Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wow! So much has happened in the last few months...

Conor had a program at school. He sang all the words to "Santa Claus us coming to town" and "Jingle Bells" and even wore the Santa hat like all the other kids in his class. However, he refused to wear the cute Christmas shirt we had bought him...

He is the tiny little guy on the far left ....

After the program, Conor had a chance to chat with Santa Claus. For days he had been practicing what he was going to say over and over and over...
Conor had a Christmas Party at daycare. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go, but my Dad went and took pictures....
We had a cake on Conor's official Birthday. Papa did a great job on picking out a fabulous looking cake for our Big Man.
Can you believe that he is 4?? These dinosaurs are so neat. They roar and walk...
Conor has a serious fascination with his Red Power Ranger outfit from the Disney Store. He wears it a lot... in fact he is wearing it now..
I don't know what other people's Christmas trees look like, but this is how it looks at my parents house...
Conor anxiously waits for Daddy to start passing out the presents...


Conor got two new pairs of shoes for Christmas. He was really excited about them when we told him they were Optimus Prime and Bumblebee shoes...
Guy looks pleased with his Christmas gifts!
Cousins... The Fam before Guy left to go back to Boston.
Last but definitely not least, Craig and I bought a new car yesterday. Most of you know, we made the sad choice of purchasing a minivan 2.5 years ago. I thought I was making a good decision for gas by trading in my '03 Expedition for this van. Well, it turned out to make sense. I bitched about it quite a bit because it was so uncool. As time goes on, I learn to like the van and a couple of months ago, I had made the decision that I was going to drive the van until it fell apart. Well..... I didn't realize it was going to fall apart two months later. Let me list all the tings that were going to crap on it.....

1. From the 2nd month I had bought it struggled to start. I took it to the Chevy dealer on 5 separate occasions, but they could never "replicate" the problem. A few harsh words, and a couple of calls to GM, nothing was resolved.


2. I opened the glove box one day last year and it would never close shut. I took it in to the dealer and had it fixed under warranty. A few months later I opened it again, and it wouldn't close. The warranty had run out and I wasn't about to pay to have it fixed to I "fixed" it myself.


3. The motor went out on the passenger side window, had it replaced under warranty. A few months later the driver side window started acting up. Had it replaced too. Go figure a few months later the window would barely roll up or down.. (are you seeing a pattern here???)


4. The paint starting peeling on the roof... WTF?? Come on people, it is a 2005,


5. Last and worst of all, the transmission started slipping.

My advice to you don't buy a van that starts with a "V" and ends with "enture".

So Craig and I sat down and discussed all the issues...Do we keep it and hope we can get another couple of years out of it? Do we get it fixed and spend upwards of $1500 or more? Or do we trade it in, and hope to God the next person who buys it gets an extended warranty?

We chose the latter of the three. We are the proud new owners of an '06 Expedition. More importantly we have a 48 month/48,000 mile warranty on it. So if anything (knock on wood) goes wrong with it we are covered. So this is my third Expedition...I don't know why I ever tried to drive something else! I love these things..

So...it has been a fabulous 2007 and I am ready to devour my bowl of ritual black eyed peas. My entire family had a great year. We hope that 2008 has many more great things to come.

Cheers!

Chuck E Cheese Birthday

We successfully survived our first Chuck E Cheese Birthday, or as Conor says is "Chunk N Cheese". With much anticipation the birthday was scheduled for Thursday and we invited mostly family and a couple of friends. This is our first Birthday out somewhere. We usually have them at home where I can be in control :-)

The pictures tell the story....Enjoy!!

Conor is wearing his new Transformer PJ's and did not want his picture taken.

Little Micah is enjoying the Party!!

Pizza Time!

Photo Op with CEC himself.

Mommy and Conor....Why can't this child look at the camera!!

Presents!

Hmmm...I am not sure about all this Birthday stuff??

Conor and Papa work on the Christmas Tree.

Christmas Tree at our house. I think this is my best year yet.

Beanie is giving us some attitude...

Busy Busy Busy

Gina busted me twice on not updating the blog. I slacked the worst I think I have ever slacked before the last couple of months.

Where to start....I went to Sacramento, CA for almost a week for work. I had a chance to meet the Operations group for the Phone Bank which was very cool. Very nice people. Aside from having a great time, let me just tell you what a milestone in my life this business travel was. I have never traveled anywhere alone. Well, I flew to Austin once to visit a friend, but that was same state and only an hour flight, so I don't count that :-). Anyway, I boarded a plane on Monday, changed planes in Phoenix, rented a car in Sacramento, staying a hotel all by myself. This area all things I would have NEVER done. I made it back in one piece and did not suffer a complete mental breakdown. Yeah for me!!! Those of you who know me really well, will actually understand how big of a deal this is for me :-)

We are gearing up for Conor's Birthday Party. He has put in his request for a Chuck E. Cheese party. We invited a few kids, and I expect they are going to have a lot of fun. This year we are having the party way early. Having a Birthday so close to Christmas is tough on a kid.

We had a great Thanksgiving! It snowed here. Go figure, we don't get any moisture for weeks, then all of a sudden SNOW! Huge snowflakes. It didn't stick, but it was great to watch. Conor liked going outside and letting the snowflakes land on his tongue. Reflecting on that, it is so easy to forget how life is so simple when you are 3 years old :-)

Somehow our Credit Card info was stolen. Someone attempted to buy iTunes and something from Dell. Luckily for us we didn't have a lot of available credit on the card so it was declined. Just to say my peace - If anyone reading this has attempted or successfully stolen credit card info, you suck bad. If you can't afford something, tough sh!t. Get a second job. Don't steal from me. I work hard for my money and I get to choose what I do with it, not you. Whew - I needed to get that off my chest.

Now...on to the pictures... I have lots to share with you. I am disappointed to report that our Tennessee pictures were deleted. I am 100% heartbroken :-( I don't know how it happened, because I NEVER delete pictures until I know that I have at least 3 sets saved. We had some really good ones in there.

Mr. Incredible in the flesh.

Such a Cute Face!
This is the "I-am-mad-at-you-but-want-to-laugh-at-the-same-time" face.
Papa cleaning out a pumpkin.
Conor and Ashlyn - Ready for some CANDY!!
Trick or Treat!

Pumpkin creations compliments on Mommy and Papa.
We have Picasso Jr. on our hands... He spends HOURS drawing on this easel thing.

Seriously, I should be ashamed of myself....

I am behind on my blog updating. I wouldn't be surprised if some of you have disowned me vowing never to read anything from me again. Believe me, I would. So much has happened lately, and we have been super busy. Rather than be all proper with grammar, I will just start listing all the things that have taken place.

Craig started a new job with the TTUHSC. He is doing the same job, but just in a different department.

I started a new job too! I now work in the IT area of the bank. Craig and I now to the same kind of work.

Conor moved up to the 4 year-old class at daycare. He is a big boy now!! This is actually a pre-school class that he will be in until he goes to school.

The new Cooper school broke ground a couple of months ago, and they have made great progress. It will be ready for Conor when he starts Pre-K.

My sister is settled into her new apartment in Amarillo. She has the most awesome red couch that we found at a garage sale for $80.

Conor had his picture made for DigiKids at the mall this past weekend. He is 3'1" tall and weighs 31 lbs.

Conor knows how to lock and unlock the front and back doors. He lets Beanie out when she needs to go potty. He also feeds her and gives her water.

I had STREP throat twice this month within a 3 week span. I am better know, but I am one mad momma.

Craig also had strep last week.

We bought a Nintendo Wii. It is the most interactive video game system that I have ever seen.

My muscles were sore the next day from playing Bowling with Craig (which I won).

Conor is going on his first field trip tomorrow withe daycare. I need to say a prayer tomorrow when I drop him off. The prayer is mostly for me. I know he will be fine, but I am a nervous wreck!

My Parents, Conor, and I went to the fair this yesterday. Believe it or not, Conor, actually used $24 worth of ride tickets. He was fearless!!! (See pictures below)

Please enjoy the pictures below...