Christmas Pics

Here are some Christmas pics to go along with the rambling on and on and on and on and on post below...... can you tell I was a tired little puppy when I posted that one?!?!?!?

Our big 7 year old

Carley turned 7 yesterday, December 30. I know I say this every year and about both kiddos, but I CAN'T BELIEVE she is already 7 years old. Time flies by so fast on one hand, but on the other it seems like your children have been with you your entire life! We celebrated with breakfast in bed and then opened gifts. We have wanted to get a trampoline for quite a while now, but didn't think our back yard was level enough. We decided to bite the bullet and get her one anyway and so far, it has been a blast! Her birthday party was small this year, but a lot of fun! We took five of her little friends to the movie to see Tangled (loved it!) and then for pizza. Since she is so used to having big parties, I was afraid she may be disappointed but she actually had a great time with her besties!! :) I hope you had a wonderful birthday sweet Carleybear!!!!

I know, I know....

So, I haven't posted anything since Halloween, big deal! HA! I was doing so good, too, at keeping current, but time just got busier and faster and I honestly forgot about it most of the time. But at any rate, I'M BACK!

We had a great Christmas! We celebrated with Chris' family the 18-20th and then came back home to our house until going to Nana and Papa's (my side) Christmas Eve-Dec 27. As usual, no matter how many pictures and/or video I take, it just can't capture the fun memories we have each year at Christmas.

Like...
1. We stop to eat at the same McDonald's in Corsicana every time we go to Sealy. It's just so funny at Christmas because we are so packed in between all four of us, presents, luggage and the dogs that we look like we are moving to a new state or something. And of course we have to sit close to a window so Chris can see the van (or truck this time) to make sure no one takes anything (because our big black dog is just not scary enough!) :)

2. On Chris' side the extended family all participate in a White Elephant style gift exchange and the kids all draw names. So, when we all get together and put all our gifts under the tree, they pour way out into Great Grandma's living room. The kids "ooh and ahh" and constantly ask when it is time to open them. The adults then go on to our gift exchange where everyone usually fights over a battery charger of some kind, bungee cables for the back of a pick up truck, Academy gift cards or as was the case this year, a cooler full of beer! (why is Jeff Foxworthy in my head right now?) We brought a coffee pot and ended up picking it as our gift. ( I needed a new coffee pot really bad, and frankly, no one else seemed interested!) ha! It really is a lot of fun!

3. We pack back up the next day and head back to McKinney, except my "snack bag" is really low because we (I mean Chris) eat all the snacks on the trip down!

4. We have tried to make ice skating at the Galleria a tradition, but missed it last year for some reason. So we have really only been one other year. However, I am an Aggie so that counts as "tradition" for me. :) We went ice skating this year and had the best pizza ever afterwards right by the rink. Carley gets really good at it after she gets her bearings, and Campbell did well too hugging the rail all the way around.

5. Christmas Eve we head to Whitehouse leaving behind our beautiful decoration inside and out! When we get back after Christmas they just aren't as pretty as they are when we leave!

6. At Nana and Papa's, Carley loves to run in and see Papa's Christmas Village set up and this year Campbell ran straight for the tree because there were presents everywhere!!!!!!! There is also Nana's traditional saying, "Enjoy it because we're not doing this much next year!" She says that every year and we just laugh and say, "whatever!"

7. We celebrate Papa's birthday on Christmas Eve right after dinner. I have a great picture of he and the grandkids! They love their Papa!!!!!!!!

8. I think the kids all slept better Christmas Eve than I did. I could NOT go to sleep and heard every noise imaginable, I think. Maybe I was just so excited about Santa that I just couldn't sleep!!!

9. Christmas morning is just mass chaos. Between our kiddos and my nieces there are toys, wrapping paper and gifts galore!! SO MUCH FUN, though!

10. Chris hunts out at my dad's land in Troup, but never sees or shoots anything (other than a big hog the year Campbell was born, 2006, but I am sooooo over that story!!!!)

11. Then the Clampitts, I mean Pawlak's, pack everything back up in some magical way that fits everything in and we head home. I never figure out how Chris gets it all in... must be a little Santa magic.


We hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas filled with lovely traditions, lasting memories and tons of LOVE!!

Halloween

We had a great Halloween!! Campbell was a fireman, Carley was Taylor Swift, I was Carley (in her soccer uniform) and Chris was Campbell (in his tball uniform). The capri sun is what really completes the look! HA!!

Lots of fun stuff!

Lots has happened in the Pawlak household since our last post. Where do I start? We are wrapping up all the sports seasons this week. T-ball ended a couple of weeks ago and Campbell LOVES his trophy! Carley's softball season ended last week and her end-of-season party is tonight at On The Border! YUM!! Sorry, Nana!! (She had to take Campbell to his party while we were in Connecticut and it was at Chuck E. Cheese! hehehe! ) Carley's last soccer game is this Saturday! It has been a fun few months, but we have to say we (Chris and I) are ready for a break! Give us a week of nothing, though, and I am sure we will be ready to sign them up for something else. :)

My birthday was October 25. The big 33!!!!!! Ugh! But it was a great birthday weekend with a trip up to Connecticut to see our friends, Dan and Carrie, who were transferred up there back in the spring. As you can the imagine the fall foliage was outstanding!!!!!!!! So pretty! That is exactly why we wanted to go in the fall! Next time, we will go either in the winter or summer and bring the kids with us. If we go in the winter, they can sled down the hill in their backyard to the whole time and play in some "real" snow all weekend. OR, we could go in the summer time and take a day trip into NY City (only an hour and a half away) or drive 4 hours to see more of New England. Either way, they would love up there as much as Chris and I did. I wish I could post all our pictures, but that would take to long. They are all on facebook already so you can see there. Here are a couple of my favorite!

First Hunting Trip

Chris took Campbell on his first dove hunting trip last weekend. Carley was going to go, but had a make up soccer game. Chris asked which she wanted to do and she said play soccer. That's my girl! :) The dog in the background belongs to the guy they went hunting with. Seeing the dog in the truck makes me feel like they were cheating on "Steve" since he is too old to hunt now. :(
Campbell loved it! He didn't like blood on his hands, but who does really??? :)

The cutest first-baseman EVER!

Go Rangers!

Last night was a great night indeed! I was a nervous wreck during the Ranger game. Chris had a meeting so he didn't get home until the 9th inning. The whole game I kept turning the channel when I got nervous! HA! What a wimp, huh? Even though the game was exciting, I was more excited to see the Rangers celebrate the win with sparkling cider and ginger ale instead of champagne so that Josh Hamilton could celebrate with them! I was SOOOOO mad when they celebrated clinching their spot in the playoffs with Josh having to wait out in the hallway because of the beer and champagne. Are you kidding me?!?!? He is huge reason of why they are there in the first place! It made the team look so unsupportive and selfish. However, the team is off my S$@# list and back on my good side now! GO RANGERS!!!!!!

Such a Blessing!

The last miner was just pulled out of the mine! It is such a blessing that they all have made it out and are all relatively healthy. Can you imagine being trapped 2,000 feet below ground for 70 days, in the dark, only eating 2 tsp of tuna each day and battling psychological affects of not knowing when you would be found or rescued?!?! I just can't even begin to comprehend what that must have been like. Just the 15 minute ride up in that amazingly narrow capsule would make me hyperventilate while being pulled up completely surrounded by nothing but rock! I can see myself banging on the cage right when I got to the surface breaking the whole thing. They were all so calm and collected. It is truly amazing.

Thank you, God, for their determination and safety, for the talent you placed in the engineers and rescuers that figured out how to get them out and for blessing their families with their safe return. You are amazing! Amen.

On Strike!

As of today, October 1, I am officially on strike from toilet cleaning. Apparently, four-year olds and 35-year olds both have a hard time hitting a target without splashing all over the place. Then, throw in a 118 lb black lab that likes to drink from the toilet (even when his water bowl is full!) and I END UP CLEANING TWO BIG, YELLOW & HAIRY MESSES!!! NO MORE! It is time to put the disinfectant wipes out for both boys to see and use after each flush. The chick is done with toilets!!!

Quill Awards

Recently, I entered our church's stewardship campaign materials (financial campaign) I created last year (along with three other team members) for a Dallas Quill award given by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Dallas chapter. These are really big awards in the Communications/PR realm. I entered our packet in the contest mainly because the judges supposedly give feedback for each entry. Therefore you have highly respected people in the industry giving you constructive criticism on your work - can only make you better, right? I though of it as free consultation to be used in upcoming projects. To our surprise, we were selected as finalist!! Last night at the Dallas Quill awards banquet, we were honored with an Award of Merit and were in the middle of some BIG company (like Susan G. Komen, leading PR firms in the metroplex and so forth. It was really cool! The guest speaker was Bill Lively, head of the Super Bowl committee. He had to speak quick because he had a 9:15 p.m. conference call with the NFL! HA! Can you imagine?! Chris and I enjoyed cocktails and a great dinner and dessert! It was held at the Belo Mansion in downtown Dallas.

Softball Game

Carley has had two softball games so far and loves it! Here are some pics I took at last night's game. There is also a cool pick of Campbell and Carley together showing they are the same #. Then, we got home and noticed Chris' number at aTm was #11!! Weird, huh? I still like #14 myself!! :)

Star Student

Carley's principal called yesterday to let us know that Carley's teacher nominated her for Star Student for this week. I BIG HONOR!! ;) So Campbell and I went to the assembly this morning and watched her get her certificate and cool new t-shirt. She was SOOO excited! Here is what her teacher wrote about her:
I was so thrilled to give it to her! She deserved it! These are just some of the things I catch Carley doing during class!
· On task all the time
· Stops what she is doing and listens to my directions
· Completes her work in a timely manner
· Helps other friends in class · HELPS ME ALL THE TIME!
I adore having Carley in my class this year!

Music to a mom's ears!! Now we are off to Chuck E. Cheese's to celebrate. (something Chris and I are a little less excited about!!)

Carley lost a tooth... FINALLY!

Each time Carley hears of a friend loosing a tooth, she gets so frustrated that she hasn't lost one yet. NO ANYMORE!! Her tooth has been loose for a couple of weeks and tonight she let me pull it!! It is so funny how she can be so dramatic about the pain of a tiny scrape on her knee at one moment and then stand there and let me pull out a tooth next! I even had to wiggle and pull a good bit to get it out. She looks so cute now and is SOOOOOOO excited!

Looking at herself in the mirror after her tooth came out!!

So little!!

You go girl! She didnt even freak out at all the blood!

Jailbreak Run

Chris and I ran in the Jailbreak Run in Roanoke this past weekend. It was a lot fun, but we want to get a lot of people together next year to do it with us. Then it would be SUPER fun!! It was a 3.8 mile run combined with 14 obstacles. It was pretty relaxed... not really a race but more so just people having fun. All proceeds benefited the Sower of Seeds organization that helps drill healthy drinking water wells in other countries. Now that the race is over I think I am going to mix it up a bit with my workouts... running really hurts my hips! They have hurt almost everyday since I started running again back in February. Maybe Zumba?? Maybe Hip Hop Abs??? Who knows... :)

Our reward... COLD BEER!

After crawling through the mud to the finish line

before we started

Soccer, Softball and T-ball -- OH MY!!!!!!

I always said we would only do one sport per season per kid, but boy was I wrong. This year Carley wanted to try softball, which I was all for, but I hated to take her off her soccer team because she has a fun coach and really enjoys the girls on the team. If you take them off the team, there is no guarantee they will get back on the same team. UGH! So, since the games and practices didn't overlap, we let her do softball AND soccer at the same time. Partner these two with Campbell's first t-ball season and you get one busy family!!!!!!!!!! But it is so much fun! Since Chris isn't in football, he is able to help in both t-ball and softball and really enjoys it. Campbell struggled through soccer last spring, but LOVES t-ball!! He asks all the time when his next game or practice is. This is soooo good to hear since he didn't like soccer at all! Carley is doing great in soccer and had her first softball game last week - where she hit a double might I add!!! :) Here are a few pics I took at Carley's softball practices, Campbell's game and Carley's softball game. I will post more game pics later. I have them on my phone and can't figure out how to transfer them to the computer!!

Another School Year

This is year is shaping up to be another great school year for both kiddos! They love their teachers!!

Ms. Tammy and Ms. Lauren (in the back) -

Campbell's preschool teachers on the first day of school

Ms. Melanie (Campbell's speech teacher)

Ms. Ross - Carley's 1st grade teacher

Carley walking to her class the first day of school!