Christmas 2011

Our Christmas was wonderful for everyone, but me. I have been very sick for the last few days and I feel like I missed Christmas this year. It makes me a very sad Mommy. I am fully aware that I have very few precious years with all of the kids here and I don't want to miss a moment. Unfortunately I was in bed almost the whole time. Here are some pictures of when I was awake.





We also spent Christmas Eve at my parents house.

Christmas parade

On Sat we went to our little town's lighted Christmas parade. It was freezing, but awesome!

Getting Christmas ready

We are gearing up for Christmas around here. Even J's dolls are getting into the act.



More to come soon of the entire house.

My love affair with the internet

Sorry I have been so absent lately. I have, as always, been as busy as can be. But, I have been on the internet more lately than ever before. I have a new obsession Pintrest. I have spent sooo many hours pinning away.



I found a new potato soup recipe that we are going to try tonight for dinner.



Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour is a new amazing blog I found because of Pintrest. We are going to be trying a lot of new things from here on out. I love the internet!!

Halloween 2011

J's own style

J definitely has her own sense of style. When we have a weekend day when there is nothing else going on (cheer, football, birthday parties, etc...) I let the kids wear whatever they want. Today was one of those days.



Notice the varying shades of pink (because if you wear the same color it matches, right?).

The different patterns (sparkly hearts on the shirt, the plaid skirt, the flowers on the tights).

The hair that was brushed and put in a low ponytail (every time she wears the low ponytail the front falls out).

Do. Not. notice the messy bedroom behind her.

I love her and her sense of style. It is unique to her (and only her).

I am linking up here!

Beach vacation 2011

Walking to the beach


First time ever on a beach

Mommy and the two little kids


Daddy and the two little kids

Little E making his sandcastle

J making her sandcastle

Ben and I on the beach

Ben and his mom

Pirate ship on the beach

Cool beach restaurant


Driving to the beach

We had the best time on vacation. I'm not sure if I have mentioned on here before how much I love Ben's mom. She is like a second mom to me and I feel so lucky to have her.

Big E couldn't come on this vacation because... he has a job! I am so proud of him!

My Daughter's hair

Yesterday I tried a new style on J's hair. Her hair always looks like a mess. It is curly under and mostly straight on the top.

Here is a prime example.

We have been trying to find something to do with her hair so it looks put together and not so much like she hasn't brushed it in a month.

We've tried straightning it.That doesn't look so hot and it is really hard on her hair.

We've tried just pulling it back into a low ponytail.A little better, but still very messy.

We've tried the one half pony up and the rest down.It's cute, but the front falls out within a couple of hours.

Then the other day I found and amazing blog ALL THINGS SNAPBANDZ. She does some beautiful hair styles and shows you how to do them step by easy step. Here is a couple of pictures of J's hair yesterday.
It stayed so well that it is still in today!

Mad and Frustrated Beyond Belief

I had planned on having a HUGE post today about what our lives have been like the last couple of months with pictures to accompany it. Unfortunately my camera and computer had another idea. As I was downloading my 211 pictures something went very, very wrong.

I followed all of the normal steps and for some reason it did not put the pictures on my computer, but it did erase them all from my camera.

I. Could. Scream.

Instead, I will share 2 pictures from our lives.

Little E's football squad


J's cheer team


I would show you a picture of Big E, but since he has turned 16 at the end of August he has gotten his license and a job. We don't hardly see him anymore. I am very, very proud of him though. He is becoming a man!

Wallowa Lake pt2

Our trip was from Thursday to Sunday. We joined Ben's father, step-mother and aunt. I love all of them as though they were mine. They have truly made me feel like a part of the family.


Aunt Sue

We also joined Mike and Debbie who are long time family friends.




Friday night we had one big meal together.




This is what every night looked like...




Big E and Kyle (son of family friend Mike) spent most of the weekend trying to catch a chipmunk. Mostly to see if they could.




They eventually did on the last day we were there.

Have I mentioned the deer? The deer are almost domesticated. You are not allowed to feed or pet them though. Over the years they have started to become more aggressive in their search for food. However, they come into the campground on a daily basis and are not afraid of people at all.





The highlight of the trip for Little E and J was the horseback riding. J has wanted to ride a horse for a couple of years now and could not hardly stand having to wait to ride.





This was absolutely the best vacation we have had so far!