2011 A

So that Fruit of the Spirit thing that sounded so pious and righteous has not happened yet. Sunday night we discussed it as a couple, Monday night beat us up, Tuesday night I had a soccer game and now we are, the kids are in bed and we have no fruit. Beat down.

I would like to talk about how much cool stuff the kids have and how I am trying to decide where to draw the line and how to keep them grounded. Blake got two cool Air Nerf guns for Christmas along with a Rip Stick and a remote control Air Hog helicopter and to top it off a portable basketball goal for the house.

Anna got this stinking Baby Alive that you have to feed and then change it's stupid diapers. We have enough Pocket Pets to start a zoo and with her own camera and fake Ugg Boots she is ready for high school.

Do we need this stuff? No. Is it sooooo cool? Yes. And we do, believe it or not, limit what we give and have family give to our kids. So where is the line to be drawn and how to I teach my kids in this new age of stuff and electronics and computers, how to be confident in what is unseen, since "the things that are unseen are eternal."?

Any advice is welcome.

Also, I hate to proof read so if you get a typo, sorry.

Christmas..

I was the first one up this morning, again, and I am sitting here in Ruidoso watching the slow gently fall to the ground. What a great way to start your day.

The house we are in is just great, sitting on the golf course which offers a great place to go sledding. The cousins all love being together and are having so much fun.

Kenny and I and the older boys are going snow boarding and the rest of the family is heading to a tube park after lunch. The fresh powder should make it perfect for both.

Have a great day.

Christmas

Hope the rest of you are having fun with family and gifts and food. Beautifully cold Christmas here in Central and North Texas and the weather looks good for our activities next week.

Santa came and delivered to Blake and Anna Jo again and they still have the tender hearts needed to believe in that fun story. We can't go to sleep on Christmas Eve without spreading out the Reindeer food so Rudolph will know where to go.

Have a great day and weekend and enjoy your time with your family. Remember to be mindful and prayerful for those who are missing loved ones this holiday season. Joyful times and painful times and I want to be more aware of those who are hurting and more conscious about loving the ones that are here.

Merry Christmas.

Pictures From Christmas 2008 # 2

Blake had his first cavity this past Christmas and we had the work done while in Temple for the Christmas Break.  He did great and was unaware of the 5 shots that he was given thanks to that great gas flowing through that pink thing on his nose.  

Pictures From Christmas 2008

Does this look questionable to anyone else?

Hang In There.

Still no camera from Temple so still no Christmas pictures to share, but Blake got this cool gift this year that is bringing most of family pure joy.  Blake got a classic video game plug and play and we have been practicing on Galaga, Mrs. Pac Man and Pole Position.  Classic arcade games that I grew up with.  Blake is doing great and Anna really does not care, but Shar is getting her butt kicked by Mrs. Pac Man and is now coming in 3rd place to Blake.  We (Shar and I) just finished a competition and she lost, again.  Sad for her.  Good for me.  Best $12.00 gift that Blake has ever gotten. 

Have a great week.

Re-Cap

Beginning on December 20th and ending today.

December 20th - Card games at exit 1 in Oklahoma.  I won.  Side note.  What is the only good thing to come out of Oklahoma?  I 35 south.  A guy at WinStar told me that.

December 22 - January 2 - Went to Temple for Christmas, and Blake's first cavity filling at the dentist, then Christmas in California and all the family activity there, including Eliot (# 3 of my sister's boys) breaking his collar bone on a cousins bike ride.  From California we came back to Temple for a few more days before getting home to Keller.  All day Saturday and Sunday picking up a house and re-adjusting to not living out of a suitcase.  And now we are just hours away from another work week and a return to the reality of life.  

There are so many cool things to share and remember, but no time right now.  The other bummer is that we left our camera in Temple so the 400 or so pictures that I took are "unsharable" at this moment but we are working on a solution.  

The plan for tomorrow is to teach the Reformation and Henry the VIII and why he had so many wives.  I am sure the kids will love it.  

Have a great week.

Merry Christmas

Christmas in Southern California is anything but white, and the people here are upset that it is cool and overcast with some rain. Pansy Californians.

We had a great trip to Temple and enjoyed a fun Christmas Eve with Shar's family. Christmas morning Santa came through again with stockings and a gift under the tree. Blake and Anna are so amazed that Santa can remember the gift they want the most, and so confused how mom and dad can't remember. I really do enjoy watching their innocence. It is so pure.

A fun flight to from Austin to DFW and then to San Diego on Christmas day is always a blast. The kids travel well and the portable DVD player helps out. I have come to realize that I was a travel snob in my single and young married days. Hated listening to those babies cry and scream on the plane and I could not for the life of me understand why those sorry parents could not control their kids. I repented of my sinful ways and now I give encouragement and praise to anyone who drags their poor infant on the plane, and I glare at those snobs that look down on screaming babies and stressed out parents. I would fight them if Shar would back me up, but she wouldn't.

The 26th we did family Christmas with my parents and Donielle and Kenny and the boys. Blake and Anna love their cousins and they are so good together. It is great to be back together with my family and I am reminded how much I love them. It would be great to be able to be together more, but since we can't I am that much more thankful of the times we have.

Hope your having a great Christmas. I would post pictures but I am now a Mac. snob and refuse to dump my pics. on dad's Dell. I post pics. soon.

The Christmas Report

Christmas this year for the Bundy family was a circus of an event. So much to share, but first, an overview of the "vacation" so you can have a grasp of what really happened.

1. School gets out for Byron on Friday, December 21. First day of vacation.

2. The California Family leaves for Christmas in Texas at 7 p.m. on Friday night.

3. The California Family arrives in Keller on Sunday afternoon. This includes my parents, my sister and her husband and their 4 boys. Where will they stay you ask? In the motor home that is parked outside my house. Reputation of the neighborhood drops instantly.

4. Christmas Eve gifts take place at our house after breakfast and the rest of day is spent playing. Big gifts this year from California were Big Wheels for the Blake and Anna.

5. Christmas Eve evening. All 12 of us carpool in the motor home and my truck to Temple so we can have the first and possibly last Bundy - Smetana Christmas Bonanza.

6. Santa comes for Blake and Anna and my sister's 4 boys at Ron and Diana's house. Then we prepare for the old people to come. Ron's mom Anna who is 91, Diana's mom Jo Ann who is 83 and Diana's Aunt Pauline who is 91. Including Jon we now have 18 for Christmas lunch and gifts to follow. No major fights took place.

7. California and Keller people drive back to Keller the night of the 25th.

8. Gifts and play time on Wednesday morning, only to be followed by Ice Skating at the Galleria that evening with cousins of mine from Denton.

9. Head to Downtown Ft. Worth on Thursday morning. Shop the Stockyard area before the cattle drive at 11:30 a.m. Then off for a late, big breakfast at The
'Ol South Pancake House. Bar-B-Que for dinner at The Feed Store in Southlake. This was a glorious day of eating!!!

10. Friday after breakfast my sister and her family head to McKinney and then to Houston to visit some of Kenny's family. Mom and dad stay with us in Keller for the weekend. Cousin Elliot stays with Blake for the weekend also. My dad bought them a boomerang at Cabelas. A great gift to give to a 4 and 5 year old. We were actually able to make it return without hurting anyone. Friday night Shar and I had a date!!!!! Dinner at a Fondue place, and I loved it, and then a movie, The Kite Runner which Shar wanted to see because Oprah had told her to read the book.

11. Sunday after church we all head to Temple to spend the night.

12. Shar, Elliot, Blake, mom and Dad and I all drive to San Antonio on Monday morning to meet up with the motor home so everyone can get back to California. Shar and I and the kids spend a few extra days in Temple with Ron and Diana and then back to Keller on Wednesday.


All in all it was a really great Christmas. To have in-laws as good as I do that would host my entire family for Christmas is really special and for my parents and sister and family to spend their entire holiday season on the road so that we could be together is also very amazing and special. I am so very grateful for all of my family. This was a really wonderful Christmas.