Allison's kite

When Allison first said that she wanted a kite for Christmas, I thought to myself, "that's pretty random," but I just figured she'd forget about it.  Well, she didn't.  Over a months time, everytime someone asked Allison what she wanted for Christmas, she had the same answer: a kite.  

Luckily for Santa, he (well, SHE) went shopping the day after Thanksgiving and to his amazement, he found some really cool kites at Costco that were very reasonable priced.  What were the chances?  Santa took it as a sign that it was meant to be and was excited to fulfill Allison's Christmas wish.  

Now, mind you, from November 28th on, I noticed that it was  VERY WINDY around here in Katy, Texas.  And every day, it reminded me that Allison was getting a kite, and IT BETTER STILL BE WINDY AFTER CHRISTMAS!!!!  Well, yesterday it was & Allison wanted to fly her new kite from Santa.  

So, although I was home by myself with all 3 kiddos, I attempted to help Allison fly her kite.  For convenience sake we just went out to the front yard, and tried it in the street.  Needless to say, it didn't go so well -- trying to fly a kite (which I've never done), keeping Kimball from running down the street and out of traffic, and moving out of the way when cars wanted to go in and out of the cul de sac was a little too much.  So I told Allison we'd try it again tomorrow when Daddy was home and we could go to a park.

Well, tomorrow came, and this morning the weather was cooperating.  After we lazily got up and ready, Daddy pushed us all out the door (don't get any ideas, he was the last one to wake up at 9:30!!), because the wind was here alright, due to a "front" that was moving in and with it was coming RAIN too! We wanted to beat the rain.

We hurriedly drove to the park right next to our church and pulled out the kite.  At first, Matt tried flying it, but with little success.  So, I decided to show my prowess at kite flying . . . after all  . . . I did have all of 1 day of experience over Matt. (but that was enough, let me assure you!!)  I got it up and going pretty well, and that's when Allison said she wanted to try it.  

I was hesitant to give up "the reins" to Allison because even I was having a hard time keeping the kite in the air, and the wind was strong enough that the kite was really tugging on the string.  But, it WAS hers, so even though I didn't think she could do it (and I'll admit,I was having fun), I let her try it.  To our AMAZEMENT, it turns out that Allison has NATURAL TALENT when it comes to kite flying!!!  I mean, WHO KNEW?!!  She literally was better than all of us, and had NEVER flown a kite before, EVER!!! So with that, here are some of the GREAT pictures that I captured of our little SIX YEAR OLD flying her big kite!! Enjoy

Look at her go!! I will say, it was thrilling to watch her.  :)

In this picture above, you can see that the string is completely 

unwound on the winder. That means she's flying this kite at 170 feet in the air!  Pretty amazing, huh?

And just for a little more perspective: this tiny spec of a kite you see way up there is actually over 6 feet wide

to see more about this kite go here

Christmas Morning

I know what you're thinking . . . "whoa, Catherine's already posted about Christmas??! "  Well, I'm already posting this because, as I type, everyone (besides me) is asleep and it's only noon! That would be because Allison didn't fall asleep until we went to bed (ie: 1 AM), and Sarah woke up at 5:30 AM.  Kids!!!! What are we going to do with them!!!  AUGH. Needless to say, as soon as it was all over this morning Matt crashed back in bed.  Literally - asleep within seconds.

Ok, Here we go!  Enjoy!

Last night, I decided to staple sheets to the ceiling (see below) to block the kids' view of everything as they come down the stairs in the morning, so that they couldn't just wake up and see everything without us.  It also saved us once last night when Allison got out of bed and came downstairs because she was "sick" and couldn't sleep. (not really sick though --  surprise, surprise)

Here we are getting ready for the "unveiling" (and I don't know why I look so huge, like I'm pregnant or something.  Don't get any ideas . . . I'M NOT PREGNANT!) Oh, and notice that Sarah's wearing dress up?  Yeah, that's because she's already been awake for 2 hours and she peeked under the curtains too  when no one was looking . . .

Allison heads straight for Kimball's big gift, the roller coaster!

Sarah's look of surprise!

Kimball trying to make sense out of all of the hubbub.

Santa's gifts . . .

A Kite for Allison (just what she told Santa)

"Rainbow sunglasses with a shooting star on it" 

for Sarah . . .  

I think Santa did pretty well, considering the specifications given, Don't you think?  (the glitter on the glasses are all the shooting stars in the night sky that Santa sees while he's flying on Christmas eve (just in case you were wondering)

A "play garage" toy for Kimball, that somehow managed not to be photographed, 

Tennis rackets and balls for Catherine (and Matt),

And an 8" digital photo frame for Matt

"Big gifts" from G&G Craner:

A dollhouse for Allison and Sarah to share

(But as you can see, Kimball really likes it too)

A rollercoaster for Kimball . . .

And those PLASMA cars you see in the picture (above) 

were a pretty big hit for Allison and Sarah too!

If I can get it to work, here's a cute video of Kimball on his roller coaster 

(and a lovely shot of my behind as well . . . can I edit that somehow? Someone, please help me!)

Visiting Santa

Earlier this week, we went to the Mall to see Santa and tell him what we wanted for Christmas.  We were pleasantly surprised when it was a "real" Santa (real beard, etc) and the picture was FREE!!  Go Pro Bass Shop!!!

Kimball's not so sure what to think about Santa . . .

And Santa's not so sure about where to look for the camera!

Yep, Kimball's made up his mind:  

He's not fond of this situation at all

This one turned out really cute of the girls . . .

Kimball liked the fish too.  Like I said, we WERE at Bass Pro Shop!

NOt only did we get free pictures of the kids with Santa, but they also gave out a really cute craft (reindeer headbands, to be seen in a later) and a coloring page. Not too shabby!

Ward Christmas Party pictures

We went to our ward (church) Christmas party last weekend, and to our surprise, there was a photographer taking family pictures for everyone!  Luckily for us, we had semi-coordinating outfits on and they turned out relatively "ok" for not being planned

The photographer captured "jumping" photos of all of the kids.

(Above: Allison, age 6)

(Below: Sarah, age 3  1/2)

(Below: Kimball 15 months)

After Kimball realized that he was supposed to jump, we couldn't keep him from "jumping" into everyone else's family photo time.  This kid . . . .

Here's the rest of the pictures.  Not that great, but hey, they were free!

Concentration

I uploaded these pictures to my computer & noticed that Matt captured some funny faces of Kimball while he was walking.




  

 

Plus one more picture with ME actually in it. (a rare occasion) No make-up on, but oh well.  Beggars can't be choosers!