Guitar Hero fun at our Cousins.....

Last night we went over to our Cousins, the Riegers, for our Christmas with them. Mom has become OBSESSED with Guitar Hero and after last night I believe is headed to the store TODAY to get  herself a Wii as well as her OWN Guitar Hero and Wii Fit. She was SO INTO IT but I have to admit after awhile she became VERY good at it! I believe she would be willing to take anyone on! Watch out.....before you know it we will be having Guitar Hero Tournaments at the Hilderbrand house! 

 

a VERY merry CHRISTmas.....

I'm praying that ALL of my friends and family had as blessed a Christmas as we did! We had an amazing day together as a family! The biggest surprise of the day was the "BIG" gift Hillary and I gave my mom and dad. I decided several weeks ago to do something we've never done before after seeing the Christmas cards my mom was sending out to people. She was "thinking ahead" back in March when we took a family picture during our new Pictorial pictures at church and ordered Christmas cards then. Well, as many of you probably read in my blog in August I got 13 inches cut off my hair SO needless to say the Pictorial picture was WAY outdated from only 7 months ago! Hillary and I went and had our pictures taken together and surprised mom and dad with a new plethora of pictures of their "two girls." It was so much fun!

Bags...Sewing....fun times in Ft. Worth~ ALWAYS!

Many of you that know me know that I'm pretty crafty, however, sewing is definitely NOT my thing! I've never been interested in it and frankly am still not. My mom did teach me how to do one thing and that was how to sew a button on and I can do that pretty well! This weekend it was time to head up to Ft. Worth to pick up the bags from Brooke's party we had in Austin back in November as well as love me some Wells family! 

Brooke still had a few bags to make and none of the buttons had been sewed on so a few late nights (about 1 a.m.) we had completed our Bag Journey! Hillary and Amy helped tag the bags one night. 

I was also blessed to be able to see Karly and Abby in the Christmas Performance at First Euless on Sunday afternoon. They were ADORABLE~ and NO that's not just the Aunt Holly talking.....EVERYONE agreed! 

I'm more than blessed to have some adopted "Big Brothers" in my life and Kent is AMAZING! He has been an encourager, a prayer warrior, and has talked some sense into me from time to time! It is such an AWESOME thing to watch God use him in the life of students. He is by far one of the BEST Student Pastors EVER as well as "Big Brother."

Not to mention my trip was actually made complete this time by being able to spend some time with Uncle Joshy! Josh had the ultimate part in the Christmas Performance.....to play Santa Claus! He did great and excited everyone when he rode into the Sanctuary on his little moped! Hillary and I went to eat dinner with Josh and Rhi on Saturday night and was able to spend some quality time picking "Dad's" brain on what to prepare Little Hudson with when he enters the world next year~ gifts, gifts, and more gifts! Oh yeah....and if no one is planning a shower, Josh is rolling the dice to make sure one's planned! Not a problem, Josh. We'll make sure that Little Man is SPOILED ROTTEN! I'm quite sure he will not be on the "deprived" list of babies! I already love me some Hudson Merriott and I CANNOT wait to hold him and love on that precious miracle! 

"Belf" the Elf....

Friday night I got to spend some time with my boys. Earlier that day Mara had bought the Elf on the Shelf for them and wanted me to read it to them to introduce the Elf before they went to bed because they were going to go see Santa Claus on Saturday morning. I absolutely love opportunities like this. It makes me realize just how much I miss teaching and encouraging young and impressionable hearts for loving a lifetime of learning. I read the book as animated as I could getting both Brock-man and Bear to "believe" in the Elf. They were on each side of me as we were sitting on the couch listening VERY intently. Of course, Aunt Holly indulged some of the book to keep their attention and talked them through many parts of it asking them questions to get them involved in discussion as well as understanding it. They were so intrigued. I also tried to correlate "naughty and nice" to "wise choices and unwise choices," when we choose to "obey and disobey." I personally believe that you can reach kids with balancing the Scriptures and make believe without harming them for life. Santa and the "magic" of the Elf flying to the North Pole is a fun family tradition around Christmas time; teaching them to make unwise and wise choices to please Jesus is a LIFETIME of learning. Anyway.....enough of my soap box. At the end of reading the book, Barrett and Brock began to look for the Elf. They were absolutely THE CUTEST as they looked all over the living room trying to find where "Belf" the Elf was "watching them." Barrett decided to name the Elf "Belf" because he has a bell hanging off his hat. They found him sitting high on a shelf and immediately had to get close to him so they could start talking to him. Brock had a hard time understanding why he couldn't "touch" him. Explaining that we could use our eyes to look at him and our words to talk to him but our hands are used to do kind things about did it for him understanding why he couldn't do it! They both began whispering to him what they wanted for Christmas. I couldn't hear Barrett- so hopefully Mara & Alf knows what he wants from Santa- and Brock kept saying, I want a "BIG WOODY." I'm anxious to watch what the next few weeks unfolds. Alf told me both the boys were up at 5:30 a.m. yesterday morning looking for him. Hopefully, Alf & Mara can come up with some hard places so they can sleep later! This morning at church Brock came running up to me and said, "Aunt Holly, Elf is in the kitchen today."  TOO cute! 

IT WILL WORK....trust me!

The other night Mara & I went shopping so we could be creative making some Christmas gifts and returned home to this "thing" in the kitchen covered up by a towel. Curious to see what it was Mara went to go uncover it. Soon after I hear this chuckle saying, "Sister, come here....look what he's done." Well, needless to say my chuckle followed closely after. We both tried to convince Alf that it wasn't going to work. It went downhill from there. Finally, at about 10:30 we had convinced him to "cut off the top" and get the lid to actually sit on top of the crock pot COVERING the top of the Pork. He worked for at least 30 minutes cutting the frozen piece of meat with an electric knife squeezing what he could down into the crock pot. I looked at the lid and told him I thought he had the top of a Pyrex dish and sure enough he did....so then went the hunt for the correct lid to place on top of the completely squeezed crock pot of pork. "Trust me," he kept saying.....well, the next day, Mara wakes up to go downstairs to the lovely barbeque smell in the kitchen of sauce and pork juice dripping all down the dishwasher and onto the floor. "Trust me" still rings in my ears....I do have to say it sure did taste good so maybe that's what Alf was trying to get us to trust him in. As Mara and I continued to chuckle at him the whole next day I began to encourage Alf as I do the teachers with the kids at OLC.....it's ALL ABOUT THE PRODUCT NOT THE PROCESS THAT COUNTS! 

Jon and Kate Marathon....

Okay...so many of my friends know I'm TOTALLY obsessed with Jon & Kate Plus Eight! Call me crazy but I just think they are the cutest kids and have the neatest family! Not to mention the fact that I love how balanced they are in relationally raising their children in today's world. I have previously posted how I have watched them and kept up with them when they did their so called "one night special" of the delivery of the sextuplets. Soon after began the series. Thank GOD for DVR when I'm not at home on Monday nights for the new episodes. On Thanksgiving day they had a Jon & Kate Plus Eight marathon and needless to say that was where the TV stayed for quite awhile until my Mom very kindly said, "Can we change the channel?" One of my birthday gifts from Maranatha was their new book that came out. I looked SOOOO forward to reading it over the holidays because I completed ALL of my school work BEFORE Thanksgiving so I could enjoy "ME" time. I got to read what I wanted without having to write a book review afterwards, taking an Exam, or posting a Discussion Board. I read their book in one night and the next morning.....it was such a easy and encouraging read. What a testimony they are to many around them on their dependance upon the Lord through  such a MIRACLE of the birth of 6 babies! I admire their determination in raising their children in the admonition of the Lord! The story she tells of the scripture cards her Mom gave her when she found out she was pregnant was the neatest thing! She continues to hold onto to those cards on the same ring her mom gave her then and refers to them often with the struggles and rewards of raising 2 sets of multiples. 

Week of FREEDOM.....

 On Monday the week of Thanksgiving Mom, Hill, and I headed to the Condo for the week. Dad followed on Tuesday night after work. This is always such a fun week for my family. No schedule, no worries, creative ingenious' at work, movies, movies, and more movies. As well as all of our "fave's" for breakfast, lunch, AND dinners! Out we headed to Hobby Lobby on Tuesday a.m. Mom and Hillary started laughing at me because before I left Austin I printed 10 of these 40% off coupons off of my weekly Hobby Lobby Ad that comes through email. Believe it OR not I used EVERY one of them that week! I participated in a Christmas Show last week and the week of Thanksgiving was my creative week.

It is truly therapy for me; I enjoy it SOOOO much! Below are some pictures of what my projects at the condo looked like while working on them. Of course, you must make a note of the infamous Sonic drink in the background! It's always a MUST when I'm creating! 

Being Thankful...

Before Thanksgiving Beth called and needed a quick help with the kids overnight so her and Peyton could attend an out of town funeral. I picked up Sister and Bub from school and we headed home to start homework and eat dinner. When we got home I went to pull dinner out of the fridge to start cooking it and I noticed this "I am Thankful for...." page taped to the front of the fridge. It was the most precious thing EVER! I just absolutely love my "Miss Priss" and I'm SO very thankful for her ALWAYS! 

My Party Planners....Alf & Mara~

For a couple of weeks before my Bday, Maranatha began to tell me not to plan anything the Friday before my Bday because her and Alfred wanted to celebrate with me. They were leaving for Memphis that weekend before and wanted to take me to dinner. So, of course I cleared my calendar, however, I attempted to convince the both of them that I simply was very happy with hanging out at the house, watching a movie, and having take out. Even up until the day before I was telling Mara that's what I wanted to to do and she sent me a text message that said, "Get over it; we're taking you out." I didn't know where we going or what we were doing. Alf called me that day and tried to play it cool by saying, "What are we doing tonight?" I didn't have a clue but I wasn't the least bit suspicious. I guess you could say I'm used to hanging out with Alf & Mara so it really didn't surprise me that we were going out to dinner. They picked me up and off we went.....to an unknown destination. I wondered where we were going so I asked Mara (Alf was on the phone) and she was like, "You need to ask the man, he's the one that knows." Well, then I was confused but I just sat back and reveled in conversation. Before too long I realized, myself, that we were on our way to the Oasis. I absolutely love that place! We went inside and the hostess began walking us to our table.....well, then came the suspicion. She began to walk us through the kitchen which I thought was weird and then said, "they're all in there." Well.....there ya have it! A SURPRISE party it was....and ALL of my favorite people were there! It was so much fun- good food and great fellowship- what more could you ask for! Thanks, Alf & Mara~ It was a memory I'll never forget! 

OLC Surprise....

The Thursday before Thanksgiving I was on the phone at work and there was a knock on the door. I was on an important call so I ignored the knock and another knock came. At this point I was a little aggravated so I said "I'm on the phone." There was this voice that said, "I know but I need you." I opened up the door and it was my sweet friend and teacher at OLC, Johnna. She said Barrett was very upset and wanted to see "Aunt Holly." Well.....you tell me one of my kids is upset and I come running! So, I told my friend on the phone I would call them back and Johnna and I began walking through the hallway. She proceeded to tell me what had taken place in the classroom and that Bear was just having a hard time getting "over it." I was wondering why we were walking towards a classroom that we typically do not use during OLC, however, I had a one track mind of Barrett on my mind. As soon as the door opened I began to hear all these little voices scream at me, "SURPRISE!" Soon thereafter they began to sing Happy Birthday to me! It was the sweetest thing. There was a cake with candles and the teachers had all signed a BIG card for me! Most of the time my Bday is celebrated very early due to my Bday always being around Tgiving so it typically always catches me off guard. It was a sweet day at school that day!