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!!