Update on the accident

We hadn't really gotten much information on the accident Jimmy was in back in August - a few phone calls here & there from our insurance, but nothing that amounted to much. On Christmas Eve we received a call that our insurance company had finally completed their investigation of the accident and determined that Jimmy was "not responsible for this occurance." Of course we already knew this, but since the Police report didn't cite anyone in the accident and there were no witnesses there was always that chance that they wouldn't come to this conculsion.

Our insurance company has sent a letter to their attorney stating that their investigation of the accident showed their client failed to yield the right of way, so they respectfully decline to make any payment.

Our insurance company will file the claim against their insurance company to be reimbursed for the damages they paid on our vehicle & to reimburse us our deductible. We'll see what happens.

At this point we're on hold - they have retained an attorney, but no lawsuit has been filed. I'm not sure what will happen once they receive this letter.

We did find out that surprisingly enough, the guy did not have to have his arm amputated. He has had to have several surgeries though, so I'm sure he's racked up quite a few medical bills. Our insurance company said they have up to 2 years from the date of the accident to file suit. So this could drag out for quite some time. For now, everyhthing is pointing positivly in our direction, so we'll keep our fingers crossed & hope for the best.

That's the latest!

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas - Drew started us off this morning at 6:15. He came straight to our room, so he had no idea all the goodies he passed by when he woke up. We took him into the living room to see what Santa had brought & he immediately saw his red crocs. He was so excited - he put them right on and then began playing with his new train table. Corry joined us around 7:15. She was excited to see her prizes from Santa, but you could tell she was a little puzzled why Drew got a big train table & she didn't have anything big. I looked out the window & told her it looked like Santa had left something on her stage. She ran outside to see what it could be. As soon as she saw it she squealed "It's a House!!!" and went running across the yard to check it out. When Drew got out there he started huffing & puffing & tried to "blow the house down!" He's so silly.

As excited as Corry was about her playhouse, whenever anyone would ask her what Santa Claus had brought her she would say "a backpack & a chair." It took a lot of coaxing to get her to even mention the playhouse. Drew could have gotten his red croc back, his train table & nothing else & been perfectly happy.

Here are some pictures from last night & today:

Making the cookies for Santa

Getting Santa & the reindeers snacks all ready - and doing a little taste testing to make sure they were edible.

Maddie & Meghan's prizes from Santa Claus
Drew's presents from Santa Claus

Corry's presents from Santa Claus

Corry's playhouse that Santa built on her stage - with Daddy crammed inside

Drew's new train table which he adores!

Drew rediscovering the red crocs.

Corry opening a present at Grandma Connie & Grandpa Jack's house

Drew opening presents

The bouncy house all the grandkids got from Grandma Chebs & Grandpa Bob - A HUGE hit!

Corry and Drew having some snuggle time with Baby Max

Making Christmas Cookie Dough

Tonight we prepared the cookie dough for tomorrow. We started a new tradition last year with the girls on Christmas Eve. They got to cut out the cookies for Santa & decorate them with sprinkles. Last year I believe we just used store bought cookie dough, but this year we decided to make them from scratch using Auntie M's sugar cookie recipe. The kids had lots of fun sampling the cookie dough & watching the mixer go round & round. Since the dough has to be refrigerated overnight we had to prepare it this evening. I think Santa is going to love his homemade cookies that these special little people have prepared!

After we got through making the dough, Jimmy came home. When the dogs heard the garage door opening, they went nuts (as always). When Calyn heard them barking she shouted "Santa Claus is here!!!!" Too cute.

Chirstmas Light Conversations

We took Grandma Chebs & Grandpa Bob with us to Prestonwood Forest to look at Christmas lights last night. We had dinner first & then hopped in the car & drove around (with everyone else in Houston) and looked at the Christmas light displays in that neighborhood. I don't think the kids were too into looking at the lights this year, but we enjoyed looking at some of the festive blocks in the neighborhood. When we were about halfway through the neighborhood was when the funny conversations began.

The first one that comes to mind was Drew started irritating Corry. She told him she was going to push her special button and it was going to blow him through the roof if he didn't stop.

Then Drew starting whining because he had pee peed in his pants (he had on a diaper & pee pees in his pants about 20 times a day). For some reason it was very distressing to him in the car though. That got Corry started saying she was "about to pee her pants." Whatever-that girl can hold it longer than anyone I've ever known. She just wanted an excuse to get out of the car.

Then Corry informed us that God put her head on wrong. The tag is supposed to go in the back, but hers is in the front.????

And lastly, as we were at a dead standstill in traffic as we were trying to get out of the neighborhood Drew was thrwoing a royal fit (it was 45 minutes past bedtime at this point) - he wanted me to hold him. He was crying & crying. Corry finally told him that if he didn't stop crying we were going to have to "sold" him, and we didn't want to have to "sold" him.

I'm looking forward to a short work week this week & celebrating Christmas with our family. The kids are getting so excited for Santa to get here! I'm sure I'll have lots more pictures to post at the end of the week.

If I don't get back out here before, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!!

Our Christmas with the Conleys & Howards

Last night we celebrated Christmas with Jimmy's sister Lindsay & his pseudo-brother & sister-in-law, Scott & Tammi & all their kids. Corry & Drew were excited to get their first taste of opening Christmas presents. Corry loves her new Pocahontas & Mulan dolls & tucked them in with all her other princesses before she went to bed last night. Here are some pictures of last night (I didn't get too many) and a couple from this morning. I don't have any from Drew from last night - he couldn't sit still long enough. I think we're going to go look at Christmas lights tonight.

Corry opening Pocahontas

Cheese!

Drew & Corry smiling at each other.
Mommy and her two babies

Daddy & his two babies

A fun Mommy & Drew Morning

Not very often do Drew & I get to spend quality time together. Jimmy needed to finish up some last minute shopping, so he and Corry went shopping & I took Drew to get a hair cut, buy Grandpa Bob a birthday present, eat some donuts, & then to gymnastics. He was a perfect angel all morning. I told Jimmy I think he was meant to be an only child....when he has one on one Mommy attention, he's as good as gold. At the donut shop a lady even mentioned to her family that seeing Drew sitting at the table eating his donuts made her want to have another baby.....if she only knew!

The kids are napping and after they wake up we'll head over to Jack & Connies to celebrate Christmas with Lindsay, Derek, Devin, Scott, Tammi, Kyla & Bryce. I believe Craig & Kailey will be there as well, but Craig usually comes out Christmas Eve & spends the night with Jack & Connie, so we will most likely wait to exchange gifts with them until Christmas morning.


Here are a few pictures from our evening last night. I'll post some more tonight after our Christmas party.

Drew getting a piggie ride from Uncle Matt. What a cute pair!
Corry had a little case of the plumber's crack going on last night. It didn't seem to bother her in the least.

Mr. Max & his Mommy.

The girls watching Frosty the Snowman. Tis the Season!

Drew watching Frosty the snowman. Generally when he's tired, or just really content, he sucks his thumb and pulls my hair. If he's with Grandma Chebs, her hair works as well. But for some reason, whenever Aunt Deachi is around, she is the chosen one. I guess she must have better hair than Mom & I!

Our week

We have had a really busy week, so I'm sorry for not being able to get out here much - I took the day off yesterday and got all the Christmas shopping done, so that's a great feeling. We had our Christmas bunko last night which was lots of fun as usual.

Drew had a big evening tonight - he had gotten out of the bathtub & I hadn't gotten his diaper on him yet. I was combing out Corry's tangles & she wanted me to blowdry her hair. I was thinking to myself I should really put a diaper on Drew before he peed all over my bedroom, but I didn't want to leave Corry sitting on the bathroom counter. He was chasing a ball around the bedroom & all of a sudden came running into the bathroom. When I turned around he was sitting on his little potty. He hopped up & exclaimed "I went pee pee!" I looked down & there was a significant amount of pee pee in the potty. I couldn't believe he did it all on his own. About that time he decided he would dump the pee pee into the big potty by himself - which, of course, resulted in him dumping it all over the bathroom floor. I knew it was an accident, so he didn't get in trouble for making a mess this time. I can't believe how easily this whole potty thing seems to be coming for him. I thought for sure he'd be 8 or so before he ever even had any interest. I'm still not pushing it at this point. We're just going to take it slowly & see what happens, but so far he seems to be much easier than Corry. I thought it was supposed to be the opposite with boys? Here are a couple of fun pics & videos from this evening.

Drew loves to line up Tigger, Pablo, & Elmo & make them all sing, dance, & bounce at the same time.
Corry crawling away from me instead of looking & me & smiling.

Corry doing the Hokey Pokey with Elmo (if you listen carefully you can hear Drew throw out an "I wuv you"
.

Drew studying Elmo doing the Hokey Pokey.

The Stage

Sorry to be so boring today - pretty much all day Saturday & Sunday were spent building Corry's "stage." Here are some pictures of our finished product. Jimmy did an awesome job of planning & executing - the stage is very square....if it wasn't for me jacking up cuts, breaking drill bits, & sinking screws too far into the wood the deck would be perfect. I guess that's what free labor gets you though. Now we just have to wait for Christmas & see if Santa Claus delivers. Corry is excited to practice her dance moves for now. She has no idea the real purpose behind the stage!

Oh - one good Drew story - he was getting ready to go down for his nap yesterday so I decided to change his diaper. When I took it off him, it was totally dry, so I suggested he try to go pee pee on the potty. He hopped up there, did his business grinning from ear to ear. I went on and on about what a big boy he was and how proud I was of him. Aunt Deachi was in the kitchen feeding baby Max, so I said "Drew! Go tell Aunt Deachi what you just did." He ran in there and told Aunt Deachi that he threw his red croc out the window. So apparently the red croc incident is still fresh in his mind & way more newsworthy than peeing in the potty.

Below are a few pictures - we still have to move all the mulch back around the stage, but this is pretty much how it will look until after Christmas.

Happy 60th Birthday Grandpa Bob from Corry

Here is Corry's video message to Grandpa Bob - be sure & scroll down to see Drew's too!

Happy 60th Birthday Grandpa Bob from Drew

Today's grandpa Bob's 60th birthday! Below is a video of Drew wishing Grandpa a happy birthday. In rehearsal it was "Happy Birthday, Grandpa Bob, I love you!" For translation purposes for those who don't quite understand Drew language yet - it came out "Happy to you!" and "Thank you Jesus our food." So, we got a little confused. When Corry gets up I will post her birthday wishes, if she's a willing participant. She sometimes gets stage fright when the video camera comes out.

Snow in H-town

Here are some picture from the snow we got this afternoon. Some of our icicle lights are not working, but its either been raining, sleeting or snowing the last couple days, so Jimmy hasn't been able to get up on the roof to investigate. I think its supposed to be back up in the 60s by the weekend, so hopefully he can look into it then.

Our house - you can't really see it, but there is snow on the roof.
An accumulation in the flower beds

More accumulation on the plants

Not much stuck to the ground - it was mostly on roofs, plants & trees. Jimmy took the kids outstide when he picked them up and they made snowballs & threw them against the fence. When I got home from work they were getting warm by the fire.

I've had all the snow I need for another few years. I'm ready for my warm temps to come back.

The decision about the red croc

After much discussion between Uncle Matt (aka, the hero), Grandma Chebs, & Daddy, the decision has been made that if we return the red croc to Drew so quickly he won't really learn his lesson about throwing things out the window.

A lady I work with suggested that maybe Santa Claus could return the red croc at Christmas. We all agree that this would be the best way to handle the situation, so we will be attempting to send the red croc to Santa Claus so he can put it in Drew's stocking.

So, no reaction yet. Grandma Chebs did say that Corry mentioned twice yesterday how sad Drew was going to be without his red crocs. For her benefit, I wish we could go ahead and give it to him, but I think the Christmas method is in Drew's best interest.

The kids made dinner for Grandpa Bob last night - steak, potatoes, & salad. Mom said they really enjoyed helping with the preparations. They didn't actually grill the steaks, in case you were wondering :) Grandpa Bob took care of the grilling.

Not much else going on!

Red Croc gets a second chance at life

Matt suggested we go to Honey Bee Ham for lunch and see if we could find Drewski’s red croc. We turned left from Research Forest onto Gosling to go into the Cochran’s Crossing shopping center – I was looking forward into the oncoming traffic of Research to see if I could see the shoe anywhere & Matt said “There it is!” It had travelled from the left turn lane of Research onto Gosling heading towards the entrance of a shopping center. Amazingly enough, it is in tact – you’d never even be able to tell that it spent the night on Research Forest.

Uncle Matt will be Drew & Corry's hero for finding the beloved shoe. I still can't believe he even saw it - it was not where I was expecting it to be at all! Just had to share our good news.

RIP Left Red Croc

This evening Drew's left red croc met its demise in the left turn lane of Research Forest & Gosling Rd. We were heading home from taking the dogs to the vet & Drew was beside himself with grief & anger because Daddy had buckled him into his car seat instead of Mommy (oh, the horror). The kids recently learned how to roll down their own windows. I often have to put the lock on the windows so they can't keep rolling them up & down, but I was so tired of listening to Drew scream I thought that if rolling the window down would make him happy, then so be it. I should have known better since one of his favorite things to do when he's really ticked off is to throw things. As soon as he got the window down, out the fake red croc went. As soon as he let go I heard him say "Uh Oh! My red croc!" I said , "Sorry, Drew, but the red croc is gone - I can't get out and get it, there are too many cars." Research & Gosling is a VERY busy intersection at 6:15 in the evening & there was no way I was going to risk my life over a $5 fake red croc from Wal-Mart that is on the verge of being too small anyway. Of course this started the water works all over again from both Drew & Corry.



Corry cried all the way home because Drew really loves his red crocs & he was going to be sad without them. She kept saying "maybe we can buy him some new red crocs." I told her that until he learned to control his temper he wasn't going to be able to get any more crocs. That just broke her heart.



One thing I have learned is that the windows are staying locked. At least this time it was just a cheap shoe from Wal-Mart. If anyone is looking for Christmas ideas for Drew, he's gonna need a new pair of crocs. Preferably not red this time :)



On a side note, why am I not a veterinarian? For 2 dogs to get shots, a bag of dog food, a 6 month supply of heartworm & flea prevention (which will only last 3 months since we have 2 dogs), & some medicine for Meghan's ear infection it cost just under $500. Merry Christmas Maddie & Meghan....

Our current weekend(s) project & pictures

This weekend was a busy one - we partied with the Civil Engineers Friday night - the annual Christmas party was a lot more fun this year. They had a casino set up where you could win tickets & put in to win prizes at the end of the night. For some reason Jimmy decided to put some of our tickets in to win a bottle of Scotch, and of course, that's what we won. I've only tried Scotch once (with Uncle Gary) and I wasn't a fan. It tasted like I think body odor would taste, so the bottle is all Jimmy's. I do think Uncle Gary is planning a trip down to visit sometime soon though, so Jimmy may have someone to share with him.

Jimmy is currently working on a project for the backyard - he's building a deck back in the play area which is temporarily being sold to Corry as her "stage" so she can practice her dancing & gymnastics. We are hoping that Santa Claus is going to bring her a playhouse to go on the stage. Santa Claus sure is going to be busy Christmas Eve building a wooden playhouse - I don't know how he's going to make it to everyone elses house to deliver presents.

Funny Drew story - Whenever one of the kids makes a mess (for example - dumping a carton of eggs on the kitchen floor) Jimmy always uses a stern voice & starts out the scolding with "What did you do?" Jimmy has been making some cuts in the garage, so he had his truck backed out & had his mitre saw set up in the middle of the garage. There was a pile of sawdust on the ground. Drew saw the pile of sawdust, furrowed the brow & in a very stern voice pointed at the mess and said "Daddy, What Do?"

Anyway - here are some pictures from the weekend & some of the "stage" project.

Corry modeling her new butterfly gymnastics suit. Please excuse the disaster area in the background. We were just too busy to worry about keeping the toys under control this weekend.

Corry wearing Mommy's Mickey Mouse sweatshirt. I insisted that if she was going to be outside with us she had to wear more than just her elmo panties - especially since it was only in the high 50s.

Drew working on the stage project with Daddy.

Check out this cute little man!

Meghan lending some assistance

Drew supervising Daddy's work

A Christmas picture progression

Getting back into the Christmas spirit we've been looking at past Santa pictures & getting some pretty good laughs. I decided to post our 4 years of Santa pics with the kids. Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I have!

2005 - 6 months old - Corry's first visit with Santa - not so sure about this guy!

2006 - Corry's 18 months & Drew is 4 months - Corry with the protruding lip and Drew looking at her like "What the hell is your problem? It's just Santa Claus!"

2007 - Corry's 2 1/2 & Drew is 16 months. Drew with one hand raised pleading for someone to help him get off this strange man's lap and Corry with her sweet, timid little smile.
2008 - Corry's 3 1/2 & Drew is 2 years & 4 months. Drew now has both hands raised begging for mercy, and Corry is looking angelic

To be honest with you - I'm really shocked that its not Corry that looks terrified in all these pictures. She's really been a trooper with the Santa pics. This last time I was practically chasing Drew through the mall trying to get him on Santa's lap...he wanted nothing to do with it (I know you couldn't tell from the picture)

Visit to Santa Claus

We got egged!

A few months ago we had to start "locking" our refrigerator/freezer doors because Drew would scale the shelves to get frozen waffles out....yes, its very white trash, but it works.....as long as you remember to reattach the bungee cord after you put something in the freezer.

If you forget to "lock the door" (Jimmy) this is what happens.

Drew cleaning up his mess
After he threw the shells away his hands were all slimey, so naturally he had to wipe them off on the pantry door & the walls before I suggested he go into the bathroom & wash them.

Did I mention that the cleaning ladies had JUST left?

Great Grandma Bullard went home

Great Grandma Bullard had to go home today, a little more tattered than when she arrived. The kids & I spent the morning at Grandma Chebs house & had lunch with Great Grandma before she had to head to the airport. I'm watching the kids at Mom's house since my cleaning ladies come today. Corry & Drew are asleep, Calyn is resting, but refuses to close her eyes, and since Max took a long morning nap, he's wide eyed & playing on the floor while I do this post. So far they've treated me well.

Funny Calyn story - they did the advent wreath this morning at Mom's house, and Mom was explaining to them why it is we light the candles etc. Corry was watching intently & listening to Mom's explanation. Calyn took the opportunity to wedge her panties completely up her crack & start smacking herself on the rear end - she was cracking up the whole time and saying "look at me! look at me!" Kind of takes away from the seriousness of the situation, but I sure got a big laugh out of it, as did Great Grandma Bullard.

We're sorry we had sick kids for the first part of Grandma's visit, and really sorry Mom decided to shove her down in the garage and make her have to go to the ER on Thanksgiving day, but glad it was only a sprain. Here are some pictures of the kids with Great Grandma before she headed to the airport

All 4 kids & Carlie playing in the playroom before naptime.
Max getting ready to check someone's blood pressure.

Great Grandma & the Payne babies

Spikey haired Drew - he likes to blowdry his own hair these days which results in a rooster spike in the back.

Sweet little nudie Calyn

Great Grandma with the wild bunch of Texas Great Grandbabies. Taking this picture was virtually impossible. This is the best I could do.

My blue eyed little sweetheart!