Christmas Festivities

I always love this the of year leading up to Christmas. Between the different festivities, Christmas traditions, gift giving and spending time with family and friends, as the song says, it is a wonderful time of year. 

As he does each year, Cooper showed up on December 1st with the boys chocolate Advent calendars. He found a really good hiding spot this year and wasn't found for a few weeks. As much as I hate to admit it, I have a feeling this might be his last trip to our house. Where did my little boys go??

Casen had his Winter Celebration choir concert on December 18th which was great. They sang some fun Christmas songs as well as a beautiful song in Hebrew. 

The last week of school before break, the boys only had school Monday, Tuesday and then half a day on Wednesday. Casen had a holiday party Wednesday morning which I could have attended, however he requested I not. We made a deal that if I did not attend this party (since I didn't attend Camden's last holiday party) then I would attend his end of year party. Shane did go to his classroom and sent me a few pictures.

Casen's choir teacher posted some pics on Instagram of some fun they had in choir.

With Camden being in junior high, they no longer have parties, however they did have a Christmas showcase on Wednesday where all different groups (band, choir, orchestra, dance, etc.) performed. Since he is in art, there was no performing for his group, which did not hurt his feelings.

We are all looking forward to the Christmas break, spending time with family and celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Fall Odds and Ends

While I have successfully documented the highlights of our busy fall, there are a few other odds and ends that I failed to share. That being said, let me share!

Casen lost a tooth on October 4th
He still has several more to lose before
 he can get braces.

Camden received his bottom braces on
 October 27th. Hard to believe that he will have
 his braces off in a year.

Camden received an award for 
obtaining all A's while being
an athlete.

Shane sent me this picture - it is
hanging in the front hallway at he
and Casen's school. 

Casen had the opportunity to play baseball with his cousin in a tournament at Ford Park in Beaumont this past weekend. Malachi's team was down three players, so were in need of players. Casen thought it would be fun to play with his cousin, so we headed to the Golden Triangle for the weekend. It was fun to watch them play together. Looking at this picture, it is hard to believe that Casen is only a month older than Malachi. :)

Thanksgiving Break 2023

To say we were all looking forward to this Thanksgiving Break would be an understatement. After a busy fall, I think we were all in need of a break and a little downtime. We started off the week volunteering at the Houston Food Bank alongside some of our Wildcatter teammates. Our group packed one pound rice bags for several hours, which is just a small part of what volunteers do to help feed the hungry in Houston.  

Our hairnets were amazing!

On Wednesday we headed to Lumberton to spend Thanksgiving with Shane's family. The boys spent some time outside playing football with their cousins, while I did some on-line Christmas shopping.

My parents spent Thanksgiving with their friends at Buckhorn. We haven't seen them since July so are really looking forward to seeing them and spending some time with them at Christmas.

Road Trip to OK

This weekend, Camden and I took a road trip to Oklahoma for him to play a few soccer games. I checked him out of school an hour early on Friday and we were on the road by 3:00 headed to Tulsa. We checked into our hotel a bit before 11:00pm, took showers and headed to bed. After his 11:00am game, we hopped in the car and headed to Oklahoma City. Our hotel was right by Bricktown, so once we arrived, he and I went sightseeing. Later that evening, we had a team dinner at Olive Garden and then once we returned to the hotel, the boys did whatever 13 year old boys do while running around the hotel.

Playing in Tulsa

Arriving at the hotel in 
Oklahoma City

Bricktown

The game today was at 1:00pm and we were excited to have an extra fan. Braden lives in Stillwater, which is a little less than an hour away, so he came to watch Camden. It was nice being able to catch up with him while watching Camden play.

While Camden and I were in Oklahoma, Casen was to play in a baseball tournament. His games yesterday were rained out so they ended up having a one day tournament today which was moved to the fields in Sealy. It was a late night, but his team ended up winning the tournament. While I was sad to miss watching he and his team play, I was not sad to miss the cold and wet conditions they ended up playing in. 

Casen, Tyson and Miles

Champions!

Since I was not there to take our
selfie with his ring, Shane took one 
for me!

Halloween 2023

Today was Halloween and the boys had plans to go trick or treating with their friends while Shane and I stayed home and handed out candy. Casen and his friends decided weeks ago that they were going to dress up in different color morph suits and his was to be purple. Needless to say, when his came in and he tried it on, Camden was overly concerned about how he looked while Shane and I just laughed and laughed.

I asked Casen multiple times over the past few weeks if he and his friends were wearing anything over their suits and he kept telling me no. I had him ask his friends one last time prior to heading out this evening and he found out they were indeed wearing shorts. Looking at the picture of all of them with their matching shorts, I have a feeling that was the plan all along and he missed the memo. LOL We of course do not own purple shorts, so he wore black for the win. 

Camden was extremely easy with his costume this year. Leading up to today, he wasn't even certain if he was going to go trick or treating, but decided that if he did go, he would go as a soccer player. Good thing we just happen to have soccer uniforms lying around. ;)

Camden and Casen before 
heading out with their friends.

Camden with his loot - including
a carrot!

Casen with all of his goodness.

Both boys had a great time and ended up with several full size candy bars, which seems to be the indicator of a successful night of trick or treating! 

Baseball and Choir

This past weekend, Casen played in a baseball tournament where his team ended up losing in the final game to another Wildcatters team. It was a good weekend, with a soccer game and birthday party thrown in the mix. 

My girls!

When choosing his elective this year, Casen knew he didn't want to be in band or theatre and, being like his momma,  he has very little artistic ability, so that left choir. Despite him originally not being overly enthused on his choice, I think he has really enjoyed choir so far. Tonight was his first choir concert and they way he talked prior to the concert, I was concerned about how it was going to sound. Much to my surprise, they sounded great!

I will be looking forward to attending more concerts this year!