Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas! What a beautiful day today!! Kate was the first up- a little after 6. She must of been really excited! Will woke up around 7, when I went up to get Kate for breakfast. Will was so excited. Said he was going to go down and check to see if Santa had come. I told him he had to wait. Ben wasn't up yet. So I went down with Kate and got her breakfast. While she was eating, I went to check on the boys. Ben was still asleep. We had to wake him. I don't think Will would have lasted much longer! So, down they came. What excited little faces! They saw their new castle first. Then off to the stockings. I know Santa was really good to them this year. I would have NEVER put that much candy anywhere near them! When Kate got down from breakfast, she looked at the tree and said 'WOW!' it was too cute. Then the boys recited the story of the first Christmas. Ron has been working with them and they can recite Luke 2:1-20. I can't even get it right but they did it perfectly. Just hearing their little voices say such important words brings tears to my eyes. Can't wait to show them the video when they get older!! Then it was off to open gifts. Will really wanted a new weedeater. His had broken last spring. Santas elves did the best they could and fixed his. Santa had none in his workshop this year. Those elves did a pretty good job! Ben was excited to get his football player that kicks a ball and Kate liked her new phone. After all the excitement of gifts, I made a big breakfast: belgium waffles, bacon, eggs... It was delicious. Even Cali and Molly got some breakfast- they were partial to the left over eggs!!

We have had a wonderful Christmas morning. Miss all the family and wish we were all together. We head over to our friends Jane and Chaps house this afternoon for a Christmas morning. So nice to have such great friends to share a day like this with!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

More Pictures

And The Stockings Were Hung...

What a great Christmas Eve. We spent the day having fun. Ron took the boys out for a while and Kate took a great 4 hour nap!! I was able to make a beautiful pumpkin cheesecake we will share on Christmas night with the Moore family. The boys watched a few Christmas shows and we made cookies. In the evening, we all got dressed and went to the Christmas Eve service at church. The boys really enjoyed it- at the end of the service, we lit candles and sang Silent Night. It was beautiful!! Ben said his favorite part was signing Away in a Manger. He learned it a preschool and just LOVES to sing!! When we got home, we had a dinner of appetizers. I just love this dinner! We had little smokies in blankets, cheese sticks, shrimp (which Will LOVED!), taquitos and mini pizzas. It was such fun! Then we got online and looked to see where Santa was. Norad is so cool. When Santa started heading our way (well, he was in Africa) Ben said he needed to get to sleep! So off they went after reading the Night before Christmas. Then, around 9pm, we heard sleigh bells outside- really loud sleigh bells. I ran up and got Will- he was not asleep yet (poor Benny was) and we went out on the front steps. There we saw Santa in a Firetruck driving around the neighborhood. It was SOOOO cool. Will was thrilled! What a great thing to see right before bed! We put cookies out and all went to bed. Waiting for Christmas morning!!

Singing Christmas Bears

Tuesday morning we all got ready and went uptown to see the Singing Bears. Every year these bears get all dressed up and put on quite a show with an orchestra and singers. We went with several of our friends, the boys had a picnic lunch, then we met Ron for lunch and ice cream (yes, ice cream- it was FREEZING outside, and Will still wanted ice cream!- Ben is more like me and thought it was much too cold- he settled for a corn muffin!!) Anyway, we had a great time- Kate really liked the bears. I think she will like them even more next year!

The Snack Goblin Strikes Again

Really, I do feed the girl! We keep the pantry locked because Kate really likes to go and scavange for food. Tonight, I was folding laundry in the living room and kept hearing something drop on the floor of the kitchen. I went in and there was Kate, sitting in the middle of a snack smorgasbord!

Gingerbread Lane

The boys made gingerbread houses this weekend (well, they were actually graham cracker houses- do you really think I have the time to make real gingerbread house???) and it was a liberating experience. This was the first time I allowed them to do it all by themselves. I had sugar crystals, icing and sprinkles all over the kitchen floor. The boys had a great time and Ron even got in on the fun. Will did the tall, skinny one and Ben's masterpiece is the short one.

What to do for Dinner on a Rainy Thursday Night

Ron had his office party tonight so I decided to take the kids to Chik-Fil-A for dinner. They were having a Santa's Workshop night with cookies to decorate and a Santa Cow for the kids. The boys really liked the Cow as we were the only ones there at 5:15 so the Santa Cow sat down to dinner with us and kept trying to sneak the boys dinner. Of course, the boys kept saying 'you need to go get your own dinner!' The boys may have liked the cow but Kate, she LOVED the cow. And I don't mean a little- she couldn't focus on eating because she was too busy looking at the cow, waving at him and yelling "GOW! GOW!!". She was so excited so I put her down to see if she would go over to him. She got about 5 feet from him and turned tail. Of course, she spent the next 30 minutes going back and forth over to the cow and waving. She, also, went up to one of the kids working (I say kid because, really, he couldn't have been 15) and grabed onto him until he picked her up. She was pleased as punch! So, after dinner, the boys made gingerbread men with more candy than they got at Halloween. They both said their tummys hurt when we got in the car. Who would have guessed!

Taking Care of My Teeth

Okay, oral hygene is a priority in our household. Kate is just the next one to fall victim to the obsession of tooth brushing!!! I had not taken her to brush her teeth- she went into the bathroom by herself and got her toothbrush!!

And the Stockings Were Hung

I have finally finished decorating for Christmas. It came much to quickly and being gone over Thanksgiving, no matter how fun it was, put me a week off! Just thought I'd share a couple of pictures. Notice on the tree how there are no ornaments below the 36 inch mark! Kate LOVES to pull the red beads off the tree!!

Happy Birthday, Ben (again!)!!

So, we had planned a party for Ben with his friends from the neighborhood for Decenber 6. Ben wanted a football theme so I made a cake that looked like a football field. His friends came over and they went to the playroom and played. It was great! I didn't even have to do the game I had planned. When 7 little boys and one little girl are playing nicely together, you surely don't rock the boat!! Anyway, we had a really nice time and Ben has the sweetest friends! Thanks to all who came!!

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday, Ben!!

This year, Ben's birthday fell on Thanksgiving day. We were in Chattanooga for the holiday and celebrated Ben's big 4 that day, too. I picked up some cupcakes and we sang happy birthday after lunch. For dinner, Great- Grannie, Great Ken, Mary, Mike and Jeff all came over. It was delicious!! We all ate too much, except for Will who would not try the yummy sweet potatos! One day he is going to love that food!!

To celebrate Ben's birthday, Gran invited all the family over for a party on Saturday and we had a great time! There was a beautiful cake and lots of fun new toys! It was great to see everyone in the extended family and get to show the kids off. Some had not seen Kate since last spring!

During our trip, we did the Greatful Gobbler walk for Hunger and took the boys to ride the Incline Railway up to Point Park on Lookout Mountain. That was a first for me and the boys. It sure was fun but, REALLY steep!! Check out the pictures!!

Will's Thanksgiving Program

The kindergarten classes at Will's school put on a show every year to celebrate Thanksgiving. They make Indian headresses, beaded shirts and bead necklaces. They learn several Thanksgiving songs and jokes. Titles included old favorites like: Albequerque Your My Turkey, Did the Pilgrams Eat pizza, and Two Magic Words. The show was put on in the college theater that is next to the school the last day of school before the holiday break. I took Kate and Ben- we had a great time. The show lasted about 20 minutes and was such fun. I have attached a short clip of one of the songs.

Family Night as Wee School

I know it has been a while. I am just now catching up with what has been going on over the last month. I will start with family night at Ben's preschool. Just wanted to share this video. They are singing a song called 'Go and Tell'. They are screaming (and that is what it sounded like) 'Jesus said, 'Go and Tell.' Jesus said 'Go and tell good news!'. We had no idea what they were singing until we asked Ben after the show. It was absolutly impossible to understand what they were saying but it was pretty cute!!

Kate's New Outfits

Just wanted to share the too cute outfit my brother Trey and his wife Jenny got Kate for her birthday. She was just so sweet in this!! Thanks Trey and Jenny.

Some Kids Sell Lemonade...

Mine sell leaves! Will decided today (after Ron had spent the morning rakeing and mowing the yard) that he would collect a bunch of leaves and sell them to people that came by the yard. Unfortunately for him there was only one sale- to me, of course. And I had to explain to him why no one was stopping even thought he was ringing his bell and blowing a horn. First off no one was out today. And, secondly, I pointed out the huge truck across the street that had just picked up all the leaves from the neighbors house. Not really a market here for leaves. Bless him!!

Three Kids in a Tub

Well, with all the new bath toys, we had to take a bath tonight and the boys HAD to play with all the new toys! New toys are a lot of fun- even if they are girl toys!

Kate's Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Kate's first birthday with the family. Grandma, Papa, Gran and Peter came into town to help us celebrate. We had a little party for her this afternoon with cake and presents. I made two cakes. One for our little angel to smear all over the place (yeah, right) and the other for us all to enjoy. As apparent from the picture, Kate was less than excited about the cake! She wanted NOTHING to do with it. Instead, she had some grapes and banana. What a little health nut!She got some really great gifts! New bath toys, a couple of dolls, a little doll house and lots of cute clothes- including the cutest darn red fleece pea coat!The boys made her little cards and Will wraped up a leaf he found! We had a great time and Kate, really liked her new things! What a fun day!

Last Soccer Game

Will's last soccer game.

Getting his first Trophy! What an exciting day!

The Mighty Cameroon Tigers


So, today Will had his last soccer game of the season which means- he finally got his trophy!! He has been asking about this since the first game! Mom and Daddy came up to see his last game (are in town for Kate's big day) and Will had a great game. He scored one assisted goal and had 10 goals for the season! Great work for the first time he played! He had a great time and had a fantastic coach and teamates!

Will Needs a Haircut... So Does Ben

So, do you think Will could use a haircut?

He pulled these velcro rollers out and had them all in

his hair. Just had to get a picture. And, yes, we have

gotten his hair cut! He looks like a little man!

AND..

Ben could use one, too!

Happy Birthday, Kate!!!

What is with this bow???

Sunday afternoon on the Couch

So, Ben is feeling a bit under the weather today. He is laying on the couch and watching- FOOTBALL. I said he could watch a show and he wanted to watch football. Funny little boy!

Ben's Big News

Well, Ben's big news: He stopped sucking his thumb cold turkey! He came to the top of the stairs last Sunday Night and announced that he was not sucking his thumb up here! He was so proud and we couldn't be prouder of him. I told him that if he could go without sucking his thumb until Friday morning (that included naps) that he could go get the bug eye glasses he wanted. So, Friday morning, after we did carpool, I took Ben to get his bug glasses. He was so excited and wore them to his celebratory lunch at McD's and all day long. Can't believe he decided to do this! We had been talking about how when he turned 4 he was going to have to stop. So, I guess we shouldn't be too suprised. But, we are and are SO proud!

More Halloween

Here are a few pictues my friend Jane took on Halloween: (I won't tell you what I had to crop out of the picture of Kate HAHA!)

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween! We went to a party at one of our neighbors and then Ron took the boys trick or treating. They had a fantastic time and came home with more candy that I thought was possible! Here are a few pictures...