I just love this kid!

Matheson had surgery today to have his portacath put in. It went well and his Mom and Dad are hanging in there. I know this has been an extremely tiring day for them all! Please keep them in your prayers as this journey begins. Pray for complete healing in Matheson's body and strength for Holly and Matt through it all. They are an awesome family and I love them dearly!
Oh yeah, if any of you need tickets to the New Year's Eve Party in Matheson's honor, please let me know!

These are pictures from our 3rd Annual "Family-Friend" Christmas Party! The crowd just keeps getting bigger and bigger! I must say, the bigger it gets, the more fun we have! I love ya'll!

Nutcracker

Last Thursday evening, we took a GREAT homeschool field trip. The older kids (Abby, Jaxon, and Jaxon, aka, the 3 Amigos) took their Mommies on a date to Fudruckers for dinner then to see the Nutcracker! It was SO much fun for all of us. Here they are sitting in front of the Christmas tree after the show!

MOPS Christmas Party

I love these ladies!

New Years Eve

Do you have plans for New Years Eve? What better way to welcome 2009, than at a party/fundraiser for Matheson Barber. Many of you know that Matheson was recently diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia.
Tickets for the party will be sold for $10. Please see Anne McGugin or myself if you would like to purchase tickets! There will be a live auction, raffles, heavy hors d'oeuvres and desserts.

I've been tagged!

Brooke tagged me! Here were my rules......
* choose the 4th picture folder on your computer
* choose the 4th picture
* explain the picture
* tag at least 4 people to do the same

This is Jaxon and Jaxon on our field trip to the Science Center! They are definitely too cool for school...lol!
Now, I have to tag 4 people.....I tag Joanna, Janet, Cara and Hana! Enjoy!

Here are the pictures from our trip to Wilmington!

Future Rock Star....maybe

While in "Wilmy-wood" this weekend, we took the boys to the Children's Museum. They have a stage with instruments and a working microphone. The boys loved this area. I have uploaded a video of Jaxon singing Rudolph...because I think it's hilarious. I am hoping to win some money on America's Funniest Home Videos from this. More pics will follow but this is all I had the energy for tonight!
ENJOY!

Serious Party Foul!!

I have done the worst thing imaginable (well, not really...but close). We had a wedding in Wilmington this weekend. It was lots of fun. We stayed in a hotel which the boys loved. We took way too much stuff (but better have too much than not enough, right?!) Well, while packing all that stuff today, I left Camron and Caden's blankies! OH NO....OH BUT YES! I didn't even think about them until we were about 20 minutes away from home. When we got here, I tore into the suitcase but there was no such luck! I called the hotel and the lady checked the lost and found "database" and said they found "2 small towels" in room 141. Oh, I SO hope those 2 small towels are really 2 small soft and fuzzy, irreplaceable blankies! The lady almost sounded annoyed with me until she heard the lump rising in my throat at the thought of explaining forgotten blankies to two 3 year olds at bed time. They are in bed right now with stand-ins. When they asked for blankies, I explained that we left the blankies "at the beach". Camron's lipped popped out while Caden said in a rather funny tone "a shark gonna eat my blankie??" I told them we left the blankies at the hotel, not actually at the beach and Ashlee was going to pick them up tomorrow and mail them to us so they would get a surprise in a few days in the mail! There have been a few tears tonight so hopefully we can hold out!

The Dancing Dukes!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Oh Christmas Tree!

Thanksgiving Slideshow

Ok, some of you may not think this is cute...if you don't, sorry b/c I think it's just adorable and totally blog-worthy in my book. The picture below was just taken. Camron (aka the Lone Ranger) had just gotten up from his nap and needed to poop. While he was pooping, he looks at Caden (aka Tonto) and says "Tonto, da Lone Ranger poop in da potty?" and Caden responds "uh-huh, da Lone Ranger poop BIIIG poop in da potty" and he goes over to take a look. They continued this conversation about poop so of course I grabbed my camera and snapped a shot!

Am I crazy? Hmmm, YEP!

So today is black Friday, heh? I have NEVER gotten up and been the first one in any of the stores. I have gotten up and gone early but not as early as today! Holly, her adorable Grandma and myself did it today! We somehow opened up Kohl's at 4, Dick's at 5 (they opened a few minutes early), Old Navy at 5, and Target at 6! I was up at the CRACK OF DAWN.....actually WAY before dawn showed any of it's CRACK (hee hee) and then we decided to stop off and open Goodwill at 9! I got some FABULOUS deals that I cannot even share b/c they are surprises to all and now I am going to eat at the good 'ole Longhorn with Mom and the boys for lunch. Yes I took a short nap in between!
I will post Thanksgiving pictures later!

Here are our Indians and Pilgrims! The older kids were Indians because they are the "helpers" (when they want to be) and the younger kids were Pilgrims because they were the ones needing the help. Oh wait, I guess I should be a Pilgrim then, huh?!?! We had a nice little feast of [deli] turkey and cheese roll ups, corn on the cob, mac and cheese, and rolls. We finished it off with yummy chocolate cupcakes. Here is an acrostic poem written by Jaxon:
Thank you for
Happy faces and happy things
Apples to eat
Nests for birds
Kisses from Mommy and Daddy
Snakes that are nice, kind, and smiley
God who loves us
Ice cream treats
Very good friends
Interesting things
Nice tv shows
Great family
We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends! Remember ALL the things you have to be thankful for...no matter how big or small!

MOPS night out

We had our monthly MOPS night out tonight. It was game night at Julia's. Here is a picture we took at the end of the night. Kim, Rebecca and Shannon had already left so they are not in the picture! We had lots of fun and lots of yummy snacks!

The boys have passed a nice little cough back and forth over the past few days. It started with Camron, moved on to Jaxon, and now Caden has it. It caused a slight fever in Camron and Jaxon at night time but nothing major. Caden has always been one to run high fevers but it's always unsettling when it happens. Yesterday, he woke up from a late nap with a fever of 103! I gave him Motrin and lots of cuddles but the fever didn't go down much. At bed time, I hated to put him in his bed until I was able to give him another dose of meds. The picture below is all the boys fast asleep in my bed (don't you just love my purple snowman sheets...Target of course!) They stayed here all snuggled up to each other until around 11:30 when I gave Caden more medicine and felt better about putting him in his bed! Not to mention I was just about asleep on my feet and wanted my bed back!

Warning....SUPER CUTE PICTURE BELOW!

This is Jaxon and his best "girl-friend" Reagan-Claire. Now, let me clear that up for those of you who may be confused, she is his best friend that is a girl, not his girlfriend! This may change because he does LOVE her and tells her so, so Kendall, watch out! Please notice the adorable shirt he has on. Yes it matches her shirt. Her Mommy, Patty (aka Drill Instructor) made this along with a few others for the boys and I have to MAKE them take them off so I can wash them! Anyway, I just thought this picture was too cute not to post. I could just eat them up!

Holiday for Her

Last night we had Holiday for Her at church. It was great! The speaker was Leslie Nease and she was awesome. Holly and I hosted/decorated our table...(more like I assisted Holly). There were so many beautiful tables with various themes. I am attaching some pics from the event! ENJOY!

We had a BIG 'OLE break through last night. Jaxon spent the night with Jaxon B (aka Zack..;)). He has never spent the night with anyone other than Grandparents. Holly said the only time he had any problems was right as they were falling asleep. She handled it perfectly and he did great! I am so thankful for friends that I can trust my most prized possessions with, who I know will take care of them and love them as they do their own!

In my family, Christmas is definitely one of the most treasured times of the year. I, personally, love everything about Christmas. I love what it means, I love the giving, I love the cooking...seriously, I love EVERYTHING about Christmas. Having said this, you will understand why I like to decorate early for Christmas. Daddy-O says I do it earlier and earlier each year and I think he may be right. I told him I was going to start decorating right after Halloween and I got a big fat "oh no you're not!". Well, I decided I was going to do a little bit this week. I mean, heck, what's he going to do take it down once he gets home from work...(wink, wink, love you honey =)!) Sooo, I climb right on up into the attic today to get the boys Christmas tree down for their playroom. While I was up there I spotted this SUPER cute snowman that stands on the front porch each year. So Mr. Snowman and myself proceed back down the ladder from the attic and I sat his heavy butt on the washing machine while I went back up to get the tree. Well, when me and the tree come back down the ladder, the tree knocks Mr. Snowman over who knocks the liquid laundry detergent over which falls (with the top OFF might I add) and spills in between the washer and dryer. To top it all off, it was a brand new bottle of detergent which makes me so mad b/c that's like wiping money up off the floor, soaking it into a rag and tossing it into the trash (then I remembered it was bogo so I wasn't AS upset about it!) Anyway, to put a positive spin on this, my laundry room floor is nice and clean and it smells GREAT in there! Now, I am off to put the Christmas tree up in the playroom! 'Tis the season to be jolly!

Please check out my website and let me know if you are interested in trays, bubble totes or buckets as Christmas gifts! I am offering a few specials and would love to personalize something just for you!
http://dukesdarlingdesigns.webs.com/

The BEST personal trainer EVER....

Ok, so how many of you are lucky enough to have your VERY own personal trainer? Well, I am happy to say that I am! Best of all, she's my friend too so when she pushes me, I know she is doing it to HELP me...well, most of the time! Patty (aka Drill Instructor) has been working out with me a few times each week and I want to THANK her for helping me to get back in to my skinny jeans! Let me know if any of you are in need of a personal trainer and I will get you her number...her prices are reasonable!

Sunday Night Randomness!

What a hectic and busy weekend! Wait, all of our weekends are hectic and busy....who am I kidding! I am proud to say that I am almost completely done with my Christmas shopping. That is a plus for me! My house is also clean...that is a double plus! Oh, and I better not forget the triple, quadruple, maybe even quintuple (is that even really a word??) plus for me......2 words.....let's all say them together....ready....."skinny jeans"....ahhh, I like the sound of that. Yes, I was able to fit into a pair of my "skinny jeans". No, not the ones that are really tight all the way down, even at the ankle (b/c I don't care who says those are "in" style, I "ain't" wearing them) but you know, the ones I used to fit into before I had kids. Surely they don't look like they did on me then but that's not the point, now is it?!
The boys are doing great. Camron and Caden are still slightly obsessed with the Lone Ranger and Tonto. If any of you out there have any of those toys from WAY back in the day and you are looking to get rid of them, please let me know b/c I would love to find some for them. Jaxon, on the other hand, is all in to "the Suite Life of Zack and Cody". He and his bff like to pretend like they ARE Zack and Cody. It's cute but can be annoying too when all I hear is "sweeeeet dude". Jaxon is reading too which is WONDERFUL. He is doing great and loves reading...hey this may just be a sextuple (again, not sure if that's a word) plus for me...ha!
Daddy-O just got home from basketball practice. He loves it but I think I just heard him say "it hurts to stand up"...hmmm, we aren't as young as we used to be!
I do have an appointment this Friday with the polymyositis specialist at Duke. Pray for answers, insight, and peace of mind!

Please click on the link below to go to my friend Ali's blog and read her post from today. Ali, thank you for this post and I hope you don't mind that I am sending people there to read it!
http://www.findingrestinhim.blogspot.com

Chris

I love my husband... I do! Sometimes I think that I love him so much that my heart might explode right out of my chest. I think he is funny, smart, handsome, athletic, etc., etc. Some would say he's my McDreamy or my McSteamy (for all you Grey's fans). Some would say he's my "lobster" (for all you old school Friends fans). He has many names in our house: Daddy, Dad, Daddy-O, Baby, Honey, DH (which means Darling Husband....most of the time), ding-bat Charlie, or just plain Chris. The reason I decided to write this blog this morning is because before Chris left to play basketball, I asked him to turn my coffee pot on. I know he heard me b/c he asked me how many cups I was making and I answered him. I got up a little while later, took a shower (all the while thinking of my coffee which awaited me) and went downstairs only to find that the ding-bat Charlie hadn't turned the coffee pot on at all! This is a regular occurrence in our house, btw! I think it's funny! I also think it's part of being a man! Let me give you another example. If I ask Chris to unload the dishwasher and he says "I'll do it when I get home", that really means in "christopher-ese" "baby, I know if I leave it long enough, you'll get sick of looking at the dirty dishes in the sink and you'll do it yourself so I will conveniently forget for just a little bit longer". OR if I ask him to scoop the litter box he will conveniently run out of time in the morning before work KNOWING that the school room is right beside the laundry room and Jaxon and I won't be able to concentrate without taking care of it! I also love how he never smelled the poopie diapers. How funny is it though, when he did have to change the poopie ones, that he heaved EVERY time. There were a few times when he really, actually threw up! When Jaxon was a baby, I used to think it was a show so I would feel bad for him and not make him do it anymore, but I soon found out that he just had a really weak tum-tum! Anyway, just a few funnies this morning about my DH(remember that means Darling Husband). He's great! He does unload the dishwasher a lot (mostly b/c I hate doing it...and he says I do it too slow!) He also cleans other things (including the litter box) when I need him to! I'm sure most of you with hubbies out there get the same excuses...heck, some of you may not even be as lucky to have hubbies that clean at all! I count my blessings for the forgotten litter box and emptying of the dishwasher AND for the poopie diapers that I do change! It makes me realize how lucky I am to have a hubby that helps....sometimes!!

Halloween Pics

Well, another year of getting more candy than we know what to do with is over! Jaxon is snoozing peacefully while Camron and Caden continue to play in their room rather than sleep. We trick-or-treated, we went to the Fall Festival at church, and of course, we let them eat WAY too much candy! But hey, it's not like they get to eat this much candy all year long! How funny that Camron told every person that gave them candy as we went door to door that he was the Lone Ranger. Caden immediately followed with "me Tonto". As you can see they were both Thomas the Train! How funny!

Jack-o-lantern FUN!

Here is our family of jack-o-lanterns as well as a few pics of us from tonight! Jaxon took the last one all by himself!

My son with the GINORMOUS heart!

This is short and sweet....
We saw a raccoon, dead on the side of the road on the way to prayer group yesterday. Jaxon pointed it out so I told him that it was sad that animals get hit by cars but that was part of life and they are living in heaven now. That was that. Well today, I was taking the boys to hang out with Poppi while I went to serve at the soup kitchen. The route is the same as the one taken yesterday. Jaxon informs me that while he was with Poppi, they were going to go get the raccoon and bury it. I told him there were people who do that for a living and he didn't need to worry about it...not to mention Poppi's back is hurt {badly} and he can't go move anything. He said {while fighting back tears} that he "didn't like to see the raccoon there and someone needed to move it and if Poppi can't do it then you or Nana can just put on some gloves and pick it up then your hands won't have to touch it and it won't be there on the side of the road anymore". I think it is great that at 5 years old he has such a huge heart and cares so much about all of God's creatures!
The poor raccoon is still there, btw.....hopefully those people who do that for a living will take care of it asap!

Pumpkin carving time!

We had a BUSY day today with 2 birthday parties! We came home and carved our pumpkins....all 5 of them! Each of us has our own! I actually had 2. I saw a little white pumpkin at the patch and just had to have it. It wasn't very "carvable" though. I tried but I think it may have been solid! Anyway, here are a few pics of our fun night!

A Fair is veritable smorgasbord!

We took our annual trip to the State Fair yesterday! Oh what fun we had! We were afraid it was going to be too chilly but it turned out to be a beautiful day! The boys had a great time riding rides and ponies, petting the animals, and riding in the wagon! Mommy enjoyed watching the boys and the few treats she allowed herself to eat (darn diet!!) Here are a few pics from our day!

Oh what a night!

We had a busy day today. We were getting home late and Jaxon went over to spend the night with Nana b/c we are going to the fair tomorrow. Daddy-O and I decided we were going to throw Camron and Caden in for a quick bath and put them to bed so we could catch up on all our DVR'd House episodes. Why did we even try?! The boys got in the bath and I said 5 minutes of playing then they were getting bathed and out. I got the okay and walked out of the bathroom only to hear them both FREAKING out. Now, when I say FREAKING out, I am not exaggerating. You would have thought there was a one eyed, one horned, flying purple people eater coming after them or something. I run in to the bathroom only to find no purple people eater but none other than POOP chasing them out of the tub. They were scrambling just as hard as they could with a save yourself attitude (pushing each other to try and be the first out). I grab them both up ask who it was and put the guilty party on the pot to "finish" the job. He says he's all done and I believed him due to the amount of "doo" in the tub. SOOOO, Daddy-O takes them to the other tub to finish the bath while I clorox my tub. Ok, let's fast forward 5 minutes later. Screaming ensues yet again, while Daddy-O is watching, the guilty party who apparently really wasn't finished before poops AGAIN in the other tub. At this point it's funny so after we laugh over it for a minute, we get them out...AGAIN and put them in the shower. Both boys are in the bed now, hopefully heading off to slumber land! I have had enough poop for one night! At least my tubs are nice and clean!

T is for TURTLE!

This week we studied turtles. As you can see the boys had a great time on their field trip to the Natural Science Center where they got to look at, touch, and BE turtles! They also learned about perseverance. Jaxon's "words to remember" this week where "I don't quit. I persevere!" We read books about perseverance and talked about famous stories such as "The Tortoise and the Hare". You just don't realize how much kids take in until they apply it to the real world. Yesterday, Jaxon was at Nana's and he wanted to play with the Lincoln Logs. She couldnt' find them and was about to give up when Jaxon says to her...."C'mon Nana, PERSEVERE!" How cute is that?!

Mistaken Identity

Most of you know that we have a few pets in our house. Bailey, the cat, was the first. He has always been a smart cat who loves to play fetch with aluminum foil balls. We have Arnold the fish and Sam the frog. Our newest is Maggie, the dog. Bailey was always king of the castle until Maggie came along. Now, Maggie runs Bailey off from his favorite hot spots so Bailey has resorted to higher places...such as on top of dressers, kitchen cabinets, and such. In the past, we have run him off but we usually feel bad for him now and let him stay put for a little while. Let me just tell you what the nut of a dog did yesterday. Caden let her out (after being told NOT to) and it was pouring down rain. Mommy didn't know Maggie was outside for a while and when I came to the rescue, Maggie was cold and wet and NOT very happy. I brought her in and dried her off but locked her in the kitchen until she was completely dry. Then I went back upstairs to finish school. Much to my surprise when I came back down, Maggie had found a nice warm place to dry off....SEE PICTURE BELOW

Yes, this is Maggie. Curled in a ball ON MY KITCHEN TABLE. Don't ask me how she got there. I am guessing she climbed into a chair then onto the table. All I know is that she was ON MY KITCHEN TABLE. YUCK! And it has been brought to my attention that rather than getting her off immediately, I grabbed the camera for a photo op first! She is cute, though, isn't she!

While I was in Texas, my DARLING husband took the boys to a "photo shoot" since I couldn't be there to do it! The picture you see to the right is the only one I have seen as a sneak peak and I LOVE IT and can't wait to see the rest! I should get them in the next 2 weeks so I will share when I do! I don't know who this lady is but we WILL be using her MORE and soon!

Boo to shots!

The boys had their 3 and 5 year check ups yesterday. They all did great. Camron and Caden are in the 25th percentile for height and between the 25th and 50th for weight. Jaxon is between the 75th and 90th percentile for height and close to the 90th for weight! Camron and Caden had to get their fingers pricked and they both got the flu shot. They only cried for a minute then the sucker I brought for them calmed them right down. Jaxon had to get 5 shots and his finger pricked. It would have been 4 and the flu mist but after being given the choice, Jaxon CHOSE the shot over the mist! Boy was I surprised! Now, let me just tell you that last year when Jax got the flu shot, he had to be physically restrained by like 3 adults. This year I was afraid it would take way more than that being he had to get so many. We talked to him before his appointment and told him everything to expect.(I scheduled them separately so I wouldn't have all 3 getting shots together!) He did AWESOME! He sat right on my lap and I held him still while she gave him all 5 shots! 2 in one arm, 3 in the other! Needless to say, he got a reward afterwards! GO DUKE BOYS!

Don't Mess With Texas!

We had the MOPS convention this weekend in Grapevine, Texas. It was GREAT! Here are a few pics. The first one is Julia and myself with Kim Hill who was a performer the entire weekend! She has a phenomenal voice! The second picture is the 4 of us (Julia, Jessica, Leigh, and me) in one of the general sessions. The third is Jessica and Leigh in the courtyard inside the Gaylord Texan Resort where we stayed and the last one is the 4 of us with the giraffe outside the Rainforest Cafe!
There were LOTS of great performers there. We saw the lead singer of El Salvador, Jaci Velasquez, Go Fish, Plumb, and Avalon. There were very inspirational speakers throughout the weekend. Lynne Spears even made a surprise appearance! We did so much, saw so much and heard so much that I can't even begin to put it all on here! We all came back with lots of great ideas and we can't wait to get started implementing some of them!
SDWSC!!