Merry Christmas from the Clay Family

This is our Christmas Card for 2008. It was designed by Shannon Foster. She is really easy to work with and did a great job! Her email address is cardsbyshannon@yahoo.com

A Lot To Be Thankful For

Otis and I were busy at work throughout Thanksgiving Day. What a great opportunity to take some great pics! Matt said the theme of Thanksgiving 2008 was my new camera (he's just jealous). We started the day with a little of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Sam was interested for about 30 sec. and then he was over it and wanting to watch Clifford.

As soon as we got ready, we headed to Matt's Mom's house for Thanksgiving #1 and then to my parent's house for Thanksgiving #2. Sam had a great time playing with his all of cousins. Here are a few pics of our Thanksgiving #1...

Rita (Matt's mom), slaving away over a hot stove...

The unbelievable trees in their front yard. Family Pic

Sam's Thanksgiving Feast (AKA Waffles)

Next, we went to my parent's house for Thanksgiving #2. Here are some pics...

Don't let Sam fool you into thinking he's eating turkey with all the fixin's, he's eating fruit made with tons of delicious sugar :) My sweet nephew, Drew.

Playing video games with Ellison.

Busy Busy in NeNe's toyroom!
Giving Grandad (AKA Din Din) a kiss. He loves his Din Din!Checkin out the Door Buster Ads as if we would actually camp out and hit the stores at 4 am. For those of you that do that, more power to ya!

A Komodo in my Kitchen!

Much to my surprise, I rounded the corner of my kitchen only to hear the scraping of claws from a full blown Komodo Dragon. Here is a picture of him...

In case you need a better look, here's another shot...

OK, maybe the first picture is a little dramatic but honestly this wasn't some cute little gecko. I REALLY could hear his claws scape as he tried to scurry across the floor. I wasn't too freaked out because I felt an odd connection to him as well as his family.

It all started 3 1/2 years ago when Matt and I moved into this house. As we were unloading, we saw a monster of a lizard on our driveway. He was incredibly big and incredibly fast. We named him "Lemony Snicket the Lizard that Lives in our Driveway" and made a game out of him. The object of the game was that every time we saw him we had to say, "Hey, there's Lemony Snicket the Lizard that Lives in our Driveway" as fast as we could before he ran away. To date, Lemony has won every time. He's a fast little booger. He's been busy too because over the past 3 1/2 years he has managed to create an entire colony of Lemony Snickets that are now residing in the bush by our front door. (which leads me to suspect that Lemony is in fact a Polygamist) There are tons of them and they are all enormous! It was just a matter of time before one of them got the courage up to make the incredible journey into our humble abode. Lucky for this Lemony descendant, Owen and Rudy were in their crates!

Halloween 2008...Better Late than Never

Well, I finally got my little camera back from the mean and nasty Geek Squad people. Now I can post pics of my precious little "Monkey" on Halloween...

Practicing his "Aren't I cute...give me more than just one puny little Dum Dum" smile.

Tankin up on chicken nuggets before the madness begins.

1st time he has really understood the idea of trick or treating :)
By the end he was making out like a bandit!

The whole gang

If only it were that easy...

Ok, don't call CPS just yet....let me explain. Sam loves to play in the dog crates. He gets all of his Chuck E. Cheese balls and puts them in Rudy's crate. Then he climbs in after them and shuts the door. He could play in there forever! I'm sure it helps that they are nasty with dog hair and dirt. Although we clean them often, it doesn't take long for a 100 lb. dog to dirty them up. What can I say, he's all boy!

Shameless Plug for my FANTASTIC Hair Dresser!

Ok ladies...this is a shameless plug for my FANTASTIC hair dresser! She is really good with color and cuts and is UNBELIEVABLY reasonable with her prices....just $50 for color, cut and style. That's right, $50! It doesn't matter if you do low lights, highlights etc., it's the same! I am super picky with my blonde and she does a really good job. She is located in Southlake. Her name is Debbie and her # is 817-229-8687. Give her a call and tell her I sent you! :)

Meet Otis

Ok...as you saw in my previous post, I just bought my first Digital SLR camera and I'm very excited about it! I'd like to introduce you to Otis. As I mentioned before, I like to name inanimate objects that are important to me and give them a personality. I tend to lean towards "old men" names hence Owen and Rudy (the dogs) and Sam (my precious baby boy). I always name my cars. So far I have had the honor of driving a Jerome, Peter, Haans, and am currently cruising around in Hank. Sooo, I have attached some pictures that Otis and I took this morning.

No More Tire Kickin'

I took the plunge! I finally bought my new pride and joy...my first DSLR camera! I'm super excited!!! For months I have been beating a dead horse...researching and analyzing as I do with most purchases and finally decided to just do it already! Soooo, I haven't yet named him but as many of you know I like to name inanimate objects that are important to me and give them a personality. So, stay tuned, I will soon introduce him to you by name followed by many rough, early pics (of Sam Bo of course) :)

He Got Me!

Well, for the past decade, I have been casually inviting people to my 30th surprise party. It started out as a joke but as I got closer and closer to 30, it spiralled out of control! Although I told Matt that I was really joking all these years and that I would be perfectly content with a quiet date with him, he pulled through and planned the best surprise party ever!

I was supposed to work at the church nursery that night but he called and told them about it. They later called me and told me that they didn't need me because they weren't going to have many kids. Being very easy to fool, I was happy to have a night out with my hubby.

We were supposed to be going to dinner and a movie. We went to Tuscany which is a new Italian restaurant nearby. After a great dinner, he suggested that we go upstairs to checkout the attached bar called Sky Bar. We always see it when we are out and about and say to each other, "That place looks really cool". Apparently, Matt and Sam went and checked it out a while ago and decided that it was a great place for my party. I was a little annoyed when Matt suggested that we check it out because I didn't think we had much time to make our movie but I agreed to go because I had been wondering what it was like. As I got to the top of the stairs, I saw a banner and lights and for a split second thought to myself, "Ugh Matt, see, we aren't supposed to be up here...it's someone's party!" (There had already been a surprise party in one of the private rooms while we were eating dinner. I was secretly jealous) Then, I realized that my mom and friends were there and that my name was on the banner. Although I am never one to shy away from attention, I was actually kinda embarrassed but thrilled :). I loved every minute of it!!! Matt did such a great job planning it. It really made my 30th Birthday special. Here are a few of the pics below...

"Nooo"

Like most toddlers, Sam is really into saying "NO". That is his answer for everything. For now, it's really cute but I know that will quickly fade so I shot a 30 sec. video of it. He starts to lose interest by the end and insists on not opening his arms wide for the "How much do you love Mommy?" prompt. Meow Meow was much more interesting than professing his undying love for his Mama....just a glimpse of what's to come in about 10 years :). Ugh! I could cry right now! I'll just keep feeding him onions. It's all part of my master plan to remain the love of his life forever and ever. (Insert evil laugh here) *Be sure and pause the music at the bottom of the page so you can hear the video :)

Never Again...

NEVER again will I complain that I have had a hard day at work as Mama Clay...

19 month. & Clay Family Photo Session!

Last month, we had our family pictures taken by a great friend of ours, Melissa Darst. She captured some really great shots that I am so thankful I will be able to cherish forever. I love it when a photographer simply gets it. Melissa just gets it! She got the silly faces that Sam makes and his little personality so that I will always be able to look at them and remember this wonderful stage we are in. (Even though Sam was super cranky. He didn't take a nap that day and I forgot to feed him dinner before we went to take pics. I know, I'm a terrible mama) For more info. on Melissa, please see her website: http://www.melissadarstphoto.com/

Here are some of my favorites...

This one kinda gives me that lump in my throat :) These were taken on my dad's antique tractor.His "I'm in a pickle" face.

His "Suprise" face.