Christmas Past

This Christmas season has been the best so far with Lincoln. He is old enough to enjoy the music, shows, and Santa. The last two years, even as an infant, he cried each time he saw Santa. And presents were just something we opened for him. I'm hoping that he will WANT to open presents this year. We'll see.

This year is always stressful for me because of the gift buying, figuring out where we are going and what family we will get to see. But the best part of year for me is seeing the smile on my kiddo's face when he really likes something. This year, that something has been "Elmo's Christmas Countdown." It's a video that we checked out from the local library and he has wanted to watch it over and over and over again. I credit Elmo for helping Lincoln feel more comfortable with Santa. Plus, his teachers at school have been talking about Santa.

My favorite moment thus far happened at our church Christmas party. Santa arrived, read a story, then the kids lined up to sit on Santa's lap. Lincoln stood in line, with a little help, then when it was his turn, he walked directly to Santa, sat on his lap and smiled!! As you look at our Santa pictures from the past years, you'll see what a big accomplishment this is.

I'm glad that Lincoln can recognize not only Santa, but his Savior as well. There was a picture of Santa and a picture of Jesus Christ on the same wall at a friend's house and he pointed to Santa and named him, then did the same with Jesus. I'm just happy that he is speaking so much more, but it was the icing on the cake to know he can recognize his Savior.

I feel very blessed this year, even with the tough trials and decisions that we've faced. I'm grateful to my Savior and Father in Heaven for all my blessings and for my wonderful and loving family. Merry Christmas!

2007

2008- Mele Kelikemaka

2009

2010

Thanksgiving crafts

Lincoln came home with a backpack full of cute little crafts from school on Friday. They have been very busy this week working on scarecrows, leaf rubbings, sorting, coloring, and an adorable feathered indian headband. Here are some of his creations....

Last Pumpkins of the Season

Last week, Lincoln and I went to the farm near our town that sells pumpkins in the Fall and Strawberries in the Spring. I knew the farm would be closing soon so we went out one more time this year to take some pictures.

We've taken a picture on this tractor at the farm for the last three years.

Lincoln has a little scratch on his forehead that he keeps picking at. It won't heal and keeps getting bigger, thus the band-aid.

We went out with a friend and her young son to let them run out their energy. We had lots of fun in the hay maze and climbing in the pumpkin boats. We were the only ones there and didn't think anything of it, until we asked when they closed and were told they "were already closed to the public." Ooops! They didn't care because we didn't buy anything anyway. But the boys had fun!!

Taking turns "driving" the boat!

The Miracle Worker

This year, I've been introduced and have enjoyed performing in our local community theater productions. Earlier this year, I played "Miss Scarlet" in "Clue: The Musical." Then they called me to audition for "The Miracle Worker" as Annie Sullivan. Honestly, I wasn't thrilled about auditioning, but I thought I could give it a shot. I've never performed in a dramatic role and wasn't sure how good I would be.

Well, the play opened two weeks ago and we are in the final stretch and it's been getting GREAT reviews. I have been especially surprised by the wonderfully positive response to my performance. Countless people have told me that it was the "best play I've ever seen here in the 25 years the theater has been open." And how my performance moved them to tears.

It's amazing the positive feedback we've been getting. I never thought that I'd be any good at drama because I'm such a goof, but I guess I'm channeling my frustration with teaching Lincoln how to speak into my role as Annie teaching Helen Keller how to "speak."

Here are a few pictures of the cast and crew and some others of the performance. It's been a LOT of work and LOTS MORE memorization, but the wonderful comments have made it worthwhile.

Lacey with the "blind girls"

"The Miracle Worker" Cast

Cast and Crew

Josh, mom, and me...with Malik's arms...

This was taken from off stage by Denise (Viney) with her phone. It's the final scene of the play, where Annie tells Helen that she loves her. Get out the tissues!!! And a really cool picture!

This is a video of a portion of "the breakfast scene" where Annie is trying to get Helen to eat with a spoon. It's a funny scene, especially when the audience gets excited and involved.

It's been a lot of work, but overall, it's been fun and fulfilling. Now, I promise I won't do another one until next season. Oh, yeah, they also used my picture from "Clue" on the cover of this season's program guide. So, my picture will be on every program guide until Sept. 2011!! At least it's a decent picture.

Lincoln's School Picture & Crafts

Yesterday, Linc came home with a bag full of crafts that he has been doing at school and his FIRST SCHOOL PICTURE!!! I was a little worried about how the picture would turn out because he got sick the day they were taking pictures and I needed to pick him up. Before I got there, they ran him down to get his picture taken.
I can't tell you how much I love this kid!! With all the frustration I feel in helping him learn to "use his words", it's a great feeling to just look at his picture and tear up because I love him so much. He has blessed our lives with patience, love, hugs, kisses, laughter, and surprise. Whether it was a good picture or not, I was definitely looking forward to seeing them. Luckily, I have a very handsome kiddo (just like daddy) and his picture turned out GREAT...even though he was sick.


His teachers send home an info sheet that lets the parents know what skills the kids will be working on and what the theme for the next two weeks. His first week at school they were learning about bears. The last two weeks were pumpkins. Here are some of the Uber-cute crafts he brought home.
Coffee Bear (smells good)

Pretty!!!



How many did he eat before glueing them on?

Happy Halloween 2010!

We had our "Trunk or Treat" at church yesterday and had a lot of fun. Josh dressed up as a Chilean Miner, just out of the mine, Lincoln was a version of Count von Count from Sesame Street, and I was the "Black Sheep of the family." Everyone's costumes were fairly easy to put together, except mine. I decided to hand dye 400 cotton balls black, then wash and dry them, then I had to pull them apart to regain their fluffiness (individually) and then hot glue them to my black sweatshirt. A very labor-intensive costume that made me look like (according to many at the party) a poodle and a wolf. Oh well.

The Romrell family (Super cute!)


Austin, Alex, and Jannie Medley

My friend/partner in crime, Jessica, made this amazing pumpkin cake for the party. It's become a tradition for one of us or both to make a cake for our ward parties. This one was great!! Good job Jess!

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

2010 Sea World Trip

Saturday, October 16th, we went to Sea World San Antonio with my older sister and one of her boys, Aidan. We've taken Lincoln there before but he was only 1 year old and we thought he might be old enough to enjoy all the animals this time around.

First stop, as always, was to see the Dolphins (My favorite!) Lincoln tried to feed them some fish, but when they came remotely close, he would pull back and say "No, No, NO." Overall he did great and really enjoyed watching them swim and splash. He kept telling me they were "Wimming" as they swam by.

We tried a couple kiddie rides, like this mini ferris wheel and the Shamu roller coaster. Earlier this year at the theme park on our trip to Branson, he screamed when he had to sit down on the ride and then again when it was time to get off. This time he was great. No crying or screaming to speak of. I think he actually enjoyed them.

Lacey and Aidan (age 8)

Josh and Linc on Shamu rollercoaster

Although it was a LOT of walking, we were smart enough to bring his stroller and he rode most of the time. We had a great time. We got to see a little of everything...Penguins, walrus, seals, Shamu, owls, alligators, flamingos, and lots of dolphins! Lots of fun for everyone!!!

First Day of School

Monday, October 4th, 2010 was Lincoln's first day of school at Colt Elementary's PPCD class. I was a bit worried about how he would do, but as we walked toward the classroom door and knocked, he seemed ok. Then his teacher opened the door and tried to take him inside. That's when he started crying buckets and going "wet noodle."

I was expecting a phone call, telling me to come get him, but I didn't get one so I assumed everything was okay. At 11:00 am I went to pick him up and he came running at the door holding Ms. Tina's hand, happy as a clam.

She said he cried for about 45 minutes, then the Assistant Principal took Linc to his office to feed the pet frogs. After that, he was great.

The rest of the week got progressively better...Tuesday he cried for 15 min. Wednesday he cried for 2 minutes 11 seconds. Thursday and Friday were tear-free! I'm so glad that he is enjoying school. His teachers are just wonderful! We get a daily report of everything he did that day and how his behavior was. Then at the end of the week, we get a weekly report of how he did concerning his developmental goals. I'm so excited he gets this opportunity and I pray that it will serve him well.

Colorado visit

A few months ago, we found cheap tickets to fly to Colorado to visit Josh's brother and his family. We haven't seen them in almost a year and they have a new baby boy whom I had not met. Since Josh and his brother, Austin, are such HUGE Texas Longhorn fans, we decided to visit during the Texas/Oklahoma football game.

Going to the airport is never a fun experience with Josh. He is usually very anxious and can be a little short on patience, but this time, he was really good and so was Lincoln. I kept telling Linc that we were about to take off and what kind of noise the airplane was going to make. Then the time came and we started down the runway and up into the air. Once Linc saw how high we were, he got a little scared and repeated, "All done, All done...." and "Up? Up? Up?" Finally we were able to turn on his portable DVD player to watch his new favorite movie...The Great Muppet Caper. But the DVD ran out of batteries about 20 min. before we landed and he was NOT happy. I felt sorry for the woman in front of him because he kept kicking her seat.

We finally got there and had a wonderful time reuniting with our niece and our family and getting to know our newest nephew. We played at the park, ate great food and some "not so great" food at a creepy, haunted house restaurant with a scary gorilla man, and had a really fun time just relaxing at home with Austin and Meredith.

We had a great time and look forward to seeing them again soon!

Charlotte (age 4) and Lincoln (age 3). Hook 'em Horns!

Graham (age 5 mos.)

Happy 3rd Birthday Lincoln!

For Lincoln's 3rd birthday, we invited lots of friends, family and their kids to our local pumpkin patch. Sweetberry Farm has strawberries and such in the spring and pumpkins in the fall, plus a hayride, hay maze, horses and goats to feed, and lots of fun activities. It was the perfect spot to let the kids run wild. And they did!

We decided to go with a construction theme, similiar to Bob the Builder, but without all the stuff. That meant black plastic table cloths, construction hats, work aprons, caution tape, and we had an orange traffic cone pinata. The kids pulled the caution tape out of the bottom of the traffic cone, but only one was attached, sending all the candy flying. (It didn't work that way, but it was fun anyway.)

I made a half gluten-free/half brownie cake and used one of Lincoln's trucks to complete the construction theme, along with some orange fondant traffic cones.

I also made his t-shirt using some old fabric and new yellow tee. It was filthy within 30 minutes! I guess that's the price you pay when you go to a farm with gaggle of three year olds and older friends and family.

Austin (11 yrs) and Lincoln (3 yrs)

The day of his actual birthday, we went out to eat at his favorite Italian restaurant where he stuffed his face with spaghetti and again got super messy! Happy Birthday to our kiddo!! Time sure flies when you are having fun.