Gifts from Tots

This year was the first year that we taught Nolan about saving up his own money and buying gifts for our family. It was to teach him about giving. He has been such a big boy all month earning money for his Christmas gifts. Last week I took him to Dollar Tree so that he could pick out presents for everyone. He had saved up about $35.00 and spent every penny! That's a lot of gifts when your at the dollar store! He was so funny as we went up and down each row looking and picking out presents. It seemed a little easier for him to pick out gifts for all the men and boys (of course) but I helped him on a few of them but he really did a great job at thinking of reasons why they needed each gift. After two hours all of his money was allocated to someone's gift except for Daddy which I told him I would help him buy something somewhere else. The highlights included a puzzle for Nana, tape measure for uncle Wes, a Poker Set for PaPa Perry (who always plays card with his friends), Silly String for all the little boys in our family (since Nolan isn't allowed to have any yet he zoomed right in on buying it for all the older kids!),a box of wild flower seeds for Granny, Aviator Sunglasses and a bag of peanuts for PaPa Mays, Tennis Balls for all the dogs in our family and Daddy got the most expensive gift a John Deere t-shirt that was $6.99 from Academy! It was so funny to help him pick it all out and wrap and give them all! It's certainly a new tradition we will do every year!

More Christmas Pictures

Christmas Pictures

Christmas 2008 was very busy but so wonderfully full of love and family! The boys had a visit from Santa and we were off to visit 4 different houses! Nolan was very excited about his new MP3 player that Santa left him loaded with all of his favorite songs and his new Hot Wheels race track. He also LOVED his new John Deere Lamp and 8 ft John Deere Windmill. Just what every household needs, right? Hudson loved the giant stuffed puppy from Aunt B and his Little People Race Car ride on toy. We are blessed!

Holiday in the Park 2008

We were invited by our good friends Mike and Nicole to go to Holiday in the Park at Six Flags. We left Hudson with MiMi because it was a very cold night! We went out there for a few hours and had a great time! Nolan and Addyson were very cute riding all the rides together!

Nolan's 1st Solo Performance!

Nolan's preschool (Rush Creek Christian Academy) had their Christmas program last week. They have been practicing for the past month and it turned out so cute. Nolan takes Spanish at school and his Spanish class performed "Feliz Navidad". He was given a solo part to play a guitar and rock it out during the class' song. It was precious, we certainly have a performer on our hands!

Kids Book Exchange

Every year we host a Christmas party - this year we had three! It was a really busy but so worth it! Friday night with some girl friends, Saturday with some family and Sunday with friends and all their kiddos. Each year is fun and keeps getting better! We have so many friends that are now married with children and it is special to get to see all of them during the holidays. It is a time to get to together and let the kids play and not worry about the expense of buying everyone gifts. (there is just no way that we could afford that!) I hope that our tradition continues for many years to come!

Thank You Brunch

This year has been a wonderful but crazy year for us. We had a hard couple of months with Nana and MiMi out of commission. We are SO blessed to have family that would bend over backwards to help us with the boys - this time was no exception! We had a lot of help and I wanted to let them all know how very thankful Scott and I were for their love and support. I decided it would be fun to host a brunch as a thank you for everything! I then surprised them at the brunch with a gift card to Target. But there was a catch - they had to spend it right then! We loaded up in a couple of cars and went to the store during the brunch. They had to spend the money on themselves and they had to give back the cards if the money wasn't all spent (this was to encourage them to actually put themselves first and just have fun!) So many times as women we forget to do things for our self - it's always about our family, work and friends. I wanted to make sure that everyone got something they wanted. It was SO much fun. I ran around Target like the paparazzi taking pics and laughing. I think that a good time was had by all. I love these women and I was so glad to get to give a little thanks back to each of them!

Sweet Daisy

Just had to post this pic taken last weekend of our sweet old girl. Notice the John Deere collar...she's a good sport with all these kids and babies! :)

Girls Christmas Party 2008

Every Christmas since my junior year of high school my girlfriends and I have had a party to celebrate the season. It started out as just a night out to dinner and has changed each year with new games, themes, places. It is always one of my favorite things to do during the holidays! This year I offered to host it at my house. I kicked out Scott and the boys for the evening and us girls just gossipped, drank and laughed the night away! This year we did a "guady" Christmas theme - everyone had to wear over the top Christmas sweaters and attire. It was hilarious! I am blessed to still have my girls after all these years. Love them!

Pause the Music Player and Listen to Hud...

Hudson is SO cute with all the jibber jabber these days! He is saying new things everyday...it is precious to listen to him. I can throw out anything and he will at least attempt to say it.

Waffle House

We took the boys to Waffle House a few weeks ago for dinner. It was their first trip and they loved it. Nolan loved the jukebox and wanted to play a song. He asked for "Country Boy Can Survive" (which surprisingly was not on there) he then settled for "She thinks my tractor's sexy". Is it really a shock to think that Nolan fit right in? He wanted to go back the next day. I told him that maybe we could go back next year...

Thanksgiving

I missed out on blogging for the actual holiday - too much going on that weekend to stop and post. That is something to be thankful for right there..we have tons of family!! We had a great 4 day weekend - ate, enjoyed our families and felt the joy of the season coming! Along with the arrival of the holidays comes SHOPPING. Now I know that Christmas is not about SHOPPING but BLACK FRIDAY is ALL about SHOPPING. My mom and I have braved the cold, rain, sleet and crazy women every year for the past 8 years. It is ridiculous, yet SO much fun. I LOVE IT! I love to see all those families and groups of friends out for the hunt. I love seeing the one guy dragged out just to stand in line for his wife (now that is true love!) Becca joined us for the first time this year and I think she's hooked! I could actually care less about getting the actual merchandise it's just all about the plot and anticipation for me. I love making lists and discussing ads with the girls on Thanksgiving night. It's just what we do. Here are some pics from our first sale (It was 4 am!) And yes, we did get the door busters we wanted! :)

"Bamit!"

This is a silly post but I just had to stop and write about it! The other day I was in the kitchen and I heard Nolan yell out of frustration in the living room. He was trying to get a movie out of the cabinet and I guess was having trouble getting the door to close back. Now I thought I heard a bad word, so I walked in there and asked "What did you just say?" and he looked at me so matter of factly and said "Bamit". I told him that wasn't a word and that I didn't like the way it sounded. I then asked him why he said it and he said "Because I was trying to bamit shut." I just had to choke back a smile and walk away!

What a difference a year makes....

Hudson at 6 months old.



I say this all the time, but it's so weird to me how we really don't notice how much our kids have grown until you catch it in a picture! Can't believe Hudson is 18 months! Last year he was just learning how to sit up and crawl. Now he runs everywhere and repeats everything we say! Where did the time go?

Hudson at 18 months.

The Five Senses

Nolan learned about the five senses in school last week. They made a little book about it and got to pick out pictures from magazines to cut out and glue into the book.



Nolan's teacher said that she noticed that he was handed a Glamour magazine and just watched to see if he was going to say there was nothing in that magazine for him to pick...no tractors for sure! But he kept looking though it contently and found items for all of the senses. She asked them to tear out the pages that they liked. When she started to help Nolan cut out his items he had found out three pairs of womens shoes. She told him that he only needed one set and to pick out which ones her wanted - he picked out the Jimmy Choo heels! For those who don't know those are designer shoes that cost over $1,000 bucks. Seriously? How does a four year old have that kind of taste? He also wanted to pick out a designer handbag to match and she told him to try to find something else - fearing Scott would freak. :) He picked out a Swarovski Crystal Necklace. Too Funny!



For smell he picked out Dolce and Gabbana Perfume!




For touch he picked out a pink blowdryer, Taste a Grapefruit and Hear a Chevy mini van! Who is this kid? None of those things seem like something Nolan would have picked yet he was so proud to bring home the book and show me all of the pretty things he had picked out. He said that he made the book for me. Maybe I am raising him right after all!

Sick Days

Well it been a rough couple of weeks for everyone in my family! My mom (aka Nana) had hernia surgery about 3 weeks ago and she has an 8 week recovery time. She is doing good but has to take it very slow so she can heal. Scott's mom (aka MiMi) had surgery as well this past week; during a routine colonoscopy they found a large non-cancerous (Praise God!) tumor in her colon. They removed it last Tuesday and she came home from the hospital yesterday and is doing excellent! It has been very hard emotionally on Scott and I to have both our momma's have major health issues when a month ago everyone was healthy. So scary and stressful for both sides of our family. On top of all of that we (as in me, Scott and the boys) have had this stomach virus stuff. It has been a week and a half of yuck. Everyone seems to finally be on the path to recovery. Thanks for all the prayers. I thought I would post some of my favorite pics of the boys with their grandmas!