sailin' with mickey

well the time has come! we are leaving tomorrow to head for Port Canaveral where we will board the Disney Wonder! as you can imagine, ella is beside herself. this morning she was saying "mommy, mommy, one more week! one more week!!" and i said, "no, sweetie, one more DAY!" she then went running down the hall jumping up and down yelling, "one more day! one more day!" i think i'm more excited just to see my kid's reactions to the ship and everything they are going to experience in the next week!

this week has been crazy with my computer failing on me again for 3 days, wrapping up things for our women's retreat, washing clothes, packing, packing and more packing, etc etc! it's great to know that after a year of planning...the time has finally come. and i still can't believe that my dad is treating all of us to such a fantastic vacation! i feel so blessed and i'm so grateful.

i will be back after a week with many photos and stories to tell i'm sure!

conversations with a four year old

one of my new favorite things is when ella will crawl in bed with me in the mornings and we chat. this morning she crawled in and acted scared. this is how it went:
her: mommy, the rain...it makes me worried!
me: why sweetie? why are you worried?
her: it just makes me all worried.
me: but the rain comes from God...he is watering the grass and trees for us and that's not scary. so why are you worried?
her: monsters mommy!

for some reason she associates rain with monsters.
the conversation went on...

her: mommy, why can't we get snow every day?
me: because it's not cold enough where we live.
her: but mommy, it is cold outside!
me: but it's not quite cold enough.
her: but mommy, i really want it to snow!

that shows her argumentative side.
and then this happened...its a continued conversation that we started the other day...

her: mommy, i just really don't want to get bigger.
me: sweetie, i don't want you to get bigger either. will you just stay little for me?
her: but i can't stay little. i will get bigger.
me: but you will always be my little girl.
her: but i just really don't want to get bigger. ew, mommy, what's that stinky smell? it smells like your bad breath!

ha ha ha....i was wondering when i would ever hear her first comment about stinky morning breath!! of course, i had to argue with her and tell her that her breath didn't smell that great either when she wakes up!!

i love these conversations...i wish i could remember them word for word. i know i will quickly forget how sweet her little voice is and how cute it is when she gets words mixed up....like calling marshmallows mushrooms. she is precious.

first haircut

a couple of weeks ago i decided that it was time to cut evan's hair....the very little hair that he has! so i don't even know if what we did would qualify as a hair cut. for those of you who know our little bud, you know he doesn't have much hair. but the little bit that he has grown over the past 2 years was starting to grow over his little ears. so it literally lasted, oh, about 1 minute, maybe less. a snip snip on one side and then the other. whaalaa...done. i'm not even going to post the pictures we took because you would probably look at them and say "huh?" (ok, grammar problem, i don't know whether to put a . there or not?! oh well.) you really couldn't even tell it was cut. but mommy knew and i need to document this monumental occasion!

valentine's and cowboys

at around 6:30 last night i was hurrying to walmart to buy the kiddos some valentine's prizes. nothing like waiting til the last minute. but they enjoyed their little valentine monster that sings and dances and lights up. so it was worth the trip to the store filled with madness.

my hubby made me a mixed cd of fun songs for valentine's. very sweet and thoughtful, huh? all he got was a card from me. and he is in bed sick right now. so a super exciting valentine's day around here.

and last night the kids were playing dress up with some new dress up clothes that a friend passed on to us. evan finally has some non-princess clothes to wear! he looks so cute in this cowboy vest and hat. and you can't be a cowboy or cowgirl without boots...even if they are rain boots!

counting down the days

4 more days of torturing my children with eye drops. that already seems like way too long. they both have pink eye. 2 drops in each eye 3 times a day. lovely. evan is manageable...he is small enough to hold him down and only one of his eyes are infected. ella on the other hand is a nightmare. i had to give her the drops yesterday by myself. i went from sweet, understanding, loving mommy to mean, angry, forceful mommy in a matter of 30 seconds. she was uncontrollable...it might even be worse than her fear of shots. we even picked out yummy mini-sized candy bars for a special treat if she did a good job. by the way she responds to the drops, you would think that we were torturing her. it is awful. so 4 more days of this just sounds delightful. ha.

and we are also counting down the days til our disney cruise. actually, ella is probably the most excited out of any of us. EVERY day since before christmas she has been asking me when february is coming so we can go on the disney cruise. and now that february is here, the excitement is rising! she was all worried about having pink eye because she thought she wouldn't be able to go. i hope all the sickies will be gone by the time the 24th comes around!! 16 more days til vacation!! now THAT IS delightful!

**update: thanks to my friend, katie, i tried giving ella the drops with her eyes closed and letting the drops roll in when she blinks and it worked! she didn't even cry! i was so proud...and she was too! (and thanks, tiina, for letting me know the same tip! i had already tried it when i saw your comment!)

more asparagus

daddy cooked dinner last night because mommy has a cold and her energy had run out long before it was even time to think about what to make for dinner! he added a new twist to dinner last night. asparagus. i've never cooked it because i'm not a huge fan. i tend to do that...not cook things i don't like! which means we have broccoli A LOT around here and definitely no green beans. anyway, at first ella was very hesitant to eat it. but then i reminded her that oobi likes it. it was the FIRST thing she ate on her plate. no, not the second or third or last thing she ate...but the FIRST. freakin amazing! and to top it off...when she ate the asparagus on her plate, she said "more asparagus, more asparagus!!" i was thinking i needed to clean out my ears...was i hearing her right? so...way to go daddy....kickin it up a notch in the walker kitchen with a new veggie!

do everything without complaining?

for real? i find myself often getting upset with ella for complaining and get so frustrated at how much she does it. funny thing is that i do it just as much if not MORE. after 12 days of being computerless, i'm back. and honestly, i am struggling with getting back in the blogging groove. i got a little used to the break and haven't felt very inspired to write. although i was struggling without my lifeline, i now seem to be struggling with it as well! how ironic. the past couple weeks have helped me to see even more of how i hate when things don't go my way! there was MUCH grumbling and complaining in this heart of mine when i was having to spend hours (literally) on the phone with my internet provider...only then to find out that it was still my computer that was giving me trouble. and there was much complaining when i had to take 5 trips back and forth to the apple service provider to get it worked on. and i was so discontent not having my calendar, address book, etc that i rely on day in and day out. i felt so lost. anyway, i am thankful to have it back...but now my internet is not working as fast and my mouse is acting all funky. so here i go complaining again!! is my heart ever satisfied?

all this helps me to really see, just by using this silly example of my computer woes, how unsatisfied and discontent i can be. life would be more simple without all the stuff that fills our lives. stuff that seems like a must but really is not necessary. stuff that makes life easier and more convenient. so God has used this scenario in my life to show me, yet again, my sin. my love for other things. and he has reminded me where my satisfaction needs to be. in Him who gives me everything i need. the things that last.

on a more fun note, we had a walker family superbowl party tonight. we usually have friends over, but not tonight. we had a spread of food on the coffee table and the kids loved it. daddy made his annual rotel cheese dip with sausage and we made pigs in a blanket and made cream cheese apple dip with apples and grapes. i think evan ate about 10 pigs in a blanket. they loved watching the commercials and at times were on the floor laughing. ella kept asking us to let her see them again (she knows our DVR capabilities!). and when i was putting ella to bed, she was all sad that she didn't get to see the end of the game. i told her i would let her know who wins. she said, "mommy, will they get ribbons?" and i told her they would get a big trophy and superbowl rings. she said "maybe the rings will have a bowl on them and the trophy will have a bowl on it!" well i guess that would be a great idea and it makes sense to me too since it is the superBOWL!

no computer = dazed & confused

i've been mac-less for 6 days now. i think i have been walking around in this confused, aimless, pouting manner all week. i feel lost without my mac! it has been in the shop this week because we were having a little issue with it powering down at random times. so i finally got it back home yesterday only to discover 2 new issues. 1. my internet would not work 2. now my computer won't even turn on!! AAAAHHHHHHH!! i'm close to losing it. ok, obviously my computer is an idol in my life! but it's my lifeline to the world. i rely on the internet for so much...i guess i just didn't realize it until this week.

i did, however, get a lot done in the house this week! ha! i actually have a somewhat clean house right now. and i can actually see the surface of my desk! it took me an hour and a half to clean it up and its so nice to have work space now.

as a result of my week, i haven't been blogging. and the only way i'm doing it now is because i'm using my old iMac which has a smaller screen and is a bit blurry so i don't think i'll be doing this again. i wish the little Apple fairies would come fix my machine overnight for me. but i'm sure God has some more lessons to teach me first!

weighing in

i'm mainly writing this post because i'm tired of seeing "jack is back" every time i look at my home page. i don't have much to say, really. the week has actually gone by rather quickly. i've been wasting away on the couch every night now that most of my shows are back on! american idol being one of those shows...and i'm just wondering what the deal is with all the publicity this season about the judges being mean. seriously? if i recall, this has always been an issue...why is it such a big deal now? these crazies that audition really are just asking for it. you have to wonder how many of them are for real or not. i know many of them are...and you see their spirits being crushed on tv...and i do feel bad for them. they don't know they are tone deaf. but can't someone else tell them before they get on national television? it does seem that randy has been more harsh so far....but it also seems that they have seen some really horrible auditions too. i guess what i'm saying is, sometimes i don't blame them for speaking the truth. and seeing them laugh during someone's auditions may seem rude....but we are doing the same thing at home! aren't we? ok, those are my thoughts for what they're worth. and they're not worth much!

so one of the many thoughts that i have had flooding my mind lately is schooling for ella in the fall. we already attended an informational meeting at the school she is currently attending about their kindergarten. it went well...i would feel fine sending her there...but nothing really stood out to us. then last night, we attended another meeting at a school we have been thinking about. it is a christian classical school and their first school year started last fall. everything about what we heard sounds ideal. i have been contemplating whether i really want to homeschool or not. and i'm always leaning towards the "not". this school is in session 3 days a week. T/Th are days for the children to be at home. the teachers will send all the work home for the parent(s) to work on with them. so it is basically partly homeschooling. i love this idea. i also love that my child will receive a Christ-centered education...not one where she will just hear a bible story and memorize a bible verse...but an education where she will learn that God is the center for all learning. she will learn that math and science are beautiful because God created them. it is a trivium-based education which we fully believe in and think is effective. so i'm excited...we are still thinking and praying through the decision...but it honestly seems like a no-brainer for us.

so, american idol to classical school. no similarities...just my random thoughts again.

jack is back!

so who watched last night? r and i were all giddy yesterday leading up to the new season premiere. and we weren't disappointed (b/c jack didn't die, of course!). this trailer makes my pulse increase just a tad bit. so we'll see what happens tonight!!

**update: i was sitting here with evan in my lap and started watching that video clip (i stopped it before all the violence!...) right when evan saw kiefer, he said "DADDY!". i immediately called rusty and he was pleased to think his son thinks he's as cool as jack and that he looks like him (a little!?!) wouldn't any dad?

last day of De-Lurking Week

i was over here and saw that it was International De-Lurking Week. and oh no, today is the last day! so i'm going to take this opportunity to find out who my lurkers are....those of you who are visiting my blog frequently but never leave any comments...you know who you are! and i would love to hear from you...out of mere curiosity mostly but also so i can say "thanks for visiting and even slightly caring about the often boring things i write about".

so...de-lurk! please!? (i'm on my knees! i'm so curious! even if its only 3 of you!)

i need a nap.

i always seem to think that once christmas is over, life will slow down. so far, it's not happening. i feel like i am constantly thinking about everything. and there is a lot of "everything" going on right now. every time i sit down to the computer, i'm trying to think of the gazillion things i need to work on. if it's not the women's retreat that i am in charge of (which consumes many of my thoughts)...then its the design work i'm doing for a friend who is starting a church. and then i have started frantically thinking about where we are going to send ella to kindergarten in the fall. oh and also the publicity i have to work on for an upcoming event at church and our plans for community group for the next few months. and then i'm thinking about fun things like our upcoming disney cruise in february and i'm already thinking about how much i'm going to have to pack (no stress there...i don't mind thinking about that!). and i really need to schedule dentist appointments for all of us (i am dreading the first appointment for ella!). and a lot has been going on at r's work...so that is on my mind as well. and in the midst of all that, i've been thinking about how in the heck can i come up with some sort of exercise plan....i'm still clueless on that one. it's not something that i really love doing, so i have never made it a priority. but i do see the great need for it.

so yes, december is always crazy...why is january feeling the same? i'm always in hope that life will somehow slow down. and i guess there are seasons where it feels that way. those seasons never last very long.

funny thing is...as i'm thinking about all the things i need to do, the thing i want to do most is take a nap! cuz then i can escape my list and not have to think about everything. i'm not ashamed to admit it!

for right now, he'll just be a princess

yes, that is my bare naked christmas tree still up in the living room! we finally got it put away last night!

a couple of my nieces came over for 2 nights last week. their days were consumed with dressing up as ballerina princesses, dancing, and all things girl. evan didn't stand a chance. maybe some day he'll realize its not cool for boys to be princesses and he'll want to be their knight in shining armor. but for now, he is completely content to dress up in a skirt...it brings lots of laughter for the rest of us!

nothing will stop him from sucking those 2 fingers...not even ballet!

blogging for dummies

there is a new site designed to help blogging idiots like me and thought i might share with you other idiots...i mean friends. i found it through one of my favorite blogs i read daily....she co-created the site. they intend to continue adding new tips and information about blogging basics. so go check it out if you are a naive blogger like me and need all the help you can get!

the most random of all posts

i just got back from the grocery store. i spent an hour and a half roaming around the isles, enjoying the peace and quiet. no children with me begging for a cookie, fighting with their sibling, asking for me to buy random things. just me, my grocery cart, my list, and my thoughts. and boy did i have some random thoughts.

much of my thoughts were sadly on all the weight i have gained over the holidays. i put my big butt on the scale the other night and gasped. literally...i couldn't believe my eyes! SO, my solution tonight was to bring my weight watchers tracker thingy and figure out how many points every snack food had that i put in my cart. kinda fun in a weird kind of way. so i actually ended up with a ton of 2 pointer snack foods. from south beach diet cereal bars, to snackwell's cookies, to weight watchers ice cream bars (they are buy one get one free at kroger by the way! whohoo!). and i kept thinking how ridiculous it seems to be buying every kind of sweet thing i can find with low points to try and lose weight. i really don't know what's wrong with me lately...i have been craving sugar. i think having m & m's sitting out for the past month has not helped me. at. all. you think?

on to more random thoughts. i started taking down all of our christmas decorations tonight. since we were in nashville over the weekend, i am just now getting a chance to do it. and i never like the way my house looks when i'm done. it just looks boring and bland. no pretty twinkling lights to stare at. everything just looks blah. its kinda weird how we spend so much energy decorating and undecorating our homes for christmas. why does this only happen at christmas? isn't easter just as important? but we don't have a tree with twinkling lights and eggs hanging on it....and we don't decorate the outside of our home with pastel lights everywhere. interesting. how did this happen?

speaking of easter....ella has been very sad that christmas is over. she already can't wait til it comes again. but she is moving on to the next holiday. she asked me what was next and i told her valentine's day. and then easter. she was very excited about easter and proceeded to tell evan all about how jesus died on the cross and they put him in a cave and some women came and found that the big stone had rolled away and then we hunt for easter eggs. hmmm....she failed to mention that jesus rose again. a key point in the story. i reminded her....and she said, "oh, i forgot."

another funny thing she said tonight when i was kissing her goodnight....she said "mommy, my eyes will stay open for a little while and then they will close. ok? that is the good news of my eyes." funny girl.

she also said this morning, "my brother is sooo cute. he is the cutest little brother i ever had." :)

and i also find it funny that my son can spot a cracker barrel from a mile away. he yell's "cacker bear mommy!" whenever he sees the sign.

i told you this was random.

reunited in nashville

we just got back from nashville for our 3rd annual new year's eve with our friends, the walters. although it was a little different not celebrating in good 'ole brandon acres subdivision (they used to be our neighbors)...we still had a great time!

our trip started with a stop in chattanooga to see our friends jon & lisa (who also moved away recently). we enjoyed our short time with them and the kids had fun playing with abigail (baby ava just slept, pooped, cried, and ate...like a good baby).

then we arrived in nashville...and all of a sudden both of my children arose from their sleep with tremendous energy! they were excited to be reunited with abby and andrew and excited to see their new house. as we pulled in the driveway, evan woke from a sound sleep...he got out of the car with great excitement and jumped right into marty's arms, yelling "marty!"

the weekend was filled with lots of play. we went to abby's "boat park" (as they call it) and played on the playground. we went to the opryland hotel and walked around and ate dinner. my kids loved seeing all the lights and loved seeing the boats go down the river inside the hotel. we (the adults) played games...the boys (as in marty and rusty) painted the master bedroom and also created a new garage band...we went to church (a 1/2 hour late...oops)...we celebrated new year's...ate lots of good food...it was a good time!!

when i put evan to bed tonight, the last thing he said was "abby andrew house?" i had to reassure him that we would go back again soon.

so to marty, robyn, abby & andrew...just know that you are already greatly missed!! and it started in the car pulling out of your driveway! we loved our time there this weekend, but more than that...we love our friendship with each of you :)

the 4 kids in front of the giant christmas tree at opryland hotel

here's the giant christmas tree

the disco ball headband on evan (the headband brought lots of laughs)

andrew's disco ball head

the girls with their "happy new year" headbands

the girls toasting to the new year with their yummy drinks

my christmas top eleven

1. having all my wrapping done before christmas eve (a first for me!)
2. rusty hanging up christmas lights on the house (after ella begged us!) for the first time, only to find that they didn't work....AND the lights had a recall on them so r had to take them down and return them to the store. there will definitely have to be some more begging next year to get him to do that again!
3. having our friends marty, robyn, abby and andrew come visit us for a few days
   
4. watching ella sing in her school program
   
5. hearing evan ask for "mickey mouse merry christmas" every single morning over and over and over again (it's the mickey mouse twice upon a christmas movie that my kids have literally seen a 100 times at least the past couple weeks)
6. celebrating christmas with my extended family at my sister's house. there were 21 adults and 19 kids!! full house!
   
7. almost starting a fire at our church's christmas eve service! during the end of the service, we all held candles and ella's started melting on her hands. she threw her candle down and started freaking out over the hot wax! (while daddy was trying not to be distracted on the stage as he was playing guitar and singing for the service!)
   
8. my twin niece and nephew crying and fighting over the (one) vaccuum we got them for christmas!! mental note: never buy them a joint gift...even if it comes in 2 parts (a dust buster and vaccuum that i thought they could share!) see video below!! it was hilarious!!
   
9. evan talking to grandpa on the phone on christmas morning...and he was showing grandpa his new scooter that he got. evan got on the scooter and rode over to the phone and said "watch me grandpa". it was so sweet....and grandpa had a good laugh.
   
10. ella telling me that she thinks santa bought her new ballerina dress and princess DVD at toys 'r us because they have all the toys!
    
11. driving around for 45 minutes on christmas night trying to find somewhere to eat dinner! we tried TGI Friday's but there was a 45 minute wait! and the only other place open was a chinese restaurant having a seafood buffet...and it smelled kinda gross inside! so we ended up at one of the many waffle houses we drove by that actually had an open table available. it was a fun dining experience...and a cultural one!

i'm so thankful for the many memories we made this christmas....here are some pictures and make sure you don't miss the video of the twins at the bottom!!

a merry christmas

after all the hustle and bustle, i feel like i have been able to take a deep breathe today and actually relax. it has been a joyful day today...filled with lots of smiles, laughter and thankfulness. i can only pray that through all the unwrapping of gifts, the toys galore, the family get togethers, lots of food and sweets, christmas trees, christmas lights and santa claus...that my children will be able to really get what this day is all about. i can only pray that they will see Jesus through it all. that they will be able to experience his amazing love, hope, peace and mercy. and may you all experience Him throughout the coming year of 2007! merry christmas!

another birthday for my hubby

today is my husband's 33rd birthday. yes, he always got gipped (sp?) on his birthday. i usually try to separate his birthday and christmas...although today i had to pull a present that was under the tree to give to him. i honestly meant to wrap it in birthday paper...and just forgot (sorry honey :)!)

i told him in his card that i wouldn't want to grow old with anyone else. i'm so thankful for having such a loving husband who is wonderful to me...and to our family. i can't imagine life without him...so here's to another 33 years...and more! happy birthday rusty!!

(if you know rusty personally...maybe you could leave a comment for him and send your happy birthday wishes...and have a little pity on him since his birthday often gets overlooked!! poor thing) :)

songs of an angel

ella had her preschool christmas program yesterday morning. i was one proud mama! she has been SOO excited for this day to come...to get to sing on stage and have mommy and daddy watch! she has been practicing her songs every day for us. she has the sweetest little voice...so high and soft.

but for this song (in the video below)...it wasn't too angelic-like! this was her favorite song to sing (or shout!). notice her mouth on the last word she sang, "born"...so funny!

there was another song that was slower and softer and was absolutely precious. she even did sign language to the words. i started crying! it was just so sweet to see my baby girl look all grown up singing her songs that she was so excited to sing for us. this is one of the true joys of parenting.

what is up?

what is going on with blogger? i haven't been able to comment on some of my favorite blogs the past few days. is anyone else having this problem? i think its those who have switched to beta blogger. its so frustrating. i have yet to switch over...i'm not really sure what the benefits are to using it. anyway, sorry to my friends who i haven't left comments on your recent posts. i've tried!

3 of my favorite christmas albums...just in case you were dying to know

JOHN DENVER & THE MUPPETS "A Christmas Together"
wow. i love this album...yes, i admit it. it brings back lots of childhood memories. my sister and i had the album and we had every song memorized. i especially enjoy miss piggy singing "ba dum dum dump" after singing "5 golden rings" in the 12 days of christmas. and i love hearing the sweet voice of john denver singing "when the river meets the sea". the muppet show was one of our favorite shows...so i guess it was inevitable that i would love this christmas album. i don't have the cd...i think i need it (hint hint to my dear loved ones).





HARRY CONNICK JR. "When My Heart Finds Christmas"
when i got married, this cd came into my collection (oh, wait, i had no cd collection back then...i wasn't that cool). and every christmas when rusty and i would start decorating the tree, this cd would be played. i love harry connick's music...his jazzy flair that he adds to all his songs is just coolness. my favorite tracks are "(It Must've Been Ol') Santa Claus" and "I Pray On Christmas". i'm sure there are other harry christmas cd's that are good...but this is the only one we have.





ED CASH, ALLEN LEVI & BEBO NORMAN "Joy"
this is another one that we listen to every year. i love the combination of all three of these talented musicians. my hubby grew up in the same town as allen and bebo and knew them both. we have great admiration for their music. my favorite tracks are the first and last..."O Come Emmanuel" and "Go Tell it on the Mountain" (complete with a full gospel choir).




other favorite christmas cd's:
Nativity Songs (this is an annual concert done by various musicians in atlanta...the concert is held at Intown Community Church)

Your King Has Come - Indelible Grace Music

if you have any other good recommendations, pass them on!
** sorry if you use bloglines and it told you i had several new posts...i had to revise this a couple times so the cd images would fit. sometimes blogger drives me crazy.

scary monster face

there's nothing more fun than your children making you laugh. and it's even more fun to get them to do their funny tricks over and over again to make you laugh more. a while back, evan came up to me and said "scary monster" and he made this funny face where his eyes get big, he makes his head shake, and does something funny with his mouth. it is so funny. since that day...we make him do it for us all the time. and we also like to make him do it for other people. we're all about entertaining others, you know!? it may not be as funny in these photos...or the video (this was NOT his best performance...he was being shy for the camera)...but maybe someday you will be blessed to see it in person! you will surely laugh out loud. it gets me every time. love that boy.

try, try again and again and again

i am so thankful for my digital camera. i always like to include a good photo of our family in our christmas cards every year. actually, i usually just take a picture of the kids. but this year i attempted to do all four of us since i had the luxury of snapping away over 100 shots to get the right one! and i am also so thankful for the continuous shooting mode where it lets you snap as many photos in a row that you want...and you can even set it on self-timer. very cool feature.

it was a challenge to get a great shot. we had numerous photo sessions with me setting up the camera, pushing the button, running over to the family, getting into position, and rusty and i attempting to get the kids to look into the camera and smile. it is rather exhausting! there were moments of yelling and moments of laughing. and it's amazing that out of 100 photos taken, that we had only about 3 to choose from that were decent! and i probably will even do a little photoshop work on the one i choose! we would look through the ones taken and say: oh...ella had her eyes closed, or evan has his tongue out, or ew, i don't like my smile in that one, or my hair looks dorky there, or rusty has sleepy eyes in that one, or ella's hand is in the way, or its out of focus, or evan is running out of the photo! CRAZY.

so here is a glimpse of how our photo shoot went. sorry, you won't get to see the final photo that was chosen right now!

um, as you can see...not a good one!


funny face on evan...


and yet another bad one.


me running over to grab evan...quickly!


typical toddler...after the first 10 photos...it was impossible to keep him still!

sniff sniff

i should probably buy stock in Kleenex brand tissues. i have a box in just about every room of my house. and the reason is because i am constantly needing them...therefore, i have them handy and keep them close. my allergies are not great and i feel like i am constantly sniffing. and it seems my whole family has needed them the past month with all the colds we have had.

anyway, i don't know if any of you are nerds like me...but have you noticed the new cool kleenex box designs? i LOVE them. it actually made me so excited to see them in the stores and even though they are more expensive, i still bought some! i would much rather pull a tissue from a cool looking kleenex box than those ugly grandma looking ones! i know, i know, it sounds rather silly. but for a product that is used that much in my house...i want it to be pretty and not an eye sore! go check it out for yourself. thanks kleenex!

white christmas

last night ella and i were having a little conversation about christmas. it went something like this:

me: ella, are you excited that it's christmas time?

ella: yes! so, mommy, is thanksgiving over?

me: yes it is. and now we are going to celebrate christmas. although christmas is not until december 25.

ella: YAY! but mommy (as she looks outside)....where is all the snow!?

so i guess not only is she dreaming of a white christmas, she expects it too! and even though she's four...i think its a pretty good question! considering everything out there that is advertising christmas usually includes snowmen, snowflakes, frosty, north pole...everything has snow!! so come on georgia, how 'bout giving us a white christmas this year and make my daughter happy!

thanksgiving recap

we got home last night from our travels for thanksgiving. it all started thursday morning as we ran around the house trying to pack up and head off for pine mountain, ga for my family reunion. this reunion has been going on for more than 33 years (b/c i went as a baby). this is my mom's side of the family...my gramma was one of eleven children (she is the last one living), so everyone there is all connected to her family. the 11 were: Mittie Bailey, Sis, Bud, Ros, Durand, Thelma, Happy, Vamie, Vivian, Erin (gramma), & Elaine. those are some interesting names! and everyone called their mother "Big Mama".

it was a little strange this year because neither my parents or my sister and her family were there. they went to the beach...without US! (they asked us, we just turned them down...we've been on too many trips lately!). but we still had a nice time. there's just something about being with that many people and knowing you have come from such a rich heritage...i love hearing the history of my grandmother's family. and it's great to see everyone still has enthusiasm about getting together every year for thanksgiving. i hope the tradition will continue...its a little strange to think that some day it will be all up to my generation and our children to keep it going.

after lunch, we headed down the road to spend a couple nights with r's family. their new house is finished and they are all moved in! its such a pretty house and the kids enjoyed exploring every nook and cranny they could find. every closet door and every cabinet door was opened. and ella was looking forward to finding out what surprise grandma and grandpa had for her and evan. it was a playground! rusty and his dad spent the next couple days putting it together for the kids. it was so fun to see the kids smiles on their faces as they played....and much more fun to see grandpa's proud smile watching them enjoy it so much!! thanks g'ma and g'pa!! here are some pictures...


grandpa used a tractor to level off the ground for the playground...evan LOVED watching him move all that dirt!

i love this picture...evan's little head just peaking out from grandpa's lap

ella said "grandpa sure did make a great playground for me and bud to play on!"...and then she gave him a big hug and said "thank you grandpa!" :)

giving thanks

i can't help but notice that there are many people who are already decorating their homes for christmas. we were driving around last night and saw several people outside hanging up lights on their houses and santas, reindeer and snowmen in their yards. it's kinda crazy to me. can't we just enjoy thanksgiving first? i feel like thanksgiving is getting robbed of all its glory. don't get me wrong, i LOVE christmas and honestly we should celebrate Christ's birth year-round, but let's just do one holiday at a time...you know?

i just got home from hobby lobby where they have had christmas things on the shelves for months now. and i must admit, i get excited looking at all of it...so...now i must focus, focus, focus. i must think about what kind of casserole i will make for our big family reunion on thursday and what kind of new yummy cake can i make. and i must think about how grateful i am to be living in a country where freedom surrounds us. and i will be thankful that i can worship the God of the universe and his Son who gave his life for me so that i may live! and be thankful for the founding fathers of this country who fought for these freedoms. and be grateful for my loving family, for the joy that they bring me and how they light up my heart in too many ways to count. and for friends that are so dear and so needed in my life.

it's just too easy to get caught up in how commercialized these holidays can be. i want to take the time to enjoy each one and try to focus more on what they each mean. so tomorrow, after my daughter has her charlie brown thanksgiving feast at her preschool and watches the charlie brown movie, i will attempt to help her understand what thanksgiving is all about (especially since she is already asking when christmas is going to be here!).

1 Chronicles 16:8
Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.

i don't want a shot...i don't want a shot...i don't want a shot

over and over and over again...screaming, crying and yelling "i don't want a shot". this is how it went this morning for ella. we actually were taking evan in for his 2 month check up but i wanted both kids to get their flu shots. before evan was called back, they called for ella. i didn't mention anything to her about getting a shot. we got her back into the room and she absolutely FREAKED OUT. nothing would calm her down. she had her legs wrapped around my legs. she was shaking, trembling, and so frightened of getting another shot. (she got one at her last check up in august and it was not a pleasant experience). the nurses tried to take her and set her down on the table...she fought HARD. i finally gave into her and told her she didn't have to have one...after using any kind of bribery i could think of and nothing was calming her down.

we went back to the waiting room to wait for evan's check up. i continued to try to talk to her about the whole situation. nothing worked. she continued to cry and yell and worry. evan did awesome for our doctor...at least i had one calm child with me. then...we decided to let the nurses do the dirty job without me in the room. i stood outside the door while i heard my poor little girl scream and fight and try to escape the needle!!! it was bad. but once it was done....she calmed down pretty quick and she actually didn't hate me afterwards. and the nurses even got a hug from her.

through all of this, i just kept thinking why do i have to force my child to get something like this that she is absolutely terrified of...when it's not absolutely necessary? it seemed like torture. the nurses reassured me that they have lots of children that react this way and that they just have to pin them down forcefully. it just sounds so brutal, doesn't it? but what ella doesn't understand is that this tiny, quick, sting will help prevent her from getting a longer-lasting, horrible sickness. so i guess its just all a part of parenthood...trying to protect our children. and i'm sure there are some good, deep, spiritual analogies that i could draw from the whole experience...but i'm too tired to think about it right now!

once that red sucker was in her mouth...the tears were gone. i just wonder what will happen next time!

no idea what to say

so i'm back from my week and i'm a little speechless. it's not that i'm at a loss for words...it's just knowing how to get them down on "paper" from my head. r and i had an incredible week and walked away with so much stuff that we are still processing through. we are so thankful for our time together and for what God did in our hearts. our time at Sonship was invaluable to us...

i'm trying to get back into the swing of life after having been away from my kids for 6 days! thanks to our parents for lovingly keeping them while we were gone!

so that's all for now. i'll have to write more later after i figure out exactly what to say!

a blogging hault

so i'm leaving town for another week...this time with rusty to a conference. won't be around blogging. but i'm sure i'll have plenty to blog about when i return.

my baby is 2

today we had evan's 2nd birthday party (he will be 2 on the 9th) and i REALLY can't believe that my baby is 2. seriously, where does the time go?!

we had a puppy party. is it torture to have a puppy party for your son who is terrified of dogs?! well we made sure there were no real dogs around. just cute little friends of evan who turned into puppies at the party. we made puppy ears, and played a game where they got to eat puppy chow out of doggie bowls, and they ran around and barked and woofed. i think they all had fun!

as for this occasion...the last 2 years of life with evan...i have loved tremendously. my boy has a huge hold of my heart and i don't think i could love him more. happy birthday my sweet, sweet boy!!

"tick or twee"

sticking with the tv show favorite around here...ella and evan dressed up as 2 characters from the backyardigans. the day i bought their costumes, they ran around the house in such excitement...it was priceless!! definitely worth the price of the costumes! ella was "uniqua" (or "uniq-you-a" as she says) and evan was "pablo" (or "tyro" as evan says cuz "tyrone" is his favorite character). i thought they were super cute! evan put on his costume for these pictures and then we took the costumes off to eat dinner. when it was time to go trick or treating....we had to fight to get his costume back on. he was SO enjoying running around in just a diaper! so after all the tears, i ended up having to carry him to the first few houses. and mama couldn't handle that for long! we took him back home and let him pass out candy with daddy. so ella and i enjoyed trick or treating together. it was a fun night.