Okay, I have been meaning to post our Christmas card on here. I had a cute idea in my head with the kids in their Christmas jammies cuddled up together on our bed. Well, the idea in my head was not to be captured how I envisioned it. But they still turned out cute. I added a few of the many out takes that we had. Mostly it was Luke trying to crawl off the bed or crying. No mishaps, though there was one close call of Luke not being held by Bailey like we thought. She was so busy smiling for me, she was just going to let him crawl off the bed. Shaun fussed at her, she ended up in tears and I ended up upset with Shaun for making her cry. Session was stopped and then we tried again a bit later with better results.



Here is the card. Paper and elements from The Shabby Princess and the Merry Christmas circle brush from a member of ILP. Made in Photoshop Elements 5.0 Click to see bigger.

Christmas Eve at our house has a tradition of allowing one present to be opened before bed. The catch: Mom picks the present to be opened and Bailey has finally caught on to it! It's always new pjs, for better Christmas morning pics. Guess what the pjs will look like this? Yep, I am such a mean mommy, I took back this cozy warm pjs after pics and they are now wrapped under the tree! :)

Kids are feeling much better. They will not be contagious after their 3rd dose of antibotics, which they will get tonight. Graham tested positive for strep on the rapid test, but Bailey didn't. They are pretty sure she has it anyway and is treating her for strep too. Fun!

Luke: I am so squished!


Luke: I am getting out of here.


Luke: Let me climb up here on the pillows.
Graham: Hey, Luke, get back down here.
Bailey: I am the best pretender of sleeping.


Graham: This is not fun anymore.
Luke: I am done!
Bailey: Just keep smiling!


Graham: Here's my best face for you, Mom!
Luke: I said I was done with all this!
Bailey: Mom, you can't see me, but I am still smiling.

A quick update:

We got to spend an exciting day with Bailey in the emergency room a few weeks ago. Okay, not exciting at all. I thought for sure she had appendicitis, but it turned out to be a virus that mimicked appendicitis. 7 hours there to learn that. All because her pediatrician's office had no openings until the afternoon, so they wanted me to take her to the ER. Ugh. And the ER is not cheap, especially having to do a CAT scan to rule out appendicitis. Well, so far that has been our only trip to the ER, besides Shaun having to go when he sprained his ankle. Not bad I guess, 3 kids and only 1 trip in 6 years. I wouldn't be surprised if we go much more with Luke. He seems to do dangerous things.

Graham had strep throat and few weeks ago and now he and Bailey are at home today with what I think is another hit of strep. We will find out for sure later this afternoon when we get to the dr.'s office. What is it with our ped's office, not ever having any sick appointments before lunch? This is so frustrating. Plus today was supposed to be my "get the few last minute gifts bought" day. And they will probably not be able to go back tomorrow, so can't do it then either. Teaches me to wait until the end of the week. I knew I should have gone Monday. Graham was very ipset about not getting to go to school today. They were going to be watching the Polar Express in their pj's and eating pizza. Bailey's class was going to be doing this tomorrow, so she is also upset about missing tomorrow. Out of the days to get sick, they pick the fun ones. :(

Okay. well let me go check on the sick ones and make sure they are still resting.
Hope to update again soon!

Woo-hoo! Look at this! 2 posts in the same week. It's a miracle! Just don't expect it to happen again.

Okay, I finally started editing some of Luke's 1 year pictures. They aren't the best, but they will do for now! The fire truck was his birthday present from Shaun & I. He loves pushing it around and around.
You can click on a photo to see it much bigger. :)

Here are a few pics to show how much he has grown and changed in the past year.

2 days old:



3 months old:



6 months old:



9 months old:



1 year old:

Oh, my goodness! My baby is one! How can that be? How did a whole year fly by? I swear it seems like he should only be a few months old. I feel so sad that my tiny baby is growing up, it should take much longer to grow than it really does. Today will be spent in reflection of how my day went last year. It will also be celebrating a year of our sweet baby boy.

Monday was the first day of school for B & G. It was a bittersweet day for me. Sad that 2 of my 3 babies are old enough for school. Oh where does the time go? Didn't we just start preschool? But definitely sweet that I can have some peace and quiet at home now. B & G were like bad mood swings all day long. "We love each other" - play together half the day without a fight or even peep out of them and then before you know it "I am not going to be your friend" - fight with each other about any thing and whine about so and so is not sharing, not playing what I want to play, won't go outside with me. You get the picture.

So it is just me and the Luke. some of the days he napped well and I was able to get a lot done. I can't hang or take off clothes on the line unless he is napping. Can't leave him alone and to hard to take him out with me. Other days- not so good napping. He is fussy and wants to be held constantly when he is tired. I haven't been grocery shopping yet this week, but that will definitely be easier with 2 less children. Actually all the errand running will be much easier. :)

School-
Bailey has Mrs. Huneycutt and Mrs. Brown or 1st grade. They seem like they will be a lot of fun, especially Mrs. Brown. She looks like she will be a hoot. This is from meeting her at Open House. And we have only heard great things about Mrs. Huneycutt, so that is good too. And Mrs. Huneycutt has a little boy in Graham's class. B likes to take her lunch, but she did buy 2 times this week. She loves their Pizza Dippers, so she always buys on that day. She still has to take snack/drink every day, but we are used to that. I am not sure if the 2nd graders also bring a snack or if this is the last year of snack bringing.

Graham has Ms. Hatley and Mrs. Torrence, same as B did last year. We like them both so that is good. So far, no getting in trouble yet. G likes to buy lunch and so far has liked every choice that he has gotten. He did take his lunch on Tuesday. And we have to pack a snack and drink every day because G's class is last to eat- 12:45 is his lunch time.

Here are 1st day of school pictures. The kids love their backpacks and we are hoping these will last for a few years. I wish I had taken a picture of all the supplies they took, but I didn't think about it.


Here's what they had to take:


G-
backpack (no wheels)
cloth pencil pouch w/ zipper
glue sticks
1 box ziploc bags (any size)
1 pkg Expo markers

we also sent a huge case of wipes



B-
backpack (no wheels)
cloth pencil pouch w/ zipper
10 glue sticks
crayons
colored pencils (optional)
1 box ziploc bags (any size)
1- 2 pocket folder w/o prongs

we also sent Germ-X, hand soap and reward pencils

So first of school has been a success. At least the school part, the waiting in the parent line to pick them up- not so fun. We have to get there by 2:15 or we will be so far back it is not even funny. And even at 2:15 there are still probably 30+ cars in front of us. And very little parking, so you have to get there before then if you want to park and walk up and get your child. They turned the field that we parked in last year into a nice socce field, so now there are only like 10-15 parking spaces for parents. I dread the days when we have to come for special events and many people are going to need to park. So we sit in the car line, Luke usually fusses and gradually gets more and more impatient as we wait. I make it up to the front and pick them up at about 2:40 ish. School gets out at 2:30, so B & G have to sit on the steps for about 10 minutes waiting on us. No fun, not fun at all. But I do it, to avoid having them ride the bus.

It has been busy around here. The kids have been going to VBS at our church every night. Our youth are doing all the work, teaching, doing songs, crafts, etc. They are even having an adult class. I went the 2nd night. Kinda neat, kinda weird. We did a lesson, crafts, snacks, song time, mission time. Kind made me feel like I was a kid again. Then Luke got a fever and was fussy, so I missed the rest of the week. We ended taking him to the dr.'s office. He has some viral stuff. Sore throat, fussy (crying, not sleeping, whining 24/7) and a low fever. He seems to be doing better- no more fever, sleeping and eating again. So that's good. But B & G have been loving VBS, even if they have already been to a different one that used the same Game Day Theme. They don't care. Snacks have been fun- nacho's, popcorn, shaved ice, chex mix and tonight will be ice cream. Yum!

Shaun has been working a ton this past week and last weekend. Let's just say when he gets over 30 hours of overtime, the kids barely see him. But hopefully things will slow down and we'll see him more. And the OT money is always nice to have. Well, I need to get the kids cleaned up and starting getting ready for parents night at VBS. I hope to post again soon.

Here are some beach pictures from our annual beach vacation. We go every year with my whole extended family to the same beach and usually the same house. The cousins have been renting our own house, because the 'main' house is just too full. We have a blast and can't wait til our next trip the following summer.

This is how most evenings after supper were spent. Some kind of game was played, usually involving many more family members than what I captured. B & G loved this and this was really the only time Papaw was convinced to enjoy the beach.

Bailey is so excited. She said to me, "Today is my best day. I am so excited!"

Why? Because she lost her first tooth! Yep, my baby is growing up. Finishing kindergarten and now losing a tooth. Well, she did have a bit of help. She told me that it was too hard to eat because "my loose tooth is getting too big to bite my food." Huh? I checked it out and sure enough it was sitting much higher than the other bottom teeth. So I offered to try and pull it out.
I just used a piece of toilet paper and tugged gently and out it came. Easy peasy. Just a little bleeding, but not bad at all. Then we had to call Daddy and let him know about this super important news. :) I wish I would have taken a picture before I pulled it, but I didn't think about it. So here are a couple pics showing off her new smile.

She just can't stop smiling today!

Goodness, I can not ever remember to come and update this thing. It looks like once a month is all you are going to get out of me.

Today is Father's Day. I am so grateful that I had a daddy that loved me and more important- he loved God. He always made sure we went to church, we had family devotions super early every morning and he didn't just talk the talk, he walked it too. He was always there to help anyone who needed help. It didn't matter who it was or what they needed, if he could help then he did. He is once of the most giving people I know. I am very proud to call him Daddy. And he is a great paw-paw, even if he gets the kids riled up and wild or gives them any kind of treat they want. They will always remember how fun their paw-paw is. We love you, Daddy.

My father-in-law is also a great dad. He helped raise Shaun into the wonderful person he is today. I will always be thankful for that. He is also a wonderful role model and a very godly man. You can definitely see Jesus through him. He always keeps his family first (right behind God, of course). He is also a great D-daddy (Grandaddy). The kids love to spend time with him and play with him. They especially love to go camping with him & Me-Mama. He is a wonderful in-law. We love you too, Dave.

Last, but not least is Shaun. He is a great daddy to B, G & L. He loves to play with them and they love it just as much. They look up to him so much and I am glad they have such a great, God-loving dad to look up to. He is gentle with them, but firm when needed. And they listen to him much quicker and easier than they do with me. What's up with that? I love you, Shaun and thanks for being a wonderful dad.

So today is Father's Day and my dad went on a mission trip with some of our church youth. They left really early Saturday morning. Because of that we went over to Shaun's grandparents and had a nice lunch with his family. The kids were able to go swimming, they love that. Both B & G are a little pink on their face. Hopefully it will turn brown tomorrow and not stay pink. All in all a very nice day.

I am adding a few more pics of the kids. Some that we took at the Oakboro park, Bailey's softball & dance and one of Graham's graduation.