Store Bought Valentines

My oldest son has never cared what kind of Valentine's Day cards he gives to his classmates. So going on that assumption, I envisioned driving to the dollar store on Wednesday afternoon, picking up some cheesy character cards, writing classmates names on them, and taking them to school on Friday to give to their friends.

Macy put an abrupt stop to my easy plan. In tears, she explains to me that she CAN NOT bring this type of card to school. They simply must be HANDMADE!! Branson was still not picky. He thought pencils would be good since all of his classmates were out of them, thanks to practicing for the state mandated writing test. We settled on these for Branson. Simple and cute!

Macy, of course, was not nearly as easy to satisfy. Her Valentines involved lots of cutting, hole punching, gluing, and general "craftiness." The girls had to have pink ones and the boys got blue. I really should have known! They turned out pretty cute. However next year, I will be asking what she wants to do a little earlier than then night before!
Hope you and yours have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Snow, Snow Go Away!!

We have had too much snow lately. So our family has had plenty of indoor time to spend together. Branson has been quite creative while enduring this slow passage of time. He designed and fashioned many different military vehicles. There were tanks, planes, soldiers, and who knows what else all engaged in an epic battle on the dining room table. There were even medics tending to the wounded soldiers.
He wrote a message to me in Legos. "Susan, I love you." Too sweet!

He built and finished up some models he was working on.

Lane was also able to find a creative use for his time, drawing. Too bad he didn't find a piece of paper before he started.

More planes for Branson!

Finally, it was pretty enough to let them free in the yard. Sweet freedom!! I was just glad that this snow didn't pack very well, or I would have been smacked with the snowball Macy just threw.

Lane thought the outdoors were awesome too!

I had to take just one picture of them all before I had to go in and do the mountain of laundry that comes from a 15 minute play break in the snow.

Pretty cute little group. I am not partial or anything, right?!?!?!

Christmas '09

We did so many things this year, and I took plenty of pictures. I was worn out from all the festivities. I didn't put the pictures in any particular order. Here are some of my favorites from the last week. Here is Macy starting to unwrap some of her presents at her NeeNee's house on Christmas. Branson received a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. We are hoping that he doesn't put his eye out! So far he has been very careful!
We have noticed that when the kids get bigger, their toys are more fun to play with!

Lane got a stick horse from Santa!

We celebrated Christmas Eve at Grandpa Mike's house. The kids had a great time!

Branson also opened some really awesome Nerf guns! (Again . . . a lot of fun for grown-ups too!!)

Purse Buddies!! Macy and Caroline now have matching purses. Too much fun and too precious.

Earlier in the week the kids made gingerbread cookies. They turned out pretty funny. I think the decorations were a bit big!

After Christmas Eve church services, we came home and had some hot apple cider. Yummy!!!

The kids have still been dressing up the dog, bundling him up for the cold.

There was too much waiting this week for the kids. Waiting to go here and there, waiting to eat, waiting for Santa . . . waiting, waiting, waiting!!

I think we need to hang up more mistletoe!!

Branson is getting to be a pretty good photographer.

Mary Margaret and Allison enjoying Christmas Eve.

Branson was catching some rest between events.

Taking a picture of 3 kids and a dog . . . .not easy! But here they are, and maybe next time everyone will look the same way AND smile!!!

If all else fails, have them face the other way in the dark!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!!

Getting Ready for Christmas

Like everyone else we have been swamped this week trying to get everything done in time for Christmas.

Instead of getting some more things crossed off our list we thought we would treat ourselves to an early Christmas present. We went to the pound to pick out a dog. We went and found it nearly impossible to get a dog there without being totally dedicated to returning everyday for days and days. I think our local pound makes it as difficult as possible. We found a dog there, but it had already been adopted by "the pound." Our choice was scheduled to to the mall the next day to be put up for adoption. Ummmm excuse me, I figured someone with a good home and cash in hand would out rank being shown at the mall for a possible adoption. However I didn't make the rules . . . so no dog there.

The SPCA was a much better option for us. They let us have this little guy for a week just to see if he was a good fit for our family. As his foster family, we get to take him home, for free, for a week. If we love him, we pay for him and keep him. If it doesn't work out, we just return him. Seems like this group is actually has the animal's best interest in mind! This poor doggie has had his share of names this week, Concho, Tebow, Jack, Eddie, Walter, Pooch, etc . . . He seems to answer best to Pico! So I think we have a winner!

Pico spends A LOT of time resting on his pillow!
Lane got his hair cut finally! Please excuse the fact that his recently cut hair isn't brushed and his face isn't washed. Somehow I think it adds to his charm!

Christmas wouldn't be any fun if you didn't have Rudolph cupcakes or some other fun treat to share with your friends. We made these for both Macy and Branson's classes. I thought they were precious. Dan thought they were unnecessary. But really, they are SO much cuter than plain cupcakes!

I also made some fun little ornaments.

While I was being crafty, the kids were busy dressing up Pico. Here he is in his Christmas bandanna. He has also worn bows, ties, and scarves. I have to say he seems to be fitting in great. I am going to go and pay for him this morning so he can be ours. Merry Christmas Pico!!

Happy Birthday Dan!

As I looked at my blog and saw Halloween pictures, I thought an update might be in order. What have we been up to? Well, we managed to get the Christmas tree up. I have high hopes that at least some of the ornaments will remain on the tree until the 25th! We had some wonderful guests for Thanksgiving. Mattie and Brodie were well loved while they were at our house. The kids were ready to keep them, but I don't think their owners were ready to give them away. Oh and by the way, we had some great human guests as well!

Thanksgiving is truly one of my favorite holidays. My love for this holiday only has a little to do with the Black Friday shopping! A whole day of shopping with no kids . . . .thanks Mhari for going (even pregnant) and Daddy for keeping our kids!

We have spent some time with great friends. Macy and Jayli are such beautiful ballerinas.

And yesterday, we made a cake to celebrate someone very special. Macy certainly looked the part.

She made sure everything was done right! She is our quality control.

Lane doesn't care if it was stirred correctly. He is just there for the taste testing! Umm does anyone think he needs a haircut? Whew!!!!!

We had a few more friends and family over and our special guy got to enjoy the chocolate surprise dessert we made for him. He even got to open his presents. The kids were hoping that daddy would receive some cool toys, but I guess he (they) will have to wait till Christmas!

To my sweetheart, I hope you had a wonderful birthday. We were happy to be able to celebrate with you and look forward to many, many more! We are so blessed to have you in our lives. I love you!

Happy Halloween

As we set out this evening, the weather was perfect for Halloween, clear, no wind, and beautiful The children posed for a few mandatory costume pictures. Some on the bench
Some by the trees

Macy was Tinkerbell.

Branson was a race car driver. I think the purple hair really makes the outfit.

Lane was also a race car driver. I think he would have been any thing as long as the costume was mainly blue. He decided long before Branson. Branson was swayed by Lane's choice.

What a beautiful Tinkerbell!

We walked up the road to a local church and participated in their carnival. The kids had a lot of fun and wound up with a lot of candy! Lane threw some darts and actually popped a balloon. You can tell that even the guys working the booth were surprised!

The obligatory cake walk . . . .but you didn't get baked goods, just more candy!

And some fishing lessons

On the way home, we stopped at all our neighbors' houses and collected more candy. I hope the children don't notice if I sneak out all the candy that contains both peanut butter and chocolate. I think they are far too busy eating the really gross stuff to even care!

Maybe one last stop . . .

Hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween.