Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

I realized after my last post that I left off a couple of pictures that I meant to include so I'll start with those. Go with me back to October.

I like this one. Too bad Cameron has his slightly frowny face on.

And I really like this one. Looks like a gang of white boy bullies. "Whatchoo say? Me and my posse gonna shut yo mouf!" Ok, I know that doesn't fit with the whitey appearance but they look like bruisers nonetheless.

And I have to include a picture of their Halloween costumes. Except, a day or two later, Dana and I realized we didn't even take a picture of Cameron or Kevin. We're terrible parents! This was Cade before heading off to school. Apparently, he didn't think it was scary enough so he fell off a scooter in PE and split his chin open. We took him to the ER where he got 4 stitches. Then it was right back to school because he didn't want to miss his party. Dude never shed a tear through the entire ordeal.

Cameron was a reaper this year (comlete with black mask and flashing eyes!) and Kevin insisted on buying a new scary mask that he refused to believe looked almost exactly like the one we bought for him last year. Kevin took off with some friends so we never saw him that night and Cam hit a few houses then came back home to help me scare more kids. We had a blast! The best one was a girl trying to figure out if I was real (I also have a reaper costume). She didn't see mini-me walk up behind her. Screamed when I moved, turned around to run and screamed as she met Cameron face-to-face. Ah! Fun times. Lots of other terrified people too that I could go on and on about. If you don't make the kids coming to your house work for the candy, I highly recommend you start.

I don't remember much about November. Kevin's soccer team narrowly missed qualifying for the state cup as the #1 team. When tournament time rolled around, they floundered and just couldn't get it together and lost their first (and only) 3 games. Just like that, our soccer season was over.

We spent Thanksgiving home alone again this year. That sounds sad when I write that but it's really ok. We had a great day together. Dana made a fabulous meal and we played a family game of soccer in our neighbor's yard (it's flatter than ours) before watching the Dallas Cowboys stomp their way to another victory.

And then, the big news for the month... Kevin got his first girlfriend. She'd been strongly hinting and came just short of telling him to ask her out but he resisted for reasons known only to him. And then, like women always do to us poor, susceptible men, she got her way. She's a really sweet girl and hit around our house.

See? This is Madison and Cade at Kevin's band concert. Notice Cade's right arm. I said "a hit" not "hit on", Cade.

All 3 boys had a Christmas performance of some kind in December. Kevin's band concert was first.

See that eye in the center of the picture? This was the best view I got of Kevin playing his sax. Good lookin' kid, he is.


Cameron's school had a Christmas play. Here's Cameron and his buddy Ally after they finished singing.


Cade was an elf and a darn cute one at that!


At the North Pole. Cade really liked his costume so he wore it for pajamas and around the house for several days after the play. We had to pay for it so why not?

We went on a limb this year (get it? ha ha ha!) and bought a live tree. Dana has always wanted to buy one so we can plant it after Christmas and watch it grow. Turns out, it's pretty darn expensive and quite the pain to put in the house. We emptied out a toybox and stuck it in that to hold it. We used a Christmasy tablecloth to cover the whole thing. After getting it home, I read on the internet that you shouldn't have a live tree in your home for more than a week because the roots will start to grow. Oops! We bought it the day after Thanksgiving. I'm gonna be upset if it dies on us.

Our best Christmas present this year is one we got a week early. Mom had a company meeting to attend in TN the weekend before Christmas. We drove up to spend the weekend with them, then brought them to our house to visit for a couple of days. While we were in TN, they treated us to a day at Dollywood. It's like a mini-Disneyland except a lot colder. We'll be sure to dress warmer next time.

I didn't take many pictures since it got dark shortly after we got there. I wasn't trying to be fancy with this shot, it just turned out that way. The place was decked out in Christmas lights. Absolutely beautiful.

For the record, Dana, Kevin and Cameron tried to kill me on a roller coaster. Twice.

The next day, before leaving Pigeon Forge, we stopped at a go kart track to scratch that full throttle itch.

Trash talking before the big race.

Cade and I were handicapped with the only 2 seater car (read - slowest). Kevin and Cameron drove like wrecking balls. Pa hung out with us for a couple of laps then split to chase the others. It was so fun, we turned around and did it again.

Reynolds Family