This was a great week for Tristan!! On Wednesday and Thursday, he had Benchmark tests in reading and math. Benchmarks (which we never had growing up) are basically tests covering all the material taught so far in the current school year. As usual, my little worrier was worked up for days ahead of time and insisted on studying anything and everything he could get his hands on. We had already been forewarned by a 4th grade teacher that this math benchmark was more difficult than anything they’d been studying and was in fact more difficult than the TAKS (the standardized test here in Texas) test at the end of the year. Tristan scored an 88% on his Math benchmark and an amazing 98% on his reading benchmark. He earned a commendment again in reading and his teacher is confident that he can earn a commendment in math as well and will probably be headed into AP classes in middle school. We celebrated at BW3 (his favorite restaurant) and he breathed a huge sigh of relief and said that he was having a great week!

To cap off his wonderful week, it began icing late Thursday night and I woke him at midnight when his school was cancelled for the next day. I’ve never seen such sweet, sleepy excitement! He was thrilled the next morning to wake up and see actual snow on the ground! Being from Ohio, I cringe even calling this snow…. this is what we refer to as a dusting. Needless to say, San Antonio isn’t equipped to deal with even a dusting and the ENTIRE city shut down!!! Including all the highways!!! I’ve never heard of such a thing!

We headed outside and the kids spent an hour scraping snow from driveways to form coolers full of snowball ammo. The resulting snowball fight lasted probably less than a minute, but the kids were so overjoyed! While the kids collected icicles dangling from parked cars, I made up a batch of hot cocoa and the kids were jubilant!

I’m just thrilled that Tristan had a great week and such a joyful day today. After a tough few weeks, it was great to see my baby angel so happy!!! This momma’s heart is filled to overflowing!

Team Wilmore favorite 2010 Christmas memories:

Tristan: “Having Brennen here”

Brennen: “Just being here”

Coca: “Everything”

Pappa: “Seeing how tall Brennen has become” (5’10”) and “watching the Mass at St. Peter’s”

Matt: “Being attacked by the crackhead.” Yes, that really happened on Christmas Day (no one was injured), and yes, those are really the first words out of Matt’s mouth when I asked him for his favorite Christmas memory. He then clarified that it was only because it gave us all such a good laugh for the car ride home from downtown.

In reality he really enjoyed Christmas dinner with the family at Paesano’s on the Riverwalk, but his very favorite memory was of he and Tristan in the (early) morning hours before they woke the rest of us. They lit a fire in the fireplace and Tristan was visibly filled with joy (i.e. jumping, skipping, bouncing, trouncing, etc.) at the day that was about to begin.

Me: Although there were many great memories to choose from, 2 stick out in my mind. The first was Coca and I reading Love You Forever to my boys (and illustrating said book by hugging, rocking, and kissing the boys). The second thing I loved most was a gift I found in my stocking. I found a confirmation of ballroom dancing lessons to begin in January for Matt. This is important for two reasons; the first being that it was a complete shock and surprise, and the second being that perhaps the only thing Matt dislikes more than taking photos, is dancing.

Yes, in fact, Matt says that the only way the dance class will be fun is if the hour-long class consists of 5 minutes of dancing followed by a 55 minute break. And the “break” must consist of watching hockey with a cold beer in hand.

Speaking of photos, while snapping some shots today, I noticed a strange phenomenon; for each “good” photo my boys take, there is almost an equal ratio of silly/throw-away photos. Observe:

was preceded by this…

This nice photo of me and the boys (Can you believe how tall Brennen is?!?!?!?)…

was preceded by this…

It seems even Pappa is guilty. This picture…

was preceded by this…

This photo, however, was an exception…

We hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Year! Love you all!!!!!!!

Tis the season for miracles… the least of which is that I finally posted a blog entry!!!!!

So, how are things with Team Wilmore at the end of 2010? I think that even after a year of living in (and mostly loving) San Antonio, on an average day, I’m only about 90% Texified. I still find it a tad (maybe more of a smidge) surreal to be baking Christmas cookies in a light t-shirt and shorts, having all the windows in the house thrown open to enjoy the lovely 80° breeze. On other days though, I think the number may rise a bit… like the days when it’s in the 60’s and I’m freezing in multiple layers of clothing and complaining about “winter.” Matt is even more at home here, having a solid group of great friends, and thoroughly enjoying the climate (he can run outside “fairly” comfortably) all year round (and wearing very few layers – Bonus!). The only thing we mutually grumble about is the horrible Texas traffic and drivers. Over all though, I think it’s a pretty fair trade since we never have to worry about driving on snow or ice.

In all seriousness though, having my parents living with us has made San Antonio feel a lot more like home. We love having them with us and are enjoying showing them Sea World, our favorite restaurants and shops, and for Christmas night, we plan to dine on the Riverwalk and enjoy all the beautiful Christmas decorations along the river. And best of all, we’ll have Brennen with us!!!! We are so excited to have him here, and the house feels like a complete, happy home.

Update on Brennen’s teeth…. he had his splint removed the day before he came to Texas and his teeth look perfect. No one would ever be able to tell by looking at him that he’d crashed face-first into a 200 pound table a few months back (the force of the fall broke part of the wood table and moved it several inches across the floor). The inch-long scar on his face completely healed and is completely invisible. Due to the root canals, he can’t feel pain (or anything) in his 5 front teeth. During the painful repair process though, he had countless needles injected into tender, bruised gums. As for the teeth, they were broken, pushed, pulled, reattached, rearranged, frozen, electrocuted, and finally killed (root canals). When the accident occurred, his 2 top middle teeth were pushed backward, his right lateral incisor was knocked out completely, and the right canine was pushed up into his jaw bone. Besides looking completely perfect, he can eat almost anything; he can eat soft things (some sandwiches, cupcakes, etc.) normally, and larger tougher things just need to be cut up and chewed with his back teeth. Although the teeth feel normal and “solid” now, they will always be more fragile and there is still a possibility that some or all of the 5 teeth will need to be replaced with implants in the future. It’s an absolute miracle that he wasn’t hurt worse and that he healed so well and completely.

In lighter news, we had a great time taking our Christmas photos this year at a local Texas ranch. It was difficult to choose our favorite shot and really enjoyed showcasing some Texas beauty!!! Scroll down to see more of our favorites.

We have another shoot scheduled while Brennen is here and can’t wait to have some complete updated family photos. How I ended up with a photo-phobic husband and children is beyond me… but I’ve finally convinced (threatened, nagged, and bribed just a little maybe) them all into submission. Who knows how long it will be before I can pull this off again, so I hope these pictures turn out great and can last for many years!

We want to wish a very Merry, Blessed, and Peaceful Christmas to all our friends and family… especially those who are far away. In a perfect world, we’d be physically surrounded by all our loved ones. In reality though, we have to make due with keeping some of them close in our thoughts, prayers, and hearts. We hope those of you who are far away all know how much you are loved and missed. And for those of our friends and family who are near at hand, we hope you know how much you too are loved and how grateful we are to have you with us! Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you all!!!

God is amazing! Once again as I was struggling today, He delivered the words I needed to hear. Wishing you all a garbage free day!!!

I just wanted to share this awesome video. Our family has been through some heavy storms in the past few years, but thankfully our foundation is rock. I truly felt God’s arms around me as I watched this video and I just had to share.

The next day, Tristan left camp for his track meet and then we all returned together for his crossover ceremony. He officially crossed over from a Tiger Cub to his new rank; Wolf Cub! We are all so proud of all the hard work he did to earn his new badge, bandanna, and rank! It was a wonderful ceremony – the boys got to “crossover” a bridge, there was a roaring campfire, face painting, and Momma even received a special Boy Scout Mother’s pin that I can wear with pride for my big guy!

Today is opening day for t-ball complete with a parade, pictures, the 1st game of the season, then Tristan is off to a track meet and Matt is off to Cincinnati to run the Flying Pig Marathon tomorrow. Then after Matt’s done with the marathon, we hope to all head to Kings Island for a day of fun! Check back here early next week for new pics!

So handsome – another thing he has in common with Daddy!

See what I mean??? My beautiful boys!

Here’s Tristan actually “crossing over” the bridge!

Daddy painting a yellow “W” on Tristan forehead (to symbolize him becoming a Wolf Cub)

Here’s the newest Wolf Cub, complete with painted forehead and new yellow bandanna!

Tristan had his first track meet today and was fantastic! They don’t time them in his age group (they’re called Munchins… ages 3-8). His age group runs the 100, 200 and 400 meter races. Tristan really loves to run and is already very good (especially at longer distances), but I think he’ll someday be a really great runner just like Daddy! Tristan’s also playing t-ball but hasn’t had a game yet… look for pictures in May. He also wants to take tennis lessons but there aren’t any days left in the week so he’ll have to wait for that until track is over.

At the starting line for the 200 meter.

Ready to make his move!

On a dreary weekend in March, Matt, Tristan, and I traveled to Bristol, Virginia for the Virginia Creeper Marathon. The weather was miserable (rain and high 30’s) and Matt injured his ankle, but he still managed to finish in 9th place overall! He’s unbelievable! This was a very special marathon for him as he ran it to honor 2 very special people; our angel, Chase, and our very beautifl (and brand new at the time) niece Abby!

The cheerleaders

Holding hands

We had a wonderful weekend and had a great time ringing in 2008. Matt’s sister Meghan and her husband Matthew came to visit us from South Carolina. We had a really great visit then we all spent a wonderful New Year’s Eve at Matt’s other sister’s house. It was the first time all the siblings have been together in almost a year!

Emily, David, Meghan (with Baby Ziglar not shown), Matt, and Heather…

…and Dad. All together!