Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Birthday-- A packed trip!

We had a great Thanksgiving with my family in Arkansas! It is really neat to watch the interaction with our kiddos and family that they don't see that often. Especially how they play with their cousins. They all played so good together.

This is a pic of K playing with her baby dolls in the pack-n-play. She stayed in it for 30 - 45 minutes at a time. She put the babies to bed and then layed down with them and then played some more with them. It was too cute!

E was on a kick to fix peoples hair during the day on Thursday. She went around with a water bottle and brush asking each person if she could fix their hair. There were very few brave souls that allowed this. My brother, Uncle B, was one who did. Of course, the two that did allow it, had worn a baseball cap, and could put it back on after the styling was complete! My Uncle R also offered to let E fix his hair, but when he took off his cap, she declined, as their was very, very little to "fix".

E weilding her brush to her Uncle B's hair.


E spraying Uncle Bo with the water bottle. (This is her great uncle, my uncle! Can you believe you have the title of great uncle?)


We also celebrated C's birthday while we were in Arkansas. I like to do this with my side of the family, so that they can see him open his presents, at least every other year.

This is C with his "I can play" guitar. He plugs it into the TV and rock it!

We also celebrated Christmas with my parents and the cousins. E received some fingernail polish and lip gloss as one of her presents. On Friday night, she found some willing participants who let her paint their nails-- my uncle did make sure that it could be gotten off later.

Uncle Bo getting his manicure!

Aunt B getting her nails done!

Before we left Saturday morning, C & E had me taking pics of them with everyone that was there so that they could have it to look back on. Here is one I snapped with five of the six grandkids. (All except the youngest.)

We had a great Thanksgiving, a safe trip, a wonderful Christmas, a good Birthday party and tons of fun! We also fit family pictures in there on Friday morning. And some shopping too. An eventful and packed trip, wouldn't you say?!

Have a blessed day!

Turkeys, turkey trot, and more

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am going to attempt to catch up on some blogging.

This is a pic of C with a homework project for school. His assignment was to use the copied turkey they sent home and decorate it with whatever materials they chose. They "dressed" the turkey. Then, they hung them on the wall at school. It was a family project that all could contribute help.

Here is a pic of E at her Academy Kid's feast. I got to run over to her table for a few minutes after I got Pre-K settled with their feast. The kiddos were so cute dressed up in Native American Indian and pilgrim outfits.

Tuesday afternoon, at C's school, they had a Turkey Trot Race. Parents and family were welcome to come and watch their child run the race. It was fun to see him run the race.

C crossing the finish line. K and I crossed the finish line with him. His daddy ran beside him for some of the race around the course.

E at her Thanksgiving feast at Barn School. I wasn't able to attend this feast, but left my camera for another parent to snap a few pics for me.

E dressed as a Native Indian.

When we picked E up, I snapped this pic with E and C dressed as Pilgrims.

Have a blessed day!

A Friend's b-day party

Today, we went to a friend's birthday party. The kids got to pet and feed the animals at the petting zoo, enjoy the bouncehouse, play on the playground (including the gigantic sandbox), and do all of the regualar b-day party things! They enjoyed themselves so much! We are actually going to have C's sixth birthday party there, too!!! And that is in under a month, so I need to get busy on those invitations!!!

Hay ride time:

K in sand box. She stayed in here most of the time.

C in sand box. The playground has lots of really neat metal toys on it. They are the old fashioned kind-- so sturdy and the kids love them. (The petting zoo will be open to the public shortly and available for rent for b-day parties or other events. If you are interested, let me know and I'll give you the contact info :))

Have a blessed day!

My husband's new car!

Well, we finally made the plunge this weekend! It was time to get my husband a new car. We bought a 2010 Toyota Prius. Here is some pics I snapped of the car and of my husband with the car!

Have a blessed day!

Dentist Appointments

We had dentist appointments set up for all three of my kiddos recently. I was dreading taking them. C has been going since he turned three, every six month, and he has always thrown a fit about going. They would have to hold him down just to let the dentist do a visual of his mouth to make sure there were no obvious cavities. And they had never been able to clean or take x-rays of his teeth because of how he reacted. I can remember vividly one appointment with him-- I was very pregnant with K and had to lay on the table, with my feet wrapped around his legs and my arms restraining his arms. I think we had three hygenists and the dentist working with him. So-- I do not look forward to taking my kiddos to the dentist!

This appoinment went so, so much better! I was so relieved and pleased with the way they all three did. Below are the pics I snapped!

They even got a toy for being good out of the bargain! Sometimes bribing is well worth it!

C has to have four teeth pulled as he already has two permanent teeth in behind his baby teeth. They just didn't push them out of the way. That is next week!

Have a blessed day!

Happy Halloween!

Here is pics of my kiddos on Halloween. We went with a group of kids from playgroup and knocked doors for trick or treating. Then, we came back to the house and the kiddos enjoyed cupcakes and handing out the candy to trick or treaters. I think this is my kids favorite part!

K rode in the stroller most of the way! She sure did hold onto her bag tight and knew where the candy was supposed to go.

My police officer:

My princess:

Enjoying cupcakes:

The Jack-O-Lantern that my husband and kiddos did Saturday afternoon.

Handing out candy to trick-or-treaters:

Have a blessed day!

E collects most for missions and halloween costumes

E's rainbow class (and all of the missionettes) has been collecting money for missions. E collected the most money of all of the girls and boys in her class and in the whole missionettes group! She received a prize for her efforts and got recognized in front of the group! She was so proud, as are we!!!

E receiving her prize kitty cat!

E with her prize!

The group of top collectors:

Today, we went to our local Kroger where they had a trick or treat time. The kids dressed up in their costumes and Kroger had one game set up, free cookies in the bakery, and trick or treat candy in the dairy department. I needed to get a few things anyway, and figured any excuse to get the kiddos out in their costumes was good. They had fun and loved wearing their costumes.

I snapped a few pics before we left.

C: my policeman!

K: my little lady bug!

E: Our princess! She also wants to be a princess when she grows up!

Pin the nose on the pumpkin:

Shopping: We got lots of compliments!

Have a blessed day!

Weekend Camping Trip

My two guys went on a camping trip this weekend. They spent two nights at Joe Pool Lake with a group of other 5-8 year old boys and their dads from our church. They used our new tent and enjoyed this cold weather we have been getting! I think it got down to around 40 degrees the first night, but at least the rain held off while they were there! I sent plenty of warm clothes and blankets to keep them bundled up good.

They had so much fun and came home overflowing with stories about their camping adventures. On Saturday, they went on a two and a half mile hike through the woods! The boys got to use their walking sticks they had made to help them along the trails. C also took my binoculars so that he could spot things way in the distance. He also took a telescope he recently acquired at a yard sale and the boys all had fun gazing at the stars (at least once!).

C with his walking stick on their hike:

He fell in the mud and got his pants and hands all muddy!

They had campfires each night and even cooked a meal directly on the fire using foil packets!

C all bundled up and ready to sleep! My husband said that C went right to sleep each night, he was so worn out! He said that a lot of the boys were asking to go to bed way before bedtime!

Bro. D used the sword for an illustration in one of his devotions. Each boy got to hold the sword and pose for a pic.

C somehow ended up with a scratch across his face! No telling how it got there or how it happened.

Sitting on the bank by the stream.

C wading in the stream.

C is ready to go back to camp anytime!

My husband had a rather unfortunate incident with the only pair of shoes he took on the trip. As you can see in the picture below, the shoes fell apart--literally! He said by the end of their hike, parts of the sole were coming lose and coming out.

So, what do you need? Some duct tape, of course!!! Once they got back to the camp, he duct taped them back together. Guess it is time for some new shoes!!!



Have a blessed day!!!