Christmas 2011

We had an absolutely fabulous Christmas!  Katie and Jack eagerly counted down the days with their Advent Calendars and a paper chain Katie made at school.  Every morning in December they searched until they found our little Elf on the Shelf, Elfie.   The mere mention of Elfie and behaviors in the kitchen would improve (briefly!).  We have loved our evening drives to look and Christmas lights and we did not miss an opportunity to see Santa as much as possible.  Katie loved that each time he seemed to know her name.  Katie received a video message from Santa and a letter delivered by Elfie!

Mom and Fred arrived Christmas Eve afternoon and Fred started the turkey smoking!  The smell invaded our neighborhood all afternoon and well into the evening I am sure making the neighbors envious of our Christmas dinner.  Andy and Mom took the kids to the Christmas Eve service at First United Methodist where Katie participated as an Angel in the service.  Luke tried to participate as well and there goes Nana up the aisle after him!

After the kids were tucked into bed and the Santa preparations were taken care of Mom, Fred, Andy & I sat down to a lovely Christmas (Eve) dinner!  We had smoked turkey, cornbread stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts and a cranberry & almond salad.  We rounded off the evening with chocolate pie and eggnog!

Christmas morning was fantastic.  Luke bunked in with Jack and after having a little bit of a restless night, he was woken by Jack promptly at 7 when his light came on.  We were upstairs waiting, got the boys ready to head down stairs and quickly went into Katie.  For a girl who normally does not like to be woken, she perked up quickly with the anticipation was what might be waiting down stairs.

All three were very pleasantly surprised by their Santa gifts on display at the bottom of the stairs.  Katie ask for and received a Barbie camera and was surprised by a new scooter.  Jack has been asking for a Mack truck from the Cars movie since July, but after seeing the Cars race track that Santa also brought, Mack was not as exciting.  Luke equally loved the Cars race track and both boys have spent hours since playing with it.  Luke was very unselfish this year and did not ask Santa for anything, so Santa took it upon himself to bring Luke a red car he can be pushed around the neighborhood in (and might also be good for trip to the zoo!).  All three kids love this item and have taken turns pushing and being pushed all around the house (we had a lot of rain on Christmas day) and out on the drive way.

We had a hard time getting the boys to move past the Santa gifts, so Katie helped everyone empty their stockings and we eventually made it to unwrapping presents.  But as I am typing this on the 29th of December, we still have unwrapped presents under the tree.  The kids got a little overwhelmed by the number of packages and have decided to take a break.

Uncle Adam arrived later in the morning and we got to open more presents and bring out the leftovers from the previous night's dinner!  Then we were left as a family of 5 again.  We spent the afternoon in the play room listening to the rain and going through all the new toys.  Me trying to find a place to put everything and the kids pulling it all back out!  After loading the kids up again with more turkey everyone was put to bed with visions of sugar plums (or more likely little turkey legs) dancing in their heads!

This was our best Christmas yet, each year the kids get more fun and being a family of 5 this year was fantastic as Luke got to fully participate in all the activities!

We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Meme & Papaw on New Year's Eve when we will do Christmas all again!

Jack's 3rd Birthday

How oh how is our little Jack 3!  Now I say this b/c of how quickly this time has come, not based on Jack at all b/c to talk to him you would think he was easily 3.5 ;)!!!  He has grown up so much this past year I have to remind myself regularly that he is only 3!  He has such an amazing vocabulary and comprehension, he is now potty trained over night and has been during the day for well over a year, but the thing we are most proud of Jack for is his huge heart!  He is so considerate to his little brother and loves the fact that he is now a big brother!  He never lets anyone leave the house or go to bed without a big hug and kiss and the same for when we leave him at school.  He has taken to giving Luke his breakfast in the morning and will more often than not hand over a beloved toy for him to play with.  Now sadly this same courtesy does not extend to his big sister, but that may not entirely be his fault!

Unfortunately this year, Jack has been sick leading up to and on his birthday.  We had planned a big family trip to Gatti Town where Jack was really looking forward to racing go-karts with Andy, but it has had to be postponed.  We had a small family celebration before breakfast and he opened (with the help of Katie and Luke) all his presents.  Then he made phone calls to thank everyone for his gifts.  He loved all his cards and especially his badge that told everyone he was now 3!

We had an ice cream cake for him, but waited a few days to cut into it until he really felt like eating, and when he did he really enjoyed it.

We are going to have Jack's party at the Houston Fire Museum in January (we did not think we would get a very good turn out so close to Christmas and this way it gives us something to look forward to once the excitement of Christmas is over).  So watch this space, more pictures to come! We finally made it to Gatti Town (aka the pizza place), in honor of Jack's 3rd birthday! The kids had a blast and everyone got to do their favorite games and eat their favorite junk food!

First Love

I am sure that over the years the boys will have many crushes on Katie's friends, but for about a year now Jack has had his first crush on Katie's best-est friend from pre-school, Samantha.  Or as Jack likes to call her "mantha"!  He loves to ask if we can invite them to play and if he over hears Katie talking about an outing with her he usually chimes in to make sure he is invited as well (and if he is not we try to keep it quiet!).  Well the crush grew even more at the end of Katie's 6th birthday party when Samantha gave Jack his first kiss.  He was stunned (I am told by onlookers as I did not get to witness this) when she ran back to him after telling everyone good bye and planted one right on his cheek!  Since then we have been teasing him (just a little) and he gets very shy and coy and with a big grin says "I don't know" when asked what happened!

We have not seen them since the party as December is such a crazy month for everyone, but we manged a trip to the zoo today and all five kids were delighted to be re-united.  Jack even stole a little moment with his other favorite girl! (I of course am his first favorite and always will be, right!)

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

The existence of this card is a Christmas miracle!  Firstly I had arranged for a friend to take pictures of the kids, but then sadly her computer crashed and without the ability to edit pictures she was out of commission.  So then I made an appointment at Picture People for a Friday afternoon.  It was a perfect plan.  The kids were dressed in their matching snowmen shirts, they were rested and fed.  So off to the mall we went.  We had lots of time before our appointment so we paid a visit to Santa first!  Not surprisingly Luke did not want to have anything to do with St. Nick, but Katie and Jack gave a decent smile and manged to voice their Christmas wishes, so we got that ticked off the list.  So off to Picture People we head.  Thankfully they had us in the back studio and not the one on display for the entire mall to watch.  I can almost laugh at it now, but at the time  we were in picture chaos.  Trying to get Katie and Jack to sit nicely and just be ready for when Luke was actually doing as he was told was impossible.  The kids thought it was a big game, Andy and I thought who are these children.  The big kids thought it was just a big game and were having a great time playing with Luke, who would say cheese, but never at the camera.  There was fighting, tears, threats and eventually we just left.  It was silent on the way home and the kids were just sent to bed wearing their Christmas PJs we tried to get a picture of them in .  So the next morning since they were already dressed, I attempted one last time to get a picture for our card that is already going to be going out horribly late.  Well after messing with the camera setting and getting some great shots of the kids but with the wrong setting, I finally got a useable picture!  I am sure years from now we will have forgotten the whole debacle and we will look at the above picture and say what a joyous time it had been!

Soccer Tots

At the end of a grueling hot summer we were desperate to find indoor activities for the kids.  Jack's days of Gymboree had come to an end and we were looking for something for him and Andy to do that was their special time.  We found Soccer Tots and it has been great.  It in an INDOOR soccer program that focuses mainly on the kids having fun and teaches them a few soccer skills along the way.  They are learning about ball control, kicking and most importantly listening to the coach.  Jack's initial class was a parent participation, so I did not get many pictures from Andy, but he has graduated now and parents just sit on the sidelines.  Jack very sweetly asked if I would take him last week, so I jumped at the chance to take a ton of pictures.  He really loves the program and is very proud of himself (as he should be) for all his efforts.  His face really lights up when he scores a goal or finishes a drill sequence.  The best part is taking home a little boy whose cheeks are flushed and who has a beaming smile!  I think this is a program will will continue for a while!

Katie's 6th Birthday

To ease the pain of a very busy December, we had Katie's birthday party nice and early in November.  She was thrilled to have her party early and then basically get to celebrate her birthday over again a few weeks later.  She had her party at Alpha Omega Gymnastics where she has attended several parties and after the last declared that is where she wanted to have her next party.  It was a Hello Kitty theme and most importantly she had a fantastic time.  So did Jack and Luke who loved the fact they could run wild and all the surfaces were padded!  Luke really became fond of the trampoline and the air log and both loved the pizza and cake!



I was very impressed with Katie and her approach to opening her birthday presents from her party.  She opened one at a time and I suggested she write the thank you note after each one.  She was very on board with this suggestion and took her time with each note.  It took about a week to open everything this way and she was fine with that.  She loved all her presents and this way actually played or used each one rather than forgetting about it and moving on to the next present.  She got all her notes written (thankfully over the Thanksgiving holiday) well before I would have been able to do them for her!

On her actual birthday, Andy stayed home late so he could have breakfast with his girl, she opened her presents from Grandma & Grandad and Auntie Louise & Uncle Richard before leaving for school.  I had lunch with her at school and at her request brought her macaroni & cheese with carrots and an apple sauce!  We also had special cookies to share with her class.  After school we had another party with the Hanhan boys and when Andy got home we had our second Hello Kitty birthday cake and opened the rest of her family presents!

All in all she had two great birthday celebrations and I was exhausted!  I have always made a very big deal about birthdays and I hope this does not change, now we just have to get ready for Jack's in a few days!

A McDaniel Family Thanksgiving

After a lot of planning and plan changing, we finally set our plans and we headed to Boerne, TX for Thanksgiving.  It had been several years since we had been to Ross & Amy's so we were really looking forward to seeing everyone.  Katie especially could not wait to see the girls and was even more thrilled to find out she was bunking with Mallorie and Alexa!  The boys also shared a room really well and gave us good hope for them sharing in the future.


We had a really nice journey there and after a quick stop in Katy for some lunch, we drove straight to Boerne.  The kids were very eager to get out of the car and explore and they loved the back yard and we were really glad we packed all their ride on toys and Katie's scooter!

We had a great first night catching up with everyone and grazing over a delicious buffet of food.  The kids loved picnicking outside.  Jack was Papaw's boy and quickly warmed up to everyone else.  Luke was a star and kept everyone entertained, and once the girls got a hold of Katie we did not see much of her!

Thanksgiving day was nice and relaxing.  We got the kids out of the house and after a quick trip to HEB to pick up the new customary Thanksgiving food (macaroni and cheese) we found a really nice park for them to burn off some energy.  It did the trick and the boys slept nicely through the meal and we all sat back and enjoyed all the wonderful food.  We were treated to beautifually grilled steaks, some amazing salads, delious veggies and mouth watering chocolate pies!

We also decided to put together a family recipe cook book as there were so many wonderful things to  eat that we wanted everyone to be able to re-create them.  So this is my task for 2012.


We were sad to leave, but after another trip to the park to hopefully wear the kids out for the journey home, we hit the road.  After a year and a half of van ownership, this was the first family of five road trip we made.  All in all it was a success and we will be ready for another one next year!

Happy Halloween from the Toy Story Gang

I am not sure how many years I will be able to coordinate the kids Halloween costumes, but as long as they will let me I am going to do it.  Since Jack has been born we have had Princess Ariel and her lobster tag along Sebastian, then we had Princess Belle and her frog prince and Prince Charming and this year we went with our favorite movie at the time Toy Story.  Katie was delighted to be Jessie, which was a welcomed change from the princess theme, Jack was so excited to be Buzz Lightyear and little Luke was thrilled with his Woody costume.  The three made a really cute trio and I was sad for Halloween to come and go and I wished we had more opportunities for them all to be dressed up!  Andy and I even had Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head shirts to wear trick or treating (sadly we did not manage a family picture).

Fall is Approaching

Well is it almost Halloween, so we can finally say fall is arriving! After a very long hot summer we are all absolutely loving this weather. It is not even cool yet, but we can now spend afternoons outside in the back yard or take trips to the park and not just melt away.

The end of our summer was fantastic! We had a wonderful long weekend in Galveston with Meme & Papaw. The kids absolutely loved the beach, especially Luke who thought the freedom of running between the water and the sand was absolutely brilliant. Katie spent her time make sand castles and occasionally washing off in the ocean and Jack spent his time jumping waves and catching fish with Papaw. We also enjoyed the resort pool and just generally going with the flow of a beach life. Luke particularly loved the outdoor shower at the beach house and wanted to have a shower every time we arrived or left the house (regardless if he needed it). We were sad to say goodbye to our little house and know that we want to do that again next summer.

  Then a week later Katie and I jetted off to North Carolina to see Ashley, Robert, Emma & Abby. It was a fantastic trip and long overdue! The girls instantly became the best of friends and as ever Ashley and I were able to pick up as if it hadn't been 7 years since we had seen each other!

Then school started! It was a big day for the oldest Fisher kids! Jack's first day of pre-school & Katie's first day of Kindergarten (all on the same day). Surprisingly to us after a summer of "when do I get to go to school mommy", from Jack, he was very nervous on his first day and is still having a hard time settling into this new routine. Each day (he is going Mondays & Fridays) gets a little better, but with a little whimper in his voice he tells me that he is going to miss me (talk about tugging on my heart strings)! Katie is doing fantastically in Kindergarten. We could not be happier with our decision to send her to a small private Kinder for this transition year. She has a very small class and a very attentive teacher and goes each day with a smile on her face (comes home with one too). She has made some great friends and generally seems to be very happy with her routine!

The boys and I have joined another little play group that meets on Thursday mornings, we have all enjoyed making some new friends. I have also started attending a MOPS group that meets 2 Wednesdays per month. It has been a great time for me to get some good quality adult time and for the boys to spend some time with kids their own age without me... there are usually a few whimpers when I leave, but they are all smiles when I come to pick them up.

Jack has started Soccer Tots and has had mixed emotions about the program. He and Andy go on Sunday mornings to Life Time Fitness and a coach leads the class in soccer drills and games. We think he might be getting a little bored with his current level and think that a bump up in levels will help hold his attention a little more.

We are looking forward to our visit from Grandma & Grandpa in a couple of weeks just in time for Halloween! Our costumes are all ready and the countdown has begun. Jack, who I am sure does not remember trick or treating last year, keeps asking "when is it going to be time for treating"!

Our Summer

As a stay at home mom I was not expecting "summer" to be my favorite time of year. We live in a very hot environment making trips to the park and other outdoor activities almost impossible and being home all day with three small kids just did not sound appealing. However I have been pleasantly surprised this summer. Katie finished pre-school in mid-May and we have really enjoyed stress free mornings with no plans and I have loved having the extra playmate for the boys. In fact on the few weeks so far this summer where Katie has had a camp or activity, the boys and I have missed her quite a bit (now dont get me wrong... we all need a break from one another occasionally!)

Katie has had a week of Vacation Bible School at her old pre-school (Jack's new school to be), she has had a week of dance camp and "trash to treasure" at her new school to be and she has had 5 weeks of summer dance classes. She had also turned into a little fish! She has started taking private swim lessons here in our neighborhood and has just taken off (literally)! We are going twice a week and I wish we could do more. We will be very sad when in mid-August her instructor will be leaving for school.

Jack is getting very excited about starting school at the end of August (mother's day out 2 mornings a week) and is getting increasingly more independent. He is such a little helper around the house. He feeds Lucy almost every meal and he and Katie both are unloading the majority of the dishwasher (since the majority of the dishes are small, colored & plastic). He has cut a couple of hours off his daily sleep and now that he is in a big boy bed we are having to get creative to keep him in his bed. He is turning in to a GREAT big brother and is very sweet to Luke (that is as long as Luke does not touch his Lightning McQueen car!!) He wants to do everything Katie does, and does most things pretty well.

Luke is just a little firecracker! He took his first steps a few days before his birthday and now at 13.5 months he is running! He has great control now when he walks and can almost stand up with out needing something to pull up on. He had a great one year check up and weighed in at 26lbs and was in the 95% for height. I think we might have a big one on our hands. Not to doubt Luke's intelligence (although he does bump into a lot of things ;) ), but I am now calling the kids my Beauty, Brain & Braun... We have just recently cut him back to one nap a day which really frees up our mornings for fun, it is nice no longer to be restricted by a morning nap. Of course we can't travel too far in the or he will take a little cat nap, messing up the afternoon nap session.

As a family we have tried to stay busy doing in door activities. I have raided the kid craft areas of the local craft stores and we have all kinds of little art projects lying around the house. Katie had a trip to Mansfield where she spent 4 days with Meme & Papaw and cousin Lainey. They had a fantastic time and all want to do it again soon!

Our best new family activity has to be our weekend trip to the neighborhood pool. We have chosen the less family orientated one as it is much calmer and the kids don't seem to notice the difference. Luke LOVES to lounge in his pool float protected from the sun and Katie has learned to just play in the water as well as getting in a little swim practice. Jack loves to just be carried around the pool and has now discovered floating on his own with some water dumbbells.. We can easily spend 2 hours and have been going in the late afternoon and packing a picnic dinner! Our biggest obstacle (besides dealing with three wet kids close to bed time) is getting Katie to leave. She is brown as a little berry and would live at the pool if we let her.

Of course now every time we get the kids suits on they are asking if it is time for our beach trip. We have rented a house near Galveston for a long weekend in August. Everyone is very excited and Meme & Papaw will be joining. My biggest challenge is going to try and convince Papaw that we can't take the kids Jeep for driving on the beach!

Andy took Katie and Jack to see Cars 2 on opening morning. Both absolutely loved it and if we weren't big enough fans before the 2nd movie we certainly are now. Jack walks around saying he loves cars and Katie loves princesses. His favorite car changes daily between Mater & McQueen and he now has to have one of them on his night table when he sleeps.

I started attending a boot camp in the early spring and am now going 4 mornings a week at 5:30. It has become almost habit and is getting easier and easier to get up at 4:55 am! Andy participated in his first 1/2 marathon back in January and now definitely has a running bug, so he is either running or at the gym 4 or 5 nights per week. We have the kids talking a lot about exercise and hope we are instilling a love for activity in them. Jack loves to stretch and his attempts at push ups are funny!

A Summer Photo Shoot

Howdy Hello 5x7 folded card

Shutterfly custom Valentines Day and Mother's Day cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

We had a great time despite the heat with our friend Rebeca at Oyster Creek park for a summer photo session and to  capture Luke at 1!  The kids were very cooperative (I am sure it had nothing to do with the smarties I had in my pocket) and Rebeca captured some great shots!

Luke is One!

Our little guy has accomplished so much in his first year and we are so proud of him.  He is a fantastic eater, a great sleeper and a wonderful little brother.  He is the perfect combination of sweetness and mischief!  We had a small gathering to celebrate his birthday.  The Delling & Hanhan families came over as well as our cousin Mallorie.  All had a great time and Katie and Jack were more than happy to sing to their baby brother!

At his one year check up Luke weighed in at 25.1 lbs and was 31.75 inches long!