It's a Zoo Out There . . . Literally!

Yesterday we took advantage of the weather and went to the zoo. That is ALWAYS a favorite with the kids! The weather must have been real nice because LOVE was in the air for the monkeys . . . if you know what I mean!! Once we got around to looking at all the animals we heard some crazy sounds. To me it sounded like a bunch of kids making animal sounds but once we came closer to the sounds we realized the baby goats and pigs and chickens were out in the petting zoo area. The kids immediately ran over to join in on the fun. They loved all the animal sounds!

Going on a Bear Hunt!

Last weekend we went to deercamp and of course Avery wanted to go hunting with her new gun. But when Avery goes hunting she hunts for all kinds of animals. She almost always sees a bear and usually gets a deer or two to bring home for a pet.

More Christmas Pics!

Christmas Day!

SANTA HAS COME!!! The kids couldn't wait to see what santa brought. It took all the willpower they had to wait for us to set the video camera up and do all the things we normally do when we wake up. Brayden got more and more animals with cages and corrals for the animals, legos, cars, movies and more. Avery got a baby changing station/ bath set for her babydolls, legos, princess dolls, light bright and LOTS of "glitgloss" (lipgloss) and jewelry.

Christmas Eve

Tonight David, Leisje and Myers came over and mama because she is spending the night. Frannie spends the night with us every Christmas. Tonight will be out Christmas with them. We had an easy meal . . . sandwiches. Afterwards we opened MORE gifts. The kids wanted so badly to open all their gifts tonight instead of waiting until Christmas day. I was a nice mama and let them open one each. Afterwards, David and Avery went into her room to sing some Taylor on the karaoke machine. I was told NOT to put any of that video on the blog by David. I want to so bad. I'll think about it!!

Good Bye Pasies!!

I dreaded Christmas Eve night. That was the night we said we would give Santa the pasies. Avery was such a big girl leading up to the event. We got a box for the pasies and she even wrote a note for santa. Yes, she wrote that. Isn' t that an awesome job?! Christmas eve night I gave in and snuck a pasie out of the box and let her have it to fall asleep. Big mistake! She expected it the next night. Anyway, santa came and got the pasies out of the box and left her a surprise. Once bedtime rolled around on Christmas night she wanted that nasty thing. Bryan got on to me and went to take it from her. It was a long night getting her to sleep but she managed!! She has only asked for it a few times and has yet to get it. Tonight might be a different story. All the other nights she has been busy and staying up late to where she would fall asleep. I hope it goes easy tonight!!

Christmas with the Dallas Families

After having Christmas with my family we went to Bryan's parents house, Meme & Pawpaw, the next night. Oh, which meant, "morether" presents, as Avery said. This time they got to see the rest of their cousins, Ethan, Leyton and Bella Vance. What made it even better for the kids was that they got to spend the night at meme & pawpaw's house. Man, I bet it was wild after we left! The only reason why I say that is because it was wild before we left! Well, again, the kids racked up with MORE presents. Avery got a karaoke machine which to this day she has played about a hundred times (or more). I mean, how many times can you possibly sing Taylor Swift songs??? Oh well, at least it keeps her happy and occuppied.

Christmas with Meece & Papaw

Well, as usual the kids didn't need to get anymore presents from Santa or any other person. They racked up at Meece & Papaw's house. The kids couldn't wait to open presents! I think they enjoy opening the gifts more than anything. Maybe next year we will just give wrapped boxes. I wonder if that will work?? Anyway, we all had a great time. We stayed up late and their cousin was there which they loved! The next day the weather was so nice that we all went outside and rode the clubcar, picked pecans and let Avery shoot her new gun. We all had a blast . . . even Allie!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

And that it did!!

Well, we would have preferred it to have already snowed so we didn't have to take Brayden to school but we should have known that we wouldn't be that lucky. Right after we got home from taking Brayden it started to snow. It was such a pretty snow too. We had HUGE snowflakes and they just kept on coming.

Pinelake finally decided to let school out early which I was excited because I wanted Brayden to be able to see the snow (at home and not school) before it melted. As I sit here and type this Brayden is outside right now making very large snowballs. He is having such a blast!!

We saw our neighbors outside making a snowman so the kids begged to make one. Mama is not a very good snowman maker!! I know this is gross but ours probably has a whole lot of poop in it (and grass)!! I will say that Allie had a blast this morning catching snowflakes . . . it was funny!

I got a better response this time around from Avery than I did back during the January snow. She was a total stick-in-the-mud last time and didn't care anything about it then. But this time she had a whole different attitude about it . . . which is usually the case no matter what the situation is. Avery loved it also.

What a fun time for us all!!

So, this is what we've been up to lately!!

Well, one weekend we went to my dad's house to pick pecans and let Brayden shoot his gun. And while we were there we decided to climb a couple of trees. The kids thought that was fun! Brayden thought it would be more fun to throw pecans at us while we were looking up at him. Yeah, that wasn't fun!!

Then we decided to go visit Bella Vance (and you too Megan). Brayden just loves to hold his baby cousins. I think he could have sat there all day long holding her. Avery enjoys it too but when she is threw then she is threw!!

Next was Avery's class Thanksgiving party. It is so much fun watching her interact with her little girl friends. All she does is talk about Laya and Brelyn. Those are her BFF's.

I guess it was the weekend before Thanksgiving we went to deercamp. David, Leisje and Myers came down which made it even more fun for the kids (and me). I had to get me a "baby fix" and the kids couldn't stay out of Myers face. I love the deercamp. It is like a break for me because the kids don't care to hang around me. They prefer their Meece and Papaw :) That works for me!!

Now for the really fun part! We love to go camping, so Thanksgiving weekend we head over to Roosevelt State Park. The weather has been a whole lot better but a little bit of rain hasn't ever hurt anyone . . . okay, a whole lot of rain! Despite the rain for a full day and a half it was bad. We made a trip over to Wal-Mart and blew $200 and got the kids some umbrellas so they could play in the rain. And then we set up our tent again (after it rained) and had dinner and a movie by the fire. What more could you want??

Oh, now the really fun part. Trying to get the kids to cooperate on taking some photos for the Christmas cards. The one day I try to do it it has to turn into a cold rainy day. Yuk! An indoor picture is so not what I was going for but oh well. I guess they didn't turn out so bad . . . although I had to bribe them. I told them if they did what I said then they could do a funny picture. And that is what they did.

On Saturday I actually got to go Christmas shopping by myself and it was so nice. Of all places I ended up at Bass Pro Shop. Let me just tell you how much fun I had there. It was so peaceful, the surroundings that is, not all the shoppers. When I was leaving I saw the MOST BEAUTIFUL sunset I have EVER seen. I had to stop and take a picture of it but the picture absolutely doesn't do anything for it. It was the prettiest hot pink you could imagine with some gold and orange in it and it just covered the whole sky. It's amazing what beautiful things God allows us to see. It looked like He painted the sky with watercolors. It was breathtaking!!

Yesterday, Sunday, we took the kids to see The Nutcracker with my mother. I was so excited about taking Avery I teared up when she walked in and saw the backdrop and when the ballerinas came out. I could only imagine what she was thinking. She loved it and we did too. Brayden is having a hard time admitting it but I know for a fact he liked it!!

So, that's what we have been doing the past month since my last blog. It's been fun, exciting, enjoyable and memorable. I just love being with my family and doing stuff with them.

I Love You Everyone!!

I'm a slacker

Hopefully soon I will update my blog. Atleast I now have a Christmas theme background!!

I'm an aunt again!!!

Bella Vance Dallas was born today, November 9th @ 6:59 pm. She weighed 7lbs. 15oz.

There were so many people there to see this precious child that I could hardly get a picture. The one of David and Bella was the best I could get!!!

Playlist

Okay, am I the only one having trouble with Playlist? I can not log in. I have typed every username and password I can think of and nothing works. I even wrote it down so I wouldn't forget it and it doesnt' work. And everytime I request a new password they never send me one. I am so mad at them right now and I just removed it from my blog!!!!

Avery's Name

Today while waiting in carpool line Avery wanted to write (like always) and trace her hand. Well, she actually learned how to write her name all by herself. Her "e" tend to get a little large but for a 3 year old she did pretty darn good, I think!! She was so proud of herself!!

Pinelake - International Day

Friday was International Day at Pinelake. Each grade represented a different country. This year Brayden's class, the 1st grade, represented Mexico. They paraded through the halls and then the gym was decorated for each country and food at each booth for the children to taste. They were all so cute!!

Thursday Night Trick-or-Treating

Well, all I did was rant and rave about how awesome our neighborhood was last year for halloween. Thanks to whoever decided that some areas would do it on thursday and some on friday really screwed things up this year! It was so not awesome this year!!

Regardless of not many houses participating, we still had a great time. We had some family and friends come over and eat, dress-up and go on a hay ride while trick-or-treating.

I will so be prepared for next year. I found my costume at the last minute. The kids argued over what they wanted me to be. So I ended up being a cow. My costume was so not cute!! It was cheap and too big. Bryan was a homeless war veteran.

The Result of a 3 Year Old's Addiction!

Oh, I never thought my kids would do this. Stickers were all over the car doors (both sides).

Avery's First Field Trip

I'm a little late posting but better late than never.

Last Wednesday was Avery's first field trip and they went to the pumpkin patch. Although she has been before with her brother's class this was her first time with her 3 year old class. It was too cute watching her be around all her friends and seeing the way that play and talk to each other. They were such girls!!! She is always talking about her two friends Laya and Brelyn and I never knew what they looked like until this day. She just rants and raves about them ALL THE TIME!!

Our Camping Trip

You know, sometimes coming back to reality is just not fun!!! We had an awesome time camping this past weekend. We could not have asked for better weather and a better camping spot. I was under the impression that it was going to be HOT over the weekend but it turned out to be cloudy and breezy which made the weather perfect.

The kids had a blast. They got to ride their bikes, paint pumpkins, go fishing, play on the "beach" area, go to the playground (I guess you could call it that). We even went and looked at the deer and pet them . . . shhh! I wish we didn't have to leave and come back to the real world. Why do we have to work and go to school??? I told Bryan we could sell the house, live in the camper and I could homeschool the kids (then we would have lots of 1/2 days or holidays).

Click on the collage so you can enlarge the pictures. There are so many pictures I want to share that I will have to put them in a collage.

Let's keep count - #1

Alright, we looovvveee going to the fair. Even though the economy is rough we will go to the fair many times. We might not have any money the rest of the week to eat on but we will go and have a great time. Yesterday I picked the kids up from school and took them. It was nice. There were hardly any people there.

We will be going again tonight and unfortunately it will probably be crowded. Oh well, I guess that is part of the fun!

Well's Festival

I'm a little late posting since we did this last weekend. But anyway, Bryan and I took the kids to the Well's Festival saturday and had a great time after a tortorous soccer game swatting away what seemed to be a gazillion nats. Those suckers were everywhere - even in my purse. The kids got to play (cheezy) games and win (cheezy) prizes, face paint and do the pony / horse ride. It was a beautiful day outside and it made it even more beautiful getting to spend that time with my family.

While we were there I ran into a couple of highschool friends that I hadn't seen in a long time (since highschool). Of course, they looked the same as they did in highschool. I sure hope people think the same about me when they see me. Gee, I wonder? Anyway, the festival had a mickey mouse come and walk around . . . a very short mickey mouse. I thought to myself. This is gonna be a test as to how the kids will react towards the characters when we go to Disney World. As to my surprise they did great! I hope Avery does that well when it's time to visit Santa.

I think he is catching on!

Tonight Brayden had a soccer game and it started off as one of our typical games. But something happened. Brayden scored!!! Let me just say, I believe the light came on after he scored. I think he finally figured it out. Or maybe it was the jersey. Tonight is the first time we have gotten to wear the them. Brayden says it was the red flames on the shoulders that made him "on fire"! He got more aggressive and wanted to get the ball more. Bryan thinks he scored two times but I really think it was another kid.

Anyway, it was a good game!!! Congratulations Brayden!!!

Sparkley Jeans

Avery's not one to just put on jeans and be comfortable. She's a little round in some areas if you know what I mean. The one pair she had last year she wore once because she didn't like them. Well this year is a little different. These are sparkley. Oh, she was so excited about these that she didn't care how hot it was wednesday at school, she wanted to wear them. She was decked out with the sparkley jeans, silver shoes, silver sequin belt and her new t-shirt with the silver ladybug. Boy, she thought she was something!!!

Avery & Lila

Avery and Lila hit it off big time at Acey's party. They hung out the whole time. You would have thought they were best buds. It was cute. They had a good time!!

I'm Addicted . . .

to Facebook that is!! If you haven't done it then you really need to try it out!!! You will find everyone you have ever known on that thing. It is a little overwhelming to me and I am totally learning new things about it everytime I get on it but it is so much fun reading peoples profiles. Go to www.facebook.com and check it out!!!

Kiddie Photos

This is Brayden, Avery and their baby cousin, Myers who they can not keep their hands off of. Brayden was obsessed with holding him and Avery wanted to bring him home with us. Need less to say, I couldn't keep my hands off either.

Mama is so sneaky

Notice that she is waving to the picture hanging over the computer.

Does SIZE matter?

Not when you are talking about a snake. Yes, a snake. And yes, it was found inside my bedroom! ALIVE!! I went to pick some pillows up off the floor and it was lying there all cuddled up under the pillows. Gee, I wonder how long it has been there? Hmm . . . I would say a minute too long. I don't know what kind it is or how big it is going to be or if it is venimous or not . . . it doesn't belong inside. Especially in my bedroom NEXT TO MY SIDE OF THE BED. Avery of course thought it was so neat that there was a snake in the house. She just wanted to know where the mama was and how it got inside. Yeah, me too!! Although it was about 12 inches long, it's still a snake!

Gatti Town

Saturday night we had some family fun. The kids have been begging to go to Gatti Town. Unfortunately we chose to go on a busy night. Too bad you gotta pay for the nasty food. I wish you could just go and play game rather than making yourself sick off their food. Anyway, regardless of it being busy (which really wasn't too bad) we all had fun!

Our first soccer game . . .

Our team blew where the wind blew today. It was quite obvious we only practiced once before our first game. Regardless of the wind that Ike blew in and not having jerseys yet and only practicing one time . . . it was fun. The kids had a good time! We didn't walk away as the winning team but atleast they have winning attitudes.

Gearing up for soccer!

Well, I was hoping that he wouldn't ever want to play again but I figured I would atleast let him try it out once more to see how well (or bad) he actually is at soccer. It's been a while since we played so hopefully by now he understands that he is suppose to get in there and kick the ball, not just follow those that are kicking it.

He had his first soccer practice on Thursday and we have our first game on Saturday (and we don't even have jersey's yet). Talk about waiting to the last minute! Oh well, he seemed to enjoy it during practice. We will see how saturday's game goes.

Oh, notice the long skinny bird legs (and arms) . . . and no shinguards.

She is Obsessed . . .

I think we have listened to the Taylor Swift cd now for three days straight. I am just about tired of listening to her. When we are in the carpool line Avery likes to get up front and push all the buttons to the cd player and she will go through every song on that cd. Here, she had just put some of my lipstick on and you will notice how she has to check herself out in the mirror.

It's a Circus Out There!

Well, we just got back from the circus. Although Brayden was quite nervous about there being fireworks (which they did not have), everyone had a great time. Brayden laughed the whole time and talked about the circus the whole time and asked questions the whole time. It kept Avery's attention until intermission. Once it started back she was up and down in her seat playing with her glow-in-the-dark thingys that we went and bought at the Dollar Tree because mama is too cheap to buy those ridiculously overpriced gadgets.

Now, those of you who know Brayden real well i'm sure you know his favorite part was the elephants (even though I really think he liked everything about it). Avery, she just changes her mind on what she liked the best.

Since I intentionally forgot to bring the kids candy to the circus (that we got from the dollar store) I told Avery we could get some cotton candy. We fed the kids in the car on the way but me and Bryan had not had dinner yet so let me just say . . . the cotton candy was GOOD! You will notice the silly hat Bryan is wearing in the picture. That was part of the overpriced ($10) cotton candy which by the way I could have bought at the Dollar Tree for a BUCK!! The worse part is that the kids don't even want the hat!

Oh, and the best part of the whole circus. Let's put it this way, it was OUR grand finale of the night (thank goodness it happened in the last circus act and not the beginning). The little boy that was sitting right behind Brayden threw up all over his back!!! Yep!! I think the kids parents were in shock. They just sat there (like us in shock) (in the dark) with this blank look on their face like, what do we do? So Bryan says, "here's a cup". Little did Bryan know that when we were walking out I noticed he had it on his shirt too. So now you know what I did when I got home . . . washed clothes!

Regardless of the STINKY MESS, we still had a great time!!

As Avery calls it . . .

"Bass Crow Shop". That is where we ate dinner friday night. All week Brayden had been wanting to go there so we told him that would be his night to pick dinner. Of course everytime we walk through the doors you would think that is the first time we've ever been. They are in total awe over everything in there.

We met meme and pawpaw, David and Megan so we can all be a family as Avery said when she found out we were all going together. Once dinner was over naturally we had to look around and play the huntin' game a dozen times. That's always fun!!!

Story Time

Every Wednesday and Thursday is story time at the library. Avery loves to go and listen to Ms. June. Let me just say . . . Ms. June has GOT SOME PATIENTS. I would have had to jerk a knot in most of those kids by now if I was her. I guess that is why I am not a librarian. Anyway, she always reads them 3 books with dancing songs in between them or an activity where all the kids can participate plus a craft at the end which they all love. Today they paraded around the (children's) library with maraccas to some song I forgot. Ms. June is a hoot!! She does a GREAT JOB!!

Notice the kid at the end of the video . . . it's kinda hard to miss!

Oh, and Melanie, i'm still waiting for you to come. Don't worry about how your kids might act. You will think yours is one of the best once you see the rest!

All Quacked Up

Sunday afternoon Avery went outside to ride in the "red car". It didn't take her two seconds to come back in and let us all know that there were ducks in Max's yard (that is the dog next door). Of course the kids immediately ask for some bread. All I could think about was Gustav making a turn towards Mississippi and we would be out of power and that is all the bread we had. So like a nice mother would do, we sacrificed 4 pieces of bread. The kids thought it was the coolest thing that ducks walked over to their yard. Need less to say, Bryan got a few more pieces of bread later on because after the kids chased them off the first time the crazy ducks came back. Let me tell you, ducks are a poopin' machine. Wherever they walked they pooped. Bryan had to was the garage out.

This morning I went out to take the trash and the ducks were back. This time we gave them crackers. Avery wanted to pretend we lived on a farm. Those ducks were about as bad as a begging dog.

Working Overtime

Towards the end of the work week Bryan had asked me if we (me and the kids) would want to come to the office saturday and help out. Brayden and Avery love to go to the office and play around so I told him we would. Brayden went with Bryan earlier (around 6:30ish) and took the crazy dog.

Once Avery and I arrived around 9 Brayden had found a rolling cart he could race on. Avery thought that looked fun so she had to go find her one. Actually, if I could find one a little bigger for me then I probably would have participated. The only bad part of them playing around at the office is their nasty hands and feet.

After awhile Brayden and Avery decided they wanted to help out witht he machine . . . they loved that!! I think it made Brayden feel like a big boy and important.

Beauty Sleep

A Visit with the Thrailkill Family

This past sunday in bible study a sheet was passed around so we could sign up to take a meal to the Thrailkill family this week. Today was my day. I had racked my brain to figure out what to take them for dinner. I figured they were probably tired of lasagna and spaghetti and those types of "easy" meals. So I decided to fix chicken and dumplings.

I went to Walmart today to pick up a few things and decided to get a couple of frozen fajita packs just so they would have something different. When I told the kids we were going to take the Thrailkill family some dinner they were so excited! Brayden and Maddie were in four year old preschool together and were TIGHT! He just loved Maddie in school. Although Avery has never played with Maddie she was talking like they had known each other forever. She said, "Maddie is my bestfriend".

Anyway, when we got there the kids immediately left me to carry the food in so they could play with Maddie. Holly looked good! She was up walking around (with a limp of course) making cupcakes for one of the girls class snacks tomorrow. Graceyn was in the den sitting on the floor watching tv with Laurel. She looked so happy and content. Holly says she never complains about her condition. She is attending school this year at CMCC and they have been very accommodating to her situation. The only bad part is that she doesn't get to participate on the playground. She has to sit and watch while everyone else is running around having fun.

I asked Holly a question (can't remember what it was) but in a very nice way she made a comment about food and how the frozen meals were gone because that is what they would rely on when meals weren't coming in or someone would forget to come (talking about the night someone signed up for). For some reason that just stuck in my head. I thought to myself, how can someone forget about this family? They live such a simple life. No frills or fancy things. It's like I told my husband when I got home. Their microwave is probably 3 times smaller than ours. Here WE ALL are worried about what we want and what we have and what we are going to do and all this family needs is a meal. Nothing big or fancy. I think I am about to get off on a tangent here so all I am saying is, if you sign up to take them a meal please don't forget about them. God wants us to take care of our people, family, church family . . . whoever it is. Just because we don't hear about them as much now doesn't mean we can brush them under the rug.

As you approach their house they have posted in the yard a huge piece of plywood in big bold print "We love you and thank you" and they all signed it. So let's not think that they aren't greatful for what everyone has done.

You wouldn't want people to forget about you and your family. Would you??

Cowboy Birthday Party

Today the kids went to a birthday party where they had a TON of fun. At first I was afraid it would rain but it turned out to be beautiful. It wasn't too sunny and hot, there was an awesome breeze and it was outside on some pretty property. The kids were able to ride horses, practice roping, play on the swing set, play soccer and even play with the neighbors dogs. Oh, we even got to pick some pears from the pear tree.

I have to say Heather, I really enjoyed the party and I know for sure the kids had a BLAST! I still think you are totally crazy for not wanting to live out there. I would do it in a heart beat!!!

Now, don't laugh at me on the horse. I am so not a horse rider. I think they are pretty and would love to have one to LOOK AT. But I don't ride . . . I am scared of them! I really think I don't trust them.

The 4th picture is of Avery with her girlfriends, Reagan and Caroline.

The last picture is Avery and Caroline. They finally got the guts to ride together without mama.