Makayla's Visit with Santa

Our visit with Santa 2009 went very well. In all years past we have had to coax Makayla to Santa and then try to keep her from crying while sitting in his lap long enough to take a photo.

This year she was more than excited to see Santa and tell him her list of things she wanted. Which of course included a whole host of horses and horse accessories! *sigh* Its tough seeing her grow up so fast. I wish time would slow down some so these years dont go by as fast as they did with Devin.

For your viewing pleasure...

A year in review slideshow for you to watch! Its not complete with everything that happened this year but pretty close.

All the pictures from Devins graduation were really blurry so you will have to watch the video I bought to see his graduation!

Halloween 2009

There's no place like home, There's no place like home! Yes... Makayla dressed up like Dorothy from the Wizzard of Oz for halloween this year. She was adorable! Of course her favorite part of the costume was the ruby slippers . Because what girl is complete without owning a pair of ruby slippers? Mommy also let her wear some make-up! Real live lipstick was on her lips!

I unfortunately had to miss the festivities due to being sick. My co-worker came to work sick on Thurs and shared her germs with me once again. My throat is on fire and im afraid its strep throat so I will have to visit the doctor tomorrow *sigh* I dont have the time, energy or money to keep getting sick. From now on if anyone around me even LOOKS sick I am going home...

I am hoping if I rest up for the day I will be able to attend trunk or treat tonight and have some of Roberts chili for the chili cookoff at church. I guess I will just have to see how the day goes. Im really tired of having to miss out on all of the fun stuff because I keep getting other peoples germs. I wish they would stay home with them and quit sharing!

2009 Preschool Pictures

I am so thrilled with how the school pictures turned out this year. I bought a huge package and have the copyright to them so I can order as many more as I want at walmart cheap!

I make beautiful babies...

Devin came hom for a visit this weekend and I happened to grab the camera and make him suffer through a few shots. What I noticed after I took them is that I have made some beautiful children. Well with the help of a husband and God.

Seriously though... look at these faces!!! You certainly cant miss their eyes thats for sure. That my friends is 100% mommy given. Both daddys have brown eyes so kids... bow down and thank God and your mother for having those gorgeous eyes!!! I tell ya its almost a shame I cant have anymore children.

Dang I am good and I thank God daily for blessing me with two beautiful and healthy children. I pray they continue to be happy in their lives.

Devins in his new apartment

Devin is all squared away in his first apartment along with three other boys attending TSTC Waco. It was hard on him and his mom to leave him there by himself but I have every faith in him that he will do well. I think we have talked more today than we have in the last week!!!

The apartment is definitely the ultimate bachelor pad. They had a big party in his apartment apparently last semester that resulted in quite a bit of damage that the previous tenants had to pay to repair. The cabinets are hung wrong, the floor is nasty, the bathroom... well lets just say that I wont be using it... ever!

After getting him all unpacked we took him out for dinner. We had a nice family dinner at the cracker barrel and then we took him shopping. He did well choosing groceries for himself for the first time in his life and Mom paid the bill. He is set with tv dinners and soup for a few weeks. I was even super nice and bought him Dr. Peppers which I don't approve of him drinking because of his teeth.

His bed that the apartment complex provides was quite nasty and we requested a new one. Instead of getting a new one though we have found a nice futon for him. It will work out better for him since he doesn't exactly fit in a twin bed. Poor baby's legs hang off the bed from about mid shin. This futon is wood and not super nice but a much improved version of his current bed. We will take it to him this weekend. Its a full sized bed which should accomodate his height better for sure.

Makayla cried the hardest of us all. She was not very happy with any of us that we were allowing her brother to move out and be so far away from her. She was devastated and is still quite upset with me today. She asked me why I call her "sister" all the time and I told her it was because she was Devin's sister. To which she replied not anymore because Devin is in his own apartment. I just cant convince her that she is still his sister even though he isn't going to live with us for a while. She loves her brother for sure!

New Hair...

Well its not the best picture because I didn't get home until after dark and my house is a cave but you can see that I had some blond and red highlight/lowlight added to my hair today. It was cut again too but its the same cut I have had for a few months now. Its called a swing bob and I LOVE it! Its short but cute and sassy... just like me!

Calysta didn't straighten it tonight because it took so long to get it colored so its not as cute as it would normally be. Ill try to get Robert to take another photo of it once its daylight and you can catch the color a little better.

So tell me... do you like the red? Dig the cut? Hate it? no... don't tell me if you hate it because I love it!!! I'm so diggin' the red... maybe next time Ill go completely red for a while and watch my fiery personality come to life! teehee

Rattlesnake Scare

Now... most of you know that I am not a prissy girl. I'm not even a girly-girl for the most part. Yes, I like my hair done and I get my nails and toes done and I love clothes and shoes but that's pretty much the extent of it right? I wasn't a cheerleader, I don't go to balls and I am certainly no debutante.

I like living in the country. The simplicity of country life suits me fine. I like to take care of my family and my man. I don't mind so much having the extra chores that come with living in the country... for the most part.

Where I draw the line with the country life is when my four-year-old daughter steps OVER a rattlesnake... TWICE! This can remove at least ten years of your life instantly! I don't recommend trying it... you can just take my word on this one.

Praise GOD she wasn't struck, nor were the dogs that were bouncing over the blasted thing. It was stretched out on the steps in our back yard sunning apparently and wasn't to be bothered by anything. Except my shovel weilding husband and hoe weilding son. God was definitely watching out for my family last night.

So be warned all friends that live near me. We did have a rattlesnake in our back yard yesterday, it was a little one, only about 12" in length but where a baby is... Momma cant be too far away! *shudder* I can deal with snakes... just NOT rattlesnakes!

Thus ends todays public service announcement! Back to your regularly scheduled programming!

Oops... been a while again!

I have had so much going on lately I have totally neglected my blog. Well, really I have just been reading my kindle so much I have neglected a lot!

Devin graduated from HS! Thats my biggest news! I will scan and upload pictures to my blog sometime soon! We are so proud of all he has accomplished!

Bad news is that my aunt Penny hasnt faired well after her most recent brain surgery. She aparently had a stroke on the operating table and hasnt really woken up from her surgery. They say she is in a stupor stage but hopefully after the swelling comes down and some therapy we will have our loving Penny with us again. Its in Gods hands and all we can do is pray at this point. Please continue to pray for her.

Other than that no other news to report.

Say hello to my little friends...

While camping yesterday we made two new friends. Tell me what you think!

Makayla LOVED them! hehehehe

Makayla's funny for today

So we are sitting here having a conversation and I am picking on her a little (cause its fun) and I told her... you should have had a V8.

So she says to me... whats a V8?

Me: Its a juice like tomato juice.

Makayla: We dont have any tomato juice but we have some spagetti juice (the ragu spagetti sauce in the cabinet)!

The things this girl is able to come up with!

On the subject of Devin

I had to create a slideshow for our senior table at church so I thought I would share it here for all the family and friends that wont be able to see it on the 31st.

I tear up every time I see pictures of him as a baby. It just all went by too fast. I still cant believe Makyala isnt a baby anymore but its twice as hard knowing Devin is a grown man now. *sniff, sniff* Hug your children!

Student of the Year!

We are so proud of our son. Last night Devin was presented an award for placing SECOND in the state for his Skills USA competition, automotive testing division and he received STUDENT OF THE YEAR for his automotive class!

Congrats Devin... you couldnt make us any happier! Youre an excellent young man and I hope God blesses you always!

T minus three weeks and counting!

Gahh Im dying here! I cant believe how soon it is until Devin graduates high school!

Pray for me... I have too much to do and not enough time to do it! acccckkkk

My baby is on his way to prom!

Devin and Robin just left and are on their way to prom. He is quite handsome in his tux and Robin looks like a hottie in her dress! I hope they have a grand time!!!

Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday and I can officially say I am just not going to celebrate anymore of them. Okay! So listen up all my friends... after I pulled a grey hair out of my head this week we just arent going to allow anymore birthdays... ever!

I did have a nice day though. I went to church and taught Sunday School with my best Jessica. We had a great time! Then I came home and wanted to read for a while!

I got a surprise call from my mom who brought over a very yummy chocolate cake! That was a nice treat. Its been a while since I have seen my mom and dad. My mom bought me a honey pot with some special honey from Florida. Its really neat so I will have to share a picture soon!

It was a nice and relaxing day for all of us!

I love teaching!

I just have to say that I love teaching the wee ones and am going to be very sad when this school year is over.

I have some good memories of my two year old class and am really going to miss them when they move up to the next class.

I hope I have as much fun with next years class!

The Church Experiment

I found this interesting. Its certainly one way to deal with your crisis of faith or faith in Church.

http://churchexperiment.blogspot.com/

I havent read much of it but I do plan to read more. I like a different perspective sometimes.

Fun New Software!

So I have been wanting to do slide shows with my pictures for a long time. I would like a way to show of my photos in other ways other than scrapbooking.

When Grandma Died (June 06) I purchased a software called ProShow Gold and this was the software that I was going to use to create my fun and unique slide shows. Then life got in the way and I never got around to creating slide shows. Fast forward to buying a new laptop and transfering over all of my old software only to find that this $79 software that I have never used is now obsolete for Vista and I have to pay to upgrade.

Have I mentioned before how much I love HATE Vista?!?!

Anyway... I call the company and since I am not a happy camper they offer to sell me the super upgraded MamaDog of all software upgrades for a small fee. I finally agree to it and bought the upgrade to the mucho better software called Producer! AM I GLAD I DID THIS!

Holy smokes this thing has so many kewl features! This is a slide show that took me literally THREE minutes to create. Im loving it!!!!

Just for you Jessica,,,

Wanna do another midnight GNO?