Build it and they will come...

First ever Gingerbread House......

and yes....we decided to make this while Cody took his nap! :)

Say Cheese.....

Photography has always been an important aspect in my life. I love seeing things from a different point of view and having the forever lasting image from a print. With that said taking the annual Christmas card picture is something I look forward to taking and discovering new places to go. Fun, fun, fun!

So we picked a nice day and off we went....

Camera....check

Good lens.....check

New filter....check

New reflector....check

Reflector holder/Dell.....check

Girls hair washed and straightened....check

A little lip gloss and mascara....check

Cute outfits.....check

All three kids....check

My sweet cooperative Cody.....um yea I guess I left him at home because I got the uncooperative {terrible two}, crying, 'don't want any part of this' Cody.

.....here is what I got some {most} of the time....

The lighting is horrible on this one....wasn't going for good lighting just wanted one for later that I can show him. Otherwise known as blackmail!

You can always reward bad behavior with a lollipop..... right!?!?

But, the girls on the other hand are great. I tell them where to go and what to do and it is done. I was able to get some good ones of the two of them.

My philosophy is take more shots then you think you need. Why? Well to torture anyone and everyone that is involved in this whole shindig....NO....because out of the 350 pictures you should get one good one...like this....

A {scary} visit with the BIG man!

Waiting for Santa.......

Cody getting his first peek at Santa....

he isn't too bad from over here......

Not so good from here.....

You can almost hear this picture.... can't you?

The second...and I mean the second Dell put Cody on Santa's lap his mouth FLEW open but not a sound came out. It took a good 5 seconds for the WAIL to follow. After I wiped the tears {of laughter} from my eyes and took the picture Santa let Cody go and he could not run fast enough to get to my arms. He was holding on so tight I didn't have to even hold him.

Is it totally bad parenting when you find this hysterical?

Picture this!

I'm it...I'm it! I love being it!! What is 'it'? Well my sweet friend Mary has tagged me with picture tag.

Here are the rules.....go into your photo folder and post the 4th picture on your computer and without editing, cropping, red eye removal or color adjustment...post it! Scary! I never...I mean never post a picture without some type of editing. I have to say my heart dropped for a second wondering what the picture might be.....how lucky did I get! Then you are to explain what was happening....

so here we go!

This was Aubrey back in December 2006.

Dell had taken his annual after Christmas field trip to Oklahoma to donate/give his money for a little poker. So, that left us girls {and Cody} home for a fun night of putting together a 500 piece puzzle. It never fails that when spend countless hours {and I mean HOURS} putting a puzzle together you finish and end up with a holy picture because you have lost several pieces. We were close to being done and Aubrey screams....'I lost it'! Great, why even bother at this point, I thought! When I looked up at her with disappointment I realized she meant her tooth! That toothless smiles is my favorite!
You can see a small band aid on her face...she had just had a small cyst removed. We had passed that fabulous stomach bug around our house that entire week before Christmas. It started with one person, then 2 days later.... another and two days later ....another.....you get the picture. Aubrey held out strong and had not gotten it...yet! But now it was her turn to get it and if she where to came down with it, it would be on the day of her surgery. With lots of prayer and a lot more Lysol she made it through ...she won the award for being the sole survivor.

But because this is my blog I changed the rules up some...after all it is my blog! I had my memory card from my camera so I thought I would post the 4th pictures from there.....

This is one that I cannot delete off my memory card....probably my favorite ever pictures!
Dell takes the girls to the annual Daddy Daughter Dance every year around Valentines Day. They break the dances down by age group so Dell gets the opportunity to take them each to their own dance. Yes, that is about 4 hours of dancing in one night. The girls LOVE this night and spend hours looking for the right dress and hours getting ready for the BIG night. This is Dell between dances...dropping Aubrey off and heading back out for dance #2 with Ashlyn. I'm, guessing this was back in 2005...Aubrey 6 years old and Ashlyn 8.

Rules are rules.....so I am tagging a few more people....don't let me down!
Nancy

Meaghan

Hailey

Amy

Tracy

so missed

What I miss about my daddy.....His smile Soft spoken nature Never ending Love dry sense of humor the respect I had for him crazy love for his grandchildren disciplined to run EVERY single day {rain or shine} his love of good wine and hot coffee knowing he was only a phone call away he never meet aubrey and cody his strength that he really 'got' me pride in his family his determination being daddy's little girl {even when I was a grown up} that look he gave me when I was in trouble - no words were needed having his unconditional approval his {sometimes} embarrassing HATE of smoking - although I have inherited that from him big hugs his void at Christmas time ....and his beautiful love he had for me!


I know in my heart of hearts he is in a heavenly place with our Savior but selfishly it still hurts that he was taken out of my life. I know when God calls me home he will be there waiting for me with open arms. I said good-bye to him 10 years ago today and he will never know how much he is missed......

It's beginning to look a lot like....

CHRISTmas!

Let the fun begin....I LOVE this time of year!

Why is it so quiet?

It has been a while since I last updated. I have racked my brain of something interesting, captivating or some sort of mishap but nothing. You see.... Cody has been an angel lately because he hasn't done THIS or THIS or THIS or THAT, oh and THIS and you cannot forget THIS and thank goodness not THIS. I'm sure this is only a phase and I will have something interesting to post sooner rather then later...all good things {times} must come to an end! sniff sniff

No worries....don't want you to think that my house is all peaches and cream...remember I have a pre-teen, toddler and two dogs that like to do this....

often.....

Trick and a little Treat

I have to say that I am not a HUGE fan of Halloween....don't like what it stands for, the decorations are horrible and all around dark and depressing holiday. But, I do LOVE the dressing up and the kids going from door-to-door to get as much candy as they can. I love that everyone is out and the laughter fills the (usually) fall crisp air.

For the first time we let Ashlyn go off on her own this year and trick or treat. Her main...and only goal this year was to get as much candy as she possibly could....so off she went with her pillowcase. No worries....she was with a few other girls and had her cell phone on her hip.

Aubrey was a little (OK...very) frustrated with us because we (Cody) were going way too slow and she knew she would not get near as much candy as Ashlyn. After all...it is a competition...isn't it? She was thrilled when she saw a group of her friends and adopted herself into their group. So, we were only left with Cody. Dell drove Cody/Mickey and Elena/Minnie (his sweet 'girl'friend across the street) from door-to-door to fill their pumpkins with candy. I honestly don't know (or want to know) how much he ate. He was in hog heaven with all that candy!

Pictures of the three of them was a little more difficult then past years.....here is my best attempt...

A bag of Jelly Belly's..... Candy Corn Witch.....

...and Micky Mouse (he was also called Humpty Dumpty and a cute little Lady Bug!)

That is what happens when Mickey will not wear his ears.

Minnie taking Mickey DOWN!

Now that's something to smile at!

Aubrey is following in the steps of her big sister and got her braces on! Now we have two that can not eat anything sticky, chewy, crunchy or hard. Pretty much stinks right around Halloween.... o well...more for me! :)

Arboretum

What makes a great day at the Arboretum?

Great Weather.....

Beautiful Flowers.....

Happy Kids....

but most of all.....Sharing the day with great friends....

Pumpkin Spice and everything nice!

The girls had the day off school for 'Fair day' but instead of the Fair we opted for the Celina Pumpkin Patch. Yes, I just took Cody there last week but the girls have been begging to go, so here I go for round two!

The kids had a ball feeding the animals, jumping off hay bails, riding tractors, picking up stray kittens, begging to bring home stray kittens, train rides, hay rides, picnic lunch and picking out the best pumpkin out there.

This my friends....is how memories are made!