I think it has been a couple of weeks since the last time I posted so here goes...
We had a great Thanksgiving. Kevin's brother Ken and his family came down from Tennessee. Jacob was so excited to see his cousins! We met them Tuesday for dinner at Kevin's store and then we drove out to McKinney to visit with everyone on Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday was a lot of fun we went to the park and fed the ducks and then played kickball on the softball field. It was a lot of fun and Jacob enjoyed getting dirty.

Jacob, Kelcie, Kendyl, Kaitlyn, Addyson, Kensey, and Ethan

Ken being gross after a bird pooped on him. Feeding the birds and the ducks.

Thursday morning we went to the Turkey Bowl and I am happy to report no broken ribs for Kevin this year. He played QB most of the time so he didn't have as great of a chance of getting hurt. I was the ONLY wife who showed up, what's up with that? I love playing football and I had so much fun.

After that we went to Kevin's work for a couple of hours. Some of his employees met there and had a Mexican style Thanksgiving dinner, it was really good. After that we went to Kevin's moms and hung out their and ate and ate and ate. We played bingo and just hung out, the kids had so much fun playing together.

Friday and Saturday we decorated the house for Christmas. I was telling my neighbor that I would like to buy a fake Christmas tree (which I never thought I would say) and she asked me what kind I wanted. I told her like a 6 or 7 ft noble fir. She said that her brother had given her a tree and that they already had one so she gave it to us!!! I was so excited. It was a 7 1/2 ft tall noble fir, it had pine cones on it that I was not too fond of so I clipped them all off and now we have a beautiful FREE Christmas tree. I was so thankful to her!

This week is the big nativity display that our Stake does. For the last 3 years I have done the bulletins boards. I was up at the church for about 10 hours on Wednesday and was completely exhausted when I got home but I finished and here they are:

Last night a whole bunch of us met up there to walk through together. We had the cutest picture of all of our kiddos taken.

Beckam, Brinley, Jacob, Jordyn, Cara, Ashlyn, Camden, Kade, Mason, and Landon
I love this picture!!!
After that Brittany, Courtney, Hilary, Britt's mom, and I all went out for dessert at Red Robin, it was way yummy. We had so much fun like always and I think even a little extra fun because Britt's mom is so funny she makes me almost pee my pants. When we were dropping off Courtney I drove by a house that had this in the yard:

Along with all the other Christmas decorations at this house was a large cut out of the lamp from the movie "A Christmas Story," we love that movie.

Well I guess that is enough writing and picture posting for now. I will end with a video I took this morning that is so funny. Jacob thinks it is so funny to throw water on his daddy and Kevin hates cold water especially in the shower. So while Kevin was in the shower this morning Jacob and I got a big glass of cold water from the fridge and this is what we did (ignore the gigantic pile of clean laundry on the floor):

Have you ever had a headache so bad that you feel like you are going to throw up? Well up until Sunday I had not but unfortunately I experienced that. I think it was just left over sinus stuff from being sick for a few days. Tylenol did not even touch the pain and I was feeling like I needed to go and dig for some heavier stuff in the medicine cabinet. I'm happy to report that when I woke up yesterday I felt much better. Sunday night Jacob said his throat was sore and I took a look and it was a little red by Monday morning his tonsils were swollen. So I called the doctor as soon as they opened and got him right in. Yep he has strep. I opted for the shot which to me is so much better then medicine every day for 10 days. Well Jacob remembered how bad it hurt from the last time he had strep and threw a huge fit because he did not want to get a shot. I told him he had two choices I could put him on the table or he could get up there himself. I counted to three and he was trying to talk me out of it. So I picked up my big 7 year old who I can barely carry and put him on the table with the help of two other nurses. The doctor came in and held his head down I held his arms another nurse held his legs and the other nurse gave him the shot. That is right it took four of us. I apologized to the doctor and she said it was ok that they have to do that to 15 year olds. I think this was complete payback for me, I used to be the same way I remember my mom having to hold me down when I was little and I had to get a shot. Needless to say his bum it still a little sore but he is feeling much better. He was supposed to be in school yesterday and today (even though the other 7 school districts around us have the whole week off) but we are home for two days sick and tomorrow is officially the start of his vacation. Tomorrow we will go out to McKinney to visit family. Kevin's brother and his family came down from Tennessee. Jacob is so excited to see his cousins he keeps asking when we are going to see them. We will spend Thursday out there as well. We are looking forward to spending time with everyone.

Well Saturday was a fun day. Kevin threw me a surprise party (remember I kind of knew about it) and it was a lot of fun. Eight of us girls went to see Twilight, which by the way I loved, and Hilary had offered earlier in the week to take me and pay for my birthday...thanks Hil! So after the movies she told me that she needed to stop at the grocery store and then she would drop me off the whole time knowing that she needed to stall because she had to give time for the people who were at the movies with me to get home and then over to my house. Hil had me convinced that she knew nothing about the party and so I figured it was just friends and family. I was surprised when I drove up and saw so many cars. Kevin spent the whole day Friday making my Grandma's sauce for me, yummy!!! My Grandma's sauce (like spaghetti sauce but much much better) is a tradition in our family that is super yummy but takes an entire day to make. He is such a good husband! He defintely had a lesson in how to throw a surprise birthday party and I think he realized it was a little more difficult then he thought it would be. Thank you Courtney for helping him out. Here are a few pictures:

30 Candles...there was a lot of smoke!

I apologize to Joanna and Brittany, I really need to use the red eye fixer thing on my camera.

Mom and mom, Kevin working hard in the kitchen, and Jacob at the end of the night fast asleep.

Thanks Kevin for such a great birthday and
thank you to all of my friends I love you all!!!

The Day Has Come

I knew this day would come but I was hoping it would be further in the future. Today after school Jacob and I were walking down the main hallway where there were a lot of students. I asked him to hold my hand and he looked at me and told me "that would be embarrassing." Luckily he still lets me give him a hug and a kiss in the morning, I have a feeling that he will soon be embarrassed by that too. I have to admit I was a little sad but I knew that this day would be coming. I'm listening to Jacob read a book to his dad and all I can think about is that my little boy is growing up too fast!

A Little Catch Up

We've been so busy around here lately. Just when I think one thing is over and life will slow down a little more comes our way. Last Saturday Kevin had the day off (he is starting to take every other Saturday off, yeah!!!) and we went with Mom and Jarrett (Kevin's mom and her husband) to the Ft. Worth Botanic Gardens. Jacob and I had gone last month and I wanted Kevin to see it. This time we walked a lot further and saw so much more. It was a beautiful day and the gardens were beautiful too. For those of you who live around here it is a great free activity to do as a family. I think next time we go we will take a picnic lunch. Here are a few pictures from our day.

We found this really neat tree and Kevin and Jacob had fun climbing in it.

Yesterday was my birthday and I can't believe I am officially 30! I still think it is crazy how fast time goes by. Kevin took me shopping on Saturday and we had a nice relaxing day at home which included breakfast in bed and a long nap after church. Kevin has something planned later in the week that is a "surprise." It is not a surprise in the fact that I know something is happening but it is a surprise because I don't know when or where or what exactly we are doing. Today was pretty uneventful at school but the highlight of my day was when Courtney delivered a cute card and a big ol' Dr. Pepper from Sonic...thanks again Court, you are the BEST! I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and having a few days off from subbing. The week after that is Nativity and I am excited about it again this year. I'm not changing too much this year with the bulletins so it shouldn't be too much work, at least that is what I keep telling myself. Another thing that I am excited about it that I'm going to start digital scrap booking! I can't wait to buy the program that I need and get caught up on scrap booking. I figure over Christmas break I can get a lot done. Well I guess that is about it for now...I'm off to cook dinner for my "starving" child.

Letter To Barack

Dear President Elect Barack Hussein Obama,
Hello, my name is Erin Peterson. I personally do not agree with most of your political views, but seeing how you are going to be president of The United States of America I would like to ask you a question. We all know you are a big fan of "spreading the wealth." My parents are "rich" according to you and should spread their wealth to those who do not make as much money as them. My husband and I would be considered the ones who the wealth should be spread to. So I propose a solution...instead of my parents spreading their wealth to complete strangers why can't they just spread it to us. Maybe the "rich" would be happier if they could choose with whom they will have to share their money with. My parents could choose to sponsor our family. At least they would know that their money is not going to someone who is lazy and is not grateful for their help. So if there is some way that you could work this out I and my parents would greatly appreciate it. I know you don't take office until January 20th but if you could get this program up and running before Christmas it would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Erin Peterson

Seeing Brit last night was a lot of fun. We talked and mostly laughed for a couple of hours. When the four of us get together it is always a blast. Brittany's little girl is so cute! Her name is Kylin Elizabeth. Here are some pics:

Hilary, Courtney, Brittany with baby Kylin, and me. Obviously Brittany didn't get the silly picture message in the second picture.

I have been meaning to update but I always seem TOO BUSY!!! Halloween was fun and we have way too much candy to show for it. All the Butterfingers and Reese's PB Cups all seemed to disappear so quickly...hmmmm I wonder who ate them all? I went with Kevin and Jacob to my mom's house and went to a few houses with Jacob then I went back home to give out candy but after only 2 families came in a hour I decided to go meet up with Kev and Jacob. After about 2 hours Jacob decided that he had gotten enough candy and we went back to my mom's house to wait for everyone to return and do some major candy trading. Grandpa and Uncle BJ took that opportunity to rip Jacob off and Kevin and I had to step in. He is not great at equal trading yet, or maybe he is and his idea of what candy he wants is different then mine.

Carving the pumpkin. Kevin and Jacob always pick a scary face.

Jacob with his way too heavy bag after the ward trunk or treat.

Yoda!

Kevin was Mario this year for work.

Now to explain the next three pictures. So Kevin needed to glue on a mustache for his costume at work. Seems easy...I used tacky glue and I guess it didn't last very long. Before Kevin left for work he put Gorilla Glue in his pocket I was hoping that he would not use it. Anyway he comes home after work and he had taken the mustache off in the car. Unfortunately there was glue left over. He let me believe that it was the tacky glue. I thought wow it really stuck good for it to work all day. The problem was that he actually ended up using the Gorilla Glue and when it came time to take the mustache off the glue would not come off. So here he is trying to take it off. It was very painful and it pulled out every single hair that was on that part of his lip. Just in case any of you were thinking about using Gorilla Glue on any part of your body it is not a good idea.

Trick or Treating

Jacob getting candy from Grandma's house.

What is this you ask. Well every year my family all dress up as the same thing. Last year was Christmas presents, the year before was Edward Scissorhands, and the year before that was grapes. This year someone came up with the bright idea to be traffic cones. It was hilarious. They actually stopped traffic. People asked them are you the Christmas presents from last year. They are known for their costumes around the neighborhood. Under the cones are Ala, Olya, BJ, Grandpa, Toli, and Katelyn (neighbor friend). Crazy people!!!

Halloween was a lot fun! We ended up going home way too late from my mom's house and then having to get up the next morning for Jacob's last baseball game of the season. I'm happy to report that baseball is done for a while.

Eating candy before the game (I let it slide because it was the day after Halloween). Jacob with his trophy, he is getting quite the collection.

Hitting the ball, look at that even swing! Running home!

Sunday was Stake Conference which made me really happy because I didn't have to plan or do anything for primary, don't get me wrong I love my calling but it is nice to get a break once in a while.

So I'm NOT exactly thrilled with who our country chose to be president. I was actually not too thrilled with either option but thought McCain could do better the Obama. I could go off on a rant of what I think of Obama but I might offend some and so I will just leave it at that.

This week I subbed in the school library for 3 days and loved it! I could be a school librarian. It was back to OCS for yesterday and today.

Tonight I'm going to visit my friend Brittany in Frisco, she had a baby girl last week. Courtney, Hilary, and I are going up. I always love hanging out with my peeps:) Kevin has the whole weekend off, wahooooo! He usually works Saturday and has Sunday and Tuesday off but he took Saturday off this week. Well I guess that's about it for now.