The Holiday

We had waited a looong time to celebrate Christmas this year. Not only did we have our lights up the weekend before Thanksgiving, we have had a tree and stockings up since Dec. 1st. So, it was a pretty exciting deal at our house.
Here's how Andrew got ready to celebrate Christmas.
"Hello, ladies."
We went to my mom and dad's Christmas Eve to open stocking gifts. The boys played Wii. Yes, that is my husband wearing a Metallica shirt. No, I did not approve this wardrobe. He somehow managed to slip by me...

This is my sister Stephanie's new puppy, Kirby. Peanut loves's Kirby. Andrew and Kadence played elf and delivered gifts.
After we finshed there, we loaded up the car and went home to get ready for Santa! Our stockings were hung on the entertainment center with care, in hopes that St. Nick would soon bere there...despite the book sitting under them mom and dad loved to read.I love Christmas Eve, it's still magical to me. Christmas morning came, the kids woke up early to open stocking gifts Santa left.
When Jacy got here, we opened up our presents!!She got just what she wanted.The girls both got new camaras. And they all got Cooties to share. That afternoon, my family came over and we had a great dinner, great times and opened more gifts!! One of my favorties was a set of knifes from my parents. Here I am telling Bradd to watch out, he thinks I carved myself a lot as it was.... Look at these sharp babies!
It was a great holiday. Honestly,I am so blessed in so many ways. I have the greatest family. I feel as happy and as lucky as Andrew was when he unwrapped this. Hope everyone had as wonderful of time as we did! Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Fa-la-la-la-la

We have been busy busy here!! Between the cold weather slowing us down, and the countless Christmas parties, we are still trying to get our holiday shopping finished (last minute of course) before the time runs out! I swear, this holiday season has just flown by entirely too fast. We just got over the Thanksgiving pilgrimage to mom and dads. It can't be Christmas already, can it?? I feel like all I now days is rush, rush, rush! I never have time to enjoy it all anymore it seems.
Then, I stop.
Breath.
Must. Remember. The Joy if the Season.
And to relax, and slow down!
And also to make lots of baked goods with the kids so they forget mommy's loosing her mind most days. (I am not above bribing my children.)
First off, here is how Andrew showed up to the breakfast table Saturday.
"Whatcha wearing on your legs, bub?"
"Sissy's leg warmers."
"Leg warmers?? Were you in the girls dresser again??" "Yes, but see how unbelievably cute I look? Chill mom!"

We took Christmas pictures after church; please recall how receptive my children are to photo shoots. Between Kadence crying for her candy cane and Andrew bolting off between every pic, this is the best one I got. And with my sweet nephew, Benjamin!! Look at those angels!!

After naps we made reindeer cookies. The girls did such a good job! I was so proud. Here you can see our reindeer fleet. Peanut even ran out of names for them all.


This is Andrew's Picasso. My baby is brizzelant!! Or does that look more like the Elephant Man....Either way, that was his contribution to the craft.
Good time were flowing and laughter replaced the screaming for blissful hours in a row. The warm fuzzies of Christmas with the ones you love filled my tummy. That is, until girls reminded me how messy they were.Still a blessing.

How could you not?

I get worn out from the whining, the fighting, the nagging, the lack of privacy, the laundry, all the dishes, the continual cleaning, the incessant questioning, the laundry, the bickering, the toys, the constant feeding, the laundry... This list could go on forever! But then I have kids that look like this, so how could you not just wake up looking forward to doing it all again? And she does things like this all on her own. Seriously, it melts me.

Older, older and older

I had a birthday yesterday. I am now another year older. Whoopidy-do-da. It's not that I feel so old or even mind having birthdays- who doesn't like getting presents and celebrating themselves?? But it's the numbers thing! I am now 27. I have had a problem with the numbers since I turned 26. Once that came, people just round you up to 30. No longer was I closer to the teen years, or even my 20's for that matter. It's just downhill (numerically speaking) from here. I know, it's a mental thing! And I'm so sure all of you would say I am crazy to be fretting numbers at this age, but, hey, it's my issue and my blog so hush it and just sympathize. :)

I had a good day on my birthday this year. After school, the kids and I cuddled on the sofa and watched some Christmas movies. Then we got dressed and went out to dinner. Oh, and I taught Jacy how to tie her shoe. She got it right on the first try!! I am so proud of my baby!I tried to wrangle the kids together for a pic with mommy before dinner. How tough could that be? Um, lets try that again... Could they be any happier to be taking pictures with the birthday mom? I swear, I don't beat my kids. Maybe if we sat down...Peanut thinks playing with Gibson would be more fun. Grrr.... Ok, let's try one more time. This one may have been my fault. I hurt Peanut's feelings for scolding her for playing with the dog during our photoshoot. Andrew was trying to make sissy feel better. Ok, maybe if I break them apart I can get a decent picture with the individually. Dang! What happend to counting before you click, dad!That's better. Maybe this idea will work. One down... Next up!It works- I'll take it! Next!!I can always count on Jacy to get it right. 6+ years of experience in that one!

We took the wild animals to Elephant Bar for dinner. I let them act silly. I don't know where they learn that.
After dinner, my wonderful husband stayed home with the now bouncing-off-the-wall children and I had drinks with my favorite couple. Yay! Drinks!And my awesome friend Chief showed up too! Good times were had by all.
After that I went home and fell into a deep sleep until 10:00 the next morning. (I think the sleeping in was the best gift of all.) Climbing numbers aside, I had a wonderful birthday. I am so thankful for everything I have and couldn't ask for more. Maybe I am looking forward to next year.... Maybe.

Introductions

I'm gonna start bloggin!!


This is me, I'm the tall one.

This is my husband, Bradd. He's awesome. I love him and he puts up with me too, so that's a plus.

This is my oldest, Jacy. She is the sweetest little girl and pretty to boot! She is in 1st grade, going on 11th. She loves cats, learning how to read and counting everything in sight. She hates pickles, spiders and going to bed on time.

This is Kadence, better known around here as Peanut. Peanut is 4. She loves singing, dressing up and being "just like mommy." She hates potatoes, picking up her room and sharing the TV with little brother.

And this, is my son, Andrew Cash. (The Cash man.) He is 2 and half and is a ball of relentless energy! He loves everything. He hates doing what mom and dad tell him to do. Oh, and he rocks. :)

This is my nephew, Benjamin. I love him so much!! And his mommy is awesome. I couldn't ask for a better sister.

Here is me with my girls, we have lots of fun together.

This is my wonderful friend LaDon. She is lovely, and I love her. We also have some pretty good times together.

That's about it.... Well, not really the half of it, but it's a good start.