Our Christmas...is over....

THANK GOD!!

I love this time of year but it is always so tiring. I don't know if it's all the preparations, all the excitement, all the traveling, or all the food. Probably a combination of all the mentioned.
We got home from Oklahoma yesterday afternoon. We had the best time in Oklahoma with all are families and friends. We spent half of the time with my family and half with Hubs' family. The girls got spoiled beyond belief. They are so loved and are so blessed to have the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousin that they do. God truly blessed us in this area.
We did our Christmas at home before we left. The girls wrote Santa a letter "reminding" him that we were leaving early to go to Oklahoma and if he wasn't too busy could he stop by our house a little early. They put out cookies and milk for Santa and sprinkled reindeer food (oatmeal with glitter in it) in the front yard. The glitter is so they can find our house. You see, the moonlight shines and makes the glitter shine so it's easier for Rudolph to find our house..Great idea huh?
These are pictures from our house....

Madeline with her stocking.

Macy dumping her stocking out. This way is MUCH faster.

Macy opening one of her dress up dresses.


All dressed up...


Daddy and Madeline EARLY in the morning.


Madeline got a Nintendo DS. Here she is really into the game.


Madeline is VERY into American Girl. She has 3 dolls (Julie,Kit, and Ruthie(which she got for Christmas from her Granddad and Gramme) and the Twins. She has been wanting Julie's bed for a long time so Santa brought it to her. She was so excited when she found it hidden behind the tree.



I also forgot to mention that Macy LOVES the Nintendo DS as much as Madeline. Here she is waiting so patiently for her turn to play.


That pretty much covers "OUR" Christmas at home. While we were in Oklahoma we got to visit several good friends. I got to have lunch with two of my favorite girls Kristie and Donna. (Can you believe I didn't take any pictures. UGH!) Kristie and I have been friends since the 7th grade and Donna and I have been friends since Kindergarten. Both these girls are very special to me. Kristie was my maid of honor and we were also college roomies. Donna was a bridesmaid and she is the one that was responsible for Hubs and I getting together. She set us up. We also had dinner with some very special friends, The Nuthmans. Shawna and I met my senior year of high school and became instant friends. Shawna too was in my wedding and her husband Lance was our WONDERFUL pastor who married Hubs and I. It was very special to have someone so close to us marry us. We grew apart several years ago but I am hoping that we can start building that friendship again. They are incredible people with THREE ADORABLE kiddos. We got to have a nice visit with The Batemans and meet their precious new daughter Katelynn who is 6 weeks old. Brian was Hubs' best man and Hubs was Brian's' best man. They too are very special people. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends. We love them all. There were still so many other friends that we would have loved to gotten together with but there just never seems to be enough time or schedules don't work out. We will get together with everyone soon.

We had a great time with my family and got to spend some good time with both of my brothers and parents. We also got to spend time with two of our other favorite people, my brothers girlfriend, Jaime (who I think of as a sister in law) and her precious son, Garrett, whom the girls ADORE.

Christmas at Papa and Nana's:

The girls coloring so nicely together. I love it when they get along...HA!


The girls with Uncle Joshua (my "little" brother)


Madeline and Garrett both into their DS's


Macy loved the deer and sleigh at papa and nana's. She wanted to sit in the sleigh because when she was a baby we put her in it to take her picture. She didn't understand that now she was too big.


Macy asking Nana (my mom) if she can open presents.



The girls in front of the tree. They weren't into taking pictures. They wanted to open presents.


Madeline with her Pixos.

Garrett and Jaime. (Jaime is 8 months pregnant with my niece)


My older brother, Aaron and Jaime. Happy parents to be.


The girls helping Papa (my dad) open his gifts.


Hubs and I.


Madeline and Garrett. She adores him and is sad every time we have to leave.


As you can see, we had the best time with my family. My mom definitely took good care of us. I think all we did was eat while we were there. Thanks mom and dad.

Next we headed to Hubs' side of the family. We got their Christmas Eve. Everyone was there and we got to visit for a little bit before it was time to get into bed because Santa was on his way. The girls were the last ones to wake up that morning. I think they were worn out from all the festivities the night before. Once they woke up and Hubs' brother, sister in law, and nephew got there it was time to open the gifts. Once again the girls were spoiled rotten. Look at the fun we had here.

All the cousins *notice SOMEONE is too busy to look at the camera*


Uncle Brad reading the note that "Santa" left for Madeline.


Cuddling up close to granddad.


Macy in her new Pottery Barn chair.


Madeline and her new American Girl doll, Ruthie.


Macy and my sister in law. Macy is showing her how to play the DS. Go figure!


This is my sweet nephew, Austen. He disappeared for a while and we noticed he was
"sweeping" with the little broom. However, when it was investigated a little closer, he was actually dipping the broom into the dogs water bowl and "mopping". Gotta love little ones.


This is Hubs grandmother who is in her 90's and struggles with Alzheimer's. Although she really doesn't know who we all are she still has the best time with us. Madeline is helping her open one of her Christmas presents.


My nephew and I looking at the Photo book I made for my mother in law with pictures of all the grand kids in it. He enjoyed seeing pictures of himself in a book. He is such a little ham. Anytime you get the camera he looks at you and says, "Cheese."


We had a wonderful time with Hubs' family. His sister and her husband didn't get to spend very much time with us, as they both had to work the day after. We missed getting to spend time with them. I'm hoping they will come visit us soon...HINT HINT!! However, we did get to spend LOTS of time with his brother, our sister in law, and our nephew. We did some shopping and even had a Wii game night. I hate to admit it but our sister in law KILLED us TWICE at Wii Monopoly. Thanks Katie...

Sadly, our trip had to come to an end. It was time to pack up and head home. It barely fit. We were stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey. Here's the view we had from the front seat.

I sure hope the girls weren't claustrophobic because there was no room anywhere around them.

Here's the view from the back.




And that MY FRIENDS is Christmas with us. Oh the joy, of unpacking the car and finding a place for all our new stuff. I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and have an even Happier NEW YEAR. Stay tuned for some exciting news to come.

God Bless you all...

Jingle Bells...

WHOA!! We're almost through this week. It has been busy with getting ready for class parties, last minute pick up items for Christmas, a little grocery shopping, gymnastics, volunteering at Madeline's school, and trying to stay caught up on laundry. I must say, I'm glad tomorrow is Friday because that means it all ends.
Today was Macy's Christmas program at Mother's Day Out. They were SO CUTE up on stage in their cute little dresses and Christmas sweaters. Her class sang Jingle Bells and had little bells in their hands that they rang the entire song. Look how cute they are:

Here is Macy before it started waiting ever so patiently. She looked a little nervous.

Concentrating ringing her bell. She was one of the only ones singing. Her favorite part was the part of the song when they say "Hey." (You all know the part I'm talking about)

Walking back to her class after the performance ready for the party.

She's too cute!


During their party they had a book exchange. Every child was to bring a wrapped book (under $5) to trade with another friend in their class. They played musical chairs to claim their book. They started in a chair and when the music started they walked around them and when the music stopped they were to sit in a chair and that was to be the book they were to open. Let me just tell you that 2 year old's did not understand this concept. They all kept trying to go back to the chair they had originally sat in and if someone else was there they tried to 1. Pull them out of "their" chair 2. Cried because someone was already in their chair or 3. Hit the child till they got up. Gotta love this age.

They are ready to start the game.

Macy got her book. Now she is opening it.

What did you get Macy?

She was so excited she got a Wonder Pets book that makes noises. She loved it.
She had a great time at her party and wanted to come home and open some more presents. Christmas can't get here soon enough.
Tonight, our "back door neighbor" as Madeline calls them came by to bring gifts. (SO Sweet!) Thank you Tucker family. They have two little girls the same ages as Madeline and Macy. While we (moms) were visiting the girls all disappeared upstairs and came down looking like this....

The Princesses
(from left to right)
Top: Madeline (5), Rachel (8), Rileigh (5)
Front: Camden (2) Macy (2)
Aren't they precious?

Tomorrow is Madeline's big Christmas party and play at school. She is SO EXCITED she can hardly stand herself. She has been having the hardest time hiding what songs their singing at their program. It's supposed to be a surprise. Let me tell you, she is not good at keeping secrets and surprises. Her school has a special store during the Christmas season where the kids can go shopping and buy presents for their family members. Everything is under $4.00. I sent her with money to buy us all gifts. She gave them all to us as soon as she got home from school. She just couldn't wait. She gets that from her daddy..HA!!

So that's the happenings here. I hope you all have a blessed Christmas and safe travels for all of you that will be doing some traveling. We will be traveling to Oklahoma on Sunday. Keep us in your prayers.

Biggest Loser....

So did you guys watch the season finale of The Biggest Loser? I did!! I must say, I am VERY HAPPY with the outcome. I wanted Michelle to win and she did. Partly because she is a Dallas, Tx girl (where I live),she is a Christian, and she down right deserved it. Those people all amaze me though. It's amazing to see the transformation of their bodies and how much happier a person they become. It just shows that when we live "right" (in whatever sense of the word) we are happier people. When we are "right" with Christ our lives are filled with JOY and HAPPINESS that only he can give. When we eat "right" we have more energy, we're more active, and just feel better altogether. When we treat others "right" we get treated with the respect we deserve and desire.
I believe we all have things in our lives that we need to get "right" whether it be a relationship with a parent/spouse/sibling/friend or most importantly with OUR GOD. Maybe its that we aren't spending the "right" amount of time with HIM. I know this is something that I struggle with often. I never seem to have enough time for HIM. I only have time when I need something or when something isn't going just right. I need to make the time EVERYDAY to spend with him. He is patient with me still and waits for me and always forgives me when I ask. What an awesome feeling.
So even though things are busy right now with the holidays and all the happenings I'm going to try to find 15 minutes each day (at least) to spend with just me and HIM. I know he doesn't care how long I spend with him but just that we spent the time together.
This post is kinda all over the place but it's just a little bit about how I'm feeling.

It's a cold Monday

Wow...Old man winter showed up over night. It is COLD!! Yesterday was absolutely BEAUTIFUL with temperatures in the high 70's. Hubs went and played golf with our neighbor, Mark and another guy from our church. They had a great time. I'm really not ready for this cold weather. We are just now getting over all our colds, sinus infections, etc. and now it's supposed to be in the 30's for two days and then back in the 60's. I pray we get through it with no sickness. I want Christmas to be "ill- free" this year.
Friday night we had our Sunday school Christmas party at the church. We had a great time. We ate lots of great food and dessert, played a few fun games, and had good fellowship. I didn't get many pictures. Here are a few of the girls before we left.
(Excuse the blurriness on the pictures)



Saturday, we FINALLY made it over to see our friends The Murray's precious baby boy, Adam. He is two months and was born 5 weeks premature. However, you wouldn't know this because he is such a big boy. He just curled up in my neck and slept for a good hour. I love that age when you can just sit and look at them sleep and watch all the funny facial expressions they make. We spent a few hours visiting with them before heading to Target to grab some things needed for Madeline's kindergarten teacher and also a few things we needed at home. Saturday evening we loaded back up in the car and went looking at Christmas lights. Madeline and especially Macy "oohed and aahed" at all the lights. It was so funny listening to the excitement in their voices. When I pulled out of our neighborhood to go to another neighborhood, Madeline was at first disappointed because she thought we were finished until I explained to her that we were going to another neighborhood to look. She was thrilled and even said, "I didn't know we were going to get to go to OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS. YAY!!". We had a great time as a family driving around, listening to Christmas music, and giggling.
Sunday, we went to church and the guys (hubs and Mark) left from their to go play gold while the girls (Kristie and I) took all the kids to eat hamburgers. YUMMY!! We came home and I attempted to take a nap but the girls were rather loud playing so that didn't happen. We went back to church last night for the adult choirs "Celebrate Joy" performance. They were incredible.
Now it's Monday and that means laundry, house cleaning, etc. I really don't mind doing it today because it's so stinking cold outside. I have a lot that I need to get done this week before we leave town for a week for Christmas. This week I have two Christmas parties to help with, one Christmas play (Macy), finish wrapping presents, and pack for our trip. I hope you all are winding up on your Christmas shopping and getting ready for the big day.
Through all the hustle and bustle of the shopping frenzie my pray is that we all remember the TRUE meaning of Christmas is JESUS!!

God Bless you all!!!

I'm back.....

I have been so bad about blogging lately. Mostly because I haven't been feeling well and then my mother came to town on Tuesday and just left this morning. I ended up going to the doctor on Tuesday and found out that I was having SEVERE ALLERGIES and a possible infection. So she gave me an antibiotic (amoxcillin) and a steroid dose pack to help work faster. It has help TREMENDOUSLY. I no longer have the constant sore throat and I can feel my sinuses opening up. YAY!!
To get you caught up on us. My mom recently retired so now she has the freedom to come to Texas and visit whenever and for however long she wants. We decided a few months back that she would come and spend a few days and we would attempt to make Christmas candy together. My grandmother made it for YEARS and it was always SO GOOD. She passed away two years ago this January so we haven't had any of her candy the past two years. To tell you the truth, I don't see how, at 90+ years she stood over the stove making it (and a BUNCH of it) each year. That is some hard work. If you want to build your arm muscles, make candy. It takes LOTS of stirring. We had a good time and I think we only had to throw out one batch of toffee candy. We made 1 batch of English toffee, two batches of divinity, 2 batches of old fashioned fudge, 1 batch of pralines, and 1 batch of the things we called Rocky Tops. They were a large marshmallow dipped in chocolate and covered in pecans. They are SO GOOD!!! I'm not even a big marshmallow person but they were delicious.

Look at all this delicious candy......I'm very proud of us...We did a good job for it being our first time. However, I know Grandma was in heaven looking down laughing at us.

Sample Platter

Now I need to get all this candy OUT OF MY HOUSE....before I turn into a house.

Wednesday night, Madeline had her play at church. We have a program for kids kindergarten through 5th grade called Kid-U. It's like our children's choir. We meet on Sunday nights. I have been working with kindergartners. Each year they do a play at Christmas and at least one Sunday a month they start the Sunday service in the choir. They are so cute. Madeline was so excited to get dressed up.

Before the program:

Madeline and her best friend/neighbor Rachel. Remember Rachel suffers from Nephrotic syndrome and just had a relapse which places her back on a VERY high dose of steroids which cause her cheeks to be so "full". These two are just like sisters.

During the performance:


Madeline doing here drum line routine.


Madeline during one of the songs.


Madeline (in back) doing her sign language.

Madeline is such a performer when she wants to be. She is full of emotion and really gets into it but I'm thinking someone was getting a little tired here or bored, I'm not sure which.


What do you think? Tired or Bored?

Last Sunday evening we had our Women's Christmas dinner with all the ladies from church. I don't have any pictures from the event (because they are on my neighbors camera) but I have a few of Kristie and I before we left. (of course these aren't the best pictures)





As many of you know, Kristie has been my saving grace here is Texas. I was pretty much miserable before she moved in next door. I had no friends or close family nearby, I was pregnant with Macy, and I missed Oklahoma terribly. They moved in about 9 months after we did. Their house was for sale for a while and had a sold sign in front of it two different times and for some reason those sales fell through. Thank God. Kristie and her family were not even looking in this area and had been looking for about 4 months solid for a house. The first time they looked at their house they decided to buy it. I believe it was all a GOD thing. I had been praying for Godly neighbors and that is just what we got. She is one of my closest friends.
So that pretty much gets you up to date with what has been going on in our house. I'm leaving you with a few more cute pictures I've taken this week....

Macy being silly...as usual!



The girls camped out in front of the TV after a long day.


Do you have all your Christmas shopping done? I do, I'm just waiting for a few things to arrive via the man in the brown suit (UPS) so I can get them wrapped and then I am DONE!! YAY!!