Elfin around

Hey, I just made a total elf of myself. Check it out by clicking the link below or copy and paste it in your browser. Thanks for the idea Aydre! Yours was so hilarious!! I loved it!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1160148837

This elfin' greeting brought to you by OfficeMax®.

Surprise!!

Saturday night, my uncle Mark and Brenda put on a surprise 50th birthday party for my mom and aunt Cheryl. They don't actually turn 50 until the 5th, so they wanted to throw the party before so they wouldn't suspect anything. They had a lot of old friends come and even a friend from high school that flew in from Dallas, Tx. They were both really surprised to see everyone who was there, and I think they had a really good time. I was excited for them. They had a HUGE cake decorated with the Osmond's on it, who they were crazy about as kids. My mom was in love with Donnie and my aunt was in love with Jay. They laughed hard when they saw the cake. There was supposed to be an, uh, "exotic dancer" but he didn't show up, which was probably a good thing. hahaha I was just wanting to see their reaction, but oh well. It was a good time and I am just happy to see that they are both healthy and happy and I pray they will be around another 50! I love you mom and aunt Cheryl! Muuaaaahhh! Me, my mom and my brother Robert My brother and my aunt Cheryl
the two who schemed this all up: my uncle Mark and Brenda not very good lighting, but they were being silly, of course

Thanksgiving 2007

Every year, we take turns with our families for Thanksgiving and Christmas and this year Thanksgiving was with the Craig's side. We all had a good time and the food was EXCELLENT!! I ate WAY too much and probably gained 10 pounds over the whole weekend. We were there from Wednesday thru Friday and ate the whole time! hehe We enjoyed getting to see everybody, especially the newest member, our nephew Dallas. He is SOOOOO cute! I still can't believe I am finally an aunt. I can't wait until he is walking around and can play with the kids. They are all going to have a blast. I took some pictures of just us hanging out and spending time together as a family. We really love being there.

Papa Alfred checking out baby Dallas The men playing dominos

The cousins eating that yummy food! Aron, Krista, and Dallas Grandma Vickie and Addey The boys buried in toys! Krista with cute baby Dallas Alex, Peyton and Deaken being boys

Fall Feastival

Deaken had a special luncheon at his preschool for Thanksgiving last week called Fall Feastival. It was so cute! He had made a little turkey hat and a place mat that had a picture of his face blown up and made to look like he was a cute little Pilgrim. Everything was decorated real nice and the food was good, too. My mom was his special guest, and he enjoyed having his Ne-ne with him. It got a little stressful toward the end because Deaken was getting restless and wouldn't sit still and eat, but what's new. :o) We all had a good time and made some special memories that we will never forget.

Fun before bed

The kiddos all go to bed at 8:00, so they try to sneak in as much play time as possible before heading that way. Tonight we were racing cars and doing flips onto a bean bag. (Yeah, I know) Addey even got in on the car racing but then chose to get some books to look at. She loves books. We always have a lot of fun playing with the kids. Some of time, I don't get to 'cause I am usually cleaning something up (go figure), but tonight I left the dishes in the sink and I will do them later. :o) I am doing better with making time with my kids my priority, and not how clean my house is.

Red Wasp Alert!

Yesterday when we were hanging Christmas lights, we were looking in the back for an outlet to plug an extension cord in. We decided to look in the main electrical box to see if MAYBE there was one in there...you never know. Lo and behold to our surprise...or actually, to our fear we found hundreds of red wasps infesting the box. We freaked out and ran away, and then we got some wasp spray and sprayed them (after we turned the electric off). The pictures show just what was at the bottom. It was crazy! I had never seen that many wasp huddled up like that before. At least now they are taken care of, but I just wanted to share with y'all the pictures I took.

Getting ready for CHRISTMAS!!!

Usually I have always decorated the house for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, but this year I got started a week before 'cause I AM READY FOR CHRISTMAS!!! On Saturday the kids and I decorated inside the house and got the trees done (which, I can say does not take too long cause the tree is so small but that will change before next year!). It was so fun! They really enjoyed putting all the ornaments on and seeing the lights shine. And boy, were they hyper! hehe I hope they always enjoy Christmas as much as I do. Then on Sunday afternoon, we went outside and hung the lights on the house and had a blast. We started off with a plan, and instead ended up using every box of lights that we owned! Last year, Craig had bought a whole bin full of lights for 75% off and every box was used! hehe The boys just thought it was awesome and kept saying it was the coolest thing they had ever seen. All that work was worth it just to see their faces and how excited they were. And of course, I was just excited as they were. This is the first time I have ever had a house decorated with Christmas lights. I am such a kid at heart. :o)

The little tree is decorated with things the kids have made for us over the years. It is in our dining room so we can enjoy it all the time!

So far, so...

GOOD!! Deaken has gone two and a half days with no accidents! Except of course, when he wakes up in the morning, but he is wearing a diaper. He wore underwear for the first time yesterday and has them on today too. We are going to go to the store and buy some cool underwear for him, cause he wearing Peyton's right now and they are a little too big. :o) I am so proud of him and feel so relieved that he is finally wanting to do this. I was worried I would have a lot of problems getting him potty trained, but the Lord took this burden and said "ah, I can do this...piece of cake." hehe SO, now I have two down, one more to go. Then, I won't have to buy diapers anymore! YEAH!!!! Maybe Addey will be faster than Deaken, even though Deaken trained faster than Peyton. Peyton was a month away from being three before we got him interested. Deaken won't be three until next spring. Kinda makes me sad...my babies are growing up too fast.

Deaken FINALLY goes in the potty!

Okay, if I talk to you on a regular basis, then you know the headache I have been going through with Deaken and his potty training process...or lack there of. If I have not talked to you, then I will summarize. Deaken is a very independent, ornery but sweet child. However, I have only been able to get him to pee in the potty a few times. Once he does it, it takes awhile for me to convince him to do it again. Also, he has been on this kick about taking his diaper off when he needs to poop and doing it on the carpet or bed. AHHHH! It has been terrible. I have had to shampoo my carpets and have had enough of cleaning up after him and I am at my wits end. BUT, today we had a breakthrough. He told me this morning that he needed to go potty, so I went and sat him on it and I sat down on the little step stool and waited(I was actually on the phone and didn't expect anything to happen). All of a sudden, he started to pee and I was happy...then he started to poop and I was ECSTATIC!!! I was jumping around and getting all excited. I feel like it has finally clicked with him. Of course, the first thing out of his mouth was "Candy?" Haha So, he got some candy and was soaking up all the attention. I called Craig and told him and he was so proud. It is so funny how things like pooping in the potty can make a mom so proud.

Peyton's Soccer Game

Saturday was Peyton's last game for the season. He had been sick the night before and that morning, but he is determined when it comes time to play a game. You could tell he did not have a lot of energy, but he played his hardest and had fun with his teammates. They didn't win, but it didn't matter. He loves playing soccer and the new friends he has made. We are actually going over to the coaches house today for an end of the season cookout. It should be a lot of fun for the boys. The team started out with six players, and during a game they play three on three. But the team dwindled down to just four boys, so they all play hard and it is so fun to watch them. Craig's parents, my mom and her twin sister(my aunt Cheryl) and my cousin Matthew all came up to see his last game. It was really sweet.