Christmas 09

We had a great Christmas this year. We are truly blessed to have such a great family and friends. I wish we had been able to see everyone in our family, and hope that next year we will be able to. Finn got really into the whole Santa thing this year and was amazed that Santa sent him a letter, a video, and gave him his Christmas wish- a dragon castle. He is so sad that Christmas is over and is refusing to let us take down the Christmas tree.

Ski School Dropout

We went to visit my Dad in Santa Fe, New Mexico for a couple of days. Finn was so excited to see snow and build a snowman. Rick and and I got to go out to dinner on the Square while my Dad watched Finn. The next day we took him skiing. We weren't sure what to expect- and when we got there we enrolled him in the Ski School. We weren't allowed to stay and watch, so Rick went snowboarding while I hung out in the cafeteria (no skiing for me). I went back after a few hours to check on Finn, and he was clearly distressed. His ski instructor said that he followed all the instructions and skied with everybody, but was crying the whole time. We didn;t do a very good job preparing him to be left alone with strangers all day. We pulled him from the class, and Rick skied with him for awhile. Finn did well, and loves being in the snow. He never complains about being too cold. I think he will be able to do a full lesson next year, and maybe try some of the bunny slopes.

Christmas Caroling

Finn went caroling with his school the week before Christmas at the Vista Oaks Retirement Center in Lakeway. He had been practicing his songs for weeks, including "Holly, Jolly Christmas", "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", and "We wish you a Merry Christmas". He did a great job singing with his classmates when he got there, and loved all of the attention that he got from the senior citizens. Hwent up to each and every one shook their hand. He was quite the little politician. Afterwards, they had their Christmas party. Attached is a video of him practicing his carols, one of him performing, and pictures of him greeting everybody.

Finn is four!

I am in complete denial that my sweet baby boy turned four this week. Last Saturday he had a birthday party at Extreme fun, a bounce house play land. He had a bunch of friends come and bounce with him. He picked his party theme to be Toy Story, one of his all time favorites. He had so much fun with all of his friends.
On his actual birthday, we took Finn to go get donuts for dinner. We went to this donut stand called "Gordoughs" that has gourmet donuts. I got a maple bacon and strawberry and cream cheese donut. Rick got a candaian bacon and jalapeno donut, and Finn got donut holes covered with blue icing and raspberry sauce. They were delicious, but definitely not a dinner that we will be having again nay time soon.
I am so sad that Finn has grown up so fast, but so proud of the sweet and funny little boy that he has become.

Thanksgiving

We had a little bit of a different Thanksgiving this year. We stayed in Austin and had my Dad and Will over for a Thanksgiving lunch. I did most of the cooking, but my Dad brought the turkey and a meatloaf. I think this was Finn's first time to start to understand the Thanksgiving story,and he serenaded us with his "I am Thankful" song that he learned at school. Finn had a Thanksgiving lunch at school that Rick and I both attended. He and his classmates sang two Thanksgiving songs to all of the parents, and then we had a nice Thanksgiving lunch. The video of them singing is attached- it's pretty cute. I had the whole week of Thanksgiving off, so Finn and I got to spend a couple of days camping with my Mom and Doyle in their new travel trailor at Mckinney Falls State Park. I relly enjoy camping if I am not in a tent and have access to showers, tv, and internet. We had a great time this week and we definitely have a lot to be thankful for!!!

Soccer

Soccer season is over and I think Finn enjoyed it. He liked running around on the field with his teammates, but I don't think he ever quite got the kicking the ball thing. He is fine with letting someone else get the ball into the goal. He does however, kick the ball if someone else has already kicked it in. Then he will proclaim "I won!" It's pretty cute to watch all of those three year olds on teh Blue Lightning team play. Someone is always crying or kicking the ball into the wrong goal. I am very proud taht Finn was never the one crying, he was always a trooper and willing to go out on the soccer field (even if he he was bringing his comb with him and fixing his hair the whole time).I think Finn may enjoy it more next year when he is a little bit older.

Halloween

We had so much fun on Halloween this year. Finn really got into it, and had so much fun picking out his costume and going trick-or-treating. We went to a pumpkin patch and two Halloween carnivals before the actual day. Finn picked Underdog as his costume. Although I'm sad that I don't get to pick out his costumes anymore, I thought it was cute that he picked a costume that wasn't completely mainstream and still a little fuzzy and cute. A lot of people didn't know who his costume was, and called him "Superdog." I guess they missed the big cinematic masterpiece with Jim Belushi and a beagle that Finn forces us to watch all of the time.
We went trick-or-treating at my friend Katie's neighborhood. Her daughter Addison went trick-or-treating for the first time, as a cute little ladybug. It was good times!