1st Eclipse Soccer club tournament

Dylan played in his first soccer tournament with the Lunar Eclipse 00 team this past weekend. His team did great. Dylan scored a goal in the first game, we were all very excited. They won 2, tied 1 and lost in the Championship game. His team came home with a medal and all had a great time. Emmy and Paw Paw came out to watch as well as Uncle Daniel. Aunt Christa, Uncle Gary and Gavin got to see the Championship game as they were out there for the tournament, Gavin playing in the U14 league for Premier Soccer Club. Here are some photos...

Socks

I challenged myself to knit something more difficult...a sock! Using a helpful book from Patons and some advice from my knitting friend Melissa P., I was able to make these!!



















Going to try some different yarn and make some more. Sydney has already asked for a pair!
I recently made a cowl also but don't have a photo of it just now. So many projects, so little time! (sigh)

Happy New Year!

I can't believe the holidays are almost over. Well, technically they are for me as I was back to work today, the 2nd. Not a lot to do but fun to see the folks in the office. Christmas was busy this year, we spent Christmas Eve with Christa, Gary, Gavin and Sean, Max and Melissa and Mom. That was nice because usually Christa and her family are out of town during the holidays. Christmas morning was our usual... up at dawn to open presents and see what Santa has brought. It was a very electronic year with video games and Sydney finally got her DS! That afternoon we headed out to Magnolia to join Darrin's family for the rest of Christmas. It was a great time, the kids had fun with their cousins.

For New Years, Darrin booked us a few days at the Lost Pines Resort near Bastrop. We had been before in the summer of 2007 and had a blast. He found a Family New Years special and made that part of the kids and my Christmas gift. Sean and Stephanie, Kyle and Mattie went too and that made the whole trip very fun and special. We all had a wonderful time together. I put together a collage of sorts from the pictures I took at Lost Pines.


















The kids played Frisbee Golf, soccer, kick ball, jumped in a bouncy house, tug-of-war, games, swam in the heated pool, rode bikes, and on and on! They had so many activities, it was hard to decide what to do! We celebrated on the lawn under the stars, they had a large screen that had the "Ball Drop" from NYC. We counted down and then had a beautiful fireworks show, it was great, the best New Years I think I've ever had. Thanks to my wonderful hubby for setting it all up! Good company, food, setting, weather...couldn't have been better!!

Breakfast with Santa

Each year for the past 3 or 4 years we've gone to breakfast with Santa. Our tradition has been at The Hard Rock Cafe. This year's date didn't work for us and we thought we would have to skip it. Well, The Aquarium Downtown was also doing a Breakfast with Santa so we decided to try it. It was great. Aunt Debbie, Uncle Stephen, Keaton and Noah were able to join us Sunday morning. We all had a great time.

Santa was swimming with the fishies and an elf...















The kids enjoyed looking at all the fish swimming around us. It was pretty cool.



























Sydney thought Santa had a bit too much make-up on...his lips are a bit bright!

December Happenings 2

Gingerbread House
I bought a kit this year for the kids to put together. I didn't realize how much mommy would have to do (construct the house, walls first, roof next, 10 mins. dry time in between!) before they could put it together but we had fun. They split up the candy decorations and went to town making it beautiful. They keep wanting to eat it... um, yeah, it's hard as a rock now! Hard to explain that it's really just for looks!

December Happenings 1

We got some snow! Driving home from work on December 10th we had some snow flurries. Not much stuck where we were but it was fun to see and the kids enjoyed it. They were so excited when I picked them up from extended day. Went out and snapped a few photos of the SNOW!

You also get to see some of our Christmas yard decorations. So neat with the snowflakes caught by the flash.

Dylan was down the street playing with his friends (of course) so Sydney got to be the star of the photoshoot!

What I'm up to these days...

I always have a project or two going. One thing I like to do is listen to audio books while I do my other stuff. My wonderful husband introduced me to Audible a few years back and I love it! It's a great present that keeps on giving. The longer the better, like World Without End by Ken Follett, that was a good 40+ hours! It especially nice when I'm commuting to be into a good book, the time just flys by. Currently I'm reading An Arranged Marriage by Jo Beverley. I found it actually by searching for the narrator of recent books. This narrator is Jill Tanner and I've really come to like the way she tells a story, she's great with the different characters. I like historical fiction and enjoy tales from England and Scotland. The Outlander series is by far my favorite. I think I'm on book five but not all are on audio, well at least not all in the unabridged versions so that one I'm actually reading. Which sitting down to read is somewhat of a challenge most days so I've been on that one a while.

Projects that I'm working on while listening to my books? Well there is always laundry and usually dishes but then there are other fun things I can do and listen at the same time like make these little plushies...thanks to my friend Aimee. She let me borrow her book and make copies of the patterns. The elephant is mostly done, I think he needs a scarf or something and the dog well, first he needs a face and then maybe a collar. These might find their way to some little people I know very soon. Need to make some friends though, about 6 or 8 more!
And then there is my knitting. I have a few projects going there too. My lap blanket is coming along nicely. I'm about ready to switch colors, very exciting. I also have a scarf but I've gotten bored with it so I don't pick it up much. Also, there is this "Knit-Along" project I came across from Craft Stylish, can't decide if I want to attempt this or not. It's cute. Any thoughts? Let me know. http://www.craftstylish.com/item/26637/dare-to-make-it-knit-along-an-easy-little-cardi

Well, that is about it for the moment. Have a wonderful evening!

pnut