"Tis the Tag Season

There have been a lot of tags this season. Thanks Denise!

'Tis The Tag Season! Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy (not forward) this entire post and paste into a new post. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. 'Tis the Season to be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping paper.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
Real. I have insisted on a real tree for as long as I can remember. For the past couple years though with the boys and traveling home for Christmas we have done a fake one. Back to real this year though.

3. When do you put up the tree?
I would love to be able to do it the weekend after Thanksgiving but we are usually traveling that weekend so we do it the weekend after Thanksgiving usually.

4. When do you take the tree down?
After the new year

5. Do you like eggnog?
Bluh!!!!

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
I found a video once of me opening ALF. I was really excited about that. My brother however gave me a clock radio about 15 years ago that I still use as my main clock radio today. So I guess I would have to say that that one has been the most useful.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Nope.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My Sister

9. Easiest person to buy for? My Brother

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Christmas Cards?

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I would never say . . .


12. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas and Holiday Inn. Holiday Inn isn't really a Christmas movie but it was the debute of the song White Christmas

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
As soon as I can get up the strength to go to the mall during all the crazyness. If I was smart, I would start early enough that there wasn't any crazyness. Here's to next year!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Not that I remember

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Monkey bread Christmas morning.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? CLEAR

17. Favorite Christmas song? My favorite single performance of a Christmas song is Manheim Steamroller's Silent Night but my favorite Christmas song in general is O Holy Night

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? This year we are staying home THANK GOODNESS!!!!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixon, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolf

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Morning with the exception of opening the Christmas PJs on Christmas Eve.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? When it is over!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? The Wallace Silver Ball Bells that my mom gets my sister and me every year.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I don't think I have a favorite dinner. I don't even remember what we normally have.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? For my boys to sleep in their beds at night - ALL night! Can someone put that in a box and wrap it up for me?

26. Who are you going to tag for this Christmas questionnaire?? Rebecca (gotta get that girl out of the fog and force her to blog about something!), Charla, and Amy.

A Great Day!

It was an all around great day today. I got to meet THE president!

Okay, so I didn't get to meet him but I did get to hear him speak. So I went from never seeing a president ever to seeing two today! What an awesome experience!

I like this picture because it captures him making his most famous face. He was an amazing speaker and it was by far the best commencement speech I have ever heard. Some of my favorite things he said was when he was talking about Robert Gates. He said, "When I asked Bob to be the Secretary of Defense, it was clear how much he loved Texas A&M . . . And I was even more impressed when he insisted on standing during the Cabinet meetings - claiming he was the "12th Man." One day, he explained it all. He said: 'Mr. President, I'm red ass.'"

I also thought it was funny when he said, "When you leave this campus, you will be well prepared for any endeavor you choose. To those of you who have jobs lined up, congratulations. To those not exactly sure what comes next -- I know how you feel."

He very poetically said, "There will be times when people tell you a different way is more accepted or popular. Remember that popularity is as fleeting as the Texas wind. Character and conscience are as sturdy as the oaks on this campus."

But the most touching thing he said was, "And finally, be on the lookout for role models -- people whose conduct you admire and whose paths you can follow. With that in mind, I have one last example of courage and service. It's a story of a young man who left comfort behind to answer his nation's call, became the youngest pilot in the Navy, and nearly gave his life in World War II. When he came back home, he devoted his career to public service, and proved that success in politics can be accomplished with decency and grace. He reached the pinnacle in government, but he defines his life by other roles -- a father who gave unconditional love, a grandfather devoted to his grandchildren, and a beloved husband of the sweetheart he married a lifetime ago. Some of you will leave A&M with a degree that carries this good man's name -- George Bush. I have been blessed and honored to have carried it for 62 years."

Seeing our sitting president speak was amazing but the best part of today was getting to watch my brother-in-law graduate with his Doctorate in Entomology.





Getting to live so close to Robert and Jennifer for the last six years has been a blessing. We are so thankful that our children get to grow up with them in our lives. Congratulations Dr. Puckett! We are so grateful that we have been able to be with you throughout this process. We are so proud of you!

Jesse

Thanks for the tag Tiffany.

Everything you might want to know about my husband:

1. Where did you meet? At our mutual friends house in college. I was dating someone at the time and looking back on it, he was trying really hard to get my attention :)! On a side note, Jesse and I didn't meet until after he graduated college. This is strange because we were both math majors (me math ed and him math/pre-med) and surely passed by each other many times in the small building that had all the math classes. It is also funny because after we got married, Jesse's brother found a picture of Jesse and his parents at his graduation and I was about three feet behind them in the background. Strange huh!

2. How long did you date? Before we got engaged, 7 months. Before we got married, 19 months.

3. How long have you been married? 9 years in December.

4. What does he say that surprises you? I don't think anything he says surprises me anymore. Every once in a while though I hear the boys say things the same way that he does and that surprises me and always makes me smile.

5. What is your favorite feature of his? I hate feet but I always liked his! Weird I know!

6. What is your favorite quality of his? Right now it is how much he helps me with gradschool. Any other time of the year it would probably be his intelligence. He can always make me laugh too.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? I'm sad to say, "Nana." It is a long boring story. You don't want to know.

8. What is his favorite color? Red

9. What is his favorite food? Gyros

10. What is his favorite sport? Golf. Closely followed by Football and Baseball.

11. When and where did you first kiss? On my parents porch in Indiana. I think it was probably the second date.

12. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Spend time with our boys.

13. Do you have any children? Two wonderful twin boys. James Gregory and Jack Perry. I am sure that is news to all of you who read this blog.

14. Does he have a hidden talent? He is a wonderful cook. Not very hidden but a great talent none the less.

15. How old is he? 33. He will be 34 on Inauguration day.

16. Who said "I love you" first? He did. And I'm pretty sure I responded with, "Thank you!"

17. What is his favorite type of music? Old school. I catch him listening to the Rat Pack or some strange Mexican music a lot of the time.

18. What do you most admire about him? His passion for teaching and his love for our boys. He also really loves spending time with family. I really admire that.

19. Do you think he will read this? Um, only if I ask him to.

I am going to add this question . . .
20. Where did you go on your first date? We went to a carnival with mutual married friends. On our first date by ourselves, we went to see The Perfect Murder and went to eat at Casa Ole I think.

Is there a rule on how many people you can tag because I want to know a lot of peoples stories. I am going to tag Mandy, Stacie, Kierstyn, and Lisa.

Halloween

Have you ever seen two cowboys cuter than these?

The plan was to just dress up, take some pictures and call it a Halloween. I have never been much of a Halloween participant.

But, the boys were so cute we thought we would take them out. They had a great time trick or treating and we plan on throwing away ALL the candy!

Zoo

The other day, I realized that the boys had never been to the zoo. So, on a whim, we decided to take them to the Houston Zoo today. We talked it up a lot yesterday and all night last night and all morning this morning they continuously said, "Let's go see the animals!" We had a great time and got to see many animals up close and personal.

We got to see Nemo! That was exciting!

We got to see . . . well, I'm not really sure what this animal is but we sure did like it.

This is how we saw the elephants . . .

This is how the elephants saw us . . .
(they really were happy to be there. I promise!)

The Giraffes were Jesse and my favorite.

I'm pretty sure he was about to eat me!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch today to find some great pumpkins for carving. The boys had a fun time running around with Lauren and looking at all the mostly strange looking pumpkins.

I was sure we were going to have to pay for many smashed pumpkins.

We only ended up getting one pumpkin for carving and two little ones for the boys. Hopefully we will get it carved this weekend and I will post more pics.

Sleeping Update

Oh where to being . . .

Sunday night was great, I slept all night, the boys slept all night, I got up by my alarm clock and got ready for the day. As I walked out of the bedroom and headed toward the kitchen, I heard a little voice say, "Hi, Mommy!" Jack was just standing in the middle of the living room and I of course was caught a little off guard!

Monday night was also pretty good. When I checked on the boys before I went to be, I found them like this:

Not really the sweet, cuddly picture you would expect when someone says, "I found my boys sleeping in the same bed." This is some hardcore sleeping!

The boys slept for most of the night except for Jack who climbed in to Jesse's side of the bed at about 5:30. I didn't even know he was there though until almost 6.


Tuesday night made me want to cry. I felt like a new mommy all over again. The boys woke up screaming at 3:30 and both took off running through the house to our room. I probably put them back in their beds 10 times. At one point, I thought I heard them get up but they didn't come in to our room. I got up and went out into the living room and they were just hanging out in there thinking it was time to play. I think I finally got back to sleep around 5. Jack came back and got into bed with us at about 6:15.


Wednesday night wasn't good either. The boys woke up for the first time at midnight but it didn't take very long to get them back in to bed. I was woken up again by Jack getting in to our bed on Jesse's side at about 3:20. I thought I would try a new tactic and just tell him to go back to bed. He was pretty good about getting up but when he got to the door, he insisted that I go with him. He was trying to tell me something but I couldn't figure it out. So, I went with him to put him back in bed and when we got there, James was sound asleep in Jack's bed. I tried to persuade him to just sleep in James' bed but he wouldn't hear of it. So, I had to move James, which of course woke him up. Both boys then woke up and came back to our room at about 5:45. I decided since it was so close to time to wake up I would let them get in bed with us. They were both asleep instantly. Unfortunately, I don't sleep a wink when they are in bed with us and I had to get up at 6:15.

Thursday night was a great night. The boys slept in their beds all night. I woke up at 3:30 probably anticipating that I would hear from them again but I never did. I was woken up at about 5:55 by weird movements in the bed. When I looked, I saw both boys standing at the foot of our bed. We have a big sleigh bed so they were both on the bed, standing at the foot, staring at us. Kind of weird!!!!

Friday night . . . we'll see . . . let's all pray that they sleep in their beds all night until 9:00 A.M.ish!

It finally happened!

I knew this day was coming for a while . . . It all started last weekend when I went into the boys room to get them up from their nap and saw this . . .

I can assure you I didn't put them in the same crib.

Then, a couple days later, I went to get the boys in the morning and found them like this . . .

There are so many things wrong with this picture. Let's not even discuss why James doesn't have any pants on . . .

So, I decided that it was time to put the boys in toddler beds. They are exactly two and a half years old tomorrow so I guess I am lucky that we held out this long.

The process of changing the beds was an exciting one for the boys . . .

Yes, he is airborne and his pants are about to fall off . . .

and, they're off!

Can't jump with your shorts around your ankles!

And he's back in the game!

So, I finally got them all back together and the linens back on. It seems like just a week ago I took a picture very similar to this except I was nine months pregnant, we had just put their cribs together, and I was oblivious to the changes about to happen in my life.






Since I have been creating this post, the boys have already come out once and I had to go in once because of a loud bang. Currently, they are singing their ABC's! Oh, it is going to be a long night!

Fun with the grandparents

Jesse's parents came to visit this week and we had a great time. The boys got to stay home from school and they had such fun playing with Grandma and Grandpa Chupp all day.

James is showing Grandma Chupp how to work the camera :)!

We even got to see the fly over for the Aggie game go right over our house.

On a separate note, Jack has decided he needs to take a load off every once in a while and sit in cousin Cooper's seat.

A little different from these days: