a "Merrily Christhmas"

Maddie's way of saying "Merry Christmas"...it's so darn cute, you would think she was missing her 2 front teeth.

The Sunday before Christmas I always like to dress my kids up with a new Christmas outfit, well Taylor's shirt ended up being too small...(not sure how that happened?) and then he refused to wear his tie..go figure!

In any case...Maddie was happy with her new dress and enjoyed modeling it!

Dale loves reading the Christmas Stories from one of our favorite books...this year they read it all snuggled up in our bed.

Slave labor...or just another way to bribe Taylor into cleaning up the house so Santa could come...and of course Santa wouldn't come unless he smiled for me (*wink*wink!)


On Christmas Eve the kids get to open one present...which is always new pajamas.

I couldn't find any pajamas this year that matched...that I liked...oh well...they could care less, right?!


This one is for Grammy...she made these cute aprons for all her grand daughters...I know she looks like she needs to go to the bathroom...but this is how she poses...silly girl...I guess I need to give her a lesson on how to pose without sticking her hinny out!

...and this is how we spent Christmas day...playing Guitar Hero! And the boys are still playing it!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Caramel Apples.Gingerbread Houses. LIGHTS!

My friend Scrappy made these awesome Caramel Apples for Taylor's teacher for Christmas...don't they look divine?! (Dale doesn't know yet, but I ordered some for him for Christmas too...I know the way to my man's heart!)

This week at Alphabet Club Maddie made a Gingerbread House...with the help of her Mom.

I loved how she was so very careful with every piece of candy she put on.


The complete Gingerbread house.

We took our 2nd annual trip down to a little town called Chickasha, to look at the Lights. This year wasn't as cold as last year, so we enjoyed walking around and letting the kids play on the play ground. This picture doesn't give the lights justice...there is a big lighted bridge over the pond, with ducks. Maddie wanted to feed them, but then got scared when they came right up to us for bread.

Daddy's Girl.

Wow...can you believe it...Taylor didn't run when I asked to smile for the camera! Did you notice Taylor is sporting a new smile...he finally got his front tooth in! Now if the other one would fall out..it's been loose for a few weeks now.

Isn't she the best poser?

Momma's Boy!

This tree is amazing. On our way home from Chickasha, we stopped in this neighborhood in OKC to see this tree again. Dale wants to head out again tonight to go look at more lights...the kid, I mean man, can't get enough! Hope you are all enjoying your holiday...and looking forward to 3 weeks of no school...(big sigh!)

Blog Burnout.

For some reason I just haven't been in the mood to blog. I was talking to my friend the other day about it, and she said one of her friends was suffering from BLOG BURNOUT....that's when I realized I was too! So hopefully I pull myself out this soon...probably not until after the holidays when things start to slow down a bit!

Of course, I can't not share a few pictures from this week. Taylor had his 1st grade party at school, which consisted of a bunch of junk food...which he was thrilled about...and a fun game of bingo!

I still can't get a decent shot of this kid without him running for cover...unless I catch him off guard...which explains the blank look on his face here...

He had a fun time and got a few little surprises and bag full of more junk food and candy that he had pretty much finished off by the time he got off the bus...oh well! I'm pretty sure Santa is not bringing candy to our house this year!

...and to not forget miss Maddie...here she is singing with her favorite CD...don't you just love the way she is sitting...she cracks me up!

"The BEST ARTIST in the World"

I know it has been a whole week since I blogged...crazy I know! Just a bit under the weather this last week. Dale stayed home this week to help with the kiddos while I recuperated. As you can see Maddie loved having her Daddy all to herself while Taylor was at school.

Taylor "allowed" me to take this picture of him and explained to us that he was infact "the Best Artist in the World!"

...and Maddie is following close behind. I didn't even realize she knew how to draw a "happy face." She explained to me exactly how she did it...down to the toes!

Pretty good for a 3 year old I must say!

Thankful...

...for these little people of mine.

I love this time of the year...the lights, decorations, the feeling in the air, teaching my 3 year old little girl about the baby Jesus,the chill in air, how my husband loves to make Christmas cookies...

...and the excitement of the kids and the bribery you can use on them...thats how I got this picture of my boy..hehe!

Sunday BEST?

Maddie got herself dressed for church this morning...and this was her choice...

The funny thing is she really thinks it matches. So...YES we are still having dressing issues with our little princess. Oh well...I'm just learning to go with the flow.

I went with some friends to see Twilight yesterday...when we were getting out of the car we saw some teenage kids hanging out in the parking lot...I got a kick out this kids shirt...and I just had to share!


Isn't that sweet?!!! (and YES I loved the movie!)

Flash Back Friday...senior portraits & a few more!

Ok...these pictures are totally going to give my age away...Yes I am a product of the 80's...I graduated in 1989 to be exact...gotta love that hair! This is the only actual senior picture I have, I guess my parents still have the others...so I included a few more from my senior year...just for fun!

I spent a lot of time getting those bangs that high! I know you want to find a pair of those aztec shorts don't ya?!

I thought I would throw in a few more, since it is so fun to look back to the 80's and all that bad hair and clothing choices!
My crush from high school...I thought he was so dreamy...I loved that he played the drums and football, I had a bad crush on his boy!

Notice my friend Heather is wearing the same dress I was in the above picture...we just shared...so our parents didn't go broke, and have to buy a new dress for every dance.

"Morp" my senior year...we decided not get our own dates, we had more fun with the girls! Don't be jealous of my jumper!

So there ya go...make sure you go over Scrappy's blog and post a comment that you participated so we can have a place to go and look!

Daddy's Girl.

As a family we enjoy the weekends together. We used to go somewhere every weekend, whether it be shopping at the mall or exploring some historical site in the area. Since Dale was finishing up his master's, we kind of got out of the habit...so this last weekend we trekked down to the OU campus. Dale has been wanting to walk around there ever since we moved here...I guess he likes to reminisce back to his college days and the excitement of being a student around campus...I wouldn't know about that since I only went to hair school. The OU campus is really beautiful...the only problem was it was the coldest day of the year! The buildings are stunning, and the grounds are well kept...we are for sure going to have to go back in the spring! Of course I took my camera..I love to see my kids with their dad..especially Maddie, there is something about a little girl and her daddy. I know she has her dad wrapped around her finger.

I loved the red phone booth's all around campus...and so did the kids!

I did manage to get a couple of pictures of Taylor...that weren't too blurry, because as soon as he sees me point the camera at him he takes off..such a little stinker!

Playing in the elevator at the visitor's center...the only reason I got this one was because I told him he couldn't go up it, unless he stood still and smiled!

Weekends are great...I'm really looking forward to the holiday's, our weekends will be filled with Christmas lights...Daddy's favorite!

On a side note...you need to go check out my friend Scrappy's blog here...she put out a challenge to post your senior pictures on Friday for Flashback Friday. I think it will be so fun to see everyones pictures from high school...so check it out and play along, C'mon we all need a good laugh!!!

another Promotion...

Taylor has been working really hard at his Judo class, and received another promotion this week to 2nd degree Yellow Belt. (sorry the pics are blurry, but the lighting was horrible and my lens doesn't have that great of a zoom..another subtle hint to DH..Christmas is just around the corner, a 24-70mm would be great! ha in my dreams!)

This is Taylor receiving his belt from his Sensei. I really enjoy watching these kids each week and the interaction the Sensei has with them. I believe he cares about each child individually and it shows. Sensei Pat was a 2 time Olympian and has trained some amazing athletes that have also gone to the Olympics. I will be sad when we move, because I'm not sure we will be able to find a Judo organization quite like this one.

The kids are supposed to tie their own belts, but for the sake of time Sensei tied them for them, as he talked about the accomplishments of each child that received a promotion.

Talyor looks a bit overwhelmed here...I love the look on his face!

Now why won't he smile for me like this all the time???

Taylor and his good friend Kason...they started together, and enjoy the competion they have with eachother. They are very good about only practicing their Judo at class or on the trampoline.

We'll see how long until he makes it to the next level...ORANGE.