Christmas Cutie!

Getting the Good Shot...here's how it works...bribe 'em with Goldfish! Thanks to Rebekah for taking these shots of Jenae on Sunday.

Merry Christmas!

We hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas celebrating
with friends and family.

I'll try to post as the festivities occur, but if not, we'll see you next year!

"I Don't Know"

We still aren't sure where exactly Jenae learned her newest trick, but we sure are enjoying it. This is the expression we got when, in her lift-the-flap book, we asked, "Where did the ball go?"
In this part of the story there is a duck hiding behind the bush and he will rescue the ball for his dog friend. "Jenae, who is behind the bush?"
It was a surprise to us when this was also her reaction to our home phone ringing. I guess she wasn't sure who it was that was calling. Feel free to call us anytime. We love these priceless moments!

Trimming the Tree

Jenae is such a great age to start enjoying all the fun of the holidays! She is just in awe of the twinkling lights and loves the decorations she sees everywhere we go. I was worried about her wanting to destroy the tree, but she has done so well. We let her put this snowman ornament on the tree, then explained that we don't touch the tree we just look at it. And, that is what she's done! I'm so proud of her.

We still need to make a trip to the mall to see Santa. There's no doubt her name is on the good list this year. Maybe this weekend we can do that.

Living in a small town there are some fun holiday happening that take place. We have always been able to go to many of them; we'll see if Jenae is up for it this year. If so, know you'll get to read about it here first!

It is time for our playgroup, so we better get going. The pies turned out great last night. I'll post a link to the church's photo page once they are online. Have a great day!

Look out, Pillsbury!

I think I'm an official homemaker now. That is me with a homemade apple pie and two other homemade pie crusts just waiting to be filled with pumpkin. Who really needs a Pillsbury frozen pie crust anyway?

Now, before you think I've gone off the deep end or if your sitting there thinking it appears I have too much free time for someone raising an one-year-old, let me explain. First of all, it is 11:34 pm and the apple pie is just now baking in the oven. So, forget about all that free time. Second of all, it is Christmas Blessing time at our church and that means all the Middle School girls get to learn how to make homemade pies. (Much more about the Blessing in the next couple of days.) Since I head up the teaching team this year, that puts me in charge of this project. Did I mention I've never made a pie from scratch before? Yeah, now tell me if this isn't the blind leading the blind. Thankfully, as with many things, if you just follow the directions it isn't too difficult. Or so I think. The real test will come tomorrow night when the ladies who know how to make pies have to eat mine! Now, that scares me. (Quick affirmation: Jordan just walked in the kitchen to tell me it's really beginning to smell yummy in here!!)

So, if you have time Wednesday night, just say a prayer for me, the 20+ middle school girls, and all my volunteers who will be making pies at church.

Thank You, Ameriscapes!

Look, you can see our house again! We finally broke down and asked for help. Our front landscaping was done by our builder and was not done well. They didn't put up dividers and the things they planted were way too large for our small home. Some friends of ours at church own a landscape and irrigation business and they did a major overhaul for us! I am so pleased with what they did. I think it really opens up the front of our home and makes it look a bit larger, if that's possible. So, if you live around here and ever need help with your yard, you need to call Chris or Quinton at Ameriscapes. They will make your neighbors jealous!

Here are the before and after shots:

More Cuteness

Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Jordan's family in Abilene. It's always fun to get together with the whole clan. Jenae loves being with her cousins and getting to play with Reyna Belle. Of course, there's no doubt she also loves her Ya-Ya (Sha Sha) and Mama-me (Mimommie). We all ate too much, especially those pies that kept disappearing. We all got to share something we were thankful for spelling out THANKSGIVING. I had the letter "T" and am thankful for the task/thrill of raising up little Jenae.

Friday morning I got to go shopping all by myself! It was amazing how much I could get done without my little helper. I didn't have to stop for naps or mess with carseats. It was fabulous. I got almost all of our Christmas bought on this one day!

The cousins also made their annual Gingerbread Houses. Jenae has to wait 2 more years before she gets to make one...but she still gets to be in the picture!

Oh yes, big news...Jordan would be upset if I forgot to mention the LARGE table that we ALL got to sit at this year. The Hubbard family has continued to grow over the years, yet the dining room table hadn't. We would all try to fit, but it was just a bit too close...if you can imagine 12 people squeezing around a table designed for 6 or 8. We love our family, but... So, this year Jordan got his wish...a bigger table!! And we all fit! It was very nice!

Catching Up

At least I warned you. Weeks have now passed with no new entries. We have been super busy and we don't have many signs of slowing down. But, Jenae is taking a nap and I've already mapped out our afternoon of errands, so let me catch you up.

The weekend before Thanksgiving Jordan had a retreat to speak at, so Jenae and I packed up and headed down to Houston to visit our friends the Duncans. Our other friend, Homie, was going to spend the week of Thanksgiving with them, so this way we all got to be together for a few days.

It was such great fun! Times with old friends where you can just hang out, laugh and share life are the best!! We've all been friends for over 12 years. Homie and I were on a campaign to Brazil when Anna Beth was just days old. Now AB is in Junior High helping me take care of my own girl!

We did lots of eating out which was great since there aren't so many restaurant choices here in B-town. Here we are at Piccomolo enjoying our icecream cones. This may be Emma's fav hangout since she asked to go there every night!We also enjoyed eating at Beck's Burgers. The best part here was the setting. The have two humongous trees out back with patio dining. Seriously, check out those trees! All those branches from two tree trunks. The weather was perfect to be outside.










Xtreme Pizza might have been the most extreme food I've consumed in a long time! Emma did a great job handling hers.


The Duncs were great hosts. Thanks for the great weekend! We'll be coming back and we might even let Jordan come :o)
P.S. Homie, there are no pictures of you because of the threats I received. Sorry. But, I hear you make an awesome Sweet Potato Pie!

OK, I just found this one...