December 31, 2007

Tale of the Teeth

Most of you probably know about our tooth troubles by now, but I finally got some pictures as evidence. A quick version of the story is that T fell on the edge of the bathtub and broke off both of his front teeth. He was in a little physical pain, but I was in a terrific amount of emotional distress!! We have been to the pediatric dentist twice already and will know exactly how we will remedy this situation after our third appointment in mid-January.

Check out this Arkansas-looking-smile!


That's JACKED up!

For weeks before Christmas, Brandon and I shopped for the perfect gifts for our children. We wanted our kids to be overwhelmed with joy on Christmas morning. Santa didn't just buy the first bicycle and tricycle he came upon. He researched, he shopped the Internet, he debated an over protective mommy, and he drove to faraway places (Longview) to get the perfect ones. Brandon and I (and Santa) felt very confident that we had hit the mark and were anticipating the look of pure joy on our boys' faces that morning.

Our boys WERE very excited and overjoyed at all that Santa had brought. They seemed to love every bit of it. HOWEVER, soon after the Santa festivities were over, my in-laws arrived with their presents for their only grandchildren. Grana had shopped well in advance and gotten some pretty neat stuff. Then PawPaw presented a gift that I am most positive he had shopped for approximately 12-18 hours prior to this moment. I knew I was about to be overshadowed because I had been warned by my mother-in-law that every year he did this when Brandon was younger. After she shopped for weeks for all these great gifts, he would go on Christmas Eve and buy some amazing toy that totally took the cake---you know, a four wheeler or motorcycle.

Z opened the package and was ECSTATIC. It was a hydraulic jack! If you know my child, then you understand and have no questions on why a four year old would need a jack. In case you don't know us personally, let me expain this jack a little further. It is a real-deal-jack-your-car-up kind of tool. PawPaw has one at his house and Z uses it regularly to jack his hummer, four wheeler, or gator up to "work on them". Now, my friends, he has his very own. He took it out of the box and began using it with perfection, all the while, the toys we so proudly presented were sitting there sadly.

Christmas afternoon I naively asked Z what his favorite gift was. He answered, "Definitely my jack!"

Oh really??

I think I'll go to Home Depot next year on Christmas Eve to do my shopping...maybe I can catch a ride with my father-in-law!

More Christmas

I am really slow with posting all my Christmas pictures, but here are a few more. These are from Christmas Eve lunch at Sister's house and then Christmas Eve dinner at my Dad's. My favorite picture in the whole bunch is the one of Z opening his boots. He was THRILLED to say the least!

December 26, 2007

Family Christmas

Christmas with Brandon's extended family was faithful in providing all the things we have come to know and love about get togethers at his parents' house.

Good food-including Mrs. Crumpler's adorable and delicious cookies.


A friendly game of football



Lots of kids, presents and FUN!

Santa Excitement

Here are some of the pictures we took during our preparations for the Big Guy's visit and then from our early morning fun. Enjoy!

December 25, 2007

In The Ring

Brandon's cousin, Clayton, came over to play with the boys while he was in town. As it always does, it turned into an all out boxing match!






The last picture is of Megan, Clayton's darling girlfriend. Her picture really has no significance in this boxing post, but she is one of my most faithful readers so I thought she deserved to be included!:)

Thank heavens that the boys got a punching bag from Santa so that when Clayton's not around they will have something to practice on!

Favorite Wreath

One of my favorite things during the Christmas season is receiving Christmas cards. I anticipate getting my mail each day. I love seeing all of my friends' kids who we don't see often and how much they have grown since last year. I save all my cards from every year and I look forward to looking through them every year when we pull out all of our decorations.

Several years ago I saw an idea in a magazine to put your cards on a wreath to display. I started doing it that year and it grows every year. The past 2 years I have had to add a memo board behind the wreath to accommodate more pictures. I thought you guys may like to see the finished product as of Christmas morning.

December 23, 2007

Merry Christmas!

We are filled to the top with church, family, food, gifts and all the other wonderful things that Christmas entails. Because Santa stopped by a little early with a fancy smancy camera for me, I have TONS of pictures to post already...however, I don't know how to download them yet. I will have lots to add to this little blog when things calm down, but for now I wanted to share this neat video clip that I saw on another blog. It is only about 3 minutes long, but I think it speaks volumes.

Merry Christmas!

December 17, 2007

Happy Birthday, Lexie!

Today is one of our cousin's 5th birthday. Yesterday we went to Tyler to celebrate with her at Jumpin' Jacks Party Shack. The boys had a blast and I think Lexie had a good time, too!





Playdate with Jackpaw




Z looked forward all week to a playdate with Jackpaw and KK. I discovered why when KK called to say that Jackpaw was coming to get him--in the helicopter... and yes, we live less than 5 minutes from them! Anyway, once I told Z that Jackpaw was coming, he got dressed and put his backpack on and wore it for over an hour waiting to hear the chopper overhead. When we finally heard it, he ran out, jumped in and they headed off for their playtime.

(Z had to go KK's house to assist her in decorating her gingerbread house. She has made one for over 15 years, but he seemed to think she wouldn't be able to complete it this year without her.)

A few hours later they called to say they were in route back to our house. I think their total flight time was about 2 minutes. They landed in the backyard and out jumped my baby boy. He loved every minute of it!

Girlfriends


Saturday night my group of friends from high school got together for a girls night. We have not missed celebrating Christmas together since we graduated from high school. I don't know if there has ever been a year when we were all able to make it, but it is always a fun time. We had such a great time reminiscing on all the wild times we had in junior high and high school. Now that the majority of us are mommies, we were analyzing and laughing about our parents tactics growing up. We found it hilarious all the things we admitted when we weren't actually busted. We just hope our kids have that guilty conscience that we all had!

Thanks to Stacie for hosting a wonderful night!

December 13, 2007

O Christmas Tree...

Z had a very exciting and GREAT first week at his new school. (After much prayer and consideration, we enrolled him in a new school.) We went on his first ever field trip to the Christmas tree farm on Tuesday. Even humid, rainy weather couldn't put a damper on our fun day.

We started off at Brain Gym where Z was the flag helper for morning assembly. Then we were off to the tree farm. The kids loved picking out a tree, seeing a stick house that the Big Bad Wolf blew down, visiting the Enchanted Forrest, enjoying a hayride and then eating their lunches on the trailer, roasting marshmallows, and playing on the playground in Fort Tranquility. There were also all kinds of animals there--geese, a llama, goats, chickens, a pony, and a very friendly dog. Z's favorite part was probably getting to use a "real saw" to help cute down the tree and yelling "TIMMMMM-BERRRRR" as it fell.

Nap Time

When I toured Kidfirst before signing T up for their program, I cracked up when the director showed me how they nap. She explained that they line up miniature cots in a large room and the little toddlers climb on their cots and snooze away. She said she couldn't explain why it worked, but it was almost always successful. I will have to admit I had serious doubts.

The first day and every day since that T was at Mother's Day Out, his teacher has reported that he had a great nap. I was surprised, but I guess I never truly believed it until I saw for myself on Tuesday when I arrived a little early for pick up.

What a precious, precious sight...


One Cute Rudolph


This was after Rudolph Day at Brain Gym. I think he is adjusting well to his new school!

December 12, 2007

Update

My stepsister, Brandi, got out of the hospital yesterday!! She's no joke, ya'll! She had no time for lying around in her pity and just got to work on healing herself. My stepdad, Mark, was just bragging to me about her last night...she hasn't complained, whined, or felt sorry for herself for a minute. She has been a model patient and was able to come home less than 3 weeks after her accident.

THANK YOU so much to all who prayed for her recovery. She is still in a wheel chair and has to continue rehab for a while before she will be up and about, so please continue to ask God for great healing in her legs.

What a blessing! Welcome home, Brandi! I know those babies (and hubby) were happy to have their mama spending the night in their house last night!

December 10, 2007

Dear Santa...




Since we know that Santa is surely tech-savvy, we are writing our letter to him and posting it here on our family's blog. I am writing this exactly as it is dictated by the 4 year old leader of our household.



Dear Santa,

I want a big, new bicycle WITH a kick stand and a punching bag. Bring Trent a tricycle. And I want a green motorcycle like at Grandmaw's.

Large pause here while he is thinking...

Still thinking...


How many things can I ask for?

I want to ask for 3 things.

Now send this to the North Pole. I can make a new list on a different day.

Love,
Z

Mama, we can tell him all your stuff a different day.

December 8, 2007

Puppy Love

Z and T got to visit Grana's friend, Mrs. Jan, recently. Her daughter was in town with her dogs and ALL their puppies. My boys just loved it! I can't believe we didn't end up with one! Thanks to Casey for all these great pictures of the day.

December 7, 2007

Like Father, Like Son

Go check this out. I can't deny where my boys get their cuteness!

December 3, 2007

Take a Hike

Z and I did something on Saturday afternoon that we have wanted to do since we moved into our house. We hiked all the way to Jackpaw and KK's. I couldn't tell you how far it is exactly, but I can say it's through about 4 or 5 pastures. It was fun-it took us about an hour. Z was tired and had fallen in some briers so we called Jackpaw to meet us on the edge of his land. My little guy's legs were worn out!

Here we are before our trek. Z packed his toy gun in my backpack and told me that it was the "most importantest thing in the whole world."

He found these "mini pumpkins" (which my dad later told me were poisonous). We were smart enough not to eat them.

Z said that this was the "world's largest sticker bush"

Apparently another mama and her boy were taking a hike at the same time.

We had to use the branches of this tree to get across a little stream. This was the highlight for Z. He thought he was Diego.

By the way, it was not very cold...Z just thought that hat was necessary for his hike.

Lead foot

Sister and I both were pulled over by cops on Friday. Somehow, we both escaped getting a ticket. I was telling my stepdad about our little mishaps and he was commenting how much my mom, sister and I get pulled over and how much money we pay in fines. He cracked me up when he said, "If ya'll stopped driving they would have to raise taxes."

By the way, he has gotten ONE ticket in his lifetime and he can tell you who, what, when (1960 something), where, and how fast...and I am pretty sure it somehow wasn't his fault!

Christmas Parade

My mom, Sister and I took the kids to the MP Christmas Parade on Saturday. Z refused to go because he heard Santa may make an appearance and he is weird like that. He missed a fun time!

Sister and I with the kiddos. We had my step sister's little girl, Addie, with us. Not sure why Katie is holding her ears...may have been the fire trucks.





Our favorite Christmas Queen, Emma. There were a LOT of queens to choose from.

This was my sister's favorite float...She had a surprise meeting with this exact fellow just 24 hours prior to the parade. She was so thrilled to see him again...this time without his lights on pursuing her vehicle.