Dear Blog...

Dear Blog...I have neglected you. I know I have. And, I really have no good reason. I was looking at my camera today and I haven't taken one picture since mid October. Hmmmm...

Here are a few pictures from a trip to Petit Jean for the day (in October).

First Day of School

I seriously blinked and summer is now a thing of the past...

It was quite a day for us today. Kylie started Intermediate School (with that comes changing classes, a bigger school, several teachers instead of one, and the a la carte line in the cafeteria-she was most excited about the ability to eat nachos, cheese sticks, etc everyday for lunch-more on that later) AND Gavin and Landon started kindergarten in seperate classes (they have never been seperated in a school setting before).

I will admit it...I cried...it was a weird feeling taking them to different classes...and all the while wondering if Kylie was lost and upset...

3:30 could not come fast enough! I picked them all up and asked about their day and...Kylie could not stop talking! She was so excited...did not have any anxious moments or worries and had a fabulous day. Landon said he had a pretty good day...the usual stuff...he liked the playground and reading books...that was about all I could get out if him. Gavin gave me THE LOOK before shouting...I HATE SCHOOL...ITS SO BORING...I JUST SAT THERE ALL DAY LONG...MY TEACHER WOULD NOT STOP TALKING...DO I REALLY HAVE TO GO BACK?

Ai.yi.yi. It may be a long year.

Annual front porch photo :)


We took Kylie first to her new school


Their school rolls out the red carpet complete with fancy outfits worn by the principal, music teacher, and other staff...Gavin later said, "can you believe they played music for us?"


Landon in his classroom


Gavin in his classroom

Updates All Around...

Ok folks...this will amaze you...it is the quickest update of the last several months known to man...

Now...I added these pictures in date order...but blogger had other ideas and frankly I'm just excited that an update is even happening and I am not going to change them...

Don't scroll too fast...you may miss something :)


Kylie went to her first overnight camp...without any family members. She spent a Monday-Thursday at JoyWorks at Ouchita Baptist University in Arkadelphia. She had so much fun and she already said she was going next year. They had a Grand Finale on Thursday where all the kids performed the songs they learned and she was part of a skit where she depicted Jonah.


We took a little vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We had a great time...only one little mishap that was out of our control...and I may just have to go back and make another post because we have some great pictures. These are one set of black bears that we saw...yep...I'm just going to have to do another post...


Gavin and Landon graduated preschool! They had to decide what they wanted to be when they grew up...Gavin wants to be a house builder and Landon wants to be a zookeeper.


Kylie had her sixth dance recital. This was only her ballet costume...she also does tap, jazz and lyrical. She performed her lyrical dance at her school talent show. I may try and add it...she did such a great job!


We took a day trip to Memphis Zoo at the end of Spring Break. All the kids love zoos...and, as always, we had a great day.


We took a mini trip with the kids to Branson at the beginning of Spring Break. We stayed at Big Cedar Lodge in a cabin. We rented bikes and rode through Dogwood Canyon (also owned by Bass Pro Shops). It was really a lot of fun!


The kids loved exploring Big Cedar and feeding the fish


I took the kids to the Little Rock Zoo one Saturday. I'm not kidding...they would go everyday if they could (not to far fetched...we are members).



Only a few months late...but UPDATE complete!

CRASH!

So...our computer crashed...kaput...no more...I have been frantically been trying to get 6 years worth of photos/documents off of it before it blows up (I'm not kidding).

I have borrowed my brother's laptop...so much better than my phone. No telling when a new computer will be bought...so keep checking...but it will probably be awhile before any new posts are made...ARGH!

Mission....Impossible??

So I am on a mission...update this blog!

I have another snow day post
...

a day at the zoo
...

2 days in Branson
...

Memphis zoo
...

and more I'm sure I'm not thinking about


Hmmmm...pass or fail this mission to update the blog? 


I'm giving myself a week...and by then Kylie will have had a birthday :)

Totally Unexpected

It's SNOWING!  It has been snowing since we woke up...it hasn't stopped...AT ALL!  I took the kids out earlier because I thought the snow may change over to rain as the day went on but it hasn't.  And, you can't even see where all of our footsteps were from this morning.  We did make a small snowman...my fabulous four year olds lost interest quickly...then my nine year old complained the whole time that she was cold really needed to warm her hands up (you can SO tell that we do not live in a climate where this happens regularly).

They did get a kick out of raiding the pantry for out of date snacks to use as decorations...they picked raisins, pretzels and cheese nips but they didn't really stick all that well so we resorted to the trusty sticks.

It is only 4 p.m. and school has been cancelled for tomorrow for several hours!  Yippee!!

Our deck at about 11:30 a.m.

Our deck at 3 p.m.--you can't really tell but there is SO MUCH MORE!

Gavin was disappointed that his snow angel wasn't pretty--I don't think they were heavy enough

Landon and Kylie and the snowman--Kylie had just yelled at Gavin and he was off crying

Hope everyone stays safe and WARM!

Ice Skating

I am beyond overdue for a new post...there has been a lot going on and I have been, to be quite honest, unmotivated.

But, I am trying to turn a new leaf in 2010 and **try** to blog more.  Here goes........

The boys went on a field trip ice skating today.  They have been so excited to go and it actually got postponed due to our snow day last Friday.  We were not on the ice but 1.5 seconds and Landon is bawling wanting to go home.  He was so scared!  Gavin went full force...so much so that he wouldn't quit moving his feet long enough to get his balance.  They did have some folding chairs for the kids to use to keep up so I got 2 and convinced Landon to sit in the chair so I could push him around.  He finally threw in the towel and went and sat with another teacher who wasn't skating...until the last 10 minutes or so...when he changed his mind and then didn't want to get off the ice when it was time for lunch...ahhh the joys of have two four year olds!

They were in 'awe' when they walked in and saw the ice

The skates are ON!

Gavin and Brooke

Wipeout for Gavin

Gavin thought a chair might work better...

Gavin going at it alone

Both boys spent the majority of the time being pushed in a chair...my legs are going to be SORE!

Landon took a little break but was ready for more skating

me and Landon

me and Gavin

They only lasted a few minutes in the car before knocking out...

The Break Is Over...

Today is my last weekday of Christmas Break...I can't complain...I have been home since December 14.  I have a few posts to make...we had Christmas with my in-laws, Christmas at home, Christmas with the Dallas side of the family, and Christmas with my mom and grandma. 

The house is fairly clean and I am ready for my routine again...