Birthday at home

Things rarely work out the way we plan...Miles' birthday wasn't any different.

The plan was...for him to take cupcakes to school and share with his friends, come home, I was going to cook whatever he wanted to supper, have him open a gift from us, and then have another cupcakes with us to celebrate his actual birthday. Then have his party with family and friends on Saturday.

What actually happened...I woke up so sick I could hardly get out of bed. Goose took off so he could take care of the kids.

I literally slept most of the day...Goose fed the kids their school lunches.

Miles was really excited about turning 3

Daddy also let them dig into the school cupcakes.

Later that night...once I felt like joining the land of the the living...Goose made hot dogs(turkey...disgusting...there is just something very wrong about a "turkey" dog...Goose informed me that he would not be eating another "turkey" dog ever again)...Miles' choice. Then we had cupcakes, sang Happy Birthday, and watched Miles open his gift.

Big Boy

Showing off his cupcake "stache"

He was so excited about the Toy Story wrapping paper that he couldn't hardly open his gift.

But some how he managed.

A monkey pillow pet

Not sure what this look is for...but I sure thought it was cute.

We saved his big gift for his party...pictures to come.

On a side note...I made more cupcakes so Miles could have cupcakes with his friends...it was just the day after his birthday.

Pretty Girl

I'm sorry for all the "older" posts, but since this blog also serves as a way for me to scrapbook I don't want to leave anything out. 

While I was looking through some of the blogs "that I have started but didn't quite make it to publication". I came across these pictures...

Pretty girl...ready to head to church.

A while back I had told Tenley that I wanted to try something with her hair. This is not an easy request with her, since she still HATES having her hair brushed. I have come to the conclusion that she has one of the most tender heads(if not the most) in the world. We are talking tears, pleading and begging to stop...and that's just when I pull out the brush. I can assure you that when I brush her hair I'm being as gentle as I possibly can. Even with that...getting her hair done for school and church is a time that we in general DREAD! It is usually a "get in get out"  kind of situation.

On the rare occasion, she actually lets me play with her hair. I always promise I will be extra gentle. I started making ponytails...and more ponytails...and more ponytails.

This was our results...

She was very pleased, she kept touching say,"Good job Momma". We have only done this hairstyle a couple of times like this. Not because it hurts to fix, but because it is time consuming and we rarely have 30mins to spend on her hair alone.

But if we have a special occasion we just might use this hair style again.

Christmas 2010

YAY...SANTA stopped by our house. After the year we had I was worried our kids wouldn't get a visit...I mean between Miles' terrible 2's and Tenley's attitude(which admittedly/ashamedly she got from me) I wasn't sure it was going to happen...

Look at all those goodies...

A PILLOW PET!!!!!!!!! Just what she wanted!

I think the whole Santa thing was a little lost on Syd...she didn't seem to think this morning was any different from any other.

Miles: "WOODY"!!!! "ere's Buzz?"

Happy little Christmas Babies!

Oh yeah...he got cowboy boots.

She was telling me about her Sleeping Beauty Barbie and how she can hold her while she watches the movie.

Santa even did his best to fill up the largest stocking(thanks Nic) I've even seen...yes...it's mostly candy.

Well...I think Christmas 2010 was a huge success. Tenley said they got everything they wanted...except she didn't get her own computer, and she really wanted one. I told her there's always next year!

Santa...was I Naughty or Nice?

I always enjoy when we are in Midland for Thanksgiving, because it means that the kids get to see Santa at Miss Casey's.

I guess the kids were nice because they pretty much got everything they asked for.

Tenley has come a long way...she used to be my "screamer". She HATED sitting in Santa's lap...at least now she can stand to sit beside him.

Miles wasn't sure about this...

Seems I have a new "screamer"...I have pictures where Tenley looks exactly like this!

It's even funnier close up...if that's possible. I know...he'll hate me years down the road for pictures like this.

Poor Sydney...she fell asleep before it was her turn...

I guess Santa made a good pillow, because sitting in his lap didn't phase her one bit.

Oh sure...now he smiles. It's amazing what a candy cane will do. And she sleeps...

Here is the whole gang...it's not exactly easy to get a picture of all the kids looking at the camera, and make sure you can see all their faces...while there are more kids waiting in line for their turn. And she sleeps...

This one's not too bad either. Miles isn't looking, but you can see him. AND she sleeps!

This one we took in Snyder after the parade of lights. It looks like she's sleeping, but she's actually looking at the candy cane Santa is holding...bad Santa!

Decorating the Tree

The kids were so excited when Goose pulled out the Christmas tree(back in December). They couldn't wait to help me decorate it. I was pretty excited myself. I have so many memories from decoratimg the tree with my Mom. As I started pulling out our ornaments I started tensing and getting nervous. What if they dropped one of my precious ornaments? It would be gone FOREVER! I quickly began wondering how my mom could stand to let us help her in the decorating process. I have decided she possessed the patience of champions...seriously...it's a wonder she didn't kill all of us. We were NOT perfect kids, contrary to what you most likely thought. 

I think I came up with a feasible plan...the kids put on their hand crafted ornaments and Momma handled the fragile ones. Yay...everyone was happy!

Miles wanted to get the ornaments as high as he could...he must have thought the tree would look funny with only the bottom half decorated.

Side note...ignore my messy couch...apparently my car got cleaned out, but the stuff hadn't been put away yet

Tenley put a lot of thought into where her ornaments should go. She wanted them all where she could see them

This is where Goose started pretending he had camera skills...he fancies himself a photographer whereas...if I get a picture at all I think I'm doing great.

I like this shot...don't know why I just do. Maybe he should take up photography.

Too many "extra" feet in the picture, but I like this one to.

They are holding their 2010 ornament...Miles got a "cowboy up" ornament with a cowboy hat  and a saddle hanging from the bottom of the "cowboy up" sign. Tenley got one that was decorated like a cookie...she said she liked all the colors.

Priceless!

I'm working on several blog posts, selecting the pictures, editing, wording, things like that...so until then here is an updated picture of the kids...ENJOY!

This is probably the picture I should have sent out with our Christmas letter. It is probably the closest depiction of all three of our kids.

Sydney...taking off her shoes and playing...classic!

Miles...climbing on the door...typical!

 Tenley...smiling ready to take the picture...about right!