They say it's your birthday.....

Me and my sweet boys on my birthday! Joss was snoozing so she missed the photo op!
I had a great time shopping with Mom the morning of my birthday. Then we met everyone at Longhorn for lunch. That afternoon I was able to relax for a little while before taking the princess to the dr. Double ear infections! Boo!

Daddy-O and all our loves on his birthday!

Daddy-O played golf with his bestie (lol) the morning of his birthday. We went to dinner at Ham's then came home and watched a movie together.

Christmas with my side of the family

On Christmas Day afternoon, we go back to Durham to spend a few hours at my grandparents house. We have lots of people in their house and it always brings such joy to my heart! There are 7 great-grandchildren...4 of which belong to us!

Here the boys are showing off their gift from Grandma and Papa.

Oh look, someone snapped a picture of me...and given the fact I hadn't just rolled out of bed, I thought it was okay to post it ;).

I love this picture. They both look so happy!

I guess the only way to get a picture of Papa is to take a picture of him taking a picture! He is always behind the camera!

On to Nana and Poppi's house! Camron and Caden wait patiently while watching an "old timey" movie with Poppi. This is something all 3 boys really enjoy! (Watching the old movies that is. I certainly don't mean waiting!)

They were so excited to get "The Millennium Falcon"!

Poppi and Nana holding their gifts from us.

Daddy-O and Camron were worn slap out! We love spending time with all of our family at Christmas but man, oh man does it make us tired!

We pray that each of you had a blessed Christmas with your families as well!

Merry Christmas!

We were ALL up bright and early Christmas morning! Joss and Jax are our early risers so they made sure the rest of us were up as well!

Once everyone got downstairs and took a peak at what was there, we all sat down and sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus led by Jaxon. We usually make a cake but didn't this year. I love that my children are at a point where they see the true meaning of Christmas. Yes, they enjoy getting presents but they enjoy giving even more. I over heard them talking on numerous occasions this year to eachother as well as to others saying the best present they ever got was Jesus. Amen, boys, Amen!

Jaxon opening his present from Camron and Caden. They all did such a good job keeping eachothers gifts secret. And they were SO proud of their purchases!

Joss on her "push-cart" for the first time!

Camron and Caden opening their gifts from eachother! How funny that they got eachother the same thing but in a different color?!

Daddy-O got a new flashlight. He is ALWAYS looking for a flashlight so this was a great gift for him!

The boys each got a set of Wikki Stix. They had a blast creating with those while the sausage balls were in the oven!

Yes, I was there and even had my picture made as I opened presents BUT I am also the one that chooses the pictures for this blog...and I choose to not show those!

Merry Christmas to All! May you all remember that JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!

Twas the night before Christmas

We attended our Christmas Eve service this year. It was beautiful! The kids really enjoyed singing, praising, and being able to hold the candles all by themselves....;)
Once we got home and everyone was showered and in their jammies, one present was opened by each then Daddy-O ready The Night Before Christmas then the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible.

The boys have been asking me every time we go in Hobby Lobby to buy them fleece fabric and make them "tie" blankets. I always tell them no....I finally did it and surprised them for Christmas! They love them. They are camo on one side and each boy has a different color on the other!

Jossalyn got a My Child doll. I had one of these when I was a little girl and searched and searched until I found an affordable one on ebay for her! She LOVES her.

L-O-V-E this! Pure sweetness. Makes my heart like putty!

Ok, if you remember my post about the homeschool party at church, you remember the picture of the shepherds looking "scared". Well, when Daddy-O got to that point, on cue, my little shepherds looked "scared" again! I love those silly kids!

After our family routine was finished, we set out cookies and milk, threw some carrots in the yard for the reindeer and off to bed they went.....(if only it were that easy!) The excitement of our day in addition to the excitement yet to come meant a long and drawn out bedtime with lots of giggles and sillies before finally seeing those visions of sugarplums!

What a blessing these children are!

Christmas with the Duke's

We usually go to Chris' parents a few days before Christmas and spend the night. The kids have a blast hanging out with everyone and the adults get to relax and spend some quality time together. Here are a few pics of our time together!

Mimi and Grandpa with a gift from us.

Hmm, wonder what this is.....underwear?!?!

Here is Jax with Uncle Cooley. He's a big kid himself!

Not sure what Joss was laughing at but she sure is cute!

All the boys playing in the floor with their legos!

11 months already?!?!

I can't even believe in one month my baby girl will be 1 year old!! In the past month little miss priss has decided her favorite way to get around is by foot! She just took off....literally! I thought 4th kids walked later.....anyway.....Nana bought her some super cute "walking" shoes. Mostly to keep her from busting her face open in her cute little tights! She is talking up a storm, although she does speak Jossalyn-ese! We can probably understand her much better than others! Her favorites are "thank-you" and "baby". And yes, everyone slightly small (even if they are bigger than her) are baby! So, as we approach Christmas and the New Year, I guess this mama has a party to plan! This little girls is going to be well celebrated come January 22nd!

A few of our homeschool friends met us at Moses Cone hospital to deliver stuffed animals and toys to the children on the pediatric floor there. The kids had a ball and it was such a rewarding time for all of us! I think the kids would have liked to stay and play in the playroom there but we stopped for a quick picture and headed out!

Caroling for the elderly

A few homeschool families went caroling this evening at a nursing home close to our house. The last time we went, Jaxon was in Kindergarten. Tonight was great! It started off rather funny...okay, downright hilarious. I made arrangements with the lady who works there and set up the time and everything. When we got there, there was another group ready to sing away. The woman in charge of that group asked what songs we were singing, to which I replied casually, "Rudolph, Frosty, and Jingle Bells!". She said those weren't on their list but that she had extra printed out if we needed them....oooookkkkkkaaaaayyyy...I was confused. She then asked if they could go first since they had 2 other stops. Of course I said yes....and thank goodness I did. They all get ready and started to sing....in harmony, with a little tuner thing (no I have no clue what it's called)...they had been practicing! We just wanted to sing some fun songs and have some fun! Which is exactly what we did and the people living there LOVED it! One woman was in tears afterwards talking to us about how much it meant to have children come visit especially for those whose family aren't around or just don't bother visiting!

Here is the first group...yes I had to snap a shot! They really sounded good!

And here's our group! Singing a little Frosty. Who really knows all those words by heart anyway....hehe ;)

We even moved into the dining area (by request of course) so they could have a little entertainment with their dinner!

Here are all the sweet kiddos posing for a picture in front of the tree. They did SUCH a good job!

I was extra proud of Camron and Caden for going around before we left and giving Christmas hugs to the residents! Melted this mama's heart!

Last Wednesday evening, Camron started acting a little out of sorts. We had planned to all take part in our church's Live Nativity that we SO look forward to each year. I stayed home with the youngest 3 and Daddy-O and Jaxon went to be townspeople in Bethlehem. The next morning, Camron woke seemingly fine so we went on with our day. Jaxon, who didn't eat much for breakfast, began complaining of lower right abdominal pain before lunch. Knowing the signs of appendicitis (because I had it at a young age) began pressing and questioning. I decided to take him and Camron to the Dr. that afternoon. The Dr. immediately did a strep test on Cam which was positive and was concerned about Jax. He had another Dr. examine him and we all decided the hospital was a good option. There are no pediatric surgeons in High Point so our pediatrician sends you to Brenners. I ran Camron home, picked up Daddy-O who had to leave work early and off to Brenner's ER we went! Once we arrived at the hospital, we were seen by various Dr.'s of different levels. I honestly couldn't keep them all straight. It's funny how you are in a Children's ER so you would think ALL the staff would be "good" with kids....MOST of them were, don't get me wrong, but here was one Dr. who was very skeptical! I could tell she thought Jax was just fine! And he was doing really well compared to some appendix patients! He wasn't vomiting, his fever was low grade, he was even smiling and laughing off and on! I know my child...I knew something was not right! After hours of different people pushing, poking, making him jump up and down, and finally blood work, they decided that this was more than likely his appendix. Whew! I tried to tell them! Don't they know a mama's gut is usually right?! They took him back to prep him for surgery shortly after midnight. We were all exhausted and starving at this point! Daddy-O and I grabbed some "dinner" and he ran home for some things. At 3 something they called from the recovery room and I could hear my poor baby screaming for me. Talk about breaking a mama's heart. I ran there as fast as I could to try and calm him as he came out of anesthesia. He was in a lot of pain. They gave him some meds to calm him and shortly after Daddy-O got back. We were finally able to get back to his room a little before 4. They discharged him late Friday afternoon and we have been taking it easy since. He is still sore and wants to do more than he can. Bless his heart, he wants more than anything to be able to pick up his baby sister!

Camron and Caden were both treated for strep and are back to their usual active selves! We are so thankful that this happened the week before Christmas! We know how blessed we are to have caught this early before he got really sick or worse, the appendix ruptured!

LCHE Christmas Party

Our homeschool group at church has a wonderful Christmas party each year. The kids LOVE to take part in acting out the Christmas story. This year, Camron and Caden were shepherds and Jaxon was the innkeeper. Here are a few pictures of the play. It was great!

Here are the shepherds afraid when the angel first appears before them...didn't they do a good job of looking scared???

The "cast" after the show!

The "cast" looking afraid...just 'cause I thought it was super cute and really wanted a picture of them all doing it! ;)

Santa Pictures

We have a lot of "events" where Santa shows up this time of year. It helps that Poppi is our very own personal Santa. Given the fact that Jossalyn isn't too fond of men (other than Daddy-O), we are lucky to get a good shot of her with Santa! This first one takes the cake!

I just loved this one of Camron and Caden! Talk about identical! These were taken at the GMOM Christmas breakfast.

This was the MOPS breakfast with Santa

RACK

Random

Acts of

Christmas

Kindness

I got the idea from a blog and just knew this was a perfect idea for our family. My children, Jaxon especially, really enjoy doing nice things for people. So for Advent, we have an envelope for each day of December containing a "random act". For example, one day, our card told us to make cookies and take them to a neighbor. One day we bought lunch for the person in the car behind us in the drive through. Today, we purchased flowers at the grocery store and Jaxon gave them to an elderly lady as she walked into the store. Each time, the person we "RACK" gets a card explaining what we are doing and telling them Jesus loves them! I took into account things we already had planned for the month and made sure I could coincide these things into our RACK activities. Next week we (along with some of our homeschool friends) are taking stuffed animals to the pediatric floor at the hospital so I made sure our card instructed us to do so! This has been very rewarding for us all. The kids have loved surprising people and talk about it continuously! After we "RACK'd" our neighbor, a few days later, she "RACK'd" us back! The love of Jesus flows right on through to the next person! So, as the "12 days of Christmas" begin, how can you RACK someone? You never know how you may touch the life of someone who truly needs it!

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

I've got a feeling, somebody's watching me....

We recently studied the eye. We talked about the parts of the human eye, how it compared to the parts of a camera, how blessed we are to have our vision, how God used Paul's vision to get his attention, etc. What better way to finish off a fun unit then to dissect an actual eye and see it up close and personal?! We are very lucky to have a friend who hunts and he recently shot a deer! He brought us the eyes and we got right down to business! The boys were a little apprehensive at first but once they slapped on those rubber gloves, the fear subsided and they couldn't get enough!

Here are eyes after being washed and the eyelashes being removed. (by the way, I am SO glad today was a nice day and we could do this outside!)

The boys were pretending to be grossed out here.

They wished we had 3 eyes so they each could have their own!

This is just for the gross factor. This is what comes out of a deer eye when you slice it open!

Here is a picture of the lens.

We had a great time doing this activity together! This is just another reason I love to homeschool!

Daddy-O loves his baby girl!