School Christmas Party

Emma had her party at school and this is her best friend in the world Gracie Belle. She talks about her all the time and describes her hair as "round round hair" because it is so curly. They were so sweet together.

 Emma decided to be a Policeman or a member of the Village People, I'm not sure which.

 The children made the sweetest shirts with reindeer antlers. My girl's was the most unique and that makes me proud.

 And for entertainment, the kids got a container of Flarp, noise putty. Needless to say, my girl and her brothers loved it. What is it about bodily function noises that just makes you giggle?

Guess What Emma Got For Christmas?

Catching Up

Well of course we have been crazy busy and finding time to blog has been hard.

The kids are good. Ashton is busy with basketball and scored 13 points in his JV game last night. He is still not getting to play much Varsity but hopefully in time.

Brady has his final Christmas concert tonight for his Senior year. I can't believe it. He retook his ACT this weekend and is shooting for even higher scores. YES PLEASE.

Emma. Well, she is busy changing clothes multiple times each day and pretending that she is Mickey Mouse by pulling her shorts up to her chest and wearing gloves while singing the Hot Dog song.....repeatedly. Oh this girl of mine.

 I may not be able to find the perfect pair of boots, but Zappos boxes makes great playhouses.

I have also been busy with a medical issue. After thinking that all of my problems were related to a faulty gallbladder (and I am still not convinced), I had an ultrasound about a month ago. To my surprise my gallbladder apparently is fine, but they found a pelvic mass that was a complete shock. Over the last 2 weeks I have had a CAT scan and an MRI and they believe that baseball sized mass is benign and is only a fibroid tumor. I am having surgery on Friday to remove it and hopefully be good as new. As a nurse you forget sometimes just what a pain it can be to have numerous medical tests, etc. I guess it's good for me to be on the other side of the stretcher.

So, that about wraps it up. I am hoping for a speedy recovery and the ability to get my Christmas shopping and wrapping all "wrapped:" up.

This may be the year that no Christmas cards are sent. I can't seem to get all 3 of the kids together at the same time and my schedule is getting tight. I hate it!

Out of the Mouths of His Children

Get a box of tissues and watch this little girl give her testimony. What are you doing to help orphans? http://elliourgiftfromgod.blogspot.com/ and click on Xiaoyun speaks.

Can You Give $10

If 46 people gave $10, this little girl could have her heart surgery.

Love Without Boundaries is a great organization that helps kiddos with so many things. It is a worthy charity that could use your help. I would encourage you to check out their website and see what you can do to help.




Sponsorship - Love Without Boundaries Foundation: Name:Unity Fund: YueGender:Female
Province:Shaanxi
Total Amount Needed:$910.00
Remaining Amount Needed:$460.00

Donate



About Unity Fund: Yue

Yue is a precious six month old whose family needs help providing her with vital medical care. She arrived at the hospital with serious pneumonia which needed to be treated before she could have her heart repaired. Yue has a ventricular septal defect along with pulmonary hypertension. As soon as her pneumonia was better, the doctor moved ahead with the heart surgery and she is now recovering, though still on the respirator. The family has applied to our Unity Fund to help with her surgery expenses. Your donation in any amount will help this family cover their child's medical expenses. Thank you!

Basketball..That's My Boy

Ashton had another ballgame last night and I am proud to say that he scored 13 points in the JV game and 2 in the Varsity game. JV won and Varsity couldn't pull it out. If you know him at all, you can see that he is smiling in this picture.
Action down the court.

Another free throw. Luckily he made it.

Yet another free throw.

This was the boy he was up against. Needless to say, the kid had a little weight on Ashton.

Extra weight or not, my boy wouldn't back off. Where does he get this determination?

Our schedule remains busy for another day or 2 and then we get to enjoy Thanksgiving with Bo's sister and parents.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Enjoy!

An Early Christmas Present

As we all know, Emma LOVES her scrubs. She wears her green pair everyday at some point. I can't even get them clean before she wants them back on.


I ordered her a new pair of scrubs and a lab coat for Christmas, but when I took them out of the package yesterday I knew that I couldn't wait to give them to her. Aside from sleeping in pajamas last night, she has had them on. I am certain that she will be something in the medical profession.

Getting a spoonful of butter for her morning treat. Look at that face!

In other news....

Basketball season has started and I am proud to say that my boy had a couple of minutes in the first game and scored 4 points. The look on his face was priceless and if I were a good mother I would have had my camera. Our next game is Monday night and I am afraid it might not go as well.

My work schedule has been crazy and if I don't check my calendar everyday I will seriously miss a shift that I am supposed to be at. I am thankful for the extra time and money but my house and sanity may be suffering. As only a mother can, my mother came in yesterday morning to take the kids to school for me and politely informed me that she wanted me to contact my friend and former housecleaner to come over and "help me" before my annual Italian Christmas that is coming up in a couple of weeks. That was her way of saying..."Your house is a disaster and you need help!" I love my mother and she can certainly get away with saying these things.

No big weekend plans for us. I have to make food for church on Sunday and finish getting our Shoeboxes ready. That means a little shopping is ahead sometime this weekend and I am not looking forward to it. I have decided that when you can order anything you need or could possibly want online, why in the world would you venture out to the mall. I may be getting old.

Have a great weekend.

Our Princess....

Emma was the Jr. Princess for her preschool class and yesterday was her day to shine. Thank goodness it was short and sweet because she did much better than I expected her to do. She and her "prince", Landon, walked out, behaved, and smiled and that was the extent of that.
Are they not adorable?

This may be Emma's favorite person in the entire world. Amy is one of her teachers and she loves her so much. The feeling is obviously mutual. To make me feel even older than I do, I knew Amy when she was Emma's size!

Twirling and looking adorable.

Oh yes, she is sticking her tongue out and making a spitting sound at me as I attempt to take her picture. I know she needs a beating.....

Running away from me while I try to take her picture....

This man may just have his hands full with HIS daughter.

Yesterday was CRAZY busy around our house. Most of them are but yesterday was really nuts.

Brady had his last band competition at 9:30 a.m. and I rushed home from work and changed clothes and we took off for an hour drive to get to his competition. After that was over, we managed to grab some lunch and head home for Emma's fall festival. I managed to lay down for an hour and thankfully she took a brief nap in the car. Apparently that was all it took and she was refreshed and ready to shine. I on the other hand....

I managed to get her dressed in her "Rella" dress and shoes, attempt to curl her hair while constantly cleaning her nose which is running nonstop!

I would like to give a special shout out to my friend Dede, the only person that I know who will say to you, "I have some silver fabric and we can do this...." and my friend Kathy who helped Dede with Emma's shoes. As you know, Emma has those very unique feet and shoes are a major PROBLEM. I ordered 8 pair of shoes from Zappos because it is easier than trying to actually shop for them and of those 8 pair, one was a maybe and it only worked because Dede and Kathy were able to sew in the extra fabric and cover Emma's short foot. The shoes worked and I was thrilled. Thank you Dede and Kathy!

Emma had a lot of fun at the fall festival and we cut it short and had dinner with Pop and Gig and headed home. I was so ready for bed and may I say that although I was glad to "fall back" and get an extra hour of sleep, Emma didn't "fall" for anything and was up at her usual time....EARLY. I think the whole time change thing is for the birds.

So band season is over, soccer is finished and now basketball starts. Ashton had games yesterday that we missed because of everything else going on and of course he scored 14 points. I'm not feeling too guilty over it though because I know what the next few months will be like and it will be nonstop basketball and I am looking forward to that.

Today is church, eating lunch at mother's, laundry and grocery shopping. I also have to get all the glitter off the floor from the "rella" dress. Oh yes, my hardwood floor is sparkling from it. I have a feeling this just might be a sign of things to come in my life with a GIRL.

My Baby Boy is Growing Up

My baby boy is a Senior and that means it is a year full of "last things". Yesterday was his last band competition and I have to admit that I shed a tear or 2. He enjoys band so much and it has been so good for him and helped him to build confidence and self esteem and I have to admit he is really good at it. I am so proud of him and will miss those competitions.


Brady and his best friend Corey.

The Sycamore War Eagles Marching Band.

The Seniors. This is our future "greatest generation" folks.....

Brady had apparently made some comments about his Band Director's tie. Thank goodness Mr. G doesn't take Brady very seriously.

The more "formal" picture of the band.

Brady was leading the drum line out after their performance.

I just happen to think my boy is so cute, even with a Big Bird feather on his head.

Halloween Pictures

Emma has a mind of her own. Go figure...


She started out the day dressed in her Renaissance Princess costume but refused to wear it last night when she went out. Imagine what she wanted to wear?






You guessed it.
Is there a Doctor in the house?

Who knew that vampire teeth were so much fun?

Senior Night and Soccer Tournaments

Friday night was Brady's last football game and the last time he will play on the Sycamore field. He was a little less nostalgic than I was but he is a guy.


Very poor quailty photo due to the lights, etc. but Bo and I had the honor of walking out with our Senior. This kid has his issues (mainly school work...or the lack of), but I have to say, he makes this mom and dad very proud.

Isn't he handsome?

His "friend" was at the game too. They make a rather cute couple.

Emma is not happy unless she is "helping". She loves to do the dishes and even though I have to actually do the dishes when she gets finished, it's fun to see her so excited about helping.

Making a cake with momma. John Deere hats are a must when baking a cake.

The second season of the Purple Crush has come to an end. Everyone say Amen.

Our first game was at 8:30 on Saturday morning and it was cold and foggy. They lost the first game and played again at 10. They won that one (against Rory) and then had to play at 1:00. By that time I was wasted. I had worked the night before and was unable to function so Bo took over for the last game. They lost and the rest is history.

Emma sporting her trophy.

She just looks so cute in this picture.

This is pretty much the scene in every game. He just puts her where he wants her. Coach Ray is a great guy and we are so happy to have him as our coach.