Christmas 2017

Christmas always starts early in the McPeak household.  We start decorating either on Thanksgiving Day or the day after.  Our elves, Josie and Joseph, make there appearance those same days and we are in full holiday mode with our last bite of turkey!

Emma and I went into Lowes for something and couldn't resist some snuggles with their huge Christmas inflatables.

Loved this "oh what fun" shirt for this cutie!

Josie and Joseph made their appearance the morning after Thanksgiving.  Emma was so excited and Cash excited to help with all that goes into the magic of Christmas.   

Arianna and I went for our annual Black Friday outing and this was the best thing I bought.  The kids wanted their own tree and we decorated it with all of the ornaments they have made over the years.  Only a few were store bought.  I am thinking that by the end of E's elementary years the tree will be full of nothing but their handmade ornaments.  Of course by then the tree may not be as wanted.  I ponder.

We went to Fiesta Texas so the kids could see all of the beautiful lights.  I can't say its worth the money, as me and the kids don't ride roller coasters, but it was fun!  We got to see Santa!  Side note on this little excursion - Ben wanted to ride a roller coaster but more than that we wanted Cash to give it a try.  We tried to find a roller coaster that was rated low on the scare chart.  I can't remember the name of the one we found but Ben and Cash headed up the path when Cash decided to turn around and come back.  I gave him a little bit of hard time about it as I just knew he was missing out. Well he clearly had more sense than me.  Ben came walking down the path after riding the roller coaster and was pumping his fists in the air from the excitement.  That should have been my first clue but nope!  So I tell Cash to stay with Emma and I was going to ride it with Ben.  I did....AND WHAT A MISTAKE!  I literally thought I was going to orphan our children.  Worst experience every!  I was so made the entire ride while Ben was laughing hysterically.  He had no idea that I would think that it was too rough or as scary as I thought it was.  Never again on two counts...never will I encourage Cash to ride one and never will I ride one again.  

I love that Cash's elementary school puts up a Christmas tree right in the foyer for everyone to see.

The elves leave sweet treats for E and C.

The kids and I met up with Norma and Caleb to see the Zoo lights.  So pretty!  In one section of the zoo the lights are in sync with music and we got Cash on video doing his dance (name?) where he moves his arms back and forth super fast.  It was hilarious because the video looks like we sped it up as we was completely in sync with the music.  There was an older kid there that started doing the same dance.  They were in a dance stand off.  

The club for brunch with Santa.

Stephanie brought the kids over to build ginger bread houses.  This one is Luke's...he decided it was better to eat the icing than build with it.  I agree!

Cash was pretty meticulous with his and it turned out great!

Leighton's was turning out super cute and yummy!

My girl's was picture perfect!  She had a little help but it was looking very fancy as she would say.

Nothing like a cozy bed by the Christmas tree.  So cozy she fell fast asleep.

Ben's producer in Nashville made this beautiful cutting board for me.  He made one for my mom as well.  They are too pretty to cut on!

Every year we do "Christmas Eve" boxes for the kids.  I got them new boxes this year as I see Cash's needed to be bigger.  His pj pants are getting bigger.  He will soon be in the junior section and no longer boys.  They get a movie, snacks and new pj's.  This year there wasn't a movie that had come out on dvd that Cash was asking for so I decided to get him an oldie but a goodie!  Ferris Bueller's Day Off!!!!  Classic and one I knew he'd like.






A family tradition continues with my parents coming over for tamales and our gift exchange. We like Christmas morning to be about the kids.

It was time for the kids to go to bed but not before putting out cookies and milk for Santa.  After we did sweet E put on her new sleeping mask and was out like a light.  She was so excited about Santa coming I am surprised that she fell asleep as fast as she did.

This was the after.

We thought Cash would stay up with us and help put the gifts out but he decided he was ready to go to sleep when E did.  So after she was fast asleep we put out their gifts.  This year I had to wrap Cash's stuff or he would have seen it before it "was time".  Geesh...the complexity of it all.  Trying to hide that particular wrapping paper or explain to E why his were wrapped and hers weren't..exhausting..but so fun!

They were both up bright and early the next morning.  Cash got up before Emma surprisingly and they both ran in our room.  I think it was about 5:30am.  They dove right in!

The big toy right now for little girls E's age are LOL dolls.  They come in these balls so you don't know which doll you are getting.  The idea is to try and collect them all.

I don't know why I didn't get pictures when my parents were over as I normally do.  We had our regular Christmas meal...gumbo and potato salad.  We headed to Chad and Rochelle's ranch Christmas afternoon to spend the night.

This happened after Santa's gifts were torn through as apparently he was so exhausted from all the hard work! HA!

Emma was nothing short of cute in her little snow hat!  I could eat her!

These deer almost ate right out of Rochelle's hand....if Chad had not blown the horn to scare them off they would have!!

This year I decided to skip doing family pictures and use the beautiful pics I took of the kids before summer time.  I thought they turned out so precious and were perfect for our holiday card!  Merry Christmas!!

My Dad's 79th birthday

Talk about time flying!  My dad turns 79!  One more year until 80!  It's easy to get bogged down by day to day "stuff" and forget how my time with my parents is lessoning everyday.  I don't dwell on it but there are times it creeps in my mind.  It reminds me to make more time, pick up the phone instead of texting (which Ben reminds me all the time) and to just be more present.  I am a work in progress but time won't wait on me.

We celebrated my dad at Ruth's Chris again this year as he loves a good steak!  We gifted him a bottle of great whiskey...because...why not.

My dad has lived a long life...longer than his siblings and definitely longer than his parents.  We think he got his grandmother's genes and hope he will live into his 90's like she did!  My dad's 79th year is the year he was diagnosed with Prostate cancer.  Though the severity of the "type" is low the "word" is still scary.  I mention this new diagnosis briefly as I hope it is but a blimp in his long life.  He is on his road to be cured and while it will probably somewhat of a toll on him he will still be just fine.  Prayers.

Emma needs glasses

During E's 4 year well child the nurse performed the routine vision test and Emma was very resistant which I took as her normal shy self.  Although deep down I knew there was an issue.  She was then scheduled to have another vision test at her school.  I thought having it at school would be a better environment for her as she would be more comfortable.  Those results came back as I expected.  She was having a significant amount of trouble seeing distance.  This of course she gets from me.  I immediately made her an appointment with Dr. Cohen, a Pediatric Ophthalmologist, and of course that determined without a doubt that she is near sighted.  Her vision was 20/25.

After her appointment we spoke with a representative from the MCOA research department as they were conducting a study for peds that are near sighted.  Its a 4 year study but it determines if the drug/eye dilation solution, atropine, can help slow down the progression of near sightedness.  We of course don't know if we got the actual solution or a placebo but we put the drops in every night.  Emma will have her vision checked every 6 months to see if her vision is changing....for better or worst.

Now for the important part!  Emma.....she has been such a big girl!  She was such a trooper during the testing which was long.  She only cried when they had to put the drops in her eyes to numb her eye for the pressure test and to dilate her eyes.  She was patient and so excited to get glasses.  She picked out pink frames of course!

I was so worried for her as my glasses experience, which started in 2nd grade, wasn't pleasant.  I was already an insecure kid and then throw glasses on me...well lets say it didn't help the situation.  Emma  is so different.  She is so confident and wears her glasses with pride.  She gets so many compliments and kids that don't need glasses say they want them when they see hers.  I love it!  It really doesn't phase her which I am so grateful for but it pleases me immensely that she is getting such a reaction.  She loves them but more than anything she loves that she can see.

The day we picked up her glasses was emotional for me.  She put them on and oh my!  Her reaction was priceless.  She said "I can see!"!!!!  It was such a relief for her.  Her teacher at school could even see her become more confident as she could finally see!

July 2018 - Since having her eyes rechecked she has remained at 20/25.

It Snowed...in San Antonio!!!!

It snowed in San Antonio for the first time in more than 30 years!  It was very cold but not even the weather anchors forecasted snow.  I was getting ready to go to a cookie exchange party when we saw the flakes start to come down.  That was exciting enough and the kids couldn't wait to get out and play but then it really started coming down.  It was unbelievable.  Just gorgeous as white powder covered the ground!  Emma had never seen snow and we were just talking about taking the kids somewhere so she could see snow for the first time.  Who would have ever known that place would have been in our own back yard!  I wish I had gotten pictures of the kids the night before but it was too dark when it started.

The snow had started to melt and this is what was left of the kids snowmen!