Christmas Pictures 2012

For a few years now we have been doing pictures of the kids for my in-laws. This year it was just really hard to get all of the grandkids together at the same time. So we had shirts made with each grandchild's age and did individual pictures to go in a big frame. We did them outside on a chilly day with temps somewhere in the 30s. Brrr.

We had them wait in the car until it was their turn. Can you tell she is cold?

I almost have two teenagers...tear.

My Little Bit is not very little anymore.

It was a cold day, but the kids were great. Not many complaints. They usually are really great with all of our ideas, even if they seem crazy. :) It was really too cold to play outside. So, we took quick pictures and left. The pictures turned out great!

We also had some fun!

We had a great Christmas. We had some amazing family time. I just haven't had the time or energy to blog. Hopefully, I will get back on track soon.

A God Full of Surprises

You guys probably know that I have an amazing nephew who is waiting for a heart and double lung transplant. His name is Weston and he is 6 years old. He is such a wonderful little kid. (If you would like to know all the specifics of his story you can join his Facebook page Praying for Weston.)

He has been in the hospital this time for over 17 months. There have been times when we weren't sure he was going to make it. However, he is so strong and such a fighter. I did not see how he could leave the hospital before he received his transplant. Well, our God is full of surprises and miracles! Today our sweet boy left the hospital.

I am full of emotions about him leaving the hospital. I am happy, nervous, excited, joyful, and nervous... I cannot even image how my bother and sister-in-law are doing. And Weston! He went into the hospital 17 months ago when he was 4. Wow. Since I learned he may get to leave the hospital I have been praying so hard for him to be able to have a smooth transition. Here is he outside of the hospital. It was so surreal seeing this picture today.

All I can say is thank you for all of your prayers and kind words. And also thank you, God, for being full of surprises. What a mighty God we serve!

12

Today is the day that my "baby" boy is 12. 12?! How can it be? I still can't believe it. He is such a sweet boy. He is very kind. He is extremely funny and silly. God truly blessed us with him. We got together with family last night to celebrate his birthday. He wanted breakfast for supper. So, we had waffles and cereal. Then, because we hadn't had enough sugar, we had cake!

It was the birthday boy's idea to get a cookie cake and make it look like pizza. It turned out really cool. The sauce is red icing. The cheese is grated white chocolate. The pepperonis are flattened red gum drops. The sausage is crumbled up Reese's peanut butter cups.

My mother-in-law also made some Rice Krispy treats dipped in white chocolate. She colored the chocolate yellow to make them look like Pikachu. They turned out awesome!

Happy birthday to my boy! We love you!

Jordyn Wieber Gymnastic Clinic

Katelyn has been loving gymnastics. Sometimes she doesn't want to go to practice. I think she prefers one on one time with her coach. They had a clinic at the gym with Jordyn Wieber, the Olympic Gold Medalist. :) Here is Jordyn talking with my boss.

They split the kids up into several different groups. They rotated between different events. I explained to my gymnast that they couldn't all be with Jordyn at the same time because they would have to wait a long time. She understood that. Here she is working on the beam with a very serious face. Love her!

They learned a little dance to the hand jive. It was super cute!

Handstand competition was one of Little Bit's favorite parts.

 It is hard to believe that this girl is only 17.

 My hubby and I were able to go together. It was so much fun watching all of the girls with Jordyn. I don't think she had her medal. Hmmm....wonder where she keeps it...

Fall Break

We have had a great fall break. A full week this year. We are at the end of our break. We were able to go to my mom's for a few days. We had SO much fun. I was able to see several people in my family, a good friend, and get some pumpkin pie. My grandma knows what I like. :) I was so busy having fun and visiting that I took zero pictures. Ugh! 

On our way home from my mom's, we stopped by my sister-in-law's new place. The kids were very excited to see each other. I did snap some pictures with my phone during our visit. 

Kids Playing

Snuggling with Doodle

More Snuggles

My Doodlebug with Little Doodle

We were able to stay for a couple of hours and then headed the rest of the way home. We have been just hanging out at home, going to work, and of coarse band practice. Two more competitions  left in this season. And then begins the winter guard season... We are busy, but trying to enjoy every minute. 

Good News

I received a message while I was at work from my doctor's office. It was a short and sweet message. The nurse said that I have no new lesions and the MRI looked stable. Woohoo!! Praise God! Thanks again for all of your prayers.

First Competition of 2012

The marching band had their first competition on Saturday. Their show is called "Alice." I think it is  a great show. The color guard is Alice. Their uniforms are super cute and look really good on the field. I will have to get a better picture of the full uniform. I got this pic off of Facebook.

They performed very well. I thought they were the best! They placed second in their class and received best visual. I think their show was so great. And it was only the first competition so they are going to keep getting better. It really is amazing to see what these kids can do. I am so proud of all of them, especially this one. :)

Follow-Up Appointment

I had a follow-up appointment with my neurologist yesterday. It had been about 7 months since my last one. First of all, how long do you wait in the exam room until you poke your head out and make sure they haven't forgotten you? 20 min? 30? I decided to just wait it out. Doc came in and after a brief exam, he thinks I am still doing well. He wants me to continue what I am doing. He did order an MRI because it has been over a year since my last one. If that one comes back ok, then I don't have to see him again for a year. I can come back sooner if there are any issues, but he thought everything is looking pretty good. I am feeling relieved to have that part of it finished. I am still going to be a little nervous until my MRI results come back. I'm not extremely patient or good with the unknown. (Working on getting better.) I will post another update in a week or so after I hear about the results. Thanks for the prayers!

Our Non-Camping Labor Day Weekend

We had plans to go camping for the holiday weekend. Well, there was a little problem with these plans called Hurricane Isaac. There was a 70% chance of rain and storms. So, we decided to skip the camping. Storms in a tent are no fun!

Saturday night we got the local family together to eat and play games. The kids played Monopoly and some video games. The adults played Apples to Apples. It is a fun game that always leads to lots of laughter.

Sunday, we went to church and had a wonderful service. We went to Taco Bell afterwards. My kids say it is kinda tradition. I may take them there way too much. :) We went home after lunch and just relaxed. It was a good day.

Monday, the kids and I worked on the house most of the day. I am trying to clean the kitchen tile and grout. It wasn't sealed when we bought it and apparently you are supposed to do that. Who knew?! We also went to a local church's family day. They had tons of bounce houses, petting zoo, pony rides, food, dunk houses. They had activities you could do inside, too. One station was make your own duct tape wallet. 

Another was make your own slime. That one was messy! They came in little bags, but got transferred when we got home. Little Bit said then she could poke it easier that way.

We were very disappointed that we could not go camping. However, I think we still had a great weekend. My favorite part may have been playing Apples to Apples. What was your favorite part of Labor Day weekend?

I Can Do It All

Well, actually, I can't do it all. I WANT to do it all. I WANT to be supermom. But I can't. It is impossible. Here are some recent examples. I forgot to eat dinner the other night. (Who does that?!) I remembered the kids, but forgot about my own food. Yesterday, I almost couldn't stay awake helping my little bit with her homework so I laid down for a quick nap. One school was having a PTO meeting at 5 and another was needing help around 6:45. I slept until after 6. So, I missed the PTO meeting entirely and I decided not go to the other school. I was feeling guilty and I like to help out. But I realized that I can't do it all. I worry all the time about what people think about me. When in reality they probably don't have time in their busy lives to be thinking about me or if they do, what does it matter? I need to focus on what is important in my life. God being on the top of that list, then family and others. Now is this going to be the cure for my desire to do it all?? No, probably not. I am sure I will be struggling to overcome this for most of my life. I need to remember the Bible says I can do all things THROUGH Christ. It doesn't say I can do everything all on my own. How about you? Do you ever try to do it all?


"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil 4:13 

Fancy Hair

Today's special hair is brought to you by Pinterest. I try to do a little something from Pinterest every so often because it makes me feel better about all the time I waste spend researching.

What have you tried from Pinterest lately?

Zoo

We had a fun outing to the zoo the other day. It was a last minute decision. Heard the weather was going to be nice and wanted to be outside.

Baby Giraffe 

Adorable!

Smiles!

Love the elephants

"Sleeping"

We love the zoo. We all love the animals. And the kids love to climb on everything there. They have a buffalo, a rhino, and an elephant.

This is an old picture, but a perfect example.

There are a couple of playgrounds the kids like to play on, too. We received passes for Christmas to the zoo and science center. They make it so nice because you can go for as long as you want. If we go for just a short time or if it begins to rain it isn't a big deal. Love, love, love the zoo!

Fashion Girl

I love my little fashion girl. 

She has her own style.

She loves dresses and skirts and all things girly.

She makes me smile.

I love my little fashion girl.

My Gym Angel

Look at my Little Bit in her new performing team leotard.

Each team has a different color shorts. Isn't she adorable! We had our first performance and she did fantastic. I am so proud of her!

Little Fish

My Little Bit is taking swim lessons. She is loving it. I just wanted to post a video to show our extended family.

Just one more...

She is just too cute. :)

Pottery Update

Here are a few pictures of our finished pottery.

My daughter's adorable owl

My soup mug

The heart inside my mug

My daughter's friend made this ice cream.

My mother-in-law's flower pot

My daughter used her finger to make the lady bugs. I think they turned out awesome!

Dress Like a Cow...

...and get free chicken. Here is just couple of pics of the kids at Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a.

It may sound crazy for free chicken, but it really was a lot of fun.

Fun with the Girls

My in-laws have planned some summer activities with the kids. Mainly camping. However, storms were on the forecast. So we had a day of girl fun. First we went to Krispy Kreme. Always yummy. Next we went to a pottery place. You pick your pottery and paint it. Then about a week later you come back to get it.  The girls picked an owl and an ice cream cone.

My mother-in-law with her flower pot

Girls trying to act natural

After pottery, we went to Chick-fil-a and had lunch. Our next stop was cosmic golf and laser tag. We all played cosmic golf. It was putt putt with black lights. And the younger two played a game of laser tag.

When we were at Chick-fil-a we noticed that it was cow appreciation day. If you came dressed like a cow you got free food! We decided to end the night by going back to Chick-fil-a for dessert. We met some of the other family out there. They came out in their finest cow spots! 

Library Fun

We went to the library the other day because Junie B. Jones was there. She is a character in a line of books. They had Junie there with her bus and her bus driver.

She had her big pink trunk of junk with her and had a little show and tell of all the things in it.

After that we went outside and saw Junie's bus. They had popsicles and a craft and bubbles. 

They also had balloon animals. The girls got rabbits and my boy got a freeze ray.

We had a fun time. I really do love the library. It is truly one of my favorite places. :)