Kite flying with Grandma

While sitting at the park with Jack, Grandma noticed some folks out in the baseball field flying kites and thought it had been a while since she'd flown one. She marched the little man right over to Walmart to pick out a couple good ones, one for him and one for each sister. He choose a beautiful Transformer kite for himself, Ariel for Eva, and Barbie for Isabelle. Friday when he got home from school we packed a picnic lunch, checked Isabelle out of school for the afternoon, and headed to the park. Here are some pictures of the kite flying and the picnic. The kids all had a blast, Eva was such a natural at the kite flying, she seemed to know when to pull the string tighter and when to let it out some, without any assistance. Thanks Grandma!

Jack and Grandma

Jack has been having a hard time, I don't know if it's middle child syndrome or what. He just has a breakdown on a daily basis. His Primary teacher doesn't know what to do with him. At school he has a behavior sheet sent home each day on his folder that has either a sticker to indicate a good day or a note to indicate something less than a good day. Usually his sheet is covered in stickers by the end of the six weeks, but the last one was riddled with notes. They usually say what he was doing that was wrong like 'talking to much' or 'not following directions.' I knew he was having trouble last week when his note said simply 'I'll call you'. His teacher explained to me how his behavior has changed and she wanted us to know that she's doing all she can to help him. Well, one of the things he says regularly when he's having a fit is "I want Grandma" or "fine, then I'll go live at Grandma's." One time he was arguing with Christopher over something trivial and he finally got so mad he proclaimed his intention of walking to Grandma's to which Christopher replied "have a nice trip." Jack pondered for a moment then said calmly "Dad, I need a map and my emergency backpack." I laughed so hard at his sincerity. So I finally broke down and called Mom and begged her to come stay for a few days and give Jack whatever extra love it is that he is needing. She was all too willing, she showed up on Thursday and stayed through Sunday. We had a wonderful visit, Jack took Grandma to the park to feed the ducks, they went to Walmart together, she sat by him at meals, she cuddled him while he watched to TV, she sang to him at bedtime. I guess sometimes a boy just needs his Grandma!

Snowmageddon--Dallas

I was talking with my sister-in-law in DC a couple of days ago and she referred to the weeks weather as snowmageddon. I thought it was clever but never would have guessed Dallas would experience the same thing the next day. At least in DC they are used to snow and big storms. This is DALLAS! Here are some pictures from the last two days.

Thursday morning we got up to this gorgeous snow and thought how beautiful it was. At 3am there was nothing, by 7am, this was the view. The kids still had school and loved the chance to get all bundled up for it. Well it snowed all day! Seriously, it was 24 hours of big, fat, wet flakes, each with as much water as possible without turning into rain.

By mid afternoon we had 5 inches on the back porch and it was still falling. I know you can't really tell from the picture but Jack is measuring with a blue ruler, full 5 inches. The important part of this picture is that you look around the deck and take note, especially of the big tree in the background.

This is 8am Friday morning. Christopher and I both heard the noise during the night but assumed it was just snow falling off the roof or some icecicles or something minor. Obviously it wasn't, and boy am I glad that we didn't spend the time and money putting the tree house in this tree. I measured this morning in the front yard 9 inches, much of the city is under a foot of snow.

Adoption updates

We now have a seperate blog completely dedicated to our adoption. If you know anyone who would like to learn about us please direct them to christopherandrobinadopt.blogspot.com. Check us out and see what you think! Don't forget to tell your friends about us.

Eva is 3!!!

Tons of art supplies for our little girl this year. She got 15 coloring books in all, no two the same! She also got crayons, chalk, coloring pencils, paints, markers, etc. It will all go wonderfully with the easel she got from Santa Claus! She had a strawberry cake with pink icing and pink sprinkles. Such a happy birthday!

Christmas Morning

Eva enjoying the presents

Best gift of the day, she carried this cat around like it was real

Plenty of joy

New hat, new PJ's, new chair, happy girl

Guns that light up!

Reading material

Awesome waffle maker

Man jewelry

Transformers, is there anything cooler?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Pajamas

Another Eyerly family tradition is to open one present on Christmas Eve, not just any present, a specific present brought by Santa's elves. Everybody gets the same gift and usually it's something that can be used that night. This year everyone received a holiday mug to use for hot cocoa before bed and our kids also received new pajamas. Here they are!