Happy Valentine's Day!

I know!  Three posts in less than four month-spaced increments...nobody freak out.  We all just need to stay really calm and read on.  Yes, yes I did just type that.

The hearts in the pots are the extent of my Valentine's decorations this year.  It is better than the previous year that had a whole lotta nada.

Now I must share my roadside find.  Can you believe someone threw out that mid century modern shelf/curio cabinet?!?!?!  Admittedly is was broken on one side, but I showed it some drilling, wood glue and dowel rod love and then put the same on the other side so it would look the same and it is good as new!  I love me some trash to treasure!  It is supposed to have sliding glass doors on the front, but only one of the pieces of glass was still intact.  I may or may not try and get another made and reinstall them.  I also may just use that brown board stuff hanging out against the wall to the left there (can't remember what its called right now) and make 2 door panels with recessed pulls...or I may just leave it open like this...  I don't know yet.  It is completely awesome regardless and I am loving it!  When I get our bedroom sorted out, I'll take pics in there to show what I did with the entryway table I built back in the summer.  I feel like my Heavenly Daddy just gives me a kiss and says, here ya go..here's a gift for you, when my path intersects with fun finds like this.  I know it seems like an odd gift to some, but its along the same lines as Sam giving me power tools and gadgets as gifts.  I'm just that kind of woman.

I decided to split up the kids into separate rooms again.  It seems to be working better.  I found a full-sized bed for the girls room.  I was going to try and find a set of bunk beds for them, but realistically, they wouldn't sleep in them.  They would end up on the floor.  Plus, we really need something for when people come to visit and stay the night.  So far the full size has worked very well...once they actually go to sleep.  I'm having lots of fun putting both of the rooms together.  Today, I am in the process of putting together a paper chandelier for the girls/guest room.  This is my inspiration:

photo by Ashley Ann Photography - http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/2009/06/30/entering-the-girl-world-the-nursery/

Its so, so pretty!  I really love how she pulled all of the elements together in her nursery. I have plenty of paper pom-poms from previous birthdays, but I wanted to add a few of these:

(the link for this is ladybird-ladybird-paige.blogspot.com , but the blog is no longer there...)

So, this is my version:

I was finally able to use up quite a bit of scrap book paper I've collected over the years.  I'm hoping I get to finish out the whole thing today some time, but well, it may run over into tomorrow's activities.

I still have a bedspread/quilt to either buy or make for the bed.  I decided on the fabric for the curtains, but still have to go buy it and sew them up.  I still haven't decided on a rug, but I've got a couple to choose from in my stash and if those don't work, then I'll be on the look out for a new one.  Then, I'll deal with the walls and what to put on them.  No biggie, right?!

Last night, when the girls finally went to sleep, I got some sleeping pics of them.  I attempted to do the same with the boys, but there was no light at all in their room.  Then we had a bit of an impromptu photo shoot.

I would just like to point out that not one time did I use an emoticon in this post....not once!  It was a struggle, but I proved it is possible.  In future, I will probably overcompensate for this post with random, ill-placed smiley/frowny/disturbed faces in other posts....it'll make me feel better.

A Visit, Strep and Some Surprises

My mom came in for a quick visit over the weekend.  Braden had remarked about having a headache and then later a sore throat.  I was thinking it might just be drainage because we were all dealing with that a bit.  Mom came in on Friday evening and by then Braden was talking funny because his throat hurt and he was asking for more vitamin C and salt to make it feel better.  He didn't have a fever, but I had a feeling it was strep.  This is the fourth time he has had it in the last year and a half.  He still occasionally sucks his thumb and I think this time it set in for him that it is how he keeps getting it. :/  So, I ended up taking him to the urgent care clinic (hooray for those!) Saturday morning and I had let him know that if it was strep, that we would be going with the shot and not the 10 days of  liquid antibiotic. Well, it was strep.  The shot was a thing of drama and there was excessive limping afterward, but he really did do a good job.  That particular one does hurt.  Poor kiddo, he got the same susceptibility to getting strep repeatedly as I did when I was younger.  I got it every year without fail and usually more often.  If someone had it within a 10-mile radius, I would get it. :/  Hopefully, the thumb sucking will not be so appealing now and he won't get it at all anymore!  This is the second time it has coincided with a visit from my mom...at least it didn't take long to take care of it and she's not susceptible to it!

While Mom was here we had a great visit.  We just hung out and chatted and enjoyed each other's company.  Most of the time, she offers to keep the kids so that Sam and I can go on a date, but I didn't even consider that she would this time because the visit was so short.  BUT, she did offer and we got to go see the new Star Trek movie in the theater on Saturday....  The last movie we saw in the theater was Captain America.  Yeah, it had been a while.  :)  Anyway, we really enjoyed ourselves!  We went through the drive thru and picked up some starbucks first and then went.  Another little aside:  Sam gently kicked me out of the house the on Friday morning so I could just get out for a while and get some stuff done and I got some starbucks then, too and then Sunday, a couple of friends and I had a little impromptu girls evening out and we ended up at starbucks again.  Haha!  That's the most "coffee" aka frappachino yumminess I've had ever!  By the way, the mochachino cookie crumble or crunch or whatever its called is seriously addictive.  Just remember I warned you!

Anyway, all in all, best Memorial Day weekend EVER!

Valentine's Day Balloon Fun

I like to get the kids heart balloons from the Dollar Tree on Valentine's Day.  Isn't amazing how much fun kids have with balloons?!  Brea was especially funny with her balloon. :)

Topiaries, a Wreath and Bookshelf Top-scape

Okay, I've finished my topiaries.  Moss is MESSY!  I also broke my new glue gun in the process. :(  I went with a bigger one so I could get those long glue stick mammerjammers.  I got tired of loading the little glue sticks every two seconds (only slight exaggeration ;) into my little glue gun.  Anyway, on we go:

 Something out of Whoville, perhaps?  Suits me!

 I wanted these to be able to stay out all year round.  I want to put a bead garland around the two trees in fall colors and then Christmas colored ones in December.  I'm going to attempt to make one myself because I have a ton of beads that are just hanging out needing to be used.  I may end up replacing that dowel rod with an actual stick from my backyard.  We'll see if I feel like messing with it sooner rather than later. :)

I've tried using those vase/bowl-thingies-whatever they are called in my decor in other ways for a while and they never really fit, but I like them for topiary bases.

 This is what I have so far.  I like it.  I think garlands on the two outside topiaries would add a bit of pizzaz.....

 I saw a burlap bubble wreath and then another one that had this exact fabric over burlap.  I decided that I like the bubble wreath, but didn't want burlap.  This is what I ended up with instead.

 I'm putting effort into two other spaces, but I'm not done yet.  I'll post pics when I finish.  Maybe even in time for actual Fall.

Fall, Fall, Please come soon!

I think I'm trying to will it to turn Autumn.  Maybe, just maybe if I decorate for Fall, it will just decide to capitulate.  It could happen.  Really.

I've never really decorated for Autumn or Thanksgiving or any of that.  I think I always felt the it was way to close to decorating for Christmastime and therefore too much work and more overwhelming than I needed to mess with. :)  This year, for some strange reason, I am inspired!  I'm wanting to just have a fun two seasons.  Fall is my favorite time of year, followed by winter as a close second.  I have some interesting ideas for the environment I would like to create in my house for my family and I don't want to do it last minute, so I'm getting a head start on my project list for the holidays.  Then, perhaps, I will be able to chill out and just enjoy the season!  It could happen.  No, I really mean it. :)

Okay, so here is the first in my series:

 These made me think of Cinderella....shiny.

I found these unfinished ceramic craft pumpkins at Hobby Lobby for 40% off, hey-hey!  Love Hobby Lobby!  Anyway, some burnt umber acrylic paint for the stems and the grooves and then some gold glitter for a bit of bling and I really like how they turned out.

These rather large acorns, too, were 40% off and all they needed was a little glitter to top them off.  Shiny makes me happy. :)

I've got some other items in the works and I'm pretty exited to see how they turn out.  I'll give you a hint.  Topiaries.  That is all for now.

Be my Valentine!

Sam and I had plans to go to the Valentine Banquet hosted by and benefitting our youth group at church.  On Monday, Braden woke up with a sore throat, but I thought it was just drainage.  Later that day, he had a fever, but I was still just observing.  He slept that night okay, but when he woke up this morning, his throat was worse and he was still feverish. :(  He was having a very hard time eating and drinking and I was thinking he might have strep, so I called the doctor, got an appointment and away we went.  My suspicions were correct and we got the necessary antibiotics, but we had a bit of a pickle.  We had already paid for the banquet and childcare.  So, Sam came up with a great idea!  He suggested I take Zekey as my date and he would stay home with Braden.  Ailey and Brea could still go into child care.  I was running around trying to get stuff for the bunnies and the prescription for Braden and decided to pick up Rudy's for Sam and Braden's Valentine's Day feast.  Couldn't let my guys go hungry on Valentine's!


I got back and purtied myself up.  Sam helped me get the kiddos ready and into the van.

There's my little Breaboops!

Here's Lerloo all gussied up, too!  I've been really loving her hair like this lately.  She has, too, for that matter. :)

Here is my handsome date!

I asked him what he was thinking about when we first started eating our salads and he pointed to the chocolate cheesecake sitting in front of him!  Haha!

After a very patient, but undoubtedly excruciatingly long wait, he finally got to dig into the chocolate yumminess....

He was very happy about it. :)

He sat all the way through the whole 2+ hours.  I think there was one other kiddo in the dining area, but we weren't close to her.  He ate all that focused attention up!  Everyone was talking with him and paying him compliments and he was loving every minute of it. I asked him two separate times if he wanted to go into the children's area and play, but both times he said he would rather stay in with me!  I loved spending this time with him. It was very special and this type of thing seems to be his main love language. :)  I'm thinking we may be doing more of this type of thing with each of the kids.  We go on mommy or daddy dates with the kids one on one to the store or running errands, but this is pretty unique.  I'm thinking Daddy needs to have a tea party with his Gracie!

We ended the night by rounding up the rest of the crew and heading home.  It was good all around.  The girls had a good time, Zekey and I had a good time and Sam and Braden had a good time.  This was a great Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Poser Christmas Tour 2011

  So, I have noticed the web version of the Christmas Home Tours and I really enjoy looking at some of them and getting ideas. ;)  I thought, well maybe I should do one of my house.  Not because it is tour-worthy in any stretch of the imagination, but because it appeals to my sense of humor to do so.  So, without further ado, here we go:

 This is the living room.  I really should have a taken a picture of the other side of the room because it was a mess.  I basically just picked up in front of the couch for aesthetic purposes.

 This is the heavily-ornament-laden Christmas tree.  I plan to add some more to it each year.  Maybe one of these years, I'll have Sam fashion a metal cage shaped like a tree with tons of slots for hanging ornaments and we can just forgo the tree.... :)  I'm thinking  this might be our last year doing the fake tree.

 This is my nod to an artistic shot.  I laid down on my back on the floor and took the pic upside down.  We were considering getting a new tree this year because we really have a hard time fitting the width of the tree in our little living room, but I just couldn't see spending money on a new fake tree, if I could possibly use the one we already have!  So, I just left the bottom section off of it and put it up on our side table.  Works for me!

 An overhead shot.  Yep, I still haven't done any more to the wall since the starburst mirror project. :)

I got this idea from Apartment Therapy...see?  I think I may spray paint the stick white, so you can actually see it against my wall.

 This is in the bathroom.  I'm not crazy about it and I actually rearranged a bit after I took the pic.  It is still bothering me and I think it is the napkin turned table cloth that is under it all.  Its too dark and everything is blending together.  I'll figure something out. Sam is calling it my little shrine to Christmas....now I'm definitely changing it!!! :)

 A closeup for better observation. :)

 This in 2D looks like a hodepodgy mess.  In 3D, it looks only slightly better.  I think what really makes it all come together is the messy table and Ailey's addition of some building blocks and jingle bells, not too mention the reflection of the school wall in the mirror.

 This is supposed to be our Advent Calendar, but seeing as how I didn't even get it put up until around the 8th and its on a hands-off mirror, I didn't bother this year trying to make that work.  I've got to figure out a better place to put it.

 I got one shelf decorated for the season.  The rest...well, they didn't make the cut this year.

Thought it would be enjoyable to view the whole, um, scene. 

 I cleared the table just for this photo.  I have tried to decorate with things that I can use year round.  Since I have an obliging backyard with trees that don't hesitate to share their branches with me, I went outside and cut this one off of a MUCH larger limb.  Come to think of it, it might have been attached to the stocking "rod"....

I think the bright orange paper lantern lights in the background really add a certain ambience....don't you? 

 This is my wanna-be mantle that is really the top of our bookshelf, that is really supposed to be an entertainment center.  I'm totally not in love with this set up and I will probably arrange and rearrange it until it is time to put everything up.  I have a couple of ideas and it involves taking lots of things off and putting some white stars up there.  Along these lines:

and these:

from besthomeinteriordesign

We'll see....more project craziness. :)

 Yeah, there's a whole lotta no inspiration here....

 The top of the computer cabinet.  I'm completely underwhelmed.

This sits in the dining room next to the entryway to the kitchen.  Again, a whole lotta underwhelming inspiration going on here.

In addition to all the other paraphernalia going on in the above pics, I do have a wreath on my front door that I don't care for.  I would like to chuck it and do something like this:

theoriginalpopupshop

and/or this:

offthewallexpressions

sistersally's

I also like these for all the time:

grassrootsmodern

domesticfluff

CB2

I want to make this one only in the same way as the ornament ball wreaths above.  I want to get lots of clear and frosted balls in different sizes and make one and then I could just change out the ribbon I hang it with to go with whatever season all year long!

the nesting place (I really LOVE visiting this site! It pops up in the majority of my google searches.;)

Here's another one from the nesting place and I really love how large it is and how you just use paper....

Okay, I'm done.....end of tour...

For now....:)

CHRISTmas

Its coming up on Christmas and I did it again.  Sam got down all the decorations for me and I went to work.  Granted, I took more time doing it this year.  I wanted to be relaxed and not get crazy and irritated.  Things were fine the first day.  I got the nativity set out in its box for Braden to set up the next day and then, I got the shelf top cleared off and the entryway landing strip cleared so we could set some stuff up.  The next day, I got the tree out and set it up in preparation for the bazillion ornaments to hang on it.  That's where the detour popped up.  All sanity and goodwill and graciousness went away as the grabby hands came out of the woodwork.  After the second glass icicle met its demise on the floor, I lost it!  To be honest, I wasn't upset about the ornaments.  They are actually not beyond repair.  I was not in control of the situation and my kids were not obeying and I was not responding at all well or in any manner worthy of emulation.  I threw a little mini tantrum, growled my irritation and clenched my fists up on either side of my head.  I then stood completely still with my hands over my eyes while I prayed that the Lord would take my irritation and agitation and help me restore order to the chaos.  That's when He began to ask me if it was that important.  Yes!  Of course it was!  I wanted to get it done and done in a certain way and my kids were not getting the memo.  They were messing up my plan!....Okay, no, its not really important.  I don't want them to remember Christmas as being a stressful time, when the Crazy-Eyed Mom Monster makes everyone miserable and sets a completely wrong example of how to handle situations that aren't going according to The Plan.  So, we stopped right in the middle of decorating the tree.   It was the right choice.  I had to ask forgiveness of the Lord, then I asked forgiveness of Ailey and then Braden.  Yeah, totally in the running for Not-So-Mom-Of-The-Year Award. ;)  It also gave me the opportunity to get somewhat back on track for our day.  You know, get some school work done instead of the "oh-so-important task" of tree decorating.  Yep.

After dinner, I decided to resume my decorating escapade while the boys were at Awanas.  I was getting a bit overwhelmed at how I could set everything up.  (Its funny, I get that way about my house, but no one else's. ;)  I was googling for inspiration and tweaking here and rearranging there and finally just gave up after everyone had gone to bed with the intent of starting afresh today.  I started with God this morning instead of the myriad of other distractions that I generally get caught up in and my what a difference that has made! I also came across this link in my fb wanderings this morning and I needed to read this! http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2011/11/29/the-christmas-conundrum. I don't think coincidence had anything to do with it, either.  It is exactly the way I feel about this time of year and God has been doing quite a bit of gearing us toward simplicity for the last few years....I think it might have finally sunk in.  I have to admit that I like the lights and decorations of this time of year.  What I don't like is the misappropriated focus that tends to lead the way.  I want my kids to enjoy this time and have fun putting up a tree and lights, but I don't want it to be the focus.  Sam and I also need to talk about presents for the kids.  I'm not so sure I want to do that anymore.  We were going to get each kiddo one gift that they could open, but was for sharing with the other kiddos, as well as stocking stuffers.  We'll see.

Braden and I had a talk about presents a day or so ago.  He mentioned something about presents going under the tree and I told him I didn't know if we were going to do that or not.  I said its Jesus' birthday, not ours.  He understood perfectly and was quite satisfied with that answer. We are going to shop in the World Vision gift catalog as a family and decide what to get Jesus for His birthday. :)

I really like how Octamom puts it:  Jesus is NOT the reason for the season, but He IS the answer for it!  She is sharing a series called Christmas Secrets and I have found the first installment VERY interesting.  If you've ever wanted the history of how the celebration of Christmas came about, you can click here and listen to her speak on this subject.

So, to end:  Merry Christmas!  I hope you are having a very joyful, relaxed, enjoyable holiday season with your loved ones. :)

Christmas 2010

We were really excited to be able to travel to East Texas to be with our family at Christmas. We went ahead and had our little family Christmas the Wednesday night before Christmas and the kids just had a blast! The boys got the set of Bibleman dvds that I "won" off of Octamom's blog and a bean bag chair each. I wrapped each of the dvds because I like to do that sort of thing (it will get more interesting and complicated as they get older because that's the way I roll, yo.;) As Zekey opened each of the ones he picked, he kept saying, "Bibleman!" in a superhero announcer sort of voice. He's very into Bibleman right now. He and Braden got the mask, cape and sword courtesy of Aunt Jenny and the gang last year, so they've had a lot of imagination time in conjunction with the dvds. :) When Sam brought the bean bags in, Braden said, "Mom, you've really cheered me up!" followed by, "This will really complete the furniture in our room!" (I kid you not, he really said that!) I think I've been talking a bit much about furniture arrangement lately or something.....:) Ailey, of course, got the baby stella doll which she now calls Brenna. I asked her what we should name the baby and just started saying names and after I threw out Brenna, she kept repeating it and has kept on calling her that, so Brenna it is. Now, normally, she likes for me to hold her babies and give them a kiss, but when I asked her to let me hold Brenna for a minute to take one of the tags off of her, she wouldn't let go of the death grip she has on her. I think it was 20 minutes+ before she let me see her. Funny. Anyway, it was fun.

We had our big family Christmas on Sam's side on Friday and that was really fun, too. The kids got handmade super soft large blankets which they immediately wallowed in. They don't take after me and my love of extremely soft textures or anything.;p They also got some really great jammies. I love jammies and so do the kiddos. I love that they get excited about getting clothes and undies and socks! I pray that never changes!:)

Now, some may know that I love to wrap presents in a...different...sort of way. I have a love/hate relationship with money and gift cards. I love it because the recipient can go get whatever they want and there's no worries about returns and did I get the right thing and all that. I hate it because normally, you put it in a card and it takes less than 2 seconds to open and then you just sit there. Ugh. So, if there is a gift card or money going to someone on my list, I like to make it a little interesting. If its money, I usually fold it into a shirt or bowtie or some other money origami. Previously, I have rolled it in a ball of crepe paper so that it takes quite a long time to get to the center and then as you unroll it at that point the money starts shooting out. That's fun to watch. I have also done a gift card where I went and got lots of used gift cards from Walmart or Sam's or someplace and made little envelopes for them all and put them all in a box so you have to dig through and open bunches of them to get to the real one. :) That's fun to watch, too. :) I've also wrapped a gift card in an envelope which I then wrapped in graduating boxes, occasionally wrapping a box here and there in duct tape. That's one of my favorites. hehe. This year, I had my oldest nephew, Elijah, on my list and he wanted a gift card. Well, I happened to come across the Real Simple web site where they showed how to make a gift card snow globe. That appealed to my love of unusual wrapping techniques. First, because I had fun making it. Second, because with the weight of the water and size of the box, there was no way to tell what was in the present by looking at or holding it. Third, because its just different. Win, win, win! He definitely liked it when he got to it, so that made my day. You can see it in the pics. My mom and granny came to see us bringing their load of Christmas goodies on Saturday. I know I've mentioned before that my mom basically dresses my kids. Between her and the wonderful hand-me downs from aunts/uncles and cousins and other gifts of clothing throughout the year, I don't really buy many clothing items for my kids. We are sooooo VERY blessed! Anyway, my mom bought the kids a ton of clothes as well as a few toys. Ailey got a baby stroller and the boys got a couple of water guns, and a car set doodad along with a dvd for all. My granny brought peanut butter cookies and pear bread. I know the pb cookies were mostly for the kids, but those suckers are downright addictive and I do believe Sam and I ate the majority of them...really need to get my granny's recipe!

So a big, huge thank you to everyone for their gifts of love!

The best part, of course, was getting to spend time with our family. We've really missed them and didn't know until very close to Christmas whether or not we would even be able to make the trip. I wasn't sick the entire time even during the drives! God is so good! We got to go Christmas caroling on Christmas Eve even though it was sprinkling and spitting off and on. Man, I love to do that! We had so many of the people say they were really blessed by that, but we were so blessed to be able to do it. Now, if we could possibly get the snow going and get a sled with a team of horses..... Hey! It could happen. Texas weather is just crazy enough!

Food. Oh, the food! We might have missed Thanksgiving, but I do believe we made up for it with Christmas! We had a really yummy Christmas lunch and then my mom and granny brought leftovers from their lunch with them and it included ham and my aunt Scarlet's broccoli cheese casserole, which is a personal favorite of mine! We were considering making rolls for dinner because we forgot about them for lunch and had run out, but guess what was in with the leftovers? Rolls! I'm tellin' you God will bless and provide in even the seemingly smallest ways! I love that about Him! So, one less thing we needed to worry about. Yay!

I know more stuff happened than I can really remember to write about, but I do have LOTS of pics, so hang on to yer britches, here they come!

Pepaw and Lerloo. I love this pic. Its sooo sweet!

This is little mister Michael.

This is Lauren. She is 3 months younger than Ailey and the only other girl mixed in with all the boys. Fun! We had an impromptu photo session.

After the photo session, off came the dress and I just couldn't help take more pics. She's a whole lot of huggy chubby sweetness and I had to capture it before she grows out of it!

This one made us all laugh. I said, "Girl you've already got cleavage!" Aaahhh! Just kidding, but it was funny! This is one of those pics that an Auntie will save until just the right moment...oh, say at the engagement party or something....? ;p

This is my sweet Boaz. He is the youngest of four brothers and 3 months younger than Braden. Braden adores him! His birthday was back in September and because I was so sick, I couldn't make him a cookie bouquet then. So, I made him one and brought it with me for a VERY late birthday present.

These are all the cousins sans one. Dakota was hangin' with his dad and came later on the weekend, so I didn't get a pic of him.

I love taking multiple pics when we are trying to get them all to pose or smile or what have you because you get to see the real behind the scenes. :)

Elijah, the biggest on the left end of the couch is the oldest. He's gonna be 14 in January. He's already taller than his parents, around 5' 11" or better. He's definitely taking after his grandpa on his mom's side who is 6' 7". His heart is heading that way, too. Very tender and caring and teachable! I really love watching this clan grow up. Each of the kids is amazing in their own way and I love to watch how God is molding them. It blesses me more than I can express!

This picture might be overpowering due to the overwhelming handsomeness involved. :)

There's a handsome bunch, too, especially the biggest kid....hehehe.

Everyone was helping to open everyone's presents. One day all this helpfulness will be channeled.....mmmwwahahahahaha!

This is Zekey's super soft puppy blanket made by Aunt Jenny. I have thought a few times about confiscating it....I'm just sayin'.

I thought this progression was interesting. Out of the bag...

Gettin' a good hold on it....

Right over the head....? Haha!

The previously mentioned snow globe. :)

Luke with a captivated audience. He's seriously a favorite with all the kiddos.

I got Lauren a stroller, too. Thought that was a very good idea and then the girls were able to push their babies around together. That baby was actually her momma's when she was a little girl.

Ailey and her new jammies.

Ailey and her monkey blanket....which I thought was very appropriate given her propensity to climb everything. Aunt Jenny and the boys immediately thought about her upon seen that fabric. :)

Lauren came over to check out Ailey's stash.

Saturday was a lazy day. We brought Bibleman dvds with us and together with the comfy blankets, the kids were lovin' this down time.

I was laughing because at first Michael didn't want to be under the pink blanket, but after a few minutes was okay with it. Later I came in to find that he and Ailey were having a difference of opinion as to who should get to lay on it. :)

The kids all got rainboots, which is a NECESSITY, in this household.

This was just the tip of the clothing iceburg...

Ailey got awoken and took a bit to get sorted before she joined in the fun. A rare Granny pic....but I still got it! She's coming around. Normally, she'll try to block me with her hand. I told her its not about her, its for the kids! :)

Ailey thought the stroller should be for her instead of the baby. Notice the discarded baby at the bottom of the picture.

My mom has been asking me for years to get her a calendar with pics of the kiddos. So, finally this year, I got on Snapfish and put one together. It was made even better that they were having a buy one calendar, get two free sale, so I was able to get one for Sam's mom and my granny! Yahoo!

I also made my mom a necklace, earring and bracelet set, but didn't get a pic of her in it.

Can you guess what these are?

Zekey's putting on a gun show!

Braden really, really liked this car, but alas it has been swallowed up by the toy black hole and has yet to be seen for a while.....

I really don't know what was going on here.

Okay, this was just a mess. We were trying to get one with all of us smiling....let's see how many pics that took....1...

2...

3....Seriously! Mom and Granny, get with the program!

4....

5. Finally!

Oh! Lost Granny on that one.

And, good enough.;)