Tis the Season...

OK, Mrs. Stephens...you little slave driver, you...here is the post...it's Christmas, you know???This little elf has been a busy bee...

This is Gracie's "Happy Birthday to Jesus" party her last day of school before the holiday break, Dec. 18.

They snacked on munchies...ham, cheese, fruit, veggies with dip and then had a piece of birthday cake before early dismissal at noon...before this, they caroled at a local nursing home...

Straight from school, we loaded up and headed to Palestine for a ride on The Polar Express steam train...we made good time and had some time to relax before dressing for dinner and the train ride...but then it was dark and time to go...woohoo!

We ate Italian and then found the depot...

We had some extra time so she ran off some energy and rolled in the leaves down the hill...Santa Fe doesn't have too many hills to roll down...

...and although this doesn't look like a train...this was it as it zoomed by us...

...as we stood in line to board, she was making friends...as always...my child doesn't know too many strangers!

We could watch the cocoa fairies preparing for us...

Then, in a flash, we had taken our seats and were ready to go...

She had on her pjs and fairy slippers and was soooo excited to meet Santa...

They served us cookies and we drank hot cocoa...

The conductor stamped our tickets...

...and before we knew it, we were at the North Pole and Santa was on board...

Daddy elevated her so she could see Santa giving all of the children their jingle bell...

...and then it was her turn...

She literally pulled him in for a hug!

...and his elves had to rescue him from her grasp...just kidding...

Then, all we heard was "jingle....jingle....jingle....jingle...." you get the idea...

Then, we sang carols...she's showing me the words so I can sing, too...yeah! "Come on, Mama, SING!"

Hmmmm....think she's having a good time???

The next morning, over the river and through the woods, to Ralph and Kacoos we go"...we made a small detour home through Lufkin to eat at Ralph and Kacoos...

YUM!

Guess who took this picture...:)

We came home and that evening, we took her to Paul Hopkins Park for the holiday lights in Dickinson...

A Texas Santa???

Marmie was with us, as she had been house-sitting for us the evening before...

We ran into Justin and Karen and their two girls with Dan and his little girl, Jacqueline...

Only mine...

Uh-oh...look who Marmie and Gracie found...

waiting on another train ride...

Gracie's cousin, Brooke

still waiting...

Jacqueline, Grace and Brooke boarding the train while Aunt Karen and Baby Kate look on...

away they go...

our little jumping beans before they boarded...

Merry Christmas, everyone!!! I don't know about you, but I can't wait...

Our Weekend Festivities

Well, it's been a busy one for sure...Friday evening, we had dinner at Pappas (I was in serious need of some good fried shrimp) and then drove Gracie through the live reenactment of Bethlehem City at her school. Yesterday, we went to Stephen's (a little boy from her swimming class) birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese from 10-noon, came home and changed clothes to go get feed in Alvin, unloaded it at Shouse, came back home, changed clothes again, stopped at 646 to feed (only to find that the cattle had pushed their fence down to get to dry ground-more work for tomorrow), and then to Kemah for the Boat Parade, a tradition since before Gracie was born.

We were all smiles because we landed a great table at Landry's...almost impossible unless you're willing to get there at noon for a 7PM boat parade.

Naked men on a boat...they're always here...

Now, HERE are some lights! These folks went ALL OUT and it was really pretty - This is the boat that always comes and their lights go on and off with the beat of the music they're playing, but this is the fully lit version of their snowman...last year, it was a Christmas tree...really neat.

always a favorite...

Charlie Brown...awwww...

all decked out in a beach motif...cute

It's hard to see, but this is an octopus sitting on top of the boat and the legs were manned to move back and forth...kinda kooky, but all goes here, I suppose...

When pigs fly...this wasn't the end of the parade, but it was the end for us as we had a very sleepy wee one...

She had already been on the train ride and with one carousel ride, we were OUT...

they're offffff...

It's blurry, I know, with the moving carousel, but her mouth is wide open...so excited...

Then, home to work...these are the reindeer ornaments I made from each of the kids feet and hands in Gracie's class...her last day before the Christmas break is this Friday, when they'll carol at a local nursing home, come back and color their reindeer and eat "Happy Birthday to Jesus" cake and have early dismissal...then we're off to Palestine to take the Polar Express evening train ride...tis the season!!!

Now, work, work, work...clean the house, wrap presents, fix the fence (darn cattle!!!), etc...have a good one!