So proud of our donkey!

On Thursday morning, Zachary had his Christmas program at his preschool. Before the performance I was not sure if he was going to sing like normal, sing really loud like ELF, be a mute, or run off the stage to see his mommy. Fortunately, he sang and did his sign language. It was very gentle and super quiet but he was ADORABLE! To be honest, Kevin and I think he was super embarrassed about his donkey costume. The children in his 3 year old class were either sheep, cows, or donkey's. His teachers told me that he selected the donkey on the morning of the performance. We were so proud of him! If you have never seen a childrens Christmas program, I would highly encourage you to find one to attend. They are so sweet, innocent, and a Christmas blessing. I felt so full of God's love when I left the program. Here are a few pics of Z's class. '

Zachary is on the far left
Zachary is the second boy on the left in the donkey costume
He is doing the sign language to Silent Night
This was adorable it was a pre-k nativity scene

It's a Nephew!

Today was the day, my nephew Elliott was finding out whether he was going to have a brother or a sister. I have been waiting for this day for the past 17 weeks. I have always had a feeling that Rachel was having a boy! Today I was right. Check back on this blog post about my Pappy.

We (Kevin, Zachary, and I) met my sister, brother-in-law, Elliott, and my dad for breakfast so that we could see the ultrasound pictures and hear the good news. It was so cute to have Elliott tell us he was going to have a brother. Elliott did not want to get in the picture but Zachary did so here is Zachary with his Aunt Rachel pointing to our new nephew...Jerrytt Bales Young.


Jerrytt is named after my dad, Jerry. His middle name is my B-I-L's mothers maiden name. It think it goes so well with his big brother. ELLIOTT WOOD YOUNG since WOOD is my mom's maiden name. I am sure Elliott, Zachary, and Jerrytt will be best buds forever...or at least I hope :)

Blog Book

I recently ordered and received my blog book from 2008. It took me a little while to find a blog print company that would download all my pictures. They used to have a 250 picture limit. Because I love to download LOTS of pictures I never could get a book printed unless I wanted to have 3-4 volumes of 2008 blog posts. I waited it out and FINALLY Blog to Print allows 1000 photos per book. Click here if you want to see where I ordered my book. Here is my book.


I love it! It is a great keepsake for our family. It was very easy to do at Blog 2 Print.
All you do is sign up for a free membership.
Submit your blog web address.
You wait about 2-5 minutes for your blog to download...depending on how many posts you have.
*I only selected my posts for 2008.
Then you can go in and select a front cover picture and a back cover picture.
They make a table of contents for you.
Voila! That's basically it.
Then you pay and within a week your book is on your front porch. It's the easiest scrapbook I have ever made.

Shorty the ELF

A tradition that we have done the past couple years is Elf on the Shelf.Its a childrens book and elf. The story is that an elf arrives at your home each night from the North Pole. He sits up high (so that no one can touch him) and watches the child)ren in the home. At bedtime he flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa. Kev thinks its totally silly but Zachary and I LOVE Shorty. As soon as Z wakes up he is on the hunt to find where Shorty is hiding. He has been in our Christmas tree, in a stocking, on top of our entertainment system, and several other places in our house. We have to keep him HIGH because Zachary wants to hold him. Rumor has it if you touch Shorty he will lose his "magic". We're running out of places! Here are a couple of Shorty's favorite spots.

Mistletoe Kisses

My mom stopped at our house to see Zachary the other night. He loves when Grams just pops in. For those of you that know Zachary....he is very stindgy with his kisses. He does not give them away freely. You have to work hard to get a kiss from Z. UNLESS.. there is mistletoe around. He took Grams under the mistletoe and gave her a year full of kisses. Seriously, he was a kissing machine. He would kiss her so fast that my camera could not keep up. Check out the sequence of these photos.

All Aboard the Polar Express

On Saturday night our families did something we have never done for the holidays. We hoped on the "POLAR EXPRESS" train. We went to the North Pole! We saw elves, Mrs. Claus, and SANTA. It was a thrill for Zachary and Elliott. To be honest, I think it was a thrill for all of us. It was touching to see the excitement & joy in all the kids. I had tears in my eyes a couple of times when I would watch Elliott & Zachary with their grandparents. Just another reason why I love this time of year so much.




Our families at dinner...waiting until it's time to board the Polar Express
Elliott & Zachary in their p.j.s

Zachary and Elliott with Grams, Pops, PawPaw Marvin and Grandma Karen

Our family

Conductor John

E & Rachel

Three Cheers for Hot Chocolate!
This was our hostess of the train car
The conductor punching a Z in Zachary's ticket.
Zachary showing you his punched ticket. (I think he was mid-blink)
Santa signing Zachary's Polar Express book
Santa with Z and Hil
Santa with Elliott, Rachel, and Baby Young
The entire Family on the train
Pops and Zachary looking at the Lights
It was a magical night for all of us.

The love of Sunday School Teachers

Zachary has totally been blessed by the best Sunday School Teachers. Mr. Robby and Mrs. Pam are amazing. He absolutely LOVES going to S.S. Its all because of his wonderful teachers. It's funny because Z talks about Mr. Robby all week and then when he finally sees him at church he acts super shy and/or embarrassed. I just wanted to share some of the blessing we have recieved from these wonderful individuals. A couple years ago I taught 3 year old Sunday School with Mr. Robby. It is a lot of work. It takes a lot of energy and sacrifice. Instead of attending an adult class you have 10-15 3 year olds for over an hour EVERY Sunday. It's a lot of planning, preparing, and time. Mr. Robby and Ms. Pam THANK YOU for your continual service to our church and to Zachary.


First, when I was sick in November, we were unable to attend church for two Sundays because of the germs. Z was devastated. I sent Mr. Robby an e-mail to let him know that he was missed and this is what we got in return.

This is the e-mail Mr. Robby sent Zachary.

Dear Zachary,
I am really missing you at Sunday School! Today we learned about a man named Cornelius and how God listens to us when we pray. God has ears just like we do and He can hear us! We sang a song about our ears today - Do your ears hang low, do they wobble too and fro, can you tie them in a knot, can you tie them in a bow, can you throw them over your shoulder like a continental soldier, do your ears hang low! Maybe your Mom can sing it with you.
All your friends at Sunday School miss you too - even Thomas the Train misses Zachary. You had eleven friends in class today, so you would have made a perfect dozen. I really hope your Mom feels better by next week, but if she doesn't I will come pick you up and we can go to Sunday School while your Dad takes care of your Mom. Tell her to rest and get all well!
Have a great week and don't forget to pray and talk to God so He can hear you with his big ears!
Love, Mr. Robby

Seriously, who does this???....Mr. Robby. Mr. Robby has the gift of teaching preschoolers. He is SO talented in many ways.

Today when we dropped Z off at Sunday School this was the classroom bulletin board made by Mr. Robby. Click on the picture to enlarge. See if you can find Z.

Zachary as Joseph

The Three Year Old's Nativity
Brinley as an Angel

Kendall as an Angel

Mr. Robby & Zachary

Ms. Pam and Zachary

Kevin, Zachary, and I are so thankful for Sunday School Teachers. Thank you Mr. Robby and Ms. Pam! We love you!

Something my Mother-In-Law taught me

When Kevin and I were dating I went to his parents house for the weekend. I barely knew them but I felt incredibly at home. While my mother-in-law was showing me around the house she stopped at this huge china hutch. Instead of china she had tons of porcelin birds in it. She could point at one and say "Kevin gave this to me for Christmas 1992" or this bird is from 1970 when Marvin was in Vietnam. She knew where every bird came from. She knew who gave it to her and what occasion it was for. I was shocked because there were tons of little birds. I asked her how she could remember all these little facts. She said oh I put little stickers on the bottom to remind me where I got each one. I thought that was such a great idea. So I started doing that with the gifts I recieved that Christmas 2002.

Fast-forward to 2009....As I was getting out my Christmas decorations this year I came across some of my favorite holiday spreaders. I love them. When I flipped over the box I gasped. This is what I saw....They were from my Uncle Charlie Peacock Christmas 2002. I am almost 99.99999% sure that my Aunt Sharon purchased these for me, wrapped them, and put Uncle Charlies name on them. But it did not matter. My Uncle Charlie passed away in an accidental drowning in May 2007. I have used those spreaders every year since I got them but I never really took the time look at the back of the box. When I saw my little note I was thankful that I had done this. I was thankful that my mother-in-law taught me this little trick. Immediately I stopped unpacking the decorations and thought about my Uncle, my Aunt Sharon, my cousins & their families. Its not that I don't think of them because they are always in my thoughts and prayers. But seeing this gift made me reflect about times I had with my Uncle Charlie.

Class Christmas Party

We went to our Sunday School Class Christmas party last weekend. Our friends, Jill & Benjamin hosted the get-together at their home. Everyone brought appetizers, sides, and dessert items. The food and desserts were out of this world.

A tradition with Sunday School Parties is we have a white elephant gift exchange. For those readers that do not know what a "white elephant" gift it is something that you do not want in your home, you can not spend any money on it, and its more fun if it's something funny. Anyways, each couple was to bring one gift. When it came time for the exchange each couple drew a number. We got #5. Initially we opened a "couples romance kit" that had flip flops, a couples marriage scripture book, a medical hammer to check reflexes (the person giving the gift is a physician), and a little pen light. It was funny. So funny that someone stole it from us. I picked another gift and we got a velvet mans thong with jingle bells on it. The whole room was hysterical! I know what your are thinking...is this a church function and who gave the thong. First, yes we are Baptist and yes Baptist' can have some fun! Second, the couple that gave the thong got it at another white elephant party..,or so they say. Funny thing is the rule of the game is if you get something that is wearable you have to wear it to church on Sunday.

Kevin and I thought it would be funny if Kevin put some jingle bells in his pocket so that when he walked he jingled too. Implying that he was wearing the thong. Our class got tickled again when they heard Kevin coming. I think some of them really did think he had the thong on. All I have to say...is guess what we are going to bring next year for our gift? Watch out friends!

Wrapping!

The other day I was wrapping some gifts for our Adopt-A-Family. Zachary wanted to help. So we gathered the gifts, tape, a special Scotch brand cutter, and wrapping paper. I was getting busy wrapping the gifts when I look over at Z. He was wrapping something. I started to count the gifts and realize that he does not have any of the gifts for our Adopt-A-Family. I could not figure out what he had.



I said, "What are you doing?"

Zachary replied, "Wrapping a gift for Jesus."

I said, "What is it?" I really had no idea what he had wrapped. That is until I heard some music coming from the wrapping.

He said, "I'll open it for Jesus because he is a baby and cannot open it."

Quickly, he ripped through the paper. He wrapped his Little People Manger scene. He thought Jesus needed a "barn" to be born in. Honestly, he was as serious as lip cancer. He really was giving this gift to Jesus.

Instantly, my heart melted. This whole scene made me take a moment to pause and celebrate the Reason for the Season. Please take some time to focus on the reason we celebrate.

A First!

Being that Zachary is three years old we very rarely see him do something for the first time. Of course he has his first day of Kindergarten, first time to drive, first date, etc to look forward too, but those will not be coming for quite some time. It seemed as a baby he was always doing something for the first time. Now that he is a "big kid" nothing is a "FIRST" until last week. He wanted to take a shower. Yep, he has never take a shower by himself. I think he has only taken a shower with someone 2-3 times in his lifetime. So this was huge. It was also a big deal because he is not a big fan of getting water in his eyes. First he inched back into the water and next thing you know he was under the shower totally. He loved it. He used so much soap on a louffah that we had to stock up on some more shower gel. In fact, it was a chore to get him out of the shower. It seems that life is getting a lot easier for us these days. I miss the baby but I love his new found independence.


He likes the water hot..just like his mommy! Check out that steam!

Date Night with my 2 favorite guys

Before Kevin and I were parents we would go out to eat at least once a week. Usually we would get off of work on Thursday night. Come home, change and then go out to a sit down dinner. Sometimes we would go to dinner and a late movie. It was perfect because we could sleep in on Friday mornings. Since we became parents to our sweet little guy we do not enjoy going out to dinner like we used to. In fact the past three years has not been fun at all to go to a restaraunt. When Z was 12-24 months he would holler out or yell when he was done. It was so frustrating because one of us would have to get up and take him to the bathroom to "discipline" him. Meanwhile that persons food would get cold. The stress of trying to keep your kid in line while other dinner guests were trying to enjoy their food was not worth the hassle of going out. We just stopped going out. We would utilize curbside service and drive thru. UNTIL RECENTLY! Things have changed for us. Zachary LOVES when we take him out on a date. He likes getting ready and going out with us. It's still nothing like it used to be but we can finally get through our meal without any meltdowns. We color and play games while we wait for our food. Z eats all of his food. You can really tell he enjoys spending time with us out. For this we are thankful!

Not sure if you can tell or not but Z fixed his own hair. It was matted down with "hair gel". He was so proud of himself.

We have never tried the "new" Houlihans in our town so we thought we would try it. We were very impressed with the service and the food.

Kev got their So Cal Fish Tacos. He liked them but did not love them. This is his second time to try fish tacos. He has not cared for them either time. It comes down to the fact that he just does not like Fish Tacos.
I ordered their homestyle grilled chicken salad. It was massive and very good!
I was so impressed with their kids meals. First they brought out carrots and dips while we were waiting. Z chose quesadilla's. It came with fries and a milk. Then the kids meal comes with a cup of vanilla ice cream with or without chocolate syrup. We thought it was a great value at $4.99!

Z and Mom
My favorite part about Houlihan's was their dessert menu. You can chose "bites". They really are not bites but they are smaller portions of their regular sized desserts. They had a special going on where you can order 3 bites for $6.99. We figured we had already splurged a lot this week so we decided we would pull a "Ruey" (my Ruey ALWAYS orders dessert) and get dessert. We chose Creme Brulee, Snickers IceCream Dome, and Pecan Pie. YUMMY!

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner together. Z made it fun too. Funny thing was when we were done we called my parents to check in on them. They had just returned from seeing an afternoon movie, The Blideside. They were raving about it and offered to watch Z while we went to an evening showing. IT was the best of both worlds. Dinner and a movie date with Zachary and Kevin! Thanks Mom and Dad!