2010: A Year in Review

Here is a glance back at the Hood family highlights from 2010! I can't believe we are embarking on 2011 in a just a few days---times seems to be slipping by so fast. Randy and I are in constant awe that our "babies" are growing up so fast and getting bigger and bigger by the day. We had a lot of great memories from 2010---and we are all looking forward to 2011 to be even better.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

The Hood Family wishes everyone a very

Happy and Safe New Year!

Hey Blogger friends, what has your 2010 looked like? I encourage you to make your own "2010: Year in Review"---so I can see your highlights from this past year!

One more Christmas celebration...

The day after Christmas, we all met at Lana's (Randy's mom) house. Uncle Andy (Randy's brother), Aunt Sarah, and the girls, as well as Randy's half-sister, Maggie and her fiance Jaime, were there. Randy's mom has been very ill during 2010. She doesn't get out of the house much at all, so we took brunch and visited for a few hours. Unfortunately, I took my camera, but didn't take many pictures. We enjoyed the food, conversation, and company. And as usual, the little cousins had fun playing together.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was really fun. Both boys were giddy with excitement going to bed on Christmas Eve, with anticipation of Santa Claus. They woke up around 6:30am and had to wait at the top of the stairs until Mommy and Daddy were ready with cameras and coffee in hand. My parents rotate years where they spend Christmas (since all 3 siblings live in different parts of Texas), and this year happened to be the Hood year. We were happy that my parents were able to join us for Christmas morning, and experience the boys excitement as they saw what Santa brought them.

Here is a cute, bed-head picture of the boys, waiting to go downstairs!
Inspecting Santa's gifts...

Logan helping Gran open his present. Logan loved tearing the paper off of the gifts this year!

Ben helping Mommy open her present that he made at preschool.

Santa brought Logan a ride-on Jeep for Christmas. Santa must have noticed the boys arguing over Ben's gator, and thought it was time for Logan to have his own. Logan is still learning how to drive/steer his Jeep (he's crashed a few times into trees), but give him a couple of months and he will be a pro!

After gifts, we all had a wonderful Christmas breakfast together. And then my mom and I put together a scrumptious lunch. Around 3pm, we were all tired and ready for a nap. My mom and dad left to travel to Dripping Springs, and our little family laid down for a Christmas siesta. That evening, we had snacks in front of the TV and had a family movie night---flick of the day: The Incredibles. We had never seen this movie before---it is now one of our favorites! We had a blessed Christmas and are so thankful that our boys know the true meaning of Christmas too. We are blessed that God gave His only Son, Jesus---We praised Him on High---because without His birth, we would not live.

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We spend Christmas Eve with the Hood family. Randy's brother, Dad, and Step-mom gathered at our house for a lunch and gift exchange for the kids. We all ate too much, and the kids loved their gifts. Ben's gift was the hit of the day---his very own paleontologist kit. Complete with tool box, tools, recording and cataloging guide, and box (a heavy one at that!) filled with treasures, fossils, etc. Aunt Sarah had a great time putting together Ben's gift.
This is Laura (9) and Evan (6)---our sweet nieces.

Everyone outside, playing with Ben's gift.

Logan even had a good time looking for fossils and other treasures.

Ben's surgery

Ben had surgery yesterday. After 3 years, Ben's port-a-cath finally gave out. It is actually surprising that it lasted as long as it did---most ports in young children don't last more than 2 years, due to growth they experience in their young lives. We were fortunate to have his port for 3 years. So, while he is currently deemed "medically stable", we decided the best thing for Ben was to remove the port, and not replace it at this time. We think this is the best decision for Ben, physically, psychologically, and emotionally. He is still under close supervision for his Primary Immune Deficiency, but is not requiring infusions at this time. It is truly a medical marvel that he is doing so well, because his labs still look very poor. We just thank God everyday for a healthy, happy, and thriving little boy.

Ben did marvelously yesterday at the hospital. There was a little crying and the constant request to just leave and go home, but overall, Ben did really good. His surgery was postponed until nearly 1pm---but he pulled through surgery great. His recovery was the easiest one yet, and as soon as he sat up, he was asking for popcicles. We were so glad to take him home. We laid in our bed together and watched a movie; and then went up to Mimi and Gran's house to eat dinner and pick up Logan. The surgeon allowed Ben to keep his port, and he has been so proud to show it off to everyone, like show-n-tell.

In pre-op holding...the wait was almost over.

In the elevator, going home.

Oh!

Do you see what I see?

(To the tune of the famous Christmas carol, "Do you see what I see?")

Said this mommy to bloggers everywhere,

Do you see what I see?

Hiding in the bush, little man

Do you see what I see?

A child, A child, playing in the yard

May he stay sweet and playful for life

May he stay sweet and playful for life

Rees Christmas Reunion

This last weekend, my parents hosted a Rees family reunion. Growing up, the Rees family always gathered together in Houston about a week before Christmas to enjoy fellowship and a gift exchange. And while we opted not to exchange gifts, we had a lovely fellowship with aunts, uncles, and cousins. We ate (a lot!), took a trip to Boerne, Sister Creek winery, the River Walk, had drinks by the fire at the Emily Morgan hotel, went to church on Sunday and just enjoyed catching up with everyone.

The picture is a little small, but here are the family members, from left to right:
Back row: Michael Rees, Bill Rees
Front row: Kristen, Randy, Logan and Ben Hood; Paul, Kara and Stretch Ford; Dick and Melinda Rees; Deanna Rees; and Mary Jane Magill.
And if you look closely, this picture is different! My brother and his family surprised my mom and dad by driving down to San Antonio on Sunday morning. They followed us to church and joined us for the service! My mom was so surprised! Uncle Dick, Aunt Melinda and Michael had already left for Houston, but we took another family portrait.

And here is my mom and dad with all of their grandchildren:

Logan (2), Ben (5), Becca (5), James (8 mos) and Jack (8).

Polar Express

This year, my parents bought the Polar Express train to run around the base of their Christmas tree. The boys love going over their and taking turns being the conductor.

Ben's 5th Birthday

We held Ben's 5th birthday party at a local bowling alley. We hosted about 13 kids, ages ranging from 2-11, and everyone had a great time! Here are some photos of Ben's big day!

A dinosaur cake, of course!

Ben with a few of his best buds: Owen, Cooper, Drew and Ben.

Randy and I had a good time helping Logan bowl. They had a really cool "guide" to help Logan bowl---which lasted about 2 rounds. When he saw how the "big kids" were bowling (without the aide of the guide) he wanted to do it like them!

Logan and his buddy Oliver, loved hanging out at the ball return. They would elbow each other out of the way to be the first to catch it!

We were so happy that Paty (our nanny) and her girls (Evelyn and Montserrat) joined us for the birthday party! The girls were very good at bowling!

After an hour of bowling, we all enjoyed some pizza in the party area....

...And then it was cake and ice cream time! Ben loved blowing out all of his candles!

And as Ben was unwrapping birthday gifts, Logan was snatching them and hiding away under the tables to start playing with them! Sneaky little guy...

Ben had a wonderful time at his birthday party. Randy and I are so blessed to have such a beautiful, intelligent, and healthy 5 year old. We can still remember like it was yesterday, heading into the hospital on a cold and drizzly winter evening in labor with him. Unbelievable to us, it has been 5 years! We have loved every day and look forward to watching him continue to grow and develop. We love you Ben!