Bunch of Nutts

Christmas 2011

2011-12-15T20:24:00.001-08:00

My blog has been put on the back burner because of the last two crazy years we have had. I decided to resurrect it for our "Christmas card" this year. I apologize I did not mail out the traditional card and picture this year. I had to change a few things up this year and a mailed out card and letter was one of them. I do enjoy hearing from friends & family and wanted to share with you all too.

This picture was taken last Christmas while we were in California all of us have aged a bit but it is our most professional family picture we have had in a year. 2011 has been filled with many day to day events. The year highlight was a wonderful trip to Disney World and a Disney cruise to celebrate what would have been my parents 50th anniversary. Everyone loved it, talks about it all the time and can't wait to go on another cruise. Unfortuately it will be a little while before we will be cruising again.

Harrison Highlights - turned 4 yrs old, started preschool, loves anything Cars, gun, lego, etc. He is all boy and adds so much to our family. John especially loves his buddy to do things with. He has learned to tease his sisters especially Claire. He keeps us entertained.

Claire - 6 years old, in first grade, enjoys being at school all day and being in class with her best friend Rylee. All girl and loves anything pink and glittery. Tries to keep up with her older sisters. Lost her front teeth in a head on trama with her friend Olivia.

Abby - 10 years old, in 5th grade, she is our social girl and loves to be with friends. She is becoming a great baby sitter and following in Emily footprints there. She joined the school band this year and plays the Alto Sax. She had picked it up well and did great at her first concert this month. She helps around the house lots and is my "neat" child that keeps her room clean. I love it!

Emily - 12 years old, 7th grade. This year was a big one for Emily, she started middle school, got braces, moved into Young womens and it ready to be a more independent teenager. She is doing great in school, loves going to Young Womens and has become a great babysitter. She saved up her earnings to buy an ipod touch and CHI flat iron. She loves having an "income".

Amy - I am enjoying being home with Harrison and taking care of the home. I have focused mainly on sewing and quilting this year. I have hopes of completing part of the basement this next year so I can get back to some of my other hobbies like scrapbooking and stamping.

John - is glad to be back in SLC working. The stress from work is decreased and he can spend time doing the things he likes. He has started running again and ran his first marathon in Sept. He also ran 3 Ragnar Relays. I was able to run 2 of them with him. He has done a couple home improvement projects to help personlize our home and got our backyard in this year. It turned out great and the kids love being outside on the grass.

We have been very blessed this year and hope for an even better year next year. We hope all of our friends and family have a great 2012 also.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

love The Curnutts

Like Father Like Son

2010-05-12T07:55:00.001-07:00

Harrison loves his tool set. He likes to work on his toys. Here he is practicing for when he has his first Land Cruiser. His dad would be so proud. It looks like John will have a big garage helper in the new house when he does work on his Land Cruiser.

Something that makes me happy

2010-04-10T09:11:00.000-07:00

I have decided to get Fiestaware dishes a couple years ago because I was tired of my plain white dishes. I love seeing all the bright colors when I open my cupboard now. I have 8 colors that I am working on getting two place setting of each color for. I have received some great gifts of different serving pieces also. All these colors make me happy!

Big Snow in Nac

2010-02-12T14:52:00.000-08:00

Our front yard at the start of real snow

about 10:30 at night is was getting deep and the power went out

In the morning we had a decent amount of snow.

Our house that morning.

Emily and Harrison working on a snow man.

Claire loved eating snow!

The girls with their neighborhood BFFs

The ponds in our neighborhood. They looked so pretty.

Abby making a snow angel.

The girls snowman. It was as tall as them. i had to help left the middle.

Harrison walking in deeper snow with beautiful trees.

Walking down our street.

Sisters, they look so loving......

Harrison and I in the snow. Glad we had the proper clothes!

Thursday it did a slushy rain all day and was just kind of cold and yucky. About 8:00 that night it decided to turn into real snow and started to accumilate on the ground. I went walking about 10:00 that night. Luckily my snow boots and jacket were easy to get to. I miss the quiet peacefulness of night snowing. Friday when we woke up we had between 4-6" of snow. we had a little challenge to get the snow clothes box out of the attic but got it for snow clothes for Harrison and claire. Poor Harrison had to wear pink girls clothes. He didn't mind because they kept him warm. School was cancelled because Nac has no snow removal equipment and there was no way I was getting on the road with locals. The kids got dressed up and went out to play with friends. They had lots of fun building snowmen and having snow ball fights. They came in for awhile when they got cold but went out for one more run later in the afternoon. The only really negative part was the power was out all day too for about 7 hours. i was really grateful when it came back on about 3:00 this afternoon because the house was getting cold and I wanted a warm dinner. I even got to shovel a driveway for our Dr. neighbor who needed to get to the hospital and got stuck in her driveway. We probably own the only snow shovel in Nac.

Emily's Birthday

2010-02-12T14:48:00.001-08:00

Emily turned 11 this year. Her birthday was on Sunday so we had her party on Saturday at the local rollerskating rink. We ended up with 20 girls there! It was quite the party but everyone seemed to have a good time and Emily loved it. Sunday we went out to Emily's resturant of choice. She chose Auntie Pastas and had Creme Brule for her birthday cake and dessert. We went home and opened presents as a family.

Misc. Happenings

2010-01-28T15:34:00.001-08:00

Not much has been happening lately but I thought I would post some of the random pictures I have taken lately.

1) Claire and her best friend, Maya dressing up in matching outfits.

2) Claire getting to wear her cousin Paige's "bumpit" She thought it was very cool and grown up to wear it.

3) Harrison loves to play Thomas the train on the computer. He is even learning to use the headphones so we don't have to hear it.

4) I finished my Valentine table runner.

Pony Party

2009-12-20T14:51:00.001-08:00

One thing we will miss about Texas is weather in December that allows you to have an outside party. the kids were invited to a pony party where they got to ride horses around a correl. Emily was able to lead the horse herself. Abby and Claire liked being lead around. Harrison wasn't hip on the idea to ride the horse so he rode with dad but still wasn't very happy. It was a fun day out side.

Claire's program

2009-12-20T14:45:00.000-08:00

Claire's preschool puts on a program every year. Since claire is in the pre-k class she got to be part of the nativity. Her best friend and her were angels. They looked so sweet in their white costumes. Their class sang a song after the program also about a chubby snowman.

Where did November go?

2009-11-29T18:22:00.001-08:00

Harrison trying to enjoy both his binkies!

Our little "handy manny."

Wigs from post halloween sales!

Claire after getting her last princess crowns and the wig she chose as a prize!

**NOTE** this picture of Claire was taken while she was still numb from having dental work. Her lop-sided smile makes me laugh and warms my heart because she was so happy to have a new wig but still really sore from the work. Claire is a unique child that I adore and can make me hit both ends of the emotional spectrum in seconds!

I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of November. It has been a world wind month for us. Friday the 6th we (John) was offered a position with Parker back at the SLC plant. He accepted the position so begins our transition back to the West. John left that same weekend to start the new job. He will be spending two weeks at a time at the two locations until March 1st. Then he is full time in SLC. Now it is my job to get the house ready to list and hopefully have it sold by then.

Here are a few pictures of what did happen in November.

Halloween night

2009-11-03T08:20:00.001-08:00

The Curnutt kids together

Emily the Vampire

Abby our little devil girl!(her hair is still pinkish)

Claire - wearing yet another costume (third this year!)

Harrison the snotty Tiger (he has a cold right now)

We had a full week of Halloween celebrations. Wednesday we went to 2 festivals at 2 different baptist churches, Thursday was Claire's school party, Friday was the festival at Emily and Abby's school, the festival on SFA campus and the church trunk or treat. Saturday was the city of Nacogdoches Scare on the square and trick or treating. By the end our kids had more candy then they would ever need. They had a great time and loved it all. The older girls are growing up and wanted to trick or treat with their friends so Abby went out with her friend Jamie and Emily went out with her friend Maisy. I just had Claire and Harrison to trick or treat with their friends Maya and Toby. It was a great night!

Carving Pumpkins

2009-11-03T08:14:00.000-08:00

Since Halloween was on Saturday this year we were able to carve pumpkins during the day. It was a beautiful day so I set the table up outside and we got to work carving our pumpkins. The girls all chose to do the special carving patterns. Emily and Abby did most of the carving themselves and John helped claire with hers. Harrison had fun playing outside while I cleaned and carved his pumpkin.

We tried to get him to help but he took one look and asked to get down. It was lots of the fun and they looked great all lit up that night!

Emily's halloween party

2009-10-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

Emily was invited to a halloween party hosted by a boy in her class at school. It is her first boy-girl party. She invited 3 friends to come get ready for the party at her house so they did not have to go to the party alone. It was lots of fun to see them get ready together. The house was set up all spooky when I dropped them off and I had to walk them to the door because they were freaked out. It was very fun!

Pumpkin patch!

2009-10-19T19:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight when we went to the Girl Scout redediciation dinner, we snuck over to the pumpkin patch next door for a few minutes to get pictures of all the kids in the pumpkins. Of course harrison wouldn't hold still for a picture again. He really hated trying to get a group shot. Makes me worried Christmas pictures may be impossible. I got some cute ones of the girls. Emily and Abby able rededicated to Girl Scouts and received some of the patches they have earned this year so far. It was a great time!

Day out with Thomas

2009-10-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

Friday we headed out to Rusk, Texas to spend the day with Thomas at the Texas State Railroad. They have a great set up of free activities for the kids. It costs alot to actually ride Thomas so we just have a picture taken with him. Harrison loved the petting zoo and the train tables. He was even excited to see Sir Topham. Claire loved the jump house and slide. We went with a few friends and had a great time going on a hay ride, playing around, having lunch, listening to music and stories. We are lucky to get to go on Friday while most kids are in school because I hear the weekend is

crazy. We were able to enjoy all the activities at our leisure. I couldn't resist a couple momentos for Harrison, a conductor hat and Thomas day out car for his train set. Even at home he plays around his train table all the time.

"Pumpkin Patch"

2009-10-19T12:01:00.001-07:00

A local private school at a church here brings in a bunch of pumpkins and sells them on their lawn for the month of October as a school fund raiser. It is as close as we get to a local pumpkin patch here in Nac. Claire's school had a field trip to see the pumpkins and buy a little one for themselves. I went with her class in hopes to get some fun fall pictures. It was lots of fun to see the kids so excited about pumpkins. They are have few displays set up to take pictures. I could not get Harrison to hold still for a picture for the life of me. the few are got were very lucky. Most of the pictures were in motion including the one of him throwing me his pumpkin when I asked him to show it to me. Nice! We were able to go with the kids best friends Maya and Toby too. Afterwards we headed to Rusk to spend the day with Thomas!

The Birthday Party!

2009-10-07T18:54:00.001-07:00

Mom and Dad with their boy

Harrison playing on the slide, He loved it!

opening presents. He loved this too!

Maya's uncle she and claire loved playing with

Good Friends!

Birthday boy, Harrison

The "twins"

The dads with their boys!

blowing out the candles (a little unsure of this)

Our most recent family picture (not the best)

Saturday was the big party for the new 2 years olds! It was a great day, not still hot or cold yet. The kids played outside and on the giant slide for hours and loved it. The boys blew out the candles on their cupcake cake and opened presents. They had a great time with their friends and played hard. I can't believe they are 2 years old. I went to see a friend today who just had a baby boy and it made me realize Harrison is gigantic! He is pure boy and love hearing him play trains and cars. He is a great playmate to Claire and like to copy what she is doing. This can be dangerous because claire doesn't always make good choices!!! I am so happy to have my little boy and grateful he came to our family! I especially love my dear friend Arlene and the friendship we have with our boys and girls!

Abby's Big Day

2009-09-29T07:38:00.001-07:00

Abby came home from school a little while ago saying her eyes hurt when she reads and her teacher told her to tell her mom. We made an appointment to have her eyes checked and sure enough they are a little too far sighted so the Dr wrote a prescription to help her when she is reading and doing things up close. He said it should correct itself as she ages in the next year or two. She has always wanted glasses so I think she is excited to have them. She asks me before she does things, "do I need to wear my glasses while I do it?" She chose some cute trendy glasses. I like they are OP and have a wave like pattern on the side that remind me of the beach!

Mr. H and his cars

2009-09-21T21:44:00.001-07:00

Harrison watched the movie Cars for the first time on our trip to Virginia. He fell in love with it and has watched it about 1,000 times since then. He knows all the characters names and everything. He is very into his Matchbox/Hot Wheels cars too. He has a carrying case he wheels around the house and likes to get them out and drive them around and line them up. John is teaching him the "names" of the cars like Bronco, Defender, Hummer, Unamog, etc. Harrison also loves trains and Thomas the Tank Engine. He loves to play on his train table with his cars and trains. Here is a video of him putting his cars down the Little People circus rollar coaster. He loves to do this and is quite good at it for his age. He amazes me with how he knows to connect his magnetic trains together too. I love having a little boy. (sorry it is sideways, I couldn't rotate it. PS pause music to hear video)

First day of school 2009

2009-09-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

I had to add the traditional first day of school pictures. Emily started 5th grade, Abby started 3rd Grade and Claire is in PreK (Texas preschool) Emily and Abby are wearing outfilts they chose with Grandma and Aunt Heather in Virginia. They loved them so much! Notice they aren't loaded down with back to school items and supplies! I love the Charter school that they don't need backpacks because they only have homework on Monday nights with their take home folders. All the rest of their work is done at school because they aren't distracted with major behavior problems. They don't need lunch boxes because they eat family style in their classroom all together with school lunch. They love the new school and I can't be happier they go there. It is a better situation than the public schools for sure. I have a whole new appreciation for what they girls had in Utah too!

A few Virginia Highlights.

2009-09-21T21:11:00.001-07:00

silly Claire at the beach (don't know what she is doing)

John and Harrison with the Cannons on USS Wisconson

Me with the kids in front of one of the many mermaids around Virginia Beach

soaking wet from the rain on the USS Wisconson

The family (our only family picture from the trip)

More Claire on the beach

Harrison playing trains.

Abby digging at the beach.

Mr Harrison at the beach for the first time. And I thought the pacific ocean would be his first beach!

"group" shot at the children's muesum. Harrison wasn't happy!

petting sting rays

nature walk. Emily was mad at Abby so she made an ugly face!

The beginning of August before school started we went to Virginia for our family vacation. My father went into the hospital right before we got there and ended up being in the hospital for 7 weeks with MRSA and complications from it. We spent most of our vacation at the hospital. We were glad we got to see him and help my mother because we almost lost my father on August 2nd. It was a very scary day. We did try to do a few fun things for the kids since the hospital and my parent's apartment weren't very exciting for them. Here are some pictures of a couple places we took them.

The Virginia Aquarium was fun and had a neat nature hike along the coastal water where we saw lots of crabs. The kids got to pet sting rays there too.

The Children's Muesum in Norfolk was lots of fun. They had a HUGE train display and play area Harrison just loved. He cried very hard when it was time to leave the muesum. He really had a good time there. I wish my dad could have watched him play. He would have loved to see him being such a little boy.

The only "historical" thing we were able to do was go see the USS Wisconson. The kids weren't too excited about it but John really liked and it was neat to be on the deck on such a huge ship and see the cannons and such. It started to pour rain when we were on board. The girls enjoyed getting really wet. We walked along the docks near by after wards and got to see jelly fish in the water.

We made it to the beach one afternoon for about an hour. The kids loved it so much we had to go back another day. The girls can now say they have played in the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean! We wish we could have seen Jamestown and Washington DC. I guess we will just have to plan another trip someday....

the amazing part of the whole adventure was John drove back two days to Texas alone with the kids so I could stay another week and help my mother. He is an awesome dad and good husband to let me stay!

Thanks for the reassurance!

2009-09-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

Knowing I have a few friends that care I will continue with the blog!

I don't know about this bloging thing anymore.

2009-09-14T21:30:00.001-07:00

Does anyone really look at what I post?

SFA Charter School open house.

2009-07-19T20:44:00.001-07:00

Today was the open house for the new Charter School Emily and Abby will be attending in the fall. We are so happy they are able to go to this school and it is such a beautiful building. Abby was kind of sad to leave Carpenter (the only school she knew) until she saw this new school. She is very excited to be in a brand new school with so much to offer. A highlight that will be there in history for a while is the huge art piece in the foyer that is made up of art pieces Emily's 4th grade class made. It looks like a pretty permanant piece and Emily's name is on the placque! Her piece is in the bottom row of 3 on the far right. It has lots of brush strokes you can see. Each of the girls got to see their class rooms. One month left until they start school there on August 19th!

My ham, Claire!

2009-07-19T20:38:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we had a pretty big rain storm come through between noon and 1:00. John was getting ready to do some yard work and the storm "spoiled" his plans. John and Claire were hanging out in the open garage tinking around and watching the rain. I saw claire out in the rain through the window and went to investigate. John and Claire decided to use the rin to their advantage and were washing the Land Cruiser in the rain. Claire was having a great time playing with the hose in the rain. She can be quite the "supermodel" and was working for the camera for me. She is at a fun, mischievious age!

Touch a truck

2009-07-01T21:00:00.001-07:00

Our local library has special activities every Tuesday for the kids in the community. This week was "touch a truck". They had 6-7 different kinds of trucks there for the kids to sit in, walk through and stuff to see them up close. I was really excited to bring Harrison because he is so into trucks and cars right now. Last year he slept through the whole thing so I didn't even get a picture of him then. This year being that close to the real thing was too much for him! He starting to cry walking through the Swat truck and when I sat him in the fire truck with Claire he was crying to hard on of the firemen came running around the truck to make sure everything was okay. I just told him I was torturing my son and making him sit in the truck he didn't want to because I really wanted a fire truck picture! Claire seemed to enjoy it the most and climbed right up into all the driver seats and posed for a picture. It was a fun time nonetheless!

Abby's Baptism

2009-06-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Abby became "official" on June 7th. John's parents and brother, Dan and his girlfriend jessica came down from Idaho and my sister Maria and her family came to help celebrate Abby's big day. It was great to have family here. Everything went really well and Abby had a great baptism. She is very happy to be baptized. She looked very sweet in her white dress.

Mr. Harrison

2009-05-15T06:30:00.000-07:00

Here are two new pictures of the boy. Since he can't climb up on the furniture yet he pulls the pillows down to lay on the floor. Here he is enjoying some Handy Manny. After his bath one day he snuck off to watch some TV before I could get him dressed. It was too cute not to get a picture of!

John has taught Harrison how to open peanuts and will sit outside with him eating nuts. It is fun to watch Harrison because whenever he gets it open and sees the nut he says "cool". It is kind of a little grunt sometimes but he is always excited to get the nut inside.

Claire end of the year program

2009-05-15T06:27:00.001-07:00

Claire had a program of a couple songs for the end of the year. It ws really cute. Claire loved school, especially he two teachers, Ms. Lisa and Ms. Jennifer. Ms. jennifer lives down the street from us so she would take Calire to twice a week when she went. It was a huge help to me and made a special bond between Claire and Ms. Jennifer

John's Birthday

2009-05-15T06:18:00.000-07:00

John had his big 35 on May 4th. My big gift to him was to go see Dave Matthews Band in concert in Houston on the 1st. It was a great concert and I enjoyed the time spent with John. My Brother in Law Ken so kindly met us in The woodlands and picked up the kids so we could enjoy a super date night! I can't thank him enough. Monday on John's actual day I made his favorite meal of ribs in a smoker and we had our good friends the Smith's over to share in the special day. Emily was her creative self and made a birthday banner for him. She thought it was funny to make the 3 really big like her was only 3 years old! It was a fun night and I love to do special things for the man I love!!!

Happy Belated Birthday!!!

2009-04-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

I am a slacker and didn't get pictures of Abby posted for her birthday. Our Abby turned 8 years old on April 23rd. Abby came into this world as a teeny ball of fire. She has kept me busy ever since. I have enjoyed watching her mature and grow in the last couple years. She will always be my hot and cold child but when she is hot she is very loving and works hard to serve others. She is very social and wants to be playing with other constantly. She has lots of friends and wants to include everyone. She is developing a good friendship with Claire. She enjoys girlscouts and being with her dad. i am so happy to have her in our family! Love you and Happy birthday Abby.

New favorites of Bubbie!

2009-04-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some new shots of bubbie and the things he has been up to lately. He has learned to climb on the kitchen table but then calls out for help down. He likes to carry around FooFoo. The way he holds her makes me laugh so hard I can't stop him from holding her like that. She holds still for him so I guess she doesn't mind that much. The last picture is Harrison after the egg hunt at our spring family fling sitting and eating the whole contents of his eggs in one sitting. He was in heaven and sat there for a good twenty minutes.

Easter

2009-04-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

My rechargable batteries for my camera are shot but I am trying to suck as much juice out of them as possible because I haven't had a chance to buy some more. Unfortuately my Easter pictures didn't turn out that great. The kids enjoyed their baskets. Harrison loved the truck book he got and ran right up to John to have him read it to him. He is very into trucks right now. Most of the pictures are blurry because I had to quickly turn on the camera and take the picture before it died completely on me and there wasn't enough juice to use the flash. This was after sitting overnight in the charger too!!! SORRY! Harrison was in candy heaven and went into a candy coma. The girls loved the treats from Grandma and Papa too! Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny forgot to leave our house....

2009-04-13T10:18:00.001-07:00

Emily has been begging to use her birthday money to buy a bunny since February. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and told her if she keeps her room clean she can buy one. Saturday a man was selling bunnies at the Flea market for $5 each. Emily didn't want one of those because they were full size but Claire did so she used her money to buy FooFoo. Sunday we went to get Emily's dwarf bunnie. So we are now the proud owners of two bunnies. We will have to make a divider for them because FooFoo is a girl and Cookie is a boy!!! We aren't going to do more than two bunnies.

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

The Tucker House Native plant center at SFA has a Annual Egg hunt. I took Claire and Harrison since John went to Dallas and Emily and Abby were at a slumber party. Claire had her face painted like a raccoon at the face painting booth. The looks a little more like part of the Incredibles family but she would tell everyone, "I'm a raccoon." We met friends for the egg hunt and got a few eggs. It was kind of chilly but not too bad. The kids had a fun time and their picture ended up on the front page of the Nacogdoches newspaper.

8th Generation pajamas!!!

2009-04-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

I put these pjs on Harrison the other night that look like they have been through the war. Both knees are torn out and they say they are a size 4!!! I thought about how much they have been though and realized he is the 8th child to wear them. They are been worn by Jordan, Taylor, Paige, Lexi, Emily, Abby, Claire and now Harrison. It would be fun to see if there was a picture of each of them in the pajamas!!

Claire's 4th Birthday Party!

2009-04-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

Harrison getting in on the cupcakes!

I wanted to have a birthday party for claire but for some reason I just couldn't get it together. Wednesday at playgroup I decided to go ahead and just have it on Saturday. Nice last minute planning!!! I ran home got the invites, filled them out and let Claire hand them to her friends at play group. I thought a low key easy going party would be great since I waited to long to do it. We brought our easy up to the park with chairs, blanket, cupcakes and juice. My friend, Arlene and her usband jeremy brought chairs too. We hung out and let the kids play then played a little game that didn't go the best but oh well! We sang and had cupcakes with juice then opened gifts. I think it went pretty good and turned out to be a beautiful day to hang out and visit with friends!!! Even the Dads enjoyed hanging out!

Girl Scouts Awards & Play

2009-04-07T08:45:00.000-07:00

Claire "ready" for Girl Scouts on day!

The Other girl scouts watching the play

Stop Drop and roll scene

the Players

Abby receiving her awards.

Emily receiving her awards.

Emily's Junior Girl Scout troop has been working on a play to teach the Daisys in their troop. The end of March during our award ceremony the girls put on the play. Each girl took turns being a problem child and an Authority figure as they taught to respect Authority. they had lots of fun doing it. Emily and Abby each received new badges and try-its to add to their vest. Abby has earned so many patches I had to add a sash to the bottom of her vest to extend it. The girls are doing great and really enjoy Girl Scouts. Claire can't wait to be one either. She likes to wear Emily's old brownie vest and try to come to Girl Scouts with us. He is heart broken when she can't come. some day soon!

I am going to hell....

2009-03-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

for being a bad examples as a mother. Today at church during sacrament meeting, we were sitting there trying to keep the kids happy when Harrison dumped the zip-lock bag of color wonder makers out all over the floor. Claire then exclaims, "oh, damn it!" John starts laughing so hard he is crying and I am trying to ignore what she said and just pick up the markers. I am hoping not very many people heard her but I made sure to apologize to the new converts sitting behind us. Luckily they found it humerous and laughed too.

My big 4 year old!!!

2009-03-27T07:23:00.001-07:00

Claire has turned 4 years old! She received her birthday crown Tuesday at school when she brought cupcakes to school. She wore it almost all day Wednesday on her Birthday. We spent the day with friends at play group where we shared cookies and that night Claire chose to eat dinner at Cici's Pizza. We came home and opened gifts. Claire was very happy to get an easel and a bike. She kept telling me how much she loved her gifts. She is so sweet right now. When I asked her what she wants to buy with her birthday money she told me "a bike for Harrison". Whenever someone would say Happy Birthday to her she would giggle and then hug them and tell them Happy Birthday back. It made me laugh. She even went around the room after opening gifts and hugging all of us as a thank you saying Happy Birthday to each of us. claire is a busy little girl and keeps me on my toes but her sweet spirit makes her mischief livable even though at times I don't think I can't take it. She is becoming such a big help and fun little girl.

Spring Break Camping

2009-03-23T11:36:00.001-07:00

The end of spring break we went to Huntsville State Park with friends and family for 4 days. It was lots and fun. The kids had a great time running around by themselves with friends being kids. Harrison loved being outdoors and running around this year. We would put him in his seat to eat by the campfire and he would hang out for awhile eating and watching the fire. It was nice for me to get the "break" from being on constant guard of him running into the road going by the sites. Claire had a great time being with her friend Maya and played all day long. We even brought some crafts for the kids to have fun. John brought the canoe and we went out on the lake and got to see alligators. Abby does NOT like alligators or being anywhere near them!!! Our casuality list was short with only Harrison putting his hand in a hole full of fire ants, I broke a tooth on a kernal of popcorn and the batteries on my camera died so I only got a few pictures!!!!! We had a great time being with cousins and friends and hope to camp more with them soon.

Daddy Daughter Dance

2009-02-28T18:53:00.001-08:00

Emily's school hosted a Daddy/Daughter dance tonight for a fundraiser. Emily and John got dressed up for the church dress dance night. I got Emily a new outfit to help make it an extra special night. I curled Emily's hair to help her look her best, I can't believe how big she is getting. Claire and Harrison had to get in on the picture taking too. I love Harrison little "too cool boy" pose leaning on the componet shelf.

Powder puff Pinewood derby

2009-02-28T18:48:00.001-08:00

It was Powder Puff Derby time again. Emily and Abby designed their cars this year hoping to win most creative but they didn't judge the cars on style at all this year. Emily made a beach car with glitter sand and fish stickers. Abby made a spotted tree frog. The girls did good again this year. Emily placed Third out of the Junior division with 17 cars in the contest. Abby placed 4th in the Brownie division with 27 cars!!! They had a great time and made us proud. Harrison liked to watch the cars race down the track but was mad at me when I wouldn't let him run up and grab them off the track. He will be designing his own car with Dad soon enough.

A New Ride

2009-02-26T11:52:00.000-08:00

Our friends down the street have a battery operated Mustang that they will bring over on their walks. Claire loves to ride in it and drive it. She is quite the spaz behind the wheel. She ran over my foot yesterday while I was trying to help her. I am thinking she may have to wait until she is 21 yr old for a drivers licence. I put Harrison in the car with her, yes i know that was dangerous, but he LOVED it and was squealing with joy going down the street. They looked so cute riding in the car. I really want to get one of our own because they kids love it so much. Emily would probably be very upset if I got the kids one now because she has been asking for one for about 3-4 years....

Harrison and Toby

2009-02-18T08:19:00.000-08:00

I watched Toby and Harrison while Arlene took Claire and Maya to a science circus at SFA. The boys play pretty good together and Harrison had fun pushing Toby in the doll stroller. It made me laugh to see him doing it but he would laugh so hard thinking how funny he was. When I went to take this first picture Harrison ran over to the hearth and sat down.

The Party

2009-02-18T08:13:00.000-08:00

Saturday was an eventful day. Emily decided to take two friends rollar skating and the movies for her birthday. We went rollar skating from 1-3 at the local rink then drove about 45 minutes south to Lufkin to the big movie theater to see Hotel for dogs. The girls loved it and had a really good time. John kept Claire and Harrison at home so it was a fun "Big girls" day for us all. That night Emily wasn't hungry for dinner after all the movie popcorn so we had pizza at home and opened gifts and had cake. Emily's favorite gift was her digital camera and she is constantly using it. good thing I got rechargable batteries and a 2 GB SD card. She like to video everything!!

Our Little Artist

2009-02-18T08:09:00.000-08:00

The other day Claire wanted to play artist. She wanted an easel to do her work on but we don't have one. She finally settled on on of my work chairs then stood there holding the paint pallet telling me "This is how a real artist does it". I may have to consider an easel for her birthday because she really like this and it kept her busy. The only down side is I have pink paint on my Aeron chair now!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY

2009-02-07T06:52:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it has been 10 years since our oldest was born?

Neither can I but today she turns 10. We have a fun day planned for her and two friends to go rollar skating and then to see the movie Hotel for Dogs. She is becoming quite a young lady and can be a big helper to me with Harrison. She is very creative which is exciting and frustating because she isn't very neat about cleaning up after one of her creations. We are working on that. She has a kind spirit and worries about others feelings. She has a goofy sense of humor that is fun. We love her very much and can't imagine our family without her.

Silly boy!

2009-02-04T14:17:00.001-08:00

You can't put on a broken headband. Harrison broke on of my headbands then kept trying to put it on his head and coudn't quite understand why it woudn't stay. He sure looks cute trying!

Can you believe on January 23rd....

2009-02-04T14:10:00.000-08:00

It is in the 70's, my flowers are blooming and Harrison is ready to go on a picnic!!! The weather flucuates a ton here. One day you want to wear flip flops and be outside. The next day you are putting layers of sweaters on and it is below 40 degrees at night. I like the warm days but the big temperature swings makes everyone sick. (Do you recognize Harrison's bakset?)

Another take down!

2009-01-23T06:38:00.000-08:00

Harrison got Claire pinned the other night like he did Abby. He has a thing for sitting on their head. It makes me laugh but Claire couldn't take 25 almost 26 lbs to her head for very long. I like how he is watching TV like it is no big deal but Claire is starting to scream. He is a true brother!!!

Harrison in Heaven

2009-01-23T06:34:00.000-08:00

Harrison found Abby's huge lollipop from christmas the other night and thought he hit the jackpot!!! The sucker was as big as his head and he had a hard time holding it up. He worked hard to nibble on it and get it really juicy. It all came to an end when he dropped it on the tile and it broke into pieces. Abby was okay with that because it was easier for her to eat in pieces too.

Winning ticket

2009-01-18T19:39:00.000-08:00

Here is a really bad picture of Emily but she is proudly holding her winning ticket and silver Ipod Nano prize. She bugged dad all day to get music loaded on it so she could listen to it. I am guessing we won't get as much protesting from her next time we want to go wheeling.

Harrison takes one down!

2009-01-18T19:30:00.001-08:00

Harrison is learning to hold his own and take on his sisters already. The other day he was wrestling with Abby and sat on her pretty good. Tonight he was holding onto claire's clothes to get his toy back from her. I think I may have even heard him say "mine". Hopefully he stays my sweet boy too.

Gilmer Toyota Jamboree

2009-01-18T19:12:00.000-08:00

Powder puff line up

one of our morning runs

John and Harrison watching the trucks

Me with the truck!

The kid playing in and loving the dirt. Harrison was getting rocks all day.

This weekend we went to a TLCA event and drove trails at Barnwell mountain. It was a little warmer this year so the kids got to get out and play along the trails. John drove some trails in the morning then we watched trucks try to climb "twister" a rough obstacle that tests their trucks. The girls and Harrison all loved to watch the big trucks work their way up it. After that we had lunch and went to watch trucks "race" through the rock garden. We saw a few trucks almost tip over and it was really exciting. I even had to grab Claire out of the way of a truck. Scared us both pretty good. In the after noon I drove on a Powderpuff run and then we did a few harder runs than the powder puff that I got to drive also. They were fun but I still miss Hell's revenge in Moab, my favorite run to drive. We ended the night with a dinner and raffle for the kids and adults. There weren't lots of kids there so each kid got 2 prizes and then they had 2 grand prizes for the kids and Emily won an Ipod Nano. We looked like Christmas walking out of there with 8 prizes and 1 grand prize, that is a benefit of bringing/having 4 kids. We were definitely the biggest family there. All the kid's prizes made up for us getting skunked in the adult raffle we actually bought into. The kids did well on the trip and we had a good time so it was a great weekend.

Claire's First "sleepover"

2009-01-13T15:12:00.001-08:00

Saturday my neighbor asked if I could watch her two girls while she went to a wedding in Lousiana. Her oldest is Emily and Abby's age and her younger one is Claire's age so it is not a problem to watch them because it keeps my girls entertained too. They weren't going to be home until late so I told Claire it was a sleep over. We set up Claire's tent and got the princess sleeping bags out and let the girls sleep in there. They eventually fell asleep. My neighbor picked up her girls just after 11:00 and carried her daughter out without waking either little girl up. Claire came crying into my room about 3:00 in the morning because her friend was missing. I felt bad she didn't get a true sleepover but that is as good as it gets for 3 year olds!!!!

Harrison's New Duck

2009-01-13T15:07:00.001-08:00

My Texas Mom Marsha gave Harrison the cutest little duck toy when we went to give her a birthday gift. I told her she had the birthday thing mixed up but she is very sweet that way. Always thinking of others. Claire and Harrison have adopted her as their Texas Memaw. Harrison loves the toy and ran all over the house playing with it. There are little beads on the wheel that make a little clanking noise as he walks. I just have to watch him close because he likes to swing it at things too.

Music Man

2009-01-04T14:53:00.001-08:00

PAUSE MY MUSIC TO HEAR HARRISON

We have a microphone that goes with the HSM game for the wii. Harrison got a hold of it the other day and was walking around "singing" into it. He sounded so cute and funny I had to get it on video. I loved how it looked like he was "dancing" to his singing also. Harrison is very fun at this age and likes to dance and will start dancing almost anytime you ask him too. He loves music and moving to it. One of his favorite is Laurie Berkner. Even the girls will ask to hear her and sing along with Harrison. Harrison is also into coming up to me on the computer and turning my chair so I can get out and do his bidding.

Christmas morning

2009-01-02T14:15:00.000-08:00

Claire with her stocking loot!

Abby

relaxing Em

Harrison couldn't wait to get his toy out of the box to ride it

Abby (What a sucker!)

Emily with her stocking

Happy Claire

Playing trains

Harrison jumping out of dad's arms to his train table.

The girls ready to see their gifts!

We had a quiet Christmas at home this year. We were mean and didn't let them out of their room until 8:00. They all were happy for their Santa gifts. Emily got a new bike, Abby got a guitar, Claire got a Nintendo DS and Harrison got a train table. After opening our gifts and hanging out for a little while we packed to go to Houston to see Cousins. The day after Christmas while in Houston Abby became sick with a stomach bug. It then proceeded to effect each of us one by one which made for a GREAT visit. I am sure Ken and Maria will be excited to have us visit again soon!!! Over all it was a good Christmas but we missed lots of our family.

Family christmas pictures

2008-12-22T09:07:00.001-08:00

My new favorite picture of John and I.

My handsome little boy. Definitely not my baby anymore.

Sweet Abby

Emily, my young lady to be

The whole family. Claire's individual picture had rotating issues too. I hate sideway pictures.

I have been waiting to upload these pictures until I had my Christmas cards mailed out. I wanted our pictures to be a bit of a surprise. I went all out and bought matching outfits for us. I love that look when I see others do it. The pictures actually used in our christmas cards isn't shown because I am having read-only won't rotate issues with it. We took these on sunday afternoon inbetween one of the many activities that Sunday. They turned out pretty good considering the situation. I hope you enjoy updated shots of us. Merry Christmas!

Mommy's little Piggy!!!

2008-12-19T07:31:00.000-08:00

Harrison is very into bread right now because it is the only food he can reach on his own. The other day he must have been really hungry because he kept bringing me the loaf of bread to have some. He would then shove the whole piece into his mouth as fast as he could. It was so funny but I had to watch him close because he would almost choke himself.

Claire's program

2008-12-19T07:27:00.000-08:00

Claire's school had a really sweet christmas program with all the classes in the preschool. It was very cute to see all the little kids singing or trying to sing. I was surprised to find out Claire is the tallest in her class. Claire has really enjoyed preschool and would like to go everyday.

Goofy Girls

2008-12-19T07:22:00.000-08:00

Sunday Emily was looking for something to do so she took one of my SU boxes and cut it into a TV set. Then made a remote control and wii controllers out of the scraps and then the 3 kids "played TV" for awhile that afternoon. It would make you think my kids are deprived and don't have a TV but there is a big screen on the other side of the Christmas tree. I guess using their imaginations is better than staring dazed at the TV.

Santa

2008-12-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

My friend had a Christmas open house and invited us to come see Santa. Harrison did a lot better than I thought he would. He was unsure about Santa but sat on his lap without crying. The lighting was bright enough to make my flash not work but not good enough so the pictures came out fuzzy. I can't complain too much when you get free up and personal Santa pictures. He home was decorated beautiful and had lots of trees decorated so nice.

The fashion sense of a 3 year old.....

2008-12-03T14:43:00.000-08:00

Claire has been wearing her church slip all day. The house is pretty warm today so i wasn't worried about it. When the older girls got home she wanted to go play outside with Abby so I told her she had to get dressed. This is what she came out of her room wearing. I just have to laugh and let her go because the battle will be too much. Hopefully soon her fashion sense will improve.

Crashed out

2008-11-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

The other day Harrison wanted a sucker like his sisters so I put him in the high chair and let him go to town. After a bit I realized I wasn't hearing anything from him so I went to check on him and he had crashed out with the sucker still in hand. He was covered in sticky sucker but I tried to clean him the best I could without waking him up then put him in his comfy bed. He look so sweet sleeping.

the silly bird returns

2008-11-14T07:30:00.001-08:00

The cardinal has been flying into our window for 3 mornings in a row. Now I need to figure out how to stop it because the little continual hitting is driving me nuts!!! Why would a bird fly into a window over and over and over again????

Silly bird

2008-11-12T20:01:00.001-08:00

Wednesday morning Harrison woke up early so I brought him into bed with me to hang out for half a hour until it was time to wake the girls. As I laid there dozing I kept hearing this noise that sounded like something hitting our shed close to our bedroom window. When John went to get food for Harrison in the kitchen he said a red bird kept flying into the kitchen window. I went out to see and sure enough this cardinal kept flying into the window. I went on with my morning getting the kids ready for school and then driving carpool. When I got home at 8:00 the bird was still flying into the window. It finally stopped about 9:00. I still have no clue what the bird saw or wanted in the house that would make it fly over and over into a window. I do love seeing the bright red cardinals around here. I bought a bird feeder the fall so we could get some neat birds to watch in the yard. It has finally attracted some birds. I just need to keep the kids from eating the sunflower seeds in the food.

Trick Rider

2008-11-12T19:55:00.000-08:00

John brought this purple rocking dino back from Idaho with him. He said Harrison was kind of afraid of it at first but finally rode it their last day in Idaho. It has been fought over by the sisters since coming home. Yesterday afternoon Harrison climbed on and starting doing all these "tricks" on it. It was making me laugh so I had to take some pictures. He got his hair cut that day too so I think he is looking really big. I was surprised when he stood up on the dino but he really thought he was cool doing that. He little feet up in the air make me laugh. I couldn't ask for a sweeter boy!

Girl Scout Rededication

2008-11-03T20:41:00.000-08:00

Emily's awards

Abby's awards

The whole troop doing the pledge.

Emily in her new green vest.

Abby getting pinned.

Claire sneaking in.

The brownie group

The Junior Group

On Oct. 27th Emily and Abby were rededicated to Girl Scouts. They had a nice ceremony and dinner for the families. Abby is now in her second year of Brownies and Emily in a Junior Girl Scout. As you can see from the one picture of Claire squeezing in on her knees, she wants to be a part of it too. The girls are really enjoying it and making lots of friends. Our troop has grown to 21 girls with Daisy's, Brownies and Junior Girl Scouts. They have earned quite a few patches and badges they received that night too. I need to add a skirt to Abby's vest to make room for all her patches.

Halloween adventures

2008-11-03T20:28:00.000-08:00

We had an eventful halloween "week". It started with the ward party on the 24th. They had lots of fun activities and the girls ran around having fun. Some of our friends from playgroup came making it even more fun. Saturday the 25th was the big city party called Scare on the square. We trick or treated around to the various businesses then went and handed out candy at the LDS booth. The girls really enjoyed it. We carved pumpkins on Tuesday the 28th. It was fun to have Harrison participate this year. He made me laugh when he would try to clean out the pumpkin then later tried eating the lid of the pumpkins. Claire kept calling the inside "gook" which I thought was pretty cute. We ended the week trick or treating with our friends in the neighborhood on the 31st. Needless to say we have TONS of candy that is teasing me but so far I have done good and only had two pieces. As you will notice from the pictures each time we dressed up Claire had to wear a different costume. I really liked the fairy one on her and thought the purple spray made it fun. It wasn't worth the fight to make her wear one thing. The taiwan dress was pretty cute on her too, she wore black leggings and her "dorothy" shoes with it. I made Harrison's scarecrow overalls and Emily's poodle skirt. It was fun and felt good to make it myself.

Fishing at the ponds

2008-10-22T17:42:00.000-07:00

The weather has been great lately to go down and fish in the evenings. John and the girls go down often. I come down with Harrison to feed the ducks. Our friend, the builder has planted some bass and catfish in the ponds so it is fun to try and catch those. John and Emily each caught a catfish on the last trip down. Emily's was the length of he mid leg. She was very proud and told everyone about it. She has even got brave enough to get the perch off her own hook when she catches those. Too bad Papa wasn't here because he would have been proud of her new fishing skills. I had gone home for the night so we didn't get a picture of the catfish but maybe next time. Claire likes to catch the perch and has fun doing that with her own little pole.

New pictures of Harrison

2008-10-22T16:44:00.000-07:00

Listening to his echo

Down by the ponds

Playing with the tall grass

Wanting down the slide when I want a picture

Drinking from his sippy

Loving Abby's lab webkins

In the stove drawer

taking a tubby with Toby

Hollaring from the rocking chair

fun green jammies climbing on the table

Here are some various pictures of Harrison from the last month. He is full on walking and turning into such a little boy. I love him to death and cuddle him tons because he is growing fast. He loves to climb on things like the console table and the girls rocking chair. He likes to climb on the rocking chair then yell. He definitely thinks yelling is fun and likes to hear his echo when we are in the front yard. He "dances" when ever he hears music which is precious. He loves to play with Claire and follow the girls around. He is often found "in" things like the stove drawer, my bottom bathroom drawer, my shirt drawer, etc. He has learned a few signs to help communicate with us. He does more, all done, and eat. If anyone is eating he must have some too. He is my heaviest baby and feels like a lead weight. He knows where his head is and goes to bed pretty good on his own, loves the bath tub.

Birthday presents at home

2008-10-10T08:10:00.001-07:00

Harrison enjoyed opening his presents from family at home. The girls enjoyed playing with everthing as much as he did. It was fun for mom to get to buy some boy toys. It was fun to watch him open his toys and be excited about them. His favorite was a train that plays music and rotates 3 balls through it. Harrison got on his knees and danced to it with his arms up in the air. I got it on vidoe but not any still pictures.

The Birthday Party

2008-10-10T07:53:00.000-07:00

The sesame street cake with their picture on it.
Proud mom and dad. (I hate the way I look in this picture!)
Blowing out the candle.
Dad's with their buddies!!
Having at the mini chocolate cake!!

Harrison and Toby's party was a great success!!! We had lots of friends there eating pizza and having a good time. Maya and Claire opened all the boys gifts. The boys had a good time eating their birthday cake. Toby was into it more than Harrison and ended up covered with chocolate cake!!! It was fun to be with out friends and celebrate the boys!!!

BIRTHDAY BOY

2008-09-25T10:38:00.001-07:00

It is hard to believe a whole year has past since Harrison entered our family. He is such a sweet boy and we are all loving him lots. He is taking those tentative first steps on his own and will be running soon. He loves to check out everything and the girls are learning to close their door to keep him out. We had our 1 year check up today and Harrison's weighs 21 lbs 4 oz. in the 26% and is 29 1/2" long 40% and his head is in the 80%!! I personally thought he was closer to 25 lbs because he is such a solid weight to carry. He is not a feather weight like his sisters. He is wearing a 12-18 months clothes depending how they fit. His bladder reflex has corrected and he is no longer on medication for it either. We are very happy to have a healthy happy little guy!!!!

Hair Repair

2008-09-24T14:37:00.001-07:00

After getting some advice from "the peas" I realized there was a 3rd option of doing a short bob that the short hair would "blend" into better. I was able to get an appointment in the afternoon and took Claire to have her hair fixed. The stylist also parted her hair on the other side to "cover" the shorter area. It does cover it but I am not sure if it will stay because she has a stuboorn calick (not sure how to spell that) that wants to part the other way. I do think the hair cut turned out cute. Emily and Abby are now asking to get their hair the same way!!!! I told Claire if she cut it herself again she is getting it cut like Harrison. I hope she learned her lesson and I am looking for a lock box for all my scissors!!!

Claire is bringing back the mullet!!!!

2008-09-24T09:15:00.001-07:00

Monday Claire was making cards for her brother's birthday and his friend Toby. A little bit later when I was making lunch for her I noticed she looked different so I got down by her and noticed her hair had been cut. When I asked her if she cut her hair she told me she did it on Saturday. It got me thinking "Did I reallly not notice this for two days?" then I remembered doing her hair for church Sunday and it was all there. So I asked her "where did you put the hair?" She told me the garbage can but Sunday night I empty all the trash for trash day on Monday and I didn't see any hair when I did that so then I had her show me where she threw it away and sure enough the hall bathroom garbage had a big pile of her hair in it. I was not happy and she got punished. We recently cut her hair about 8" to clean up the ends and get it similar to her sister's, Abby like she wanted it. She is known to "take matters into her own hands" so I thought doing this would prevent her from cutting her own hair. I tell my kids all the time we only cut paper. I am not sure why this child has decided to do this TWICE. I now have to decide do I leave it goofy looking as it grows out or do I get her a short hair cut??? It is pretty short by her ear so she would have really short hair to correct this. Any advice would be appreciated!!

Storms bring out the fire ants!!!!!

2008-09-19T12:38:00.000-07:00

I noticed Sunday while cleaning there seemed to be lots of fire ant hills popping up after the storm. Monday while in Houston I accidently stood on one that was buried in the grass and got a couple bites. Wednesday while playing outside Claire stood on a hill and had ants crawling up her long pants. Abby and our neighbor tried to get the off her but she still had some on her when she came screaming in to the house. I stripped her down and got her in the tub but she still got over 50 bites. The bites swelled up fast. The next day they turn into white head looking things. Claire's poor foot looks so painful. It is best to "pop" them and get the white out so they heal faster but Claire won't let me touch them other than putting anti-itch cream on them. she is tough and doesn't complain unless I ask to "get the poison" out.

Unlucky Ike Victims in Nacogdoches

2008-09-19T12:17:00.002-07:00

I drove around one of the harder hit neighborhoods on Thursday (6 days afterwards). They still had lots of clean up and repairs to do. Some people are going to take a little bit more to get back to normal. It really made me realize how blessed we were to only lose 1 tree and to have it fall away from the house. Sunday the day afterwards while everyone was cleaning up their yard we had people from all over the neighborhood coming to help each other and work together. We were even brought some Cajun food from a neighbor and I had Gumbo and a crawfish dish for the first time. They were a bit spicy for me but John really liked them. One thing I realized about "waiting out" a storm is: the storm itself can be handled, it is dealing with lose of power, businesses closed, resources not avaliable that make it so hard. You truly need to be self contained to be on your own for a few days.

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-19T12:17:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of Ike and how it effected us. This first one is the trees in our backyard bending in the wind. I have heard we had 80-100 mile a hour winds in Nacogdoches. The girls went out a little in the beginning of the storm. We had one tree in our back yard fall down through 2 fences. Our neighbor across the street had a tree fall on her house. Luckily it was close to the house so it didn't cause any damage. John was able to get both trees cut down and clean them up the day after the storm. We all helped to pick up depris and clean the yard up. We were without power for 3 days which is lucky because some friends down the street went 6 days without power. We made the bestof it and set up a cooking kitchen in the garage. It was like camping but we did have more conveniences.

The girls at the park

2008-09-08T09:46:00.001-07:00

At the Park

2008-09-08T09:40:00.001-07:00

Saturday I took the kids to the park to play for a little while. They had been asking all week to go to the park. Harrison loved the swings and giggled lots while on them. He looked like such a big boy with his new hair cut so I took lots of pictures of him. It is hard to believe in less than 3 weeks he will be a year old. Time has flown by.

Family hair cuts

2008-09-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

This week has turned out to be the week of family hair cuts. Abby has been literally begging to get her hair trimmed because she likes it shorter. I finally agreed to get it done Friday after school. When Claire heard Abby was getting it cut she kept asking to have her hair like Abby's. I like Claire's long hair but thought a change is fine with me also. We didn't quite go as short as Abby but they still cut about 8" off her lenght. Saturday John needed to go the to barber to get his hair cut so I asked to go with to see about having Harrison's hair cut. He was look very scruffy and I wanted it cleaned up for his first birthday party and pictures. Harrison sat on my lap and let the lady cut his hair without any problems. They even gave him a cut certificate for his first hair cut with a piece of his hair attached to it. I never got that with the girls so it was very cool. We are now looking good for a little while!!

Playing outside

2008-09-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

I was playing outside with all the kids last weekend trying to get energy out. Emily put their helmet on Harrison. He looked like a little cutie but got mad when he couldn't pull it off. he had fun riding the bike with Emily. We just need to get something more manly than a princess bike!!

Saying goodbye

2008-09-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the girls with Chloe the morning she went to leave with her brother. The girls enjoyed the last time with her. I got a little teary seeing the girls sad about her leaving but they have done really good. They have even starting playing in the back yard again!!!

How much is therapy going to cost me?

2008-08-28T19:10:00.000-07:00

I can't call anyone to vent and help me through this because our crappy phone I need to replace won't work but that is another story so i am going to talk about it on my blog.

Remember that cute brown puppy we got back in March... it has grown in to a big dog my kids won't play with, won't clean up after and it is a fight to get them to feed her. The poor dog is alone outside all by herself 24/7. She is now big and is so excited when anyone goes outside that she jumps on the girls and ends up hurting them so they go outside even less. Meanwhile we have a brand new swing set no one plays on because it is out by the dog and the dog is trying to entertain herself by digging up half the yard, chewing everything and anything up to shreds including the insulation to our AC unit, bike seats and bags, etc. In the last week she had decided she doesn't want to stay in our yard alone and is making escapes where ever she can by hoping over out 5' gate, climbing on the shed and sliding into the neighbors yard to be with their dogs. I have been on dog duty to make sure she isn't escaping which means getting up at 2:00 or 4:00 in the morning when I hear her on the shed to stop her before she jumps.

I gave the girls a warning that if I didn't see an improvement in them interacting with the dog I was going to find her a new home where people wanted to be with her. The girls have not changed their interaction so we found out the person who adopted one of her brothers would like her too. I have made arrangements for her to go tomorrow. The girls heard about it and began crying at bedtime how much they love her and such. I feel evil because I don't feel bad she is leaving. I feel bad we put the dog through such a crappy beginning of her life and really hope she will be happy learning to be a bird dog. I think she will like it a lot better than laying on our patio getting depressed. My girls don't see it that way. I have explained it takes more than love to have a dog and she deserves to have people who will interact with her.

Pray for me all goes well tomorrow and my kids are able to deal with it and will eventually understand. If I ever mentioning getting a dog again come hit me along side the head with a 2x4.

His new thing.....

2008-08-26T19:25:00.001-07:00

Harrison is really into diapers right now. (clean ones!!) He loves to play with them and make them make noise. He gets REALLY mad when you take them away too. That is why we are going on an errand with him holding 2 diapers. He isn't bias either swim or regular work for him. It just made me laugh today to see him sitting there happy with a death grip on the diapers so I took a picture.

Harrison walking video

2008-08-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

Harrison is SO close to walking on his own. He can stand by himself keeping his balance for quite a while. He has taken one or two steps a couple times. You can tell he is really thinking about it sometimes as he stand by furniture. He has figured out he can get some places quicker walking with his walker toy. He has even figured out how to move it to walk again when he runs into things. I love to see him learning new things. He has gotten better since this video was taken, this was one of his first attempts. i love it!

First day of school

2008-08-26T18:49:00.001-07:00

Emily and Abby started school on Monday and Claire had her first day on Tuesday. I have 3 children going to 3 different schools. Luckily I have a good friend in the neighborhood in the same situation so we are carpooling. It is kind of a major coordination effort but once we get it down it will be very helpful!!! The girls had a great first day and are happy with their teachers and school. When I picked up Emily from the new Charter school she is going to she asked me, "When can I go back?" I am taking that as a REALLY good sign her new school is good. I just wish I could get Abby there sooner than next year! the group shot is actually from Em and Ab's second day of school. They are loving wearing their new clothes. Claire had one mishap at school. I had a Dr appt for Harrison and thought I might run over picking up Claire so I had my friend pick her up and sent a lunch so Claire wouldn't be hungry. Claire thought she was going to eat at school and was very upset when she didn't get to. She told me her teacher was mean because she wouldn't let her eat her lunch. She calmed down and they told me about her good day.

Memory tag

2008-08-24T19:50:00.000-07:00

Something new with no pictures!!!

Here are the rules:

1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. I can't wait to see what people remember!

soaked

2008-08-14T20:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture in the Shamu "believe" show after they all got soaked during the show. It was a great show and really nice arena to watch.

more seaworld pictures

2008-08-14T20:06:00.001-07:00

pointing at the fish

the kids loving being with dad

I love this profile of Harrison against the fish tank!!!

My boy and the fish.

Harrison's favorite part was the coral reefs and shark encounter. He loved seeing all the fish swimming right in front of him. It was great to watch his reaction and see him try to touch the fish. We spent a lot of time there because he liked it so much. Abby was anxious to leave the tank area. She was worried the tanks were going to break and sharks would get her. No matter how much I reassured her she still kept asking to leave. I am glad we took the time to be together and have the kids see some neat things even though they were spazes at the hotel room. You would have thought they had never stayed in a hotel before by how amazed they were by everything and it was a standard inexpensive chain hotel!!!! Emily and Abby loved to go get ice from the ice maker! They fought over the mini shampoo, lotions and soaps. Claire carried around the insolated cups for the coffee maker for two days pretending to give all of us cocoa.

Seaworld

2008-08-14T19:50:00.000-07:00

We had two day passes to Seaworld. We were planning to go Monday and Tuesday but it rained really bad on Tuesday so we were at Seaworld on Monday and Wednesday. On Monday we went to the shows and on the rides. The girls really loved feeding the dolphins. It was cool how close you could get to them. We bought the food to feed them a few fish and they girls got to touch the dolphins. We saw the Shamu show twice because the girls really liked it. On the second time John sat in the "splash zone" with the girls. Harrison and I stayed up high and dry. The girls loved getting all wet by the whales. On the second day we went to their water park called Lost Lagoon for most of the day. I didn't get any pictures because I didn't want to get the camera out in all the water. Everyone had a great time and it went by too quickly. Harrison was very brave and played around this foam turtle in the baby pool area all by himself, the water was about 6 " deep. Claire really liked the splash maker area with water spraying out of everywhere. She even went in the wave pool and down a waterslide with dad. Emily and Abby loved the wave pool and slides also. Overall it was a great trip and super nice to be with dad for 4 whole days!!!!!

The Alamo!!!!

2008-08-14T19:38:00.000-07:00

John has been working over 60 hours a week for the last month. He is lucky to not work on Sunday so we decided to take a mini trip to San Antonio to Seaworld. Of course we had to go see the Alamo too. The girls weren't too excited to go and kept asking why we were there. I told them you can't go to San Antonio without seeing the Alamo and if we didn't have the Alamo we would be living in Mexico right now instead of the USA. It was very cool to see a part of history. Luckily it had rained early that day so it wasn't very hot. The kids still got tired of all the walking and all four of them piled into the double stroller. They did have fun posing with the cannons. Claire is our little supermodel in training. We were planning to go see the river walk after the Alamo but we reached the kids breaking point at the Alamo so we headed back to the hotel. We will have to see the river walk on our next trip to San Antonio.

My boy is getting BIG!

2008-08-14T19:28:00.001-07:00

This is one of my recent favorite pictures of Harrison. He was looking like a big boy and in a happy mood so I took advantage with a few pictures of him. I love to see his sweet face looking over his crib when he wakes up from a nap. Claire and Harrison have a sweet little relationship, it will be fun to watch them grow up together.

Claire with baby raccoon

2008-08-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

We recently had a new family move into our ward. They live in a home slightly in the woods. Their 13 year old daughter found an abandoned baby raccoon in their yard. When the mother hadn't come for it in a few hours they took it in and have been feeding it themselves with puppy formula. When I went to visit them I took the kids with me so Claire could see her beloved favorite animal, the raccoon. She held it for a short time but was kind of unsure about it. It was teeny and made little squeaky sounds. Claire was excited to tell Dad all about holding a "rat-toon" when he came home from work. Notice her dress up outfit her dress up radar found immediately at their home. She had on about 3-4 outfits in the hour we were there.

Face Paint.....

2008-08-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

Emily has been begging me for face paint forever. I thought you could only get it during Halloween until Emily found it at Hobby Lobby the other day. I finally gave in and bought it as something for the girls to do to keep them busy. Emily went home immediately and made Claire her first victim. Note the raccoon on the forehead, Claire's favorite animal. I took a double take when I looked at Claire all day because the glasses almost looked real.

My goofy girls.

2008-07-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

I was sitting at the computer one day when I hear claire ask if i will help her put on her tights. when I turned to look at her I busted up laughing because she had them on her head. Emily and Abby hear me laughing and had to copy Claire. The goofy park was Abby had thick wool tight you couldn't see her with and Emily got patterned tights. What a bunch of dorks!!!!

Touch a truck

2008-07-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

The library had a special "touch a truck" day and had all sorts of trucks for the kids to see up close. The girls thought it was pretty cool to get to climb inside and see them up close. Abby was really proud to have her picture taken by the garbage truck. It wasn't a very popular truck. I wanted to take a picture of Harrison by the trucks but he slept the whole time!!!

4th continued

2008-07-19T09:52:00.001-07:00

Next we went to the lake for lunch and some fun in the sun. It was Harrison's first time in the water on the lake. He didn't like it at first but realized mommy was going to hold him the whole time so he was okay with it and the cool water is refreshing. We met up with some other friends of ours with a boat and swam around with them some. We all had a great time. Emily and Abby rode the tube for bit at the end and claire fell asleep after playing so hard. we ended the day at a BBQ at a good friends in the neighborhood. It was a lot of fun hanging out. They had a blow up water slide for the kids and washers for the guys. I forgot my camera so we don't have pictures of the fun. They also did a great firework display after dark they was great. Mortors are legal in Texas so they had spent quite a bit to put on a fireworks display that would reveal the city's display but we were alot closer. I even got some ash down my shirt. Lucky me it was not still hot. It was a good 4th.