THE LITTLETONS

adding Martin and Christmas pictures and whatever else. (only a few months later than I thought)

2011-06-08T09:16:00.001-07:00

Going back to Martin for Andrew’s graduation from Grad school was so much fun. I love to reminisce. (I am so my mother)

We had a little get-together at one of his professor’s house. Dr. Payne was one of Andrew’s favorite teachers will in college.

Then the big day came. We remembered all of Andrew graduation clothes.

We got there in time and then sat and waited.

Thank goodness for i phones to entertain kids. Well, the big kids. Grani had to sit towards the back after Beau and Elam decided graduations were boring!

Above is Dr. Payne. He spoke at this pre-ceremony for only Masters students. UT Martin’s first online program!

Proud parents and wife!

Crazy kids.

Below, I’m telling them how no one is riding with Papa and Grani back home, b/c I’m about to take them to all the memorable places in Martin that they need to see.

They weren’t happy about that.

First stop. My apartment for the 2nd semester of my junior year. Andrew moved in after we got married. Apartment J-13

From here, he had a short drive to Arrow Aluminum to work and I had an even shorter drive to class.

These are the softball fields where Andrew proposed!

Never did I imagine we would be back here for Andrew graduation from out Alma Mater with 4 kids in tote!

Next was Andrew’s house growing up. He lived here since, um, like middle school, I think.

Once I decided Andrew was the one, I was here all the time. Especially around meals!

Next we drove to where the church was. Andrew’s dad was minister of music there up until the year before we got married.

It is no longer there. Instead, a GINORMOUS bank is. Who needs a bank that big in Martin?! I wish I could have seen the church one more time before they tore it down.

I enjoyed my stroll down memory lane. The kids, not so much.

Now on to something the kids DO enjoy. Christmas!!!!!

Christmas 2010

Nothing says Christmas like Steak and Shake and a sad little 2 year old who doesn’t want his picture taken with Santa!

WAIT! Before Christmas presents comes birthday presents. Oops!

Haven had a movie night with a few friends followed by ice cream.

After presents, we went to get her ears pierced.

A little nervous, yet excited. Kind of like childbirth.

Scared with a hint of “how could you?!”

In this “Before” shot, the dot looked good. We needed to bring in some reinforcements just in case. (Claire’s very huggable bear)

Below, is the “After” shot. The sucker helps her, but you can still see a tear from the actual event.

Her friend Libby was staying to spend the night. I don’t think we traumatized her, but, she isn’t getting her ears pierced any time soon.

After, or before, I can’t remember, we had present time with Grani, Papa and cousins.

Haven and Libby. The girls!

OK, Haven and Libby and Elam. Girls plus little brother with his hands down his pants. Oh good. Didn’t notice that before now.

Oh, I see 4 heads. (and both Elam’s hands)

Movie time! Girls and little brothers.

Ok, finally time for Christmas Eve!

Cute little boy in Reindeer pajama’s from his Aunt Annliese.

Beau, “What are you doing here Maddux? Oh yeah, you are like my Aunt and Uncles child. Merry Christmas Maddux!”

Mom, “Let’s take family pictures on Haley’s couch.”

Bret and Andrew made this difficult.

More awkward and unflattering pictures. Not sure what it is. Maybe it’s my couch. Everyone’s legs look big and bodies look squatty. (or maybe we all need to exercise a little more) Not. sure.

I think mom and dad look adorable in their tigger and snowflake shirts!

Now that we’ve seen how chubby we are, let’s look at cute skinny kids eating Andrew’s famous Snicker doodles for Santa. I think I only had 3 or 4, or 8. I can’t remember.

Time for the music portion of the evening. Opa and Elam!

And then Andrew, b/c he can.

Elam is available for weddings and family reunions.

Now, Christmas Day!!!! Man, this is taking forever!

Bernard slept in the dining room next to the tree. Santa just happened to bring little puppets just like him to the 3 big kids. What a strange coincidence.

Then we had presents and, play time outside. It was a white Christmas!

Above, kids with Santa gifts. Below, dad checking on Martha. He was worried.

Sometimes snowball fights get vicious, but she bounced right back! As always.

Watch out Oma!!!!

After a warm hug from Oma, the kids needed to dance to our new Wii games. Thanks Aunt DiDi. Shake it Aunt Robin!

I think dance is a perfect way to end Christmas and this terribly long post! Woo hoo!

Fall fun 2010

2010-12-20T18:41:00.001-08:00

August, September, October, and November…………might as well throw most of December in as well.

School has been going well for both big kids, as well as for Elam who goes to Aunt Christy’s house for home school preschool with Hannah and Benjamin.

Gibson makes good grades but fusses when I make him study. He’d rather play outside with the neighborhood kids or put a football helmet on and pretend to throw, receive and tackle invisible players.

Haven says school is boring, but she says that about most things. She won’t admit it, but she loves to read. She’d rather watch Disney all afternoon and night, but instead, she plays outside, or colors pictures. She’s a good little artist and for a TVaholic, she likes PE.

Gibson will be starting Basketball soon and hopefully, Haven can start either dance or gymnastics. She really wants to take horse back riding lessons as well as ice skating.

Elam is having a blast learning along side his cousins at his Aunt Christy’s house. Christy is a great teacher and I enjoy being the side kick. They are learning a lot, and we both enjoy watching the process.

Beau comes along for school and likes to sing along. He participates with most of the art projects, but mostly he eats Christy out of house and home while we are there.

We go about twice a week. Lately we’ve all battled too much sickness to have school, but that’s the beauty of homeschool. No one’s behind and we can finish whenever we want!

Andrew did his fair share of home school over the past year and a half. He graduated this past Saturday with his MBA from our alma mater, UT Martin. He participated in a small ceremony, just for MBA graduates. He was part of the first on-line MBA program offered by UTM. He did not walk for the big graduation, but that’s routine. He had a good excuse last time since he was getting married that same day May 13th, 2000. The small ceremony was just about all the kids could handle anyway.

It was nice being in Martin again. It has grown and changed in many ways. The most shocking was the gigantic bank that has taken the place of the church where Andrew’s dad was minister of music for so long and where Andrew and I got married. I wish I had been able to see it before it was torn down. We also drove by our old apartment and the softball fields where Andrew proposed. Lots of nice memories of Martin TN. The kids didn’t care much for my reminiscing, but I didn’t care. It’s not all about them.

It was also bitter sweet to walk down the hall way which use to house a big dance picture that I was in at UT Martin. That was over 10 years ago, so, of course, I’ve been upgraded for a newer model. Oh well.

After our trip to Martin, we had a quick Christmas celebration in Clarksville with Papa and Grani and Uncle Daniel and Aunt Christy and Hannah and Benjamin. It was the only time we could find, but it worked out well.

The next day, Andrew lead worship at our new church. He’s been doing this quite often over the last 2 months. He enjoys it so much. I do too! It’s nice to see him use his passion for music for worship.

We will end the year with my family coming for Haven’s birthday and the actual Christmas day. Then, I get to ring in the new year at the Cadillac Ranch while Andrew plays bass for a guy he met a church. He gets to mostly play rock n roll this time!

I’m looking forward to this next year. I think God has some amazing things planned for the Littleton family. I pray He can use us for His glory and to reach the lost.

Here are some fall pics.

Haven missed Halloween b/c she was sick. That’s happened before, when she was almost 2.

The kids received upgraded bikes from Grani and Papa for Christmas.Fun in the Fall rain!

Aunt Robin came for a few weeks in November. She and Martha, our cat who came with the house, bonded during her visit.

This is how Gibson did homework in the warmer afternoons of Fall. Martha joined him first, followed by Elam and then Austin from down the street. Austin is a little boy in Haven’s class. He and his older sister and brother come to play often. They brought his sister’s Guiney Pigs. They were so cute!

Just to mess with your mind a little, if Haven had been a boy, this is what my life would be! Haven is truly my “Haven!”

We had cousin time and school time at our house one day. It’s so nice living close to cousins and getting to see them often!

In preparation for Christmas, we drew names for gifts. I had a lovely assistant!

Haven playing the bass xylophone at her music performance. She did a great job. We missed Gibson’s performance because she finally caught the stomach bug the rest of us had and we had to stay home. Only Andrew made it out unharmed! Thankfully, both Grani and Papa were able to attend Gibson’s performance.

Here is Andrew leading worship at Life church on the Sunday we were getting snow. The kids also sang a song a church that morning.

Below that is me making the kids take pictures in the cold right before the snow! Ha ha!

“Mom it’s freezing! Can we be done?!”

Now some actual snow, which makes the cold so much better.

Martha needed a warm lap.

The snow was fun and beautiful. Everyone except Beau enjoyed it. They missed two days of school. I don’t have pictures of Gibson b/c he was off sledding with the neighborhood boys.

I’ll add pictures of Martin and Andrew’s graduation and Christmas later.

Oooooooklahoma

2010-09-21T12:33:00.001-07:00

So, in July we went to Oklahoma for Grandad’s birthday. First we bought a house. A house that needed work. A house that needed to be purchased earlier in the summer, but, that’s not how it happened. More on that later.

It was in Oklahoma, at the River Walk in Tulsa where I discovered my camera was broken. If you’ve been keeping up, I had just started really playing with all the settings. Settings that can only be set if you can see the screen on the back, which for some reason is cracked internally.

I still managed to take a few pictures blind.

These are the twins….I mean triplets.

My kids played in a fountain later after eating ice cream. If I had had some shampoo, we could have taken care of bath time right there!

She’s having fun. I think Elam is too. Beau was going really slow. I think that’s a smile. Now Elam looks tortured.

Gibson went with his Grani and Papa and cousins. He did that alot on this trip. He’s still doing that. I wonder why.

And here is my ONE picture from the coolest birthday party ever at the Tulsa Aquarium. My camera even has an AQUARIUM setting that I’ve never used! Aaaaaahhhh!

I took more videos, but for some reason, my videos aren’t working either. I love technology.

I’m glad we were able to celebrate Grandad in Oklahoma. He is a very special man. I love seeing all of Andrew’s family. They are my family too. I also loved being back in Oklahoma. I miss it and miss everyone there. But, I am thrilled to live in Tennessee again.

However, in order to live in TN, you have to have a house. We were able to take our time and try to recover from the move, but 9 months after moving to Clarksville, we went ahead and moved into our own house. Sort of.

photography

2010-09-17T05:56:00.001-07:00

I love photography. One of my favorite sites is www.thepioneerwoman.com

She has yummy recipes and funny stories, but the best part is the photography section. She has photography contest and I hope when I have a nice camera, I’ll be brave enough and pro active enough to enter.

I still have tons of pictures to add from my last post. Here’s a few that make me smile.

View Full Album

And then, of course.

Boomer.

It's been a while. DUH! Watch out for the 5th paragraph!

2010-09-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

Ok. So, it's been a while since I updated.

Normal excuses:
1. I have craziness all around me and it zaps my creative writing ability. (or any writing ability for that matter)

2. I was living with Lyndel and Cheryl and their internet is super slow

Now I have new excuses:
1. (see #1 above)

2. I have a new home with lots and lots of work to be done and haven't had the time.

So, today is Wed. Sept 15th and a miracle has happened. I already did some work on the house AND Elam fell asleep. He never takes naps so, I have to do this now! Plus, the big kids will be home in about 25 min!

The last post is one of the most important post I'll ever talk about, until it happens to my other 3 children, so, this quick recap of our goings on won't be as important, but, since I use this blog just to help me remember life and some happen to read it, (Hi mom!) I better keep going.

Spring time in Clarksville had great opportunities for Andrew to play bass and guitar. He played at church every Sunday and then played here and there with Lauren Weakly and Josh LaCount. Josh is an up incoming popish rockish singer. I like his music. Lauren is country. I never EVER thought Andrew would be playing country music, but, he is and if anything, it makes my sisters like him more.

Around Mother's Day/Anniversary, I finally started messing with my nice camera I got back at Christmas time. I was having fun taking photos. I'll put some of those on here for you to look at, but more likely, I'll just add links to my Facebook page since that's where any updating now a days happens.
For mine and Andrew's 10 year anniversary, my Aunt gave us a romantic evening at the Peabody. It was very sweet and simple and I loved it.

May also brought the end of school as well as a trip to Arkansas.
All this time, I'm using my cool camera. Most of my shots are of the kids or the scenery. Boomer usually makes it into a few shots just because he is always somewhere near by. Boomer became a part of mine and Andrew's life back in June 2001. He was our first child. His birthday was May 1st, 2001. The kids and I were packed up and leaving for Arkansas when last minute, I decided to let Boomer tag along. Here's where some of my "what ifs" start to bug me. What if I had just left him home with Andrew. What if I had just spent the money and gotten him shaved like I wanted. He was so hot and panted all the way to Memphis and then all the way to AR. He continued to pant the entire time we were there. He would stop occasionally, usually at night, but basically panted non-stop. It didn't help that Mom and Dad's air had gone out, but so had the air back in Clarksville. My dad ended up having to leave for a bus trip, so, I decided to cut our trip short. Before we left, I gave the boys hair cuts on the back porch. I contemplated trying the shaver out on Boomer, but figured it would be too hard and look awful. We packed up. We were all hot. The van was full of stuff and Boomer was still panting. Mom briefly suggested she put Boomer on her lap near the air, but, all I could think about was the time Boomer accidentally scratched up her leg with his sharp paws. I didn't want that to happen again, so, he stayed in the back, close to the side door.
We stopped maybe 70 miles outside Memphis for a potty break. I gave Boomer some water. He drank a few sips but really couldn't stop panting to drink much. We were so close to our final stop that I had to keep going. Boomer looked at me with his big brown eyes and got back in the van. The kids were watching a movie and Boomer finally quit panting. I figured he had finally cooled off like he would at night. The night before he even slept with the kids down stairs on the futon. I remembered this because usually he slept upstairs, but, for some reason he slept with them. We got to Memphis and were exiting off the interstate, just minutes from Aunt DiDi's house. I asked Gibson to check on Boomer. Gibson's response was, "Mom, he's not even breathing." This is where everything happened so fast, but I still remember every detail. I pulled over into the gas station. I had to reach back and pull Boomer out of the van. I put him in the grass hoping he just needed to be nudged or something, but nothing happened. The kids had all gotten out and I was screaming for them to get back in. Mom held Boomer and I raced off towards the Vet where my friend Amy works. I called her cell phone and told her what happened. It was her day off, so she phoned in to the Vet to told them I was on my way. We were there in 5 minutes and they rushed him back. Mom and the kids stayed in the van and I just sat in the waiting room hoping for a miracle, but knowing it was too late. The girl called me back. She said, "Boomer's mom." The Vet came in and told me the news. It was too late. He was gone. I was so sad. I couldn't believe it. All those "What ifs" zoomed around in my head. Then I realized; I was going to have to call Andrew. I left the Vet. Called Amy to tell her. She had recently just lost her dog and gave me a heads up to slowly ease into what happened when I call Andrew. I called him, but he didn't answer. I got back in the van to tell the kids and mom. They had all been crying. Mom drove us to Aunt DiDi's house and Andrew called me back. To ease him into it, I mentioned that the van had been hot, to which he immediately asks what's wrong with the van. That tactic wasn't working, so, I had to just tell him. " Boomer was panting, and then he quit. When we got to Memphis, he wasn't breathing and we rushed him to the Vet, but it was too late." He didn't cry. I thought he would. I cried. And cried. And cried. I couldn't eat dinner and could barely sleep. I had NO idea I would be this sad. A few weeks earlier, Boomer was bitten by a neighborhood dog. It was a big scary looking dog. I had to yell at him and even go after him with a big piece of wood. I think because I'd had that experience with Boomer, I had a new love for him. I knew I would miss him one day. I didn't know that day would be so soon.
The worst part was driving home to Clarksville.

See, Lyndel, Cheryl and Andrew hadn't had Boomer there all week because he was with me. Me on the other hand, had to walk into the house for the first time with out him. The first night there was very hard. You don't realize the routine you are in till it's messed up. There was no Boomer to let out of the upstairs bathroom. There was no Boomer to let outside. There was no Boomer to put back upstairs when we would leave the house or go to bed. And, there was no Boomer to eat up all the food the kids dropped. I don't know how that dog didn't weigh 800 lbs. He sure had helped me clean up after them all these years.

It's been almost 5 months. The kids quickly wanted to replace him, but, I couldn't even imagine having another dog. Gibson wanted another pug to name Boomer. Now, they just want a new one to add to the new house. (I'll post about a new house some other day since the big kids are home now)

I didn't mean to make this the longest post ever, but, once I got started, I had to finish.

Quickly, I'll mention that June was a good month. Papa's birthday, Father's day and more fun photos with my camera. I even had a Spa day with Melanie. It was my first massage EVER and now that's all I want for my birthday and Christmas the rest of my life!!!

In July, we took a trip to Oklahoma for Grandad's 80th birthday. Oh, and, we also bought a house! We actually signed the paper work and then left for a 12 hour trip for several days. The rest of the summer was spent trying to get the house livable for a family of 6. The kids were starting school first of the month and Andrew was leaving for a business trip to Canada.

It's been a whirlwind, roller coaster, whatever metaphor you want to use, couple months. I don't have very good documentation from July on, because my camera; my lovely, just figuring it all out camera, broke!! I might have to for go a few massages as gifts and get a new camera instead.

The end.

So Important, yet so simple

2010-05-07T14:13:00.001-07:00

This past Easter was one of the most memorable Easters so far in the Littleton Family.

It all started back on Christmas Eve. We all went to Papa’s church to attend a Christmas Eve service. (remember, my sweet well behaved 3 year old, and Haven’s look)

So, the time came for the Lord’s Supper. With whispers, Grani and I took turns trying to explain to Gibson why he could not participate and that we would talk about it later. Andrew and I knew the time was coming when Gibson would begin asking these important questions. As a family, we would all take turns and talk about salvation. Gibson also was signed up for a 4 week “I’m a Christian Now” class. This class had homework and really laid out a clear explanation of salvation and baptism.

The class ended with a, well, it just ended. Meanwhile, we would still have small conversations with Gibson, but we did not sit him down, stare him down and say, “Explain to me what you know and then lets pray.”

This year, Papa’s Passion play was during Easter, well, the week before. Gibson enjoyed it so much and saw it more than once. Because of the timing, the John the Baptist baptism scene along with the rest of the set was still set up during Easter Services. This meant that any baptism that Sunday would be done in the horse trough John the Baptist used in the play. Papa asked if we would like Gibson to be baptized that way, and we said yes. Not only was it Easter, but it was also my mom’s birthday.

Papa, of course, baptized Gibson and it was very sweet. What a perfect day to celebrate God’s love for us and our commitment to Him.

Gibson’s entire Sunday school class came, along with his Basketball coaches and our neighbors.

“I am honored, as your Papa, and as a minister of the Gospel of Christ, to Baptize you, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

Buried with Christ in baptism. Raise to walk in newness of life.

Here are some more professional shots of the action.

I thought I might cry, but I was too distracted. Gibson started climbing in the trough all by himself. At one point I thought he was going to sit down and play in the water like in the bath!

You can read Papa’s account on his blog.

Here are the rest of the fun, self explanatory pictures of the day.

Doesn’t everyone eat candy for breakfast on Easter?

Don’t we look incredibly coordinated!! It wasn’t planned.

We had a yummy lunch at Lonestar and then a quick Easter Egg hunt at Aunt Christy’s.

One of the best quotes from lunch that day was from Gibson. When asked if he was excited and happy to have been baptized, he responded, “Well, yeah. I’ve been waiting for 3 months!” (meaning he thinks he was saved on Christmas Eve, when he asked about the Lord’s Supper) We aren’t going to do the whole, “exact date and time” thing, but I knew a seed was planted that night! Praise God.

Haven, my character kid

2010-04-29T11:29:00.001-07:00

At school, classmates can vote on a Character Kid for the month. I’m not sure how they do it. I think they are nominated by the teacher or class, at least, that’s how Gibson said it worked. He was a character kid earlier in the year.

Aunt Annaliese was able to come to Haven’s special breakfast, just for Character Kids. She was the perfect example of a proud Aunt. She took over the camera and walked right up to the front to take a video.

Remember, Gibson is marrying Bailey’s sister Olivia. Maybe Bailey will also become part of the Littleton crew?

Haven’s buddy Bailey was also a character kid that morning.

A funny memory about this morning was that I was very glad the Principal wasn’t there that morning. (she’s a little long winded) Bridget agreed.

Green days and awesome birthdays

2010-04-29T11:08:00.001-07:00

This is from March. Maybe April will follow soon.

Olivia Philips had a Jump Zone birthday party. My big kids were the only guest. You know Olivia as my best friend’s daughter and a classmate of Gibson. Oh, and as the future Mrs. Gibson Littleton. Since we won’t be in Clarksville for much longer, the kids and I were glad to have the chance to spend with the Philips.

We will miss seeing these sweet and fun girls after we move from Clarksville. Although, we’ll get to see each other enough after Gibson and Olivia are wed.

Next comes my kids in green. It’s always fun and hard to get a good picture. Here are some of the attempts.

St. Patrick’s day is also cousin Bernard’s birthday. We wish we could have gone to Memphis for his birthday. Hopefully we can go next year.

So, the next celebration was Grani’s birthday. Her birthday was also the premier of Dancing With The Stars. So, we had a DWTS birthday.

All the grandkids dressed up for the party.

Grani and Papa also dressed up for the party. Grani had a fancy dress and all the extras including false eye lashes and fishnet hose.

Papa had his ballroom dancing shirt on with sleeked back hair. Elam asked Papa to button his shirt up, since he wasn’t used to seeing Papa that way.

Aunt Christy, in her hip hop outfit, danced with Elam. He loved being dipped!

After dancing, it was time for presents!

And, yes, Andrew is missing. He was there for a little bit, then he had to go. Otherwise, I’d have made him dance!!!!!!!!

Perform, puke, potty and PDO

2010-03-13T10:56:00.001-08:00

I’m wanting to get better at updating this, just for memories. Don’t bet your bottom dollar on it though!

So, to explain the title.

Perform: Haven sang, “Walk Away” from High School musical 3 for her class during music on Wednesday.

Puke: I didn’t get to see her perform, because I was home with Beau and Elam who had been sick and throwing up the day before. Thursday I spent most of the day laundering every sheet and blanket in the kids room.

Potty: Late late Thursday, Gibson get’s sick and throws up. He’s on the top buck and hits at least half of the items I’d washed earlier that day. :) He stayed home from school Friday, which was the day he was supposed to perform in music class. He wanted to sing, “The Boys are Back,” also from High School Musical 3.

PDO: (parents day out) Wed. was supposed to be Beau’s first day at PDO, but, since he was sick he didn’t go. He did great on Friday. Bridget said he had fun and ate and slept. What a perfect day. :)

Trying Windows Live Write

2010-03-05T18:23:00.001-08:00

This is supposed to be easier.

I’m trying this out.

hmmmmm…….. it does seem easier.

Dec 09 - March 2010

2010-03-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

End of Cheer and Basketball celebration

Winter Fun!

Car wreck and lots of snow

Christmas fun in Arkansas

White Christmas with Papa.

Gibson was in the same show when he was little.

Look close, it's me in the ornament!

Beau's faces

Gibson's 1st grade performance.

Elam's 1st day of MDO
Christmas fun in Arkansas

Bowling in Arkansas

Below are pictures from Christmas Eve. You'll see cookies and reindeer food. You'll also see Elam standing up around some other children who are sitting down and listening to Bro. Larry telling them about Jesus.

A seed was still planted in Gibson's heart during the Lord's Supper during that service.

Where's Haven? Can you find her face among the sitting children? Can you tell what she is saying? Probably, "Mom! Can't you do something about him?"

My beautiful 6 year old

I had to straighten her loose teeth for this picture. They were both so loose and for a while she looked like a little hill billy.

Dec 09 - March 2010

2010-03-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

So, in no way will I be able to update on everything since my last post. Especially since the laundry buzzer is going.......I'll be right back.

Let's see, so, Haven turned 6 on the 23rd. She went to the movie, The Princess and the Frog with Gibson and buddies Olivia and Bailey Philips. Hannah also came with us. They had fun, while the moms and Grani sat nervously wondering if we were damaging the kids by allowing them to what ended up being a dark movie. Anyway, so, Christmas. I think it went well. I don't remember much about it. I remember that again, we went overboard on toys. Why is that?!?
Oh, and we went to Mt. Home and had what my dad called the best Christmas ever. Aunt Annaliese and Uncle Bret were there and I think my dad enjoyed not being completely outnumbered. Oh, and before the Christmas break from school, Elam and Beau and I were rearended in our van. Thankfully, we were all ok except for my very sore neck. It took over a month, but our van was repared. It was fun driving a cool SUV rental though.

January had winter weather and basket ball and cheer leading. I am the proud momma of the cutest cheerleader and basketball player ever! Haven finally started to use her voice during some of the cheers, but she always had good jumps. Gibson was improving at every game! Elam also started Mother's Day Out on Wed. and Fridays. On his first day of school he learned that you get put in time out if you bite other kids. He also learned about letters and Moses.

Oh, and, I'm not sure if it was Jan. or Feb., but both Gibson and Haven lost their two top teeth!

February also had winter weather. So much so that the kids missed several days of school. Andrew turned 32 and we actually went on a date! Valentines was fun for the kids. Elam, Haven and Gibson enjoyed parties at school and passing out valentines cards, provided by Grandma in OKC. They also enjoyed opening mail from both Oklahoma Grandma's and Grandad. My favorite part was the chocolate dessert Andrew made. Yummy!!
We finished up Hoops and Hollars, as Papa calls it. Before the season ended, Oma came to watch a game along with Aunt Annaliese. Gibson scored 3 baskets at his last game!!

We also found a house in Mt. Juliet. It's a short sale and will need lots and lots of work. If we get it, the timing should work out perfectly. End of April, we can start working on it and by summer break it should be move in ready. I will need patience to not want EVERYTHING fixed right away, but eventually, it will be Home Sweet Home!!

March 2nd was Gibson's 1st grade program. He had the opening introduction and he said it beautifully!

Elam is at the stage where he says the cutest things. While reading an ABC's book with Andrew, Gibson and Haven said that E was for Elam. Elam said that E is for Monster Truck. In a way, I think Monster Truck represents Elam perfectly. He is getting better at dressing himself and only puts his underwear on backwards half of the time. He is also getting better at not being a monster himself. Just in time for Beau to pick up the slack and start acting crazy. Beau still doesn't say real words except for Momma and Thank you. But he loves to blow kisses and wave and growl. He just turned 17 months old.

Starting next week the big kids are going to start riding the bus to and from school. Beau will also start going to Mother's Day Out with Elam. He will have my friend Bridget as a teacher. So, Wednesdays and Fridays will now be my favorite days of the week!

Ok, so, I'm going to work on pictures.

Tn fun

2009-11-08T12:08:00.000-08:00

First day at their new school

Grandma came with us to TN. She helped with the 12 + hour drive from OK

Walking with all their school supplies

Gibson's class. He knew my friend's little girl Olivia. She is in his class.

Haven didn't know anyone, AND, her teacher was out for the first two weeks.

The pick up line after school.

TN is fun! We get to play with cousins

Beau was just learning to walk when we moved.

We also celebrated Beau's birthday a little early so Grandma could participate. Grani picked up this adorable cake without knowing that Beau already had a sweet puppy shirt to wear. It matched perfectly!!!

Then, we had my birthday which was actually spent going to get the rest of our stuff from OK. (we sold our house!)

Then it was Halloween.

Haven's Cheer clinic was next.

She'll be cheering for Basketball games at the Family Life Center. Maybe she will cheer for Gibson's team?

She asked if she would get to "Stack Up" at cheer clinic. She didn't get to this time, but maybe next.

More fun times to come! I'll try to be better at posting.

4 kids swinging

2009-09-21T16:21:00.000-07:00

New moves

2009-08-10T16:06:00.000-07:00

So, it's time.

We are moving back to TN!

In Novemeber it will be 5 years since we moved out here.

Something interesting..........

I moved out here with a 2 1/2 year old and almost one year old.

I'm moving back with and extra set, which includes a 3 year old (today 3) and an almost one year old.

Want to see more?

Click here.

Aunt Annaliese's Wedding

2009-08-07T11:13:00.000-07:00

Rehearsal Dinner at Annaliese's and Bret's new house.

Sweet family from out of town came to celebrate.

Mom gave her special speech.

Bret's brother told scary stories. (about sneaking up on Bret when he was little) It involved a butcher knife, but no blood.

Lyndel performed the ceremony and started with the violin.

My kids were so cute!

Here she is.

Waiting for his bride!

Dad giving his second daughter away.

Andrew was in charge of the flip camera.

Aunt DiDi.

Mother of the Bride

Sherry and Mike were wonderful! Allyson and Heather loved on Beau. Michael was a big help with set up and tear down.

Proud Papa!

Beautiful Robin

Elam wasn't invited to the actual wedding. He would have been too crazy. My buddy Bridget was so sweet and took care of him during the wedding.

Funny cake topper. (so true)

I bet Annaliese didn't know she had dancing at her reception! Gibson and Taylor and Carlson were really getting down. (Gibson is into his own "white boy" version of break dancing)

I don't have to claim responsibility for this. He belongs to Bret's side of the family!

The couple made official and signed the papers with Lyndel as the official and Andrew as the witness.

It was Beautiful! Fun! My kids were ADORABLE!!!

Annaliese and Bret, CONGRATULATIONS!!

uncle stephen and Chuck E Cheese

2009-07-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

So, during our visit to TN we were able to meet up with Stephen, Christi, Charlie and brand new little Piper.

We don't go to C.E.C. except for special occasions. It's just too crazy and hard to keep an eye on everyone. However, the one at River Gate wasn't that busy, which was nice.

On one of our surveys of the kids, we couldn't find Elam.

Here's where we found him.

You see, if you climb up in the basket ball game, you can get a free ball.

Beau enjoyed driving with Chucky.

The kids had fun playing with Charlie and Piper.

It was nice seeing Stephen and his family.

Stephen has a special place in our family. He was Gibson's suite mate for a short time. That's how he earned the "Uncle" part of his name.

Here's a cute video of Gibson and Elam playing air hockey.

Tennessee fun

2009-07-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

The first week of June was VBS and scout's camp and then Gibson's tap recital. That Sunday, we left for Cousin's Camp. Andrew was going to get to work at the Nashville Dell part of the time and the kids were going to get to spend some time with their Grani and Papa and Aunt Christy and Uncle Daniel and Cousins Hannah and Benjamin.

The first project was T-shirts.

Then we spent some time at a Jump zone called Monkey Joes. They REALLY liked that.

We had a picnic that afternoon. The kids loved Grani's special fruit kabobs and hot dog kabobs.

Every night was movie night. Haven loves seeing her cousin Hannah.

Here are the little boys with their Papa and a few group shots from the zoo.

We had so much fun.

We get to see them again real soon for Aunt Annaliese's wedding.

Gibson's tap recital

2009-07-02T14:07:00.000-07:00

Gibson's first tap recital.

He takes tap from my friend Becky. She lets him take for free. In exchange I help her when I can, like for the recital. The FOUR hour recital!!

He did so good! She is planning on an all boy class next year.

Dance recital(first mine, then Gibson's)

2009-05-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

Dance pictures taken at dress rehearsal.

Lining up to practice at rehearsal.

The big day arrives and two cutie pies pass out the programs.

They did such a good job and gave this sweet lady two!

Here they are waiting to dance.

My least favorite part.........talking in front of everyone.

Gibson and Haven had verses to say before their dances.

Haven getting her 3rd year trophy. She's only 5 1/2!

I don't have a picture of Gibson getting his. He also has a 3 year trophy.

He had his own tap recital a month later. I'll do pictures of that soon.

Easter pics and family

2009-04-14T12:14:00.001-07:00

Easter Egg hunt! This year we actually attended one. We haven't in the pass b/c it sounded too rediculous to have all those kids out in one place running around for eggs, but anyway this year was great. It was at a friend's house which made it so much better.

Elam was old enough to understand it AND get most of his eggs in the basket.

Beau was happy enough to just hang out with me the whole time. I should have put little sun glasses on him though.

Gibson and Haven got to hunt with the big kids. (Haven was smart and got away from the pack, so she got more eggs)

Gibson is in a new phase of, "not fair." He didn't think it was fair that he didn't get the prize egg.

Every Egg hunt should end with these cupcakes! I didn't have one, but they looked wonderful!

We also did some of our own Easter pictures in the back yard.

To see more click here.

We also had a short visit from my mom and dad. They signed Haven's cast, did some laundry and yard work, and, dad even got to relive his mechanic days with Andrew and his stupid car. I mean, cool, vintage VW. :)

Gibson also had a short program at school.

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A (spelling it out, not the musical)

And a different version of, "Jimmy Crack Corn"

Poor Haven again

2009-04-01T12:48:00.001-07:00

Gibson really needed a hair cut, so, Andrew and I decided to buy a set of clippers so we could start cutting it ourselves. He wanted a Mohawk! We gave him a little one. (I'll get a better picture with it spiked)

In case you haven't heard..... Haven broke her arm! Remember how it was hurt on Friday? Well, by Monday it wasn't better. Her doctor sent us to an orthopedist. She came home with a pink cast.

(Andrew isn't certain that the doctor at the hospital didn't break it. He pulled on her little elbow and said he felt a pop!) The orthopedist didn't seem to think so. I just can't think of that as a possibility can you?!

We told her she would have it on for three weeks. I wasn't sure if we would be able to get her shirt off. Later when she talked to her Papa she told him that she couldn't get her shirt off so she would have to wear the same clothes for 3 weeks!

Well, it wasn't bad enough for my little girl to be the first one to break a bone! Since we gave the older boys hair cuts, I decided to cut her hair too, except I cut it WAY too short according to her! I think it's adorable, but if you know Haven, you know she has strong opinions.

She cried at first, so I gave her some ice cream. Then I did my best to make her laugh the rest of the day. She was still very angry and even used strong language like, "I HATE MY HAIR CUT!" Poor Haven. She tried on two hats and a jacket with a hood to hide her hair.

Look how sad.........

But, after I showed her some sparkly barrettes and after going to school the next day she was better.

Sweet Haven, poor Haven

2009-03-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

Haven's class was in charge of the morning announcements last week. On Wed., Haven was responsible for saying the Word of the Day over the school speaker from the principles office.

We rehearsed at home and here she is saying it when she got home from school Wed.

That was Wed. All happy and smiles.

Then came Friday.

I have been wishing for a new house. Any of you who have been to my house know that it's a great house for a family. It would make any family happy to have such a nice house with 4 bedrooms. However, after a full day of running, drumming, crying, screaming, MORE screaming, wrestling, and did I mention screaming......I'd like to have a play room with padded walls. (while pregnant with Gibson, my doctor told me I'd need a padded room!!!) She was right. If I had listened I would have been more prepared for Elam. (His screams lately are so loud that I'm fearing we will all suffer slight hearing loss, or have more police men called to our house)

So, Friday was an especially loud day. I love when the kids play nicely together. Unfortunately, these moments are broken up with bumps and bruises. A phrase you will hear often in our house is, "Go get an ice pack!" (this started during Haven's hurting feet phase)

Anyway, while playing in Haven's room, and, jumping on the bed, one little monkey fell off, but didn't land on her head. Instead she caught herself with a straight arm. She cried pretty hard. (a very real cry) She was able to move it, but it hurt very bad. So, we got an ice pack and she fell asleep.

After she woke up, she was still in pain and there was a slight amount of swelling on her elbow. We decided to take her to the emergency room.

Her X-rays showed no broken bones. The doctor rub and pulled on her elbow. (Andrew called me right after that and I could hear her crying in the back ground) Oh! It broke my heart. After observing her for 30 minutes, she still didn't want to move it because of the pain, so they put her in some sort of splint and sent her home.

Here is her account of what happened.

No bones were messed up and the donuts made everything better! We will find out more on Monday when we go to the doctor.

Aunt Annaliese and the police

2009-03-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

Over Spring Break my sister came to visit.

The kids were so excited when we picked her up. They pretty much stayed excited the whole visit! (she's able to do that by bringing presents AND promising trips to Walmart)

The girls went out one afternoon to do some wedding dress and flower girl shopping. Haven had such a good time.

While she was here we talked about old days including my wedding. It was fun watching that old video!

She also told the story about when she took me to the hospital for Haven's arrival. She was telling Gibson that she was driving way too fast and a police man pulled us over.

Well, Gibson got his own experience with a police man after his Aunt left.

He was playing outside with a neighborhood friend. Haven was out there too. I was inside about to feed the baby when she knocked on the door. She brought me the mail. I proceeded to continue what I started. Then ANOTHER knock came. I figured it was Haven bringing me something else, SO, I didn't answer it.

A few minutes later Gibson and Haven came inside saying that Tyler went home.

A few minutes after that ANOTHER knock came at the door. I figured it was Tyler wanting to play with the kids again, so I let Gibson answer the door. Instead of opening it, he said, "Mommy, why is there a police man at the door?"

He was very nice. (I was also holding Beau) ;)

He asked me if I had kids ages 6-10? I said a 6 year old. He asked about neighborhood kids and I mentioned Tyler who just turned 6. He said the boys were throwing sticks and hit a man's car. He got out to yell at them, but they ran away. Then he came to my door, but I didn't answer. (that's when I was feeding Beau)

The police man was able to, in a very professional way, convey that the man was basically over reacting especially since he wasn't able to get a hold of me. (to which I'm very thankful he did NOT!)

So, after the police man left, the kids and I had a talk.

This part isn't important, but I'd like to rant.

I have never really liked the little boy down the street. I do feel sorry for him. He has two older siblings, so he doesn't have anyone close in age to play with. His mommy lets him play outside all by himself. He even rides his bike up and down our street with out any supervision!!!! He basically has free run of the whole street!

So before this happened, when he would come to play, I'd let the kids play with him IF, they stayed in the yard or driveway. You know, so they wouldn't get hurt or get into any trouble!!!! Ha!!

So, the new rule is, No playing outside without an adult.

my special children

2009-03-13T11:29:00.000-07:00

Above is the morning my "running boy" got to spike his principles hair up for raising SO much money for his fund raiser. (see previous post)

We also saw a bulletin board with Gibson's "reading corner" pictures on it.

That was on Monday.

Friday was Haven's special day. She was already supposed to dress up as her favorite Fairy Tale character. (I found a Cinderella costume at a consignment sale last week)
Every Friday is a Rally round up at Haven's school. Every quarter only two students from each class are chosen for "Outstanding Citizen"

Here she is waiting with her class before the rally. Her best buddy "Sleeping Beauty" is next to her.

In this video, listen to Elam's sweet voice saying "It's Haven! It's her!"

Here is Haven's class.

my running boy

2009-03-07T12:40:00.000-08:00

Gibson likes to run. Run Gibson run. Run at Basketball. Run at soccer. Run at recess. Run run run.
Run at school during a fundraiser? Ask mommy over and OVER. "OK." says mommy. Pledge mommy pledge. (Forge Grandma's name in order to have more pledges) How much did mommy and Grandma pledge? $1 a lap.
Run Gibson run. How fast? How long?

56 laps long!!!

Write that check mommy!
Wow Gibson! You raised $112! You are one of the top fund raisers!

Ha ha ha!

always catching up

2009-02-19T09:58:00.001-08:00

I think I will be forever catching up on my blog until my kids are in college!

Anyway, Here are a few pics of our fancy "Table One" dinner. It was so yummy. It was also fun being around other people who don't think chicken should always come in nugget form!

The courses were beautifully plated. Chef Perret gave a brief introduction to each plate. He even personally selected a wine to go with every other plate. (by the 6th course, some of the other guest were feeling pretty good) Unlike the others, Andrew and I left with our glasses quite full. (Later, they confessed to finishing our drinks) I guess it's better not to be wasteful?! (depends on if you are asking my family or Andrews) I hope you are all smiling and not offended!

Probably Andrew's favorite birthday present ever! (besides Rock Band)

again, if you want to see the review from Andrew's site click here.

For Valentines, we made our own sushi. And, like I mentioned above, the chicken we used for the kids was in nugget form, just cut up to fit in the roll.

Here's what each kid thought.......

Haven and Elam didn't mind it, but Gibson, well, the picture says it all.

They all enjoyed the gifts and cards they received for Valentines.

And, another highlight of V. Day was Gibson's basket he scored!

I love the top right picture. Even while playing basketball, he can't help but do a beautiful, Grand Jete'.

And, I'm a proud mamma. Gibson was chosen for a Confidence award at school.

This was the same day of his Valentine's Party. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay for his party because of the crazy two year old.
The video below is of me coming to his class to congratulate him. The video stops suddenly. You can imagine why...............

Thankfully, Elam didn't eat any of the little kids party food.

rockin' grandma, hair cuts and tornados!!

2009-02-13T13:43:00.001-08:00

So, Tuesdays are Grandma days. We usually go over to her house, but on this Tuesday, she came to us. Beau and Haven had a doctors appointment, so she came to watch Gibson and Elam for me.

She has so much fun with the kids. She's like one of them! She'll even play Rock Band with them!!

I was glad to have an extra set of hands to hold Beau. He did not feel good after his 4 month old shots. The doctor also said he is getting a tooth.

Well, we watched the weather together and decided that if I left early for my hair cut, I'd get back in time for Grandma to get home before the bad weather started.

I left at 2:00. At 2:30, the ladies at the salon are getting a little concerned. One of them heard on the news that there was debry on Rockwell and NW Expressway. (which is where we were) The construction workers doing work in the parking lot were STILL pounding away when we decided to take cover.

So, we moved to a back room that's not attached to an outside wall just as a tornado was coming by.

Thankfully, the tornado went a little further down from us, but here are some pictures of the damage.

Thankfully, only 3 people had minor injuries. I made it home safely and so did grandma. Gibson was in lock down for a little while, but he too made it home safely!

Andrew's birthday!

2009-02-09T11:27:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was Andrew's birthday. Friday night was our celebration night out at the fancy shmancy TABLE ONE restaurant. (It was also our Valentine gift to each other) You can read the article on it at Andrew's food website. Click here.

Since we spent all our money doing that, we weren't planning to go our to eat on his real birthday, but, our plans changed slightly so we ended up going out.

Can you tell where by Haven's photography?

(not sure if you noticed, but Gibson was missing from the Joe's Crab shack photos.)

He was invited to a friend's house and we let him go. We knew he'd have more fun there, PLUS, we'd have to hear about it over and over and OVER if we didn't let him go.

(plus, I joked with my friend Jana who let him come over that it was actually a nice gift for andrew to only have 3 kids!!)

After picking Gibson up we went home for Andrew's birthday card and apple pie!

Haven picked out his card.

It says, On your birthday, party like a ROCK STAR.

On the inside it says something about at your age, you need to be a folk singer instead.

(Gibson's back!! See?!)

Happy Birthday Andrew!!!

Haven the Super Star!

2009-02-09T11:25:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention in my last post that Haven was the Super Star in her class last week. She had to decorate this paper star with some of her favorite things. We needed a bigger star for all the family she wanted to put on there!!

sorry

2009-02-07T11:45:00.001-08:00

Sorry it's been so long. Things are a little crazy, hectic, busy and any other descriptive word you can think of for a house of 6.

I'll catch you up.

Andrew was able to go to Las Vegas with Dell. (and several other Dell employees from his team) My mom was sweet enough to offer to replace me for a few days. I flew out Wed. afternoon and was back home by Friday afternoon!!!

Vegas was so fun! I had no idea how clean it would be. Also, I was forewarned to bring comfy shoes, but mine weren't comfortable enough!! I still have bruises on my big toe nails from all the walking. You could walk for days and days and still not see everything!

Each hotel has a different theme. My favorite was MGM because of the Lion Habitat. (look in the picture at the top) There was also a hotel with a pool that had a built in aquarium with a slide, so you could actually slide through the aquarium and wave to a shark and then splash into the pool!

So, you can see even McDonalds has a Vegas vibe. We ate at the German restaurant in the lower left picture. It was ok, however, since I grew up with delicious European food at home
I'm hard to impress. We DID get to eat at one of Mario Batali's restaurants!! Boy, was it good.

So, if you like walking around with your sweetie for hours and hours everyday, then Vegas is the place for you. We didn't get to see a show because they were too expensive, But I hope to go back and see one.

Also, Beau turned 4 months old on Feb. 3rd.

Isn't he sweet?!

We also had a few days at home with ICE. The kids bundled up and went outside.

AND, Andrew got his birthday gift a little early from his mom and dad.

ROCK BAND!

As you can tell from Elam's face he was pretty excited.

(to see more video, you can look on my Facebook)

And, for my latest update...... Gibson scored the only 2 points for his team today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

excitment and thoughtfulness

2009-01-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

No pictures this time, but boy I wish I had my new flip mino camera going during this conversation yesterday.

Me, "Hey guys, guess who is getting married?"
Kids, "Who?"
Me, "Aunt Annaliese!"
Kids, "oooh"
Me, "And guess who's going to be in the wedding?"
Kids, "who?"
Me, "All of us!!"
Kids, "Wow! (said slowly with really big eyes) Cool!"
Haven, "When? Tomorrow?"
Me, "no. I'm not sure."
Haven, "I should get her a present."
Me, "what do you want to get her?"
Haven, "Well, we could get her turtle bowls."
Me, "Turtle bowls?" (they got turtle bowls for Christmas)
Haven, "yea, so one day when she has kids her kids can eat cereal."
Gibson, "I should get Bret a gift."
Me, "What do you want to get him?"
Gibson, "I don't know. Maybe daddy can help me. Oh, I know. I could get him a lamp.... or....or... a light for outside cause they'll have a house....OR....OR...... I could get him something to use when he's cooking. Does Bret like to cook?"

What sweet kids I have.

Gibson's tooth and his baby brother

2009-01-04T12:01:00.000-08:00

Gibson finally lost his loose tooth!

Haven was excited!

And, Beau turned 3 months old.

(sorry the song just ends.... it was too long for so little pictures.)

New yearsl

2009-01-01T12:22:00.001-08:00

We had a happy new year's eve with Cousin's Issac and Asher and Uncle Randall and Aunt Emily.

And yes! We made it to midnight! Woo hoo.

more family fun

2008-12-31T07:58:00.001-08:00

Sunday was a fun family day.

First, everyone went to our downtown church plant to watch Andrew lead worship.

Then we ate at a yummy cafeteria. (We had 12 chairs and 2 high chairs)

Later that night was the Bronco game. The kids played with their cousins while andrew nervously watched the game.

Unfortunately, they didn't win.
And unfortunatley Grani and Papa had to go back home. Before they left Grani had some Easy Bake oven baking to do.

happy birthday haven

2008-12-24T11:29:00.000-08:00

For most of her birthday, Haven was at Grandma's house playing with cousins Alyssa, Carrie, and Jonathan and Mindy.

They made a cool Christmas tree out of cookies and icing.

Beau enjoyed rocking with everyone, but I only got a picture of him with Uncle Roger. I have a similar one of Gibson when he was that tiny with Roger.

Haven has already gotten tons of gifts. Here's a few more from mommy and daddy.

Elam loves dancing to High school Musical. Below he is telling his daddy that Haven got a High school musical present!!

She also got a cool Hair beading thingy from her Aunt Annaliese.

So, if you were reading and paying attention, you'll notice that I said that Elam loves dancing to High school musical.

Enjoy!
(He is mixing dance and basketball all together.)

The second video has a quiet part where Elam gets very still........... so funny!!

Rocking out 2 ways!

2008-12-22T13:37:00.000-08:00

A friend of Andrew's let us borrow his X box and Rock Band stuff. The kids love it, including me and Andrew. Even Beau was bopping his head along with the beat when his daddy was playing. He also slept through our Rock session this morning.

I asked the kids to make a rock star pose.

Here's Gibson's

(rockin' out in footed pajamas)

and Haven's

(working her My Little Pony shirt and purple beaded necklace)

And, with a little help from Gibson, here is Elam's

He is so funny. I wish I could video him all the time!!

And now you will see how a fourth child can sleep through anything!!!

Awesome huh? Does anyone feel sorry for Boomer?

Did I mention Elam is crazy?

Haven's birthday cake and Annaliese's suprise!

2008-12-22T13:29:00.000-08:00

My friend Amanda did it again. She made a cute cake for Haven. Haven said she wanted a flower cake. Isn't it sweet. It was yummy too!

But, there will be no more cake for me! I have a wedding to be in! Annaliese got engaged on the 20th!

Elves

2008-12-11T06:13:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Haven's party at Build A Bear (lot's of videos)

2008-12-09T08:04:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Haven's birthday a little early in order not to compete with the 25th.

She picked out her own dress (of course!) and invited some friends from school, church and dance class. The Build A Bear party was lots of fun. All three big kids made a puppy dog.

Most of her friends made it to the party. They each got to pick out an animal to make. Then, each guest got two hearts. One for Haven's pet and one for their own.

I think everyone had lots of fun. Grandma and Elam were a little wild at the store. She got Haven's dog a pink Tiara and septer and a purse. Gibson and Elam's dogs got a basket ball.

At the end, she got to ring the bell and the whole store sang to her.

Our Thanksgiving, High school musical Wii, 2 months old

2008-12-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

This year Andrew and I planned on going to Tulsa to see Grandma and Grandad.

WELL, my mom had a great idea. She wanted to SURPRISE Annaliese. (Annaliese loves surprises) Annaliese and her boyfriend Bret were having an early Thanksgiving at my Aunt's house in Memphis along with Oma, Opa and Aunt Robin.

So, my mom came up with a plan. She would drive to Memphis, then to OKC, then help me and the kids get to Memphis the day before Annaliese and Bret were to arrive. Then she would help me and the kids get to Tulsa, to meet Andrew. (she would then have to drive to Mt. Home all by herself, very late at night) She could have been paid by the mile and made lots of $$$$$.

The kids had to miss Monday and Tuesday of school, but they didn't mind since they were going to get to hide and yell, "Surprise."

Well, if you know my mom, she is not the best at keeping secrets. She's just not good at being sneaky!

So, after accidently talking about where everyone was sleeping, including Gibson and Haven, Annaliese was suspicious. Mom tried to cover herself by saying that is how we would sleep NEXT time.

Most of the kids were asleep when they arrived and they didn't get to yell surprise, but we had a wonderful time.

My mom was able to trick Annaliese into bringing her Christmas gifts for the kids.

Ignore my rambling on this video.

Here's a Thanksgiving song from Haven. (she's wearing her Bethany Broncos shirt)

Turkey, Turkey where are you?

I'm a pilgrim looking for you,

Thanksgiving day is coming soon,

Thanksgiving feast we'll have at noon,

Turkey, Turkey where are you?

I'm a pilgrim looking for you

The kids were thrilled they got to open up Aunt Annaliese's Christmas presents early.

Beau got some cute outfits, Elam got a few cars and some FLOAM, Haven got a Highschool Musical Cheerleader outfit, and Gibson got a Highschool musical Wii game.

Here's some video of them playing the Wii game. It is so much fun to watch them play.

And, Beau turned 2 months old on the 3rd.

Andrew's trip

2008-11-22T08:37:00.000-08:00

Andrew's friend Carlos lives in Alabama, so on the was to the game, they stopped for pictures at the Talladega racetrack. Gibson was very excited.

Andrew and Carlos were able to watch from the sidelines while the Broncos warmed up.

This is Champ Bailey. I forget what position he plays, but he is really good.

Here's Andrew's attempt at a picture with him.

This is Jason Elam. He used to be the kicker for the Broncos. Carlos had mentioned Andrew to him before since we named our #3 after him.

Below is Jason Elam after talking with Mike Shanahan, the Broncos head coach.

I laughed really hard after seeing this next picture. I'm not sure why. I guess I could picture Carlos FORCING Andrew to stand there and take a picture with those ugly and fat cheerleaders.

This is Jay Cutler. He is the quarter back.

In case you didn't know, the Broncos beat the Atlanta Falcons. That made Andrew happy, however, if they had lost, he would have gotten a better chance at meeting more of them. See, since the Broncos won, the Falcons were anxious to get out of there.
If Andrew ever goes again, he will have to do better at "acting" like a Falcons fan. At one point in the game when the Falcons took back the lead everyone in the coaches box cheered and jumped up and down. Mike Smith's wife (the head coache's wife) made Andrew stand up and give her a high 5!!

2008-11-16T15:49:00.001-08:00

Here's a fun tag game for ya...

Pick the 4th picture folder on your computer.

Pick the 4th picture in that folder.

Explain what the picture is about.

Tag 4 blogging friends to do the same.

My frined Dawn's was much cooler. This is a box of toys that I wanted to sell at a consignment sale. I never did. I've colected a bunch of other stuff, but not enough for a yard sale, so, I took pictures of everything and I plan to put it on Craigs List.

I tag Jana, Mindy, Christy Davis, Christi Cavness

More pictures and Andrew's exciting weekend

2008-11-14T11:58:00.000-08:00

Here's the link to see the rest of Beau's pictures. They are so sweet! I love Jeff and Sindy's photography. You can see their other pictures also at the link below except without the /beau.

www.capture1000words.com/beau

Andrew left today for Atlanta. He is going to see the Broncos play the Falcons. Andrew's friend Carlos is friends with the Falcons HEAD Coach. Not only will he get to sit in Mike Smith's private box at the game, he will also be staying at his house!!
He will also get to meet Jason Elam!

Haven's Vocabulary Parade

2008-11-08T12:21:00.000-08:00

Friday was Haven's Vocabulary Parade.

Each Pre-K student and Kindergarden student was giving a vocabulary word to learn. They also had to create a costume that discribed their word.

Haven's word was Friendship.

She wore her Ariel costume and carried a fish.

I didn't get to go, but Andrew went.

Some of the other words were

FANTASTIC

OPPOSITE

HUMOROUS

NOCTURNAL

CIRCUMFERENCE

HIBERNATE

(What costume would you come up with?)

baby bath

2008-11-06T07:44:00.000-08:00

Elam loves his baby brother, but he also wants to remain a baby for a little longer.

After giving Beau a bath, Elam thought he should should take one too

And, last night we had a photo shoot at our house and below is just one of the pictures. I can't wait to see the rest!!

Beau turned one month old yesterday

2008-11-04T18:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

My 4 week old pumpkin

My 6 year old power ranger

My 4 1/2 year old little mermaid

And, my 2 year old pirate!

happy birthday to us!

2008-10-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

Look who's 3 weeks old and 29 years old.

I'm not sure if Beau is wanting sushi, but that's what I want.

And, look at the cute card Aunt Robin and the kids made for me.

I got my birthday wish!

Plus some of Andrew's hot lava cakes.

Yummy!

The best helper

2008-10-23T11:07:00.000-07:00

While I have a minute, I wanted to give Aunt Robin a big BIG Thank you!

She is such a great helper.

The other day Mom asked me if I knew when Robin might be heading back to Arkansas.

I told her maybe when Elam is in school!!!!

I have one more minute to talk about my smart baby.

With every child, I've gotten baby milestone newsletters emailed to me so I can know what he or she should be doing. (You would think I'd know by now, but I can't remember)

Anyway, at 2 weeks, your baby is supposed to be able to mimick you if you stick your tongue out at him. I've tried this everytime with each child and no one stuck a tongue back at me.

Well, it finally happened and I was thrilled. (a silly thing to be thrilled about, but thrilled non the less)

Just for fun, you can picture me trying to get him to do this. Then Haven joined in!

look who is 2 weeks old

2008-10-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

As I write these words, I look at the clock and realize it was almost exactly 2 weeks ago that little Beau came into the world

cowgirl / farmer day

2008-10-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

Look at the cute cowgirl.

Beau and Elam

2008-10-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

One week old this past Friday and already following in his brother's footsteps, or should I say thumbprints???????

Painting pumpkins with Papa

2008-10-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

PS about Grandpa

2008-10-09T11:25:00.001-07:00

If any of you are curious about the last few days be sure and check out my sister-in-law's blog as well as Papa's blog. They were able to keep up with the events a little better than I was since I was in the hospital for most of it.

Immeasurably more

Papa Lyndel's blog

Also check out Papa's worship blog.

More Beau

2008-10-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

Hello Goodbye Beau and Grandpa

2008-10-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

Beau Ryder Littleton was born Friday Oct. 3rd at 1:25pm.
He weighed 8 lbs 10 oz and was 20 inches long.

I won't go into detail, but I was checking into the hospital at 12:23 and I had Beau at 1:30. It went so fast I had no time for an epidural!!!

Gibson, Haven and Elam love their new baby brother.

We got Elam his own baby to take care of. (He gives it kisses and then drops it on his head) Pray for safty for Beau!!

I also need to mention some sad news. The reason this post is called Hello/Goodbye is because the same day Beau was born Grandpa Littleton past away.
This was Andrew's Grandpa and my kids great Grandpa, but we all called him Grandpa. He and Grandma live here in town. The kids and I spent lots of time with them. The funeral was Monday. I didn't go of course, but all his family was there.
He will be missed.

more soccer

2008-09-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

Opa, Oma and Aunt Robin came down to visit this week. Opa had to leave this morning, but he was able to help Gibson with his soccer socks before his game.

Elam has been working on his soccer skills.

We also got our van back today. It looks as good as new. I have a story about all that, but I'll write it later.

Oh, and today is my due date.
No, baby yet.
My doctor will let me go till next Saturday since that was my original due date and then we will talk about inducement.

2008-09-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

One of many celebration hugs above.

The team sat down for a snack break.

Gibson made 3 or 4 goals.

Gibson getting ready for the corner kick.

Gibson waiting on the sidelines. It was a hotter than we thought it would be today. He is really enjoying soccer.

check these out

2008-09-19T11:56:00.000-07:00

Honestly, I have really been in denial that I'm about to have ANOTHER child. I'm just too busy to have a baby right now, but I guess I'll have to figure it all out with in a few days (or weeks!)

There are two website I want to share with you that have brought me joy in the fact that I'm about to pop.

The first one has my maternity pictures on it. Click here

Our friends Jeff and Syndi Moore took all those fabulous family pictures a few months ago. I love their work.

The other blog I want you to check out is Little Hen. Click here

My friend Jennifer has started a little sewing business and she made me a BEAUTIFUL diaper bag. It's on her web site. It's the blue and brown one with a B on it for Beau.

I have decided on Beau and I'm pretty sure I know what the middle name is too! I'll share that soon when I'm positive!

Haven's picture day and Gibson's B book

2008-09-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

Today was picture day for Haven.
I remember school pictures lining the stairway at my house, BUT, they will NOT be lining my hall ways. You would believe the cost of these basic packages!! It's about as bad as Santa and the Easter Bunny at the mall.
If I wanted a package including an 8 by 10 it would have been at least $40! Yikes!

Look at these twins below.

more school work

Gibson's "B" work

Gibson's family picture.

Video of Gibson reading his B book, followed by a small amount of daily chaos which ended in Gibson spilling his lunch!!

Next is his family picture which includes a "see through" belly on me!!

Also, Haven talks about her homework she did with Grandma.

After lunch we watched and danced to the wiggles.

So much fun and this was just during lunch time after Haven came home and before Gibson left!!

Why does sleepy Haven have a guitar?

2008-09-16T06:46:00.000-07:00

This morning is a special day for Haven.
They are studying the "senses" this week

Ms. Tidwell sent a note home asking if anyone had any instruments they could bring or even play.

So, she brought the little guitar AND..............

Her daddy!!!!!!

THE LITTLETONS

adding Martin and Christmas pictures and whatever else. (only a few months later than I thought)

Fall fun 2010

Oooooooklahoma

photography

It's been a while. DUH! Watch out for the 5th paragraph!

So Important, yet so simple

Haven, my character kid

Green days and awesome birthdays

Perform, puke, potty and PDO

Trying Windows Live Write

Dec 09 - March 2010

Dec 09 - March 2010

Tn fun

4 kids swinging

New moves

Aunt Annaliese's Wedding

uncle stephen and Chuck E Cheese

Tennessee fun

Gibson's tap recital

Dance recital(first mine, then Gibson's)

Easter pics and family

Poor Haven again

Sweet Haven, poor Haven

Aunt Annaliese and the police

my special children

my running boy

always catching up

More Rock Band videos

rockin' grandma, hair cuts and tornados!!

Andrew's birthday!

Haven the Super Star!

sorry

excitment and thoughtfulness

Gibson's tooth and his baby brother

New yearsl

more family fun

happy birthday haven

Rocking out 2 ways!

Haven's birthday cake and Annaliese's suprise!

Elves

Haven's party at Build A Bear (lot's of videos)

Our Thanksgiving, High school musical Wii, 2 months old

Andrew's trip

More pictures and Andrew's exciting weekend

Haven's Vocabulary Parade

baby bath

Beau turned one month old yesterday

Happy Halloween

happy birthday to us!

The best helper

look who is 2 weeks old

cowgirl / farmer day

Beau and Elam

Painting pumpkins with Papa

PS about Grandpa

More Beau

Hello Goodbye Beau and Grandpa

more soccer

check these out

Haven's picture day and Gibson's B book

Why does sleepy Haven have a guitar?