Schlitterbahn Christmas

The kids got out of school at noon yesterday so we headed to Schlitterbahn’s Hill Country Christmas. Schlitterbahn is the biggest water park in Texas, but for Christmas they transformed it into a winter wonderland with more than 1.5 million lights. BEAUTIFUL! There was an ice skating rink, sledding, a few rides, light shows, and even falling snow (soap suds). We had a great time enjoying the beautiful lights and Christmas music. Taylor, Lexi, Morgan, Taylor (Morgan’s friend) and Rick skated for quite a while. When Taylor quit, Barret put on her skates and hit the ice…literally. He held onto the side and went all the way around the rink once and thought that was good enough! It was a fun night and we really enjoyed all the Christmas lights.

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas!

We saw snowflakes! There might have only been enough in all of Salado to make one snowball, but we saw them! The next morning the yard was kissed with frost, which made us think snow!

We have a tradition each December to go to the Salado parade. It is our favorite parade! We drink hot chocolate and eat cookies. (Wyatt and I made sugar cookies this year-yummy!) The parade is short and sweet, but this year it was REALLY SHORT! I didn't even finish drinking my cocoa! It was still fun and we enjoyed cheering for our friends from school and people we know. It made us laugh and enjoy the Christmas season even more.

O Christmas Tree~why do we have 5?

It's official, I'm ready for Christmas. I have never been finished this early! It is a great feeling. Michelle and I decorated the day before Thanksgiving and I love how we did it this year. Michelle found a 12 ft tree for me last year for 90% off! It required an 8 ft ladder to decorate the thing, but it turned out really pretty. It is done in browns, reds, and golds. She has horse feathers and glittery sticks sticking out of it everywhere. The pictures really don't do it justice. The kids each decided they needed their own tree in their rooms. With their own money, they bought the tree and picked out their ornaments. Each of them are so cute and really emulate their personalities. I have plugged in the balsam scented wall flowers and loaded my I pod with only Christmas music so it is a Christmas wonderland at the Schoenrocks!

I Have Braces!

While scrolling through pictures for Thanksgiving I saw pictures of Taylor and realized I needed to blog them~ I didn't do it right away because she wanting to surprise Grandma, Michelle and Kiley. So...November 19, Taylor had braces put on! Her teeth were pretty straight on the top, but the bottoms were overcrowed. She was so excited! When they finished putting them on, she sat up, smiled really big and said, "I have Braces!" It was really cute. I think she looks great with them and so does she. Can't wait to see the finished SMILE.

Thanksgiving

Well Thanksgiving was a lot of fun this year! Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures. We had family come in from all over and it couldn't have been any better. Todd packed the week with so many activities there was no time for anyone to say "I'm Bored". The festivities started with a big golfing trip to Conroe and then to take a look at Amber Springs, the newest Texas Old Town. I stayed home to decorate for Christmas...I'll post photos later. The next day was a trip to a paintball course. 10 and older were involved in this battle. It sounded like a great time! When I asked Taylor where she hurt, she rubbed her entire left leg and said, "right around here". Everyone was boasting about their trophies aka bruises. Paul's back was so bruised it looked like he was wearing a polka-dot shirt! I think I made a good choice by shopping that day and not enduring the pain. Then there was more golfing, movies, shooting contests, visiting and of course, eating all mixed into the remainder of the week. Our Thanksgiving dinner was WONDERFUL! There was so much food that it literally hurt! The turkeys arrived a little late (after we were finished eating, but no one seemed to mind.) The girls decided to go shopping from 10pm -4am at the outlets. Wow! We can just say that we made some great memories. We stood in line for hours, but we had a great time doing it. We were so loud and obnoxious that at one point, we left the line at Target and the crowd cheered! Funny night! The kids had a great time too. They spent the night with all the cousins and had fun playing in the dirt, video game competitions, watching BYU games and dancing! Like I said before, a great week with the family!

Boys And Their Toys

Taylor got a mini bike for her birthday a couple years ago and never really loved it. The first day Barret fell off of it and then Paul stepped on him so...needless to say he was leery of it as well. I thought hard about selling it but changed my mind hoping that someone would like it because it is so cute. Well, Paul ordered some training wheels and Wyatt has found his new love. We have it turned down really low. You can walk faster than it goes full throttle but, he doesn't care. He thinks he is so cool when he gets on that thing and rides.

We went down to Kyle for the weekend and stayed with my mom and dad. (They are in the middle of building an amazing house.) While we were there, Paul came in laughing his head off. My dad has a new Ford F250 pick up. It is really nice and he promised everyone that he would keep this one up. His last truck, the Hombre, disintegrated! Anyway, after having the truck for only a couple months, the tail gate has a huge dent in it and the side mirror broke. Poor guy. When anyone brings it up he gets so frustrated. It is just not in the cards for him to have a nice truck. So Paul took a picture of his mirror...He fixed it redneck style with a aqua blue hand-held vanity mirror. Amazing what you can do with duct tape! Nice real Nice! ha ha (Hi"Larry"ious)

Back In The Cattle Again

This is the first year we didn't put a crop in the ground and it is a little strange to think that I don't have to worry about the weather anymore. We decided to sell off the farmland and let the leases go back. Our farm life is over. I say this with a sad heart. As a kid, I wanted to marry a farmer because I didn't ever want to ever move again. I loved my life as a farmer's wife and enjoyed all (well, most of) the little things that it included. I wanted my kids to be raised on a farm so they would learn how to work hard, but life didn't work out that way. Too many things made it impossible to keep at it. So here we are... in a neighborhood and actually loving it. We did keep 122 acres. Paul (and Wyatt) worked on the fence and and cattle pens this summer and it is finally ready to put the cows back on. Paul went to the cattle auction and brought back 22 pair to join our bull. It was a good feeling to go out and see that we still had a piece of the country.

The No-Soccer Dance

Well it is official...soccer season is over!! I am so excited that I am doing the NO SOCCER DANCE! It ate up every minute of time we had. At least one kid had practice every night of the week and then there were at least 3 games on Saturday.

Taylor played on a team full of friends again. Last season, our team didn't even score and we lost every game. This season, we figured it out and the "Chupacabras" did GREAT! Taylor loves soccer and did a great job.

Barret played on the "Sharks" and they lost EVERY game. Barret really excelled and another coach came to talk with us about signing him up for a select team. Watching him rule the field almost made it not so painful to take our whippings. A few games were 20-1!

Wyatt played on the "Tigers". The team would jump and cheer when he actually made contact with the ball...but he did somehow make 2 goals! He was funny to watch. For some reason his reflexes were a bit delayed and he would kick after the ball was already gone...like I said, So Funny!

All in all, it was a fun season. The kids enjoyed playing and they had a TON of exercise...but I'm still glad it's OVER!

Taylor's First Dance

Taylor attended her first school dance last weekend. It was the 6th grade masquerade. She had not planned on going until the last minute. So after piano lessons, we ran to the store and found a cute zebra stripped dress, red shoes, and a purse. She went with her friend Blake and they had a great time. When asked on the way home on the scale of 1-10 how was it? She immediately yelled out "10". I had a blast-I danced every dance! She looked cute with a GIANT red flower in her hair. It was fun to see her out there dancing with a huge group of girls. She didn't dance with a boy...and I am good with that!

Halloween 2009

Halloween 2009 turned out to be a fun one.

The week before Halloween a group of ladies decided to throw a party for our older kids. Taylor was excited! This was her first boy/girl party. We had a great time planning it and a lot of work went into the party. It was at a friends house and they made their garage into a disco with strobe lights and fog. They really went all out. I didn't even know there were that many decorations for Halloween! Anyway, the kids had a blast over 90 6th, 7th and 8th grade kids came. As hosts we all decided to dress alike and the chosen theme was...white trash. Well, that came all too easy for Paul and I. Paul threw on a mullet and we were ready to go. We had a great time getting into character and the sad part was that most of it came from our very own closets! I think the adults had way more fun than the kids! By the way it is way more fun to dance with a big but!

The boys had a great time in costume this year. They decided to go as Napoleon Dynamite characters. It was HILARIOUS! The whole night we would just stop and laugh. Barret was Napoleon and one of his best friends, Caden, was Pedro (with brown make-up and everything). Ol' Wyatt pulled it together with being the squirrely brother, Kip. He chose this costume and there was no changing his mind! (He is obsessed with facial hair.) They took some great pictures! The funniest part was when they went trick or treating. The old people would ask what Caden was and he would answer, "Pedro" they had no idea who that was so they thought he was dressed as a Mexican kid. Their faces were so confused. I don't know how they will ever top this year's costumes. Taylor, being 11, still thought it was okay to trick or treat so she went as a punk star (in picture above with pink hair). We tease she chose this because it is really how she would like to dress. All in all, it was a great Halloween season with lots of fun memories.

My First POST

OK, so Blogging is probably so 2007, but that is usually how far behind the times I am. Everyone has a blog and I have always loved reading them and catching up with the things going on in their lives. Not until I saw my friend Elena's printed off blog, did I get the itch...so here goes. It is hard to start, but I have got to sometime, right?