Holiday Catch Up

Wow the end of the year is such a busy time. Always something going on, somewhere to go and people to see! From Halloween to New Year's we love the holidays :) The kids had so much fun doing the various different things...

~Halloween~

Z went dressed as a Police Officer, A was Cinderella and S was Pebbles. Z was able to wear his costume to school but poor A was sick the whole week so she wasn't able to participate. But that didn't hinder the amount of candy we had in the house!

~Thanksgiving~

We were able to go to Utah this year. We decided to make it an adventure...packed the Entourage, loaded 3 kids and lots of goodies and were on our way. Thanks to good weather we made pretty good time, and the kids loved all the different "nature sights" they saw. It is always so much fun spending time with family. Z & A couldn't get enough of their cousins. Z wanted to play in the snow and fortunately the day after we got there it did snow so he got his trip to Utah wish...but only for the day, it ended up melting and we had good but chilly weather the rest of the time.

~Christmas~

We kicked off December with the parade, it was soo cold but fun. Downtown Franklin has so many activities throughout the year so we decided to enjoy "Dickens of a Christmas" which included meeting some of the characters from Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol. Z & A had their first school Christmas program, afterwhich Santa stopped by and they were able to tell him what they wanted. It was fun to hear them practice the songs @ home prior to the program...they absolutely LOVE to sing. S even joins in when we start singing! This year we spent Christmas in North Carolina. Every year I tell myself that I will get my shopping done before the week of Christmas...maybe next year!! And as always Santa found us...boy is he good ;) Z got a remote control fire truck, A got a pink cozy coupe car and S got a musical jungle gym. We got a new digital camera (our old one has been broken for over 4 months, so I've been using my phone to take pictures). I must say it is much easier using a camera and I forgot how nice it is to have all the available options to take great pictures. I was also able to help dip chocolates...it definitely takes practice! The fun part of the whole trip was figuring out how to get it all back!! It was like a puzzle trying to fit everything into the Entourage...but I have such a smart and creative husband...he did it...of course I didn't doubt him for a minute. :)

~New Year's Eve~

We rang in the New Year with some friends! 3 of the 4 kids made it to about 10:30 but since A had taken a nap during the day she made it a little later but not quite to midnight and like usual all three (Z, A & S) were up at their normal time New Year's morning.

The Holidays are such a wonderful time; spending time with family and good friends, lots of fun activities to enjoy. But I am most grateful for the extra time to think about and be thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ and what His presence on earth means to/for me. What better gift than Him and his sacrifice. All too often I get caught up in thinking about what I don't have I forget to be thankful for what I do have, I am truly blessed; a patient and loving husband, 3 children who see past my flaws and teach me what truly matters most, a testimony of the Gospel, its teachings & principles and so much more.
It's a little late but...

Happy Holidays ~ Happy New Year

School, Birthdays and Much More

Here are a few pictures and updates of the past month and a half. Time just keeps slipping by me, I am definitely busy with 3 kids but add school and that pretty much sums up any spare minute I might have. I love being busy but it definitely takes its toll.

Z-man:

Started Pre-K this year, can you believe he could start Kindergarten next year?! He is learning to write his name, he knows 'Z'. We also enrolled him in an art class twice a week. It is good for him, he absolutely loves them both. When he comes home he says to me, "Mommy, I don't have time right now...to clean my room....I have homework." Crazy he already knows what that is, he is excited about it now but that won't last long. He is not a little boy anymore. He has grown up so much and in so many ways but no matter how old he gets he will always be my Bubby Boo. He turned 4 this year and wanted to do a birthday party with friends....we did a bowling party which the kids enjoyed and then celebrated as a family that evening. I asked him what he wanted for dinner since it was his birthday he could decide. He chose Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. He has loved tomato soup since he was almost 2!

"Happy Birthday!"

"Just my size" bowling

1st day of School


LOVES holding and making S laugh

Baby Girl:

My baby girl started a preschool program. She is quite the fireball and with her colorful personality she needed to be involved. She absolutely LOVES it. She is our little Mother Hen and she is such a girl. I pulled out my old Barbies so she could play with them....she has so much fun with them even though she doesn't quite know what to do. She loves watching the movies Barbie "stars" in, her favorite is "Princess and the Pauper" she loves singing the songs from it and can even recognize a certain one when I whistle or hum the tune. She really likes when we turn music on and dance around. It is funny because she has to go put a skirt or dress on so she can spin around like a Princess.

Quite the "ham"

"Just my size" bowling

Sister time

1st day of School

Little One:

My little Sunshine. She is growing TOO fast but don't they always? She has experienced so much in her almost 5 months of life. We have been battling fevers every two weeks since she was 5 weeks old. With each episode she gets congested, which causes a runny nose, throat irritation and aggravates her reflux. Poor girl...she is quite the trooper. For the most part they are low grade but twice now she has had a 24 hour period where they have reached to 104.2. Unfortunately we have no idea what is causing it all. The good news is all the tests done to this point have come back fine. She is scheduled to see a specialist, hopefully we can get somewhere and atleast pinpoint what could be causing it all. She is our little chatterbox. She tries to keep up with Z & A and wants to be running around with them...all I have to say to that is "Watch out" once she starts she is not going to stop. She started oatmeal about a month ago and loves it. She now reaches for anything we are eating. We have also given her a little bit of squash (which she seemed to like) and bananas (not sure what she thought of those). She is starting to sit up on her own though not for long. She loves playing in her exersaucer, I think mostly because she can see what is going on.

Peek-a-boo while sleeping

Lovin' the oatmeal?!

Sittin' like a big girl

We also celebrated Mike's birthday! The kids' favorite thing to do is go to Dollar Tree and get balloons, decorations and other goodies to decorate his desk at work! Of course I enjoy it too! We are blessed to have him in our life...such a wonderful husband and daddy ;D