'Twas the week AFTER Christmas

'Twas the week after Christmas...well...blah blah blah. I'm not feeling creative enough to write a poem this year...so if I get in the mood later - you'll be the first to know! haha

Rally relaxing by the Christmas tree on Christmas eve.

Anyway - Christmas was great! On Christmas eve we went to Jeannine's house to open gifts with her, then we went to her church for the candlelight service, which was very nice. Christmas morning my folks and my sister as well as Jeannine all came over bright and early (around 8am) to be there for the kids to open their gifts. We then had a very relaxing brunch and mimosas and bloody mary's...it was very nice! The rest of the day we got to put together toys, search for batteries (Santa forgot to bring those...), and watch Kendall go crazy for all her toys. In fact - we asked her at one point what her favorite new toy was - and she got this very intent look on her face like she was really thinking about it...and then she said "I don't know!" She has literally been bouncing from toy to toy to toy every day since Christmas!!! haha

Carson opening one of his MANY gifts at Jeannine's house.

Same with Kendall....boy are our kids spoiled!!! :)

The stack of loot under the Christmas tree after Mom and Dad and Denise got there on Christmas day. The sad thing...is there were three gifts that were too big to go under the tree - one for Jeff (an air compressor), one for me (a sewing machine cabinet), and two for the kids (the train set and a play kitchen). Recession??? Where???? Certainly not at our house! haha

The only good picture I could get of both kids by the tree...they wouldn't stop moving!!! haha

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas one and all!!!

Christmas is such a magical time. What other time of year is there music JUST to get you in the mood for the season? What other time of year do you spend an entire day or evening completely redecorating your entire house, only to take it all down just a few weeks later? What other time of year can you use the season to cheat on your diet? What other time of year can you wear green and red together without getting eyebrows raised? What other time of year can you use Santa Claus to your benefit with your kids?!?!

"Do you want Santa to come see you?" we ask.
"Uh huh," she says, nodding her head.
"Well, then you need to do what Mommy and Daddy said and xxxx (insert behavior desired)."

Its wonderful!!! My daughter has never been more well behaved than the last couple of days!!! haha Too bad Carson doesn't quite get the whole idea yet...or even Rally for that matter...

We can't wait for tomorrow morning. All week we've been wrapping presents and getting things ready. Tonight we will finish putting together the "big" gift that we got for the kids (a train set) and we are anxious to see their reaction! I'm looking forward to seeing my parents and my sister and Jeff's Mom and just spend time with them.

But beyond all the gifts and food and lights and smells...I think that Christmas is my favorite time of the year simply because it is an entire holiday celebrating someones birthday - Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. It doesn't matter what gifts are under the tree and what food you serve...what matters is that we remember why we are doing it all. If Christ wasn't the reason we celebrate on Christmas morning...then what else would the holiday be? If you take the Christ child out of the celebration, then all you have is a dying tree sitting in your living room. It is the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth that gives the entire season such a magical spark to it. Even those that haven't come to Christ yet can feel the magic of the season. What pains me sometimes is that we use the Christmas season as an excuse to tell the people we love that we love them, to be nice to strangers, to be generous to those in need...instead of doing it year round. And I'm guilty of it too...I am not nearly as courteous to others or as forgiving throughout the year as I am at Christmas time. I wish that I could love on people throughout the year as I feel like I want to do during this season...and as much as I know I should...I'm glad that God has given us this time of year to reach out and try to be remember that His gift was the greatest gift of any in the history or the future of the world - Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas!!!

Oh...right...I have a blog...

Okay okay. So I've been really bad lately. I really don't have any good excuses...so I won't even try. I'll just post some pictures from Thanksgiving and other stuff...

Our wonderful Miss May playing tea party with the kids.

My future brother-in-law, Chris, and my sister, Dee, at Thanksgiving.

I caught Aunt Nita right as she was looking away...otherwise she is always laughing! :)

I think Dad's comment as I was taking this picture was something along the lines of "maybe you should put the camera away and help clean dishes"...nah!!! hehe


Jeannine in the mix of it all...

The post Thanksgiving feast sleep off - starring Jeff and Carson and...

My good friend, Maria H.

Everyone but Kendall...of course...who is ALWAYS full of energy!

Like father like son - Carson fell asleep while "watching" a football game with his Daddy...

Waiting in line to get a picture taken with Santa Claus...can you tell she was excited?? The camera wouldn't focus because she was jumping up and down so much...

Even Carson knew something fun was about to happen...

Smile!!! Don't worry...the actual picture that we paid an arm and a leg for came out much better...and actually in focus...

Early Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Happy Birthday Baby!!!!

That's right. Today is my little girl's 3rd Birthday. It is so hard to believe that it has already been 3 years...wow...

It is kind of hard to hear Kendall in the video, but you get the idea. Anyway - here are pictures from my baby's birthday party yesterday afternoon:
Kendall's Yellow Circle Cake with her name and bows on it...and some pretty daisies that Jeannine picked and brought for Kendall.
Yellow balloons and table cloth and gifts...her "yellow" birthday coming to life...
More yellow - plates, napkins, forks and spoons.
"Memo" (aka Jeannine) helping me get stuff set up.
The beautiful birthday girl after she arrived.

Little Brother Carson

Proud Daddy
CHEESE!!!
Jarrett B. climbing some playground equipment.
Jarrett's Mom, Karen, and big brother, Maddox.
Karen and her youngest, Mackenzie.

Auntie Heather (who was an angel and watched her daughter, Sage, and Kendall play while I tried to keep the party going...)Auntie April and Uncle Chris.
Miss Monica and her grumpy boy, Charlie
Cutie Jarrett
Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candles. (Sage is to Kendall's right, Nicholas is the blond and Andrew the brunette to her left) She really was happy...but I think she was a little overwhelmed by all the people singing...
Uncle Jeff, Auntie Maria & Baby Anthony
Auntie Karen and "Baby" Wyatt
Carson, of course, managed to find some mud...boys will be boys I suppose... :)
Memo trying to hang onto Carson.
Heather running the sugar off with the kids.
Tickles!!!
Heather's little girl, Sage.
Kendall showing us how old she is now.
Opening her first present.



Tomorrow at school, they are celebrating her birthday...so Kendall helped me make some sugar cookies with sprinkles.

So sorry it's been so long...

I had been so good about trying to post on my blog at least once a week...and then life happened... So...let me see if I can figure out what has happened since my last post...

On Tuesday the 11th, my sister and mom came down so that Denise could try on wedding dresses. We had a ball, and it was so neat watching my big sister put on such beautiful gowns. She had three that were absolutely stunning on her and it was so hard to make a decision, but she did, and I've attached a picture of the dress:


HAHA!!! Yeah right!!! Like I'm going to attach a picture of my sister's wedding dress and be subjected to her (and my Mom's) wrath!! Guess you'll just have to wait until July! :)

Anyway - the day was fun...but not really for me. I ended up feeling nauseous about half of the way through Denise trying on dresses. I just assumed it was because I hadn't eaten enough for lunch, so when we went to lunch about an hour later, I could barely eat. They brought me back to my house and I promptly laid down in bed for the rest of the day...that is until around 4pm when I had to decorate a cake for Jeannine that she was picking up that afternoon. (Go here to see that cake and others). The next day, I got myself out of bed long enough to bring the kids to school, came back and slept the whole time, went back and picked them up, and came back and slept again the rest of the afternoon and that night. Thursday, I felt human again finally, and everything seemed back to normal...until Carson threw up in his bed shortly after we laid him down for the night... So Carson hung out with me on Friday while Kendall was at school. Then when Kendall woke up from her nap on Friday...it was obvious that she had had red icing on some cupcakes at school that day...because she threw up all over her bed and the floor. Thankfully - they had gotten the virus that had been going around school that was a "one and done" virus - because after they each got sick...they were fine. Anyway - on Saturday, Jeff went to the mauling that was the Florida Gators playing the South Carolina Gamecocks (we won...HUGE...56-6), while I stayed home and decorated yet another cake - this time for a friend's baby shower (see the above link). However...Jeff and his mom ended up leaving the game at the middle of the 3rd quarter...because he got the virus too it seemed (neither Jeff or I ever threw up - but we both felt horrible). So...on Sunday he rested...felt better long enough for me to go to my baby shower...then slept the rest of the evening. It was Wednesday before he finally felt 100% - but he didn't really get to sleep for almost a full day and a half like I did.

Wednesday night we took the kids to see The Wiggles in concert. It was so much fun!!! I know...it sounds weird for a grown adult to say how much fun a kids concert was...but it really was! I'm sure it was because both kids were really having a good time. Kendall was dancing and jumping and having a ball. Even Carson was waving his arms and smiling a lot. I didn't bring my camera because I thought we weren't allowed to. And the thing that sucked...is we were SO close to the stage too!!! In fact...Kendall even gave the purple Wiggle, Jeff, a high five as he passed by at one point. But I did take a few pictures from my camera, not great quality - but you'll get the idea...

The purple Wiggle is Jeff, blue is Anthony (also the "hot" Wiggle according to all my mommy friends), yellow is Sam (the original yellow one, Greg that you still see in the states on TV, is no longer in the group due to some illness), and red (who I didn't get a picture of) is Murray.


Today there is a home football game...but we have elected not to go. We are going to use the time to make Kendall's cake(s) and get her party ready for tomorrow. That is right...our little girl will be 3 on Monday, so we are having her birthday party (a "yellow birthday") on Sunday afternoon at a local park. So I'm sure that in the next few days I'll post pictures of my little girl's birthday party. However...I did send cupcakes with her to school on Friday (nothing special...just chocolate and chocolate with each of the kids and teacher's names written on them) and the teacher was nice enough to take a few pictures of her day for me.

One of her favorite things to play with at school - a little house in the playground.

Here she is holding a little "card" that they made for her.

Kendall and her classmates enjoying the cupcakes.

Not very pretty...but I think you can tell that she was really enjoying the cupcakes!!! :)