All four home at the same time!

The family is enjoying a rare treat: all 4 of the kids are home at one time! Scott came home on R&R last Sunday and will be home until the 4th of February. Grandma and Grandpa, Leslie and Maggie, and I met him at the airport. That is actually kind of a funny story in itself. Grandpa was standing at the large window in the upstairs lounge of the airport waiting to snap a picture of Scott as he got off the plane. Now you have to understand that Grandpa is used to seeing Scott in his civilian attire. So he snapped a shot of a tall, young man wearing a ball cap, gray T-shirt, and jeans whom he believed was Scott. He didn't realize that Scott has to travel in his uniform. So Grandpa has a really nice photo of a complete stranger. Wait, it gets better. When Scott walked into the terminal, I snapped the camera at my first sight of him. I ended up getting a really good shot of the guy in front of Scott with Scott grinning over his shoulder. It was nice of the man to at least smile for me. Luckily, I did get a good picture of Scott giving his Grandma a big hug. If you know Scott very well at all, you will know that hugs are NOT his thing so having that picture is extra special. He actually looks like his is enjoying it.
This weekend, Ryan managed to come down for a quick visit and I was able to get a picture of the 4 of them together. That is mostly for Ron because he is still in Maryland on business. Sadly, he will miss all of Scott's visit home. We do have August to look forward too. Hopefully, both Ed and Scott will be home then. Yahoo!

new floor in the sun room...

Ron and I are beat! We spent the last 2 evenings and most of today putting a new floor in the sun room. It started out with ugly, stained, gray indoor/outdoor carpet. We got some light oak laminate from Lowe's and put it down. The hardest part was getting the baseboards attached because one wall is brick. Now all I have to do is get some new blinds and put up a pretty valance and it will be a perfect place to sit and enjoy the view in our awesome backyard. Thank you Sugarbear!

Students that make me shake my head

Today during class, one of my little ones came up to ask me for some tape. I asked what he needed the tape for and he pointed to his shirt. There was a neat little slit in the front of his shirt that had undoubtedly come from the curious misuse of his scissors. When I asked if he had cut his shirt, he hesitate before responding, "Yes. But actually, this has never happened before. Every other time I put my shirt in my scissors, nothing happened." I explained that I didn't think the tape would help his shirt at this point. He stood there with his innocent, big eyes and asked, "What can I use?" I chuckled, and said, "Well, I guess we could staple it together." (I teach the TAG class so they usually get my sarcasm.) He paused for a bit, shrugged his shoulders, and said, "Sure." Taking the stapler, I held the gap in the fabric together and stapled the slit shut. As soon as I finished he said, "Oh no! Take it out! At least the tape is invisible. My mom will see the staples!"

Dia de Reyes...

On Tuesday evening Ron and I were able to learn a little more about the customs, traditions and culture that are a part of our newest son-in-law's life. We were invited to a party at Leslie and Gerson's house to celebrate a Mexican tradition associated with the Christmas season. The holiday is known as Three Kings Day in honor of the story of the wise men who presented gifts to the Christ Child. From what G says, it was actually the biggest celebration day for his family when he was a child. As I understand, gift giving and Christmas trees were never part of their celebration. Most of their activities were focused on gathering together with friends and family to eat and spend time together. Leslie and G had managed to find a Mexican marcado that had just opened downtown. They bought a traditional Lottery (Bingo) game and taught us all how to play. It is pretty much the same as the English version of Bingo except that the board is covered with pictures labeled with spanish words and as the words are called, you place coins on the pictures instead of tokens. The winner is determined by whoever covers his or her board first and the prize is all of the coins used by the other players. They also bought some traditional Mexican candy (a chewy coconut bar), Mexican hot chocolate (richer, thicker, and spicier than what we are used to) and a King Cake. Tradition holds that the person lucky enough to get the piece of cake with the tiny plastic baby hidden inside is the host of the next party. Lucky for all of us, G got the piece with the baby inside. We also got to experience some yummy Mexican food, delicious fruit, spicy salsa, and great company. Unfortunately, it was too dark outside to whack a pinata!

Why I love Texas...

Yesterday was beautiful! It started off on a spiritual note with my Saturday morning discussion group. The ladies from church that are in my enrichment group came to my home and we discussed the meaning of Christian Courage then enjoyed some yummy cinnamon rolls. The rest of the day was spent with family enjoying the spring-like (high of 82) temperatures by sitting around outside or passing the football. Seth had stayed the night because Becca went to Canton with some friends, and Leslie's family came over for the afternoon. We ended the day by going over to Maggie Moo's for some refreshing ice cream to celebrate the wonderful weather. It was the perfect ending for a perfect Christmas break.