Yertle My Turtle.

"On the far-away island of Sala-ma-sond,

Yertle the Turtle was king of the pond.

A nice little pond. It was clean. It was neat.

The water was warm....

There was plenty to eat....

The turtles had everything turtles might need.

And they were all happy. Quite happy indeed.

They were...until Yertle, the king of them all. Decided the kingdom he ruled was too small. "I'm ruler", said Yertle of all that I see. But I don't see ENOUGH. That is the trouble with me......

With this stone for a throne, I look down on my pond but cannot look down on places beyond. This throne that I sit on is too, too low down. "It ought to be higher!" he said with a frown. "If I could sit high, how much greater I'd be! What a king! I'd be ruler of all that I see!"

"All mine!" Yertle cried. "Oh the things I now rule!

I'm king of a cow! And I'm king of a mule! I'm king of a house!

And what's more, beyond that, I am king of a cranberry bush and a cat!

"I'm Yertle the Turtle! Oh! Marvelous me!

For I am ruler of all that I see!"

I sure am lucky my mommy still loves me!

Spoiled.

The holidays flew past us this year! We have been busy soaking in the holiday magic with some of our favorite fam. First we were lucky enough to have Dustin (Weston's bro), Natalie & Henry come out for 10 days! We had so much fun! (I have so many great pictures but can't post them all since I am way behind on my updates- here are the highlights!)

Fun at the Houston Zoo!!

The Hall men are ready to go shopping. Sure to make Santa's nice list this year.

Weston and his annual kill.

Dustin & Nat were lucky enough to partake in a little old fashioned family fun with us up at the Mill Hollow tree farm.

The Hay ride is always great....beware of the snakes!!!

Tire rolling.....funner than you would think. The kids LOVE it....even the big ones. :)

Weston & Dustin enjoyed some good ol' brotherly bonding time with a few projects around the house. Mold.....

Putting in the marble floor. HEY....we gotta make them earn their keep, right?

Chillin with the homies.

Bring on the turkey!

A few days after Dustin & Natalie left....my little sister Rach came out for a couple weeks. It was so great to have her, too! I'm tellin ya....we really got spoiled this year.

1st time in 3 years she is at church and what do I find her doing in the bathroom?

Visiting Rudy the train with the Fronks in Kensington, TX. Warren, Ashira & I am pretty sure Kevin were all in heaven!!

Although, Benjamin wasn't too fond of Santa....

Inside each train car were some seriously awesome train displays....

Eye candy. Oh yea.

Taking in all the details.

All buckled up with Auntie Rachael!

It even snowed! For the second year in a row. Craziness!

Warren after his Preschool Christmas Performance at Christ The King, Luthern Church.

Rach just about hyperventilated when she stumbled upon her dream car as we exited the trolley while Christmas shopping.

FHE- Building gingerbread houses with the fam. Of course, mine won first place. ;)

Weston & Warren went with a mod-design.

A belly full of manocotti gets the creative juices flowing. The construction of Forte de Fronk.

Benjazilla invaded the Forte the next morning. Mmmmm mmmm good. Bye bye cannons. CHOMP.

Christmas Eve. The kids were all nestled all snug in their beds.....

Santa came!!!! It was a quiet day spent with our little family. Payette's had us over for an early Christmas dinner and then it was back home for more playing & our yearly Christmas traditions. It was a magical day. :)

Warren holding his new Woody doll as Ben guards his new chair and bridles the horse. There was definitely magic in the air.... Ben also took his first steps on Christmas!!!

On the 1st day of Christmas my TRUE LOVES gave to me......

Eight nativity guests a feasting.......

(That is 5 empty candy wrappers and only one opened advent door.....hmmmmm.)

A private "poppin" party.....

And a child sent to set the cranberries free!!!!

Watch it live here:

Peace on earth and good will to all mom's out there this Christmas Season! ;)

1 2 3 Magic...(Take 2)

Just wanted to share some of the progress that I have made on our list of house renovation projects. I have been working my tail off and I am really enjoying the fruits of my labors.

BEFORE: The first project which brings MUCH happiness is the fact that I FINALLY found a new light for my dining room table!

Bling BE GONE!

AFTER:

Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Do you also experience the calm, like I do when I see this picture?

Guest Bedroom Before:

Missing from this picture is the Hello Kitty Border that was around the top of the room and the yellowed mini blinds that had what looked like 10 years of dust mites on them.

After:

I primed and painted all of the doors and trim, painted the walls, Ripped down the wallpaper boarder, took out the mini blinds and patched the holes, mounted the curtain rods, hemmed and hung the curtains! I am working on a new bed and a new bedding ensemble (something less traditional) but that is down on the priority list of to do's. The quilt has sentimental value and so I'll keep it for now. ;)

Isn't it amazing what a little paint can do?

More to come! I finished the paint in the Den and I am just working on the finishing touches there.... so I will post pictures when I am done. I am still painting the game room and stair rail. Weston & his brother just got the marble laid in the powder room but it is still torn apart. Will post pics of those soon too! :) Enjoy!

Take a Bow.

Yesterday Ben finally mustered the courage to start standing up all by himself! He crawls really fast and so anytime we try to get him to walk with us he always drops down after a few steps and takes off crawling. No time for such slowness, I guess. Anyways, we are excited to see some bold attempts by him in this area. We thought he was going to crawl forever! :)

Warm & Fuzzy.

Last Saturday I walked into the room when Warren was playing with Mr Potato Head. This is how the conversation went:

Warren: Mom! Mr Potato Head is feeling REALLLLY warm and fuzzy today because he did lots of really good things.

Me: (slightly distracted but laughing) Oh. Really? Warm and fuzzy huh?

Warren: (grinning from ear to ear) Yup, sure does!

Me: (I take Mr Potato Head and we start making a new face. I open the back hatch to switch out the lips only to find that he had filled it with little fuzzy balls like the ones pictured above.)

Me: (lightbulb flickers) Oh! I see. He really is feeling warm and fuzzy isn't he?

Warren: (matter of factly) Yea, mom. That is what the Prophet said!

So, if you aren't familiar, every spring and fall our church has General Conference where we get to hear church leaders speak on various topics. Our last conference was Oct 3 & 4th. Each day there are two- two hour sessions. President Monson gave a wonderful talk about service. The part about the warm & fuzzy jar starts about 7 minutes in. Click here to view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siZ5Ut-gAIo .

During conference we gather with those we love and listen intently.

The last few conferences Warren is usually in the room as we listen.

He switches between cuddling with us on the couch/bed to playing

nearby. Whenever the prophet speaks, we always make sure he

comes up and listens with us. This last conference he did as usual

and cuddled up under my arm and we watched together with our

friends while we were visiting in Michigan. I know he was there

with me but I guess I assumed that since he was so little and the

talks are lengthy that he wasn't really actually absorbing much.

Just a few days before our Mr Potato "warm and fuzzie" experience

I had attended Enrichment at the church. We had a great dinner,

service auction and the Bishop left us with a great thought on service.

The RS Presidency handed out small jars full of "fuzzies" just like

those President Monson received from the Primary kids he mentioned

in his talk. The little jar was given to us as a token of his beautiful talk

and was to serve as a reminder that we need to serve one another

both inside and outside our homes. I brought it home and sat it on the

counter but hadn't mentioned it to Warren.

You can imagine how my heart lept (and still does) to know that my

four year old son was listening to the Prophet's Words that day (over

a month ago). He sees the fuzzies. Remembered them and more

importantly how the Prophets talk had made an impression in his heart

about service, that he did not forget.

Last Sunday in Primary the song leader asked the kids "What does it

mean to be a Sunbeam for Jesus?

After several kids replied, Warren's said: "It means that when every

time we make a really good choice our heart grows bigger and bigger

and that is what Jesus wants."

It is such a joy for me to see his testimony & knowledge of the gospel

taking root in his heart and for me to see it sprout - independent of

mine. How grateful I am to be there to share these moments with him

and see the warmth fill his face as he shares it with me.

Now THAT, my friends, is what I call a warm & fuzzy!