Christmas - Texas Style

Decorating for Christmas

Due to our last minute change of plans we were able to snag a great deal on a tree.$10 Who knew? slackers and procrastinators unite! An almost 6 foot tree for cheap! We were so excited we took it home and started dancing around it. A few days later we got down to business with the decorating. Isaac and Oliver did the bottom parts, and Jason and I strung the lights and the upper branches. After that we made popcorn strings and put those up too.

We had a great time decorating the tree.

Here is another thing we got out of storage. The "Jesus people" that we bought in Mexico. Ollie doesn't play with them as much as Isaac did, probably becasue he has other toys, but he loves to make them walk around and sing jingle bells. He is a joy to watch when he is playing.



On the first Saturday I had off from baking we went to the Ellen Trout Zoo, in Lufkin. The boys were thrilled as they hadn't been in awhile. We saw all of our favorite critters. Oliver spent lots of time at the flamingos, and Isaac loves the deer. Then we rode the train, which is a big treat as it isn't open every day during the school year.


Jason thinks this is creepy, but look what Santa left in my stocking!!! Don't you want one too?

Christmas Vids

I'll be putting up some pictures and videos over the next few days of the holidays.

RIP Claiborne Pell

News today tells us that Claiborne Pell has passed away in his Newport, RI home. For those of you poor enough (like me) to recognize the name Pell, you'll put "grant" on the end of that. Yep - the guy that gave us the Pell Grant. When it was begun a student could count on 75% of grants and about 25% of loans to cover an education. Today, it is just the opposite. Without Pell money, I never would have finished my first year of school. Pell may have been a complete rolling in the money patrician snob, but he was from an older, wiser set of public servants that felt that the nation as a whole could benefit from the wise distribution of wealth rather than the selfish hording of a few. "And there was no poor among them... . "