And the Winner is......

Landon Cole Cross!! I don't think there's many people left who have a newspaper delivered AND read it. My mom does.....always has and always will, despite the declining quality of the McKinney Courier Gazette. The beauty of reading the newspaper is finding cute little contests for cute little children. Mom had Landon color the Snowman picture and entered it into their contest. She always did things like that for me. You should see my scrapbook. Thanks to my fabulous mom, my scrapbook is full of certificates, awards, medals, and achievements for unheard of things. According to my scrapbook, I'm one of the most highly decorated kids to grow up in McKinney. Since she signed me up for the Ranger Rick magazine, I was the proud recipient of a sticker, an embroidered badge, and an authentic certificate with gold on it. She sent a picture of me to the Courier Gazette for being the MVP of the Bobby Moffet Soccer Camp. I think my grandmother still has that picture on her refrigerator. She signed me up for summer classes at the Heard Museum...a picture of me ended up in the Courier Gazette. I was entered in contests, summer reading programs, art classes, pottery classes, a baking class, a class where I learned how to make a tie-dye shirt. I was sent to Space Camp and countless soccer camps. I have pages and pages full of cutouts from the Courier Gazette from each and every time my name was printed. I have ribbons from the events I won at field days in school, ribbons from track events...even the green ribbons that tell me I really didn't do very well. I'm telling you...my mom kept everything. And now she's continuing the tradition with our Landon Cole. Landon won 2 movie tickets for his snowman picture. The little guy took the 1-4 age division. Thank you Mom. I have followed in my mom's footsteps and keep absolutely everything. This will go in his scrapbook, that which he will inherit one day. We love him immensely and are beaming with pride.

A New Camera

My parents got me a brand new camera for Christmas....a REALLY nice camera. I was flabbergasted (I love to use words like that)! It's a Cannon Rebel xsi. It's something I've wanted for quite a while, but also something I never thought I'd have. And as an early birthday present, Bo gave me a telephoto lens. I'm in heaven! Since the day I got it, I've read instructions, manuals, and online photography courses. This camera is so capable of taking really nice pictures; it's just going to be a while before its user will be as capable. I promise to continue learning and will get better.
Mom, Landon, & I went down to College Station a couple weekends ago. I took my camera and it was really the first time to use it. I set everything manually, the shutter speed and aperture, and adjusted things for light. These pictures aren't great, but it's a start. Thank you Mom, Dad, & Bo!!!

The Cookies & Milk Are All Gone!

To have Santa come to our house on Christmas Eve or wake up and open presents at 5:00AM Christmas morning? This is what you have to figure out when there's a fireman in your house who works on Christmas Day. I should be used to this, and I suppose I am, but it's never easy to see him leave Christmas morning. The 5:00AM madness was just that....madness. So, we asked Santa to stop by our house on Christmas Eve while we were away at other family gatherings. We set out the all-important homemade cookies and milk and headed out in the snow! Yes, snow in Texas on the Eve of Christmas! When we got home, we headed straight to the table where we'd left Santa's treats.....they were gone and Landon was just amazed! Once he saw that Santa had devoured his cookies and milk, Landon turned to the fireplace to find presents galore! The look on his face and twinkle in his eye was just priceless. He had asked Santa for a train table (at the suggestion of mom & dad, of course) and there it was! The only downfall to having a big ticket item sitting there is that all the other gifts just become road blocks. He knew he had to open them before playing with that train table. He got some wonderful gifts from everyone and we're still playing them every day.

Dallas White Rock Marathon 2009

Sunday morning...low 40's...cloudy with a little fog.....great running weather! I completed my 2nd Half Marathon on Sunday! I am convinced and have always been convinced that my body is not meant to run long distances. However, I love setting goals for myself. The Half Marathon (13.1 miles) is challenging, yet attainable. It doesn't require near as much training as a full marathon, so it's something I can do without taking too much time from my roles as a wife, mother, real estate administrator, maid, landscaper...you get the idea. It's normally non-runners who ask me, "Don't you want to run 26.2 miles?" My response is, "Have you ever run 13.1 miles?" It's enough for me.
My super-supportive husband took time off of work to come out and cheer me on. He brought his bike and trailer for Landon. That way he could park his truck and ride to the race course to see me. They dropped me off at the starting line, then met me at the 5 mile marker and again at the 10 mile marker. As you can see from the pictures, Landon had a pretty comfortable ride! Getting to see them along the way was the best motivation I could get!

Happy Birthday Landon Cole!

Happy Birthday to our sweet little boy,
Our blue-eyed angel and pride & joy.

He's 3 years old on the 10th of December,
These 3 years were the best I can remember.

Landon's kind and loving and sweet as pie,
He has a caring heart and a twinkle in his eye.

Smart as a tack & curious, we teach him all we know,
Cars & trucks, books & puzzles, he's always on the go.

We love him dearly and so proud he's our son,
He brightens our world and makes life fun!

Happy Birthday Landon Cole!

Dear Santa....

I put our tree up and decorated the inside of our house on November 18th....early, I know! Landon was so curious about our Christmas tree this year; I just couldn't wait any longer. After all, it is the most wonderful time of year, and I'll do whatever I can to make it last just a little bit longer. We put the lights on our house this past weekend and Landon loves those too! As soon as it's dark, we turn them on and then have to run out to the street to turn back and look at them. I just love that he's so excited. Christmas morning will really be fun this year! He knows that Santa enters through the chimney. We burn a fire in our fireplace almost every night, and this morning he told me that we better not burn fires because Santa has to come down our chimney! Here are a few pictures of our hard work. Landon helped me lay the lights on the ground and test each strand. The nighttime photos just never turn out very good, but you get the idea.