Christmas Open House

Over at A Soft Place to Land (http://asoftplacetoland-kimba.blogspot.com/) Kimba is having a Holiday Open House and there is also http://hookedonhouses.net/ that is doing a holiday tour. For the holiday tour link go to http://hookedonhouses.net/2008/12/14/hooked-on-holiday-house-tours-let-the-party-begin/

You should check it out and see all of the creative women. You can check out more of my decor pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was in Tyler this year and we had a great time! Rick and Katie came in from San Antonio with their two dogs, Bagby and Charlie and Robyn was home from Texas A&M. Unfortunately, Great Granddad Charles was in the hospital (he is doing much better) but Nanny came over along with Uncle Lanny, Aunt Dawn, Hannah and Isaac. The boys had a blast eating the famous Greenberg Smoked Turkey (www.gobblegobble.com) and playing football outside. We also went to HomePlace for a ceremony that involved setting Daddy's engraved stone on the sidewalk outside. Since we trade off years with each other's parents, we celebrated Christmas at Thanksgiving my mom. The boys got lots of great stuff and you can see all the pics at : http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain

All you need is a box

When you take 2 boys plus a box you get FUN and time for the Mommy to do stuff. :) Check out these cute pics of the boys:

Lots of new posts :)

I have gotten way behind on blogging lately so make sure you see all 7 new posts that I just put up. :)

Closure

Ben and I went to a John Piper conference, in Austin, the weekend of Oct 18. The conference was titled Job: Why the righteous suffer which couldn't have come at a better time for me. The Tuesday before the conference I had a meltdown that brought me to my knees and before the throne of God. I never struggled with why God allowed Daddy to have cancer, but I have wrestled with why He didn't heal him and allowed him to pass away at age 54. The road to healing for me has been difficult. It has been 17 months but the hurt it still very real.

That Tuesday night I was doing fine and Ben and I had just said good night to one another. All of a sudden I realized that 3 years ago that day my dad was fine and life was normal, but four days later on the 18th Daddy would be diagnosed with a brain tumor and my life would be forever changed. I began to sob uncontrollably. I went upstairs to our guest room to be near to the only tangible thing I had of Daddy which was my hope chest that he made for me when I was in college. I sat on the chest and looked outside and voiced my frustration to the Lord. I am so thankful that we have a God that allows us to share our feelings with Him, because He already knows them anyways. I told Him that I was hurt that He didn't heal Daddy and that I felt He let me down. As I prayed I sensed His peace and closeness and His grace swept over me as I slowly turned back to His promise that He is in control and He has the greater picture in mind.

That Friday, the boys were at my mom's, Ben and I headed to Austin. The conference was terrific and solidified what I knew that God is sovereign!. Piper asked this question; "Is God supreme in your life or sin/self?" If God truly is supreme in my life then He has to be more important to me than anything or anyone else. I also learned that through sufferring the taste of Heaven becomes even more sweeter. The over arching theme is the supremacy of God. At all times He is in control and nothing happens that He doesn't have control over. He allowed Dad to have cancer and He allowed him to pass away. He could've healed him, but He had a greater plan that I can't understand this side of Heaven. It was so neat to for Ben and I to experience this conference together as a couple. I loved talking with him and sharing what I was learning.

I encourage you to visit the link I have provided and listen/watch the podcasts of the Job conference. It will encourage you if you have experienced sufferring and it will prepare you if you haven't. Thank you all for supporting me and my family through our journey.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByConference/42/

The Reading Tub

Some days require lots of inventive play! On this particular day, I decided to put pillows in our bathtub with lots of books and Hudson loved it. :)

The Singin' Bunny

Hudson was given this bunny that sings Jesus Loves Me and now Landon has discovered how great it is! He loves to press his tummy and hear the music and then hug the bunny. Thanks Aunt Jan for a priceless gift!!

Sandbox Fun

Landon has recently become very interested in the sandbox. He crawls in and has so much fun with the toys and sand. He doesn't even mind sand in his mouth in fact he eats it voluntarily! :)

5+ years at PBK = Tiffany's box!!!

I had know idea that when I took the position at Pottery Barn Kids in October 02 (in Denver)that I would still be working for them today. I have LOVED working for this company in a manager position and a part time associate. The company values its employees and the discount is awesome!! I reached my 5 year mark last October, but I was on maternity leave. After Landon was born, I transfered to the Houston store but didn't start working until this past summer. Anyways, my old manager in Kansas sent me my Tiffany's pen a few weeks ago. I now have 2 turquoise boxes!! (Ben bought me a heart bracelet for my 1st mother's day)

How the Cookie Crumbles

I had eaten a cookie and decided it wasn't good enough to keep eating so I threw it in the trash. The trash was getting ready to be taken out so it was sitting beside the trash can and that is when Landon formed a plan. :) I turned around for a second and he had gotten into the trash and was successfully shoving cookie into his mouth - look at those cheeks. :)

Hudson's Homework

Hudson had his first assignment from school. :) He had to find things that started with L and put everything in a bag his teacher gave him. Ben and I helped him go through the house and find lots of great things.

Pumpkins and Parties

This has been the first year that Hudson has somewhat understood Halloween. He was very insistent that he be a football player, even though I wanted him to be a tool man since we had everything for the costume. :)

My Grandmommy (Dad's mom) and Aunt Vicki were coming to visit Grandmommy's brother, who is battling cancer, and had dinner with us and spent the night. Hudson was on pins and needles until they got here - even waiting by the door. :) We went Trick or Treating just on our cul de sac and then came home. The kids had so much fun and were both in bed by 8:30 and us "old folks" were in bed by 9:00pm. :)

Check out all of the fun pics from carving our pumpking, Hudson's school party and the Big night on our Picassa website. Go to http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain

Aggie Ring Day

A couple of weeks ago, I headed to College Station for Aggie Ring Day. This event happens twice a year and you have to have 95 hours to qualify for your ring. An Aggie Ring is a BIG deal!!! My Dad used to say that having an Aggie Ring is like being an Eagle Scout, "If you are in an interview and the boss sees you have an Aggie Ring on or that you are an Eagle Scout you have a greater chance of getting the job over someone else, unless the boss hates Aggies." :) To check out pics of Robyn's ring day go to http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain

Life as a Refugee :)

Here are some pics of our fence that was damaged during the hurricane and you can go to
http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain to see pics of us staying with my brother in San Antonio.

Landon's 1st Birthday

I can hardly believe that my baby is 1 year old!! It has gone by so much faster with the second one. Landon is a delightful, content little boy who loves to smile and laugh. He is very quiet at times and usually up to something sneaky like climbing up the stairs, getting into the tupperware cabinet or climbing into the dishwasher. :) Both boys keep me running all day!!

Unfortunately, both families that we had invited to his party were dealing with illness so it was just us and my mom and sister, Robyn. We had a great time though celebrating. You can go to

http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain to see the great pics! We got a new camera before our Montana trip and we are now posting the pics on Picasa.

Move over Jonas Brothers !!!

Most of you know that Hudson is obsessed with music and now Landon is discovering that he loves it, too. One day the boys were in the playroom and they were both banging on the John Deere tractor can as if it were a drum. They were really sounding great before I got the camera out, but at least this video gives you a preview. :)

Sound Effects

Apparently Landon pays close attention to what Hudson does, because he has picked up on his sound effects for everything. :) Check out this video and see how cute my sweet baby is.

The Laughing Brothers

Peek a Boo

Montana Trip

Ben's Grandma, Jewell Steele, celebrated her 80th birthday on September 8th. She lives in Hamilton, Montana, which is in the Bitterroot Valley with the Rocky Mountains surrounding it. Ben and I flew up there 6 years ago before his Grandpa passed away so we were excited about going back.

We left on Aug 30th and the kids did great on the long plane ride. Thankfully we had Ben's laptop to play videos on. :) We stayed with Ben's Grandma for 9 days and had a blast. Ben's mom was there, too, and we enjoyed spending time with her. The boys loved the beautiful outdoors, meeting their aunts and uncles, and being together as a family. Since Ben's mom's family lives so far away we don't get the chance to see them often, so it was a real treat to spend some quality time with them all. Hudson loved playing football with his Uncle Shawn and cousin Brian, sword fighting with cousin Mick, playing with Aunt Esther, riding horses with Uncle Bruce and being silly with cousin Justin. Landon loved being held and charming all his girl cousins and aunts. :) We were able to do lots of fun outdoors stuff which of course made me think about Daddy. I had wanted to bring him and mom to Montana, but we just never did it. He would have loved the great hiking, the beautiful scenery, and the fly fishing.

Grandma's 80th bday party was incredible. They estimated about 200 people that came and it was a beautiful tribute to her. We were so glad that we were able to be there for her.

If you click on the link below it will take you to 2 albums with all of our trip pictures on it. There are a lot of pics, but they're worth it. :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/brothermclain

We survived Ike!!!

Well, the McLain family is safe and sound. We had intially thought that we would head to my mom's house in Tyler on Thursday, but then we decided to brave the storm. Ben and I were actually a little excited about seeing what a hurricane was like. Our plans quickly changed when the power went out at 6:30pm on Friday and the rains and winds hadn't even come yet. We began filling the bathtub with water in case we didn't have water and would need it to flush toilets. We figured that the power would go out once the weather got really bad, but the fact that it already went out was not a good sign and we were hearing that the power could be out for a week or two. We quickly made the decision that if we wanted to get out we had to do right then. We threw clothes in the suitcase,put blankets on the furniture and filled up the ice chest and made a run for it. Reality set in and the thought of being stuck in our house without power or water for days with 2 active boys didn't sound like fun plus if we had stayed and decided to leave after the storm (if the power was still out) traffic might have been bad. The winds started picking up and the sky was looking eery as we made our way out of Houston to head to my brother's house in San Antonio. Since Tyler was in the path of the storm we thought we would bunk up with Rick and Katie and Hudson was very excited about that. :) So we left at 7:50pm last night and made it to Rick's at 10:50pm. We'll keep everyone updated and let you know what the status is.

Landon's 1st haircut

Landon got his 1st haircut today and did great! I was sad to see his shaggy hair and curly q's go, but now he looks like a little boy. :) After the haircut, we went to dinner and then headed home. Don't forget to move your mouse over the pics and you can read the descriptions.

Growing up

The boys are growing up so fast!! Hudson starts school in 2 weeks and Landon will 11months next week. Hudson comes up with the funniest sayings and Landon is a giggle box! The other day Hudson was trying to say "chill out", but instead he said, "choke out dude". He also likes to use words like "actually", "appreciate", and "neither". Landon has discovered the love for The Man from Snowy River, too.
Hudson and his infectious smile!

Landon will stand for several seconds and laugh, but won't take a step.

T-town fun

Grammie's 90th Bday Celebration

Ben's dad's mom, Grammie, celebrated her 90th bday on Aug 1st. All the family headed to Grandfield, OK, to join in on the celebration. We drove to Dallas and stayed the night with my Grandmommy and then drove to OK the next day. It was so good to see everyone (except Ben's 2 sisters were unable to make it), especially since we hadn't seen Ben's parents since Thanksgiving. The boys had a great time hanging out with MoMo, Papas, and Uncle JoJo.

Helping Daddy

We had to get a new gate for the top of the stairs, because our old one doesn't fit properly. Here are 2 pics of Hudson when he was about 11 months (Hudson didn't start crawling until he was 10 months) helping Ben put the gate up.
Hudson is once again helping Ben, but he is a little bigger this time. :)

Friends

My childhood friend, Carissa, lives in Houston and has 2 girls the same ages as my boys. Lillian is 3 and Evelyn is 11months. The kids love to play together!

Sweet Landon