Still in the Big T

Still in Texas......I think we are all ready to sleep in our own beds. Ryan and I have been in bunk beds and in a full size bed. Man....when you get used to a King size (and not HAVING to touch the other person) you just miss it!!

I had a lot of fun last night. Me and Gail (Dad's wife) (NaNa) stayed up till 2:00am baking!
We made cherry cheesecake, a yummy chocolate volcano cake and then got some things prepared for tonights dinner.....it was really fun. I love to bake and especially after the kids are asleep.


We are going to drive to Texarkana tomorrow and visit some friends for a little while, then make the trip home (which will only be 5 hrs from Texarkana).

We are excited about watching those HOGS on Monday!!


I have been reading several BLOG's lately (in my bordom) and liked a few things I saw. One of the girls I know closes her BLOG post everyday with prayer requests. What a good idea!! You can never have too many people praying!!
So, that will be my new addition. Thank you in advance for keeping our family/friends in your prayers.


Prayer Requests

1. Our family while we travel.
2. A close family friend - unspoken

Howdy from Texas

Howdy! We are in Palestine Texas visiting Ryan's family.
We exchanged Christmas presents last night and they were VERY generous to our family.....

Christian got - clothes, Diego talking backpack, Diego talking tool belt, and the movie Lava Girl and Shark Boy and soccer goals for the yard.

Joshua got - Thomas the Train set - a talking puppy dog, a Backyardigans guitar and clothes.

Ryan got - a golf storage thingy for the garage, a new book that he wanted, candy and some clothes.

I got - 2 new DVD's (movies) and a $100 gift card to JcPenny's!! I can't wait to get home to do some shopping!

We were all so excited.
Thank you Ron, Rita, Mykala and Whitney!!!


We are leaving Friday morning to go see my Dad and NaNa Gail in DeKalb, TX. I am excited to see them.

Post more tomorrow.......

What a great Christmas.....and we're off for more!!

We had the greatest Christmas this year. The kids were soooo excited, and they both really enjoyed opening their many presents. As always, Santa, Mom and Dad and all the grandparents/great-grandparents on my side of the family spoiled the kids rotten. I think the kids got everything they could have ever wanted.
This year was so enjoyable for me......Christian was old enough this year to really get "excited" about Santa and the whole deal. He was gleaming all day long....it was wonderful to watch.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we are leaving early in the morning to travel to Texas. We will be visiting Ryan's family and then stopping by my Dad's (who also is in Texas) for a couple of days on the way home.
By the time we get home, we should have enough toys in the house to run a day care......
We will be back home on the 1st to cheer on the HOGS in the bowl game!!
Woooooo-pig-soooiiieeee!!!!
Keep is in your prayers as we travel.

My Christmas Gift

Today I got two very special Christmas gifts from my Mom. If you are a regular reader of my BLOG, you will know why this gift was special to me.

She enclosed a "Big Band" CD...and wrote the sweetest message on the inside....a pic is posted below.

(Thank you Mom for making my day.....you are sooo sweet.

I will definitely wear it with my high heels very soon.......:)

The inside of the CD........

Our Christmas Eve/Christmas 2006

Christmas Eve Cuties

This morning we went to Church. I LOVE going to church on/around Christmas. All the kids were dressed up in their Christmas best.....such darlings.
And there is no other place you should be than church......afterall, Christmas is the celebrations of Jesus' birth - no matter what others may say.

Ryan, Christian and Joshua were dressed so cute for church....just had to post. (they all match!!)

I will post more pics later....we are headed over to my Mom's house for a Christmas Eve get together.

I have been blog tagged....have you??

Brandy tagged me on her blog, so I will play along. Here ya go:

A - Available/Single? Married
B - Best Friend? hmmm.....that's a hard one......
C - Cake or Pie? I guess pie...not a big fan of either (alot)
D - Drink Of Choice? I love Dr. Pepper.....but I will settle for Diet.
E - Essential Item You Use Everyday? I am a computer nerd....the internet
F - Favorite Color? I do LOVE pink...but love blue too.
G - Gummy Bears Or Worms? neither....I hate anything gummy
H - Home or Homesick? Home
I - Indulgence? Fast food.....
J - January Or February? February-I love Valentines
K - Kids & Their Names? Yes, two - Christian and Joshua
L - Life Is Incomplete Without? God
M - Marriage date? 10-14-00
N - Number Of Siblings? 3 brothers (one is a half-brother)
O - Oranges Or Apples? i LOVE both
P - Phobias/Fears? Heights and Spiders, snakes, mice, rats...you name it.
Q - Favorite Quote? (from Aundrea's hat) Women that behave never make history....or something like that.....(hehe)
R - Reason to Smile? my kids
S - Season? Fall
T - Tag 3 or 4 people? Becca, Aundrea and Denise T
U - Unknown Fact About Me? Top 10 in Teen Miss Texas Coed Pageant :)
V - Vegetable you do not like? Creamed corn
W - Worst Habit? checking my e-mail 550 times a day
X - X-rays You Have Had? ultrasounds, dental x-rays & my foot
Y - Your Favorite Food? steak...but only cooked by my husband
Z - Zodiac Sign? LScorpio....but I really don't care about that. (or believe)

Happy Birthday Papow!! (Papoo)

Today is my grandfathers birthday (our Papow).

Papow: I hope you realize how much you mean to us. You have influenced my life - and I know I am a better person because of you.
You have done the same for children - watching you and my boys is one of my biggest joys in life. You make their little faces beam......they just love their "Papoooo".
Thank you for loving us........we love you more than you could ever know.
Happy Birthday Pappooooo!!

Flash Back Friday

Flash back from :


December 2002 - Christian at 4 months old :)

Christian's class Christmas Party

Wednesday was Christian's class Christmas Party. All the kids had a blast. One of the Moms read the History of the Candy Cane (which is cool) and then we made a craft and then had birthday cake (the party was a Happy Birthday Jesus Party) Mrs. Acuff gave each kid a gift....it was a really great party.
No school till January 3rd!

Christian's class mates (there is one little boy missing) 

Mrs. Acuff's gift

Mrs. Acuff gave each kid a present at the party. Christian got a green monkey. He loves his teacher very much.

Christian and his good friend Cade.

 

Christmas Past

Here are a few pictures from this time last year.
The boys have grown sooo much.

Christian was 3 and Joshua was 9 months.

My little Santa 

Joshua and Daddy....oh, I mean Santa :) 

Little Joshy playing with one of his new toys 

Christian got these dinosaur P.J's and boots and just had to put them on immediatly. Didn't they make a cute outfit??!! 

My Grandma (Mimow) is the coolest person I know

Today, me and the boys went to my grandparents house to spend some time with them. I brought a pizza (which is probably my grandmothers favorite thing to eat)
The boys had a great time....Papow always gets in the floor and plays with them and they think (I know) that he is the coolest grandpa (great-grandpa) EVER!

After lunch, I went through my grandmothers cedar chest (Hope Chest) in quest of something that I didn't find....but found SOOO much more.
My grandmother is OFFICIALLY the coolest woman ever now.
She had:
1. THE newspaper from the day they landed on the moon (way to cool)
2. Christmas records with way too many great singers on it. ( I love Doris Day)
3. Pictures from her trip to Germany. She had pictures from different castles in Germany and many pictures of the "ovens" and "ditches" used in the Hitler era to execute the Jews. I was in complete shock. She visited Germany a few years after all this. I am sure these places were very difficult to look at in person, or to even be in the same country were such horrible things happened.

I have ALWAYS secretly wanted to "live" in the 40's-50's. But since I was born years after that...oh well. :) That time just seems so wonderful to me. Even though there really was no "era" that the world was perfect, or even close to it, that time to me just seems so "clean" and "magical". I am sure my grandmother will laugh when reading this...but it is the coolest "era" ever to me.
How cool would it have been to ACTUALLY watch "I Love Lucy" without it being a re-run?? (oh my gosh....that is a dream)
TV/Movies were so wonderful in that time.....clean movies, clean language.....you can't find that now, dirt, scum and sex is cool, and I hate watching it all.

I love the idea of "soda fountain shops" and cool night clubs were you can actually dance in a nice gown and not feel overdressed. (and the music was played by someone with a REAL music talent...)

Do you know how hard it is to find a frilly, half apron these days?? Almost impossible. I would totally walk around all day in my high heels wearing my half apron - those women just looked WAYY to cute.

To bad time machines are not real...and never will be.
Maybe God will put a little black and white frilly half apron in my kitchen one day?!!!! :) Along with the Glenn Miller band playing for me...(if they made it to heaven??!)


Mimow....you lived my dream. You are my role model and always have been. I thank God for placing you in my life and for how you have touched my life and the lives of my family. You inspire me every day with your sweetness, your generosity, and your faithfulness to serve God and to do his will every day of your life.
I love you more every day......

My wonderful Grandparents 

The coolest paper I have ever seen 

Pictures taken in Germany 

A Christmas album with songs from Doris Day, Sammy Davis, Jr. ----ahh.....I wish I could listen to it!! 

Date night with a cutie

Tonight me and Christian spent some "special" time together.
From the time I found out I was pregnant with Joshua, I always promised myself that I would always make special time with each child...I want both of my boys to know how much I love them and that just because they have a sibling doen't mean we can't spend quality time alone....together.
Tonight, my and my cute little date, Christian, went to the movies to see Charlotte's Web (a must see for all...) Then I took my little cutie to the Build-A-Bear store and he picked out an outfit for his snow leopard, "Spottie".
We had a wonderful night together.....I loved spending "alone time" with him and I know he had a pretty good time too.

Me and my little date 

My little cutie (he loves the fountains at the mall) 

Christian totally picked out this outfit by himself 

Proudest kid ever..... 

Josh was TOTALLY jealous of Christian's new clothes for spotty....so I went and got some of Joshua's baby clothes out and put them on his bear "Huggy". It was a perfect fit and Joshua didn't know the difference. 

We finally got the lights up on the house last week.....Ryan made me put the lights up over the garage...I was horrified (the ladder would not hold his weight) I was 16 feet in the air.....oh my...... 

My little snow man :) 

"I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus"

Last night was our MOMS Club Christmas Party. Ryan played the role of Santa (for 2 years in a row) Each kids there was given a present from Santa....it was a HUGE hit, the kids loved it.
Although Ryan was not particularly happy about "playing Santa", I thought he did a wonderful job.

Me and "Santa"