A Jolly Good Time!!

Christmas program!

The kids had their Christmas program on Thursday. Kelsey and Madison had speaking parts during the program....they both did a great job, along with all the other kids! This was probably the best program I have seen so far. The kids all looked to be having so much fun. We had great seats in front of where Jake and Kelsey sat, but were too far from Madison to get very many pictures.

A Sneak Peek.....

So with so much going on with the holidays, there is even more going on with our new restaurant...we are only weeks away from opening...January 7 to be exact. There is so much to do!! We have made a huge amount of progress this week, it is really coming together. Brian is there now everyday, and comes home overwhelmed with still so much that hasn't been done! We are really excited, life has certainly taken a different direction in what seems like a blink of an eye! So heres a sneak peek of the progress. I wish I was better about blogging these days, but a little on the busy side has to account for something!! I do have a lot of pictures and I am excited to get them posted here!

This giant wagon wheel rotates on an axle with wine bottles in it...it's a little scary, but so far it's passed the full rotating test....we have been very excited about this!

This is some of the booth seating in the bar...

This is a shot of one side of the main dining room...

This is the other side...these are booths that seat at least 6...

Just one shot of the kitchen....it was a mess when I was taking pictures...

Festive Fun!

I'm back! After Thanksgiving we went full speed ahead to get ready for Christmas! We had fun getting our tree....it was cold but I was so thankful for the sun! It is fun having a new house to decorate this year! Hope everyone else is enjoying getting ready for the holidays!

I'm here!

We are still alive! I can't believe I have only done 2 post this month! It has been busy, just like it is for most all of you. I have been trying to post the last 2 nights but having a problem uploading my pictures. I think I just figured it out, but now it's too late and I am tired! So check back for a posting from our weekend with the kids! For now I will leave you with this cute picture of the munchkins! Hope all is well with everyone and your Thanksgiving weekend was fabulous....I turned another year older on Thanksgiving this year, ummmmm....I was real thankful for that!! I'll be back soon :)

Pinkeys......& Panties!!

I don't feel like getting into my day as a whole....but this is one of the things that happened today! Kelsey broke her right pinkey finger today at school during P.E.
What a trooper! She had to have it set and then got this funky cast like thing. She will wear it for a week and go back for a check up. So far, it doesn't hurt. The bummer part is it will take 4-6 weeks to completely heal, which means she will be missing out on basketball this year. All because of a little pinkey finger....go figure! She is already sick of having it wrapped...it just might be a longgggg week!




Daisy got some "cincess"(princess)panties! We keep telling her if she goes potty on the toilet then she can have princess panties. She would rather have Shrek panties. Anyways, she hasn't gone on the toilet yet. But we thought we would try the approach of letting her wear the panties with the idea that we didn't want to get the princess wet or dirty and see if wetting herself would motivate her to at least give the whole toilet thing a try. How did it go? you ask. We gave it a shot, a one time shot, I might add....let's just say nothing real great came out of it. The only good thing was when she decided to go potty on the princess she went on the bathroom floor....made for an easy clean up.

Halloween.....

Nothing too exciting about our Halloween. We just stayed home with Daisy and answered the door for the trick or treaters. We did get to dress the girls up, however we also had to say good bye to them for the evening shortly after they got ready. Anyways here are a couple of pictures of them before they left.

Friends & Football!

Piggy tails!

Oh our little schnookims! I had a little random photo shoot of the littlest one in the family recently and thought I'd share! I sure hope it doesn't appear that I do more postings on Daisy...well maybe it does because I do, but it's just because she is at home all day, and well she is changing the most! But it has nothing to do with my admiration for her more than the others. O.K....cleared my conscience...now onto the little wonder! Update: Taking a break from speech therapy....she is talking a lot more... pronunciation is not very good, but I try to keep in perspective that she is just getting going in this and that does take time. Has 2-3 word sentences...I am hoping she will catch up by next year.

"If you're HAPPY and you know it...."


Amy!! She got this from her sleep over with you! Soo cute! She often talks about "MeMe" (thats Amy in her language!)


"My bawl! My juice!"

"My binky! My booger!!" (hehe)

"Mommeeee"

"Don't watch me eat!"

Finally a nice smile!!

Christmas Shopping in October!

This is really hard to believe! I started Christmas shopping this weekend! I never ever start this early, and for those that know me know it takes me hours and hours and hours to complete this task and I really got a very good start! I figured, it is going to be busy, like it is for everyone. But we have a couple added "busy" things the next 8 weeks. For one, Brian and I are going to the Family Life Marriage Conference over a weekend in November, then theres Thanksgiving, and birthdays(if you know what I mean, wink wink). Not only that but HELLO, we are opening a restaurant in mid December. So that is my justification for actually trying to be ahead of the game! Now the draw back is this....I contemplate and re-contemplate my purchases. So after I went on Saturday, I drug my husband and daughter out on Sunday to return 3 items that I had just purchased! So this just may be a mess.....we'll see! Hope everyone had a great weekend and God's Blessing's on your week!

A trip down memory lane...

I look forward every year to getting the kids' school pictures. Call me crazy or weird that I did this, but it is so amazing how much they change year after year. So traditionally I get the frame down and take the pictures out and lay out the previous years side by side and analyze the changes. I know this is not abnormal as my mother did the same thing as I grew up. I enjoyed laughing at how ridiculous I looked in the years past. Now looking at them, I looked ridiculous every year! Funny how Kelsey enjoyed this process with me today and funny how she commented on her pictures. She was not so impressed with the looks of her younger years but thought she was looking pretty cool this year. To quote her,"I can't believe I wore this shirt, this shirt and this shirt....because the shirt I wore this year is fancy and thats how it should've been in the other pictures!" Oh brother!!










note....Kelsey and Jake's pictures are from 1st and 4th grade, Madison's is from preschool and 2nd grade so all 3 are over a 4 year span.

A Fun Field Trip!

Great Grandpa

This picture is so special to me! Recently, my grandfather has had some health issues. He spent 7 days in the hospital after getting a portion of his colon removed. The outcome was good as the polyp on his colon was in a pre-cancerous state. As with anyone, it is always hard to see someone you love in the hospital, out of the norm of what you are used to. But it caused me to reflect, and every time I see this picture the same thoughts roll through my mind. I feel so incredibly blessed by my grandparents, and even more gracious as I have kids, that they are growing up to know them and develop relationships with them. It is such an indescribable feeling to see Daisy form an attachment to my grandpa, her great grandpa. This particular day he was holding her head up next to his ear, so that she could hear the high pitch ring that his hearing aid makes. Simple. But she kept coming back for more and had such an attraction to him from then on. It was cute. I love how I know without a doubt how much my grandparents love my husband and I, but even more I love how much I know they love our kids. I have some great memories from my childhood and spending time with my great grandparents and I am so happy that my kids have the opportunity to develop memories with theirs! I love you grandpa and grandma! Thank you for your example of love to my family....you are truly treasured!!

I'm Baaaack.....

I will be lucky if I get any visits to my blog anymore seeings how I haven't made any time for posting! And now I wonder where do I begin? I downloaded my pictures and realized how much I have missed....Papa and Grannie's visit from Tennessee, first day of school, the move, picture day, and random shots here and there. So I suppose I could just take a couple of my faves to catch up and from here kinda just start over!
So of course, it has been busy...I won't bore you with the details. We love our new home and it finally really feels like home. I was forced, thankfully, to finish unpacking some lingering boxes and decorate my walls. We have opened our home to host a small group, we started strong this week and we are looking forward to this opportunity! So anyways, the kids are doing great with the start of the school year, Jake is still playing football and doing very well, Kelsey is involved in a theatre group with an emphasis on voice lessons once a week, Madison isn't doing anything extra right now, but will be starting basketball along with the other two in the next couple of months. Daisy is doing GREAT! Her vocabulary has increased, she is communicating very well, she is still a little pistol, but her behavior has improved as well!
Well thats enough catch up for now, I could probably keep on writing, but I did say before I wouldn't bore you with too many details, so I will just stick with this for now! So please enjoy some random pictures......btw, it's good to be back ;)


Rodeo Girl!!

First day of 2nd and 4th grade

Jake and Kelsey with their two teachers

I just love moments like this!

At Birch Bay with papa and grannie!

85% of the reason why we love our home....fenced back yard and swing set!


AND the kids can ride bike to school!