Cookie Boss

I've ALWAYS loved cut-out cookies but until last year I had never been truly successful at the task. But last year at Mia's Pre-K Christmas party I met an outstanding woman. She was outstanding to me simply for the fact that she had made 17 star cookies and had beautifully iced and decorated each one of them. They were exceptional. AND the best part is (SHE SHARED HER RECIPE with me) There are secrets to this baking...oh yes there are!

So this year I crossed my fingers, made sure the the stars were aligned just right, held my breath and we baked Christmas cookies.

And what do you know they came out perfectly... The gingerbread men looked like gingerbread men...The trees looked like trees, you get the point.... And then since I was feeling oh so lucky I tried a new icing recipe and it came out great also.

Santa enjoyed wonderful Christmas cookies and she, I mean he is oh so excited about them.

Happy Birthday

It's hard to believe that it's been four years ago since little Rocket came to be with us.

Happy Birthday to the best dog ever. Who is not quite so little anymore

So many thoughts....no time to blog.... I haven't completely decided to quit blogging but the thought runs through my head periodically.

With the new Facebook phenomenon, it just seems easier and faster... but we'll see.

Maybe I need a few weeks to get refreshed. After all it's not like I didn't just nurse 6 people back to health, including myself, after a 9 day date with the Flu. Then shopped for 6 people, plus do 7,324 loads of laundry, send out Christmas cards, and make sure everyone had the correct gifts for class parties. "Only 100 piece puzzles Mom.... Only 100, Not 300, Not 500 Only 100...."OK,OK, I've got it under control

But there is something making me smile today. The thought that I don't have to make lunches or pack backpacks for 17 days!!! Woo Hoo! Can you hear me hollering from wherever you are?

Let it snow, Let it snow

It's hard to believe it snowed again here. It wasn't just a little bit either. It was probably more snow than I've ever seen come down at one time. The kids got out of school early but even while they were at school their teachers took them outside to play, several times.

Disney Part 1

Part 1 of ? Let's face it I have enough pictures for the next 10 years from this trip alone.

We had orginally planned this trip for Thanksgiving 2007. But then God called us to adopt again and we thought maybe we should wait until our new little guy joined the family. Then the next Thanksgiving Ty had just joined the family and we thought maybe this would overwhelm him while he was adjusting. And we didn't want to set the bar high that this is what we do every year for Thanksgiving. Ha! So 2009 is our Disney year
We've had a great time. The kids have walked and walked and walked. No strollers for us. (well for them) Although several times I have wished for a stroller for me.
We all love this Buzz Lightyear ride. We remembered this one from several years ago. I liked it the best until on the second time we rode it. Somewhere in the middle of the ride I dropped my camera on the floor of the car. So I reached down and picked it up and shoved it in my pocket. Then at the end of the ride I tried to turn around and take a picture of Mia and David and my camera wouldn't work. I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't come on and then I noticed the battery had fallen out. And the battery was nowhere to be found in my space car. So I guess I'll add camera battery to my Christmas list
Yes, we had matching shirts on the first day. And honestly I wish we would have had them for every day of the trip. It was so easy to locate and keep up with everyone. Next time we're going to have neon green, and sunshine yellow and hunter's orange as well.

Christmas Ideas

Stefanie over @ http://www.nihaoyall.com is hosting a Christmas idea post. I LOVE this idea because I am always looking for great gifts that don't involve plastic toys that last all of 10 minutes.

So, to enter her contest I thought I would give you all a little glimpse of what some little boy in our house is receiving this Christmas. (since he can't read I feel it safe to post this...but please don't tell him)

My friend Emily and I traveled to Canton, TX for the 1st Monday Trade Days, and I found this awesome TeePee.

This is truly an American made product by two really nice people. No mass-production here. And the fact that the Tee-Pee collapses easily and can be stored under a bed makes me happy. Add to this that there are no batteries involved and I'm truly giddy......

They make many different fabrics, including camo and a sweet princess one. We got the denim one trimmed in Red. (We try to be gender neutral as much as possible)

And the cost is very reasonable. Even with shipping. Visit their web-site www.texasteepees.com to see more.

Disclaimer: I do not recieve comission for any teepee sales...ha!

Trick or Treaters

Trent as Rocky Balboa.... He loves this costume. Thanks to the Grey Davis, Trent was able to score a really cool costume. But oh this robe.... Gayla brought the costume over a few weeks ago. Trent couldn't wait to get into it. He LOVED IT!

But his favorite part of the costume is the robe. So for a week, everyday when he got home from school he changed out of his clothes and into his robe. Gayla says it's like his smoking jacket. I was thinking more like Hugh Heffner. Gayla says," not to worry but if he ever comes out of his room with a girl on each arm then you should be concerned. "

Mia had options this year. Which is never good for a 5 year old girl. Our friends, the Harveys gave Mia this Bride's gown a few months back. She loves it.... but then she was also given a sleeping beauty costume. So up until a few moments until Halloween she waivered back and forth on which one to be. But in the end the Bride won!
A friend of mine tried to convince her to trick or treat in one dress then half way through change to the next dress.... Um! NO! That's not going to happen.

PEACE, LOVE and Kaylee

The Gang ready to head out for some candy action.

Ty's new favorite movie is Toy Story. He would watch it every day if I let him. He's so cute he says "Mom I Love You, Beyond Infinity"

Princess Mia

Mia's friend, Avery, had a Princess party for her 5th birthday. It was a really royal event. All the girls got to pick out ball gowns and then had their fingernails and make up done. They were then presented to the commoners (parents) and had a royal tea(pink lemonade) party.
A special guest appeared, Cinderella. She sang with them, played games and read them a story. Mia had a great time.

(Note to self: Gold is a great color on Mia: remember for prom dress one day!)

Mia and Avery the birthday girl

Just what I need...

Just what I need.....another hobby.
Actually it's an old hobby that I can do differently. I've been wanting to try digital scrapbooking for a while. But I kind of felt like I would be cheating on my supplies. Kind of like I already have the other stuff, why learn a new way.

But I am LOVING the new way! I don't have to pull out anything..... I constantly find myself with 15 minutes in between picking someone up or making it to an appointment. One of the cool things about digital scrapbooking is I can just save a project and move on until later.

Cool.

So I signed up for classes on-line. http://www.jessicasprague.com/

I have had so much fun. Learning to do this and really just learning something NEW!

We Got Boo'd

It's that time of year. When the doorbell rings late at night and you wonder, "Who in the world could that be?" We had actually just minutes before gotten home from Zane's football game.
Anyway, I opened the door and there on the front step was a Boo Bucket. This year we got a Neon green Jack-o-lantern.

All the kids like Candy but I think Candy may be Ty's Love Language.

You're suppose to put a sign on the door that indicates to your neighbors that you've been Boo'd. That way everyone in the neighborhood gets candy. But Kaylee wouldn't let me hang the sign this year. "Mom, if we put the sign up no one else will come boo us!? Don't you get it mom? No more candy that way"

Um yes Kaylee,I get it.

I went along with her because a. The people that Boo'd us live 2 miles away and b. Most of the people on our street are older without kids. So it's not really a "neighborhood" thing around us.

Which is why last Sunday night we let each of the kids pick 2 people to Boo. We loaded all the bags and buckets and headed out. We spent an hour and a half driving around town to drop off Boo's. The kids absolutley love it. Running back to the car before they get caught is thrilling each and every time.....

Who'll be laughing?

Trent 7 Ty 4

Today I made corndogs for lunch. When we were almost finished Trent asked for another one and so did Zane. But we only had one left. So I said OK, I'll heat this one up and you two can half it. Then they both began fighting over who would get the 1/2 with the stick.

I have really had a hard time learning about all this sibling stuff. I never had to fight over anything, ever.... David assures me that it's normall. I trust him, he's one of five, I'm one of one...

So anyway at that moment that I could not believe they are fighting over the corndog STICK....this conversation happened.

Me to Zane: " I hope when you get married, that you have 10 kids, so that one day you'll call me and apologize for fighting over a corndog stick"

Kaylee: You know if we all have 10 kids then you'll have 50 grandkids.

Me: Ha! That will be funny

Zane: Then we'll drop them all off at the same time and tell you we're taking a 5 day cruise together.
"Who'll be laughing then Mom?"

He doesn't know I have to agree to keep all those kids for him to be able to take a 5 day cruise. He better be nice to me between now and then (and learn to let his brother have the stick)....

Local Missions

Our church hosts a local missions work day twice a year. Not everyone can go away for a week to a foreign country. But most people can give up 3 hours on a Saturday morning. It's a day for each of the adult classes to find a mission project in the area and then work together to complete it. Our group decided to help out a single mom who works hard to support herself. She needed a bunch of shrubs removed from the front of her house. They were a safety concern. She plans to put a rock garden in place of them (smart woman)

She also had some damage to her back patio from Hurricane IKE. (It leaked) So all the metal had to be removed and then new metal put in it's place.

The time for the project was 9 - 12. At 10:00 all the shrubs were removed and we were looking for other things to do. Dave H. went to get his power washer and we were able to power wash her driveway and sidewalk. Plus her front entry way. (I love to power wash, it's so gratiftying)
It's amazing what 20 people can accomplish in such a small time. Our teacher compared it to an "old fashioned" barn raising.

I've decided if we ever need a barn raised I know who I'm going to call.

After we were done, the men sat around for a coke break and discussed the fine job that was completed.

The speech is getting better

and unfortunatley more and more honest...

Ty went to speech therapy today. He has therapy with Mrs. Amy twice a week for 30 minutes. Today when they came back to report the work they had done she told me what he had said.
Mrs. Amy: " Ty what did you do today?"
Ty : I went to school, everybody in my house goes to school
Amy: Even mommy and daddy?
Ty: No they stay home, they don't anything

Amy: Are you sure? Doesn't Daddy work?
Ty: Yes, Daddy works
Amy: And mommy works too..she drives you to school makes your meals
Ty: Yeah and sleeps too

It's football time and we're into it full swing. LSU tigers, Dallas Cowboys and now the Colts.
And for the first time we actually have a "man" on the field.

It's been a lot of fun going to the games and watching Zane and his friends play football. I was dreading the 7am arrival time but it hasn't been a chore because Zane is really enjoying football.