Good Morning!!!

This face is what makes getting out of bed easier each morning:

Literally speaking

If you haven't read the previous post, you should do so before reading this. Somehow, it will only make this funnier.

It's like Jenae's been studying the dictionary lately. She knows her words and she knows what they mean and when to use them. Our conversation:

Me: "Jenae! Be gentle with your sister."

Jenae: "I am."

M: "Be careful. Don't hurt her." (as she overwhelms Avery with her Love)

J: "I'm not hurting her."

M: "Jenae, don't poke her ear!"

J: "I'm not poking it. I'm pulling it!"

Okay, well, continue then! ahhhh! What am I going to do with this child?!

Keeping it Real!

I'm so far behind (again) I'm not sure where to start! So to avoid all the posts that I should be doing....you know...Santa pics, Christmas morning, all the extended family...I'll just jump back in with a story from this morning.

We've been trying to reduce Jenae's sugar intake in a effort to help correct some "attitude" problems we'd encountered. It really has been helping, yet one of our biggest struggles continues to be with how much juice she drinks.

This morning she went to Jordan to ask for some juice...I wasn't there, but I hear it went a little something like this:

Jenae: I want juice, Daddy.
Daddy: No, Jenae.
J: YES!
D: No, Jenae. No juice.
J: YES! YES!
D: Jenae, don't yell at me.
J: I'm not yelling. I'm whining.

There ya go!! We may not know all our ABC's but we know the difference between yelling and whining!

Bring it on 2009!

Little Angel

Jenae's first Christmas program at Mother's Day Out was this afternoon. She was the sweetest little angel. So precious!!

Jenae,
I was so proud of you today! I pray that you will always be one of God's messengers who announce the Good News about Jesus! I love you!
Momma

My Cutie!

a new record

First, I hate blogging without pictures. "My" computer at home is only useful for getting online. I don't even have sound or software. It was Jordan's bachelor computer and all he did was play those ridiculous games on it. Also, all of our pictures are on the Mac (Jordan's laptop). I'm not complaining, because I used to not even be able to get online without J's computer. But, I can't do any fun stuff unless I can "borrow" the laptop...which is hard to do since he works full-time and is in two graduate school classes this semester. So, that leaves you, the reader, with either 1) no posting, or 2) just a bunch of words from me.

Well, today is your lucky day....you are getting the second option!

NOW that we've gotten that all out in the open.....

I just wanted to say that Jordan and I put up our Christmas tree in record time last night!! I didn't actually time it, but everything that usually causes a problem went smoothly. So smoothly that we are a little cautious that the whole thing will just collapse at any moment. But it hasn't...and we're excited. And, (true confession), the thing that took the longest was finding the plug!!!! Ha!

Maybe when Jordan finishes all his papers and takes a day off work, you'll get to see our tree. Until then, know it looks great!! Now, I've got to tackle the rest of the house. We have our annual Holiday Open House on the 6th. It will be here soon!

Have a great day, bloggies. I'm gonna go crank the music and get busy. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....."

Free Giveaway!!

I read lots of blogs that do giveaways and always thought it would be fun to do, too! So...courtesy of Oprah....I have my first FREE giveaway to announce.

It is a FREE photo book from Snapfish.com!!!

Her show yesterday was about decluttering and organizing your home. Her expert, Peter, offered a great solution to all the treasured art work kids bring home from school. He said to take digital pictures of the art and then upload them to Snapfish and print them out in a nice book. Great idea, huh?! Because of my (and Oprah's) generosity, I'm passing that idea on to you for FREE!! :o) What can I say, it's the holiday spirit!!

Go to Oprah.com and register (or LogIn if you're already a member) with Snapfish.com. You have do to this before Midnight on Friday. This will automatically give your account a photobook credit (value $29). You have until Sunday to make your book and place your order! So get busy, gals!!

Here's the great part...it doesn't have to be a book of children's art work...think of the possibilities...and Christmas gifts...you could make. A book for your favorite vacation, baby's first year, 2008 Album, something for the grandparents. I'm really excited to do this and just had to share this FREE idea will all my bloggies!!!

Hopefully, Oprah and I can team up and offer you more great deals for the holidays!! Have fun! And remember, you heard about it here! :o)

A Tooth

I finally can feel the top of Avery's first little tooth. She's been working on these things for months! Seriously! Bless her heart. Now maybe we can cut back on the drool. She can completely soak 5 or 6 bibs a day. And...she can get her hands on some real food. Everytime we eat in front of her she looks so sad. Won't be long now, baby! You're on your way into a whole new world! It's called food! You're gonna love it!

Let's hear it for teeth!

Trick or Treating with MDO

Just a sneak peak...

'Nastics

Monday evening was "Parent Night" at Jenae's gymnastics class. Jordan's class in Abilene was cancelled so he got to go along for the show...or maybe the show was just for him, I'm not sure. Needless to say, little miss really put on a show!
(Warning: If you are not family, or better yet, if you're not Jenae's grandparents, you probably will get nauseated after about the first bazillion pictures...but hang on 'cause I posted a gazillion of them. Sorry!)

These first ones were taken during the warm-up. They rotate continuously through different stations.
Tumbling....

Jumping...
Horse tumbling...


After about 10-15 minutes they stop and do some stretching and musical 'circle' games...
Back flips...

For the rest of the time they break into small groups and do different stations than before, rotating every 5-10 minutes.

Uneven bars...


Floor exercises...

Jumping and balance...

This is the one thing I didn't know they did. I was a little leery at first, but Jenae loved it. In fact, she giggled almost the entire time. Silly girl. Her coach told me he thought she was "fearless."


High in the sky...getting ready to swing....
Loving every minute...

Trampoline...

A few push-ups to end the session....
Whew! I was tired just watching her!!! I really was so proud of her. The class is for 3 to 5/6 year-olds. Jenae was technically still 2 years old when classes started, but her coach agreed to give it a try. The very first day we stayed for about 10 minutes before the coach "encouraged" us to leave. During those 10 minutes it was very clear that Jenae was the smallest, youngest thing out there. She hadn't started school yet either, so this was her first structured class and her first thing to do without Momma and Daddy being right there.
I'm not going to lie...Monday night you could still guess she was the youngest. She doesn't know her left from her right. She's not the first to follow instructions. She'll let others go before her in the line. She's in her own happy place. But what I loved was seeing her be proud of herself, doing things someone else had taught her, and knowing that she knew we were proud of her!! I can already tell you I'm the mom who's going to need tissues at the little PTA choir performances. (Whaaa!)

I love my little gymnast!!!

One

I was tagged by my friend Tonya for this little exercise. I really don't like doing these. I think I always try to over analyze my answers. I'm sure there's a label for this sickness. It probably should be one of my one-word answers somewhere down the list. See...there I go re-thinking my answers again. Sheesh!!

TYPE ONLY ONE WORD FOR EACH ANSWER. IT'S HARDER THAN YOU THINK!!!

1. Where is your cell phone? kitchen

2. Your significant other? Jordan

3. Your hair? brown

4. Your mother? giving

5. Your father? leader

6. Your favorite thing? pictures

7. Your dream last night? Zzzzz

8. Your favorite drink? Coke

9. Your dream/goal? health

10. The room you're in? messy

11. Your fear? loneliness

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? settled

13. Where were you last night? Comanche

14. What you're not? patient

15. Muffins/donuts? both :o)

16. One of your wish list items? grace

17. Where you grew up? Army

18. The last thing you did? blog

19. What are you wearing? pj's

20. Your TV? off

21. Your pet? none

22. Your computer? Mac

23. Your life? Full

24. Your mood? grateful

25. Missing someone? friends

26. Favorite pastime? reading

27. Something you're not wearing? make-up

28. Favorite Store? Target

29. Your summer? pool

30. Your favorite color? red

31. When is the last time you laughed? daily

32. Last time you cried? yesterday

33. Who will/would re-post this? Amanda

34. Four places I go over and over? Church, IGA, Wal-Mart, Sonic

35. Four people who e-mail me? Homie, Dad, Mimommie, FlyLady

36. Four of my favorite foods? chicken, pizza, coffee, sweets

37. Four places I would like to be right now? bed, hotel, home, DisneyWorld

38. Four people I tag? Homie, Amanda, Jennifer, Karen

The Pumpkin Patch

We finally made it to a Pumpkin Patch to get some pictures. I was afraid we were going to miss out this year. I couldn't find one around here (surprise!) or even in the Abilene area. We finally stopped in at a nursery in Brownwood, not really a "pumpkin patch;" more like a pile of pumpkins in the parking lot. But, hey, the week before Halloween, beggars can't be chosers! Anyhoo...back to the pictures, right?! Well, I must say I was thrilled with the shots we got. I didn't even have to curse. Although I did learn a very valuable lesson: bring the dad along. He's great at corralling, making the kiddos laugh, and I even got to be in one of the pictures. What a deal!!

Momma and the girls:I included this one just to say, "Look at that hair?!!" Seriously!!! That's why the bows are so big. They help hide all that choas going on back there! :o)

Sweet Sisters!

Jenae:


Avery Joy:

And, my FaVoRiTe shot of the day:

Pumpkin Carvin'

BEFORE:

Happy Girl, Boring Pumpkin

AFTER:

Happy Girl, Happy Pumpkin

Last night I made the plan for today: pumpkin carving, library, naps and then gymnastics. Well, I woke up grumpy, or maybe it was Jenae...or maybe both of us. Needless to say, we weren't really getting along. Scratch the pumpkin. Too messy. Too likely to fight. We're not going there today. Avery went down for her morning nap, things seemed to have settled a bit between Jenae and I, so...we went for it. I'm so glad we did. We had lots of fun planning our face, getting the slimy strings out of the pumpkin, and then admiring our hard work.

One of the fun things about this activity is that after all your hard work you get to eat a snack!! Add a little salt, a little butter....spread them on a cookie sheet...in the oven at 300 for 45 minutes...and Yummy! Roasted pumpkin seeds!!! A remember making this delicious snack in school when I was a little girl.
This was a fun morning! Good-bye, Momma and Daughter Grumpy!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!