Christmas at Thanksgiving

Our family celebrated Thanksgiving at my sister's house in Kansas. We were not going to be together for Christmas so we decided to exchange gifts there. Here is Grandma helping the girls with facials!! The Girl received this from Aunt Melissa. It was a hit!!! It looks like they may be a little nervous about putting that on their faces!

Here is twin #2. He was so excited to get Stars Wars "Stuff" just like the big boys!!!




Here is The Girl and her favorite cousin!!! She is sporting the oatmeal face mask!!!

Twin #1. I'm not sure if she is waiting patiently or falling asleep. Either way, she had oatmeal all over her too!!!

Christmas Eve

The Girl cutting out Christmas Cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve!!
The Boy rolling out cookie dough.

December seemed to fly right by. It didn't seem like we had time to do all of the fun things that we usually do to get ready for Christmas. Between Church

Christmas Program practice, Upward Basketball practice and School Program practice we have been swamped!! We didn't make cookies until right before bed on Christmas Eve.

I think Santa still liked them!! Our neighbor showed The Girl a Santa tracker on the internet. We tracked him all around the world and barely made it to bed before he made it here!! More Christmas updates later.

Christmas Poem

'Twas the Night Before Christmas' Mom Style!

Twas the night before Christmas,when all through the abode,Only one creature was stirring,she was cleaning the commode.The children were sleeping,all snug in their beds,While visions of X-box 360and IPODS flipped through their heads.Dad was snoring in front of the family TVWith a half-constructed bike propped up on his knee.So only Mom heard the reindeer hooves clatter,Which made her sigh, 'Now what's the matter?'With toilet brush still clutched in her hand,She descended the stairs and saw an old manAll covered with soot, which fell with a shrug''Oh great,' muttered Mom, 'now I have to clean up the rug.''Ho! Ho! Ho!' cried Santa, 'I'm glad you're awake---My gift to you was especially difficult to make.''Thanks Santa, but all I want is time alone.''Exactly!' he chuckled, 'so I've made you a clone.''A clone?' she muttered. 'What good is that?'Now run along Santa, I've no time to chat.'Then out walked the clone, the dear mother's twin,Same hair and same eyes, the same double chin.'She'll cook and she'll dust, she'll mop every mess,You'll relax, take it easy, watch the Young and Restless.''Fantastic!' mom cheered, 'My dream has come true!''I'll shop and I'll read and I'll sleep the night through!'From the room up above, the youngest did fret.'Mommy come quickly----I'm scared and I'm wet!'The clone replied, 'I'm coming sweetheart.''WOW!' the mom smiled. 'She sure knows her part.'The clone changed the small one and sung him a tuneAs she bundled him up in a blanket cocoon.'You're the best mommy ever---I really love you!'The clone smiled and said, 'I love you too!'The real mom frowned and said 'Santa , no deal!That's my baby's love that she's trying to steal.'Smiling wisely Santa said, 'To me it's so clear,Only one loving mother is needed right here.'The mom kissed her child and tucked him in bed,'Thank you so much, dear Santa, for clearing my head',Knowing time goes too fast ,and it won't be too long,That her children will no longer need her cradle nor song,The clock on the mantle then began to chime;Santa whispered to the clone, 'It works every time.'And with the clone at his side, Santa said,' Goodnight. Merry Christmas, dear mom, you will be all right!'

This really puts things into perspective for you!!

Deer Season

The Boy and Ayden opening morning of deer season. Arkansas has a youth hunt the week before the actual season starts. The Boy shot his deer about twenty minutes after they got into their stand. He said that he saw the deer before he even had his gun loaded. He was pretty excited!!!

This is the stand that they hunted from. They were not even in there long enough to get comfy!

This isn't a very good picture, but it is all we have. Rick took it with his cell phone. The Boy was so excited when he called to tell me that he shot a deer. I was sooooo excited too!! We don't really eat the meat, we have it processed and end up giving it away becauseI can not stand the thought of eating it.



Not much has been going on. Staying busy as usual. My part-time job has turned into a full-time one. I am hoping after the first of the year to slow down. The Boy has decided to sit out a year from wrestling. I can not say that I am sorry about that. That is a huge committment for the whole family, three nights a week of practice and Saturday meets. He and The Girl are both going to play Upward Basketball. This will be the first year for both of them. The Girl really isn't that excited, but I signed her up anyway!!! She is busy doing gymnastics now. That is something that she really likes. She is learning to do a back hand spring right now. She is actually pretty good!!!



The Girl and I are heading to Topeka for the weekend to see Lucas play football. He is a Senior this year!!! Can you believe that!! Their football team has been doing great! We are planning on doing some shopping and hitting a few scrapbook stores!!!



Hope everyone is doing well!!! God Bless!!!

Mt. Eagle Christian Center

This is Mt. Eagle Christian Center near Clinton, Ar.
The views were incredible!!! Mt. Eagle was in the middle of nowhere!! It is actually only two hours from my house, but it seemed like forever!!! Onstar could not even find the place!!! It was very peaceful, with no sounds from cars or anything........just the critters!!!
I went to a crop this weekend with a few of my friends. It is funny how you go with a few friends and end up with a room full!!! That is the great thing about scrapbooking!! This is the only picture that I took inside. Just a view of our big mess!!!
This is our group!!! There were 19 of us for the weekend. It was the prefect size!!! I finished an album that I had started a few weeks ago and even 5 other pages!!! When we left on Sunday afternoon, we stopped in Conway to shop a little bit. If you have a Tuesday Morning or Big Lots near you, you should check out the scrapbooking items they have. I found all kinds of deals!!!
If you click on the picture, you should be able to see the porch dweller at our lodge!!! It was hanging over our heads while we were taking the group photo!!! Creepy!!

Destin Day 5

Day 5 in Destin. We spent the evening at the beach. The kids had fun playing in the sand.
Kaitlyn and I went to get pedicures today. See our pretty pink toes!!
Someone was building a huge pyramid in the sand so the kids were playing king of the hill!!

Destin Day 3

This is where we had dinner on Monday evening. It is right on the beach witha great view!!!
This is the view from our table. We sat and watched people parasailing.
We spent today snorkeling and watching for dolphins. I didn't take my digital camera, so no pics of that. We did have an underwater camera, maybe I will post those later. Kaitlyn loved snorkeling. She was the one who was scared and ended up loving it. There were a lot of BIG jellyfish around, luckily no one was stung. We saw four dolphins on our cruise. There was one baby swimming along with it's momma. It was pretty neat!!!
We went to the beach around 7 tonight and the kids dug in the sand some more. They can not get enough of it!!! We stayed until after dark. I did get some pretty good pictures of them at sunset. At the beach Tuesday, update more then.

Destin Day II

Day two in Destin. We played in the sand a lot today. We tried to make a sand castle, but we were not very good at it. But we had fun trying. Don't look at the rolls. You should have seen them in the bikini yesterday!!!
The Girl is ready to hit the water. She is getting ready to ask dad to go board with her!!
The Boy built all kinds of stuff. He spent a lot of time on the beach today.
The Girl loved walking up and down the beach to look for shells and sand dollars. She actually found a sand dollar that was mostly intact, but we didn't realize how fragile it was and it got broken. Last night after it got dark, we went back out to the beach to find sand crabs. They are very little and very fast. We walked for a long time before we realized what we were looking for. We ended up with quite a few in out bucket. It was a lot of fun!! Tonight we went to eat at Fudpuckers. They have live alligators that you can feed. The kids loved that!! They also got to hold one and have their picture taken with it. Can you believe I forgot my camera!!! More adventures tomorrow!!!

Destin, Florida

Well, that doesn't look like Destin!!!

We finally made it!!! The beach has been great so far. No rain yet!!!
I was a little grouchy when we woke up Saturday morning and looked at the forcast. It looked like it was pooring on the coast. We arrived about 1pm and it was sunny!!! We had another sunny day today!!! About the car.............. Friday before we left, we decided to go car shopping. We ended up buying a GMC Acadia. I love it!! I haven't actually driven it since we test drove it, but I'm sure I love it!!! Rick drove the entire way here. Didn't bother me a bit!! I got a lot of napping in on the 11 hour drive!!
The girl is perfecting the hand stand on the beach. She was scared to get into the water at first, but she decided that she loves boogy boarding!! She is still a litte scared of the jelly fish.
The boy loves the water!!! He is a natural!! I think he would like to live here!!
The Girl would fit in here as well!!
This is the view from out balcony. It was starting to get a little overcast when I took this picture. This picture doesn't do it justice. The water is a very pretty blue-green color. More to share tomorrow!!!

I'm Lazy

Sorry that I cannot keep this thing updated!!! We have had a busy summer of nothing!!! We met my sister Jennifer and her family in southern Missouri last weekend for a float trip. We all had a blast!!! Then, my kids went home with her!!! For TWO WEEKS!!! Can you believe that!!! I miss them a lot more than I thought I would!!! They have been gone five days so far!! They are also visiting my mother-in-law and my parents while they are back. Jennifer is keeping them very busy, so they are liking it!! After that, we are all meeting at my sister Melissa's in Kansas to stay for a few days. All the cousins will be together. It is crazy!!

We had a great time over the 4th. I have some good pictures to post. I will get to it eventually!!

Everyone have a great day!!!

Randomness

Here is The Boy at Church camp. I think swimming was the highlight of the week!!

The Girl is fussing because she cannot smile!!! This was right after playing tennis with me. I tried to get a good picture of her and she said "I can't smile". Poor thing.

The Girl decided that she wants to learn how to play tennis. I love her determined look!! The tongue sticking out shows real concentration! She actually isn't too bad.

Not much has been going on here. Baseball is finally over. It sure seemed like a long season!! The Girl decided not to play ball this year, so it wasn't too hectic. We have been doing a lot of swimming it seems like.

We are going the Mt. Nebo over the 4th. The Kids love it up there. We mostly hike in the mornings and then swim the rest of the afternoon. It is pretty relaxing. I usually get a lot of reading done!!

We are pretty boring down here!!

Can U Believe She is 7 Today?

Can you belive that The Girl turned 7 today?

It seems like yesterday when this photo was taken!!! The Girl and her daddy bonding. This is the first time he was able to hold her. She was a little anxious to come and see us and actually showed up a few weeks early. It's a good thing too, because she weighed 8lb 11oz. She was very healthy!!! She was such a sweet and content baby!! If I were not so selfish, I would have had another one just like her!!! Look at that hair and those cheeks and tell me you wouldn't fall in love!! The girl was a few months old in this picture. As you can tell, she started to slim down a bit as she got older, hence the cheeks!!! She is just precious.
The Girls 1st birthday!!! What can I say, The Girl loves a good piece of cake!!! By the end of the cake, she had it on top of her head. I love this picture!! Look at those eyes!!!

The Girl loves to sing and dance to almost anything. She has her own Karaoke machine and some evenings she is known to go in her room and belt out a few tunes!! Her favorite singers right now are Taylor Swift and Hannah Montana or Miley Cyrus. She cannot decide which one is better! I took her to her first concert this year, The Jonas Brothers. She cried as soon as she realized that we were not going to get to meet them!!! She loves art. She had one of her drawings in the school Art Show this year. She loves to swim. She loves her brother sometimes, sometimes not so much. She loves Maverick, our lab. She loves Mrs. Staggs from 1st grade and still loves Mrs. Milligan from Kindergarten. She loves Jesus. She loves flowers. She is very independent and very needy at the same time. Sometimes she is clingy. Sometimes she wants to be left alone. She loves to spend time with her daddy, even if he does take her fishing!! She loves to read. Her favorite color it purple. She has a lot of friends. She is so sweet!!!!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to everyone out there!!!!

Lucas

This is Lucas and his girlfriend Becca before Prom last weekend. Isn't she beautiful!!! They are both Juniors this year.
The Boy is determined to beat Guitar Hero!!! It is crazy that he gets so frustrated at a game!! I actually thought this was a picture from my sisters house, but this is one of The Boy right when we returned home!!! I am to lazy to change it!!
The Girl was the photographer for the evening!!! This is Alexa and Becca at Lucas's Birthday party. He had about 30 kids over on Saturday evening. I got to play chaperon all night!! Nothing cramps the style of a 17-year-old like having your little sister and two cousins at your party!!! Alexa andThe Boy played dueling Guitar Hero against all of the guys............and they won!!! You should see how frustrated a 17-year-old gets when they are beat by a 9-year-old!! It was a lot of fun!!!

Now that Tax Season is over, I thought things would slow down. This will be the fourth weekend in a row that I have been out of town or busy.........The Boy had a kick-off baseball tournament, We went to Women of Joy in Branson, To Kansas and Saturday is an all day crop. I'm ready for school to be out so I can sleep in just one day!!!

My Little Diva

We spent a few days in Hot Springs over spring break. I loved this brick wall and wanted to get some pictures of the kids in front of it. The girl took over!!!

She was out of control!!! She decided she needed the umbrella in the pictures with her. The rest is history!!!
Have a great day!!!

Memory Villa Retreat

This was the gorgous sunset at Petit Jean Mountain where the Memory Villa Retreat was held!! There were awesome views and some very inspiring ladies there!! I am so glad that I ventured out by myself!!! I had a few reservations about attending something like this and not knowing anyone.....that didn't last long. I met some pretty amazing ladies this weekend!! They are all very talented!!!

This is a canvas that the Amazing April Derrick made to give away at the retreat. Guess who won it....Yeah Me!!!! I love it!!! This picture does not do it justice at all. They had tons of give aways and surprises all weekend!! I cannot wait until next year!!!

Next I'll post some of the layouts that I completed!!! I was so inspired, that I completed 15 layouts!!! Can you believe it? That is with taking classes and doing make-and-takes and eating and chatting!!! It was great!!

I also met an amazing lady named Leanne Bull. She was so much fun and so entertaining!! Thank you Lianne for making the retreat so memorable!!

Until next time....................

10 Things I Am Excited About

My friend Erin tagged me....here goes.

10 Things I am Excited About.

1. Scrapbooking Retreat this weekend at Petit Jean Mountain.
2. One more day of work before retreat.
3. Flip Flops.
4. My husband that stays home with the kids so I can have a scrapbooking weekend.
5. Fresh Strawberries.
6. Pedicure so I can wear Flip Flops.
7. Apple Turnovers from Pioneer Woman Cooks.
8. Men in Trees
9. Spring Hikes.
10. Summer Vacation.

Snow Day

It was 75 on Sunday............and now this!!!! Our forcast was for 1-3 inches. I think they missed it just a bit!!! The kids will have to get out and enjoy it today, because tomorrow will be in the 60's and sunny. This is the first significant snow we have had since we moved here. Rick hunted the sleds down this morning so the kids can go out and enjoy it. We have a large hill behind our house that the neighborhood kids sled down. I'll update with those pictures later!!

This is my neighbor across the street taking pictures. Just thought it was funny that we were both outside at 6:30 a.m. taking pictures of snow!!! Have a good day!!!

Spring is Almost Here

Here we are on our first hike of the season. It was warm, but overcast today. We are so ready for warm weather!!! My kids love hiking and whenever it is warm enough to go outside, they are begging to go!!! The color on these pictures is not to great, but I didn't take the time to mess with them!!!






It has been warm and sunny the past few days. The flowers and trees around here are getting confused. 72 today and a chance of snow tomorrow. I wonder if spring will ever get here!!!

Not much going on here. Kaitlyn had her last Upward game on Friday evening. I am glad about that!! Spencer's last wrestling meet is this Saturday. I will glad about that as well!! Now, baseball starts. It is a never ending cycle!!!



I was chosen as the Scrapbooker of the Month at our local Scrapbook Store for the month of March! Yea me!!! You get 30% off everything in the store for the entire month!!! Plus a goodie bag!!! I'm so excited!!!!

Check out Pioneer Woman's blog for a great recipe....Apple dumplings. I made them today and they are very easy and VERY good!!!! If you try them, let me know what you think.

That's it for now.......