The end of a Storm.......

What a beautiful sight out our back door on Sunday late afternoon.

This really sums it all up.

Our Christmas Day 2008

This year, everyone joined us for Christmas. Mom and Dad and Sugar came up early on Christmas Eve. Dana and Drake came later that evening after then had done some of their other Christmas. It was really nice to have everyone at our house. It was our "first" Christmas in this house. It was so nice. Everyone had room to stay and it was a blessing seeing all the kids enjoy the presents. My family always opened EVERYTHING on Christmas day, mostly by noon. And we pretty much did that this year. I think that next year we might divide it up a bit and open some on Christmas Eve. It was a pretty big chore, just taking everything out of boxes and getting rid of the trash..........I would hate to be the trash man on our street. We have two big containers of normal trash and at this point and time 13 big black bags of extra trash plus a few boxes!!! AND we still have one more day until trash day.---------Not to add to the fact that we had to dig through half of the trash to find a pair of earrings and stumbled across a polo shirt and pants of Win's. We did not even realize that he opened it, we just thought that it got left behind in Hope. I guess it was a blessing that the earrings got misplaced!

Poor Lily....she hasn't been feeling well. She has had an ear infection and running a high fever. She did manage to get into the spirit of things a bit later on in the day. Santa brought Drake a motorized scooter. It was COOL or as the kids said AWESOME!!!!

Since everyone was at our house for Christmas we had stuff everywhere. We had managed to get most of the presents to the house before everyone made the trip. The kids had fun putting the presents under their tree in their room. So we decided to take all the presents to and from people upstairs and then let Santa bring presents down stairs. That way the kids could actually tell Santa had been to the house. While everyone was opening their Santa and playing with stuff, we missed Emma. Went up the stairs to find her and this is how we found her room. She wasn't waiting on anyone else!!! We got a big laugh out of it, because she is always the sneaky one.

Feeling better, Lily decided to share her Kitty with Big Daddy. The cat is so real it is amazing. It purrs, blinks it's eyes and moves it's tail. And how they managed to make it shed I don't know, BUT it DOES!!!Here is Emma eating. All she could ask about was when was the feast. Not that she would eat half of what was fixed, but she was concerned as to when this feast was taking place. We had a great lunch. We had turkey, ham, dressing, fresh corn, green bean bundles, sweet potatoes, green marshmallow salad, veggie tray not to mention chocolate pie, coconut pie, HO Ho cake, and since it was Big Daddy's birthday we had birthday cake too. It was a FEAST!!!!

Sugar got Emma the cupcake maker and we had a fit waiting to make cupcakes after lunch. When she and Mamaw finally made them, Emma was so excited and then she tasted one and said this is "HORRIBLE". I got a big kick out of it!

That was pretty much the end of the wild day. From then on it was just all playing with toys and moving old ones around to make room for the new.

Polly Pockets...

I have a Bunko friend, Beth, that has four girls. She always tells of these funny moments and stories about her children. She is a hoot, but most of the time I can totally relate to her stories. I remember her telling of the girls putting "Polly Pockets" up the water spout in the bath tub just to see them come spitting out and one got stuck etc...........well sometime last week " Polly Pockets" boots ended up in our gallon of milk. Needless to say, I let them float around until they came out in someone glass of milk!

Christmas Activities...

We went to Hope this weekend and played at Mamaw and Big Daddy's house. It was fun and we got to relax. We went Friday and came home Saturday night. It was warmer weather at that point, so we rode the

4-wheeler and played in the yard. On Sunday, we went to see the movies and then headed over to Nandy and Jpops for Christmas. It was nice. The kids were suppose to get bookshelves, but they were not ready so Nandy went and got some toys so that they would have something to unwrap. Win really enjoyed putting his hot wheel track together. Emma enjoyed her Barbie laptop and Lily like the Hello Kitty doll. I think that they were surprised when Lily yelled out HELLO KITTY. She knew exactly what it was. It was funny. The bookshelves came in on Monday and Nandy and Jpop came and delivered them. I will have to take photos of them. It is funny. I had envisioned them all fixed up with books and what knots.... well they have toys and more toys and a few books! Not how I imagined the shelves looking. I will have to work on that and see if we can't come up with a compromise.

Win and Emma had their Christmas school program on Thursday night. I don't know why put for some reason I did not end up with a good picture of Emma in costume. She was a red bird and Win was a Dad. It was really a cute program. I tried taking this picture after the fact and as you see no one was wanting to cooperate.

Wednesday, after school we went to visit Santa. It was a good thing we went on Wednesday, because some things were told that I had never heard of and "Santa" had to come up with a few new items on Thursday. For instance, Lily tells Santa she wants a baby. That is all she wants is baby. Santa says, "what kind of baby, do you want a Dora baby?" I could have strangled the man in the red suit. We had the baby covered but not the Dora baby. I guess mommy learned a lesson and we will visit Santa earlier in the season!

Sledding with NO SNOW!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

We got just enough ice for the schools to be canceled!!!!! Just a few more days left before the holidays and what are we but stuck at home. SO.... we got all layered up and went outside to try out our new sleds. They worked pretty good for no snow and just a bit of frozen ground. It was something to do, which caused more mess and more laundry, but hey that is what I do around here on a pretty day. Cross your fingers that we are able to go to school tomorrow and we have a Christmas program on Thursday. I do wish it would snow....

Happy Birthday Bubba Jack!!!

Monday, December 15, 2008Today is Bubba Jack's birthday. He is 7 ! What birthday would be complete without a party and a cake...............so while everyone and their mother is fighting over bread and milk and eggs at Walmart because they think we are going to have icy weather.......I am waiting in line forever for the dog a present and cake!!!! I have to admit, it was worth it because I lucked into this cute little dog cake and who would have thought that I would find a cake shaped like a dog at Walmart, but I did!!! Nick has the week off and we went downtown today and had lunch and played at the museum. Only to discover that the weather was apparently getting worse (not from our observation) and places were closing so people could go home and it took us almost an hour to get home from downtown. The traffic was horrible. And I made the trip longer by having Nick stop by Walmart for me to just "run in" and get a few things........I think that he and the kids waited in the car for like 45 minutes. Glad I was the one in Walmart :)

IRON MOUNTAIN

Sunday, December 14, 2008

When the kids go to Mamaw's house we usually meet in Arkadelphia to do the pick up and drop off. So when I went to pick them up on Sunday evening we decided to make a little adventure out of the meeting. We went and had dinner and then headed to Iron Mountain to see the Christmas lights. They do a huge display every year and the donations go to the Make-a-Wish foundation. This was the first time that I remember going to see the lights. You could have actually gotten out of the car and walked along some of the docks as well, but with it being dark and kind of wet, we opted for a quick picture and then back in the car. I really like this picture because it is Sugar with all of her GREAT GRAND KIDS!! She turns 80 in another month or so and doesn't she look great!!!!

Neighbors!!!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

If the house is clean and the kids are away why not have another party! So on Saturday night we had another little party. It was a good time with friends from our neighborhood. Nothing fancy just good food and good laughs! Everyone brought a dish and it turned out perfect. I think that the guys had more fun this time around!

Office Party

Friday, December 12,2008

This year we hosted Nick's office Christmas party at our house. First, everyone went out to eat then back to our house for desserts and entertainment. We played dirty Santa with ornaments and exchanged a few gifts. I think that everyone had a good time. One of the ladies had the idea to put all of the doctors on those Elf Yourself things from JibJab. Well, little did she know that we did almost everyone in the office. It was a big hit and lots of laughs.This is Nick's assistant. She has worked with him for several years now. She really enjoyed the video. It was a great entertainment for a party. Thanks to Max that help and put it all of the DVD. I am challenged with some of this type stuff at times, especially on short notice.

This is my first try at adding a video to the blog. The video is of Nick and the other two doctors that he works with.

Singing for the Bryant Health Center

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Today Win and Emma's class went to the Bryant Health Center to sing. I went along to take pictures and help the teacher. It was a great thing to be a part of and to see. They residents really enjoyed the kids singing and the kids had fun too. Here they are all lined up and ready. They sang in the lunch room on the stage. It was so cute and one little man up near the stage sang right along with the kids. I think that if could have jumped up on stage he would have! It was a great feeling to see everyone's face.


Emma just could not stand it and had to touch her "nose".

Here is the entire class. What a crew!

Since I was taking pictures, I went in Lily's room and took a picture of her class. They are so cure and five of the kids were with this same teacher last year. They are really a close little group.

Christmas Party

I always post pictures of the kids and never of Nick and I, so here is a picture from a Christmas party this weekend. I am actually glad to have the picture because Nick and I don't get to take many pictures together. It was a nice party and we were glad to have a little time alone after a weekend of the circus and a birthday party.

Christmas Crafts...

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2008

Today was a fun filled day for our family. After church, Nick gave me a much needed break and I went with some friends to tour homes in our neighborhood for Christmas. It was a nice outing for me. THANK YOU!!! After coming home, I headed to pick up a few items that I needed to complete the Christmas cards and I picked up a Gingerbread House kit. I have never done one, but how hard can it be.......well I suggest you read the directions. We just jumped right in the project. The kids were so excited. We started doing the icing and putting on the candy.....and well it would not stay up.We are doing good here.
Adding more candy and Win is knocking down one side to make a "garage".

Well, it might not stand up, but why can't we just eat it. That is how Lily felt. She was all over the candy and the icing. But with the engineering of Daddy we finally we able to see our creation stand.

Here she is in all her glory, supports and all. Upon putting the box in the trash, I glance at the directions. It would have helped if we let it sit the hour or so after each side........I mean for real what kid can wait that long when you break all of that out! I also bought a tree, but since this was such the mess, think we will save that one for another day.

You know I said that I had to pick up stuff for Christmas cards. Well, this is a mistake on my part. I have had these cards forever. Thinking that I had a gazillion, I had a ton of pictures made, printed off a bunch of addresses on the envelopes only to find out that I don't have enough cards!!! What to do, what to do.......I could shorten the list, but did not really want to do that. I already had envelopes that were addressed and pictures so.......picked up some card stock and some Christmas stamps and the kids got crafty!!!! They had a blast. I might even do all the cards like this next time. I will buy some more stamps and do cards for different occasions. SO.... here we are stamping away.

THE CIRCUS

Friday, December 5, 2008

Tonight we went to the CIRCUS. We had gotten tickets with several of the kids school friends and this was a big help to have everyone together. It was Win and Emma's second CIRCUS and it was Lily's first.Let the show begin.........

I thought that this picture was funny!
I feel like this often...

Here we are

Of course what would a circus be without all the cotton candy and snow cones!

The snow cones actually kept the kids busy for a long time. Poor Emma got wet from her snow cone, so i took off her dress and just zipped her up in her jacket with tights.

Lily sat between Nick and I most of the time. We ate an entire bag of cotton candy. I was wanting some too, but no chance she ate it all.

Here are the elephants. They are always my favorite part. What a circus be without Elephants??

We had a good time. It does get a bit easier as the kids get older for us to go out and do things like this. It was a huge help to have friends there. The kids really liked the circus until the end when Emma pitched a fit nearly the whole way home because we would not buy her a glow stick thingy! We had the big talk before we went that we would only get one thing and would not buy tons of stuff, apparently she did not remember our "talk".

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish...

Thursday, December 4, 2008

The kids studied PETS for the month of November at school. They took a field trip to the local PETCO and each class got a BETA fish. They also collected items for the Humane Society and the 4 yr. old class got to go deliver the items. It was really a good unit of study for this age group. This being said we decided to go get BETA fish. I understood that these are hardy little fellows. We decided that everyone needed their own fish so that we would not fight over the bowl. We also decided that some type of enclosed container would be best instead of the vase with a plant. JUST THINKING OF MY KIDS AND HOUSE OUR HOUSE RUNS!

SO.........after school we went and bought three fish, three small "tanks" and headed home to fix it all up. First, they opened it all up. This is where the excitement began. Lily's was broken and we also discovered that it was an open lid (good thing it was broken).Next, we put the rocks in the containers. Every one's came with some sort of pebble or rock for the bottom. Win's is some type of space theme and his rocks are so green they almost glow.
Next, we measured out some water and filled them. It was too tempting to try to put the fish in the tanks now and we had one melt down, but it was easily diverted. We also had to put the water treatment in and let the water come to room temperature so that the fish are not shocked. AS IF, they aren't going to be shocked at our house as is!!!! OK, two down...but have to take Lily's back to the store, so we filled the pitcher full of water to sit at room temperature and left the fish in their little bowls to rest while we went and ate and got a new "tank" for Lily.

I hate to say this but I was glad that is was Lily's that was broken because she was a trooper. The other two would not have been such good sports about the entire thing. I love this picture of her looking through the tank.

To end this lovely story, we get home, get the fish in, name them and transport the tanks upstairs. We decided the bathroom counters were the best place for such wet pets and that age and stage of the ballgame...........AND AM I GLAD. No sooner than we have gone downstairs to pick up all the stuff Emma is hollering and Win and his sidekick LILY have taken Emma's fish out of her tank and put it into Win's. He wanted to see them FIGHT. He remembered that from school, if you get two boy BETAs they will fight!!! What a thing to remember about the FISH!!!UGH..........and it was not in Win's tank that has a little opening and we ( I say we, but it was all Nick) had to get a spoon and fish the sucker out and put him in his right home! We are now waiting to see how long it takes for us to see a fish flopping around on the bathroom floor! Isn't that awful way of thinking.....kind of funny.

Our fish names:

Win's ===Space Wilson

Emma's=======Layla

Lily's======Baby

Sunday, November 30,2008

LAST ONE FOR THE YEAR!!!
OK... HERE IT IS THE TALLEST OF THE FLEET...
GOOD OLE #7 I COULD NOT STAND IT! I HAD TO PUT UP A TREE IN THE PLAYROOM. ALL THE SALES ON CHRISTMAS STUFF, PEOPLE WERE PUTTING UP TREES... I GOT INTO THE SPIRIT, SENT NICK ON A TREE FINDING MISSION AND WE ENDED UP WITH THIS BEAUTY. IT IS 12 FT TALL, MINUS A FEW INCHES NICK CUT OFF SO WE DID NOT SCRAPE THE CEILING. IT IS ALL WILD AND TROPICAL. IT HAS RED, PINK, PURPLE, GREEN, BLUE.......SOME ORANGE AND EVEN YELLOW. I WASN'T SURE WHAT TO DO IN THE PLAYROOM AT FIRST, BUT THIS FITS WITH THE COLORS IN THERE AND IS SO MUCH FUN. THERE IS A TREE AT SILKS A BLOOM WHERE THEY HAVE DOLLS OUT OF THE TOP OF THE TREE LIKE THEY ARE RIDING A SEE-SAW, I REALLY WANTED TO DIG INTO THE SWIMMING POOL TOYS AND PUT A DOLL IN A BOAT, RING, OR SOME TYPE OF FLOAT. I DIDN'T BUT I MIGHT, YET!

Laundry

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Well, today we were just taking it easy and doing things around the house. Win did not feel well so we stayed inside and picked up. I have always laughed at photos of children in washers and dryers and said yeah right how did the kid get in there, or what was so interesting.....well while I am folding laundry and updating this blog, I turn around and Lily has her baby in the washer, then SHE was in there too.............LAUGHING SAYING....WE ARE HAVING A TEA PARTY...IT'S LIKE A ROLLER COASTER AND MAKING THE TUB SWING FROM SIDE TO SIDE. I just had to stop and take a picture.

Cooking for Thanksgiving...

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

While preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday, I did not get to take many pictures. I did however find the time to take this one of Lily. I made two chocolate pies this year. It takes me a while to make the crust and all, so I kept her busy with some of the pie dough. She enjoyed it!