Merry Christmas Y'all!

The first snow of the season!

Some of you may know that it doesn't snow all that much in TN. So when we get snow it is REALLY exciting. A couple of Saturdays ago we woke up to a world of white! The kids were super excited and wanted to get out there and build a snowman. I had a meeting to go to so Doug helped them build a beautiful frosty the snowman of there own. The snow had melted by that afternoon and I think the snowman only lived for about 3 days, but they had so much fun! This is what you mean when you say priceless.


The view in our backyard
Our beautiful holly berry tree tree in our yard! It looks great with snow on it!

The three kiddos!
The "Building" process.

The completed Frosty the Snowman! A couple of the neighbor kids came over to help out too!

Practice makes perfect

I was cleaning the kitchen the other day, not really paying attention to what the kids were doing and when I looked around the corner this is what I saw! They told me they were practicing the nativity for Christmas! They really do make a great Mary and Joseph.

Better late than never!

Glinda the Good Witch

Spider Man, Spider Man!

SUPERMAN!

Here are the pictures from Halloween! I am just trying to keep the holiday season alive by adding a little Halloween spirit!

My BEST Thanksgiving EVER!

I LOVE Thanksgiving! Good food, people you love and relaxation. No hustle and bustle over gifts, it is just about being together. So why was this the Best Thanksgiving EVER?? I have had my husband home for FOUR days in a row!!! For the past FIVE years he has had a Thanksgiving break, BUT he has always had to be studying with finals right around the corner. Then last year he was in the Grand Canyon over Thanksgiving so we didn't see him. This year he has just been HOME with us!!

I love Thanksgiving!

My Parks

I wanted to post about my little man Parker. He is at one of my favorite stages in life. He is still really little that almost everything he does is cute, and big enough that he is getting independent. I love this little guy so much. He is really smart and is really good about getting into EVERYTHING that he is not supposed to. The other day I turned my back for one minute and he had poured jet dry all over the kitchen floor. The funny thing about it though is that he is so quiet, and you would never guess that he was up to something. Then if you try to get mad at him for doing it, he just thinks it is even funnier! I know, we are in trouble.


The main reason for this post is that I wanted to show this picture. He is already to the point that he will tell me when his diaper needs to be changed. I was on the computer and he came and told me that he was stinky. I told him I would come change him in a minute. A few minutes later I went to find him and he was on his bedroom floor, laying down on the changing pad with the diaper and wipes set out ready to go!! WHAT! He is only 18 months old! This describes him completely though. If Parker wants to do something, he is going to do, and you will try, but you probably cant stop him, and when he does it he is going to have a smile on his face!

Love you Mom and Dad

So this post is only a few months late but oh well! My mom and dad came out to visit us in September just for fun! I don't know how much a vacation it was for them because, of course, they had to do a project while they were here! We spent most of the time redoing our other bathroom. Last time they were here they redid the main bathroom. Needless to say I LOVE it! I could only get one good picture that really showed the color of the wall, but it is so refreshing and bright! The colors are green brown and white! MMMMM! Thanks Mom and dad, you are wonderful!

We also celebrated Benson's birthday while they were here. They bought him a baseball glove and he was OVERJOYED! He plays with it all the time. They also brought him a cowboy hat which he wouldn't take off! It was so fun having them here! We miss you!

The wonderful new bathroom!!!!

The birthday boy in his cowboy hat!

Mom and Dad and Benson

Playing a little Baseball!

Mom and Dad with Brielle

Popsicles fix everything!

Benson went in on Thursday and had his tonsils and adenoids taken out. He has always had such a hard time breathing at night and has had a cough for about a year, so we felt it was best to have the surgery and see if it makes any difference. Overall the surgery went great. He is home now just trying to take it easy. He is a trooper, and is still being so sweet even when he doesn't feel good. He is loving eating Popsicles and Gatorade all day and watching whatever movies he wants! Thanks for all the prayers and phone calls and meals and help! Everyone is so good to us!


Side note: When Benson was waking up from the anesthesia he was really aggressive and it took a while for us to get him calmed down. I was holding him and he didn't want me or Doug, he just kept asking for Brielle. It was so sweet. They really do love each other. Brielle was thrilled to hear that and has been so sweet to Benson through this.

P.S. Halloween pictures are coming soon. My camera battery died so my friend is emailing me some pictures. I will post them when I get them.

Here are some pictures of the patient and his brother and sister getting to enjoy Popsicles with him!

Happy Birthday Benson!!!!

Yesterday we celebrated Benson's third birthday! I cannot believe that he is three. Time flies by so fast. I love this little boy so much.


His birthday started off with a cinnamon roll, egg, chocolate milk breakfast. This was followed by a day of playing whatever he wanted. Then Doug took off work a little early and we went to Benson's favorite restaurant for dinner....Wendy's. Then it was home to eat his special Kung Fu Panda cake that he has been asking for, for an entire year, and open presents. Thanks everyone who gave him presents or called, he loved all of it!

A funny side note: We bought Benson a bike for his birthday and hid it under a blanket in our closet. Just before we went to dinner he went in there to talk to Doug and looked under the blanket! He started yelling, "Dad, Dad, there is a bike in the closet! So needless to say he got to cruise around on the bike for a little while before we went to Wendy's!

Here are some pictures:

Our friends bought him a lightning McQueen helemt to go with his bike and he did not want to take it off!

This is him cruising on the new ride!

Do you think he is a little excited about the cake??

Okay so it is not my best, but he LOVED it! It looks like Kung Fu Panda right?

This was one of the activities for the day....playing in a box with your brother and sister while you are dressed as Superman! What could be better?

My latest cake creation!

So I know I have not blogged forever, and I have a lot to catch up on, but I just wanted to post my latest cake creation. My cute next-door neighbor wanted a Mike Wazowski cake from Monsters Inc. It was a fun cake to do!

IT'S A ............

GIRL!!!!!!!

We cant wait for this perfectly healthy little girl to come to our family in February! Brielle is beyond excited! She is really sick and was not able to come with me to the ultrasound this morning, so I closed my eyes and the tech printed out the picture. Then she put it in an envelope and labeled it with a G for girl. Then I brought it home so all of us could open it together. Brielle had the honors of opening it and she said, "Mom! It has a G!!!! Then she told me that if it had been a B she would have been sad. So funny!

Life is good!

My Bens!

So where does the time go that your little boy is almost three and wants to go to preschool? He is my best little boy. He is always saying the funniest things, and has the most energy for life you have seen. He can be so sweet and cuddly, or my big tough guy. He is the kid that you just want to squeeze and snuggle with and then he looks at you like, "Mom, I am not going to snuggle, I am a big boy."

This is his big boy I am not going to smile face.

I love this kid!

Here is a picture of preschool at our house with some of his friends. Bens loves this because it is something that is just his, and he cant wait for Brielle to come home on Wednesdays so he can tell her all about "HIS" school. They are so cute!

Old Faithful, a wonder of the world!

I have been meaning to post these pictures forever, and now I am finally getting around to it. When we went to Utah we got to make a stop in Yellowstone to see the famous geyser Old Faithful! I love Yellowstone, and the kids LOVED Old Faithful!


Some of the cousins in front of the Geyser!
I love these little kiddos, and don't mind me, I have just been camping for 5 days without a shower!
Bens with my cute little niece Madi!
This is where Parker liked to be best, right on Grandpas shoulders!

Another lucky chance!

She is at it again, click here for free stuff!

A Brand New Start!!

Well, it is 7:30 am and I am awake and showered and my little girl has left for Kindergarten! Where did the last five years go? She was so excited to go to school, she could barely sleep last night.
I love this girl so much. She has so much personality and spunk and can be the sweetest person in the world. School is going to be so good for her, but I don't know what I am going to do everyday without her.

They get big too fast.

My sweet girl on her first day of school!


At least these two don't look alike right?? Ha ha!

I am already taken

So we sat down to dinner the other day and this is the conversation between Benson and me.

Benson: Mommy, I think I am going to Marry you!

Me: Bens, that is so sweet, but Daddy already married me, so you cant.

Benson: Yep, Mom, I am going to marry you because I love you!

Me: Okay so I couldn't say anything because my heart was just melting!

This makes all those hard moments you want to pull your hair out worth it. This is why we keep going everyday. Because no other job would give you that kind of love, emotion, and innocence. I really do love being a mom.

Sea food and Sea life!

This past weekend we celebrated our 8 year Anniversary! I can't believe that we have been married for 8 years! Time flies by when you are having fun right?

Well, this year we did a whole weekend of celebrating! On Friday night we got to go out to dinner just the two of us to our favorite restaurant Red Lobster! (Thanks mom for the GC). It was so yummy and so fun to just be together.

Then on Saturday we went to the world famous Tennessee Aquarium! Let me just tell you that this place is absolutely AMAZING!! It has two huge buildings, one for Ocean life and One for River and lake life! It was incredible!

The best part was the Butterfly Exhibit on the whole top floor of the Ocean building! It was a room full of hundreds of different butterflies that would come and land on you! The kids LOVED it! The pictures say it all!

Needless to say it was a wonderful Anniversary. The actual date was Sunday, and we just got to have a quiet dinner at home. What more could you ask for? Thanks Doug for 8 wonderful years, and for an eternity for me to love you even more!!!!

Pictures from the Aquarium!


The sting ray pool was just outside the butterfly room, you could pet the stingray!
Catching the Butterflies!!

Benson loved holding the butterflies, when we could catch them!

The butterfly spinach tree! I am not sure why but all the butterflies hung out by this tree.

This is one that came and landed on my hand! It looks black but its wings were the most beautiful blue!

Some butterflies sucking the juice out of oranges

Parker thought everything was so fun and amazing! Isn't he so happy and so cute!

This tank was full of Sharks, stingray and beautiful, huge fish!
The posers! They were loving this!

This is the amazing Penguin exhibit! They swim so fast!

Really does life get any better than to see your kids have so much fun!?

He is so grown up! When did he start to be such a big boy? The drive home! They had such a long day, yet they are still so happy!
My two boys.