Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my family and friends out there in blogland!
Hope your day was very merry!

 

Thanksgiving

First of all, we were thankful to be close enough to travel to Oklahoma this year for all the Turkey Day festivities!  We had planned to drive two cars to Tulsa so Todd could spend a Thanksgiving day with extended family for the first time in years, but he was sick.  The kids and I had already left by the time he decided that he just couldn’t make it, so I was a little bummed.  I felt bad leaving him two years in a row on Thanksgiving.  But, we made the best of it and enjoyed Thanksgiving day with the Foxx family in Tulsa.  The kids were so excited to see their cousins!

 

All the Foxx kids at Nana and Poppa’s!

Karlee, Callie, Taryn, Kymree, Kellen, Gannon, Jack and Garrett

Just the girls!

We left Tulsa and went on to Shawnee to spend time with my side of the family.  Another fun day with lots of kids!  I didn’t take a picture on this day, unless you count the pics Callie took with my phone!  I really, really have to get better at this!  

 Here we are all eating at Hamburger King.  A yummy hamburger place that has been there since my grandparents used to go on dates there!  Can you tell it was the Saturday after Thanksgiving, OU/OSU game day?  We were all decked out!  Can yo see the boys in the booth behind Grandma and Grandpa?  I just have to brag.  The waitress said she had never waited on a better table of kids.  Warms this mama's heart.  I hope I remember to do this for mama's I don't know.  It is always nice to feel like something your doing is working!  And yes, we left immediately so she didn't get a chance to see their true colors!  Not really, but it was tempting!

Since Todd works non-stop this time of year we stayed a couple of days in Shawnee then stopped back in Tulsa for a short visit.  So, lots of driving.  But, lots of good times with our families.  I can’t wait for the day that Todd can be there too! 

All the time in the car gave me lots, and lots of time to think about what I am thankful for.  My list doesn’t change too much from year to year, but I count that as a good thing!  That means all the things that are dearest to me have not changed much.  I am so thankful for my little family.  I have a great, hard-working husband and four great kids.  I am thankful for my extended family.  I am thankful for the comforts I have in this life right now.  A home, cars, food, cloths.  I know I have been blessed and have more of all these things than a person really needs.  I am thankful for old friends, I am thankful for new friends.  I really think I could go on and on.  When a person really stops and thinks about it, even on their worst days, they can find something be thankful about.  Sometimes it might be hard to think about that when things are not going our way.  But, if you will just let your mind go there, and think of something you are thankful for, I bet your mood will start to change.  I can usually come up with something earthly that I am thankful for on whatever day it is.  I am most thankful for Jesus that died for my sins.  That is something that will never change, no matter what on this earth I have or don’t have.  Whatever people are in my life or not in my life.  If that is not something to be thankful for, I don’t know what is!  So, go, be thankful for all that God has given you, especially His Son!  (Yes, I am totally preaching to myself!)

100

Well, from what I’ve seen, it is a blog tradition to type 100 things about yourself when you reach 100 blog posts.  So, since I always like to follow the crowd, ha, here I go!  These are in no particular order, I am just adding to the list as I think of something since I know if I sat down to type them all at once I would never think of anything to say!  It is probably supposed to be things that people don’t know about me, but since I’m pretty sure my readers are all family, you already know all these things!  And, I am sure that it is supposed to be 100 quick things.  Mine will not be.  I am a rambler.  Maybe that should be number one!  So, get some caffeine to keep yourself awake and read away!

1.  I love to blog.  I wish I had more time to blog!

2.  I don’t watch much TV.

3.  When I do watch TV, the volume must be on an even number.  I will even have it too loud or too low just to have an even number.  Don’t even think about watching with the volume 21, just don’t do it!

4.  As of July 6, 2010, Todd and I have been married 19 years.

5.  One show I do watch occasionally is Say Yes To The Dress.  I love wedding dresses.  But, even after nineteen years and many dresses seen since, I still love my wedding dress and would choose it over and over again.  I guess that is why it was “the” dress for me.

6.  In another life I would love to be a wedding planner or wedding dress designer, or even a wedding dress salesperson.  I love everything about weddings.

7.  My parents and Todd’s parents were all in school together at Oklahoma Christian at the same time.

8.  Oklahoma Christian is where Todd and I met.

9.  On our first date, we determined that our mom’s both made spaghetti a lot on Wednesday nights.  This was in between him tying and untying his shoes no less that 620 times.  I decided then and there that he was the one for me since I could feed him spaghetti and he could teach our kids to tie their shoes.  Just kidding.

10.  Todd and I dated about six months, then we were engaged, then we married ten months later.

11.  I have two brothers, Todd has two brothers.  I love having sister-in-laws.  No offense guys!

12.  Todd and I have moved sixteen times.  You read that right.  Moved sixteen.  Married nineteen.  Yes, it is as bad as it sounds.

13.  If you count Edmond and Yukon as part of OKC and Nixa as part of Springfield, we’ve only actually live four different places in all those moves.  I don’t know what this means, except that I wish some of those moves would have been to some fun, exotic places!

14.  I could totally live in downtown Chicago or NYC.

15.  I think I have been to eleven major league baseball games.  Have I mentioned I don’t care for baseball?  Or hot dogs?  I do like apple pie though.  Why don’t they sell apple pie at baseball games?

16.  I love to sew.  I love to embroider.  I’m so excited I have a daughter to sew for.  At least until she tells me to stop, which will probably be pretty soon.

17.  Everyone told me that girls are easier to potty train than boys.  Guess what, they are NOT!

18.  I wish all the time I was ten years younger so I could have more kids.  I really would like more kids.

19.  I am a terrible decorator.  This worked out well when we were renting most places we lived.  I had the excuse that we would be moving on soon.  When we buy a house, that excuse doesn’t really fly.

20.  I wish I had the nerve to have a whimsical, colorful fun home.  Right now my whimsicalness sits at two chairs.

21.  I have four of the sweetest kids I know.  Ok, I’m a little biased.  But, I love them!

22.  Kellen started Kindergarten in Tulsa and was in school until November of that year, then we moved.  We’ve homeschooled ever since.

23.  At this point, I can’t imagine not homeschooling.  I don’t know what the future holds, but I’ve gotten very spoiled having so much time with my kids.

24.  You don’t have to read very many of my posts to guess what my grades in English were.    But, I continue to write them anyway. 

25.  I can’t stand to scrapbook.  My perfectionism gets me too freaked out about the whole process.  So, I blog.  I am printing my blog so I can put it up for my kids to have someday.  They may not care, but it makes me feel better.  At least they’ll have a little notebook to put next to their spouses 65 professionally done scrapbooks of their lives.

26.  I have a tendency to be sarcastic.

27.  My parents will be married 49 years this year.  Todd’s parents have been married 48 years.  For these marriages I am so thankful.

28.  At our rehearsal dinner, Clay said he knew Todd and I would stay married because we are the two most stubborn people he knows.  He was right.  Sometimes it takes pure stubbornness to make it work.  Or maybe the stubbornness makes the work.  I don’t know.  But, we’re still here.

29.  This may be a list of 29 things.  I don’t think I can think of 100 things to write about myself!  I will need at least one more, I can’t end on an odd number.

30.  Todd and I have only had one pet.  Well, we had some fish when we were first married, but then we moved, and well, they didn’t make it.  Abby was our one and only.  The sweetest little daschund .  She was not supposed to be a miniature, but she never got over 9 pounds.  We had her sixteen years.  She moved and moved with us and never seemed to be bothered by it.  She was bothered when we had babies.  She was bothered when we tried to get a second dog for her to play with.  Needless to say that friendship didn’t last long and we found a good home for the new dog.  But, moving didn’t bother her. 

31.  I would have loved to have named Callie Abby but everyone thought it would be too weird.

32.  I am a nervous wreck about having a daughter.  I have no idea what I am doing!

33.  I love pink.

34.  Lucky for Todd we had a girl.  This last moved I changed the color of our bedroom from pink and white blue and white.

35.  Todd always said he wanted three boys and a girl.  That’s what he got. :)

36.  The boys were born in Oklahoma City.  Callie was born in Iowa.

37.  All of our kids names had to have double letters, to go with our last name that has double letters.  Daddy’s idea.

38.  If you look in the right baby name books, all of our kids names are Irish.

39.  Even if we had more kids we could only have about four more since by the time you take out all the baby names that don’t have double letters and are not Irish, you are only left with four.

40.  I love to buy shoes.  It’s not fun to buy shoes for myself anymore since I have to start with comfortable and work my way down.  So, I buy shoes for Callie.  :)

41.  If I won the lottery the first thing I would do would be hire someone to clean my house, regularly.  I am so over cleaning.

42.  I love to fly.  In airplanes that is.

43.  I love to travel.  The second thing I would do if I won the lottery is buy a bunch of airline tickets to all kinds of places.

44.  I spent six weeks in Europe in between my junior and senior years of college.  Loved it!  I was part of a mission group with Let’s Start Talking.  We spent five weeks working with a church in the Netherlands and a week traveling.  One of the best times of my life.  I would love to take my kids there.

45.  Sam’s will not allow employees to take more than a week of vacation at a time.  So, even though Todd has four weeks vacation, it doesn’t do us much good when it comes to traveling great distances.  Unless I go by myself, which I have been known to do!

46.  Tulips are my favorite flower.  I would love to visit the Netherlands when the tulips are in full bloom, except that I am scared it would be too commercialized and then I would be disappointed. 

47.  I am not a fan of Disney.  So, a trip to Disneyworld if about last on my list.  That probably makes me un-American.  Oh well. 

48.  The commercialization of things drives me nuts.  Why does EVERYTHING have to have a sponsor?  I know, because someone has to pay for all the “stuff” that people enjoy, but it is all just too much these days.

49.  I have a terrible memory and that makes me sad.  I wish I could remember every little detail of my kids lives, but I can’t.  Bits and pieces jump out to me every once in a while, but that is about it.

50.  I will not ever win the lottery because I don’t buy lottery tickets.  But, it’s a nice thing to think about sometimes!

51.  I think my second dream job would be to design children’s wear.  I don’t know if anyone would buy it, but it would be fun.

52.  In sixth grade, we had to make a poster titled something like “About Me”.  In the part where we were supposed to draw a picture about what we wanted to be when we grew up I drew me feeding a baby in a high chair.  Being a mama is all I ever wanted to do.  So, I guess my actual dream job is coming true!  Of course now I realize being a mama is way more than one job!

53.  In sixth grade I rode a bus to another school to be in a gifted and talented class.  We were a mixture of kids from all over town that got to be in the most wonderful class with the most wonderful teacher.  I know, how did this happen?  What can I say, I can take tests!

54.  I pretty much didn’t like school except for sixth grade.  I was so very shy that any thing other than sitting at my desk doing schoolwork was torture.  I even volunteered to wash dishes in the school cafeteria so that I wouldn’t have to go to recess.  Should I even admit that?  I guess it doesn’t hurt for people to know I have been weird all my life!

55.  I can’t draw to save my life.  I wish I could.  I wish I was an artist and super-creative.  But, I’m not, I’ve learned to deal.  I’m glad my kids are creative in spite of me!

56.  I was deathly afraid of the dark growing up.  I have outgrown it, a little.

57.  Easter is my favorite holiday.  Three reasons:  Jesus, new clothes and the beginning of spring!

58.  Fall is my next favorite.  The temperatures are just right and even though I would not care if I ever watched another football game on TV, the thought of a high school game with a marching band just makes me happy.

59.  Next would be summer.  I love the freedom.  Don’t love the heat.

60.  I really could live someplace that didn’t have a winter.  I despise being cold and despise snow.  My Iowa friends can attest to this, since I complained the entire time I lived there.  Sorry about that!

61.  I also love to buy socks.  I can’t stand to wear socks, but love to buy them.

62.  I once took a sack with 102 pairs of socks to Goodwill.  In my defense, there were a lot of little baby socks.  My boys never really wore them since they were spring babies, but apparently I couldn’t resist buying them!

63.  I was born in October.  During the OU/Texas football game.  I think that was an omen.

64.  We have four OU football season tickets that we never use.  Don’t worry, we sell them, but it would be more fun to use them!

65.  My parents live in the same house that I grew up in.

66.  Todd’s parents live in the same house he grew up in.

67.  Our kids don’t know where they live.

68.  In the third grade I got chicken pox and glasses all in the same week.  Not a good week.

69.  I have a college degree in Physical Education.  I never wanted to be a teacher, I wanted to work in fitness or physical therapy.

70.  My first job was at Presbyterian Hospital in the Oklahoma City Center For Athletes.  I know what you are thinking, right up my alley.  It was a semi-fun job that only lasted nine months because we moved.

71.  My next job was for an eye doctor.  I decided then that I wanted to work in the optometric field.  That lasted seven months.  Then we moved.  Can you see a pattern here. 

72.  I have a terrible time making decisions.  Big decisions, little decisions, it doesn’t really matter.

73.  We were married six years before we had Kellen.  We wanted to be “ready” before we had kids.  Of course we soon found out you are never ready.

74.  We would have loved to have our kids close together, but God did not have that planned for us.  I think I will trust His judgment.

75.  I really, really try to trust God and His plan for my life.  It is not easy.  I’m a tad controlling.  I would have never laid my life out like this.

76.  I have a pretty good life, so luckily someone else is making the plans!

77.  I don’t remember when Clay was born, I was only 22 months old.

78.  I remember every detail about the day Ryan was born.  I was seven.  While I was initially a little sad he was not a sister, I got over it very quickly.

79.  I am now very glad he was not a sister.  There are some advantages to being the only girl.

80.  Ryan had long curly hair as a toddler, so I curled it and fixed it for him.  The next best thing to having a sister.

81.  People always thought Clay and I were twins.  He was tall, I was short, and we were dressed alike a lot.

82.  I sort of bossed them around a lot.  Sorry about that.

83.  Clay and Ryan both work in public education.  I do not.

84.  Clay and Ryan both live in Oklahoma.  I do not.

85.  Todd still says we will end up in Oklahoma City some day, for good.  I’m beginning to think that is not in the plans.

86.  If we could, we would move back to the first little house we bought in the Village.  We LOVED that house, still do.  Of course, we have added two more kids since then, so it might not really work out.  But, that was the best house.

87.  The second house we owned was in Iowa.  We loved the space.  I loved the laundry chute and laundry room. 

88.  The house in Iowa was supposed to be a work in progress while we lived there.  But, we didn’t live there long enough.  So, it became a major stress to get it done and sell it. 

89.  Todd never saw the finished product.  I wish he could have.  It turned out really cute.

90.  Thank the Lord we sold it in three weeks.  I couldn’t take that house anymore!

91.  The third house we have owned is the house we are in now.  It is new.  Or was new.  We’ve used it now.

92.  It is sooo boring.  Maybe if we built it ourselves, it would not be boring.  But since we just bought it this way, boring.  It is boring because I’m afraid to touch anything.  Something about having an old house makes me think I can fix that, make it look better.  Here, it’s hard to change anything since it is new.  I don’t know if I ever want a new house again.  But, I’ve learned to never say never.

93.  I know I am blessed to have this home, don’t get me wrong.  I am thankful for it every day.  Just bored with it. 

94.  Or maybe I’m bored because I’m not pregnant or packing.  Or pregnant and packing.

95.  I wish I knew the Bible better.  You’d think by going to church my whole life and taking Bible classes in college I would know it better.  But I am finally realizing that you have to actually study it, not just sit and listen about it.

96.  I desperately want my kids to know the Bible.  So, we start our homeschool day with Bible and I am learning right along with them.  It’s the best part of our day.

97.  I love my kids.  I can’t even describe how much I love these four people in my life.

98.  I love my husband.  I am so thankful for him.  He has put up with a lot from me and is still here.

99.  I love God.  I am so thankful to Him for blessing me beyond what I deserve.

100.  I love you for actually reading to the end!  Ha!  Unless your like me and you read the end of the book first to see if you actually want to mess with reading the whole thing.  If that is the case, don’t bother going back to read the list.  It will be ten minutes of your life you’ll never get back!

Independence Day!

Well, I am hoping to get all of July blogged about before August 1.  There is a good chance I am not going to make it, just in case you are on pins and needles to hear about it!

July 4 we started out with company, but sadly they had to head home since they had things to do bright and early Monday morning.  Since we hadn’t really checked into what to do in this area for the fourth, we decided we would just stay home and see what we could see.  Best decision EVER!  Have I mentioned that we live kind of in the middle of no where?  Well, that is not exactly true.  There are cities and neighborhoods all around us, we just happen to be in a little patch of land with not a whole lot around us.  Have I mentioned that we have some new neighbors?  Yay!  Since the first of the year five houses have been completed and four more are almost done.  No one is right by us, which is nice.  (Or should I be paranoid?  Do all the trashcans and outdoor kids stuff scare people away?  I don’t care, I like a little space!)  Well, we could seriously have sat on our roof and had a 360 degree fireworks extravaganza.  The other nice thing about being out of city limits is that you can pop your own fireworks.   At least that was nice for those of  us that wanted to just watch our neighbors fireworks! The boys couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t do this!  Umm,  safety maybe?  Thirteen year old that thinks he knows how to do everything and fireworks was not a battle I wanted to face this year!  One of our new neighbors had a party and had fireworks galore.  We decided to elect him chairman of fireworks for our neighborhood from here on out!  It was a fabulous time.  Perfect weather, lots of fireworks, our family all together.  Loved it!

Gannon, Kellen, Callie, Garrett, and Daddy enjoying the shows.

This girl was the LOVING the fireworks!  She clapped and cheered the whole time!

This is just a good picture of her curls.  :)

Yay!!

Garrett and Callie deciding to stand and watch.  It was better this way since we could turn around in all directions to view the shows!  

Just to show how close we were to our neighbors show.  Perfect!  Just like having your own but we didn’t spend any money on fireworks or ER visits!  (They didn’t go to the ER thank goodness, but it just takes on crazy firework you know!)

Better Than Last Year, I Think…

Well, Easter has come and way gone this year.  It was a crazy time.  Easter is my favorite holiday, and it seems to be crazy every year!  Not the way I would like to enjoy it.  I love Easter because it is spring!!! And because you get to buy pretty new dress clothes!  And there are the Easter eggs, the bunnies, the pastel colors everywhere…I could go on and on!  Easter 2010 was crazy all because of me.  I had too many things planned at once.  Not surprising I know!  

The week of Easter we had just gotten back from a trip to Tulsa, where I never took a picture!  I took my camera, but never took a picture.  Trust me when I say we had a great time!  While I was there we did some shopping.  I decided since I was running out of time to make Callie a dress, I would buy Callie an Easter dress.  Between Nana Charlene and I, we managed to pick out three dresses, two purses and a pair of shoes for Callie.  Just in case.  You never know what mood I would be in!  I had also decided to order a pre-made, pre-pleated dress to smock, in case I had time.  I really didn’t think it would be here in time to even start, but oh well, we had backups!

The Monday after Easter was the day to take things to our local Just Between Friends sale.  This is a huge consignment sale that I have been missing while being in Iowa.  I started going to them in Tulsa, and have since sold stuff through them in Norman and OKC as well.  So, the week before Easter I had to get all my stuff ready to sell.  Never mind that I had known about this for a few months!

And the week of Easter my parents were coming for a visit.  This was a good thing as they haven’t had much time to visit us and my dad was coming to help me hang shelves in my John Deere room.  Since I would be dragging stuff out of it to sell at the consignment sale, this would be the perfect time to do this.

And there was all the usual stuff:  school, co-op, homeschool PE, probably orthodontist appointments since we manage to go at least every other week!

Well the dress I ordered came on the Thursday before Easter.  I couldn’t stand it.  My parents came on Thursday and I started alternating between pricing and smocking, and trying to be a good hostess, which I am sure I was not!  This is why I titled this “Better Than Last Year…”  Remember last year when I decided to make an Easter dress in a week?  (Last years Easter saga:))  Well, this year I did it in three days.  Granted I only smocked it.  No sewing involved on this one.  But the smocking is what I love to do anyway! So, is this better since I did it in less time?  Or worse since I waited until the last minute two years in a row?  Oh well, who cares,  I love it!  I do not have a great picture of it yet.  But it is bright pink check with white and green stitching.  It is not as long as I like for this type of dress, but cute anyway!

Look at this grin.  This is her two-year-old grin.  The grin that says “I am so cute, I can do anything I want!”  (Can I just say she actually minded me tonight at dinner and even the boys were telling her good job it was such a surprise!)  Ornery!

Todd has put his foot down on the matching clothes for the boys.  This is the closest I could get without being vetoed!

Callie and Grandma having a conversation at the kitchen table.

Callie and Gannon taking a break from cleaning out the John Deere room.  Notice all the tubs in the background?  All empty now!!  I am so excited.  The consignment sale was a huge success!  Worth all the madness getting the stuff ready.  I would share how much money I made but it is embarrassing to think I had that much stuff to sell! Taking time out from the work to fly kites with Grandpa.  One advantage of living in a house with no neighbors, trees, or anything for that matter!  There was plenty of room to fly!

Callie and Gannon watching the kite action. 

All in all it was a great week and Easter, just tiring!  I really am going to start Callie’s Easter dress sooner next year.  I know, I could have used one of the dresses we bought, but I love to make her things!  I figure I need to get things made now before she refuses to wear what I make.  We are already starting to have issues with her picking out her own clothes!

So, moving right along in our little family journal.  I recently started printing my blog for 2009.  Since I don’t scrapbook, I thought this would be a perfect thing to print and bind for the kids to have someday.  They may not ever care, but it will release some of the guilt I have for not scrapbooking!  Or even just putting pictures in albums!  Anyway, I feel the need to go back and include some of our life when I get behind so we can remember what we do! 

Christmas Fashion Show

I was excited to find a little time for sewing this Christmas. I would always love to have more, but with everything going on, I was glad to get this much done. I didn't think to take pictures of her standing up so you could see the finished product, so I just cropped the best pics I could find.

This is the tried and true Martha Pullen A-line. It is so easy, takes less than an hour to whip out, and it's reversible, so you get two dresses in one! I have already made too many of these and will probably make many more! This side had a Christmas ornament appliquéd with a C in the middle.

This side of the jumper had this cute Mary Engelbreit fabric. My favorite part you really can't see but along the bottom is says "Is Christmas fun or what?" So cute!

This is just a little red tee with Christmas tree appliquéd on it. I love this tree. The red thread swirls to look like garland.

I guess you could say this is her "official" Christmas dress. I smocked white on white then green and red to resemble holly. I love the simple look of it. The only problem is that it is huge! I bought the pattern the next size up from her Easter dress. Well, she hasn't grown enough to need that size. But, it will all work out. She didn't really get to wear it this year since we were out of town on Sundays and churches were cancelled in Oklahoma. So, it should still fit next year. Woo-hoo, one Christmas project that I can cross off the list already!

This is not a homemade Mama project, obviously. But she got it for Christmas from Grandma so I had to include it. Shoes and all. How cute is this? I think Grandma is worried that Callie is destined to be stuck in jumpers and polka-dot shoes forever! And, I think Grandma is also pulling for her to be a the point guard for the OU women's basketball team, so she is just getting her used to Nike's and warm-up suits!

Even an athlete needs to cook!

Christmas Party Five

This is the last party, I promise! We are so glad that we were able to go to have all of these parties. We are blessed with a big, happy family!

After we left Shawnee we made it back to Tulsa. We didn't want to be out on the highway after dark if we could help it so we got into town about dinner time. Thank goodness because we got to eat at Abuelo's. This is one of my favorite places and we haven't been there in ages. I love their avocado enchiladas. Of course my sister-in-law Dwan gave me some to go guacamole that I ate the entire way up there, so it wasn't as good as it would have been if I was hungry, but I enjoyed it!

After dinner we decided to go look at Poppa Roy's Christmas lights. To say he goes all out is an understatement! People come from all around to see his lights. The neighbor across the street does up his house and Roy does up one of the neighbors house as well, so it is quite a show! We called to tell them we were outside and ended up going in to visit. Callie was in rare form. She had slept all the way there and she comes alive about eight in the evening anyway. She talked their leg off and was really in a good mood. I didn't take any pictures that night, but is was a fun impromptu visit.

Kellen and Garrett spent the night with Nana and Poppa, the rest of us headed back over the next morning. Church was canceled so we got to take our time. We hated to miss seeing our old friends at Park Plaza, but taking our time after all the Christmas running around was nice. Todd's brothers were both able to come so enjoyed a day all being together. I don't think we had all been together for almost two years. It is usually Todd that can't make the trip :(.

Before Taryn and Jack got there there was a girls chair. Karlee, Kymree, and Callie.

And a boys chair :).

Papa Foxx was able to come for the day. It was so nice to see him. He worked for American Airlines for many, many years.

Todd, Glenn, and Chadd. We have many pictures of them in this "pose". I was going to post some with this but decided to make it a post all its own. I am sure they are thrilled about that!

Again I didn't get a picture of everyone. I left out Kerry (Glenn's wife) and Natalie (Chadd's wife). Sorry girls! I'll try to catch you next time!

Poppy Roy and Nana Charlene with all the grandkids. They have four granddaughters and four grandsons. I think it is cool it turned out like that. Karlee, Kymree, Poppa, Nana, Callie, Taryn, Gannon, Jack, Garrett, and Kellen. Whew!

Nanny Edith is Charlene's mother. She lives with them so we get to see her when we come to time. She had a rough year after breaking her hip in February, but has bounced back and you wouldn't know it happened. Another testament in our family of someone taking care of themselves. She is 93 if you can believe that!

Poppa, Nanny, Nana, Glenn, Chadd, and Todd

There's one in every crowd!

And with that Christmas 2009 has come to an end. I know I keep saying it, but we are so thankful to be able to enjoy our family this year. I was always glad to go home, but I always wished Todd didn't have to miss out on so much. Now he should be able to around a little more. We are like a new family since we have been home. Our little six really needed to laugh, smile, and enjoy some time together and some time with our extended families. God has blessed us and I do not take that for granted. I pray he blesses anyone that reads our little blog.

Christmas Party Four

Christmas Party Four just about didn't happen this year. We were so excited to be further south so that we wouldn't have to deal with weather during the holidays. Then comes the Blizzard of 2009, or whatever title the news stations gave it. It was quite a snow storm. The wind made it so much worse than I think it would have been. That and the fact that apparently Oklahoma only owns two snow plowing trucks and the drivers were out-of-town for the holidays. Just kidding! But, seriously, I love you Oklahoma, but I think you have enough weather to justify some snow trucks. All that being said, we made it. Our plan was to head to Shawnee on Christmas afternoon. We headed that direction but only made it as far as Tulsa before we stopped and got a hotel room and ate at Ihop with the rest of the town of Tulsa! We got to Shawnee the next morning and both my brothers made it, so were set for the day. It was a little short since none of us wanted to drive after it got too dark, but we had a great time. We are all a little nuts so there was lots of laughing and carrying on!

The only picture of my mom. The kids were piling gifts on her lap. I didn't even get a picture of my dad. Sorry dad. I'm still don't do a good job of getting everything on camera like I would like.

Me. I think I'll make this picture tiny so you can't see all the wrinkles!

My brother Clay. Amazingly we got a picture of him not making a goofy face.

My brother Ryan.

Ryan and his wife Dwan. Amazingly we got a picture of Ryan making a goofy face.

Madison and Kellen. I can't even look at this picture. Only mothers of twelve year olds would understand.

Mallori and Garrett. They are both nine.

Gannon. Sorry Mason. I didn't get a picture of you either! I'll get you next time. Gannon and Mason are both five.

Gannon: "Good grief it's taking a long time to get to my turn."

I love this picture. We were soooooo glad that daddy got to come with us this year. No one can even remember the last time he got to attend family Christmas parties, or any family gatherings for that matter. I love how Garrett and Callie are sitting on him to open their gifts. We love our daddy.

Actually I did get a picture of Mason. He and Gannon are in their storm shelter. Ha! Yes, it is true every year, the kids would rather have boxes!

Madison giving Callie her first manicure.

Callie was sooo proud of her nails. She showed them off for days. Even Gannon didn't want her to take a bath because he didn't want her polish to come off.

We had a great day. We laughed and laughed. Ate some good food. Got some great presents. (It is Christmas after all!) As you can see the kids are all very close in age so they have a great time together. I know I've said it many times now, but we are so glad to be close enough to visit family. Thanks Todd!

Christmas Parties Two and Three

Are we getting tired yet? These aren't technically parties, I guess. Just our little family, but we like to call them parties. Sounds more festive!

Todd decided we would open some gifts on Christmas Eve this year and save Christmas morning for Santa gifts. It was a nice change. It gave us an activity for Christmas Eve night.

There were a lot of hugs that night. It was so nice to see the kids giving and receiving so nicely.

Before we read the Night Before Christmas. No Christmas Pj's this year. Except Callie of course. I had been looking for gowns for her as she is so against having her feet covered, especially at night. There are not many to be found in her size though. Grandma gave her this one for her birthday, it is so cute! It is just too much sometimes to have everything together, and guys are not really into that anyway! I think Gannon, in his skeleton pj's, forgot what holiday it was!

The morning of Christmas, dressed and ready to go!

We had lot's of great expressions. I guess that meant that Santa did ok!

Mama: "Look Callie, here is the charm daddy gave you this year. A ladybug!"

Callie" "I don't want a bug." Ok then.

I love you anyway daddy :)!

Anxiously awaiting to see what Kellen is opening.

Callie and her new kitchen. Is this not the cutest kitchen ever? It is just her size and has the cutest pans and utensils. She has cooked and cooked since Christmas. She even washed her hair in the sink!