The Best of December

In early December, we moved the couch from Grandma Heckel's house to our basement. The one there before was left from the former owners of the house and really just needed to go out for junk pickup. So between junk pickup and moving in the new couch, we were without any seating. The kids didn't want to watch Frosty and other Christmas programs sitting on card table chairs so Travis and I blew up their sleeping bag/air matresses and let them "camp out" in the basement. Even now they still want to get them out they watch movies.

* As a side note to this story: Aiden wanted to help the guys get the couch down the basement so my mom told him to help with the cushions. As he was halfway up the stairs, my mom threw one of the cushions down the stairs, knocking him backwards down the stairs and spraining his ankle requiring crutches. As my screaming baby boy was trying to get to his mommy at the bottom of the stairs, my mom threw the other cushion down at him, knocking him into me! How did I escape my childhood in one piece?

Sharon, my clerk at school, got both the kids Christmas outfits and I wanted them to open it at the same time. Audrey was asleep and Aiden couldn't wait. He came running back to my bedroom dressed like this in Audrey's outfit...

...and proclaimed, "Look! Santa brought me an elf costume!" Travis and I laughed so hard our sides hurt!

Our first Christmas family function was with the Heckel side of the family. This year Baby Tyler was front and center! Both my kids love this little boy so much and couldn't get enough of him...or his momma, Leesha!

Schimpf's Confectionary's Red Hot Drop candies are a tradition in our family. This year I actually made it to the store to get them myself! My aunt Norma and I took 2 van-loads of kids to Schimpf's, one of the only candy makers still doing it ALL by hand, and actually got to watch them make the They also have a deli (which was closed during the holiday rush) and a homemade ice cream parlor that we chose to take advantage of. All the kids then scoured the shelves to choose what they wanted to take home. Aiden chose the chocolate coins, Audrey chose chocolate chip candies, I chose modjeskas and decided Travis needed some coconut balls. After loading them up on sugar, we let them unwind at Norma's for a big ol' cousin playdate.

On Christmas Eve, we celebrate with Travis's side of the family. I love this small gathering because we don't all get to see each other much throughout the rest of the year. Every year we try to get that perfect picture of everyone together and every year we get ones like these:

As always, the kids get to many gifts. This year Aiden's favorite is the V-Motion from Mamaw and Papaw....

...and Audrey loves her Snow White costume from Bekah.

Christmas morning at our house was so exciting because they were both on Santa overload. This was the first year Audrey truly knew about Santa and was excited to see what was going to happen. When they woke up, Trav and I made them wait in out bedroom until we got the cameras ready. Then in they flew!

Aiden's favorites were his Disney figures for his "Halloween Parade."

Audrey loved her baby care center and new baby, Alice (all her other babies are named Alice, too and I have no idea why).

We held Christmas dinner at our house this year which may not have been the best decision on my part. Because of the toy explosion in our family room there was not much room to spread out. Therefore we headed to the basement which is a little to cold for company if you ask me. Despite the temperature, I love having the family over for dinner. We don't get together enough.

One night when Audrey was out at a grandparents, Travis and I had a game night with Aiden, taking advantage of some that Santa left for him this year.

When I told him to ignore me and not pose for the camera, he struck his best Stitch surfing pose the way the character poses for pictures at Disneyworld.

And I forget what made him giggle like this. Who cares anyway as long as I get to see this sweet smile!

I wanna rock and roll all night...

The theme for my school's basketball homecoming is "Party like a Rock Star" and Thursday was Musician Day. Amber, D'Arci, Beth and I decided we needed to go to the extreme. Do you think we achieved our goal?

There is also another reason I wanted to go above and beyond. I have noticed that my high school students more and more are being expected to act like adults and not like teenagers. I want to show them that something that seems so silly, such as dressing as a metal make-up band, is totally worth it. Students will ask, "What does dressing up have to do with school spirit? And why does school spirit matter anyway?"My answer to them is that they will never get back their high school experience if they throw it away now. And here I stand as an adult, and an alumni of the school where I work, in full on KISS makeup and it is ok.

My wish for them is to let loose, to laugh, to dance while they can.

And to party ev-er-y day!

Favorite November Moments

Since I was without a computer for so long I am totally behind in my blog (I didn't even do Halloween or Disney...I win the bad mom award for that!). So I thought I'd look through my November and December pics and choose the ones that mark the wonderful month we had with freinds and family.

BUCKMAN BIRTHDAYS: Since Bekah and Brock's birthdays are so close together, they had a joint costume birthday party this year. We didn't get to see all the kids in their Halloween costumes so it was the perfect way to let them reuse the costumes they really only get to wear once or twice and are dying to wear again.

Everyone played "Pin the Waddle on the Turkey"...

...and Aiden won the first place ribbon!

While the big kids were playing Wii...

...Audrey jumped it up on the trampoline.

Everyone loved the birthday princess hat!

Audrey, Bekah and Abby stayed close to the cakes, ready to dive into the icing!

Happy birthday, Bekah and Brock!

THANKSGIVING: Thankgiving is extra special when you have as many blessings as us. I think my kids are most thankful for desserts as they loved licking the beaters when I made my family's applesauce cake.

This year there were lots of new faces at the Heckel family Thanksgiving. Baby Tyler and Twins Cole and Chloe!

OUR TREE: We put up our tree over Thanksgiving weekend and it was my goal to start some new traditions with them. One thing I've always wanted is for all of us to decorate the tree together while we listen to Christmas music, drink hot chocolate and watch Christmas movies afterward...I was on a mission this year!

After the lights were on, I let them do what they wished with the ornaments (hence the small tree we used this year). Aiden had so much fun and asked about all the ornaments as he found the perfect spot for each. Audrey could not have cared less! She just danced to the Christmas music while Aiden decorated the tree. After all the ornaments were hung, we all changed into warm winter pajamas, drank hot chocolate and watched Christmas-ish movies. This year it was Elf and I think we made it through about 15 mintues before they were both done and ready for bed.

My kids' futures in show biz

My kids have always loved music. Whether Mamaw is singing to them, they are listening to music in their rooms, hearing their favorite CD's in Noni's car, or hear it in a movie, my kids catch on pretty quick and love to sing!

Here is Audrey singing our favorite song, "Bleeding Love." She learned the chorus from my cell phone ringtone and then learned the rest that she knows from making me play it over and over on myspace music or my ipod. I had to capture her singing this song and also got her dramatic facial expressions and boody smackin' choreography. I have no idea where it came from but enjoy!

Tonight at dinner Aiden looked at me and recited the pledge. I had no idea he knew it all already but wasn't shocked because he has a phenomenal memory. I am so proud of my smart boy!

Once I taped Aiden tonight Audrey had to get in on the deal, too. She said, "I'll sing anything" so I put the camera on her and there she went with "I'm Wishing" from Snow White.

Now, we all know that blogs highlight the sweet, gooey, touchy-feely sides of our lives and many times ignore the ugly truth. Well, here is my ugly (but kinda funny) truth:

Dumb luck or strategy?

Sharon, my clerk, gave me a puzzle for my birthday. The object is separate the "x" and remove the square. Only two people have gotten it apart: D'Arci and Matt. Matt claims he has a strategy yet we all know that strategy is dumb luck and a lot of shaking! Yep, we educators can be really productive on our planning.

1-2-3!

Top 3 things that have happened since I last blogged:

1. I turned 35 and had an incredible surprise party. I love an excuse for family and friends to get together and this party was so fun. I was 100% surprised. I'll post some photos when Amber sends them to me. the plan for the weekend was to have a small cookout on Sunday so I didn't expect anything else.
Here was the alibi: my actress friend Jeni, I should have known she was evil because she was on Team Jacob, asked me if I would be her guest at her acting class when the students performed their monologues on Saturday. She picked me up but we needed to "drop off a folder to her husband who was leading a retreat session at the park." When we got to the lodge, here is what happened (fast forward through about the first 3 or so minutes)

(I'll add in video in a few)

Seeing all my family and friends gathered just for me was so heartwarming. I was truly speechless and honored that they thought enough about me to go to such measures. However, I now know everyone around me is a good liar so I am always asking them, " Now when you said ____, was that the truth or was that just to throw me off of the trail." Someday I will trust them again!

2. On Sunday September 14, we survived the windstorm caused by Hurricane Ike with minimal damage. With winds hitting 75-80 mph, we were very fortunate to have only lost one storm window on our back porch and power for only one night. Considering 360,000 residences were without electric, and some still with none 8 days later, we have no complaints. The groceries, fast food restaurants that were fortunate enough to have power and the gas stations had lines for what seemed like miles! Due to the citywide damage, we were out of school all last week! here are a few photos from media circuits (none are personal photos) that show the craziness that was Ike's aftermath.



3. My childhood babysitter, Kim Aldridge, came in for a visit from Virginia. It has been 12 years since I saw her last and I was so excited to get to spend time getting to know her as an adult and having her be able to meet my children. Since I was out of school due to the storm damage, I was able to spend the night with my kids and Kim at my mom's from Monday through Wednesday. She is such a giving and loving person. I can remember running to her house to see her and missing her when she moved away although I was only about 3 when she moved.

During her visit she broke the news that she is adopting a baby that is due in April. Since she was not able to have children she knew she felt as though she was meant to have a child and this has just come at the perfect time for her. She always told me that she was going to name her daughter Kristen Gayle after me because I was such a wonderful child (my brother would spin a different story about that) and her best friend. However, one of her relatives just had a little girl and stole my name from under Kim's nose! Therefore she decided that, if she adopts a girl, her name will be Elizabeth Gayle. And Elizabeth just happens to be Audrey's middle name! She had chosen that name before meeting Audrey, who happens to also absolutely adore Kim and even renamed her "Sissy." I think it was meant to be.

I am hoping to get to visit her in Virginia toward the end of the year and find out if Kim is going to have a little Elizabeth or a little Landon. Either way, she will be a spectacular mom! I will post pictures and video of her visit as soon as I figure out how to download from my new camera.



September has been a month of counting blessings. Words cannot express how lucky I am to have such special people as my family and friends in my life. My party and visit from Kim proved that. Also, I lucked out by having all that I know safe and healthy after the storm. I needed this dose of reality this month because I think I was starting to feel bogged down by the day to day mundane things and I couldn't see what is truly most important to me.

"Audrey turn!"

Last school year, Audrey was always so excited to see Aiden's classroom at Friends School that we decided to let her go two days a week from 9-12 in the two year old room this year.

Tuesday August 19 was her first day. Travis picked me up from school and we took her together. She pranced down the hall with her "dancy girl" backpack and went right in to her classroom. She walked right into the room and made herself quite comfortable in the block area, not even giving us a second thought.

She played in the kitchen area

and in the sandbox,

finally making it to the coloring table.

She had a blast that day and got a good report stating she was happy, excited, energetic, and that she had already made some good friends. One of them is another little girl named Avery with whom she likes to exchange hair bows.

I am so excited for her future. Audrey is such a sponge, absorbing everything around her. She is so eager to learn and wants to be such a big girl, moreso than I really prefer. Her sweet smile and bounce in her step can win over the hardest of hearts. I am truly a better person for having her in my life. don't ask me how, but this little two year old blessing keeps me grounded.

And yes, many of these pictures are fuzzy because my little blessing broke my camera!