Christmas Morning

Our Christmas morning was fabulous! Gavin and Renée ran into our room around 8am reporting that Santa came. After getting up John and Carter we let them tear into their presents. Gavin’s favorite gift was a space shuttle building system. He played with it all day. You can see his excitement in every picture. Renée got a lot of horses and loves them. She has already given every one a name. She also got The Last Unicorn movie which she has already watched four times. Renée also got horse stickers which she decorated our pjs with. Sam was given the most. Carter got a drill that he loves. He just goes around the house drilling things. Carter and Sam both got safety goggles.

We let Renée and Gavin shop at the dollar store this year for gifts. Alycia took them each shopping. Gavin got me pens, Sam checkers, Renée a Dora ribbon dancing stick, and Carter a ball with squishy spikes. Renée got me lip gloss, Sam safety goggle, Gavin a truck, and Carter a truck. It was really fun to see what they thought we would like.

Our kids are the perfect ages for the magic of Christmas. It was such a fun day and we are blessed to be able to do so much for our children and to be together on this special day. We hope you all feel as blessed as we do and had a Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve

To celebrate Christmas Eve, we had a candle lit dinner. We ate fried shrimp, chicken cordon bleu, baked potatoes, and broccoli. The kids got to open their presents from GG and Pap-pap in front of the webcam, so my parents could watch. They love their new toys. Thank you.

We preformed a nativity pageant. Renée was Mary. Gavin was Joseph. John was a wise man. Sam was the Shepherd. I was an angle/narrator. Carter did not was to participate. Thanks to a fun package from Joi, we even had head dresses to wear. Thanks Joi! Before the kids went to bed Sam read them The Night Before Christmas.

Uncle John

Sam’s younger brother John is here visiting. The kids are so excited to have him. He brought his PS3 and the kids all like to watch him play.

Home at Last

Sam is home! After one last dose of antibiotics, Sam was able to come home this afternoon. We are thrilled to have him in time for Christmas. He is feeling well.

Hospital Day 3

We went and visited Sam after dinner today. We played a game of Sorry and Sam read the kids stories. They also made Sam’s bed as high as it could go. Sam’s doctor told him that he might be able to go home on Monday! The redness of his rash hasn’t gone away, but it isn’t as inflamed and bumpy.

Hospital Birthday

Sam doesn’t have a fever any more so he is feeling a lot better. Sadly, his cellulites hasn’t improved much. They upped his antibiotics so I am hopeful that he can come home on Monday. His biggest complaint is that he is really bored, so phone calls are appreciated.

I took the kids over this morning so we could celebrate his birthday. We brought cupcakes and presents. In the confusion of getting the kids and the stuff out of the van, I locked my keys in the van. The hospital police spent 45 minutes breaking into the van for me. That police man’s help was really a blessing for me. I don’t think I could have dealt with much more.

Our babysitting co-op was this evening so I brought take out to Sam and was able to visit with him for a few hours alone. This will probably go down in our family history as his worst birthday ever, or so we hope. Sam hadn't showered yet, so he wouldn't let me take his picture. Here are the kids eating his birthday cupcakes.

Sam's Phone Number

817-250-2622

Sam Update

Thank you for all the well wishes for Sam. He is improving at the hospital on IV antibiotics. There is no talk of when he can come home, but I think he is feeling a lot better now that he doesn’t have a fever. I was able to visit him this morning thanks to friends who watched my children. This afternoon I took Renée and Gavin to see Sam. Unfortunately, Renée threw up all over Sam’s hospital room. On the plus side, I didn’t have to clean up the mess. The down side what she threw up in my shoe. Renée is already feeling better. I tried to give her crackers for dinner but she only wanted green beans.

Tomorrow is Sam’s birthday, so we are going to have to make things special for him at the hospital. Thanks again for the phone calls and emails.

Sam in Hospital

Sam was admitted to the hospital for cellulites. I am not sure how long he will be there. I will keep you posted.

Birthday and Babe's

Poor Susan has a Christmas birthday. We decided to take her out and celebrate her birthday a little early this year. We went to Babe’s with our birthday tiaras and blowers. It was a really fun night.

Going around the table: Susan, Michalann, Sharee, Michelle, Me, and Lisa.
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Gratitude

Gavin received this award from school. We are so proud of him.

Santa Comes to Crawford Farms

Santa came to our neighborhood Christmas party. Carter wasn’t interested in sitting on his lap, but Renée and Gavin hopped right up. Santa was played by our HOA president Jeff Lederer. He was a great Santa.

Bath Time

Carter was so cute splashing around in the bathtub. I took some videos but they aren’t fit for my G rated blog.

Kychelle's Shower

Rene'e, Carter and I drove up to Frisco to go to Kychelle’s baby shower/farewell party. It was fun to see all my old friends. I will miss you Kychelle and wish you the best of luck in Utah.

Holy Family

Our church puts on a Nativity exhibit each year where people loan their nativities and they are arranged in a display. They even have a part where they will dress you up to have your picture taken. Carter was supposed to be an angel, but he didn’t want to get off my lap, so he ended up being a big baby Jesus. Gavin was a shepherd boy at his request. Renée was an angel after dressing up as a donkey, but changing her mind. Sam was Joseph, while I was Mary.

More Sheppards

Sam’s brother and his family came to stay the night with us. They got here on Friday evening and we stayed up way too late talking. On Saturday, Tera and I went shopping. The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins, Bennette, Emma, and Cooper. Bennette was especially great with my kids. He would read to Gavin and play with him. Since Bennette is 12 and Gavin is 5, it was very sweet of him. I am not really sure what Sam and Christian did besides talk, but they seemed to enjoy themselves. After dinner they headed home to Austin. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures and this was the only one Sam took. Thanks for coming.

Four Stitches

Carter pulled down a stocking from the mantel and the stocking holder fell and hit him in the head. I was teaching preschool and Gavin ran upstairs and said, “Carter has blood right here.” (Holding his had to his head.) I ran downstairs and all the kids followed. Carter wasn’t even crying but I knew right away that he would need stitches.

Carrie came over to stay with everyone until Amber and Alycia came. There were only 15 minutes left of school. Alycia took Gavin and his friend to school and then stayed with Renée.

I stopped at Carenow first, but because it was a head injury and he had blood under his nose, they wanted me to take him to Children’s Hospital in downtown Fort Worth. I called Sam on the way, and he met me there. It turned out that the blood under his nose was from him touching his head, and then putting his finger in his nose. They did a CT anyway just to make sure, but he was okay. He got four stitches and was pretty mad about being held down but is doing fine now.

Birthday gifts for Rene'e

After dinner, Renée opened the gifts from family. She got pom-poms and a My Little Pony coloring book for Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Charlie, $5 from Grandma Lil, two horses from GG and Pap-Pap, and a Diamond Castle Flying Horse from us. She loved all of her gifts. Thank you for thinking of her.

Horse Party

Renée had a horse birthday party. She invited Sydney, Blake, Clair, Ava, Cameron, and Tyler. Everyone dressed up in their cowboy or cowgirl attire. We ate lunch and then played a lot of games. We played a rolling dice horse game, horse bingo, stick horse races, hot horse (like hot potato), and musical heart sharing. It was a crazy two hours, but Renée had a wonderful time. We hope everyone is enjoying their stick horses and the whinnying isn’t driving any mom nuts.

Birthday Pancake

My little girl is four. Here she is with her birthday pancake.