Christmas - Part 1 - Hollywild

... thinking about how to blog our Christmas activities since I neglected to do it when it happened. So, here is goes- in chronological order.

Wednesday night we decided semi-last minute to go to Hollywild and look at the lights and see the animals. Chad and I had been once before when we were just married. Mom, Dad, and Nolan agreed to go with us so off we went, all 8 of us in our van.

Thankfully we got there right when it opened and only had to wait 5 minutes or so to drive through. When we were leaving, traffic was backed up for at least a mile and that was only one of the 3 ways to get in.

The lights were nice but the highlight of the trip were the animals just strolling about while you drive through.

You are probably thinking- "what is so special about a cow?"

Maybe this picture will explain it- Yes, the cow is as big as that Ford Expedition.

Some more of the animals- Zebras and there were also tons and tons of deer

Towards the end of the light show you can get out of your car and go see animals that are behind a fence. There were camels, llamas, horses, cows, bulls, goats, etc.


Mom, me, and Shep

My family

Group shot minus Chad

And the reason we do all of this...
Manger scene

Time for Guesses

... getting excited for the arrival of my 3rd niece/ nephew.

Zach and Anna are about 3ish weeks away from welcoming their 2nd baby and our family decided to throw in some baby guesses since they dont know what they are having

Hannah's Guess:

Boy- Jan 10 -6 lb 10 oz - 19.75" (I changed my original weight guess because after seeing Anna on Skype, I am going bigger... no offense Anna ;) you look great, just very pregnant )

Nolan's Guess:

Girl- Jan 9 - 6 lb 5 oz - 19"

Queenie's Guess

Girl- Jan 12 - 5 lb 14 oz - 19"

Mantis' Guess

Girl - Jan 14 - 6 lb 6 oz - 19.25"

Chad's Guess

Boy - Jan 7 - 5 lb 9 oz - 19"

Zach and Anna (or anyone else for that matter) feel free to guess in the comments!

We are so excited for the newest addition.

Hunter's Party and Stuff

... busy today. We have had Hunt't 5 year old well child check up scheduled for a couple months, so off we went this morning. He did great... quick finger prick, weight and height check, and the normal stuff. The big surprise is that he has an ear infection! He has woken up 2 of the last 3 night crying and saying his ear hurt. He hasn't had an ear infection, that required antibiotics, since before he got tubes in Feb of 2007. So, you may be wondering how you get a child who doesnt take medicine to take antibiotics... turns out if you mix it in Dr Pepper it tastes like cherry flavored Dr Pepper.

His stats: Weight- 46.6 lb (84%) Height- 45.75" (94%)

Hunt and I then finished up my Christmas shopping. Came home, dropped Hunter off and then went to the grocery store and took Shep. Shep has been sooooo fussy the past 3 weeks, snotty nose, wet cough, not sleeping great- so he was a bear at the store so I called the doctor and got him in for this afternoon. And, back to Gville we go. His prognosis was not ear infection but a probable sinus infection. So, antibiotics for him too.... thankfully, he takes it easily.

Now let me add, I HATE ANTIBIOTICS... I don't overuse them at all. In fact, I try to have my kids fight off ear infections and the like on their own before immediately going to the drugs, but with Christmas right around the corner and the fact it has been so long since either has had drugs, and Shep having been fighting for this for already 3 weeks, I decided to go ahead and use them. Hope it works!

Now for the fun stuff... We had Hunter's party on Saturday. We kept it simple- had doughnuts at our house, opened presents, then headed over to The Rat's house (aka- Chuck E Cheese) to play for a bit, we then ate lunch with both sides of the family at Jason's Deli. It was simple and a lot of fun.

Here are some pics from his actual birthday and his party.

His birthday
Eating his un-iced cupcake... he is a strange one
Opening presents
His big gift was the comic DVD's of Larry Boy. He was quite excited to get them all
Blurry but the only picture I have of me and him from his party or his birthday... that is what happens when you are the solo photog
His Party

Blowing out the candles on the doughnut "cake"

Present time- he got... a science kit, K5 workbooks, camera, clothes, Thomas playset, and money

Chuck E Cheese
*** Notice the majority of these pictures--- it is the adults playing

PapaHub, Grandma, and Ashton

Mantis- turns out he is not quite as good as he remembers

PapHub, also, not as good as he remember and Chad

Grandma watches as Ashton cheats

Queenie had Shep duty

Grandma helping Charlee while Aunt Sandee watches

Queenie and Shepherd racing

Mantis, Ashton, and Chad

Grandma helping Hunter get that horse moving

"God made you a mommy"

... thinking about the day I became a mommy 5 years ago! Yes, 5 years ago my first baby was born. How can he be 5?

Hunter,
I don't even know how to begin. You have taught me so many things about myself and about life. You have always had and still have the sweetest spirit. I pray that you will never lose your empathy for people. You have a way of seeing when people hurt, truly caring about them, and wanting to fix it. Your eyes will "water" over the slightest bit of bad or sad news. Yet, you are already so strong.... a little man in the making. How many times have you told me that you loved me right when I needed to hear it? How many times have you given me a hug at just right the moment? You truly have a gift, I pray you never lose this!

You are great big brother. You fit the oldest sibling mold to a "t". You are bossy and demanding, yet thankfully, you understand how to be patient and wait. You always help me with your brothers. I am so thankful that they have you as somebody to look up to. You are a Bible scholar! I swear you know more about the Bible than many church going adults. I love the way you look at your Bible everyday and now my Bible time is with you. I used to try and get my reading done before you guys got up, but now you want to listen to me read in the morning. You have reminded me countless times to read my Bible when I would have probably just "done it later" or not at all.

As you have already starting pre-school and will start kindergarten next year, you are moving into an age where you will be exposed to things that I wish I could shield you from. However, I already know Who you belong to. I have surrendered you to Him and I am already so sure that He has claimed you. Remember to always follow the narrow life and to always look up and not out.

Hunter, I have always wanted to be a mommy and I have prayed for you since I was a little girl. God is awesome and he answered my prayer by entrusting you and your brothers to me. I love you so much! You have so much to look forward to this year and I can't wait to see how you grow.

Happy Birthday Hunter!

And for the title of this post- I told Hunter that he made me a mommy and he replied, "No, I didn't, God you made you a mommy." Even at the age of 5, he understands that we are so little and God is so big!

Your life in pictures!

The day you were born6 months
1 year
1 1/2 years

2 years

2 1/2 years

3 years

3 1/2 years

4 years

4 1/2 years

5 years old!!!

Love you!

Sleepy Boy

... so sad that Ashton's naps have been getting shorter and shorter. He still lays down but doesnt always fall asleep. He didnt take a nap yesterday and he didnt even lay down today because he, Hunter, and I went to the movies... thanks again dad for keeping Sheppy. By the way, "Tangled" is an adorable movie. Definitely gets 2 thumbs up from me.

Anyway, he was grumpy today anyway. I walked into the living room a couple minutes ago to see this.

He makes me want to pull my hair out but he also makes me smile.... notice where his hands are yet again.

Welcome to Christmas!

... wow! Cant believe it has been a week since I blogged...no excuses!

I realized that I havent documented my Christmas decorations this year, so here they are.

Front door---- made this wreath from old lantana... total out of pocket expense $1.50 for the Merry Christmas sign

Front entrance- - - this was the first one but I didnt like it so I changed it...

... to this. Like the poinsettias much better.
Night-time view!

Mantle

Tree area

Night view

I also made all the swags and other wreaths that are outside... it was so easy and so cheap. Chad's parents gave me all kinds of Christmas decor' from Chad's sister's wedding 5 years ago so I will definitely be using a lot of that stuff next year!

Can't believe Christmas is in a couple weeks!

Ready for a good laugh...

... chuckling with/ at my husband for the last few days. A couple weeks ago, he was asked to MC the Miss EHS pageant at the high school. He laughed about it then but since they were paying $200 and since is a "local celebrity" now (chuckle chuckle), he knew he needed to do it.

Fast forward to today. At 3:00 this afternoon, he started getting his tuxedo on. Go ahead... take a moment to laugh. He started grooming himself as well, which unfortunately means he shaved his head... you dont want to know what I think he looks like with his head shaved (bet most of you can guess though). For the 5th time in his life, he managed to get into this extremely large tux. I took so many pictures of him and they are absolutely priceless. He flipped me off a couple times (sorry Joan, your nephew is not perfect - I will admit that I probably deserved it though) but I couldnt catch the birdie(s) on camera.

haha, not feeling photogenic!

He told me he may need help getting his socks on... I told him "now you know how it feels to be 9 months pregnant". haha... maybe that was a bit below the belt (no pun originally intended) .

He really wants to me to stop taking pictures, but I just cant.

The finished product -I think he is going to pull it off!

He has to open up the pageant with these words ... "Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening. A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight. Walking in a Winter Wonderland!” I told him he should just get up there and bust out in song.

All kidding aside - Chad, I know that you are 100% out of your comfort zone, but I know you will do great as you thrive on an audience. Thanks being willing to do things like MC a beauty pageant to help support us!

*** Yall I am really not a cruel wife, he knows that I am blogging this and we were laughing about it together (I was just laughing a little ... ok, a lot... harder than he was/ is)