Mark your Calendars!

Just want everyone to know that the Dirks Fam blog is going to be getting a whole lot cuter this coming July (I know as if that were possible). We plan on spicing things up with a brand new baby Dirks. So stay tuned! But, seriously we are due July 12th and ask that you would join us in praying for a healthy baby. God is good, join us in praising Him for this precious new life He has created!

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you..."
-Jeremiah 1:5

Holiday Enchantment

I've always loved going to see the Nutcracker during the holidays, and this year I was able to share that tradition with my little girl. (Tyler took her last year and he knew how excited I was about it and so he let me go this time). We brought our friends Ms. Lindsay and Caleigh along with us for the show. It was a real sweet family oriented production put on in Matthews. It's a pre-professional group and they do a fabulous job performing various songs from the Nutcracker and other holiday favs.
The girls.
Me and my crazy girl (have no idea where she gets it).
Very excited little girls.And, the cherry on top, getting to meet a real live ballerina!

Angel or Star?

Maggie's pre-school put on a Christmas play, and as you can see Maggie starred as an angel. She was adorable, as were the rest of her classmates. She was beaming from the sheer excitement of the whole event. Don't worry we have video, and we will gladly play all 30 minutes of it for you upon your next Dirks visit.
Here is our little star doing her interpretation of "the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head."
In character spreading her wings...unprompted...a real natural I tell you! Being greeted by one of her biggest fans after the show!

Buddies

While Maggie goes to pre-school in the mornings, Henry and I enjoy having play dates and a little fun of our own. Last week our friend Claire came over for some hang out time. Her leg will be in a cast for the next few weeks, and lucky for us she was in a cast signing mood. Henry signed his John Hancock as Claire looked on in awe. It was a pretty cute moment so I thought I'd post a picture. We enjoy hang out time with all kinds of Buddies, so let us know when you want to hang out.
Henry and his buddy Andrew, can't you just see the love in Andrew's face? Honestly, who wouldn't want to hang out with this guy?

Christmas Partay!

Tuesday was our RUF white elephant Christmas party. We had such a great time and walked away with some hilarious gifts. Henry even joined in on the fun (for a bit).
Henry was especially interested in the Santa hat, and was curious as to where the jolly man actually was and why someone else was wearing his hat.
Tyler was given this handmade scarf by one of our talented students (um not this talented student..another one).
The gift exchange got a little heated, but all in good fun.
There were actually a few good gifts in a batch of crazy white elephants.
Here's the whole crew squeezing into our living room for the obligatory "crazy" group shot.

Three Amigos

A few weeks ago Tyler headed out of town for an RUF conference in Dallas. Usually I dread this time of year because parenting alone is no fun, this year was no different. Actually I dreaded it more so because the day before he left the kids came down with fevers and a little pink eye. But, we survived and here is our tale... Our first few days looked like this.
Then some precious students swooped in with dinner, crafts and distractions for us. At this point we were on the mend and feeling good.
We even did a little Christmas baking (please note all the beautiful blue sprinkles on the lone cookie).
But, of course I couldn't keep all the craziness out of the equation. Don't worry no one was hurt in the making of this hilarious photo. Now our precious Daddy is home and we are reminded yet again how irreplaceable and valuable he is to us.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Another one of our favorite Christmas events is the birthday party for Jesus our church puts on every year. This year wasn't any different, we enjoyed a live Christmas story told by a shepherd, birthday cake and lots and lots of crafts....which we love!Let's hear it for crafts!
And balloon animals...
and more crafts!

Little Turkeys

We tried to keep kids entertained on Thanksgiving with crafts and games, but sometimes you just have to create your own fun. Don't worry they took turns.

JWU tree lighting

This year, just like the past few years, we were able to make it to the annual JWU tree lighting. This year the actual tree lighting was in Gateway village, so the actual tree was triple in size. We might as well have been in Rockefeller Center. It was beautiful and the kids loved it, especially all the fun leading up to the main event. There were crafts, snacks and about four different holiday figures walking around such as Santa and the grinch.
Neither kid really wanted to talk to Santa, but we did manage a photo. Henry especially was afraid. He had just had a rough encounter with the Grinch and was just about fed up with these holiday figures.
But not Maggie, I think she prefers these make believe friends to real people.
My favorite part of the evening is hanging out with our RUF kids and spreading the Christmas cheer.
And being with these guys is pretty awesome too.

Thanksgiving before Christmas!

Before Christmas arrives, I thought it would be best to blog about Thanksgiving first. Sorry, the time has gotten away from me. I know there are some very antsy folks in Kansas waiting to see some updated pics, so I hope not to disappoint in these next few blog posts. We started our Thanksgiving festivities with a much anticipated visit from Dog and Grams. And, what's a visit from Dog without a trip to the piggy bank?

Grams was invaluable during her time with us here in the Carolinas. She taught me how to perfect the Thanksgiving turkey. It was fabulous.
She played countless games with the grandkids from ponies to cars to tea. She was the perfect playmate.
Henry received a new digger for his b-day and enjoyed driving it through the fallen leave piles in the back yard.
Maggie wanted to join in on the fun Henry was having in the back yard and so she wore this little get up to the fun.
Of course Grams wasn't the only fun playmate, Dog (not Bella...but Grandpa "Dog") was also up for some exciting games with the grands.
We couldn't have Grams and Dog come all that way to NC without enjoying some smores by the fire, a Dirks jr. favorite.
On the actual day of Thanksgiving we started off by heading to Uptown for a slightly damp Thanksgiving day parade.
Cousins Brody and Evan even joined us for the fun, and also helped us complete our color scheme.
And, of course what's more fun than one Grandma? TWO grandmas!!!
Sampling some turkey before the big event.
Cousin Trooper is almost as big as Henry, but Henry still wanted to make sure he knew who was older.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas tree and Maggie and Henry were very helpful in decorating it this year.
Sunday after church we looked so darn good we had to take some shots in front of the tree.
Before Grams and Dog headed back to KS we got some final fun in with a little reading.
And, a little legos. Thanks for coming Grams and Dog we had a great time. Love you!!!

Musical Sesame Street Book

Aunt Roomie & Uncle Abe sent a musical Sesame Street book to Maggie last week, and let's just say that the book and Maggie have been inseparable since they first laid eyes on each other!

Thanks Aunt Roomie & Uncle Abe!

REWE

There are only a few of you out there who will have any idea what this is about ...so if you're one of those people - ENJOY!

Daddy Daughter Date Night

Chick-Fil-A put on a Daddy Daughter Date night! Here is Maggie with her favorite fast food chain celebrity - - - > The Chick-Fil-A Cow. Maggie asked the cow to join us on a horse-drawn carriage ride.
The horse-drawn carriage!
Chick-Fil-A went all out for Daddy Daughter Date Night. When we arrived we were greeted by a host who sat us at a fancy table with fancy place mates and a table cloth. As they were seating us they gave Maggie a rose and a miniature Chick-Fil-A cow. Within just a few moments a man named Sean came by to take our order, and he informed us that when it came time to for dessert that we could have anything from the dessert menu for free! And that's not all ...throughout our meal we enjoyed beautiful harp music because Chick-Fil-A had hired a harpist to play in the restaurant that evening!
Daddy & Daughter in the horse drawn carriage.
I love you Magz! You're priceless!!! Let's do it again sometime.