Christmas has been quite interesting this year! We came up to the lake on the 21st. Much bigger house to let the kids run and play and destroy!!! That caused a minor melt down on the 26th. We had a wonderful Christmas Day. Started by opening presents, Yippee! But so much happened in between. We had the Holeman Family Christmas on the 20th. Kenley had so much fun with the twins, all her cousins, grandparents, and great-grandma's. After it was over though she got a fever! Kenley believes that Christmas requires her to run a fever. Most will remember that when we landed in Montana last year she did the same thing! I let her work it out Sunday night, Monday...but on Tuesday she started complaining about her ear...of course we were in Conroe and it was after 5pm so off to the Urgent Care we went. Her right ear was 90% infected and the left was 30% infected. The doctor kept asking Cassie and I questions that we were not answering according to his standards obviously because he proceeded to ask Kenley some questions. He said, "Kenley, does your ear hurt?" She replied, "Yes, right here and pointed to her ear." He then asked, "Does your throat hurt?" She replied, "Yes, right here" and pointed to her throat. I was very surprised...there was a point in to time when I thought she would never speak, especially to a doctor she doesn't know. I was so impressed, we left we some prescriptions. She ran a fever until yesterday but is improving. Now the antibiotic is doing some weird things to her diaper. Needless to say...the no holds bar potty training has been put on hold!

Cole got a BMX bike for Christmas, he is really excited about it because now he doesn't have to walk to his friends in the neighborhood. Latricia asked for a scooter, Garrett proceeded to buy her a motorized one...she is zipping around the neighborhood at 10mph. Logan wanted a skateboard and Santa granted his wish. He is practicing very hard to improve his skills, along with Garrett and Uncle Mark (Kendra's boyfriend) trying to improve their skills. They both swear that they use to be able to do all kinds of tricks! Kenley got a Little Tykes playhouse for the backyard. It has not been put together yet, but Daddy will come through and she will be thrilled and I will post a picture! It is really awesome and I am super excited about it!

My favorite present was that Kenley let me straighten her hair. It is so long! She looks totally different.

We made so much food for Christmas we started Tuesday night. Christmas Peepers, Muddy Buddies, Oreo Balls, Pumpkin Pie, it went on and on. Everybody enjoyed everything! Except me of course...the lap band is a little tight! However, I have not lost the will to cook...that is a good thing! I experimented with a cheese log....it went over sort of okay....it needs a little work. English Pea Salad has been removed from the Christmas dinner menu. I also made homemade cornbread stuffing. I sauteed the vegetables this time. There was one year when I forgot that part and it wasn't so good!

We hope everybody had a marvelous Christmas...we sure did! We wish you all a very Happy New Year and we are certainly hoping that 2010 is better for us that 2009.

It was a Merry Holeman Christmas!!!

Brody, Jenna Rae, and Kenley are officially NaNa and PaPa's little biker gang!

Little Miss Julie turned 18th on the 19th...I can't believe it! I was only 8 when she entered this big ol' world. What a joy she has been in my life, yes she can annoy the life out of Princess Kenley but I am pretty sure I did the same to her when she was growing up.

So far December has brought the following memories

• Went to the dentist for the first time! No cavities and has 20 teeth



• Potty training is really taking off, doing and awesome job



• Learning to brush her own hair and tries to put it in pony tails all by herself



• Tells me she is pretty



• Asks me daily to paint her nails if they are not painted



• Stands 3 feet and 2 inches tall



• Speaks in clear sentences and has an opinion and is not all too happy when you don't do what she wants



• Is doing well with her Sirs and Maams...but it is a long learning process



• Loves everybody in her family and knows us all well



• In the car today she told me she wanted to see her Bumpa and Grammy



• Thinks Christmas is her birthday! This is hilarious!
  
  

WOW...what a week!!!! It started off pretty good on Monday...just didn't end so well. I left the office at 4:30 or so to go pick the kids up from school. I checked them out of daycare and we all got in the car, well Garrett's truck to be exact. I turned left out of OSL on Tidwell. That is the last thing that I remember. Now we cut to the kids' memory. They said that as soon as I made the left my arms locked up and I started screaming and shaking eventually falling unconscious. Cole then jumped from the passenger side and removed my foot off of the gas. He then steered us to the curb, all the while calling 911. We coasted to a stop, with no damage to the vehicle. Just bumped the little yellow and black sign before the bridge over the bayou.
The ambulance arrived and put me in and got me hooked up to some oxygen and checked my heart and all the other important organs...which were normal. The only things going on were my eyes were completely dilated and my blood pressure was low. My Dad shows up on the scene and they tell him that they think I am overdosing on drugs!!!! This is about the time my memory picks up, I believe that anybody's would...6'8" father asking you if you are a drug addict...ummm let's think about this one...All the way to the hospital the paramedic kept asking have you taken any street drugs...all the way to the hospital Wendy keeps answering NO!!! I laugh about it now...but I wasn't laughing until finally my drug test came back negative!!!! At this point they send me home with my concussion, burnt neck, smashed foot, and extremely swollen tongue that I had bit!!! The ER doctor tells us he thinks I had a seizure and to see my family doctor ASAP. I saw him Tuesday. He explains that he is relatively certain I had a seizure and to see a neurologist ASAP. I saw the neurologist today. He explained to Garrett and I that he is 100% certain I had an epileptic seizure. He explained that on his first day of residency for neurology his doctor told him the golden rule...people who bite their tongues are having epileptic seizures. So here is where we are now...
Epilepsy is not diagnosed until you have a 2nd seizure. Therefor I will have and EEG and MRI on December 28, 2009 to determine what might be happening. If the test comes back normal then I have the option to take the anti seizure medicine. If it comes back abnormal then I will be medicated by the doctor.
As if this isn't bad enough. The law is that I can't drive for 6 months because of the seizure. That is pretty scary. Hopefully, we will have some more information soon. Until then....I must remember that God will not give me more than I can handle.

Life has been so hectic lately and I find myself full of things to say about making it through. Something passed through me lately that I thought was worth sharing. It might help somebody out there that feels overwhelmed and out of control. When your life starts spinning out of control and you don't know what to do, you must stop looking at the big picture and start taking it day by day. This has made everything so much easier lately. There are times when the big picture is too much to handle and this is the only way to get through life. You may not know what you are going to do in 3 months or 6 months or a year...but usually you will be able to figure out what you are going to do in an hour or in a day! Especially during this Christmas season this little moto might help! I hope that everybody is having a Merry Christmas!

This has never happened before...

Kenley had so much fun at the lake with Grammy, Bumba, RaRa, Mark, and Logan that she fell asleep in the middle of the floor! In her 2 1/2 years of life, well since she has been a toddler, she has NEVER fallen asleep anywhere like this...it was a photographic moment. She had puton her santa bell socks that Momma Kellerman sent her and was laying on her monkey and fell right to sleep. It was so precious!
I love her so much! Even more when she is asleep! Just kidding!

I have not written since November 10th...Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is coming!!!! The Benson's are not on the ball this year! We have NO tree....NOT 1 decoration!!! It is horrible. I can't really understand it. I am very excited about Christmas but just have not worked on the house at all! I am so proud that I finally ordered the Christmas cards...that was an accomplishment~We have no basketball or cheerleading practice tonight, so I think today is the day! Cole has a basketball tournament all weekend at Trinity Klein all weekend so that is a wash!
We spent Thanksgiving at Lake Murval with my parents! We left on Wednsday afternoon and did not return until Sunday. It was a lot of fun. Kenley, Logan, and Trish fished, Granny and I were the only ones who caught anything. Cole had fun building fires (this involved a propane fueled blow torch, boy has my Dad changed!)and throwing the football around with Uncle Garrett. Smores, washers, football games, 4 wheeler rides....We had good food and good 'ole family fun.
The world stopped in Houston on December 4, 2009. It snowed! I mean it really snowed! Garrett was about 20 feet up at work checking things out on the building and told me it looked like Montana snow! Now that is quite the statement. We have seen SNOW and we have seen Houston snow!!!! I was quite impressed, I think it was SNOW. The kids were released at 1:00pm I went to get them and of course we played in the snow as soon as we got home and changed into warm clothes. We called it a day when Kenley's hands were bright red and swelling. Everybody came in and warmed up, Kenley and I went down for a nap...you sleep when they sleep still applies right? I think so! Once Garrett got home Trish and Logan were back at it playing with him in the snow. They built the snowman!
Santa called and we had to help him out on Saturday morning. It wasn't bad, everybody was still locked in due to the icey conditions! Garrett and decided we have a 4x4 and have driven in Montana off we go at 8:30am. Santa sure needed a lot of help, those elfs need to get it together a little sooner!

If I don't see you before....
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Bensons!