Summer time!

SUMMER ROCKS!!!!

Mr. Dare-devil himself!!

I've gotta get better and updating! I'm sorry guys, it's been in the back of my mind for a while now but everytime I sit down at the computer I forget. But here in the midst of insomnia I remembered!!

This summer has taken the two older boys up to Minnesota to visit with Grandma's and Grandpa for 5 weeks. They're lovin' every minute of it and would probably stay forever if they were allowed! hee hee...but alas, they must return home.

For the one's that were lucky enough to stay home with mom and dad, we've tried hard to make it a good summer for them as well. We started off by heading to the neighborhood pool, VBS, the zoo and a movie (Kung Fu Panda) played PIRATES,

A pirate says "arrrr!"....or "cheese!"

no "cheese" here, this is serious playing!

then we took our "vacation" last week over the 4th and went to Corpus Christi and stayed at my parents house--it was alot of fun, and cooler weather than we're used too...it was over cast most of the trip but that was ok becuase the first 2 days we kinda got burned out in the pool.

Jillian swimming to dad! (pre ear-ache)

Jay and Aiden swimming at night

Jillian came down with an ear ache so that eliminated swimming for the last few days we were there but the highlight of our trip was going to San Antonio to Sea World!! That was so much fun and PERFECT weather!! We needed more than one day though!! we didn't get to see everything but we were very happy with what we did see and do.

We saw alot of shows 3 or 4 of them, here is Jay, Aiden and Jillian at one of them

We came home on July 5th and here I am at 6:07 (been up for 3 hours all ready) updating my blog. We've also had some down-time. Aiden and Jillian have been busy playing (or fighting) together, but I can tell that Aiden really misses his brothers. He's slept in Christian's room every night and I tihnk it's so he can be closer to Jillian's room...it's hard when your roomate leaves for 5 weeks!

Just hangin' out,

dang its hard havng such cute kids! (hee hee)

is he normal?

Jillian is about 85% potty trained. Not at naps or bedtime and only the occassional accident. Who said potty training girls was easy!? holy cow I'm thinking that person never had a boy to compare it to! LOL

Jay got a new position within the same company. He's excited with it came a raise and the freedom to move wherever we'd like (after our house sells...which is hopefully soon...we are going to relist it soon I belive)

Jillian will be going to Princess Camp through her tippi toes program where they'll spend 4 hours each day dancing, singing, playing crafts and eating lunch. She's really missed tippi toes since the last session ended so I'm sure she'll have a blast!!

Aiden's in T-ball through the boys and girls club and is the "RED SOX" he declared the other day after catching a glimpse of the Boston Red Sox on tv that "there's a team named after my team!" he was shocked, excited and really loving the fact that they named it after HIS RED SOX! It was really funny. No games have been played yet, just practices...I'll keep you updated (hopefully) on how they do though!

Dad helping out!

going through the drills...

SCHOOLS OUT!!

Aiden's final kinder program! (see the chunk of hair missing? (it's on the left in the front)...yeah mr. barber he's NOT!)

Last time I updated my kids were still in school, now I have a 1st grader, a 4th grader and an 8th grader!! They all passed with good marks and good behavior! whew!

Wii Fit!

Also to keep in shape we got the Wii Fit..(apparently you have to get DO it to get fit...mmm, they should tell you that on the package! hee hee) anyway here's pictures of Jillian doing it, and a video at the end of her too.

Dancing with the mii's

Yoga baby

VIDEO TIME!!

Jillian doing the Wii

Finally here is a cute video from the zoo...one that cracks Aiden up every time...a baby monkey pickin' at his booty...(yeah he's ALL boy!) This little guy was so funny though, he would hardly walk at all, instead he just rolled and back flipped and was just crazy!!! Jay said him and Aiden would get along GREAT!! they were both in their own world. Notice in the video that momma gorilla doesn't have 1 arm :( we don't know what happened to her but it was sad to see. Little baby didn't care though he still harassed her to no end! LOL. The zoo had so many baby animals, lots of baby from the monkey family, but also baby a giraffee, tiger, ducks, camels and goats in the petting zoo! I've never seen so many baby animals in the zoo before! it was so neat!! I stopped it kind of abruptly because I didn't think it was "appropriate" to have on tape, but after hearing Aiden howl at it I wish I would have let it go a little longer! LOL

Monkey scratch

Thanks for stopping by!!

Spring time!

Hi guys!!

Wow it's been so long since I've updated, sorry!! Life has been one crazy ride! I think we're waiting in line for the next ride right now so while I wait I've decided to update and let ya'll know what's been happening here.

In my last post I mentioned Jillian was potty training, but we're back to square one with that. She's in diapers and is a little stubborn about this...so I'm not pushing it. She knows what to do but this is her little power trip, may as well let her have it for a couple more months. In the mean time she's singing her ABC's, counting to 12 and reading books galore! We bought some ABC flash cards and she managed to identify 20 letters. Vowels are giving her some problems along with H, J, X and Y

Too cool for potty training

Helen came to visit in March, which was fun. She had a ball playing with the kids (outside of course, since she's from Minnesota and it was freezing up there still!) they played baseball and went to the park and read books. It was a great time and we hope to see her soon!! While she was here we went to a Japanese Steakhouse and that was an experience I don't think the boys will soon forget. It was so fun!! I loved it! (pictures below)

Helen and the younger 3 after their backyard baseball game

My handsome boys!!

Japanese Steakhouse...Jillian's in shock and awe

Christian started football training again. They're getting familiar with the positions and trying a new spot every day. He's thrilled! He's been very responsible with his phone, grades and staying out of trouble. He's a great kid and he's growing up to be a great young man. We're very very proud of him!

Bailey and Aiden are doing great in school, making friends and adjusting pretty well to life in the Valley. While it's not our ideal place to live it's much better than it was a year ago! We're all being accepted and fitting in better than we have in the past.

cute isn't he?

Jillian has joined tippi toes (ballet) and it's a mommy and me class, it KICKS my butt! LOL, she loves it and honestly I do too, it's so fun and creative. We do that on Wednesday mornings. She wears a leotard and tights with ballet shoes, it's sooo stinkin' cute!! I love it.

Just Mom and Me hanging out

Aiden learned to ride his two-wheeler bike around his b-day (feb) and man alive that kid took two days to learn on his own--no one to tell him what to do, it was simply "Dad can you take the training wheels off my bike" when Jay did he jumped up there and learned how to ride lickey-split.



Jay and I are both good. We're getting ready to head up to Houston for a baseball tourneyment with his company, so while he's playing ball all day I'll be spending time with my old friends and catching up on all the gossip and seeing all the kids again. I sure miss them, terribly!! I cherish the time I get to spend with them each time around this year. 9 hours is way to far!! lol



Well enjoy the few pictures I've put up, I'll try to add more this week.

Here "Soapie" no need to feed yourself!

On a serious note my father was diagnosed with Lung Cancer, he went into the hospital on Wendesday and they removed his lower lobe in his lung, the belive they got it all and it hasn't spread. Thankfully they don't see a need for Chemo, but he will be rechecked every 3 months with a cat scan. We thank God for his continued hand in this and are so thankful we can enjoy our father even longer!! Thank you to everyone who prayed and kept my family and the doctors in your thoughts.

HUGS from Mission!
Janelle

Ever Get the Feeling the Universe is against you?

First the good news!!! My kids are all B or better students according to their latest report cards!! Aiden's acing kindergarten!!! WOO HOO! Bailey's being a little lazy but still making B's and Christian's got a 3.825 GPA in 7th! GO BOYS!!!

Today is my day to feel that all the stars, planets and the moon..heck throw in the sun too...is against me. Tomorrow my brother comes to visit...then Sunday my parents come to visit and watch the SuperBowl...so what does any normal person do before company comes over?? CLEAN!!! right!


But the universe is against me today--I tried to list a simple little dress on ebay (I need some spending money) and I can't get the template to work correctly...no big deal right?? Well, what would normally take me 20 minutes ended up taking 45 which is 15 minutes too long cuz The Care Bears is only 30 minutes long. So Jillian made her way downstairs (mind you I can hear her rummaging around for something--usually she goes for the panty) Not this time....unfortunatly, so I'm clicking away hoping and praying it's just fruit snacks she's raiding...I'm hollering "Jillian Stop, Mommy's coming!!" FINALLY, I get the auction up and run downstairs...and see she's not in the pantry...she's in the fridge and has the chocolate Hershey's syrup . She's squeezed it all over the place, the dog licked it up and then puked everywhere...if Sophie dies we're blaming the 2 year old!! So I put the dog out and see that she's been chocolate-ized as well, chocolate all over her head...(is nothing off limits to her?) Meanwhile Jillian's saying "ohhh, saw-wee" (her version of "sorry") and "a mess!" (her version of..well, A MESS!) I toss the area rug, bring in the new one (it was from our dining room and thankfully we weren't using it) and put Jillian in the tub. Which she got out of, peed on the floor and got back in. I clean the floor then the rest of the bathroom while she's taking a bath.

We are potty training in this house--a 2½ year old with cinderella/dora panties running around with ½ hour reminders "DO YOU HAVE TO GO POTTY!?" which the answer is always a sing-song "NOPE!" so we go anyway...reset the timmer and she hops away again...this morning she didn't make it to her timer going off before she walked over and said "MOMMY, I POOPY." then did a cowboy walk (ya know after they get off the horse and walk bow-legged into the saloon) to the bathroom. She she did have to go poopy--unfortunatly she told me about 2 minutes too late. Ok it's expected...can't fault the girl she's learning...it's my job, not a biggie. While I'm rinsing out poor Cinderella she's got new panties on and is hopping around again...I run the wet panties down to the laundry room and start a load. While I was doing that she had to go AGAIN...I find her in the bathroom on the potty---she went but she forgot to pull her panties down!! (does that count as an accident?) LOL.

Then I try to update my blog (this is attempt two) why is it attempt two? Because my computer froze and I had to restart it...for some reason it didn't save a draft (or I lost it) and so I had to begin again!!! That was all before lunch!!

Don't fall for the innocent look...she's hell on wheels!!


She's supposed to be sleeping now but I just went there and she'd gotten her baby powder down and it's all over her floor...this day will NOT end...WHY!?!?! LOL

Whatcha doin' bubba?

I told jay (cuz he had the misfortune to call me) and he sat on the other end laughing! Then said bye---hello!? a little reinforcement here would be helpful!! Why didn't I marry rich and hire a nanny? The things we do for love. *sigh* hee hee

So now that she's in her room--and I'm waiting for her to fall asleep so I can finally shower for the day (It's only 1:11...niiice) I'm wondering if I'll even get a shower today...wish me luck!!

Enjoy the pictures and check out my auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=290202482039&Category=79714&_trksid=p3907.m29

someone bid it up high..I need money for a nanny to help me out!! (or a maid) either would be fine. :O)

I'm trying to find pictures of something other than JILLIAN but it's hard when the kids are all gone all day...she's also my model for my projects and she's pretty darn cute...but so are these guys---I'll put Bailey in next time..I've gotta tackle him down for a couple snapshots someday soon!!

ENJOY EVERY--BYE!

Walking Barb Through

This is just a quick little tutorial (Sort of) for Barb...I can't explain things without actually doing them...so for those that check this and are wondering what's going on...nothing! LOL..here's some pics of the kids.

Actually these are of Jillian in outfits I've made recently. She's cute huh? :O) But I'm biased :O) (But really she's cute isn't she?) LOL

Janelle

Christmas ROCKED!

Hi all-

Well as you can tell from the title of this post Christmas was awesome! Everyone had alot of fun...and got what they wanted (I hope) LOL.

We have some video of Christian opening what he wanted most (a Juke (a cell phone with MP3 player) we had him convinced he wasn't responsible enough for one just yet...so when he opened it up he was sooooo excited.

The other kids got stuff they wanted too...Bailey and Aiden got rip-sticks (I'll have to take pictures of them on 'em so you can see what they're like) Bailey's getting pretty good all ready! I'm impressesd

Aiden got a Nintendo DS (he now wants games for it for his b-day) and has hardly put it down, but better than that it's made Bailey start playing with his again. They've realized if they sit close enough together they can send messages from one DS to the Other...Bailey told me it was like having a Cell Phone with Text Messaging! LOL. He's cute.

They also go blendy pens, poke'mon cards, star wars guys, Poke'mon stadium, movies, games and just TOO MUCH! LOL...it was a great day!

Jay was a happy camper when he opened up his new Dyson Vacuum cleaner! He was like "really? this is what's in it?" hahaha..yeah!! now for some of you it may seem weird that my husband gets a vacuum cleaner but if you know him..you know that he's a cleaning fanatic..he loves to vacuum especially--so this was PERFECT..he even took my mom and dad's over the summer while they were in Minnesota and brought it to our house! hahaha, it was a great gift for him.

(I know it's sideways...I wasn't thinking straight, sorry)

As for Jillian she got a doll house (with furnishings and people) and babies and a shopping cart with boxes of food, a gymboree outfit that's adorable I can't wait until it warms up a tinch to put it on her! She had alot of fun opening her gifts and was really getting into it.

We made cookies for Santa and in the process got completely covered in frosting--Aiden did his on purpose but Jillian...that's just her little piggy self. :o)

As for me...I got exactly what I wanted: sewing items, a serger, an ipod docking station with a cd player/radio and clock in it. I also got a counter top mixer which I wanted and it comes with DOUGH hook attachements, which is PERFECT!! yeeeeeah!

The day was pretty much right on. The kids played nicely together, the meal was wonderful and the company...well I couldn't ask for better! So now that Christmas is over I'll wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR! I'll leave you with some pictures of our Christmas morning...

We weren't expecting company but when my father got sick and hand to cancel his trip to Colorado to visit my brother and his family we glady took them in and had a wonderful visit!

It's Beginning to feel alot like Christmas....exhausted!

Christmas Parties and undecorating the Kindergarten hall...that's my week in a nut shell.




Imagine this....270 glitter ornaments hanging from the ceiling, 30 beautifully wrapped presents, a twinkling christmas tree filled with oh-so-cute little apples, Letters proclaiming "santa's workshop" hanging at the enterance in adorable white string garland...what a sight to behold! it was so beautiful...I admired it one day as I was walking Aiden into class. That night, his teacher called and asked if I could come in the next morning and take it all down. Uh, sure, I can do my part, after all she educates my precious little one's mind every day. It's the least I could do.


I figure it'll take me an hour or so...how hard can it be??



THREE hours later, Jillian and I both COVERED in glitter (grrr curse you glitter happy people!) from scalp to socks the hall was undecorated. Thanks to one other volunteer who came for about an hour we managed to accomplish it. I had no feeling in my shoulder from taking down said 270 glittering ornaments from the paper clip hooks attached to the ceiling panels. Jillian discovered the water fountain in the class room (thankfully an empty classroom we had free reign of) but in the meantime she soaked :o) all in all it was actually not too bad...I'd probably even do it again next year.


Today I volunteered (the only one) to help with Bailey's classroom party. Mind you this is the gifted and talented class so why shouldn't there be a sliding race, and a bodily noise contest....really it was very...uh...well, Charming? hahaha. It was Pajama Day at school so all the kids have on their PJ's including teachers.

You'll see from the video below that it was pretty much controlled chaos. No injuries were reported (but that doesn't mean one kid didn't hit his head on the floor, get up and do it again...yeah "gifted" my foot, "special" maybe but gifted??) The party food was voted on by the third graders...who opted OUT of having pizza and opted FOR snacks instead...so the two-table spread consisted of:


Dr. Pepper
Mountain Dew
3 Bags of Candy (Sweet tart chews, nerds, skittles)
I counted 5 boxes of Cupcaks (bakery kind with extra sugar frosting)
Chips (4 kinds)
Queso dip (2 kinds)
Salsa
Cake (sugared frosting again)
Ham and cheese deli sandwiches
Sprite
oh and someone was health conscious and brought Granola bars with chocolate chips. There were fruit cups--unopened and barely glanced at.


Needless to say I'm exhaused from trying to keep up, Jillian's in a sugar induced coma in her room sleeping off her sugar rush and the little one's are outside moving at the speed of light.

We also had programs this week. These were cute...well Bailey's was kinda--not so much. LOL

So enough gibber jabber...enjoy the video's and pictures and I'll report back later!! Have a wonderful BLESSED CHRISTmas and a Happy new year!!! Be safe and thank you to everyone who sent a christmas card and/or photo.

Bailey's Performance--it's Silent Night--they were learning about sound relations to size and what-not...I don't know it was strange to say the least. I'm so proud of Bailey though, look how good he stands with his instrument...not banging it around like the crazy kid next to him (who by the way was the one who kept hitting his head at the party (in the gray outfit)) LOL

Aiden's Winter Performance...it's Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. To find Aiden locate the last row, he's the third from the left (the short one that you can't see) Sorry guys-it was the best I could do.

The parents you see in the background came for a picture and to drop off sugar..uh I mean treats and snacks then left. The man is the teachers hubby..he came to bring Queso Dip...then nearly RAN out of the room. LOL

Twister (it was the spanish verison which confused some kids as to which said "right hand" and "Left hand"...but they improvised...Jillian decided to jump in on the action here and in the background you'll see the sliding races (run, slide and see who goes the farthest) going on...they were "gifted" enough to go one at a time however..which was nice.

Can't say much about Christian this time around--he claims they sat at their empty desk and did nothing. My tax paying dollars hard at work! :o)

Christmas Letter...

I'm stumped on what to write. For those that actually care about what's going on with my family--you know what's going on. You know that Bailey's 8, Christian's 13, Aiden's 5 and Jillian's 2. You know they're smart, beautiful and always--uh..mostly--er uh, ok hardly ever listen to me! You know this stuff...why must I write a generic letter stating the obvious..."WE'RE NORMAL and NOTHING HAS CHANGED!!" I've been sitting at my computer for 3 hours trying to come up with something--anything to send out--but I'm still here, blank screen in front of me, thank goodness the cursor no longer blinks like it used to in the 80's I'd have a migraine by now!

Anyone have any suggestions I can steal from you? :o) Anyone wanna write it for me?

I guess you'll find out in a couple days when you open your mailbox if I scrapped the whole letter writing idea this year or if my muse came back to me! :o)

Well enjoy the pictures...just a couple for now :o) There's some of Christian playing basketball with his friends. One of Aiden and Jillian, and some of Jillian in a couple outfits I'm either working on or made. There is a bodice for a dress I'm making and then a pants and top set I'll be listing on ebay in hopes it sells...

ENJOY! :o)

P.O.W

MOTHER OF 4 LOST IN BATTLE!

Yes it's true, I've been M.I.A due to being a P.O.W. in my own home.

I've not updated in..oh...let me think.....ah, yes...FOREVER!! why? because apparently I'm a prisoner of war in my own home, sweet home. The war being that of my children. *cough*middle two*cough* and their constant fighting!! Oh did I mention I'm also working in a

Kathy Lee Griffin sweat shop? Making bows for pennies a day?

Want the stories? ok sit back and enjoy.

voice 1: *as if calling into a deep dark cave he dare not enter* Moooooom?

"Yes"

"Can I get more Poke'mon cards?"

"No you have some"

"But not as many as Bailey does"

"That's cuz you keep giving them to the kids at school"

"Only the one's who don't have poke'mon card, oh and the one's who don't have very many"
"Which you'll soon be if you keep giving them all away"

"It's only one or two"

"I know but one or two each day is 5 or 10 a week"

"But Bailey has alot of Poke'mon cards"
"That's cuz Bailey never shares anything"

"Can I get more"
"No" (Again)

*insert one foot stomp and whine* "But Bailey has more than I do!"

"We've all ready had this conversation"

"But that's not fair"

"But you started out with the same amount"

"Insert Bailey coming in with his Poke'mon cards* Voice 2: "hey Aiden look at all my cards"

*insert tears* "See he's got a whole bunch and I don't have any!" *insert running away crying*

"Bailey why do you do that?"
*Insert innocent look* "What?" *insert naughty grin "I was just showing him my cards"

"Is that really necessary?"
*insert another bigger grin with hands out palms up..." What? I was just---" (he can't continue cuz he's about to laugh. *insert background noise of wailing coming from Aiden*

"Do you have to upset him like that?"

"Yes...I mean No!" *insert laugh*

"do it again and you'll get your cards taken away"

"Ok sorry"

Voice 2 walks off.

Voice 1 reenters, tear streaked face *calling into the cave again* "Moooooom?"

"Yes?"

"Why can't I get more poke'mon cards?"
*mom thinking* because I'm gonna hunt down the inventor and suffocate him while he sleeps. "Didn't we have this converstation like five minutes ago?"

Voice 1: "But I really want some look I only have ....." *pauses to count* "10 cards, that's it and Bailey has like 17 hundred and sixty thousand."

Voice 2: "no I don't, Aiden, I have like 40!"

Voice 1: "FORTY!" *wailing begins again (like 4o is more than 17 hundred sixty thousand) *insert running off again*

"ok gimme the cards" *mom holds out hand*

Voice 2: "BUT MOM!" *mom's snapping fingers interrupt" "Ugh that's not fair, I didn't even do anything I just said I had like 40 cards, that's all!"

"I told you not to point stuff like that out to him, it just makes him upset and you know that!"

Voice 2: "UGH AIDEN!" *insert stomping off*

Now it gets good...both are upstairs ticked off... mom is in the kitchen trying to randomly throw stuff in a pan/pot/oven/microwave and hoping it turns into meal we can eat when I hear.

Voice 2: "SHUT UP AIDEN!"

Voice 1: "I'm telling mom you said Shut up!"

Voice 2: "then I'm telling her you said it too"
Voice 1: "but I didn't you did"
Voice 2: " Nu-uh you said it when you said "I'm telling mom you said SHUT UP!"

*tears.....again.*

Voice 1&2 in unison: *tattling voice* MOOOOOOOOOM

*Mom from kitchen* "I Heard, I don't care, just stay up there"

Voice 1: But Bailey said "Shut up!"

*hollering from the kitchen* "I said I don't care, just keep it up there"

Voice 1: "Bailey Mom said you are in trouble and you have to stay in your room"

Voice 2: "She did NOT!"

Voice 1: *dark cave voice* Moooom, did you say Bailey has to stay in his room?"
"Only if your fighting with each other"

voice 1: "See we're fighting. You have to"

and so it continues for about a half hour---then Jay comes home. I amazingly grow another ear so I can hear about his day---keep my ears tuned into Jillian (cuz if I don't she'll be off doing who knows what, you've read my past posts...the girl is dangerous on her own!) *see below*

Right now I think it's time for a picture break:

Voice 1 and 2 :o) *don't let the pictures fool you...they really do fight* LOL

So you wanna know what Jillian's been up to?? ooookay. *ready?* (every time I ask that I can actually feel you cringe)

As you know we've taken down her crib and put her in a toddler bed. It's going great...now. 2 months ago...not so much!! we had the repainting of the room with poop. And then about 2 days later she apparently was going to change and realized she had nothing good to wear....hence the photos below of her room after she emptied 2 drawers in her dresser! Clothes everywhere---you can see in the 1st pic she's pretty darn proud of herself....

But not for long...here she is getting into trouble...she's not fond of sitting in "time out" but she does sit there....bawling until I tell her it's ok to get out. Then the water works are turned off and playing begins again...really she'll be an oscar winner some day with those skills.

Oh last Friday she was out back playing around and she laid on an ant hill...she probably got bitten 100 times. Poor little thing...she's a train wreck...she had 33 of them on one hand alone!! She just was saying "Owww, Ouch, Owww" Bailey started yelling "ANTS! mom Ants are everywhere" they were in her clothes, diaper, hair...everywhere!!! I took her clothes off, tossed her in a bath and gave her tylenol---she wanted to go back out within the hour. When I finally let her go out again she went right back to the ant hill...HELLO!?!?! can you say "short bus"?? talk about a slow learner...sheeze. I had to bring her in for the night and then spray it the next day with ant killer while she slept.

Ahh my calm child...Christian. He finished footbal up and is currently trying out for the basketball team. The last day of tryouts is Wednesday (tomorrow) then they'll be posting the one's who made the cut late this week or early next week...stay tuned!!! In Football they came in 2nd in their division. They lost 2 times (to the same team...which is Sharyland South--when they get to highschool Sharyland (christian's school) and Shary south will merge and become one highschool) but it was a fun ride and Christian was really sad to see it end. It really brought him alot of joy to play every day and have games every week. I hope he makes the basketball team to give him some of that back.

Here he is...

Well for Halloween we had a pack 'o pirates :o) (I didn't make Jillian's outfit (or the boys') but friend of mine made her costume...it turned out sooo sooo cute!! I love it!!

Christian is "too cool" to dress up so he went to a friends house and played football with the "guys" and ate candy. Meanwhile the rest of us hit the streets to beg for candy...ahhh, gotta love halloween!! Jillian, Aiden and Bailey (below) in costume:

For Thanksgiving we went to Corpus Christi where it was FREEZING COLD!! LOL...high 40's low 50's but man alive it felt colder considering that the day before was mid 80's! My mom and I got up and went to the Black Friday sales...which was reallyquite enjoyable this year. We chatted with some people in Circut City and got some great deals in a number of stores...I got all my christmas shopping done, thankyouverymuch!

:o)

OH we made a ginger bread house too---here's some pictures of me and the kids and jay trying to get this thing to work! LOL. The roof kept slipping off...eventually the candy was picked off and we tossed it in the garbage...but it was a fun memory (hopefully) for the kids.

The weekend before Thanksgiving I had my very first craft fair...it was alot of fun!! my mom came down to help me but I worked my butt off all week tyring to get prepared and failed on teh business aspect of it...but I did get enough bows made. I didn't do as well as I would have liked but the traffic coming though was light and I did good overall I think. Here's some pictures of all the bows I made...I was pooped at the end of that week! LOL I've also been sewing which I've found alot of enjoyment out of lately....here's a top I made Jillian...

Finally my Christmas cards are being ordered...so I'll send some pictures when they come--not even a sneak preview for you guys--no no, I'm not--ok one sneak preview (I made Jillian's outift)...but that's it! no more!! (this is NOT the picture on the card) but Aiden looks 3 sheets to the wind and Jillian's well yes, she really does have that big of a mouth..hahaha!! ahhh love my babies!! all 4 of them...even though they've held me as a P.O.W. for the past 2 months!!

Have a great holiday season and I'll do better about updating I PROMISE! :o)

Till later

janelle