Tutus and Choo Choos

2/17/2012 - No flu :)

2012-02-17T21:09:00.002-06:00

Yippie, no flu here! I took Emily to the doctor and they did a strep and flu test and both were negative!!! I was sure they were going to say she had the flu but I'm so thankful I was wrong. She just has a nasty virus and doesn't feel well at all. She does feel a little better than yesterday, though :) But still feels yuck!

Virginia isn't feeling great either.

I am worried they caught something while we were there because there were tons of sick kids. We had to wait forever in the exam room, but it is cold and flu season. I expected as much.

Mama just took pictures to kill the time :)

I have to admit, we were pretty bored waiting on the doctor! They need to have books to read, but I guess they have the wall with all the hand prints and names.

I pray they didn't catch anything while we were there!!!!

2/16/2012 - sick kid?

2012-02-17T00:16:00.001-06:00

I think Emily is sick and I am so worried it's the flu! I plan to take her to the doctor tomorrow. She acted fine throughout the day, then we went to American Heritage Girls and she told me she was tired. I truly thought that's all it was but we ended up leaving early because she felt horrible. She came home and has been in bed ever since. I've been giving her soup and water all evening, and Advil. I pray she feels better tomorrow!!!

The girls are working on their dancing badge so they have to learn several different dances, one being zoomba so today they had a teacher showing them how. I was still thinking Emily was just tired at this point, but it was when she stopped dancing and told me she wanted to sit down I knew something was wrong. I felt so bad.

Bless her sweet little heart.

Both girls got 2 badges tonight. That made Emily feel a little better :)

This is Emily's picture she drew tonight :(

2/15/2012 - usual Wednesday stuff and beautiful drawings by Emily

2012-02-16T00:30:00.002-06:00

Today we went to dance class then we went by Krispy Kreme so they could do their Wednesday project and also decorate a doughnut. We have fun going to KK on Wednesdays!

And yes, that would be blue icing stuck to Virginia's chin :)

I want to brag on Emily now!!! Art is her thing. She is fantastic at drawing, I've never seen an eight year old draw this well. Of course, I am pretty bias. But just look at these pictures she's done lately...

2/14/2012 - Happy LOVE day!

2012-02-14T20:19:00.003-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!!! Today we took Jack to get a hair cut, the kids L.O.V.E this place! There's a dress up room, xbox, stage, etc...Lots to do! I also got my hair cut, as the kids were being entertained so it was a perfect opportunity!

Look at poor Jack, I think he's getting a little too big to sit in the car :( Sweet thing, his body is the size of a six year old but he's only four years old.

The kids make me laugh so hard with their shows! Little divas!

I even recorded the kids while we were there and these videos make me laugh until I cry!!! Poor Emily, little brothers can be SOOOO frustrating at times! He did get in trouble after all of this, but watching these videos make me laugh (I just don't let him know it!!!)

While I got my hair cut the girls got their nails painted and Jack got a tattoo.

Look at Jack's chubby little hands, I love them :)

I also took the kids to build-a-bear to get a Valentine's stuffed animal.

I never loved Valentine's Day until I had kids, now I love, love, love it!!!

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:8

2/12/2012 - Build-it-with-Daddy and singing to the Lord

2012-02-14T12:48:00.001-06:00

Busy day, but fun! First thing this morning the girls had a "Build-it-with-daddy" activity with American Heritage Girls at the church. They had a GREAT time, as did Daddy!!! Then the girls sang in the choir for mass, it was a Spanish mass and so beautiful.

While the girls were with Daddy at church Jack and Mama had a brunch date at StarBucks!

Then we all went home for about an hour to eat and change, then it was back to church for mass. The girls sang with the choir for the first time today in mass. It was a Spanish service and they sang songs in Spanish. It was really beautiful. The girls did great, we were so proud of them!

Being seated in the church to sing....

While I was in the church and before mass started I decided to get some photos of the church, it's so very beautiful.

All of the kids in the choir did a fantastic job with singing! Even if I didn't understand one word of any of the songs because they were in Spanish, they were still so beautiful.

Here are some videos of the choir singing

SO sweet!!!

This one was before mass when they were practicing.....

Jesus, I know how much you love your little children and know them singing to you, about you, made you so very happy! I pray these precious children keep you in their hearts forever. I love you Jesus.

When we got home we were all pretty exhausted, but I guess Jack and Virginia weren't because they emptied the stuff animal closet and played with every last one of them!

I would do anything for their energy!

2/11/2012 - good-bye Goober, hello dead battery

2012-02-12T00:21:00.004-06:00

Today we got a new car, oh, and yes, with a dead battery! Oh, she was wonderful when I drove her off the car lot, but once we got home she wouldn't start. Not something you expect with a brand new car.

We had to say bye to Goober, our van we've had since Virginia was a tiny baby and Em not much older. We brought Jack home from the hospital in Goober when he was born. I have no idea why in the world I get more attached to cars we've had than homes we've lived in. Probably because we've had Goober longer than any house we've lived in. Sad, but true. We have lived in four different places while Goober has stayed our loyal and true ~~friend~~ car.

Even though Goober is dirty, old, and on his last leg we still loved him.

I guess Virginia is a little sad about saying bye to Goober also because she said to me, "mom, think about all the Christmas trees we've brought home on top of Goober". That made me sad.

Poor Goober, he really wasn't cared for the past couple of years. See the many dents and chipped off paint. He was looking pretty rough. He was on his last leg!

And here is our new car, Violet (Emily & Virginia named her - I guess that makes it a "her") See the pretty new car with the dead battery!

Kids sitting in their new car, waiting on Daddy to start the engine...little did we know at this moment we had a dead battery. They just thought they were about to go to dance class :(

Back in the house waiting on Onstar, instead of going to dance class :(

Clayton wasn't happy that the car we bought TODAY - the new car, not used new car, but new new car- had a dead battery!! Onstar came and jumped us off, then we had to go get a new battery. The car dealership will pay us back.

So, instead of the pizza party we were suppose to go to tonight, we went to Auto Zone. Woo-Hoo!!

I felt so bad for them.

If this was the worst problem we had today I feel blessed.

Thank you God for providing for us and blessing me with so much.

Oh wow, I'm not a swagger wagon mama anymore!

2/9/2012 - simple moments

2012-02-10T00:04:00.003-06:00

Tonight the girls were hyper and running around the play room. They had us laughing so hard. I had to get photos of it. These moments seem simple but they are the moments I treasure.

I am in love with these kids!

2/7/2012 - Ewww and some great reading material

2012-02-07T23:31:00.005-06:00

Want to know what they're looking at?

Eww, I like and eat lobster, but don't like seeing what I eat. "Seeing" my food has always made me sick. I also love steak but if I see an adorable cow I have problems eating steak for quite a while. I'm weird like that. I think I could easily be a vegetarian.

Tonight we went and picked up biscuits from Red Lobster because I'm pretty much addicted to them! You can get one dozen for 3.99 - yep, can't beat that! They are so delicious! They are cheese and garlic. We picked them up and added them to our dinner at home.

I had to laugh because of how the kids reacted to the lobsters. Especially when the employee took one out of the tank to see.

We also went to the book store to get books I want the girls to start reading. I'm actually going to read with them. I love the Little House on the Prairie series and I'm so excited for the girls to start reading them. The very first of the series is called Little House in the Big Woods. We started tonight, they read some and I read some. Fun, quality time.

{They love this book...}

These books are small short books and even though the girls already know about these people I still thought it would be good to read about them again. And...they were on sale :)

The third, and free one, I got was about Albert Einstein.

2/6/2012 - great class at church tonight

2012-02-06T23:29:00.000-06:00

Great night at church tonight. We talked about how we should keep Sundays God's day. I agree. We also talked about quiet time with God, I got a lot of great tips on how to make that happen in busy life. We got a lot out of tonight's class. Now to just incorporate all of the information into our everyday life....

I wish I could elaborate on everything we went over in class tonight, but I'm not much of a writer.

The kids did a lot of projects in their classes and had a great night also!

2/5/2012 - our jack

2012-02-06T01:14:00.000-06:00

Jack Clayton. Sweet. Funny. Adorable. 4 years old.

2/4/2012 - swim party...in February :)

2012-02-06T00:49:00.001-06:00

Today Emily and Virginia went to their friend, Rhiannon's 9th birthday party. It was a swim party! Yes, a swim party in February. Isn't that the best idea ever! It was lots of fun swimming with friends in February!

The water was so warm and felt great! If we didn't have a pool at our house I would seriously consider joining the YMCA, but I just can't justify spending the money when we do have a pool at home.

The birthday girl, Rhiannon. She's such a sweet girl. She's in the church choir and American Heritage Girls with Emily and Virginia.

You can't tell from this photo, but the kids had the choir teacher cornered and was trying to throw him in the pool with his clothes on. And they did, except he had his bathing suit on under his clothes. A lot of the kids at the party are in the church choir and Rhiannon's mother is in charge of the choir...explaining why the church choir teacher was there :)

2/3/2012 - Friends and pretty snow

2012-02-04T00:45:00.003-06:00

Today our friends came over and we were so happy to have them!!!

Look at all of these sweet little blessings!

The girls were showing Margaret how to Irish dance....

For dinner we went to Cracker Barrel. While we were eating at Cracker Barrel Daddy was sitting on an airplane in Denver waiting to come home, so we were sending each other these photos while he sat on the plane....

I told the kids to "smile for Dad" and this is what I got.....

And here are the photos Dad sent us from Denver....

I love you too!

WOW, I have never in my life been around that much snow. Ever.

I'm glad I saw this picture AFTER he had already driven on this road or I would have been a nervous wife!

2/1/2012 - Evening out

2012-02-02T14:51:00.000-06:00

Tonight the kids and I had an evening out because Dad is gone :( We always miss him when he's out of town so we try and do fun things. Tonight we had dance class, then we ate at an Italian restaurant and then ice-cream!

I can't believe it's now February!

Then we went for ice cream at Baskin Robbins.

Fun evening out with my favorite people! Minus 1 :(

Grace

When we leave routine behind and choose to live in the grace and miracle of the present moment, we quickly realize how our life is unspeakably frail, unutterably precious, and unimaginably tended by God.

- Sr. Marie Paul Curley, FSP

1/31/2012 - Love

2012-02-01T00:29:00.000-06:00

We can begin to genuinely love ourselves by being gentle with ourselves and trying to see ourselves through God’s eyes.

Here are three kids that God loves very deeply. Their Mama and Daddy do too!

Psalm 150 - Praise the Lord!

2012-01-31T00:34:00.001-06:00

Praise God in His glory!

Praise His power in heaven!

Praise Him for the mighty things

He has done!

Praise His wisdom and greatness!

Praise Him with trumpets and harps!

Praise Him with song and dancing!

Praise Him with bells and music!

Praise Him with joy and laughter!

Praise the Lord, all living creatures,

in heaven and on earth!

Praise the Lord!

My adorable toothy girls at bedtime!

To God be the glory!

1/29/2012 - beautiful dancing

2012-01-29T20:22:00.001-06:00

Last night we watched the ice skating competition and it really impressed the girls! Tonight they put on their own show, minus the ice skates. We love to watch them dance, they're so beautiful!

{Little brother talking and laughing in background}

This performance of Emily was messed up because of her brother minding his own business getting him water in the background and Virginia, Dad and me laughing about it....

Here is Emily's dance without the interruption....

1/27/2012 - Woo-Hoo, a trip to the Department of motor vehicle with Mama!!!

2012-01-29T00:03:00.005-06:00

I hate having to take my kids to places like, well, the department of motor vehicles!!! BUT, you do what you HAVE TO DO sometimes! Bless their hearts! I had no choice, they had to go, and we had to go today. Luckily the wait wasn't that long. But it wasn't that quick either. I took photos to kill time!!! haha!

Yeah!!! Fun time!!!

Poor things, I felt SO bad that they had to come with me!!!

They really were well behaved, I was proud of them! Poor Em!

Look at Virginia and Jack holding hands - so sweet!!!

Okay, so things didn't go smoothly the whole time....

That was our trip to the exciting department of motor vehicles, with my kids in tow, and photos to prove it :)

**Note to self - Jack finally finished his Azithromycin today and HATED every last drop of it, tell doctor to never prescribe that to Jack if he can help it! It gagged him and it was a war every time we had to give it. Jack in tears. Mama in tears.
He is still on Amoxicillin for several more days, it's okay. Gags a little, but it's doable.

I also need to add a funny story, even if it's funny only to me. Emily has really been into her calendar since the new year started. She got a Calico Critter calendar. She has told me EVERY holiday written on it, including Hat day, dress your dog up day, etc...thinking she needs to celebrate each and every one of these holidays! Today she said to me" Mama, it's chocolate cake day, we HAVE to eat chocolate cake!" It's then I explained to her that Hallmark (or whoever) puts some of those silly holidays on their calendars and that they really don't need to be celebrated. I was kind of annoyed at whoever put those holidays on there, I mean, nobody has even heard of the holidays. Right?!?! Emily was disappointed. Later I went to the store and turned my radio on in my car and first thing I heard the DJ say was "Happy Chocolate Cake Day!" Then I got to the store and saw a sign that read "Happy Chocolate Cake Day".

Maybe Emily really is on to something....And maybe her Mama is not up to date on the new holidays out there! As silly as they are!

I really do wish they would stop coming out with them, though. We're busy enough.

1/26/2012 - Visiting new friends

2012-01-28T22:49:00.000-06:00

We had so much fun today! We visited some friends and had a ball! Margaret is 8 years old and has three brothers (who, by the way, entertained Jack the whole time we were there!!! Thanks!) I didn't even get pictures of the guys. Margaret is the sweetest girl, the kind of friend you pray for your kids to have :)

Emily is probably saying in this photo, "Um, sorry Margaret, my mama takes a lot of pictures"....

The girls had tea and brownies. Such sweet girls!

Okay, let's talk about their dog! Oh my stars, I love her! Lillie is the sweetest dog. I could have taken her home :) But I'm pretty sure her family would miss her.

The girls played basketball for a while and now want a basketball hoop at home.

Lillie :)

Thank you for having us!

1/24/2012 - Rain

2012-01-25T00:04:00.001-06:00

This is what our day looked like today. Rain. It was nice, especially since Texas is still in a drought.

The girls got rain in the rain gauges they made so they were excited. They usually play in the rain but we can't with Jack sick. It wasn't cold, just rainy. I love rainy days. They make me appreciate the sunny days all the more! They're also relaxing.

I love these sweet little pictures of Jack. He didn't feel well again today so he just chilled out and watched the rain. His cough is getting better thank goodness.

I think rain makes everyone in our family want to snuggle under warm, soft blankets.

Emily wanted her warm mint green tea. She LOVES tea, I think she has tried almost all flavors.

1/23/2012 - Happy Chinese New Year and Jack is sick

2012-01-24T17:19:00.007-06:00

Happy Chinese New Year! It's the year of the dragon. I pray one day we can be IN CHINA for one of their Chinese New Years!! I want Emily to see a real celebration of CNY.

Look how they celebrate Chinese New Year in China!

Jack didn't care about CNY this year, my poor little guy is sick! Bless his heart, he has the starting of walking pneumonia, bronchitis, fever, etc. He feels yucky. The girls, on the other hand, didn't let a little trip to the pediatrician's office spoil their Chinese New Year fun!!! They wore their beautiful dresses (they really came from China!) and while we were waiting on the doctor they asked if I could take pictures of them, it made me laugh, but they do look beautiful :)

I felt so sorry for Jack, he really felt horrible.

Jack got weighed today and my FOUR year old weighs 50 pounds! He is very tall. Ha, his Mama is 5'2!!

But the girls feel fine. ha!

Tonight I went to our RCIA class at church and the girls went with me, they love going to their "class". Jack stayed home with Daddy. When we were leaving the girls wanted to pose in front of every single poster in the hallway outside their class room. I think they LOVE their beautiful Chinese dresses! I do too.

Look at my sweet sick boy. Last year he would NOT for anything do these breathing treatments, this year (thank you, God!) he will do them.

1/22/2012 - God's little princesses

2012-01-23T00:07:00.004-06:00

It's so fun having both girls and a little boy, I feel like I get the best of both worlds. Tonight Emily and Virginia were in a dress up mood. Virginia got a new gown for her birthday and they were both dressed up for bed time! They looked so pretty. But they do no matter what they're wearing!

God's sweet little princesses and a prince :)

We also went to a book store and I got the sweetest prayer cards. I love them. The girls put their bed time prayer cards under their pillows. I also got them cute little purses to put their other prayer cards in.

Here is the parents prayer. I am going to try and memorize this and actually live by the words.

Most Loving Father, The example of parenthood, teach us what to give and what to withhold. Show us when to reprove and when to praise. Make us gentle and considerate yet firm and watchful. Keep us from weak indulgence, or from great severity. Give us the courage to be disliked sometimes by our children, when we must do necessary things which are displeasing in their eyes. Give us the imagination to enter into their world in order to understand and guide them. Give us all the virtues we need to lead them by word and example in the path of righteousness.

Amen!

***In other news, Jack is sick and yucky with allergies. Today he coughed his head off so tomorrow I think we will make another trip to the doctor.

And we finally got rid of our dead Christmas tree that's been in our garage for quite a while.

1/21/2012 - dance class going great

2012-01-22T20:49:00.000-06:00

The girls are loving their Irish dance class, and they are getting better and better. They're really catching on and enjoying themselves. I can't wait until they have a feis!

The class is much larger than these four kids, they're just the only ones I took photos of.

2012-01-22T19:06:00.007-06:00

O my God, I love You above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because You are all-good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of You. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured. Amen.

1/19/2012 - AHG

2012-01-22T19:00:00.000-06:00

Tonight at AHG we had an awesome singer and there was a speaker speaking about "life" and how important it is to "choose life", it was totally age appropriate and didn't go into details, it was a nice, positive talk.

The girls are working on their weather badge so they made a rain gauge (thinking it will be plum dry by the time we take it back to the next meeting) also a wind flag. They had a lot of fun.

Here are the badges Virginia and Emily have earned lately, they received them tonight at the meeting. Yes, we've been working hard on earning badges, it's really fun and doesn't feel like work at all.

1/18/2012 - Usual (but fun!) stuff today

2012-01-19T00:46:00.003-06:00

Today we did the usual, school, dance class, etc. We also worked on our badge requirements for American Heritage Girls, they're suppose to receive several badges tomorrow at the meeting. I LOVE working on their badges with them, it's a lot of fun.

Jack got a little restless inside waiting on the girls so we had to go to the car a couple of times.

After dance we went by Krispy Kreme to make a doughnut and craft, they do that on Wednesdays.

Then we went and got Chinese :) Chinese New Year is next week!!

On the way home we stopped at a light and saw HUNDREDS of birds, I've never seen that many in one spot. Ever. It was amazing, actually. I guess they're all down here from up north since they fly south for the winter, hu? These pictures really don't show how many there really were!

The girls are loving their Irish dance class and doing great!

1/17/2012 - Virginia turns seven years old!!!

2012-01-17T23:36:00.002-06:00

Happy birthday to my sweet daughter, Virginia.

Our day today...

First we went to the Disney store then we went to see Beauty and the Beast in 3D. It was great! When Daddy got home we had a small family party with another cake!

Virginia got the royal treatment at the Disney Store, I was so glad they made a big deal about her birthday. She deserves to feel special on her birthday...and always!

She picked out a beautiful gown, several stuffed animals, Little Mermaid necklace and bracelet, Belle doll and a Little Mermaid ball.

This is Virginia's second cake, she had her Mario cake for her party a couple of days ago. This cake has more of her favorite things...animals. Suzanne, once again, did a fantastic job, it looks adorable!

It always tastes great too.

BeccaBoo, we love you - thanks! I also noticed the photo of Grayson in the background, my heart is totally melting!!!

1/16/2012 - Shutterfly offer :)

2012-01-16T14:01:00.000-06:00

I made a brag book from Virginia's party and if I put a link on here I get 10% off the next book I order. I've used Shutterfly for years and love them :)

Click here to view this photo book larger

Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.

1/15/2012 - Making birthday memories

2012-01-15T22:56:00.000-06:00

Today we had Virginia's party since her birthday falls during the week this year. She had a great time and the sweetest young girls came. I'm so happy they could come help celebrate her birthday.

Is that cute or what! Suzanne, the lady that bakes and decorates our cakes did a fantastic job, like always.

Virginia started out excited about everyone singing happy birthday to her but soon got overwhelmed and shy. She is such a sweetheart.

Daddy helped her blow out the candles and all was good again.

Sweet sweet Mamas!

Trying to get all the kids together for a photo.....

This is most of them, but some of them wouldn't stop playing to get in a picture. I don't blame them, it's much more fun to play :)

This is after everyone left and we were packing up. Can you tell the girls are exhausted? This looks like a mug shot. ha!

Jack with his balloon and cake, he's happy.

In other news, look what is still in our garage.....

In two days my sweet baby will be SEVEN, wow!

1/14/2012 - A special someone came to see us and the girls started choir and Build-A-Bear...whew

2012-01-15T21:22:00.004-06:00

We had a special visitor today, LAUREN!!!!! We were so happy to see her. It's been a while since we've seen her (she lives in Alabama) I wish we could be around her more often, the kids love her - she is SO great with them! It was so good to be around her and Drew. I just love people who love and care for my kids!

The girls also started in the church choir today. They loved their first choir practice. There is nothing more beautiful than God's children singing His praises.

The kids thought it was too sunny outside so they got their umbrellas to help. In Texas you need an umbrella more often to shield yourself from the sun than to use it for actual rain. Anyway, we don't use them in the rain because we like to play in the rain and get wet :)

Just chillin' out on a beautiful January day!

We went to Rudy's for lunch, and Lauren and Drew got to experience first hand why we don't eat out often with our young kids. ha!

After Lauren and Drew left we went to Build-A-Bear for part of Virginia's "birthday celebration weekend".

1/13/2012 - How we roll at the hair salon

2012-01-14T00:47:00.003-06:00

I had a hair appointment today to get a highlight and cut and I really didn't want to cancel it, even though Dad had a meeting and couldn't watch the kids. When I made the appointment he was going to be able to watch them, but things come up. Life happens. Sooooo, they came along. Jack and Virginia needed haircuts anyway. I knew my hairdresser's partner wasn't going to be there so we would be the only ones in her room, not disturbing anyone or getting in their way.

We packed some bags with snacks and stuff for them to do so all was good. Emily packed her pick-up-sticks and played with them 90% of the time. She has really enjoyed her pick-up-sticks, I'm so glad Santa brought that for her :)

You can't go wrong as long as you have snacks and art supplies!

Emily colored a picture of me :)

Four year old's can't do one thing for very long so Jack had to explore some!

Time for Jack's trim. He LOVES to get his hair cut!

Virginia's turn....

I love this sweet little girl so much! I can't believe she will be SEVEN on the 17th!!!

The kids were really good while we were there. I liked having them with me :) But I will try not bring them again. I know they get bored.

I love Emily's excited face in this photo, I'm not sure what she was so excited about.

Got through a trip to the hair salon with three kids and lived to blog about it!

Whew!

Choose life!

2012-01-13T19:40:00.001-06:00

You might have already read this since this has been circulating around the web, but I love this story and want my kids to be inspired by it when they get older. And since I do this blog for them I decided to put this on here....

Pam's Story

In a recent email, I read about a woman named Pam, who knows the pain of considering abortion. More than 24 years ago, she and her husband Bob were serving as missionaries to the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in contaminated food or drink. She went into a coma and was treated with strong antibiotics before they discovered she was pregnant.

Doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own safety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby. She refused the abortion and cited her Chris tian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. Pam said the doctors didn't think of it as a life, they thought of it as a mass of fetal tissue.

While pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times but refused to consider abortion. She recalled making a pledge to God with her husband: If you will give us a son, we name him Timothy and we'll make him a preacher.

Pam ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and eventually gave birth to a healthy baby boy August 14, 1987. Pam's youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, makes hospital visits, and serves with his father's ministry in the Philippines . He also plays football. Pam's son is Tim Tebow.

The University of Florida 's star quarterback became the first sophomore in history to win college football's highest award, the Heisman Trophy. His current role as quarterback of the Denver Broncos has provided an incredible platform for Chris tian witness. As a result, he is being called The Mile-High Messiah.

Tim's notoriety and the family's inspiring story have given Pam numerous opportunities to speak on behalf of women's centers across the country. Pam Tebow believes that every little baby you save matters. I pray her tribe will increase!

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Chris t be with you always!

Dr. Gerald B. (Jerry) Kieschnick

President Emeritus, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

Presidential Ambassador for Mission Advancement, Concordia University Texas

The Lord is my Light and my Salvation, whom shall I fear? (Psalm 27:1)

1/11/2012 - I like Pinterest

2012-01-12T01:07:00.002-06:00

Well it finally happened, I've gotten into Pinterest. Actually, the girls and I have. They love helping me with my boards and pins. It's really addicting!

Today I saw these two things on Pinterest and really liked them. They're so true and good to remember!!!

Here are some pictures from tonight of some very sleepy kids.

Virginia will be SEVEN years old in six days!!!

1/10/2012 - A special letter

2012-01-11T22:21:00.004-06:00

We got a letter from our sponsored child today, it meant the world to us and brought tears to my eyes. We sponsor her through Compassion and she lives in Bangladesh. I pray for this sweet little girl all the time. I would love to meet her one day.

Virginia's birthday is in a week and I think one of her gifts will be to choose her own "child" to sponsor and write to. I believe in giving gifts that keep on giving....

God bless this sweet little girl.

1/7/2012 - Irish dancing

2012-01-08T01:49:00.003-06:00

Today Emily and Virginia had their very first Irish dance class. I LOVE Irish dancing, I'm so excited they want to take lessons. My mother and I have gone to see Lord of the Dance many many times. It's such beautiful dancing. I know they've only had one lesson but they really seemed to enjoy it. They did great!

The two male teachers they had today are super! They were so good with all of the kids in the class. They made Emily and Virginia feel so comfortable and confident with the whole experience.

I have to admit, Jack didn't have as much fun at dance class as his sisters. I think he was a little bored waiting on them to finish. Dad had fun, though, he was so happy he got to watch them on their first day.

After dance class we ate dinner at Cracker Barrel. Emily has discovered sunny side up eggs and now wants them all the time.

The girls had fun with their curly hair today, and they really looked cute. Tonight they wanted me to take more pictures of their hair before all the curls fell out.

They look at my blog more than anyone and told me they wanted to see the pictures of their hair on here tomorrow. I'm doing my job :)

1/6/2012 - Doing girlie stuff

2012-01-06T23:15:00.000-06:00

The girls have been wanting me to put rollers in their hair for a while now, so tonight I did. I felt like one of those stage mothers (Yuck - NEVER!!!!) It's fun doing girlie things with Emily and Virginia sometimes. As long as they understand it's what beauty you have on the inside that matters, not the outside. And beautiful on the inside they are!! I'm very proud of my daughters. They love God and treat all people with respect.

haha - Virginia was unsure about her rollers when she saw them.....

After a few minutes they thought they were fun.

They sat this way forever, they were scared if they moved too much one of their rollers would fall out.

haha - it's rough being a gal!

And it's much more fun to play than have rollers in your hair!!!

Bedtime. We'll see how well they sleep in these things.....

And here's just a photo from tonight of adorable Jack -

I love these kids so very much!!!! They are so wonderful :)

1/5/2012 - American Heritage Girls meeting

2012-01-05T23:41:00.001-06:00

American Heritage Girls is going very well for all of us. Emily and Virginia both love it and they're making a lot of friends. The girls in AHG are such sweet girls. I pray they all grow up to be women of God.

Jack is loving his class he goes to while we are at AHG, he didn't even want to leave today. He made some pretty art work, I'm so proud of him.

When we got home I attempted to take some "group" photos, didn't turn out too well......

In fact, the pictures I took today didn't turn out very well at all, they really look bad. My iphone usually takes decent photos, not today. It might be time to get a camera, mine broke about 6 months ago and I've just been using my phone.

1/4/2012 - yucky situation turned fun

2012-01-04T23:08:00.001-06:00

This afternoon we set out to go visit a dance class I'm interested in putting Emily and Virginia in. It's an Irish dance class and they were only going to observe it today to see if they might like it.

When we got in the car I noticed my gas was low but thought I had enough to get to the dance class, then I figured I would get gas after the class. HA! Me, never having to drive even close to the city forgets about 5:00 traffic! The class was in downtown, oh, did I mention that??? Yes, downtown! Halfway there mama's gas light comes on, so I exit to get gas and guess what! I realized I had forgotten my purse. My purse with my credit card in it. Soooo, Dad to the rescue!

At that point we had missed the class and decided to go get dinner. All 5 of us :) We also stopped at Krispy Kreme because we were right beside it and they give out fresh (and free) doughnuts everyday at 6:00. When we got there I found out on Wednesdays they let kids make their own doughnuts (also for free!!!!) So the kids got to make doughnuts, they loved it. Dad has never had a fresh doughnut like they give out each day so he was loving that. Turned out to be a fun family evening.

We ate at ihop, it was close and we were hungry!

I was SO upset and mad at myself when I realized I had forgotten my purse, I never forget my purse. I was mad that I had been so absentminded and upset we had missed watching the class. BUT, the evening turned out to be such a nice family outing. And I called the teacher of the class and we are going to observe the class Saturday. She told me tonight wouldn't have been the best night anyway like she thought because of different reasons. So everything worked out.

I felt like I was living an episode of the Brady Bunch.

Also, here are some beautiful art my girls did!!! Virginia drew a picture of the two of us - how SWEET! And Emily made a flower from her bendable building sticks.

Just a little something to think about....

2012-01-04T01:12:00.000-06:00

1/3/2012 - Here's to saying "NO" more often....

2012-01-04T00:40:00.003-06:00

A funny thing happens when you say NO to the xbox, Wii, tv....

Your kids actually play!

Hoping to say "NO" more this year and have more playing :)

Isn't that right, Jack.

1/2/2012 - Back to the daily grind

2012-01-03T01:45:00.005-06:00

Our days have been wonderful lately, Dad has been home from work and the kids have had fun playing with their new toys Santa brought them. Unfortunately, all three of the kids have also been a little under the weather, with colds and yucky allergies. We've gone outside often to ride bikes and their allergies seem to be getting worse (cedar is out big time right now) so I think we will stay in for a couple of days to see if that helps. We've made several trips to the doctor lately :(

Some of their favorite Christmas gifts this year have been.....

This is the amusement park train set. It is a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e.

The kids are also loving their Quadrilla marble run. They have built it about 5 different ways since Christmas. I love to see the kids get creative and build a new structure. The girls actually wanted one of these last Christmas but we didn't get it then because Jack was only three years old last Christmas and was still putting things in his mouth. They each got a set of marbles in their stockings so there are plenty of pretty marbles :)

This one is not put together all the way.

I want to buy extensions and other pieces. Maybe for birthdays....

I love toys just as much as the kids do.

Emily put her puzzle together. She did it so quickly, I'm thinking it's time to go up on the number of pieces. She's also been drawing her beautiful pictures on her chalkboard. Emily is so smart, talented and creative!

Virginia has been caring for her sweet little babies. When Clayton and I see this it makes us melt. She has such a sweet heart.

This is Jack's train he has in his room. I'm not sure who's more obsessed with it, Jack or mama. I have rearranged it daily and I've even gone to bed thinking about how I can change it again. I know, sad. Jack has lots of fun playing with his train, so do his sisters :) Who doesn't love Thomas?!?!

Dad built this train set design - he did fantastic!

Soon (tomorrow) it will be back to our normal, daily routine - school, work, chores, etc.

It was a wonderful holiday break!

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.

Psalm 32:8

Hello 2012

2012-01-01T01:24:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year!!!

Bye-bye 2011!!!

Jack got TWO kisses as it turned 2012!!!

The kids peaked outside at the ~~illegal~~ beautiful fireworks going off on our street.

Happy New Year 2012!!!

I pray 2012 is a fantastic year, with a new beginning.

I give this year over to you, Lord, show me what you want me to do with it. I want to make you proud.....

'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord,

'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,

Jeremiah 29:11

12/28/2011 - Random stuff

2011-12-28T21:42:00.000-06:00

Not much happening, the kids are busy playing with all of their new toys and bikes. We had fun riding bikes this evening.

I can't believe in less than a week it will be a new year! I love January 1st., to me it says fresh start, new beginning, clean slate, an opportunity to get right the things you might not have the previous year. I love new year's resolutions, and trying to change the things about yourself you might not "love" and trying to be the best you can be. I feel like God is proud when we do this, even though He loves us no matter what!

I love Jack's expressions so today I thought I would try and capture several....

Today Jack and I designed some superheros. He actually did most of the work, picking out what they would wear, the background, etc. I think he did fantastic! I love his superheros!

12/27/2011 - Christmas decorations put away

2011-12-28T00:43:00.002-06:00

Christmas decorations put away! Dad took the kids to the park to ride their new bikes while I packed up all of our decorations. I was actually sad putting them away this year. Usually I can't wait to have them put away, not because I didn't enjoy Christmas, but because once it's over I'm ready to have them out of sight. But for some reason this year I was sad. I was really sad packing up Elf.

Emily is so funny, she has her lips like that because we put Vaseline on them because they're chapped. I told her she doesn't have to hold her lips like that but she is anyway. She laid like that forever. God love her.

And yes, the girls do have their own beds, they have their own bedrooms, but they choose to sleep together. That's part of the fun with having a sister :)

The kids have nasty colds right now. Jack even had a little bloody nose tonight for the first time in his life. We're giving them extra TLC!!

12/25/2011 - CHRISTmas Day - 2011

2011-12-26T21:30:00.005-06:00

Happy birthday, Jesus! We love you.

We had a wonderful Christmas. Last year Jack was only 3 years old and not into Christmas 100%, this year he really was! It is so fun to celebrate Christmas through your kids' eyes. They have that "magic" that goes along with Christmas when you're a kid. We reminded them a lot of why we have Christmas, and Dad lead us in prayer Christmas evening, but when you're a young child you can't help but also be excited about the toys Santa brings.

Father bear and I were up until the wee hours of the morning Christmas eve, putting toys together and wrapping (yes, we paid dearly for waiting until the last minute!) so Christmas morning we were beyond tired and exhausted, needing cup after cup of coffee. But the looks on the kids' faces when they came downstairs and saw all of their toys Santa brought made all of the work, days of shopping, spending too much money, and our sleepless night all worth it. When we saw how happy they were Father bear and I were filled with nothing but energy and happiness.

Too bad that wore off as the day went by....(haha)

Emily wanted this DVD so badly!!! She asked for it daily!

We had a great Christmas! Relaxing it was not, but it sure was fun!!!

Total chaos!

Mistake??? ....

moon glasses.

puppets.

This is the prettiest horse stable, I would have loved this when I was little!

Are these American Heritage dolls adorable or what! They look like a little Virginia and Emily :)

I even got them AHG sleeping bags, they're so cute!

Here are some pictures at the end of Christmas 2011 - I told the kids to sit in front of the tree one last time for pictures before bed time. It was a wonderful Christmas and we're all sad it's over. We're also exhausted!

And yes, we stayed in our pj's the whole live long day - it was nice!

My little guy, taking care of his gals! Jack is so cute, he makes me smile.

haha - Lovely photos....

Merry Christmas!!!

I can't believe in a week it will be 2012!

12/24/2011 - Christmas Eve

2011-12-25T00:14:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas (eve) We tried to play a joke on the kids with fake gifts but they didn't fall for it at all. It was fun anyway! They're just too smart :)

We usually let the kids open one gift on Christmas Eve (after their fake one, of course!)

As you can see by the look on Virginia's face, they were a little hesitant to open another gift after opening their fake gift. They weren't sure what they were going to find again!

We didn't go to church tonight because Virginia and Jack are not feeling well and it's raining outside and very cold, I didn't want to get them out in it. We will be there next weekend!

I really am sad Christmas will be over tomorrow night, we've had fun this year, caroling, making cookies and taking them to the children's home, decorating trees, seeing Santa twice, and finding elf each morning. I love seeing Christmas through my kids' eyes. It's been a fun holiday season!

After showers we read our traditional Christmas eve book, Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Clause...

Then is was off to bed for the kids! Mama and Father Bear's work is just beginning.

Merry Christmas!

12/23/2011 - The reason for the season

2011-12-24T02:06:00.001-06:00

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Matthew 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

Luke 2:12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

1222/2011 - Gingerbread house fun!

2011-12-23T14:49:00.003-06:00

We had so much fun doing gingerbread houses this evening! So much fun I wish we could do it again before Christmas, but there's no time. The kid's houses turned out beautiful.

But mostly, we had fun doing them together.

Jack loved his house for a little while, then got bored with it. I expected him to do just that, he is only 4 years old. He did great, though!

It's not fun unless you eat the goodies while making it pretty!

These are the most beautiful gingerbread houses I've ever seen!

Yummy.....soooooo good!

After we finished the gingerbread houses we danced to Christmas music, with only the beautiful lights from the tree.

Fun, fun, fun night!!!

12/21/2011 - countdown to Christmas.....

2011-12-23T13:40:00.000-06:00

We went to our favorite toy store today and while we were browsing we ran into our friends who were there shopping as well. The kids were so excited to see them :)

I know I've said this before when I've taken photos at this toy store, but I feel the need to say this every time I talk about Terra Toys...it's the BEST toy store in the world! We could spend the whole day in there!

Dad comes home from Colorado tonight, we can't wait to see Father Bear!!!!

I can't believe Christmas is several days from now!

12/19/2011 - We miss you, Dad - get home

2011-12-23T01:18:00.000-06:00

Not much happening. Dad in Colorado. We miss him. We went to eat at one of our favorite places.

Dad sent us pictures of snow.

Of course I LOVE this photo, it made me melt. He is so sweet...

12/18/2011 - oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree.....(2nd post today!)

2011-12-23T00:53:00.006-06:00

Today was filled with Christmas activities. After visiting Santa at Petsmart, we dropped Max off at home and decided to go decorate a tree on side of the highway - a huge tradition in this city. Everywhere you drive you see tons of decorated trees. It's fun! We started doing it ourselves last year.

Due to driving and taking pictures with my iPhone, I was only able to photograph these trees people have done. They are pretty, but boy are there some beautiful ones out there!

Now, we get to work on our tree!

The girls wanted to wear their Christmas dresses, and since we probably won't have a reason to wear them this Christmas season I was all for it. They looked so pretty!

We had a lot of fun decorating our tree on side of the highway!

Some of the trees along this highway are really decorated! People go all out and some even put tons of fake gifts under their tree.

I think the kids' tree is the prettiest one out there!

Merry Christmas!

My three gifts are right here, they are all I want.

I love them with all my heart.

12/18/2011 - Max meets Santa

2011-12-19T00:53:00.006-06:00

Today we took Max to Petsmart and attempted to get pictures with Santa. It was fun believe it or not. Santa was a total animal lover and didn't mind Max wanting to give him kisses the whole time we were trying to get photos. Max LOVES people, he loves anybody and never meets a stranger!

Max was so excited to be with us and Santa :)

These pictures of Max cracks me up, he's such a goofy dog. He would not calm down for anything. It was all good, though, he kept us laughing the whole time.

We had a fun time at Petsmart with Max!

And on the way home.

12/17/2011 - How many days til Christmas?

2011-12-17T23:26:00.001-06:00

12/16/2011 - Emily's art work

2011-12-16T23:39:00.006-06:00

Another post from today! I wanted to post pictures that Emily drew and colored today, they're so fantastic....

The leaf pictures she did were from the leaves she got today while we were out.

Here are some more pictures she did today....

Our family, I love this!

She actually did the elf picture a week or two ago, but I keep forgetting to put it on here because we have it on the frig. It's so adorable!

I'm so very proud of Emily's art work! She is so talented!!

EIGHT more days until Christmas!

12/16/2011 - cookies to children's home and God's beauty

2011-12-16T18:15:00.003-06:00

Today we took the cookies from Heritage Girls to the Children's home. It's such a nice children's home and the people who live here are lucky to have such a nice home.

While we were there we enjoyed the beautiful trees and leaves. Since we have finally gotten some rain, the trees have turned the most beautiful colors. I guess you could say we are finally getting our Fall...in December. I'll take it whenever I can get it. I love to see the trees so pretty! I feel like God is shining His glory all over for us to see (I love it when He shows off :)

I guess we get Fall and Christmas together. We sure did enjoy running around in the leaves.

Emily and Virginia have a leaf collection, they've had it for years. They were so excited to get some pretty leaves today to add to their collection.

I LOVE trees!

Thank you so much God for putting such beauty in this world for us to enjoy. You are so wonderful and I love you.

I hate to go from talking about God's beauty to, ummmmm, the bathroom, but I need to share something funny. Clayton and I are really struggling to find places to put Elf. This morning I forgot to ask Clayton where he put Elf for the day and the kids and I have searched all the live long day today! This evening I was in the restroom and finally found him! I have to admit, it creeped me out a little to look up and see him staring at me.

12/15/2011 - Jack goes to American Heritage Girls meeting and pretty cookies

2011-12-15T23:53:00.006-06:00

Little brother came with us to AHG today. I found out there is a small "class" for siblings to go to while sisters are at their AHG meetings. I wasn't sure how he would like it or do, but he did great. He made friends and had fun!

Seriously, he didn't even give a hoot when I walked out of the room.

Here are some of the cookies the AHG made at their meeting, they did fantastic. The cookies look so pretty! We brought all of them home because we are taking them to the children's home tomorrow.

And here are some pictures from tonight, just because....

12/14/2011 - Christmas cookies

2011-12-15T00:14:00.003-06:00

Today our buddy, Drew, came over. He helped us make Christmas cookies. We are taking cookies to our Heritage Girls meeting tomorrow for the girls to decorate and give to a local children's home. We did some of our own today.

These cookies will be so cute once the girls decorate them! We had so much fun making them.

This is the cookie Emily made and decorated for Dad. It's so pretty!

We found icing "markers". You write on the cookie with a "pen", and it's icing. How neat is that! Maybe they've been out a long time and I'm just now descovering them - I'm slow like that.

I can't wait to see these cookies tomorrow after the Heritage girls decorate them. I know the kids at the children's home will love them.

Proverbs 3:27
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

12/13/2011 - Mr. Deer

2011-12-15T00:04:00.004-06:00

Today we drove around and stopped to talk to this little fellow. He really acted amazed by us. I know my kids sure were amazed by him. We love animals :)

12/10/2011 - A caroling we will go!

2011-12-11T00:17:00.007-06:00

Today the American Heritage Girls and the Boy Scouts went caroling to a retirement community. I think they did great, and I think the residents of the community appreciated it.

This was the nicest retirement community I've ever seen (even though I've only seen one) . It had a hair salon, two restaurants, two libraries, and so many more things. It also had a beautiful garden outside to walk around.

Jack watching everyone sing.....

Then he found another four year old fellow to play with.

After caroling it was time to play bingo with the residents of the retirement community.

Jack made some friends too. This is his new friend, Merle, she's so sweet.

After we left the retirement community we went to our favorite toy store in the world! It's the best one around. No kidding.

Everyone who works there knows us and will play with the kids! This is the owner's daughter....

Here are some moon shoes they showed the girls today! Of course, now the girls want them. Too bad Santa's elves are finished making all the toys they will get this Christmas - maybe next Christmas they'll get moon shoes. Maybe.

{They make me a tad bit nervous!}

It was a good day - celebrating the holidays!

12/9/2011 - TGIF

2011-12-09T23:53:00.003-06:00

This is Emily's latest creation. Funny, and creative girl!

12/8/2011 - Christmas spirit

2011-12-09T14:17:00.002-06:00

We have 16 more days until Jesus' birthday! Wow! To say the kids are excited is an understatement. I'm pretty excited too. I am enjoying these Christmases with my kids, I know one day they will be grown and with their own families. Not taking this time with them for granted!

I always miss Grayson even more around the holidays. I wonder what he would want from Santa (or if he would even believe in Santa anymore!) and what he would be like. I know, though, he is celebrating Jesus' birth in the most glorious way! He knows the true meaning of Christmas.

He will always be a part of his family's Christmas.

I think the girls did a super job on their Christmas trees they have in their room. They're so pretty! Emily's is purple and Virginia's pink.

12/7/2011 - lighting of the Christmas tree downtown

2011-12-08T21:24:00.004-06:00

Tonight we went downtown to the big Christmas tree, the city was having a little "party" for kids. Santa was there and we got to see the HUGE Christmas tree lighting! It was C.O.L.D! We loved it and had a great time.

The kids even got to talk to Santa! This is the first year Jack would sit in his lap.

We stopped by one of our favorite place, Krispy Kreme, since we had to dive right by it to go home :) Look what they have going on right now...

12/6/2011 - this and that

2011-12-08T16:34:00.004-06:00

Tonight the kids and I had dinner at ihop. Virginia saw an ihop commercial a couple of days ago and has been begging me to eat there ever since. Dad is out of town tonight so it seemed like the best time to go!

I laughed at Emily - she ordered chocolate pancakes, loaded with whip cream (yuck) powdered sugar, chocolate chips and even a couple of cherries and the first things she said when she got her pancakes was "hummmm, they need syrup"! Good grief!

{I did not let her have syrup on her already sugar loaded pancakes!}

Virginia's snowman.....

Ahhhh yes, eating out with young kids, always a treat! Notice the two little goofballs in the background.

When we got home from dinner the kids had fun with Christmas decorations. Yes, they were a little hyper from all of the sugar they had at dinner.

They really are creative, I would have never thought to do this. They had me laughing so hard I was in tears!

It would actually be a really good photo idea for someone with a good camera.

Today the temp was in the 30's and 40's. Hard to believe a couple of months ago we were having triple digit heat here!

12/5/2011 - Getting clean teethies

2011-12-05T19:23:00.003-06:00

Dental cleaning time for the kids! This morning we went to the dentist. All three kids had their teeth cleaned. Virginia had a cavity filled. I hope and pray we have NO more cavities.

Today Jack got an A for his visit and how he has been brushing his teeth. Both girls got B's. Next time we hope to have A's. Nobody had cavities at their check-ups. Woo-Hoo!!!!

Emily & Jack getting their teeth cleaned...

Sister and brother watching Emily get her x-rays.

Jack did GREAT today! I was so proud of him! His last visit he was a little scared and wouldn't do a lot for them. This time he did everything they asked! They were even able to get x-rays of his mouth today!

His first x-rays!

Jack's x-rays....

Now, the thing I have been dreading, Virginia getting her first cavity filled! Of course I didn't let her know, but I was very nervous about it. Not ever having it done, I wasn't sure how she would do or react to the medications they gave her. They also put sealants on her teeth. I did a lot of praying before this visit.

She did great!!!!

I'm glad that visit is over with!

12/4/2011 - Christmas spirit

2011-12-05T00:09:00.004-06:00

I finally have all my Christmas decorations up. I love Christmas, everything is so pretty. I love driving around and seeing the lights and decorations everywhere. I love when it's cold outside and I get a peppermint mocha from Starbucks! I even love seeing the Christmas decorations on my Starbucks cup. I really have it for this season!

I did some shopping this weekend and feel a little more ready. Still have more to do! I loved getting out today and shopping, it was cold and rainy outside, the kind of weather that gets me more in the Christmas spirit! Not to mention we need rain, and I love it cold after that hot summer :)

'And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not:

'Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy

which will be to all people,

Unto you is born this day

a Saviour which is Christ the Lord.'

Luke 2:11

12/2/2011 - Virginia finally lost her top tooth

2011-12-03T00:57:00.004-06:00

Well, Virginia FINALLY lost her top tooth tonight!!! Yeah!

I truly thought I was going to have to ask her dentist to pull it on Monday during her exam we have scheduled. We didn't think that tooth was ever going to fall out. SO glad it finally did.

Notice her adult tooth has already started coming in and showing, even before her baby tooth came out. That tooth was past ready to come out!

And here are my other two cutie pies....

The tooth fairy comes tonight!!

12/1/2011 - AHG meeting

2011-12-01T23:16:00.005-06:00

We had an American Heritage Girl meeting today, they did lots of fun stuff!

The girls had to take a baby photo of themselves today and tell a story about the photo. Virginia took a picture of her in an Auburn cheer leading outfit when she was around 2 months old. Emily took a picture of herself when she was a baby and still in China. Both photos were adorable!

Here is Emily's squad....

I was so proud of Virginia, she did a great job with talking to her squad.

I didn't get to be with Emily when she painted because I helped with Virginia's squad today. Her squad leader was out. I hope to be able to help out with Emily's squad too - as soon as they need me, I will. I love helping out at AHG!

Emily and Virginia got two badges today!!!

All these young girls are so beautiful, on the inside and outside. They're God's princesses!

Here are their badges!

And here is a picture of Jack from tonight because I couldn't leave him out. I can't wait until he's old enough to be a Boy Scout!

11/30/2011 - December is tomorrow and we have a new friend

2011-12-01T00:12:00.005-06:00

Today we got the elf on the shelf. The kids are so excited!!! We had to watch the movie tonight and read the book. They named him Mr. Ginggles.

Can you see where he is tonight....

I think it will be fun coming up with a new place to move him every night...unless he really does come to life and moves himself! Ewww! That's not creepy to think about.

Here are just some photos from tonight because they are the cutest kids I've ever seen!

And a big Happy Anniversary to my parents, they've been married 48 years today!

I can not believe December is tomorrow! Do I feel ready for Christmas? Not even close.

11/29/2011 - museum

2011-11-30T13:16:00.006-06:00

Today we went to the children's museum and had so. much. fun. We love that place!

I was trying to get a photo of the kids in front of the cow because we have so many past photos of them in front of the cow (keeping up the tradition) but Jack wouldn't stop milking it. haha!

Emily's favorite spot in the museum is the kitchen and little grocery store.

Virginia's favorite place to play in the museum is the vet clinic. Today I pretended I had two sick dogs, but being the awesome vet Virginia is she made them all better!

It really does amaze me that these huge things really did walk the earth at one time...

I would be really scared if I were taking my trash to the curb and one of these fellows walked up (look at those teeth!)

This one looks like he might make a cute little pet (but not his cousin in the background)...

My favorite place in the museum is the train. It really is neat. The kids control the train that goes along the ceiling of the museum. I love trains.

I'm going to try again this Christmas to get Jack a train. He's gotten one every year but never acted interested and we usually end up getting rid of it. This year he's older and might like one.

The girls love to play at the construction center. They love making stuff. I wonder if there's some kind of toy like this I could get them for Christmas.

Story time.

This where we had to pay for valet parking. Next time I will bring CASH so we don't have to go there again.

Fun day!

11/27/2011 - jack

2011-11-27T23:38:00.005-06:00

Jack. Woody pj's. His blue Christmas tree in his room. Adorable.

11/26/2011 - War Eagle

2011-11-27T17:23:00.003-06:00

Auburn,

even though you lost the game to Alabama today...

badly.....

We still love you.

11/25/2011 - Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree.......

2011-11-27T15:55:00.008-06:00

The most I will shop for on black Friday is a Christmas tree! I've been reading the news about some of the shoppers that are out on black Friday and they're crazy! Goodness. WHAT in the world would you need so badly that you would need to camp in front of a store all night. Or tazzer someone! Oh my stars! Online shopping people!

We did go out looking for a Christmas tree.

First place:

Checking out the trees...

Well, our tree is not here!

Second place:

Is it going to be at this Christmas tree farm?

Jack's expressions always make me smile :)

Third place:

Well, the second place didn't work out. Our tree was not there. Here we are at the third place looking for our tree. I hope it's here.

There she is!!!! Our tree!!! We found you!!!

Getting our tree ready to go home.....

Of course, if there is a puppy anywhere close by, Virginia and the pup will find each other.

Ahhhh, four year olds!

Jack ran up to this lady in the red shirt, started rubbing her stomach and asked her how old she was. Then told her how old his mama is! Lovely. I grabbed him, apologized and walked off - quickly. He is so funny. I have no idea what was going through his head. He was very sweet about the whole thing, he was trying to make a friend in his own way. I love this boy!

Time to take our tree home.

Dad putting the lights on the tree. It's a really beautiful tree.

The kids watched dad put lights on the tree while we listened to Christmas music and enjoyed looking at photos on our tv.

We also enjoyed hot chocolate with marshmallows.

We got the tree up and got lights on it, but had to go to sleep. It was a long day - but good day :)

Luke 1:35
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy–the Son of God.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T22:41:00.005-06:00

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving. And of course we all ate wayyyyy too much! The Macy's thanksgiving day parade was awesome, as was the dog show afterwords :)

I attempted to get a thanksgiving photo....

I'm as tired as you are Mr. Jack trying to get a decent photo...

Daddy did our Thanksgiving dinner! He did FANTASTIC!!!! He worked so hard. Thank you so much Dad for making our Thanksgiving so wonderful.

There is so much I'm thankful for, so much. I'm thankful I am right here, right now, with these people. My family. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, so I am enjoying today! I can't believe God has blessed me this much.

Getting a good picture from Thanksgiving 2011 is NOT going to happen this year. We will, however, laugh at these...one day.

I love these kids. They are so fun and full of personality!

Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!

Psalm 105:1

11/23/2011 - fun time at the hair salon today

2011-11-23T22:06:00.007-06:00

Today Jack had to get a haircut and our usual kid salon was closed so we had to go to our alternative kid hair salon. I said I would never go back to this one again. The last time Jack got his hair cut here they sprayed RED in his hair without even asking.

Today I was desperate to get his hair cut so we took a chance at Sharkey's again. I'm glad we did, we got a different lady and she was fantastic.

The girls LOVE to go to Sharkey's because there's a dress up room with a stage.

Getting out today was not great fun. Oh my stars, the traffic is HORRID, and everywhere you go is CROWDED! I'm thinking online Christmas shopping!

Tis the season, hu!

Poor Jack, he looks thrilled to be sitting in the pink dress up room!

Jack wanted nothing to do with the dress up clothes so he told us what the letters were on the wall. It's rough being 4 years old and hanging out with us gals! But boy do I LOVE having my little guy around!!!!

Lovely.

My adorable little cowgirl. We really had fun dressing up!

haha - they were looking at themselves in the mirror....

Finally time for an actual haircut. Jack loves getting his haircut. When I tell him that's where we're going he gets so excited! Today he almost fell asleep while the lady was cutting his hair.

After Jack got his haircut we walked next door to Hallmark and I let the kids pick out one Christmas ornament for Christmas. I get them one every year.

Here are just some cute photos of Apple Jack from tonight....

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!!! Yippie! We have so much to be thankful for, I plan to list them tomorrow....

11/22/2011 - random stuff

2011-11-22T22:47:00.007-06:00

Okay, WHAT kind of animal is this? Someone please tell me. Today we had to run some errands and drove past this field with cows...I guess cows?!?! We stopped and tried to figure out what this is. It looks like a cow, but it has a big hump on it's back. I'm no cow expert for sure, can cows have huge humps on their backs?

Enough about the "cow".

Today Virginia was just loving on Jack, it was so sweet, I HAD to capture the moment. These pictures were not "posed", she was really loving on her little brother. She is a sweet girl.

Emily is so creative, she is always thinking up something to make. Tonight it was a crown for herself. So cute.

Since we went to the tea last Saturday the girls have been wanting me to make them some tea. We bought different flavored teas and have been trying them out. Tonight we had lemon tea and raspberry tea. Both were good. Of course they have no caffeine :)

Since we are getting into tea now, this has become my best friend in the kitchen! This is the Hamilton Beach electric kettle, it is WONDERFUL for making tea and hot chocolate. You don't even have to put it on the stove. The water is ready in minutes. I love it!!!

Emily loves to put cream and the cute little cube sugars in her tea. I'm thinking a pretty tea set for Christmas....

About Virginia's top tooth, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it fell out tonight, it's pretty much hanging in her mouth sideways at this point.

She is one tired little girl in this photo.....

Only a couple of more days until Thanksgiving and the Macy's Day parade!!! AND....putting up our Christmas tree! YAY!!!!

We are also going to start working on some of our badges for American Heritage Girls at home. I'll post about it.....

11/20/2011 - Thanksgiving in 4 days

2011-11-21T00:28:00.002-06:00

Didn't do much today, just getting ready for Thanksgiving...and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade!!! I've also been clearing out old toys, getting ready for new ones Santa will bring.

Today was 80 degrees, not making me feel very holidayish...

Here are some pictures of some adorable kids I took tonight at bedtime.

From this moment...

there are 33 days, 23 hours, 22 minutes and 51 seconds.

But who's counting?

{Information provided from an app on my iPhone, kind of neat, hu!}

11/19/2011 - Mother and daughter tea

2011-11-19T21:17:00.009-06:00

Today we had our mother & daughter tea with The American Heritage Girls. They asked me to host a table so we got to decorate it however we wanted. I really enjoyed it, so did Emily and Virginia.

The tea was a huge success. There were a couple of speakers, one spoke of how girls need to be modest and how to do that. The other speaker talked about self esteem and how these young girls need to feel great about themselves, yet be humble for God. The messages given today to these young girls were so important. SO glad they talk to them about such important things. We reiterate it at home.

All the hostesses decorating their tables. There were so many pretty ones!

This one is the one we decorated....

All the girls looked so beautiful. It was so heartwarming to see the girls so excited to dress up in their Sunday's best and come together to have fellowship and prayers.

There were delicious finger foods! One lady brought finger sandwiches shaped as little crosses - so cute!! Everyone worked so hard.

The older girls had a fashion show. They wore "normal, modest clothes", to show how we are all beautiful in God's eyes. The way we look doesn't matter, it's what's on the inside of us that counts. A very important message to give young girls! God loves us no matter what.

The younger girls watching the older girl's fashion show...

We also played some fun games!!

Since I was the hostess of our table I had to run in the kitchen a lot to get more food and tea, and I always had a helper follow :)

She was showing me how to hold our hands when we say the American Heritage Girl pledge....

The church we meet at for AHG is so beautiful. Today when we were leaving we saw a wedding so the girls got to see a real bride! They were so excited. The wedding was actually over and they were just taking photos, but the bride looked so beautiful.

The girls watching the wedding party take photos.

Poor Jack, he looks like he's on his last leg. He was so tired when we got home. He and Daddy put his train set together and played outside. He also woke up too early this morning, so he was a sleepy little guy.

Today at the tea the girls signed this promise to Jesus. It's so sweet and I would love if they could always remember these words. I took a picture of the promise before they signed it. I'm going to put it up somewhere so we can read it often and remember.