The Ennis Family

Granny's House!

2011-12-01T23:32:00.004-06:00

We always love going to Granny's house!! She lets the kids do everything by themselves when the bake and somehow, it always turns out to be the best cookies, ever!! Her icing is to die for. I'm craving it just thinking about it!! She is the most kind, gentle and patient person I know (her and my Mom, maybe some of that will rub off on me :)).

Can you believe how tall Zane is?! She's on the shorter side but still...(I love you, Granny!)

After baking, they went and picked veggies and flowers out of her garden :).

Words really can't describe how special she is to me!! I spent every Friday night at her house when I was growing up. We made pancakes (well, they were a flop but made for a great memory :)) and gingerbread men. She would pull out a mattress and we would sleep in the living room. She made popcorn and we would eat it while we watched tv. I can still remember the sound of her clock in the living room. I can't read Peter Rabbit without getting teary eyed because she used to always tell me that story. It was my home away from home and I still love just sitting in the kitchen or living room and talking to her or watching her with my kids. I'm so happy that she still lives in the same house that she has since my dad was a kid!! If walls could talk I would sit and listen forever! She is absolutely precious and I hope to be half the Granny that she is someday!!

Fourth of July(ish) 2011

2011-12-01T22:59:00.006-06:00

OK, I'm going to try really hard to get this crazy blog caught up so that I can print this year into a book!!

This was our massive slip n slide. We built it down our hill in the backyard. It was the only chilly day within a three month period!! A storm blew in just as we were trying to stake it down (of course :)) and we almost lost the tarp! We had so much fun. It was just like when we went sledding. The adults outlasted the kids :). When you have soak hoses and baby oil, you can really get some speed...
Zane left for church camp on the morning of the 4th. He had a great time!! I missed having him with us during the holiday but I'll take 2nd place to church camp :).

Miss Lydia in her patriotic outfit :)

She LOVES her Poppy!!!!

The karaoke was left set up from Harrison's birthday party. Harrison was having the hardest time sleeping ;) so he came downstairs and found himself in the middle of a song that he loved. Jared snapped this pic before we knew that he was back there. I think we enjoy karaoke as much as the kiddos! Yes H is in his underwear. This will be a blackmail pic someday :).

Emotional Recs

2011-08-18T18:12:00.003-05:00

I played soccer (for the first time EVER) in the Spring. We were in a non-competitive league at All-Star Sports in Springdale. It was a LOT of fun and a great workout. We only won one game (it was a forfeit) but I'm so glad that I did it! We'll probably play in the future. If you need some free entertainment let me know and I'll get you our schedule. Ha! I only had 3 pictures so I might as well post them all :). Before the game...and after!

Harrison is EIGHT!!

2011-08-17T22:56:00.009-05:00

Well, he was on June 30th!!!! I'm so behind on my blogging :(. We had our annual date for his birthday. He had basketball camp that morning. Afterwards, we dropped L&Z off with Memaw and went to Kobe for lunch. After lunch we headed to the movies to watch Cars 2. He had told Jared that he wanted a twisty straw for his birthday (this kid is EASY!) and they were selling them at the concession area. Sweet! After the movie we went to Cold Stone and then headed to VBS. It was a crazy but fun day with my sweet boy!!

He had a few celebrations for his birthday. Not a bad deal :). We went to Memaw and PaPa's a few days later for lunch and a really neat cake! Zane was at church camp so he was MIA ;). Look at H man's hair!! Shaggy!
Memaw and Papa had just gotten back from Israel and had brought the kids some souvenirs. He LOVES this hat and wears it quite often :). She was mad about SOMETHING. Her girly emotions have kicked in and are wearing me out :). I feel like she's already a teenager. Crying one second and laughing the next... A few days later he had his "friend" party. He had a bunch of boys over to swim, play, sing karaoke, and eat!! We are missing a few, but this is most of the crew!! I can't believe that he is 8 years old!!! I love you sweet boy!!

Perdido Key

2011-07-13T22:38:00.006-05:00

We took the kiddos to Perdido Key, FL in mid June. We had a GREAT time. Loved the condo and ours came with a cabana. We are completely spoiled now :). That might be a priority on future trips!!

This is a pic of the kids in the cabana. We found an old school fabric dart board (has the balls with velcro) at Publix. It was a HIT. Sometimes it's the simple things.We went crabbin'.

This one is blurry but I love it. My two bigger boys ;).

Lydia had so much fun flying her kite.

Jared and Zane went on a deep sea fishing trip. They go every year!

That's a LOT of Red Snapper! If anyone has a good recipe I would appreciate it :).

Lydia's FAVORITE thing to do was play in the sand. There were a lot of jelly fish in the water (boo!) so the boys spent a lot of time at the pool.

L made some friends during the week. I think she's going to be my little social butterfly :).

Field Day

2011-06-24T09:21:00.005-05:00

Harrison had Field Day on the next to last day of school. They had so much fun!! Lydia loves going to his class for parties and projects. I'm hoping that this will get her familiar with the school!
The boys doing their dance.

Lydia had a blast!The kids rotated between different stations. One was a mist tent. It was a hit!! Luckily, it was one of our first stops so they were dry when they went back in :).

H and some of his buddies taking a water break.I looked over and saw Harrison with his arm around Lydia (in the middle of one of the games!). I love how sweet he is to her, even in front of his friends ;).

Harrison and Mrs. Page. She has been such an amazing teacher. He likes school so much that he wasn't really ready for the summer break! We have been so blessed with great teachers so far. I'm praying that the trend will continue :).

June

2011-06-23T09:30:00.003-05:00

June is going to have several posts but this is a good one to get me caught up :).

This was one night on our way out the door for a dinner date.Jared and Zane play basketball almost every day! H gets in on the action too. Zane doesn't take it easy on him which can be frustrating but I figure it will make him an awesome basketball player ;)! Harrison has turned into quite the little baseball player. He plays first base and can smack it to fence. I'm really proud of how far he's come this year!!

We went to visit my Granny a couple of weeks ago. Her and Lydia worked in her school books (she just retired this year!!) for a long time. I've said this before (probably several times!) but she is the most patient person I know. Well, her and my Mom! Maybe I'll get some of that since it's in my blood ;). I know why she did so great with the kids for all of those years and why they love her so much.

May

2011-06-22T11:23:00.004-05:00

We had SO much fun in May!! Once we started swimming, we went into full summer mode!

We got a new puppy named Roscoe. He's a Blue Heeler and Black Lab mix. He's such a sweet dog!!! Lucy wasn't sure about him at first, but after a couple of days they were best buds. Well, more like siblings since they fight a lot :).
Lydia LOVES gymnastics!!! She's getting ready to move up to the next class in July. I can't wait to see what she learns.

This girl also loves to fly kites!! The Easter Bunny brought her one and that's when she fell in love. I can't believe that it hasn't broken yet!! H&L playing outside.

Lyddie has started sounding out words and writing. It started several months ago when she brought me a piece of paper with her name on it. I couldn't believe that she had written it by herself. She started asking how to spell words and how to write them. I found a book that Zane played with when he was learning to read. It's OLD but such an awesome way for them to learn. She wanted to spell words in the book every night instead of read a story. She is doing GREAT!! If it's a normal word that reads like it looks (usually 3 sometimes 4 letters) she can spell it and write it!

Her thinking face :).

Pool Time!!!! I look rough all summer because we swim so much and I refuse to dry and straighten my hair every day. If you've seen my hair without being straightened you will know what I'm talking about. This is my disclaimer incase you run into me at Target :)!!!

Karaoke is a FAVORITE around our house!

April

2011-06-22T11:02:00.004-05:00

I've had some computer issues and have also just been BUSY! The blog has taken a back seat but I'm going to try and get it updated. I print them into a book each year and was looking through them a few days ago. That inspired me to get going on it again :). Those books are priceless and mean more every year.

In April, my sister and her family had a gender reveal party. It's a BOY!!! They were all wanting a boy so that worked out great ;).
We dyed Easter eggs with the Holts. I didn't get very many good pics. They were all pretty tired :). Harrison's favorite part of coloring the eggs was eating the broken ones!

We were running late Easter morning so I didn't get a pic with them all dressed :(. Opening Easter baskets was more important than posing for pictures :). There was a lot of flooding. This is the flood plain that is down the bluff behind our house. We usually drive the jeep down the trail and across this to get to the river. I didn't think that it would EVER stop raining. This one is hard to see because it was getting dark. This is the White River bridge.

Lydia's Big Girl Room

2011-05-23T12:59:00.002-05:00

Back in March, we replaced Lydia's crib with a big girl bed. It was weird taking it down for the last time (unless God has other plans for us!). I think it bothered Jared more than he thought it was going to. She's done so great with the change. She loves her new bed and furniture. Now I just need to decorate!!! I left her old decor up until I get it redone.

Cruisin'

2011-05-20T20:23:00.008-05:00

WELL, it's been a long time since my last post!! I started this one a few weeks ago but my computer messed up and I haven't been able to get it to post. Hopefully, I'll get all caught up in the next week or so. We took the kids on a short cruise for Spring Break. We left from Port Canaveral and went to Nassau and CoCo Cay in the Bahamas.

The kids had a room right next door to us. I love how they changed it around to fit their needs :).They started off with three separate twin beds.

They pushed two beds together to make a king and put the other mattress in the window seat area. You could pull the drapes and it was like a hideout. Very cool :).
Waiting in line to get off the boat...

It was taking too long so we decided to hang out at the pool and swim for awhile.

This is on the ferry taking us from our boat to CoCo Cay. She is a Daddy's girl!! We enjoyed CoCo Cay a lot. Jared and Zane went snorkeling and I took H over to a huge inflatable slide.

Pics before dinner. We did the scheduled dinner one night and then the buffet for the other two. The kids LOVED the activities at night and couldn't wait to get there! That's why there's not many pics of Zane ;). His started earlier and went much later.

Lydia and Harrison enjoyed the Pirate Parade. Well, Lydia enjoyed it until she spotted us and then she got really upset. I think the fact that she hadn't had a nap the entire trip contributed to that :).

Once we got in the car the next morning, she was OUT!!!!!

Cleaning Out The Camera...

2011-03-16T23:08:00.000-05:00

I'm cleaning out the camera because we've got some fun things coming up!! I know that you are just sitting on the edge of your seat ;). Well, stay tuned. The bathroom is almost finished (yes, I said ALMOST finished. Grrrr.). The project that was supposed to take 4-6 weeks is creeping up on 5 MONTHS!!!!!! Anyway, we'll have some trip pics and Lydia's new big girl room is getting set up soon. Should be fun :). OH, I'm also playing soccer for the first time in my life so that should make for a good post!

This is our great friend Jason. Our XBox quit working so he ordered some pieces online and came over and fixed it!! He's Zane's new hero :). We've been having a LOT of fun outside. Her shirt says "ROCKSTAR". She says, "My shirt says, Lydia Grace Ennis is a rockstar." This is Zep. He lives next door. While most dogs fetch tennis balls or frisbees, he's been known to carry soccer balls in his mouth! Lydia with some good static.

I can't wait to get my living room back! We donated our old couches last weekend so the boys set up the dining room chairs so that they could play XBox.

Me and my sweetie! Silly :)

Lyddie and Lucy. Lucy got her hair cut today :(. She's depressed and won't get out of her cage! I love her long shaggy hair but she had way too much fun at the river and in the pond so we had to get her clipped. She was matted and had a lot of burs stuck in it. Did I say clipped, I meant shaved :(.

Here's a little sneak preview of our FUNCTIONING shower!! I'm excited for the before and after pics. I got so tired of dealing with the bathroom that I forgot to take many pictures.

Look At These CURLS!!!

2011-02-28T23:10:00.004-06:00

Can you see the ringlets?! She's got a bit of an '80s do in the front in this pic :). If anyone has helpful hints on curly hair I could use them :). Here's a new picture of my sweet nephew, Isaac.

And his handsome big brother!!

Isaac Matthew Norris

2011-02-23T17:40:00.003-06:00

My sister-in-law and little brother had their baby today!!! Everything went great and he's a beautiful and healthy little boy!! He weighed 6 lb 8 oz. He was a couple of weeks early. I LOVE this one :).Lynn, Colin, and Isaac. Three generations. My dad, Matt, and Isaac

Hanging With Taylor Swift and Other Fun Things...

2011-02-16T22:48:00.005-06:00

Ok, so we didn't exactly hang out with Taylor Swift but we did get to meet her at a pizza restaurant in Nashville! I went on a girl trip/conference a few weeks ago. As we were pulling in to our hotel (The Hutton) the driver pointed to some condos across the road and said that Taylor Swift lived there. When we went to dinner that night Loddie jokingly asked the waitress if Taylor ever came in. She pointed to a table across the room and said, "Yeah, she's sitting over there." Some other people asked her for a picture as she was leaving so we decided to join in!!

This is her and my friend Emily. For some reason this picture is really small! It's me, her, and my friend Kim.I'm going back to New Years with these!! Harrison and Lydia played on the laptop as we hid from the tornado! I remember hearing a storm outside and turned the TV on to check on it so that I could go back to sleep and not worry. There were tornado warnings and they were talking about Goshen. I woke Jared up and as I turned my cell phone on it started going off with texts that were checking on us. We decided to get the kids up and put them in the pantry. Zane was at a friend's house :(. We actually had some friends in Siloam that lost their house. Very scary stuff!!

After the storm passed we let the kids get in bed with us. Surprisingly, we all fell back asleep! That night, we went to dinner. They boys dressed up in their beautiful Christmas sweaters. The BEST (best) part, is that Aaron (second from the left) got there 15 minutes before anyone else. They said that everyone kept glancing at him as they sat down :)!!

Lydia's FIRST ponytail!!! It won't work when it's dry but we are getting there!!

Harrison and Lucy hanging out in her cage. Snow days make you a little crazy :).

Harrison enjoyed holding Mackenzie (Holt) and giving her a bottle. ALMOST made me think that it would be fun to have another one. Almost...

Lydia really enjoyed having the animals inside during all of the snow. I'm not sure that Coconut was as amused! She was a good sport though. She is the most patient cat I have ever seen!

Lucy was eating the cat's food while getting a personal concert from Lydia. Priceless!

Yes, Lydia wore her "warm" pajamas (as she calls them) for about two weeks straight!! She loves them more than anything so why not?!

Final Sledding Post...Hopefully!!

2011-02-16T22:06:00.004-06:00

I love snow and cold weather as much if not more than the next person, but I REALLY hope that these are the last snowy pictures that I take this winter. We went sledding a couple of more times. Jared called one of our neighbors and asked if we could sled on his hill. I didn't know that we would be dodging cows :)! They ran away from us at first. Then crossed our path a couple of times and decided to leave us alone. Interesting creatures!

Lyddie's little face got really cold so she used Jared's cover. She will sit and eat snow and push you down the hill all day long, but doesn't love to sled. Maybe next year!Lydia and Miss Hayden. These girls just love each other :)!! These pics are from the "big snow" that we just had. The Holt's and Loddie came over and went sledding with us. I didn't think that it would be very fun since the snow was so deep. Jared made us a track and it was AWESOME! The adults way outlasted all of the kids. We went in only once the sun went down and we couldn't feel our feet :). GOOD TIMES!!ZANE!! I feel like I don't have very many pictures of him on here!! The other two are just easier to corner :).

Once the track was established, some of the kids would sit and throw snowballs (really hard) at the people sledding. It was so powdery that I couldn't make a snowball. I don't know how they did it but it felt like rocks :).

Hayden was getting tired! Jared carried her AND the two sleds back up the hill :).

First Day of Sledding!

2011-02-12T08:58:00.005-06:00

I'm going to try and get caught up on our sledding pictures. I took a lot more pics with the first first snow because you just never know if you will get another one worth sledding on. Little did we know at the time, we would have SEVERAL more :)!!!

Lydia and Hayden getting ready to go out. The Holts lived in Vermont last year while Jason did a Pain fellowship. They gave us Hayden's clothes that she'd outgrown. Lydia had some pretty great stuff!!! Lydia didn't love sledding as much as eating snow and spraying colored water. She stayed out the whole two hours! I love how Harrison isn't wearing a coat or snow pants. Just a snowy scarf!!I can't wait to take this boy to the slopes.

The Holt Family minus Mackenzie . She was inside sleeping (Zane was listening for her!!).

I LOVE Kim. She was about three weeks past her C-Section but couldn't resist!! I actually caught her mid fall :).

The hill in our backyard is pretty decent.

Is it a sled...or a gun?!

The only problem with our hill is that it turns and goes down a more...uncleared path.

Occasionally you run into a little tree :). You are going slow enough that it doesn't hurt (as long as you don't get poked in the eye with a twig).

Lucy LOVES the snow. She ran until she was exhausted!

It's All Fun and Games Until You Get STUCK!!

2011-02-09T18:05:00.003-06:00

I may have topped my "All Time Dumb Things That I've Done As A Mom" list. I'm usually pretty paranoid about driving on snow and ice (and like to be prepared if we do go out). Last week Jared got some chains for the jeep and it was a MONSTER! We went to dinner in Fayetteville and then went and stayed the night in Rogers just to stay out of the house :)! His parents kept the kids so we were all happy. Today, he was going to go drive down the road and see what the roads were like. Initially, we were going to just stay in the neighborhood. I had on a tshirt and fleece and Lydia was in her warm pjs and snow boots (NO COAT, go ahead and call child services). Neither of us had gloves. Harrison had his coat and gloves thankfully! Oh yeah, we also forgot our CELL PHONES. The jeep did great so we toodled down Wyman. We went on to Hwy. 45 for a minute and then turned around to head home. When we got to the neighborhood we decided to go past it a little ways before going back home. The jeep never struggled at all. Sooooo, Jared started being a little silly with it and the kids were laughing and having fun. Then, we slid into a ditch. No worries, he JUST got a winch last weekend. That didn't work either. I took the kids and we walked home while he contemplated what to do. I threw a jacket over Lydia to protect her face and carried her and H man walked and cried. He kept blaming himself saying that he shouldn't have told Dad to do it :(. I couldn't feel my hands by the halfway point. Our neighborhood is just past the Fayetteville line so thankfully the road had been plowed earlier. There was snow on it but at least it wasn't 17" deep until just before our neighborhood. The road to our house was the hardest part. We were walking in a tire track to stay out of the deep snow and it was SOOO COLD. I got home and called a neighbor. Jared had just gotten home to get some tools when another neighbor saw him and took him back. They finally dug all of the snow out and pulled it with one of the trucks. Needless to say, we stayed in for the rest of the day. Maybe we'll get out and play tomorrow!!
The kids laughing right before we got stuck!This is what our backyard looked like when we went out this morning. More snow fell after this picture!

When Harrison tried to stand back up she jumped up and kncoked him over. She loved having a buddy out there!

L&L=BFF

2011-02-07T22:22:00.004-06:00

I know that I've talked about how tight Lyddie and Lucy are. They are just a match made to be together! If we let Lucy in and she's really excited, she'll jump up on us so that we'll pet her or get feisty and a little ornery. With Lydia, she's always calm and sweet. I never imagined loving this silly dog like I do!! She makes a great pillow.To think that Lydia used to climb on the barstool because she was terrified of Lucy!!BFF!

On this day, Lucy was STARVING! Lydia let her inside to play and to feed her. She fed her with a spoon and Lucy was SO patient. I love the look on her face. Waiting...

Big Girl Bed (Almost)...

2011-02-04T13:19:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago, Jared converted Lydia's crib into a toddler bed. We wanted her to sleep with it like this before we switched her into a bigger bed. She has done GREAT! She always calls me and asks if it's ok to get up before she comes downstairs. She'll say, "Mom, I'm awake. Is it lighty outside?" I took this during her first night.She was so proud of herself the next morning. I was too!!!! She was demonstrating how she wakes up.

Sweet brother :). After they got ready for bed I came in and found him reading her a book.

Christmas Night 2010

2011-01-10T14:20:00.004-06:00

We had a lot of fun opening presents. Christmas Vacation was playing in the background and the kids had hot chocolate. Can't beat that :). Lydia got a Barbie fishing pole. She LOVED it. She would cast it off the side of the couch and reel it back in (over and over). She would stop long enough to open another present and then go back to the fishing pole. It was probably her favorite gift!Zane mostly got new clothes, cologne, and things for his room. Its weird to have one of your kids out of the toy stage :(.

Lydia got a music set. Everyone participated in the band...

even Zane :).

They had a nice little Nerf gun war afterwards.

He's not too big for ALL of his toys yet. He never turns down a Nerf war!

Christmas Day 2010

2011-01-10T13:42:00.004-06:00

We finally woke our kids up at 10:45 so that they could see what Santa had brought and look through their stockings. We were supposed to be at Jared's parent's house at noon for lunch so they didn't have a lot of time. They will sleep all morning if you let them. Believe me, I am NOT complaining :)!!
Lydia got a doll house, a baby doll, and a fire truck. She's been asking for the doll and fire truck but the doll house was a surprise :). Harrison got new golf clubs, a big nerf gun, and a new tennis raquet and balls. Zane got a flat screen tv for his newly redecorated room. I'll post those pics soon. Santa brought them all a tin of popcorn. They were pretty excited! I think I only got FOUR pictures from his parent's house! We ate lunch and played Dirty Santa. It was so much fun as always. Mr.Ennis was pretty excited about his new sled :)!!

Jared and Zane worked on building Zane's bed when we got home while Lydia napped. When she woke up we had our family Christmas time. It's my favorite so I'm glad that we save it for last. I love the fun and craziness of being with all of our familes and absolutely wouldn't trade it for anything. There's just something special about ending it with just us :).

Christmas Eve 2010

2011-01-10T13:15:00.004-06:00

We went to my parent's houes for the annual Christmas Eve Bash. It's always so much fun. We had Mexican food again and of course...Dirty Santa! I think there were 27 of us that played so its not a short game. Tons of fun, though!! My mom and dad with the kids.Harrison got Rock Em Sock Em. He's been asking for it for a long time and was SOO excited to open it!!This is my niece and nephew, Lexie and Wyatt. I didn't get Kalin and Katherine in this pic. They are stairstepped from 13 to 16 (K&K are twins).

Part of the Dirty Santa crew. I can't get everyone in one pic and was stuck where I couldn't get the other side :).

Once we got home, we put out the cookies and milk for Santa. Harrison made him a picture and attached $12 for his troubles. The next morning, Harrison found the money in his stocking. I guess he didn't need it :).

Christmas Rounds One and Two

2011-01-03T23:03:00.004-06:00

We went to Jared's grandma's house after church one day for lunch and presents. It was one of the the best days with her. It felt like the Little Rock days when we all lived down there and would go and just hang out.

Only Zane was about Lydia's size!! She got Harrison a bible for Christmas. I just LOVE this picture! Lydia got Beauty and the Beast and this swing. Her and Harrison had SO much fun with it. Her face cracks me up!.They played Dominos and put together puzzles. Jared and I both cat napped. It was a pretty great day!!

We went to his parent's house the next night. Lyddie has been SUCH a Daddy's girl lately!! It's so sweet :).

Lydia helped PaPa separate the presents. She's like H. She loves anything soft! She was loving on the dog before she even pulled it out of the bag. She got a Barbie vet set. Very cool!!

Zane got some heavy duty weights (along with some other great things!).

And Harrison got a punching bag!! Perfect for this little man :).

We got PaPa some candy from the 50's to go along with his gift. It was fun to dig through it and taste all of it. I think the kids enjoyed it as much as he did :).

A LITTLE Decorating...

2011-01-03T12:16:00.006-06:00

Since our house is in such disarray this year, we decided to not decorate quite as much. We moved a couch, two chairs, a tree, and a table into our formal living room and set the tree up in there. It felt sooooo good to have a living room again. Even with Christmas over, we are going to leave the furniture in there until they are ready for the final coat on the hardwood.

Zane was getting a lesson on hanging stockings. They decorated the little trees for their rooms. We might have to upgrade next year. It takes them about 5 minutes and then H's kept falling over because he had used bigger ornaments :).When Zane got finished with his tree he pulled the chair over and enjoyed some football. Such a teenager (but I love it SO far).This was the funniest thing!! Lucy was chewing on some Christmas rope so Lydia started swinging it like a jump rope.They have become best buddies. When Lucy comes in she follows her and Harrison everywhere. The other day H said, "If you want to hear California Girls, come to my room!" Lydia jumped up and said, "Let's go Luce!" Lucy got up from the floor and followed them upstairs. The Three Amigos. Last night, she followed them all over the house. H was in his room in this spot next to his bed. She laid between him and opening like she was protecting him. She laid next to Lydia on the floor when we were reading a book. Lydia got up and moved closer to me and Lucy got up and moved right next to her. When I put her in bed, she stretched out all the way in front of it. She's pretty great :).The table is missing from this picture but you can tell that we didn't have a lot going on in there. It was kind of nice and simple.

I went shopping one night to look for an outfit for his office Christmas party. Jared and the kids had made hot chocolate and watched Christmas movies. He even thought to take a picture for me :). He's such a great Daddy!

Pre Christmas Fun!

2010-12-30T20:26:00.004-06:00

I've got several Christmas posts to do so I'm just going to do several smaller ones to keep it simple :).

L and H were enjoying popcorn and a Christmas movie. It's one of our favorite things to do! This is Kim. She's about the sweetest thing ever :). Absolutely the best trooper around when it comes to preggo girls (and I'm sure at other times but I've only known her while she's been pregnant :). She texted me one night to see how our late night of Academy shopping was going. We'd gotten most of the gifts but hadn't wrapped a single one. I've been off this Christmas since my house is STILL very VERY much under construction :). I was tired and coming down with a cold that ended up lasting a week and just hadn't gotten it done. She joked about having the fun part to look forward to (wrapping) and said that if I needed help she wouldn't mind coming over. I told her I'd be wrapping the next day and to just call me if she got bored (thinking ha ha). The girl showed up and helped me wrap EVERY present in the room. She was a machine. She wrapped twice as fast as I did. She was 37 weeks pregnant (and under 5 foot tall) so I know sitting on that floor was not comfy). Thanks Kim!!!!! I'll never ever forget it.Harrison had his class party at school. I'm one of the homeroom moms this year and it's been so much fun getting to be so involved. It's priceless. Especially since I'm working with a super sweet girl :).There were extra gingerbread houses so Lydia got to decorate her own. I never heard a peep out of her during the whole party. She sat on H's lap and listened to the book, helped him with his plate of food, and LOVED decorating the house. Harrison's Santa hat had a built in beard. You know he couldn't just bring a plain one :).

Class Pic

...and a CRAZY class pic!! He's having SO much fun this year. We've been SO blessed to have two wonderful teachers in a row. This boy loves school and actually gets a little sad when there's a long break because he misses it :).

The Wieners Are Back!!

2010-12-15T22:10:00.004-06:00

This year is round 2 for the wieners. They hadn't been out for four years so we felt like it was time!!

Big Cedar

2010-12-13T22:00:00.002-06:00

We took the kids to Big Cedar Lodge a couple of weekends ago. We had a great time!! It was so cold but that only added to the Christmas experience :).

You always have to wrestle or jump on the bed to kick off a trip. My Dad would be so proud. He says that as kids, we jumped on some of the best beds in the country :). We had horrible cell phone reception in the room. I walked out to talk to my sister. The rest of the fam eventually followed and we ended up LOCKED OUT! In 20 degree weather :). I didn't think security would EVER get there :).We love to take weekend trips and do NOTHING! Play games, watch football, eat out! There is something about getting out of town that is so relaxing. We had some pretty great games of Yahtzee :).Cutie Pie!

We had a family picture taken on Saturday. I took a few of my own by the tree in the lobby before we went out. Its a good thing that we had them taken. Harrison decided to cut his hair the next night after he had gone to bed. He cut it right in the front and all the way to scalp (and a big hunk out of the back :)).

The ARCADE. Always a favorite.

We had a reservation to take the kids on a wagon ride at 6:30. I thought it was a carriage ride and we had seen them going by our room all day. When it was time to get ready to go, we walked out and realized how COLD it was. We aren't normally weenies when it comes to getting out in the cold but this was a different kind of cold. We talked about it and had decided to skip the ride and just go to dinner. The kids were so sad so we decided to go. The front desk called right at 6:30 and we told them that we were headed that way. They seemed a little annoyed but I was thinking, "Just take us on a 20 minute ride instead of a 30 minute ride. What's the big deal?" When we get down there to check in for it, we realized that it was the wagon ride and there were TWO wagons full of people waiting for us to check in!! I wanted to crawl in a hole. SO embarrassing! The wagon ride ended at a bon fire. There was hot chocolate, smores, and a guy playing Christmas songs with his guitar. "One more smore?!"

H and L watched some cartoons before going to bed. They are best buds! They remind me of me and my brother Matt. We were best friends (most of the time) and sometimes worst enemies. Depending on the day :).

Thanksgiving and Such

2010-12-02T16:07:00.005-06:00

My sister and I always go to Mom's house to cook on the day before Thanksgiving. We always have SO much fun when we get together.

Mom getting ready to make some mean pies :). Shelley brought the ingredients for the kids to make really cute Pilgrim hats. I just realized that I don't have a picture of the finished product! Way to go Ang :).
She LOVES her aunt Shell!!We had to keep washing Lydia's fondue stick :).

The next day, we started off with lunch at Jared's Mom and Dad's house. It was SOO cold and even snowed. I LOVED how festive it felt!!Lydia with Mema and Great Grandma. I LOVE this picture.

This boy loves his sister. Sometimes she'll walk in with a cute dress or something on and he'll say, "Awww Lydia, you look so pretty." She's so blessed to have two brothers that love her like they do :)!!

Jared's Mom always gives the kids an Old World Christmas ornament on Thanksgiving. They really look forward to opening them. She always finds the cutest ones! We went to my parent's house for dessert but I left my camera here. No pics :(.

Birthday At Granny's

2010-12-01T22:51:00.007-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, Lydia and I went to Granny Shirley's so that we could celebrate with her. They made a pink birthday cake with pink icing and sprinkles. She makes the BEST icing and I usually make myself sick on it!! Granny let Lydia do almost all of it by herself. I've said this many times but if I only had her patience :). Lydia absolutely loves Granny and won't let me do anything for her when we are there. Thanks Granny!! We had an awesome day!!!

Looking to see what's next! My Mom and Dad came by at lunch. Always a treat :)!!!

She's THREE!!

2010-11-17T22:48:00.007-06:00

And pretty excited about it!! She had a Barbie cake and we went to Chuck E. Cheese. We were going to have a family dinner with grandparents but half of the crew was out of town so we decided to just go there and make it easy :). It was just us and Jared's mom and dad. It was nice and laid back. Well, as laid back as Chuck E. Cheese can be. Jared stopped and picked her up this cute puppet on the way to the party. He almost always picks up something for them that I don't know about. So sweet :).She was ready to dig in to that cake!! This is what Jared and Zane did all night once the games began. The only time I saw them was when they were looking for more tokens :). They have so much fun together! Last night, Zane dared Jared to drive home from the Boys and Girls Club (30 minutes from our house) with the convertible top down (it was in the mid 30s). They did and LOVED it!! Me and my girl!! Please ignore how scary I look. It had been a long day :).

I thought that I would add a "keeping it real" series of pictures. It's not an easy task to get a decent picture of all three kids together. It's pretty close to impossible :). My favorite part is Zane with the hammer.

That is as close as we got. The next picture on my camera was Lydia in the middle of a breakdown. It WAS 8:30!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!

Halloween!!

2010-11-11T14:30:00.001-06:00

No explanation is really necessary :). He had so much fun being Elvis. Lydia LOVES to act like a puppy dog. When we saw a pink poodle costume, we knew it was perfect!Getting a lesson from Dad.

Our church had trunk-or-treat on Halloween night. The kids had a great time playing games, eating, and getting candy! I feel like I only got pictures of Lydia looking serious. She really did have a good time :)! Harrison got first place in the costume contest!!

Jared has had a lot of fun with this one this year :)!

This was the first year that Zane didn't dress up :(. He had a lot of fun playing the football throw. Its a sure sign that they're growing up when they'd rather play football than dress up and get candy!

I think Jared's grandma looked awfully proud of her crazy grandson :). We decorated our trunks for the kids. We had a hog theme so I threw on a hat and necklace. Not too exciting, I know :).

THIRTEEN

2010-11-10T14:10:00.005-06:00

Zane turned thirteen on October 29th. I can NOT believe that we have a teenager!! This was the last picture of him being 12. He must look a little older than his age. We were at Target a few nights ago and a lady came up and asked him if he worked there :). He picked out his cake :).He wanted to do a treasure hunt for his party.Jared came up with some really cool clues. He cut plastic tubes and marked them with blue, green, and red duct tape to coordinate with their team.

Hearing the rules...

Reading their first clue.

One of the clues took them to our neighbors pond. Jared left a kayak for them and they had to paddle out to the pole sticking out. Each team had this clue. We just spread them out so that they wouldn't be there at the same time.

Zane's team got to the prizes first. They won itune gift cards!

Second place opening their box.

The real hit of the night was karaoke.

I looked into the family room and half of the boys had taken a break from singing and they were watching football. They didn't let the hoarder style room bother them!!

Lydia has been so scared of "Frank" because of the way his arms float up. That night, she overcame it! I was so proud of her. She danced with him and hugged him.

Some of Harrison's dance moves :)!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZANE!!!!

Hoarders Called...

2010-11-07T08:20:00.003-06:00

We had some water damage that caused our hardwood floors to buckle. Insurance has been AWESOME and they are being fixed. They had to move all of the furniture from our formal living room, dining room, entry, and Jared's office to other parts of the house so that they can work on the floors. You can only imagine how crazy it feels right now :)!! This is my family room!!! There's office furniture in our room, the china cabinet is in the breakfast area, and the playroom is full of boxes. It's a mess but it'll be worth it. We're using it as an opportunity to change the paint colors and we're going to redecorate (slowly) once everything is finished. When they are finished with the hardwood, they are going to start gutting the master bathroom (more water damage). They are keeping everything off of the wood floors until the bathroom is finished so that they can do a final coat of polyurethane and the last coat of paint on the walls. Here are a few early pictures of how it's going to look!! The dining room before
After the paint. they haven't restained the floors at this point. I LOVE the ceiling!!Formal living room before.We are going with a lighter color in the two formal rooms and really dark in the entry. I've got a girl that's helping me and she is AMAZING so I feel very comfortable with it. I'd be nervous if I were picking it out myself :)!

Entry!

Patches and Pumpkins!

2010-11-06T23:19:00.006-05:00

A few weeks ago, my mom and I took Lydia and Harrison to the pumpkin patch in Cave Springs. We had a lot of fun even though it was 85 degrees outside!! I have never been so sweaty in a corn maze :)! Harrison and Mom on the cow train ride!I didn't think we would ever get out of the corn maze!!

Especially since H and L kept stopping to pick up corn!!!!Once we made it out, we went over to the corn shooting game. Harrison loved it!!We had a great time carving pumpkins at home.Lydia is waiting to see what's inside the pumpkin. Do you love Jared's hair?!

Best Buds!! Can you see the purple necklace on Lucy? Lydia put her Hello Kitty necklace on her!!

Random...

2010-11-06T22:52:00.008-05:00

Here are some random pictures to get me caught back up. I feel like I'm just treading water right now!! We have been so busy.

We LOVE to play darts with Zane at night before he goes to bed. We get the younger kids to bed and then meet in the playroom. This was a picture after he had just beaten me. He came in dressed up with medals around his neck :). I'm so glad that he's still playful with us. I KNOW that we'll be very uncool really soon!! Before his haircut!! Lucy The Dog is getting SO big. This was taken a month ago so she's even bigger now. Lydia and Harrison have warmed up to her (and she's calmed down) SO much. They have a lot of fun together. KARAOKE!!! That word alone makes me smile. We bought a karaoke machine for Jared's office party and it's been a big hit!!Zane really enjoys outgrowing all of his aunts!!!!!Jared has a new partner at work and we couldn't be more excited!! They are a perfect fit! Jason, Kim, and Miss Hayden have become quick besties :). Hayden is between Harrison and Lydia in age and they all play so great together. Kim is expecting another little girl in a couple of months. Can't wait to meet her!

Fall Soccer 2010

2010-11-06T22:32:00.005-05:00

I did a HORRIBLE job of taking pictures this season. I have no excuses. I just didn't get it done! I'm embarrassed to say that I don't have ONE picture of Zane!! I feel like this season flew by. At 13, you don't want your mom chasing you up and down the field with a camera in her hand. That will be my excuse for this season, but I will have pictures in the Spring :). The Ennis Boys!! They have so much fun together :).Here's a pic before Harrison got all of his hair cut off. I'm excited that he wants to grow it back :). He had a great season. He made a lot of goals and is getting more aggressive.The Cheerleaders!!

Miss Priss

2010-09-29T22:53:00.003-05:00

Lydia is in such a fun stage right now. She keep us laughing!! Harrison was home from school sick last week. He had gotten sick a couple of times during the night, but was much better by midmorning the next day. Him and Lyddie played school for hours. He read her several books. Before starting he said, "Ok Lydia, now listen closely because I'm going to ask you questions about the story when I'm finished, ok?" He just seemed soooo big :(. They went upstairs and had music. It was pretty cute!!

This is a picture of Lydia taking her turn of being the teacher. We have had some pretty great weather lately!! We are taking advantage of any chance we have to get out and play.

Lucy had to go to the doctor last week to get shots. She was pretty zonked out on dramamine when we got home (she gets REALLY car sick). Lydia took advantage of her lethargic state and played like she was the vet. She might be a good doctor like her Daddy some day!Gotta take some notes!

He's Baaaacckk!

2010-09-29T22:15:00.004-05:00

SOOO, Jared was driving home a couple of weeks ago and saw Max on the main road that leads up to our neighborhood. He stopped, called his name, and Max jumped into the back of the jeep. We were SOOO excited to see him!! He walked right into the living room and it was like he'd never been gone. Almost better since his "new" owners had house trained him :)! The kids loved on him more than I can tell you. Lucy has been a little...hyper, so Max's calm demeanor was a nice change. Harrison and Lydia climbed all over him. Jared took him out to potty before bedtime. He "went" and came right back to the back door. He slept in the living room all night without a peep!! The next morning, bright and early, we got a call from his new owners. They were SOO worried since he hadn't come home and they had been driving around at 2 a.m. looking for him! Hmmmm, isn't that ironic :). That morning, we let him out into the fenced in area around the pool. He barked for awhile so Jared decided to let him out so that he could go home. When he let him out he sat outside the fence and whined!! I think he was having a loyalty crisis :). We went into town for the boys soccer games and when we came home he was still there!! Jared finally took him home. Later, we got a lengthy text from his "dad" saying that we must've worn him out. He'd slept on "his" couch for five hours straight!! We LOVE that dog, but obviously can't compete with the peeps down the road :)!!He was NOT a fan of Lucy. She wore him out!

Who wouldn't want to live with these cuties?!?!

Let's Go Back To June...

2010-09-22T22:14:00.010-05:00

Back in June, we took the kids to Florida. We originally planned to go to Perdido Key, but with the oil we decided to go down to Panama City. We took our great friend Loddie with us. She'd never been to the beach before and thought it would be fun. Her and Lyddie got to experience it together for the first time! Lydia seeing the ocean for the first time!

First time in the sand!

Lydia didn't care for the ocean but she LOVED the sand. She'll still say, "I don't like that beach water. It scares me. I like the sand." Surfer Boy

Zane and Loddie went parasailing. Neither one had ever been. They really liked it!!

Lydia LOVED her alligator floatie. She named it "Allie the Alligator" and she wouldn't leave the condo without it. Unfortunately, Allie met her fate once she came home and Harrison got ahold of her :).

The boys got up really early one morning and went deep sea fishing. They had a great time and caught a lot of fish!

Our condo had a HUGE inflatable slide set up next to the building. Harrison talked about it all week so we went and played on it when the big boys went fishing. I'm not going to lie, it was a little scary when you sat down at the top. Things always seem a lot smaller from the ground. We all had a blast on it!!

I think this is my favorite picture from the whole trip!

You've got to get a tattoo!

Table Rock Lake

2010-09-21T22:43:00.003-05:00

A few weekends ago, we went with Jared's new partner and his family to their lake house on Table Rock Lake. We had so much fun! The boys loved the boats and tube. They even jumped off of a cliff. I was so proud of them!

This is their daughter Hayden. I just LOVE this family. They are so sweet and I'm really excited that the guys will be working together. His wife, Kim, is SOOO much fun. I'm sure there will be many blog posts with them in the future ;). Z taking his place in the front of the ski boat.This is a picture of Jared driving up after getting "pulled over" by the lake police :). They had owned this waverunner for MANY years and had never been picked up (the numbers were missing from the side) but the minute Jared got on it, BUSTED! We just have that kind of luck :)! Just ask about our trips to Florida!

Harrison was surfing on the tube!

Now, before I get a nasty call from some well meaning grandparents, I have to tell you that the Holt's have jumped off of this cliff many time and it's very safe. He loved it!

Go Hogs!!

2010-09-20T23:16:00.005-05:00

We had our first Razorback home game/tailgate a few weeks ago. We had SOO much fun!! I can tell that it's going to be easier this year with Miss Lyddie. She's loved playing with all of the people that came to visit and the group that is set up next to us.

Heading out!

Zane looks SO old in this one! I almost deleted it... :)

Loddie and Lydia sliding down one of the hills.

Lucy The Dog

2010-09-20T21:58:00.002-05:00

In the beginning of August we got a Goldendoodle puppy. Her name is Lucy (Lucy the Dog according to Lydia). She's a MESS!! We are in the midst of the puppy stage but I think the kids are getting used to her. Zane has been great with her but Harrison and Lydia have been a little skiddish. Over the last few days I've seen H&L get more comfy with her. I'm excited about that because if Lydia even THINKS Lucy is coming inside, she climbs up on the barstool and stays!

This picture was taken the day we got her. The kids came home the next day and met her.

This was a few weeks later. I'll post a new picture of her soon. She's growing so fast.

First Day of School

2010-09-15T22:48:00.002-05:00

Zane started SEVENTH grade this year. I keep pinching myself because it does not seem like he's that old. He's doing great! We got his standardized test scores back and he was in the 96th percentile! He was invited to take the ACT at Duke but Jared said "No" since he hates Duke. HA! Not really. We'll look into it and see. I think they contacted kids that were in the 95th percentile and above to do it as a way to practice and get comfortable with it. I'm done bragging. We are really proud of him :). Harrison started first grade. He's having a great year so far. He's reading like a whiz and coming home with something new that he's learned every day. Miss Lyddie started preschool. She goes on Tuesdays and LOVES it. My niece, Courtney, is in her class. They always have fun together!

Summer Catch Up!!

2010-09-06T22:08:00.007-05:00

We had such a fun summer!! I have been so bad about posting on here but maybe since we have settled into routine again I will do better :). This is a quick recap of what we've been up to. I have a few detailed posts that I'll do soon (including a NEW dog!).

This could be a blackmail picture so you might want to print this off and save it. HA :). We measure the kids in the pantry.Lydia was happy with her progress :). We couldn't believe how much they've grown over the last few months. Zane has actually passed me within the last couple of weeks :(. He's pretty happy about it!

This was when the kids were opening their presents from Maui. I have been meaning to post the surfing pics but I don't have the right software on my laptop to scan them. I'll figure it out soon :).

We played a LOOONNNGGG game of Monopoly Junior :).

Loddie came out and brought her nailpoish for Lydia. She was EXCITED!!

They traded silly bands!

We had a playdate with some sweet girls from church.

The kids enjoyed VBS. They learned about Pharaoh, Moses, and the plagues. Lydia is STILL talking about it.

We had pictures with Jared's side of the family. It was actually easy and fun. The kids did great.

We have started meeting in Lydia's room at night and Jared reads the kids a bible story and they sing some songs. It is PRECIOUS! They really look forward to it. We are soaking it up because I figure we don't have a lot of time left with Zane wanting to do it. He'll be THIRTEEN in October!!

MONKEY

We have some GREAT neighbors that moved in next door. They have two English Mastiffs that are around 200 pounds each!

Lydia and I had a picnic on the front porch last week. I can NOT wait for Fall. I get giddy just thinking about it :).

Maui Part 2

2010-07-20T14:05:00.000-05:00

Here are the pictures from the second part of our trip. If you check back soon there will be some pretty wicked pics of us surfing (HA!).

The sunsets there were AMAZING! I was full that day and said I would just have a salad. Haha. Who can pass up a Pupu Platter (we split that just incase you were worried :)). I got Zane a pretty great shirt from there. I'll post a pic of him in it soon :). Jared happened to be dressed just like the photographers at the Luau!! Surfing was SOOO much fun. We caught on quick and even caught some of our own waves. I'll do a post with those pics soon!We did scuba lessons in the pool. It was neat but weird at first. Breathing underwater is NOT natural :). I felt comfortable after the lesson so we decided to go out to the ocean with our instructor. It went well at first, but I got water in my mouth and totally panicked. Pretty embarassing because the instructor had to drag me back to shore. You can laugh, I'm smiling while I write it. It was HORRIBLE when it happened tho! When I came to the surface the water was rough and I kept getting splashed in the face. I couldn't catch my breath enough to go back under and breathe thru the crazy thing. The whole time they were dragging me in I was saying to Jared, "Don't ever ask me to do this again. I hate it!!" I'm glad that I don't have to see the instructor again :).Joe and Julia. I love this girl!The Tarzan Swing. The guys had some pretty sweet moves. They mastered the back flip with just a couple of trys.This is me, Cindy, and Julia. Cindy is Dr. Swicegood's wife. We went to an amazing sushi restaurant that night.

Aloha From Maui!!

2010-07-15T14:30:00.007-05:00

Jared had a pain conference in Maui so we went early and turned it into an anniversary trip! I've never been to Hawaii. It is AMAZING. Everything is gorgeous. If someone would bring my kids to me I could just stay! When we got here, we stayed in a town called Kaanapali for 3 nights. It was great! Our hotel (Sheraton) was listed as one of the best places to snorkel. When you swim out just a little bit there are these HUGE sea turtles that come to eat. It's a little freaky the first time you see them. You can actually rub their shell. On Tuesday, we moved over to a town called Wailea. We are staying at the Grand Wailea. WOW. It's absolutely amazing. I haven't taken very many pictures here yet so I'll put those up soon.

This is flying in. It's so festive. Even the bathroom signs are fun :)!This picture is from my phone. I didn't get very many pictures of our resort. Jared jumped off of the Black Rock. I took the camera down but forgot to put the battery back in :(.

It was neat to see the different islands from the beach.

Jared, Joe, and Julia (his partner and HILARIOUS girlfriend) went up to watch the sunrise on Haleakala (a volcano) and rode bikes back down. I opted to skip this :). I'm scared of heights and read a scary review about the bike ride. They had a great time!! I still do not regret not going :).

We drove (halfway) to Hana on Tuesday. We planned to go the whole way but got a late start. I'm glad we did it the way that we did because we were able to stop and see some neat things. You can buy a coconut and they chop the top off and stick a straw in it. Very cool! That's Julia.

We stopped at a place called Garden of Eden. It was gorgeous!! I've never seen more amazing plants, flowers, and trees.

This rock was in Jurassic Park!

We stopped and watched surfers at Hookipa Beach. There were little kids out there that were amazing! I guess you learn to surf here as soon as you swim. We stopped and ate in a town called Paia. It was very cool! Everything that we have eaten so far has been amazing!! I'll be wearing dresses for awhile until I can get back to the gym :).

Happy Birthday Harrison!!

2010-07-06T13:22:00.004-05:00

I can't believe Harrison is seven! This birthday made me a little sad. It just sounds so old. We got to have a "date day". It was great. We went to the movie and out to lunch. He picked Buffalo Wild Wings. Then we went to Party City and he picked out things for his party. He decided on a soccer party since the World Cup is going on. My boys LOVE soccer. For awhile I thought I was going to be hearing those horns in my SLEEP :). We had his party the next night at our house.

Test Results

2010-06-29T16:15:00.002-05:00

On Sunday evening, Lydia's incision completely opened and was very infected. Thankfully it happened right around the time that Jared got back into town. He called her very sweet surgeon and he met us at the clinic at 8:30. He thought he might need to reclose it. When we got there he had to put cotton swabs down in it to get cultures and then cleaned it out. She flinched but never cried or pulled away. I was SHOCKED. She's a tough cookie :). He decided to leave it open and rechecked it today. It's healing really well so he's just leaving it like it is and will check her again in two weeks. We found out that all of her results have come back NORMAL :). I can not tell you how thankful we are. Thank you for all of your prayers, calls, and texts. That meant more to me than I can tell you. We've got sweet SWEET friends and family :). We are waiting for a few cultures to come back (they take several weeks to grow) but those aren't the scary things that we were so worried about. She did come down with fever today but I think she's fine. I couldn't post without adding a picture. Those of you that know Harrison can PROBABLY see the resemblance. They always look alike but sometimes it just freaky :). I thought this was!

Party and Pool Pics

2010-06-26T16:00:00.000-05:00

Jared teaches the Teen class at church on Sunday nights. We've got such a sweet group of kids (young adults!). We had a pool party a couple of weeks ago and had a great time. Hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, nachos, and ice cream sundaes. One of the girls asked if she could just move in! Haha!! I forgot how much teenagers can eat! I should know since I've got Zane. Usually when we host a party we have way too much food. We had a couple of burgers left and that was it! I love it. Our sweet friends Patrick and Lindsey Pulley and their kids Kennedy and Will came. Jessica's parents were also there. I just love them all to death! It was so nice to be able to sit and chit chat. Harrison with his masterpiece! The girls enjoying their picnic.

Jared built an arbor over the cooking area a couple of weeks ago. I LOVE how it turned out!! I really am going to get some finished pics of the pool and post them...eventually :).

LOVE this umbrella. It's huge and it swivels all the way around. We can turn it and cover Lydia's big top step in the pool so that she doesn't get too much sun.

Jessica and Lydia. We are going to miss her SOOOO much. She's one of the sweetest girls but I'm excited that she's getting to move to Russellville and go to Tech. She made the dance team there. YAY Jess!! I'm proud of her :)

Surgery Day

2010-06-23T10:09:00.006-05:00

Lyddie had surgery yesterday to remove the knots from her neck. He ended up taking out three. We should get the biopsy results back in a week. Please keep praying for her :). We are hopefully almost finished with this!

Her surgery was at 8 but we were supposed to be there at 6:30. She was all smiles on the way there. We rode with Jared and my mom took us home incase she was sick or upset. Granny beat us there. I don't know what I would do without my Mom. She's been to every appointment that Jared couldn't go to. She's the most supportive person I know. She's such a great example of what I want to be for my kids. She had two presents for Lydia. One for before and another for after the surgery. She LOVED her new pony. I think her name is Marshmallow.This was after we walked back to her room. She did great but started to get nervous when people started coming in to talk and check her temperature and oxygen.

They gave her some Versed to help her relax. It worked! It was so weird to see her like that. I cried and giggled at the same time. She started drooling and babbling. Her mind was moving slower so when you would say something to her it wouldn't register for a minute. Then she'd just giggle. She moved so slow and she couldn't hold herself up very well.

It relaxed her enough that they were able to just push her back. That was much better than them peeling her off of me to carry her which probably would've happened if they hadn't given her the "happy juice". My Granny came up and stayed with us, too. That helped more than she'll ever know!! We are blessed with wonderful family. Jared's parents and Grandma were out of town but we kept them update with text pics :). It was hard on them not being there.

She was not happy when she came out. She kept trying to pull her IV out. I felt sorry for her. She was being stubborn (I guess that carried thru even with the medication. Ha ha!) and wouldn't let me help her with her popsicle. She wasn't with it enough to control her hand very well so she kept missing her mouth and getting mad. Poor thing! She started to calm down a little after we walked downstairs to leave. She ate some bacon and pancakes on the way home. She was almost back to normal by the time we got there. She was such a little trooper. I'm really proud of her!

When we got home she opened her second present.

She got a little princess doll. She loved it :).

She took our temperature. She would put it against our skin and say, "Yes!! It's 20."

Last night she helped me shuck corn. She may've found herself a job! Now I'm going to teach her to snap green beans :).

She did a little painting. We let her stay up and play while we watched a movie. The boys stayed with my Mom and Dad. They had a great time going to a baseball game and the movies. They might not want to come home!!

Surgery

2010-06-09T15:58:00.004-05:00

We went to the doctor today and the test results came back normal. He is going to remove at least one of the knots on June 22 and do a few tests on it. He said that it's probably just a chronically enlarged lymph node (I think that's right) but there are a few forms of lymphoma and some other things that they'll test for. I would've been a lot happier if he hadn't mentioned lymphoma! Jared feels good about it which makes me feel better. Please keep her in your prayers. She'll go under anesthesia but it'll take less than 30 minutes to do. I'm going to try to post some May pictures before we leave for Florida on Friday. If I don't do it now then I never will! I found a web site (blog2print.com) that prints your blog into a hardcover book. I'm going to try to keep this really updated since it'll be the only form of a scrapbook that we'll ever have :). It's amazing how those silly little stories or pictures become SO precious a couple of years later! Have a great day!
***I just posted them and put them under this post!

May

2010-06-09T15:25:00.001-05:00

We've been having a lot of fun. The pool has been AWESOME. I have a feeling that it's going to be a great summer. The kids had their last day of school Monday and we are leaving for Florida on Friday!! Here are some pictures of what we've been up to.

We had our friends Stephen, Ashley, and Loddie out for dinner one night. Another one of our really good friends came for a little bit but bailed on us. We still love him tho (haha David!!) Lydia was loving the crab :). Lyddie LOVES gymnastics. A friend of mine was cracking up at her during the last class. She said she just looks so happy and smiley out there. I'm really excited about her doing it. This was the first time that she would actually do the rope swing. In the past, when it was her turn she would point to the girl sitting next to her. I was really proud of her!I think they call this Spiderman. When she does it at home, she starts closer to the wall and is basically doing a handstand (with NO mat). She scares me a little :).

We went to the park with some friends from church. It was fun but HOT. This is Kennedy. She is SOO sweet. Luke was there too but I didn't get a good one with him in it. We were talking and not taking many pics :).

I couldn't believe how curly her hair was! It looked like she had a perm :)!!Loddie came out one night and we played outside and went swimming. They had more fun playing hopscotch than I ever imagined. It was hilarious to watch them go as fast as they could.

Lydia had to "hold" her leg up when she came to the singles. She never actually picked her leg up. She just hunched over and drug it. Hard to explain but funny to watch!!

A frog jumped onto the driveway. Lydia wanted to touch it so bad, but when she would get her hands close to him (or her I guess) she would start shaking and say, "I just gonna look at him." The best part was when Jared picked it up and it peed on part of her hopscotch. She cried and said, "That frog peed on my hockscotch." She was MAD.

Loddie and Lyddie (it can get confusing).

Arwin came over for a visit. This is the biggest scaredy cat I've ever seen. She's terrified of storms and will find any open garage when she hears thunder. One night, we went to the garage for something during a storm and she ran into our dining room. She was soaking wet and muddy. Jared had to drag her out (leaving a nice mud trail). She's sweet!

Coconut is still around. Still tolerating Lydia :).

Lyddie and Courtney. They'd had a big night of swimming!

On Memorial Day, my family came over. These are my sisters-in-law Ofelia and Lynn. Love them!!!

Living the hard life. Eating homemade ice cream on a raft in the pool...

My nephew Carter. He's a cutie!! My nephew Colin. ALSO a cutie!!!!

They had a big game of volleyball. Jared said it reminded him of the Holiman days :). Background incase you don't know...Jared and I were next door neighbors when I was growing up. We had a pool and played a LOT of volleyball!!

First Test Results

2010-05-27T13:53:00.002-05:00

Jared was able to get a couple of the test results yesterday. Probably the two that scared us the most came back NORMAL. Huge sigh of relief :). The other things that they are testing for are fungus related (I believe). If they can't figure out what's going on with the labs, then they'll probably take them out and biopsy them. Thank you SO much for your prayers and please keep praying for her!

I just love this picture of her feet. I can't post without a picture!!

Knots Knots Go Away...

2010-05-25T14:28:00.004-05:00

Please say a little prayer for Lyddie. She has had a knot in her neck from the time she was a couple of weeks old. They always check it when we are at the doctor and they always say that it's fine. A couple of weeks ago a new one popped up right next to it and they seemed bigger. We took her to the doctor for something else and when she checked the knot, she said that its bigger than the ones they typically see. She wasn't overly concerned but referred us to an ENT just to be safe. He checked her and thought they seemed big and had us bring her back a couple of weeks later to recheck it (she had a little infection and that would make her lymph nodes swollen). I took her in yesterday and he felt like one was bigger and the other was at least the same size. He sent us over to have blood drawn, a chest x-ray, and a TB test. He said that he feels like the chance of it being serious is small, but he wants to check it out. I'm sure she is fine but we would REALLY appreciate some extra prayers. She did really well yesterday. I was pretty shocked at how well she did :). She didnt cry when they drew blood from the first arm but they had to stick her again because they couldnt' get enough. She cried pretty hard with the second stick. She got over it really quick and picked out toys from the treasure chest. She went right over and got her chest xray. She stood up on the stool and smiled. When we went for the TB test she watched the lady stick her and the bubble form under the skin. She said that it was cute :). She didn't cry through that either. That's my Lyddie!! Now if I could get her (oldest) brother to do that well :). Haha.
You can kind of see the knot on her neck in this picture. Under her ear and towards the back a little.This was after they drew her blood. She loved the pink "bandaids" on her arms. She wouldn't let me take them off for a long time :). The quality is horrible because its on my phone.

Working Hard!

2010-05-07T13:42:00.005-05:00

Jared was moving rock with the tractor a few days ago and H wanted to help. He LOVED driving and of course dumping the rocks. Not to be outdone, Lydia got out there and helped us pick the stones for the firepit.

They came back yesterday and delivered our pool heater and put the first coat of spray on the patio. We were SOOO excited that they were here but we couldn't walk on the concrete or get into the pool. We played in buckets and sprinklers instead :). Zane watched Lydia for me while I helped Jared plant some trees. Him and two of the neighbors that are his age took such good care of her. They played with her on the trampoline and pushed her in the swing. It was so cute!! My camera was already put away :(

A Family That Works Together...

2010-05-02T11:22:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, we had a big family work day in the backyard. You can imagine how excited the boys were :). They actually did great. Jared told them that they could swim when they were finished so they kicked it in! A group of neighborhood boys showed up and wanted to help (wow). It's amazing what that many kids can accomplish. They were SO tired last night.

Here's a pic of our outdoor fireplace. We layed sod all day. Wow! That is a JOB. It was neat to do something that I'd never done before. I'm pretty sure I lifted with my back and not my legs tho! I am SORE today. The boys picked up rocks and hauled stone. I never got an after picture. I'll get one when we finish the rest of the back yard.Lydia was enjoying a little snack after her nap. She loved being outside. She chased Coconut all over. She would say, "Why Coconut not come to me?" Here's a picture of Harrison from Thursday. They had mismatch day at school. He loves to dress up!

April in Pics

2010-04-29T07:57:00.006-05:00

Woah! I guess we've been busy in April :). Sometimes I forget until I look back at the pictures. Here's a little recap of what we've been up to.

We've had some GREAT days of playing outside!! This is what the kids looked like when I walked out to the trampoline (Zane had been laying down). Otherwise, not posed! They were just hanging out :). After they finished playing I did make them pose for this one. They've been swimming in this freezing pool! People say, "So you already opened it?!" I have to tell them that it was NEVER closed :(. There's a more recent pic at the end...We had so much fun playing at the park with Carter and Shell. She's been doing a long term sub job so I've really missed seeing them (and calling her randomly :)). They look like they're planning something!Lydia likes to play on the big top step of the pool. She had a BALL with the waterhose!

We finished soccer and Harrison has started baseball. He is playing in the coach pitch league. He's doing great!! I'll get a pic in his uniform on here soon. I just loved the sunglasses :).

Here's his number ONE fan (although his Poppy would argue that and he'd probably win:)).When he got up to bat she said, "There's H!! That's Harrison!! He's my brother!!" She was proud of him :).

We had some friends over for dinner one night. This is their daughter Evan (she has a twin brother named Spencer). They are such sweet kids. I'm kind of holding out that she could be my daughter-in-law one day :). Isn't she cute?!

We've been replacing some trees out around the pool. Lyddie LOVES to help us! She gets in the hole and scoops out the extra dirt.

This is Lydia's new BFF. Her name is Mr. Coconut (Zane and Courtney named her before we knew the gender). We've pretty much dropped the "Mr." but I still call her him. She adopted us about a month ago. I'm really not a cat person but she just had this personality! She also tolerates Lydia as you're about to see :)!

Her dress got wet in the pool. This picture COULD show up in the wedding slide show some day!

So it's not a GREAT picture of the "almost finished" pool! We only have a couple of things left and I'll get some better pictures. I can't believe it's taken so long to complete it! When we started it a YEAR ago we were told it would take about 6 weeks :). Oh well, we'll appreciate it more than we would have!! I took this picture right before I put them in the trash! She's been "clean" for several weeks but I hadn't thrown them away. I'm proud of you Lyddie!!!

The playhouse gets used as a fort in the war. It's pretty funny to listen to them :).

Gymnastics and a Mani/Pedi

2010-04-28T17:51:00.004-05:00

Lydia started gymnastics last week. She really seemed to enjoy it. She'd gotten scratched at the gym the day before and ran into a table two days before. She was looking a little rough :(

This is when we were walking in. Learning some moves...My mom went with us. Afterwards, we went and got mani/pedis for my birthday!! Lydia had her nails painted.

Spring Soccer

2010-04-28T17:15:00.004-05:00

I didn't get very many pictures from soccer. By the time I would get Lydia and all of her things out of the car, I couldn't remember to grab my camera. Both of the boys had a great season. Zane hurt his knee and missed several games but he was able to come back and play the last one. This was his best season so far!!

Harrison showing off some moves :). I love this one with all three of my boys! Who DOESN'T wear heels to the soccer field :)?! I forgot to grab her shoes and these were in the car. I asked her if she wanted to take them off and walk barefoot and she did NOT. Maybe she'll do better in heels than I do.Lydia and my niece, Courtney. Lydia has been calling her Tippy for a long time. It's the funniest thing. I'm so sad that L's started using her real name :(. Carrie and I fought it at first but it was no use :).

Harrison and my nephew, Jacob. They are BEST BUDS!! They have been since they were a few weeks old :).

Zane in action. This was their last game.

The Big Three Zero

2010-04-28T16:27:00.004-05:00

Jared and I had birthdays last weekend. His is the 23rd and mine is the 24th (very convenient :)). On Friday, Harrison had a baseball game and then we went to a pasta party at the James house (I'll have to copy those pics and post them soon :)). We had a quick little party for Jared. It was VERY quick but he was a good sport!

Lyddie giving him a card. We couldn't forget the party hats :).On Saturday, he brought home a Rick's cake (YUM), daisies (my favorite), and a gift certificate for a spa. I was a happy girl!!

Lydia pulled her trusty step stool up to the table and helped herself to some icing. She was MAD when I scooted the cake back! It was a good weekend. Don't fear 30 (if you're not there yet). It's not bad :).

Easter (finally)!

2010-04-15T14:02:00.006-05:00

We went to my parent's house after church on Easter. My camera battery was charging so I didn't get very many pictures until the kids went out to hunt the eggs. We had a great time. It's always fun to eat and talk!! Especially with this crew. I feel SO blessed to have such a great family.

Here are Lydia and my Granny (Granny Shirley) playing on the computer. Granny is the BEST!! She is so patient and so sweet. I can't even tell you how much I love her :). I didn't get one good picture of my kids dressed up. The boys changed in the car on the way to my parent's house. They couldn't get outside fast enough. I seemed to get mostly action shots of L and she's not looking at me. Can you see how curly her hair was that day!?! My nephew Carter. SUCH a cutie. H looking for some eggs.Zane with my nephew Wyatt. They had a lot of fun together. My brother Matt and his wife Lynn and son Colin. Zane and my nieces hunting eggs. You can't trust the uncles to hide for the big kids. Eggs end up in the worst places :).

The Kids (minus Lex). This was the best shot that I got. I'll have to remember to get it at the beginning of the day next time.

Easter Eggs

2010-04-15T13:38:00.005-05:00

We had a lot of fun dying Easter eggs this year. I grew up boiling the eggs and then dying them but Jared wanted to try draining a couple of them to dye. Anything that involves power tools has got to be fun :).And a syringe! This was right up his alley :). Oops! One broke. Better eat it :).She was NOT ready to be finished with the eggs. For some crazy reason we had H take a shower BEFORE we dyed the eggs!! We almost didn't do them because it was late but decided to boil them while he was in the shower. We had a reason. It just wasn't a good idea ;). I think stained fingers are pretty cute on Easter Sunday morning!

No Shampoo

2010-04-12T21:35:00.004-05:00

Quick Story! Last night, when Harrison got out of the shower, I ran my hand thru his hair. I noticed that it seemed...thick. He's needing a haircut so I didn't think too much about it. This morning, his hair was CRAZY. More crazy than normal :). When I felt it, it was pretty stiff and felt dirty. I asked him if he was sure that he washed it last night. He said that he had. He hesitated and then said that he was out of shampoo. I asked what he washed it with. He just stared at me :). I asked him again and told him not to lie. He said, "Toothpaste." I'm thinking about selling the idea to BedHead as a texturizer :).

"Gift" from Sam's!

2010-04-06T16:15:00.000-05:00

I tried to post this a week ago but my internet has been acting CRAZY!! This is one those stories that I didn't want to forget. The other night, I saw Harrison quickly walking out of the kitchen. His arms were straight down and his hands were full of something. It was BROCCOLI! The child was "sneaking" broccoli out of the fridge. I assured that him that he could have it any time. I went to Sam's a couple of days later and picked this up for him and Lyddie. You can't imagine how excited he actually was. He'll eat a bowl full of broccoli and cucumbers. Cracks me up! That's cauliflower in her hands :). I'm enjoying it while it lasts because I know how quickly their "likes" can change.

Days 6&7- Relaxing and Heading Home

2010-03-25T23:10:00.006-05:00

On our last day in Orlando we decided to hang around the condo. We slept in, ate donuts, went swimming, and RELAXED. It was great. It was actually a very relaxing vacation. I didn't know that you could even put relaxing and Disney World in same sentence, let alone the same vacation :). I won't hesitate to do it again!!

This is Lydia when she first woke up.This is Lydia after TWO donuts. "Thanks Daddy!"
Swimsuit on and ready to go!It was warmer that day but still a little chilly for swimming (in MY opinion- the kids didn't seem to notice :)). She got in and played but at the end enjoyed sitting on the side and talking to her Daddy.Playing in the arcade. Zane was better at the dance game than I was! It's harder than it looks :).Funny story!! As we were pulling into the airport Harrison started crying. I thought, "Aw, that's sweet. He doesn't want to leave yet." He tells me that he's not ready to leave our RENTAL CAR yet. He is in a full out bawl fit and I'm cracking up (great parenting, I know!). He grows emotionally attatched to things very easily (Mrs. Deweese, I HOPE that he's not like this in class :)). I told him that I'd take his picture next to the car so that he wouldn't forget what it looked like. He asked if we could please get the same one the next time we go to Orlando :). I do love that he has a sensitive side. I just hope that he can keep it in check later on. He's not always this sensitive. You just never know when it's going to strike :).He found his friend, Cooper, in the airport. We had bumpier flight home. Lyddie said, "I scared, Momma." but did great. FYI, playdoh is a great distraction. I threw it in her bag at the last minute, and it was great for her and H when it was time to turn the electronics off!It's good to be home. She loved carrying her own backpack thru the terminal. Hold me to it, the paci is my next hurdle. I wanted to wait and take it away when we got home from this trip. She pottytrained a couple of months ago and I didn't want to do two things at once. On that note, she STILL has not peed in her panties!! We did two plane rides and a week of amusement parks. I'm so proud of my little (well, big) girl!! I think that she can "hold it" better than my boys!

Day 5- Magic Kingdom Part 2!

2010-03-24T10:22:00.006-05:00

We went to Magic Kingdom again, today. We really got to experience it this time. We rode a lot of rides and saw some VERY important characters :). We also met up with Monte, Shelley, and Carter and had a great time with them. We were with them for the 2nd half of the day and then went and had dinner. It was so much fun. It's sad that we live 45 minutes away from them, but have to go to Orlando to hang out :). That's just how busy life is right now.

When we got into the park they were having a show in front of the castle. Can you see the anticipation on her face?! It's A Small World is pretty exciting :).When Lydia woke up this morning she said, "Let's go get that castle. Let's go get that Cinderella." So when the line to meet the princesses was 45-60 minutes long, I knew we had to wait! The boys went and rode some rides and Lydia and I waited (and waited). It was worth every second of it. They were back in a room and only a few people go in at a time. When it was her turn she said, "It's Cinderella, it's Cinderella." Then she looked over and pointed at Snow White and said (to Cinderella) "It's Snow White!!" Cinderella hugged her and said that Snow White was one of her very best friends. Each one talked to her and asked her questions. It was so much better than seeing them out in the middle of the park. She probably won't remember it but I'll never forget it :) We rode Pirates of the Caribbean with Monte and Shell. The kids had a ball in the gift shop afterwards.

Getting ready to ride the Magic Carpets.

Day 4- SeaWorld

2010-03-22T16:26:00.004-05:00

Today we went to SeaWorld. It was probably our favorite day so far. Well, maybe not for Lyddie since she didn't get to hug Mickey Mouse, but she did hug a big turtle :).

This is the first new roller coaster that I've been on in YEARS! I've gotten timid :(. After this one I may be more willing to ride them again. It was great. Once you are strapped in, they turn you on your tummy (like Superman). So you are hanging from the bottom facing the ground! When you let go you feel like you are flying. I HIGHLY recommend it. It's called Manta. In this picture we are going up the hill so we aren't hanging as much. It was chilly and windy but the boys rode a water ride. It actually turned into a rollercoaster. I was really proud of Harrison for riding it. He also rode another one in the kid section but it was fast! It wasn't a baby coaster :). Zane rode this water ride 5 times!! He was soaked.Lydia loved the aquariam floor. She would run all over it and then lay down and watch the fish. We watched the Shamu show. The kids loved it. Jared kept Harrison and Lydia in the kid section while Zane and I went to ride Manta again. They played in a huge rope house thing (I don't know what it's called!) and had a blast. I didn't know if Lyddie would like it but she told Jared that she wanted more when the had to leave. It was a great day!!

Day 3- Animal Kingdom

2010-03-21T22:46:00.005-05:00

Today we went to Animal Kingdom. We had a really good time. The weather was a little cooler and it rained quite a bit. We saw a lot more animals on the safari ride this time. It was pretty amazing to see them up close!

This is what we were doing last night when we got a text that it was snowing at home!! Lydia calls the princesses every night before she goes to bed :).
There is never a dull moment in the car. She had him in a "headlock" and was making her puppy kiss him.More characters!!Me and my boys!She was having some good snuggle time with Daddy. She has been such a great little trooper!! We've had no schedule and no normal nap time. She eats when she eats and goes to sleep when I put her in bed. I'm so thankful for flexible kids.
This was crazy! The safari buses stopped for a minute and when we started moving we saw that a rhino was right beside the road. He crossed in front of us and walked along the side of the road.I didn't zoom in AT ALL. I actually had to pull it out a little to get him in the picture. I could've reached out and touched him. SO COOL!Even with ponchos we got soaked!!! I don't think I've ever been this wet before (except leaving the Grape Festival, Carrie!!). While waiting for the tram (one of TWO that seemed to be running) it started to rain even harder. Everyone in line with us was really fun. They were taking pics and singing rain songs. It was corny but funny. I love Disney World :).

Day 2- Do You Believe In Magic?

2010-03-20T17:16:00.008-05:00

I DO!! After seeing Lydia's face when she met the characters today :). Taking her and Harrison to get autographs and hugs was so much fun. I could go home now and be happy (except that we haven't seen Tinkerbell or Cinderella yet!). I was afraid that she would get scared when she actually got close to them but she didn't. She never wanted to leave one to go to the next. She would just step back and keep talking to them :). Harrison loved it, too!! At first he asked if he was too big to do it :(. When I said no he was ready!! (We were at Epcot)

"Can I have your autograph, please?"
He LOVES Goofy! I love this picture!Jared and Zane rode Soarin while we met the characters. It is highly recommended!Zane wasn't sure that he wanted to get his picture taken but said that he would for Lyddie. I don't think that he minded too much :).

Day 1- Magic Kingdom

2010-03-20T14:34:00.011-05:00

We let the kids sleep in and relax. It was so nice!! I am anti-crazy busy vacations :). I wasn't sure how that would work here but so far so good! We didn't get into the park until around 2. We called it our "practice day". This is what greets you as you pull into Disney World. You can pick out the families that are driving in for the first time on the trip (smiling, laughing, pointing, and taking pictures) and the families that have been there a few times (looking tired and a little grim!). Hopefully we are still smiling and having fun by Wednesday :).

On the tram getting ready to go in.The long awaited castle. She just stared. This morning she woke up and said, "Let's go get that castle.""Hold me Zane." She said that as she climbed into his lap. He has been her buddy on this trip. He takes great care of her. He'll get her out of her stroller and then strap her back in. He loves to push her! He has really grown up and matured. I'm really proud of him :).Ice cream break! Harrison got sunscreen in his eyes when we first got there. I felt sorry for him. His eyes were sensitive for a long time :(.I love it! She fell asleep when I was holding her! I can't even remember the last time she did that. She's done great so far. She gets tired but not too cranky. I think there's just so much to look at.H with his new mouse ears.

Florida Bound!!

2010-03-19T23:08:00.004-05:00

Well, so much for posting every day :). We had to go get a cord so that we could hook up to the internet in our condo. We had a great flight yesterday. Total flying time was 2 hours and 2 minutes!! That's how to get to Orlando :)! The kids did great. There were 40 kids on the flight so I wasn't quite as nervous about them getting too loud. When we got into the airport in Orlando, Lydia looked around in awe and said, "It's like a castle." (We flew into the little airport here and it didn't look festive AT ALL) I think she was just really excited about getting to Disney World. For the last few days she would cry when we pulled into the driveway and say, "I not need go to my house. I need go to Disney World." When we got into the rental she was concerned about driving a car that wasn't ours. For the first 10 minutes she kept saying, "But it's not my car." We were late getting settled and to bed so we relaxed this morning and took our time getting to the park. I'll post those pics tomorrow!

Here they are before checking in at the airport. Lydia had security down! She plopped down (in the middle of everyone) and took her shoes off. Zane was showing her the airplanes.Getting ready for take off. She never even looked up from her book when we took off. When we landed she just looked up at me and smiled :).We had to get the kid snack pack. Who doesn't love a cookie that you can color with edible ink?!Enjoying a movie.We made it! One of Harrison's friends (and his mom is the librarian at Vandergriff so that was a double bonus) was on our flight. This was taken when we got to the condo. It was late and we were tired. She climbed up in the chair and said, "I hungry. Make me some dinner." I honestly have NO IDEA where that came from. She is usually really sweet and always concerned about everyone being happy (she'll ask you if you look like you might not be!) but she is a little sassy, too. Mommy doesn't go for that! (I did turn my head and laugh. We were all exhausted!) Ahhh. Cheerios and milk in her Minnie pajamas and panties. What a great way to start a Magic Kingdom day :)!!

Jumping, Soccer, and A Little Karaoke!

2010-03-17T09:43:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow we are flying to Orlando!!! Lydia has a runny nose and cough so I'm praying that she will be better by tomorrow night. The boys are great on planes but Lyddie has never been on one. Please say a little prayer for us :).I am hoping to post some pics while we are there. Here are few catch up pics over the last couple of weeks.

I took her out to jump on the trampoline. She LOVED it. She kept saying, "I jump really high, Momma. I jump really really high!!" Over and over and over again. It was hilarious. I should've gotten my video camera (not that I would know how to post that on here!). We were watching Harrison's soccer game. Zane makes a great horsey!We measured him a couple of days ago and he's 5' 6 1/2" and is wearing Jared's size 11 soccer shoes. It was exciting to watch him pass all of his aunts and grandmas but NOW he's almost as tall as me. Not funny anymore :). It's the weirdest feeling to look your son in the eye. When I went into his bathroom the other day he had some of his old lego people laying on the sink next to his deoderant and body spray. I almost cried. It's like that transition from boy to man was staring me in the face. I'm not quite ready for it :).We had a little family karaoke night. Jared bought some discs with kid songs. Lyddie and Harrison loved it.

Pepperoi Pizza Dip

2010-03-08T14:43:00.004-06:00

You really have to try this. It is so fast and easy to make and there is NEVER any left over! I don't have any pics of it right now. I make it all the time! Thanks Carrie for the recipe!!

Pepperoni Pizza Dip
(This amount makes enough to fit into a pie plate. I really recommend doubling it and putting it in a 9x13. You'll be happy you did :).)

1 8oz.pkg cream cheese; softened
1/2 c. sour cream
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 crused red pepper (I used cayenne pepper)
1/2 c. pizza sauce (I didn't measure it)
3oz pkg. pepperoni; chopped (I buy the mini pepperoni and you don't have to chop them.)
1/4 c. green onion; chopped (I don't use these. If you do let me know!)
1/2 c. mozzarella; shredded
scoop fritos

Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, and spices. Spread into a pie plate. Spread pizza sauce on top and add pepperoni and green onion. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Top with cheese and bake for another 5-10 minutes (until the cheese is melted). Serve with fritos.

"Just Random Stuff"

2010-03-04T22:16:00.003-06:00

As I was tucking Harrison in tonight, he was telling me about running laps around the track at school today for P.E.. He was saying that he was jogging (because they had to run SO far) with one of his friends. I asked if they talked while they ran and he said that they did. I asked what they talked about and he said, "You know, just random stuff." I've never heard him use the word random :). So here are a couple of random things from the last couple of days that I want to remember :).

Yesterday, Lyddie walked into my room and saw my SUPER SOFT blanket folded up. She picked it up and said, "This your green blanket Mommy? It's soft. It's like my pillow. I have it please." It was on of those moments (I've had several lately) when I stop and look at her with my mouth open and think, "I can NOT believe my baby has turned into a little girl." She talks so much all the time and uses very complete sentences. It's just going too fast ;).

She loves to sing. She sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (which Jared and I have BOTH decided is our new favorite song :)) and barely misses a word. She also sings Jesus Loves Me and my favorite part is, "He is STRRROONGG" complete with flexing her muscles. Tonight she was playing this little drum while singing and she would reach down and hit the bell that is attached. She'll be a performer!

Zane is playing open league basketball and is really doing great. He started off more timid than in the regular season (new coach and new players...) but has become so much more comfortable. They played the hardest team (by a VERY long shot) in the league tonight and WON. Ok, so it was 4 (them) on 5 (us) and we had three subs but we still won! In overtime (yes we went to overtime- we have a great little team, they are just THAT good) with the whole gym watching and cheering, Zane hit both of his free throws without even looking nervous. I LOVE that about him. If I had half of his "calm" I'd be thrilled. The Lord knew what I needed in a first child :).

Harrison has been especially sweet over the last few days. He's my sensitive kid. If Jared and I have to take separate vehicles to a game he always rides home with the person that would be alone because he doesn't want them to be lonely. He's just sweet and thoughtful (usually :)). He has given me so many spontaneous hugs and "I love you mom"'s over the last few days that my heart could just bust. He's a unique little man!! I hope and pray that he keeps his sweet nature.

No pics. Just "random stuff". Have a great weekend :)!

First Haircut!!

2010-03-03T13:35:00.009-06:00

We have been ON THE GO lately! Both boys are playing basketball and now soccer has started. It's always wild when the seasons overlap (and wild doesn't even capture it right now). If anyone has any easy and tasty crockpot recipes I would LOVE to have them!! We're having fun tho (if we could just stay healthy)! The infamous stomach bug has been making its way through our house so that's added to the excitement ;). On Monday, Vandergriff had a special skate time for the kids. It was GREAT! Harrison couldn't stay on his feet but he never got mad! I was so proud of him for that. He would laugh and get up and try again. I pray that he can keep that mentality for the rest of his life :). I didn't get pics of him skating. I forgot my camera in the car and I had him and Lydia by myself at first. By the time I got my camera he had moved to the video games. I was surprised by how much fun Lyddie had! Jared got her some little skates and she LOVED it. He tried to take her to the carpet at one point and she said, "No Daddy. I got out there." and pointed to the rink. LOVE IT!

This girl was not scared!On Tuesday, Lyddie got her FIRST haircut. She did really well. I've been told that getting it trimmed up will make it grow faster. I hope so ;)!

Before:

If you wet it, she has pretty little curls. We were obviously in a hurry that morning and had been in the car seat :).This is still a before shot. It's a little hard to tell ;).This is the only "after" that I had on my camera. I didn't realize it until I downloaded them.That afternoon, she got hit with that nasty bug. She got sick twice but hasn't acted like she felt bad. Harrison was the same way. STRANGE! These are from this morning. I guess when you're sick you get to run around naked and let your mom feed you soup in your Tinkerbell chair while you watch cartoons :).Last Friday, we had Memaw's (Jared's mom) birthday party here. This is her and all of the grandkids (minus Courtney and Lydia).This is Jared's mom and dad, sibs, and grandma.

BIG Girl!

2010-02-10T15:49:00.003-06:00

I've been scared to post this for fear of jinxing it but...Lyddie is wearing PANTIES!!! She is doing so great with it. I am very proud of her! It just seems so weird when I'm doing laundry and I come across these sweet little panties. I know very soon it will just be laundry but right now I get so excited when I see them in there :). Goofy, I know! One story that I don't want to forget...Jared heard her up the other morning and went to get her out of bed. He said that she was standing there in tears trying not to pee in her diaper (I won't be brave enough to do panties at night for AWHILE-not matter how well she is doing!). I heard him talking to her so I walked up. He had about five pairs of panties laid out and he was asking her which pair she wanted to wear. So sweet! She is such a sweetie right now! I told Jared that she's my little cheerleader :). I was ironing a shirt the other day and when I finished she said, "Yay Mommy! Mommy all done?" Sometimes she'll ask, "Mommy happy?" I tell her that I am very happy and she asks, "I hug you?" Her new thing right now (which I am not so fond of) is "Stop it Mommy." I tell her not to be hateful and she'll say, "Stop it please Mommy." We have to learn that you can't always add please and make it nice :). She's growing up too fast. Maybe it's because she is (probably-never say never) our last baby. Here's an attempt to record what she's doing right now. I'm drawing a blank since I didn't plan to list things but at least it'll help me to remember SOME of it (I haven't even opened her baby book in a year!):

-Wearing panties!!

-Talking in complete sentences. She has quite a vocabulary!

-Knows her shapes and colors.

-Knows her letters and letter sounds.

-Can count to around 14 (11-14 aren't always really clear).

-Has to pray before going to bed and loves to sing Jesus Loves Me! The other day we were talking about something (I think it was snow) and she said "Jesus made it."

-LOVES raw veggies (like her brothers). We went to eat lunch with Harrison and he was sharing his broccoli and cauliflower with her. The dad sitting across from us asked HOW I got them to do that. It was funny! I have to give her carrots and ranch last or she won't eat anything else. She likes the bad stuff, too. She'll shut herself in the pantry and get the chips out!

This is random but this is what I saw when I was walking upstairs to wake Zane up this morning.Isn't it pretty?! I love mornings after I've been up for about 10 minutes :).

January 2010

2010-02-02T13:56:00.009-06:00

January has been fun but BUSY. I think (and hope) that's the way it's going to be for a long time so I may have to do these random catch up posts :). Both of the boys are playing basketball so that keeps us running. I realize that there are NO pictures of Zane in this post! I feel terrible but I just didn't have any :(. He was at a friend's house on these rare occassions when I had my camera.

After dinner one night, Harrison had an Art Party. He set it up in his room and we came in and did projects. We had SO much fun!! Jared reading up on how to make the best sock puppet :). Our pool froze over during that really cold period. It was frozen enough for a cat to walk on and three crazy adults to stand on (Jared, Matt, and Lynn!!!!). They were "careful" and stood right at the edge :). Mary Poppins??This was Harrison's FIRST EVER basketball game. He was very serious about it. Jared was giving him some pointers before he went in. This will probably be the ONLY year that he will let Lydia come and give him a hug while he's sitting on the bench with his friends. She saw him and started crying and saying, "My Bubba. I hug him!!" She cried hard. They just love each other. I know I say this all the time but both of the boys are so great with her. Her and Harrison butt heads a little but not bad. She walked in with a new dress on yesterday and he jumped out of his chair and hugged her and said, "Lydia, you look SO beautiful!" Several of Harrison's friends are on his team. He loves that!My nephew, Carter, turned 2 this month and they had his party at Gymboree in Bentonville. Lydia LOVED it. If we lived closer we would definitely be going to some classes. I didn't get any great ones of the birthday boy. That's my mom and dad. They are SO great. They have NINE grandkids and manage to make it to everything (AND love doing it). They looked like they were having so much fun doing the parachute. I thought it was a cute pic :). My dad is the biggest kid at heart. I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. I love that they bought a new house and immediately turned the extra rooms into play rooms for the kids. They have a playroom with a ping pong and pool table AND a separate WII room :). That's one of the only pictures that I had of Carter!

Sledding

2010-01-31T09:35:00.005-06:00

We went sledding on the hill in our backyard yesterday. We had SO much fun. This was Lydia's first time to sled. She enjoyed it (minus the snow blowing up in her face) but her favorite part was eating the snow :). Getting ready to go for the first time!!Jared went snowboarding on a cookie sheet.Zane was good at pushing and jumping on the back. That's us!The boys running back up the hill.You've got to have a snowball fight!

Christmas Day (finally!)

2010-01-11T22:08:00.007-06:00

On Christmas Day, the boys (finally) woke up at 10 (yes, TEN) to see what Santa had brought. Lyddie got up a little earlier and Jared brought her down and she played in our bed for awhile. We finally went and woke the boys up (we were supposed to be at Jared's parents' house at noon). They seemed really happy with what he had left them under the tree and in their stockings!
This picture is supposed to be down toward the bottom but I can't make it move!! I had no problem with moving the others.... This is her getting her pink bat and ball. You can tell that she has brothers. She got a lot of girly things but also got this and a pink basketball hoop. Just trying to keep her well rounded :).

Here are the kids waiting to go down and check out what's under the tree.

Lydia with her princess castle. She LOVES this thing!!! It stays in the living room :).

Zane got a new air soft gun and Harrison got a BB gun.

Checking out the chapstick that Santa left in her stocking.

Looking pretty good!!

Zane reading the Christmas Story from the bible.

Lydia wanted PaPa to read to her!

We took a quick family pic. There's that vest AGAIN!!!! You can't just wear it once.

After going to his parents' house we can home and opened the gifts under the tree. We just let them take their time and play with everything before opening the next gift. It's my favorite tradition.

Jared got some new grilling stuff to go along with our new OUTDOOR KITCHEN!!!! The pool is not finished but the fireplace and kitchen are! I just realized that I haven't posted pics on that...

My new laptop!!! This is my first post from it so maybe that's why I can't get that darn picture to move :).

The aftermath....it makes me weary just looking at it!

And then the sickness began. Lydia was sick with HIGH fever and then I got a cold/who knows what else. We are ALMOST back to normal.

Christmas Eve

2010-01-08T10:54:00.006-06:00

This year we went to Great Grandma's after Lydia's nap so that she could give the kids their presents. She gave Lydia some bows and guess what?!?!

She can wear them!! I was thrilled :).We brought the kids these reindeer noses back from Dallas. They were a bigger hit than we thought they would be.You can wear them as a nose or combine them and be an alien. I HAVE to explain his outfit! He went and bought a (ladies) fleece jacket and cut the arms off to make this beautiful vest. Throw on a turtleneck and you're ready for the Christmas parties. His grandma never mentioned it so I don't think she knew he was joking! I got Lydia a flashing Christmas light necklace. So cute!! This was at my parents house. We have a BIG family party there every year. I didn't get very many pics :(. The weather was starting to get bad so we played Dirty Santa early and had to rush it. We didn't even get to stay and eat. When we got home, Harrison put the reindeer food out. Lydia sampled all of Santa's goodies. I "caught" Santa in the act!! Zane went and woke Harrison up and they hid behind the couch in the living room and watched him work. The french doors were closed so they couldn't see TOO well ;). They had planned to try and catch him but once Harrison fell asleep, he was OUT. I think Zane poured water on him to wake him up!!

Branson 2009

2010-01-08T10:27:00.005-06:00

Every year we take the kids to Branson around Christmas and stay at the Chateau on the Lake. It's one of my favorite Christmas traditions. This year I started getting sick (head and throat junk) when we got there but it was still a lot of fun. We left on Friday right after Harrison's class party. It was fun knowing we had the whole Christmas break in front of us! The last day before Christmas break was always one of my favorite days of school ;). We took them to do the Polar Express train ride. They really enjoyed it. The highlights were cookies, hot chocolate, and Santa!

Harrison and Lydia before we got on the train.

The conductor came thru and punched you first initial into your ticket.He forgot to do mine :).I don't remember what she did but she had them ROLLING! I love it!Santa came thru and gave all of the kids a bell. She did really good with him. I wasn't sure how that would go.They always have a great gingerbread house at the Chateau.He's such a great brother!!

December Pics

2010-01-08T10:03:00.004-06:00

Here are some random pictures from December (I am SO behind!). We let the kids open an early gift. These were the December calendars that held the chocolate. I truly believe that Lydia ended up eating most of it! The boys kept telling me that their door would already be open and candy would be gone. I guess I'll have to monitor that a little better next year :). Hollywood!
We LOVE movie night. Especially around Christmas!!

They decorated Christmas cookies.

They decorated the annual gingerbread house!

Don't let that sweet face fool you!! Haha. She had fun decorating the gingerbread man and then eating all of the candy and icing off of it.The boys helped me make oreo truffles. They are so good and so easy but SO addicting!

A Holiday MOOSICAL

2010-01-08T09:52:00.003-06:00

Harrison had a program at school in December. He was asked to be one of the kids singing at the microphone. We were SO excited!! He brought the CD home and we practiced every night. Jared set a mike and speaker up in Lyddie's room. She learned the song and would take her turn practicing at the mike. One night she could hear him singing while she was in the tub. She immediately started doing the motions. His class was the trees.

It's That Time of Year Again...

2009-12-09T22:06:00.004-06:00

Decorating for Christmas is one of my FAVORITE things!! We usually start on Thanksgiving night. So many people started early this year. I was feeling a litte behind :). We actually did it over a couple of days. Here are a few of my faves... Making sure that they didn't forget to mark something in one of the toy magazines!
Have I mentioned that this girl LOVES her brothers??? Every once in awhile she'll just jump in their lap and love on them. I just think it's precious! This is NOT staged!The next day...We brought out the small trees. I will have to buy extras at the end of the season. This was probably their favorite thing that they did. Ahhh...the pooping reindeer. This thing has been in our family for a VERY long time :). It poops candy...who wouldn't love it?!

This is our "peanut tree". I THINK my friend Amy named it :). This was the first tree that we had after we got married. We put it in the entry with my FAVORITE special oranaments (homemade). I will NEVER get rid of this thing!!! Zane putting the star on top. H makes sure that every tree has a star. My sweet little elf :). We got each of the kids one of those little trays that has the days of the month for December and you open the door and there's a piece of chocolate in each one. We keep them under our little peanut tree. If I can't find Lydia, I KNOW she's in there trying to pry the little doors open to get the chocolate. I owe the boys quite a bit of chocolate!!

123 Smile...Lyddie PLEASE Smile!!!!!

2009-12-01T14:18:00.005-06:00

I was feeling ambitious last night so the kids had baths and we attempted to take our Christmas card picture. Jared wasn't home but I thought, "How hard can it be?" Well, it's alot easier with two adults, that's for sure :). I got several decent ones and one that was really good (considering the monkey in the middle). I'm not putting the actual card picture on here yet. I know that you are just dying with curiosity ;). I couldn't ruin it for the grandparents! Lydia was a mess (and I mean that very lovingly). She had the boys cracking up. When the boys would laugh she would say, "Lyddie's funny." Zane decided that she's now the funniest kid in our family :). "I just crack myself up!!"
I thought this one was sweet. She's up close to "Sarisson" (what she calls him alot) and Zane looks so serious.We liked this one but Lyddie was looking off.

IN LOVE!!!

2009-11-12T21:58:00.003-06:00

So I'm standing in the kitchen texting a friend about a sleepover for Zane, when Harrison walks up to me. In a very serious tone and with a VERY serious look on his face, he looks up and says, "Is it ok if Elizabeth and I are in love because we are?..................(that's how it felt) We really are." Wow. He's SIX!! I try with everything that's in me not to laugh but I can't help it. I snickered. He asked, "What??" I told him that Miss Allison had texted me something funny and that I wasn't laughing at him. Later, when he was getting out of the shower he tells me, "I need to wear some provolone tomorrow ( I figure out that he means cologne) and some of that arm pit stuff." Oh goodness. Am I ready for him to have a girlfriend? I don't think so =). We did have a talk about not kissing and he assured me that he wouldn't do that! Mrs. Deweese, if you are reading this, feel free to keep me updated ;).

Lyddie Bug

2009-11-10T15:30:00.000-06:00

Miss Lydia turned TWO on November 1st. I want to write down some things that she's doing so that I won't forget (since I NEVER write in her baby book!).
-She's got a very sweet and easy going personality (for the time being-I've had two other two year olds, so I know how this goes. HA!).

-She loves puzzles, books, coloring, and most of all STICKERS! They are everywhere. =)

-Playing outside (especially on our playset)

-PLAY DOH!!!

-Playing dress up and food

-RED fingernail polish (usually just on her toes!)

-She started laughing the other day and said, "I funny Momma. Silly Lydia!"

-LOVES her Bubba, Zane, and Daddy!! She snuggled up with Jared on the couch last night. She turned her head into his chest where she couldn't see me, waved, and said, "Bye Momma." (over and over again!)

-We say two prayers every night. I put her in bed and she immediately puts her hands together and says, "I pray." I say the first one and she always wants "more pray". On the second she repeats some of it. When I start to thank Him for our family, I'll start with one of the boys and she steps in and lists everyone (including a big "AND LYDIA").

-She's known her colors for awhile and is starting to get her shapes (she LOVES ovals =) ).

-She can count to ten with a few hiccups along the way (like 7 and 8).

-She talks ALL the time and puts together some great sentences.

-Yesterday, we were at Walmart and I gave her a Leap Frog toy to play with as we walked around (I really was trying it out for Christmas. Promise!). It was asking her to find certain letters and she knew MOST of them. I couldn't believe it. She proved it to Daddy tonight. We were in her room and he started asking her letters on her blocks. He just stared at her with his mouth open. On a few of them she would also say the sound that it makes (mostly S and H).

-She'll say, "I love you, Momma." and my heart just melts into a puddle.

This was taken on her actual birthday. So sweet.

And silly! Wouldn't trade it for anything!!

"Hmmm...let me think."

"I'm HOW old?" This is what she does when I tell her to act surprised.

Sorry Shell and Amy. She likes pickles. Don't y'all go eat the whole jar! I know your fridge is STOCKED! =)

Bundled up for the neighborhood bon fire.

I love her in dresses and boots. She just seems cuddley!

She like pilates...Ha! I call this her "move". She'll be dancing and then will stop and do this. It cracks me up! I swear I've never taught this girl pilates =)!

She's a big thinker. Can't you tell by that tongue sticking out?!

She loves to lay on her tummy and read books. When Jared walks to her room at night she gets so excited! She'll grab books or a puzzle and have him sit next to her. I think he would sit and play with her ALL day EVERY day if he could.

She's a hardworker... Seriously?! I don't think I've EVER seen him push her. She is ALWAYS pushing him. He's got her trained!

He does take care of her, though. She has such a sweet relationship with the boys. It's PRICELESS!

Random, I know. It's harder to get pics of Zane!!

Happy Birthday Zane and Lydia!!

2009-11-02T21:39:00.006-06:00

We have several birthday clumped together on BOTH sides of the family. We celebrated Zane, Lydia, and Papa's birthday last Tuesday night at our house. It was a lot of fun!

Jared's sister, Alicia, made this apron for Lydia! I LOVE it!!She got a baby stroller from Great Grandma. Harrison was a little too rough on her other one!She also got this great four wheeler! She has had so much fun with this thing!!This is my niece Ashlyn. Her and Harrison look SO much like each other. I know this is what Lydia will look like when she is five!Zane on his 12th birthday!!!! I can not believe that he is that old!! It was mis match day at school. They were anxious to turn his candle to 21. I can't even imagine!Instead of a big party this year I let him have several friends over to spend the night. They had a lot of fun. Several never went to sleep (including Zane)!The next morning they went swimming to "prove that you were a man"! It was about 45 degrees outside!!!!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T14:14:00.004-06:00

We had another busy but fun Halloween. Zane had cotillion and a party afterwards so he chose to do that instead of hang out with us. Can't imagine why =). He went as Jason. Since he was going to cotillion he decided to make his a "dressed up" version and added a tie. Very clever I thought! He walked downstairs and towards Lydia (trying to be scary) and she said, "Hi Zane!" She actually loves to play with the mask and knife! Harrison was my little, I mean, my tough gladiator.
Lydia was a bumble bee. I must say that she was the cutest little bee I've ever seen! I never did get a great picture of her in her costume. She was WAY to busy. She absolutely loved it this year. I wish we could have gone door to door all night. We had several stops so we only went door to door a few times in our old neighborhood.
Jason and the gladiator fighting before Zane left. I think it ended in a draw =).We got to see my nieces and nephew at Great Grandma's house. Ashlyn, Phillip, Lydia, Harrison and Bethany. They were so cute.
She LOVED this part!Her wings got a little droopy as the night went =). We can't have Halloween without Jared doing a LITTLE something. It's hard to see in this picture but he's got some hair pinned into his hat. It looked SOO real. Several people thought he had grown it out! VERY WT!Jared getting attacked and stabbed at the same time. Team work! Veggin out before bed. Not healthy!! H had to miss church the next day ;).

The Things They Say...

2009-11-02T13:20:00.003-06:00

I'm going to have to start doing posts like this or make a column on the side where I can put funny little comments from the kids. Here are a few recent one from H (nothing too crazy, just made me laugh).
--This morning he came downstairs and in a very happy sing songy voice says, "Today is Monday. We switch our jobs today and I'm the...tablewasher. Oh, how I have been looking forward to THIS!" He never get that excited about cleaning our table =).
--We were talking the other day and the subject of opposites came up. He said that he knew what they were (gave me a little definition) and said, "You know, like you're hot then your cold. You're yes then you're no. You're in then you're out. You're up then you're down." There's nothing like your six year old quoting Katy Perry!
--Driving in the car a few nights ago he asks (out of the blue) "Do you have to be married to have a baby?" "Does the girl have to have the baby?" "Does it hurt when you have a baby?" When Jared said that it did he said, "I sure am glad that I'M not a girl!" We are going to have our work cut for us with him =).
I'm getting ready to work on our Halloween pictures and Zane and Lydia's birthday pics so check back soon :)!