Socks, Socks, and More Socks

Every year in San Angelo around Christmas time, a hundred homeless people are walking around wearing a brand new pair of white athletic socks.  They could also be found eating a candy cane, or sharing the legend of the candy cane with their peers.  It may not seem like much, but to someone who does not have a washer or dryer, does not have money to buy necessities (like more socks), or who has none at all, these socks are a welcome gift!  These gifts have been given anonymously by my mother, Marty Edmiston, for over 20 years now.  She has been buying candy canes, socks, stories, and ribbons for hundreds of people, most of whom she'll never even meet.  They are always wrapped up by Christmas eve and dropped off at the back door of a San Angelo church.  The next day they hold an annual Christmas Day soup kitchen, and the bundles are passed out.  For many years we've spent time as an entire family, around the dining room table preparing these gifts, and some years she and my dad have done it by themselves.  They have even made trips into San Angelo late into the night on Christmas eve, just to ensure that the bundles are there by morning.  This year at Thanksgiving we shared this tradition with our children and our dear friends who joined us for turkey day!  Now the two overflowing laundry baskets of socks, stories, and canes are waiting to be delivered!!!

In Molly's first grade class, each child will have a stocking hanging in the classroom and all of the classmates can drop off small trinkets and gifts this week.  WELL, we decided to take Momsie's tradition and pass it on to our friends at school.  Here is the story we included (a child's version) and hopefully some of Molly's classmates will share it with their family and friends as well..............

The true meaning of the Candy Cane

Look at the Candy Cane

What do you see?

Stripes that are red

Like the blood shed for me

White is for my Savior

Who's sinless and pure!

"J" is for Jesus My Lord, that's for sure!

Turn it around

And a staff you will see

Jesus my shepherd

Was born for Me!

CRAWL, WALK, RUN!

Over the weekend I participated in my first 5K Run.  At the beginning of October I decided that my babies would be turning one in a few weeks (and I'd be 35 soon), and I needed to get up and get moving!  I decided to try the Couch to 5K app on my iphone and began on October 11th!  In the beginning I was jogging mailbox to mailbox and trying to do it pushing our double jogging stroller (Ha!)  That only lasted a few times and I quickly figured out that going alone at 6am or 8pm (before anyone woke up, or after all the kids were in bed) was the only way to go!  Some days were cold, some days were windy, and it was almost always dark, but I persevered and now I am able to jog at a steady pace for 30 minutes at a time!  My good friend Charlotte decided to do the training too, so although we only ran together one time, we motivated each other to keep going :)  I am now signed up for The Resolution Run in Round Rock on 1/1/11, so hopefully that will ensure that I don't quit and become a full-time couch potato again anytime soon!  I am blogging about this today because it has been a good thing in my life, and I want you all to know that if you are considering anything like this, and I can do it, you can too!


Charlotte & Me before our first 5K!!!





Christmas is only 20 days away!!!

 

Today we were invited to attend a Christmas open house and customer appreciation function here in Round Rock.  There were lots of people there, lots of yummy food, and we had a very nice time.  Molly had fun getting her face painted and all three kids got a turn on Santa's lap!  The carollers added a nice touch and Eric and I enjoyed hot beverages from the gourmet coffee cart.  We returned home to finish decorating our tree and now we are officially counting down the days!  Have I mentioned that Christmas time is my absolute, all time, favorite time of the year???

Turkey Day in Eldorado

Last week we traveled to Eldorado to my parents place for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  We enjoyed lots of good company with family and friends, as well as LOTS of great food!  Eric smoked a turkey, I made my Granny's cornbread dressing, and everyone else contributed sides and desserts galore.  All the kiddos had a ball playing outside, riding four-wheelers, picking up pecans and even taking a dip in the hot tub.  We have so much to be thankful for...............now on to CHRISTMAS (my favorite time of the year :0)


What a turkey!!! and the bird was wonderful too!



Momsie and Poppa Edmiston

Silly babies looking out the window

Crazy Cousins (Clayton, Trace, Molly & Jake)

Sweet Sam & Me



Waiting on Popcorn.....from a real popcorn popper!

Introducing: Holly Simmonds Nail

 Last week Molly and I took a trip to Dallas to "get away" and visit my bestie, Errin!  We also got to meet up with Aunt Shelle and Uncle Trey for dinner at Glorias, after a fun time at the Galleria ice skating.  The highlight of our trip, however, was getting to visit the American Girl Doll store and enjoy shopping and brunch at the American Girl Bistro.  We arrived at the store before the doors opened on Monday morning and Molly picked out her doll (the one she thought looked most like her!) and named her: Holly Simmonds Nail!  The first stop for Holly was to get her ears pierced in the doll hair salon (so she would look even more like her 'sister') and then it was on to the racks and displays of every doll accessory imaginable.  We came home with an assortment of accessories and if you can imagine it, Molly has several more things on her Christmas wish list.  Holly is a good 'daughter', she is very well mannered and quiet.  She wears her seat belt everywhere we go and has enjoyed meeting all of  our friends and family so far.  We look forward to introducing her to you all very soon too!!!

Headed Home From Dallas (5 minutes later, Holly was wearing
those wireless headphones so she could enjoy the movie too!)

Molly, Sam & Stella



Molly- Still losing teeth, may not be able to eat a turkey leg at this rate!



Sam- his baby blues are a real attention getter!

Stella- loves puzzles and 'dancin'!

Stella- walking like a pro!!!

We are all getting ready for Turkey Day around here and I thought I'd share a few recent pics of our "Turkeys"!!)  Stella is officially walking (thus the 2nd pic of her) and Sam is still doing lots of cruising.  Molly is excited about an upcoming trip to the American Girl store in Dallas (barring no behavior issues- and yes, I'm bribing her!)  She has been saving up some of her own money and circling items in the catalog like CRAZY!  Happy Thanksgiving to you all, hope it's a time spent with family and friends that you'll cherish...............

Toronto Girls Trip

  This past weekend I had the great opportunity to visit Toronto, Canada with three of my girlfriends.  We had a wonderful time and took in lots of tourist sights!  The weather was cold, but warm for Canada this time of year, and we were comfortable walking everywhere- with scarves and gloves at times!!! 




The CN Tower (Tallest in the World) from the Street



On the observation deck of the CN Tower- Glass Floor!



Christmas Windows- Tree Trimming

Loading the Sleigh

Santa's Workshop

Dinner before the Sleigh Ride

Carolers

Downtown Toronto (down the street from our hotel)

My Best Friend Errin & a Moose!



Narrow Building on a Sidewalk



Me at Niagra Falls

Bye Bye Bottles Brag Blog

We are 6 days into Sam and Stella's second year of life and they are officially OFF the bottle!  I gave them a couple of days after their birthday to transition to whole milk and use up the formula that we had left...... There hasn't been any screaming, crying, fussing or begging for a bottle and I am vowing not to go back!  As a matter of fact, I think I'll try to return the unopened can of formula to Sams later today!  That's $20 toward diapers and wipes :)  Our friend Kyla sent us the cutest sippy cups for our birthday that have Sam and Stella's names embroderied on the fabric inside them, and we are trying to keep them straight- if only they could read!!!

Sam and Stella Turned One!

Mama and the Birthday Girl!

First Taste of Icing- Big sister is helping!

Not Quite Done............

She's Definetly All Done!

Dress Me Kitty & Monkey-Molly's gifts to Sam & Stella

I am a few days behind in posting the birthday blog and pics, but I am giving myself a "pass" since it was also Halloween weekend and we had a wedding in Georgetown to attend on Saturday.  SO, Samuel Jack and Stella Frances turned one last Thursday, the 28th of October!!!  We did our one year pediatrician appointment on their birthday and their stats are all great.  Sam still outweighs Stella by 3 lbs, but she is almost an inch taller than him :)  They also got 4 shots each that day (no fun, but they tolerated it well).  Momsie and Pappa arrived on their birthday and we got the weekend started early.   Friday was full of fun getting ready for their birthday party (which was also our 3rd annual pumpkin carving party)!  Lots of friends and family came - all bringing gifts and pumpkins to carve.  Everyone had a wonderful time and Eric smoked ribs, brisket, and chicken that all of our guests raved about.  We also had beans, made by Eric, and lots of yummy sides.  Sam thoroughly enjoyed his punkin birthday cake..........Stella, not so much!  It was straight to the bathtub after that and then on to bed for the ONE YEAR OLDS!!!  Thanks to everyone who shared in our celebration!  It's been a great year, sometimes harder than others, but I wouldn't change it for the world.  We are so blessed to have such a wonderful support system of family and friends- It really does take a village!

Little People Farm- Birthday Gift from Mama, Daddy, & Molly- They LOVE it!!!

What a Week!

Our week started off on Sunday evening with Stella throwing up, followed by Sam around 1am that night.  They continued that pattern until sometime Tuesday..............On Monday afternoon Molly complained of hurting her foot on the playground, and like most 'normal' parents, we told her to 'walk it off' and 'we were sure that after a good night's rest, she'd be good as new!' When she crawled on hands and knees to my bedside at 1 in the morning, (notice a pattern???) I decided that I'd take her into the urgent care clinic Tuesday to have it checked out.  Tuesday morning brought another round of vomit, this time from Eric, as he had gotten THE BUG.  He stayed with sick babies while I took Molly in and it was determined by the second doctor, at the second clinic, that she had not broken her foot, but had badly sprained 3 toes and her right forefoot.  A hard splint was applied and crutches were handed to her (like she would know how to use them!)  I couldn't really explain the logistics of using crutches, so I demonstrated as best I could, in front of God and everybody, on a pair of 3 foot tall crutches!  She is back at school, doing well, and will be back to the playground soon. Sam, Stella, and Eric are all doing great again too!  We are one week away from the twins 1st birthday and I am starting my 'to do' list now that everyone is better.  Wish me luck................. BTW, after all of THAT, I treated myself to a pedicure today :)

Punkins, Pumpkins, and Butterflies?

Over the weekend we took a day trip to Marble Falls to visit Sweetberry Farms. 

We had a great day and lots of fun was had by all!!!



I loved this old truck!  The bed was also filled with pumpkins
 for lots of photo opportunities.




The kids in the back of the truck.



Eric and Molly finished the Corn Field Maze in Record Time :)




Candy Cornfield!!!





These Gourds looked "just like apples"




Notice the "Astros" theme...........




Beautiful Butterfly




Sam wasn't too sure about all the orange 'balls'




We painted our pumpkin to match Molly's face (sort of!)



 



 

Look at those GIANT Pumpkins...........only $30 each





Stella had such a fun time!