Christmas Decorating

Today we put up the Christmas tree.  Andrew and Anna were so excited!  They went and grabbed the boxes of ornaments and other decorations and got right into decorating the tree.  I turned on Christmas music and we decorated together.  Their enthusiasm reminded me of when I was a kid and My Mom got out the Christmas tree and  I couldn't wait to see all the ornaments and fun decorations that my Mom would put out each year.  When everything was done, I left the room and came back and found Anna sitting on Andrew's lap telling him what she wanted for Christmas.

A Blast from the Past!

On our way back home today from Midland, we stopped in Stanton and took the kids to the drugstore where my Dad's first job was.  They thought it was so cool to see the place where their Granddad and even I had told them about.

Faith Promise Dinner Video

Andrew and Anna are in the Faith Promise Dinner Video.  Click the Weatherford Christian School link on the top right hand side of this blog and look for this video on the home page.

The Turkey Project

No, it isn't about cooking a Turkey but a project that Andrew had to do for school today.  He was given a picture of a turkey to cut out, and glue it together.  Then he was to decorate the turkey to represent our family.  Andrew chose to dress the turkey in a football uniform with a helmet to represent his dad being the WCS head football coach and drew music notes on his feathers to represent mom being a singer and choral director.  Then he colored the feathers in our families favorite colors.

The End of Football

Today marked the end of the WCS football season.  Alan started out with 11 guys on the team.  Through the course of the season, Alan lost 5 due to injuries.  Even though they were small in number, this team was a pretty good team with a lot of potential.  Adversity hit this team and one by one the number of guys  able to play dropped.  The guys who couldn't play still wore their jerseys and stood on the side line cheering and encouraging their team mates. 

Alan has tried to instill in these young men, to always put God first, family second, school third and to never ever give up.

Last week, Alan was down to 7 guys that were able to play.  During the first quarter, one of our guys was injured and was done for the game, and three plays later another one of our guys suffered a concussion.  Now if you are counting, we are down to 5 guys.  The remaining five guys are huddled together.  Alan goes to the head ref and the head coach of the opposing team and says he is down to five.  The other coach asks, "So what are going to do?"  Alan says "I would like to play five on five."  The coach flat out refused and he said, "This is the battle for 2nd place, how do I know your five are not going to take down my five and you beat me."  The score was 52-20 them.  Alan walks back to the guys and before he can say anything, the guys say, "We are finishing the game coach!"  Alan said "OK"  I was really proud of the those five guys.  They played and fought hard.  They never gave up.  The score ended up being 70-20. 

I know Alan lost respect for that coach that night and so did I.  This was a coach that Alan knew and seem to get along with.  It puzzles me how so called "Christian coaches" can act in such a harsh way.  I know one thing is for sure, I have even more respect for my husband in what he taught those guys and I have a lot of respect for the entire WCS football team.

So today was the playoff between Saint Paul and WCS.  We came to the game with six guys.  The guy (Austin) who suffered the concussion last week was cleared to play.  During the first quarter Austin suffered another hit and yet another concussion.  Alan went to the coach and ref and said, "I have to end this game.  I can't take anymore of my guys getting hurt." 

The game ended with the team going to the hospital to be with Austin.  Austin is fine and he even showed up to eat with the team later on at Rudy's Bar-B-Que.

Below is a picture of Andrew and Anna having a picnic at the football game.  They love going to Dad's football games and we all are going to have Friday night football withdrawals.  I suppose this is a perfect time to bring back "Dinner and a Movie" night.

One Crazy Fall

This fall has been one of the hardest.  It started out where I had some reaction to gluten ( later found in raspberry tea that claimed to be gluten free) and was down the entire week before I started back to in service.  From then on, it continued to go down and crazy.  School seemed more stressful, I now have two kids in school with homework and lunches to pack every night.  Grandmama died early September which was hard to deal with.  Then I got drafted into doing the K-2 Christmas play at church.  Which is rehearsed every Wednesday night.  Even though we go to church every Wednesday night, teaching another class after teaching all day was not what I really needed right now.  Both my kids are in it so they begged me to stick it out.  So of course I am.  Then there is the normal things, football games, being a coaches wife, All region auditions for both Junior High and High School and let's add the two Kick off dinners for our choir booster club which was put off too long.

My in-laws came in Thursday for Grandparents day at WCS.  I decided that I had to take Thursday afternoon off and get the house in shape.  Then this morning I slipped out of the house to go to Belk's charity sale that was for my niece's school in Alabama and came home to find that my mother in law had unloaded the dish washer, started a load of laundry, and hung up Andrew's clothes (which was Alan's job to do).  I feel so relieved that for the first time since this summer, my house and my life seem to be caught up.  Just in time for Advent and Christmas and the concerts and the plays etc.

Fall is my favorite time of year but this year, it just has not been my favorite.  I try to remind myself to take time and enjoy the little things like these special times in the pictures below.  The pumpkin patch and of course Andrew and Anna's favorite.......First Baptist fall festival.

One of many Anna's adventures from school

Anna is in Pre-K and she absolutely loves it.  She loves to read, be read to, write her name, and write all kinds of words.  She noticed that Andrew has a journal he writes in, so she now has a journal she writes in.  She writes letters, her name, pictures etc.  Her teacher, Mrs. Rachel goes all out on her lessons.  I can't believe the things Anna brings home and then Anna teaches me school all over again.  It will not surprise me at all if she becomes a teacher later on.  Here is one picture of an elephant that Anna was very proud of.

Anna's First Chapel Program

Anna is the shyer of the two kids, but I have noticed that she does enjoy being up in front of people and singing.  I came to her first Chapel program and Mrs. Rachel told me she was going to say something.........but she did not tell me the big surprise.  Anna sang a short solo into the microphone in front of her whole school (elementary campus) teachers, and parents.  I was shocked and so proud.

WCS Spirit Week

Here are a few pictures of Andrew and Anna dressed up on 50's day and Crazy hair day.  They had a lot of fun that week leading up to homecoming.  Alan had me sing the National Anthem at the Homecoming game which was the first time I had sung it in at least nine years.