to stray from the usual and try some new recipes. It was a daring move, because Thanksgiving to me has a very specific flavor! I didn't want to go messing up a good thing, but at the last minute I figured it wouldn't be the end of the world if I wasn't 100% happy. I would at least know better for next year, right? Well, my gamble paid off and I was very happy with my dishes! Recipes can be found on K is for Kitchen.

Of COURSE I didn't get any pictures of all the delicious food and Ashley's beautiful table, because we all know how hectic the last 10 minutes before you sit down to eat are. BUT, I did get a few various pictures of our day.


Eden and I...

Peek-a-boo!

Kat, Ashley and I....the cooks! Cheers!

Hors devours. Delish!


We had 2 turkeys, a ham, pumpkin soup, 2 different kinds of dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, jalapeno corn casserole, fresh cranberry sauce, gravy, rolls and pumpkin bread pudding. And all I got were these two pictures! Booo.


Sixer wants in on the turkey action. And he did get his own plate for dinner!

Ashley made these adorable cupcakes for the kids.....

I think Eden was pleased with the way they turned out!

So pleased in fact, that she pooped out on Ashley's lap. Clenched fists and all. Love it!


It was a wonderful day and the people that weren't present were missed. I hope everyone counted their blessings. We don't do this near enough. We concentrate on the bad parts of our lives and we forget all the wonderful things. Let's not do this anymore, ok? ;)

The rest of the weekend included a marathon shopping day on Black Friday (OMG...10.5 hours of pure bliss for me!), a 5K with Jacob Saturday, and then the FSU/FL game last night. It was AWESOME!! And 7 years in the making! Its been way too long and it was our turn. Finally! Go Noles!! Florida State, Florida State, Florida State...WOOO!!!

Here's a picture of Jacob at the 5K yesterday. It was a Holiday Themed race and Santa and some Snowmen were there. We stuck around for awards and Jacob got 3rd place in his age group with a time of 29:30. I am so proud of him!



GO JACOB!!

San Antonio Rock and Roll Half Marathon

Last Sunday morning while all of you were warmly tucked in your bed, I was lined up to run the San Antonio half marathon. It was great! My race wasn't that enjoyable but I pushed through, which made the finish line just that much sweeter! I set a new PR for myself at 1:49:40, which put me

72 in my age group out of 2,298 = 3.1%
390 in my gender group out of 12,917 = 3.0%
1613 overall out of 20,432 = 7.8%

So in 2 categories I was in the top 3% and in the 3rd I was in the top 8%! I am so proud!!

I don't mean to brag but....

My children are so cute!!!

Here are some pics of Parker and Eden before their Thanksgiving performance at school. They are such BFF's! Don't they look like a little old married couple?

Halloween

Well, we had another successful Halloween at the Devenny house! We had people over for Turkey Chili, the kids got lots and lots of candy and had a fabulous time running around with their friends. Besides the Rangers loss, it was a GREAT day!!

Vladimir Guerrero, THE Dallas Cowboy and the "wady bug"!


Vladi



Helmet Head


Looking "wike a Wady Bug"! (I couldn't get a smile out of her for the life of me)


Now...the test of the willpower....I need to stay out of this candy!