Christmas Came Late (Alternately titled: Why did Santa even bother with other presents?!)

There's a bit of a back story to this post. Scarlett LOVES to swing. I have been telling Brody for about a year now that I really want to get a swing set for the backyard. I think it was pretty much going in one ear and out the other for him because he never really would respond when I would bring it up. Brody is what I would call frugal, and while it is what I need in a spouse,it can drive me crazy. I just knew that by the time he got around to buying a swing set, Scarlett would have her driving permit! :) He did finally order a catalog but continued to ignore the sales people when they would call telling us all about their big Christmas sale. Well...I had an epiphany. I simply told Brody that as soon as we got a swing set, the next major purchase could be a new TV for the family room. And what do you know?! The VERY next day, we had our swing set ordered. 

I think you can tell by the looks on their faces that it was worth every penny!

Here's a little video of when we brought her out. I had kept her inside all day and she never even questioned the loud noises that the men were making installing it. I love hearing her so excited, and Clark's laughing at the end is precious to me.

No itch here...

There's really so much to post about Christmas that I don't know where to start. So...I'll just say that we had a great time with Brody's family Christmas Eve, and the fun continued the next morning at our house and then later at my parents. Scarlett got everything on her list and then some, and Clark...well, he was oblivious to most of it, but he's enjoying the new toys now.

Here's Scarlett admiring her new skates. 

Clark doesn't look thrilled, but he does actually love his new Elmo.

However, his favorite things to play with were not even toys...like this football...

and my parents snow globes

Here's my little skater girl. Yes, she needs all that gear even on the carpet. And all I can say about skating outside is that my back will never be the same. She has a LOT of practicing to do, but she's happy :)

As far as the title of this post, today is Brody and my anniversary. Seven years has gone so quickly, and I am so happy that God brought us together!

Merry Christmas!!

Sleepover

Friday night we had Beck come and spend the night. Jaime and Ben were hosting a party and I thought it would be fun for everyone if he came over. Scarlett had a great time with her cousin and I think he had fun too. :) 

here he is telling us some story...I think I've seen Ben in this exact pose before

They played superheroes a lot. He was Superman and she wanted to be a kitty, but he told her she was Wonder Woman...so I think they compromised and she was Wonder Kitty

Scarlett liked giving him a funny hairstyle :)

Morning came too soon. Scarlett was sad to see him go.

so I don't forget...

Last night we were getting ready to go somewhere and as I was running around finishing things up, Brody was bathing the kids. He had Scarlett in the living room watching TV with him while he brushed her hair and got her dressed. She sees a guy that looks a lot like this come on TV and the conversation went a little like this:

S: ooh, that is a strong man

B: yes, he looks strong

S: he might be the strongest man in the world!

B: maybe he is

S: is his name Samson?

hey...at least she knows some Bible, right?!

Busy, Busy!

Just like everyone else, we have had a BUSY last few weeks. I did not manage to get pictures of everything, but here's what we've been up to:

Breakfast with Santa at church on Saturday

Tuesday night was Brody's party for the tennis shop. We had fun, but I was too busy chasing after Clark to get a picture.

Thursday was Scarlett's program at school. She was SO excited!! She had been talking about it since before Thanksgiving and she was only in the choir. I can only imagine how excited she will be next year when she's actually part of the program.

before the program

the choir

(notice the darling "candles" in the background?!)

Clark and Brody at the show

Mimi and Papa even got to come! Scarlett was a bit sad about a pushing incident. {She was probably pushed because she didn't want to get off stage :)}

Thursday night was our church Ladies Craft Exchange. Again, no pictures...but it was fun!

Friday night was our Bible class Christmas Party. We had a great time, and hopefully I can get some pictures from Kristin.

Saturday was my annual Christmas craft party with some good friends that I used to teach with. We have been doing it since before I got married. Then when Jaime moved back from Oklahoma we invited her to join us...now we have 9 kids between us!! We missed Anne, but hope to see her soon! (and next year hopefully Katie will join us!)
Sunday night was Brody's employee party. We were pretty pooped from our busy week and didn't take any pictures, but it was nice.

This week we have Christmas with Maegan and Jordan since they will be out of town Christmas Day, another party for Brody, and a wedding...stay tuned!

Tag!

8 Shows I watch:

1. Young and the Restless

2. House

3. Criminal Minds

4. Private Practice

5. Grey's Anatomy

6. ER (notice a hospital theme?!)

7. Ghost Whisperer

8. Numbers

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Longhorn

2. La Fonda on Main

3. Cheesecake Factory

4. Guenther House

5. Starbucks

6. Formosa Gardens

7. Texas Land and Cattle

8. Paesanos

8 Things I did today:

1. got Scarlett ready for school

2. went to see her Christmas Program

3. came home and downloaded the dramamine worthy video

4. checked facebook

5. read blogs

6. made pancakes for dinner

7. fixed a quick appetizer

8. went to the ladies craft exchange at church

 

8 Things I look forward to:

1. Heaven

2. Christmas

3. a vacation

4. dates with Brody

5. spending time with my girlfriends on Saturday

6. coffee every morning

7. seeing what Christmas cards come in the mail every day

8. nap time when I can eat my lunch and watch Young and the Restless :)

8. Things I wish for:

1. my family to be healthy

2. that my kids will grow up loving God and using their talents to serve Him.

3. to some day move closer "in town"

4. to be pleasing to God in my actions as a wife, mother, friend...

5. that someone will eat the brownies on the counter so I will no longer be tempted

6. Scarlett and Clark to feel as close to me and Brody as I do to my parents

7. a weekend away with my girlfriends

8. a new Gucci

I tag anyone who hasn't done this yet!!

So Photogenic It Hurts...

I'm thinking this won't make our Christmas card. But hey...Clark says, "Three Cheers for Santa!"

His face says it all...

Before:

After:

He's much better now...back to the happy little guy we all know and love. I have to say, though, we were both a bit sad after the cut. The lady took a sweet forever to cut it, and even though I just wanted a little trim, she was adamant that scissors are too dangerous for babies and insisted on the clippers. I knew they would scare him. The saddest part was that he didn't really cry until the end...he just sat in my lap with his eyes closed and shook. Broke my heart. But, we're both fine now and I'm getting used to his big boy "do".

The Great Turkey Roundup of 2008

Take 1

Take 2

Take 28

Getting closer... (Clark just woke up in case you are wondering why his eyes look so puffy)

Take 9,237

The best it's going to get

His hair is priceless. I'm thinking he should have been Donald Trump for Halloween.

Happy Thanksgiving from my turkey's to yours!

I Got Nuthin'

Seriously, I have nothing to say. Nada...not.one.thing. I was thinking the other day after Ladies Bible Class that I could not remember half of what Mark said about half an hour after leaving class. I think that I need to start doing crosswords again. Or Sudoku, or something because my brain has turned to mush.

Anywho...all of this to say that I have nothing of value to post, and yet here I am. I was tired of seeing the same post staring back at me and decided even if I had no thoughts, I needed to post something.

Here's sweet Briggs rockin' out in my shades

my big boy

I think he's driving himself to a folklife festival. We had Music & Me today. 

The boy seriously loves the folk music.

the big kids

Jaime and I snuck peeks of them on the playground today. It was so fun watching them play with their pals. (I wrote peeps instead of pals...but then thought maybe that saying was out...I have no idea. Help me people. If I don't have normal intelligence anymore, I at least need to be hip. And by just saying "hip" I think I have confirmed that I am old and dorky)

So there you have it. The best I've got. And it ain't much~

You know you do it too

I am a blog stalker. I'm much better than I used to be, but it is still something I fall back on when I just don't feel like mopping the floor. Or folding clothes. Or scrubbing toilets. But I digress. My whole point is that there are a couple of blogs I read even though the authors are complete strangers to me. One of these blogs is Angie's. Right now, she's posted about praying for your kids seven times a day for seven days. She even has specific prayers written out for certain times of day. I think it's great, and I'm going to give it a try. I thought it was worth mentioning in case you yourself are not a blog stalker, and have never heard of her.

Trick or Treat

After weeks of chocolate dreams, we weren't sure Scarlett would get to enjoy Halloween after all. The fever that started on Wednesday was pushing 104 by Wednesday night. A trip to the Urgent Care clinic Thursday due to an earache, led the Dr. to think she may not have a simple ear infection, but pneumonia. I was a bit of a basket case considering she has only been on an antibiotic once since she was born. Thankfully, a Friday morning trip to our regular pediatrician resulted in finding out she was pneumonia free but did have a sinus infection. I loaded her up on tylen*ol, Mucin*ex, and her antibiotic, and we were ready to roll. As we were unloading the kids Scarlett said, "Let's do this!" To say she was ready would be a vast understatement. (And, for the record...she had not run fever any on Friday, so hopefully you won't think that badly of me)

the butterfly princess and her caterpillar sidekick

yes, he's holding a thermometer...we have a twisted sense of toys around here these days

blurry, but cute

at Trunk of Treats with Aunt Maegan and Uncle Jordan, the golfers :)

(if you look closely, you will see Scarlett's wings are upside down. Apparently, I'd been nipping at the cough medicine and didn't even notice)

Sick or not, Scarlett had a great time. Now Clark and I seem to be coming down with the same ailment. Pray for us. However, in the words of Lisa, at least it's not barf. You know me well, my friend, you know me well.

It's a glamorous life, people

Remember how just yesterday I mentioned that I may or may not have dropped our camera on the kitchen floor? Well, apparently there was some "impact damage" done to the lens. The amount it would cost to fix the thing is only $30 less than buying a new one so...Merry Christmas to me.

It's actually good that I don't have a camera around today because if I did, I would scare the stink out of you...being a Mommy? Well, it's not always pretty.  If I had my camera and took pictures of our day you would see:

-Scarlett in my bed because she has a nasty cough and a 102*fever

-Scarlett wiping her faucet of a nose on my comforter

-Me, not showering (let's be totally honest, I don't think I even put on deoderant today)

-Clark, playing with a baggie of rubber bands so that I could play on the computer

-Clark (still in his pajamas) walking around with a mini twix bar in his mouth...wrapper and all 

-Me, eating that twix. Sure, it's slobbery, but honestly...we've shared more germs than this, and I can't bear to see the chocolate going to waste

I'm sure there's more, but at the moment I'm drawing a blank. Plus, I don't want to totally scare off my three faithful readers. 

Here's hoping your day was filled with clean hair, fresh makeup, and well children!

Fun Stuff

It seems like October starts the season of fun activities. Scarlett is beside herself with excitement about Halloween this year. 

My mom bought these fun Halloween houses for Scarlett and Beck to decorate. They came out really cute. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the final product, and seeing as how Scarlett has already eaten an entire wall of gingerbread goodness, there will be no picture to share. Believe me, though, it was a darling little house of candy corn and M&M overload.

Last year, Brody started the tradition of carving a pumpkin with the kids. Technically, it's still with just Scarlett but Clark will join in soon enough! 
She was not a fan of the smell. Have I ever mentioned that she's a bit dramatic? I too can smell things from a mile away, but I have no idea where she might get her drama (haha)


Sorry that some of the pictures are a bit blurry. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I dropped our new camera on the tile floor a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully, Brody found a repair shop. We'll know tomorrow if it can be fixed or if my Christmas present will be another new camera.

For Aunt Maegan

Today a dentist came to visit Scarlett's school. Scarlett enjoyed painting the sparkles on her picture. Let's hope her real teeth don't look similar! My sister in law is in dental school, so Aunt Maegan, this picture is for you!

test

Well, after reading on Jaime's blog how to do this scrapbook thing, I thought I'd give it a shot. It was a quick attempt because I didn't want to waste hours if it didn't work. Anyway, these are two pictures of the "big kids". The one on the left was from 2006 and the one on the right was last year. I'm kind of sad because this was the first year that we didn't go to the pumpkin patch with Jaime, but I'm thinking maybe we could take the kids to the place she discovered last weekend.

Day Seven: A Week in the Life (Sunday)

OK, first let me say, I know this "Week in the Life" has taken FOREVER! I'm sorry, but since I started it, I felt like I should finish. Also, I am very aware that Sunday is technically the first day of the week, but since I started posting on a Monday that left Sunday for last. Anywhoo...here's some of our day:

church

lunch at my parents

while the kids took a nap, I made this little bib for Clark out of a Halloween towel

and the sad end to our day...watching the Cowboys lose :(

Day Six: A Week in the Life (Saturday)

Another day, another pile of laundry

Art project gone terribly wrong

Brody had to work on this particular day, so I took the kids to watch Jordan coach freshman football. Here's Maegan cheering on her hubby and their team!

Cleaning out my closet...still have a long way to go, but I got tired of doing it, and I was busy watching the Texas/OU game

Go Horns!

What's this?! Girls night out!!

Enjoying our time without kids by making a quick Target run