The Greatest joy in Life is to see those you love Happy

new 4th of July song

2011-06-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

Check out Tweeb and Cody Braithwaites 4th of July song. You can see it on YouTube.com/user/chimerthree

New Family Pictures

2011-03-06T18:14:00.000-08:00

We got new family pictures at place called Portrait Innovations. I was very pleased with how they turned out. Our photographer was awesome with the kids!!! I didn't realize I needed to zoom in and stuff until after I downloaded the pictures....oh well! Besides the one I have as our new blog picture and the new ones of the kiddo's on the side, here are a couple more that I thought I would share.

I LOVE the ones of Tweeb and the kids!

Cute Kids :)

This one makes me smile..he is such a ham!

Me and the girls.

This last one is the one that will be on my wall. I love that it shows all of their personalities in it. Mya is shy, Hope is content, Ellie is a Diva and Trey is mischievous (in a cute way of course).

Little Miss Mya

2011-02-24T10:35:00.000-08:00

Here are just a couple of pictures of Mya that I thought turned out cute of her. The top one we were at the zoo and the second one we were heading to church. We FINALLY got a new camera and I LOVE it, so expect a lot more posts...I have quite a bit of catching up to do.

I was given a....

2011-02-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

How fun! Thanks Dawn!

Here are the rules...

1. Thank the person who gave you the award

2. Share 7 facts about yourself

3. Award 7 new bloggers with the award

I have known Dawn for forever. We were in the Salina 4th Ward together growing up, her sister Dani and I have been friends for as long as I can remember and her and my sister Misty were best friends in high school.
The first memory that pops into my mind about Dawn was how her and Misty were kind enough to drive us to Gunnison (in the silver sporty car no less) to go hang out with Dani's boyfriend and his friends...lol. I am not quite sure what her and Misty would go and do while they waited for us but I am sure they had more fun than us. I mean, c'mon who doesn't want to hang out at the High School basketball coach's house and watch movies with him and his wife and a bunch of juvenile boys. I am laughing out loud thinking about this...maybe it was one of those...had to be there moments that maybe only Dani will appreciate. :)

Hmmm. Seven Facts about me that most people don't know.
1. I always read magazines starting at the back???
2. I HATE it when lights are on and no one is in the room. I have turned the light out on my husband MANY times just because it's habit for me to turn them off when I leave.
3. I cannot stand the sound of people eating...especially bananas, chips, cereal or popcorn in bed ;) Unless of course I am eating it too...lol. I am getting better though.
4. I love all the trashy shows I shouldn't watch...Desperate housewives, Keeping up with the Kardashians, Bethany getting married, Real housewives etc. etc.
5. I have started Jazzercise and LOVE it!!!
6. I never go to bed before midnight, 1:00 and then have an extremely hard time getting out of my comfy bed in the morning to get kids ready for school. You would think I would learn my lesson but I love the quiet time all by myself after the kids are to bed.
7. My new obsession is the Jimmy Fallon show. I seriously laugh SO hard...maybe that's why I stay up so late too :)

I award the Stylish Blogger Award to...
Annie Ward
Melissa Knapp
Rhiannon Wanlass
Stephanie Berg
Brooke Bowers
Melinda Christensen
and
Shauni Yee

Random pictures

2010-12-24T09:15:00.000-08:00

My friend took these pictures and emailed them to me so I thought I would share them :)

This is Hope reciting her part at the Living Wax Museum. The 4th graders had to pick a person in history, learn about them and write a one min. speech about them in 1st person. Then they had to dress like them and they had a "button" on their hand so when you pushed it, they came alive and told you about themselves. Hope was a pilgrim named John. She did such a good job. They did it in the gym and the whole school was able to go and see it at different times. It turned out really cute. Good job Hopey!

This is Ellies dance Christmas Party and they got to wear Christmas pajamas. They performed a cute little Christmas dance. She is doing so well and is a cute little dancer.

This is our little Trey Man all bundled up. I wish you could see his eyes because they just pop with that blue beanie on. He is growing up so fast and is keeping us busy by getting into absolutely EVERYTHING! He hardly even crawls anymore he just walks wherever he needs to go. We sure do enjoy him.

I feel bad that I don't have a picture of little miss Mya. We are going to our friends for Christmas dinner so I will have to have Sharron take a picture of her for me so I can post one.

Where does the time go?

2010-12-20T23:08:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that eleven years ago today, Tweeb and I were married. It is sooo crazy to think about. If you would have told me then, that 11 years later I would live in Nashville and have 4 children, I would have told you that you were crazy! However, we love it here and wouldn't have it any other way. No matter where I am, as long as I am with him then I am happy.
Happy Anniversary Tweeb, I love you!

Dear Santa!

2010-11-13T21:29:00.000-08:00

Dear Santa,
I haven't been able to post pictures (or take pictures for that matter) in quite a while. Our family has had birthdays and holidays without a camera because one of my children stepped on mine, no one will fess up but I am sure you know who it was:). Don't be to hard on them though, they really are good kids. Sooo, Santa will you please bring me a nice, new camera for Christmas. I have been extra good!

Thanks,
Danyette

Mya's 3 year stats.

2010-06-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

Height: 37 inches...48%

Weight: 30lb....42%

Mya is doing great. She is super shy around anyone new (she gets that from me, I was the same way when I was little). She LOVES to play barbies and dress up and takes a purse with her wherever she goes. She likes to put tights or soft pants on her head and pretends they are ponytails. Hey, when you don't have much hair you have to improvise..lol. She still absolutely loves Dora and watches it every morning when she wakes up. Her newest thing is she loves to hide things. If I cant find something I can usually find it in the butcher block, under the bathroom sink, in her shopping cart or in her purse. What a silly girl! She has such a sweet little thing and has such a kind heart.

6 month stats.

2010-06-23T15:15:00.000-07:00

Height: 26 3/4 in....55%

Weight: 19lb. 5oz.....75%

Head: 43.7 cm.....43%

He is doing AWESOME and the Dr. says he is super STRONG (his daddy thinks thats cool). He army crawls everywhere and is sitting great. He is sooo close to crawling and pulled up to the chair the other day (mom does NOT think that is cool, she wants him to stay little forever).

Mya's Birthday!

2010-06-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

Mya's Birthday was on the 7th of June and she turned 3.

We let her open her swimming suit in the morning because we were meeting friends at the pool for her Birthday.

After the pool we came home and had cake and ice cream and opened presents. She wanted a Dora cake so Annie decorated her cake for her. It turned out so cute and she LOVED it.

She was pretty insitant about inviting her nursery leader to her party and so we did...lol. We are in a small branch so we are all friends anyways but I just thought it was funny. That is Sister Wilson in the back ground.

She had a wonderful day and loved all of her gifts. Thank You everyone!!

Change!

2010-06-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

Before

After

Nuff Said!

Horrific experience.

2010-05-20T21:26:00.000-07:00

I was coming back home yesterday from Walmart and witnessed something horrible. I was waiting to turn right and a big black truck ran a red light and hit a motorcyclist. I wont get into any details but needless to say I was very thankful my children didn't see. I cried the whole way home and thinking about it gets me teary eyed. The scariest thing is...I was going to turn left to go to the dollar store but decided last second not to because Hope was going to be getting off the bus and I didn't want to miss her. Thankfully I listened to the prompting or my 3 youngest and I could have been included in that horrible accident. It just made me realize how your whole life can change in a half a second and how dumb it is to be so grouchy because my house isn't as clean as I want it. I am still shaken up about it and it is something I will not soon forget. Tell your loved ones you love them and give them extra hugs and kisses, I know I will.

First food.

2010-05-20T21:19:00.001-07:00

We started to feed Trey rice cereal this week and he LOVES it! He ate the whole bowl. The girls would only eat a few bites the first time but he took to it like a champ. From the looks of things he needs some extra calories because he is severely malnutritioned.....ha ha! I wish I would have gotten a picture of his legs, they get stuck in the bumbo...lol. I love, love, love this chubby little man!!

I have a 9 year old!

2010-05-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that we have a 9 year old!! I can't! This year for her birthday, I decided to let her have a sleepover with 4 of her friends. They had SOOO much fun! Some of the girls did not go to sleep until 4:00 in the morning. Needless to say, Hope had a 3 hour nap the next day. It was alot of fun....LOUD...but fun.

Mackenzie, Kinber, Malarie and Hope. Kendall had already left before I could get a picture of all of them.

This is the cake that I decorated in 5 min. (literally). It is made of fruit by the foot and fruit snacks. I was planning on making her a fondant cake for her real birthday on Monday and cupcakes for her class that day too, so I figured I was good. However, Ellie asked Hope the night before the party what kind of cake they were eating at her birthday party and Hope politely said....we are not having cake (pause) thats kind of weird not to have cake at your birthday party.....soooooo I hurried and whipped this up while she was at school. She was very surprised and happy about it.

Here she is on her real birthday with her real birthday cake.

My friend Annie and I made this cake. It was my first fondant cake ever and I thought it turned out super cute. Thanks Annie for the help!

Hope had asked for a scrapbooking kit for her birthday so she got it and some clothes from us. The Shaws and G. George gave her some super cute clothes too. She was in desperate need of some summer clothes. My Mom gave her the cutest little birthstone necklace with her name engraved on it and G & G Gladwell gave her a Visa gift card. She thought that was AWESOME and thought she was super cool using it too....funny kid! Thank you so much everyone. She LOVED everything!!

Happy Birthday Hopey. We LOVE You!!!

The Storm!

2010-05-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

As many of y'all know we have experienced heavy rains the last 2 days which has caused massive flooding in the entire Nashville area. We all knew the storm was coming and even as it started raining early Saturday we thought nothing of it. During the Spring and Fall we have become accustom to storm watches, tornado watches, and even tornado warnings. Precisely in that order. I was scheduled to work Saturday night at the theatre so I left our house at 4pm. It is about a 30mile commute. I was only able to get about 10 miles out of town when I discovered the roads were closed due to bridges being flooded over and trees blocking the roads. After discovering that all other routes were either closed or too dangerous to cross I went back home.

I made a few trips to the grocery store to stock up on essentials. We've laughed in the past at locals who whenever they hear there might be snow they head to the store and stock up on bread, milk, and toilet paper. I found myself making these same purchases:)

There was a tornado warning in Fairview that night for about 30 minutes. We went to our tornado room (bathroom:)) and listened to the radio until they said it had passed. No touchdown of tornado was ever recorded. All they ever can do is monitor the wind speed and its directions mixed with the temperature and see if the formula could possibly create a tornado. Luckily there were none reported touching down in all of Nashville.

We finally slept listening to the rain pound down on the roofs and cement. I woke up at 5am. The news broadcasters with urgency in their voices were telling people to stay home. People the day before had drowned in their cars trying to pass through standing water, in many instances the road was no longer there and had lost it's stand against the force of water like so many other objects had.

Our church was cancelled and we tried to stay in touch with our friends and members by txt since we couldn't get enough service to connect a call. At about 7 or 8am I helped a neighbor who lives below us get his belongings off the floor. We tried stacking his furniture on objects some only a few more inches higher but anything was better than keeping them in their place. I tried to be the calm one as I spoke to neighbors assuring them we'd be ok. It was hard however when we"d see on the news of apt. buildings being evacuated & their cars were floating away.

We stayed put but didn"t know how the roads looked just past the trees. The rain drenched us like millions of hoses hanging strait from the sky with no break for breath. It was odd because when we would look outside thinking it wasn't raining it was actually raining like it typically would (which is still pretty heavy). As soon as the sky would tease us with a color other than grey we would see lightning and directly following it was thunder as to rip through the sky like a big bully.

We lost power around 8am & were concerned how long it would be off. The kids were awesome and only when the thunder would shake did they come to us for reasurance. This was surely the longest day of my life! Constant check ups on neighbors around us became habitual. Occasinally we would see someone outside as if they wanted to make sure it was not a dream and touch it. As some of our neighbors were leaving to go to close family the rain had pretty much stopped. This was 8pm.

We ventured out hestitantly to our friends Adrian and Annie who last we talked to had power. We took the food that needed to be cooked and our phone chargers. They did in fact have power. The rest of town was dark and doors left open to stores and buildings. It was like the town had been abandoned. Adrian was mostly upset the cable was not working:) We stayed there after eating and the kids played. We tried to make multiple calls but no success. AT&T had lost all connection and Verizon was very limited.

On our way to our apt. one of our neighbors gave us a few candles, we had only 1 flashlight. The girls slept to the side of the bed and Trey and us in our bed. We finally fell asleep with sticky skin around 10pm. Danyette woke me up at 11:20pm to turn off all the things that were on when the power went out. Not sure it was really happening I bounced through the place excitedly turning off tv's and lights. I turned on the AC and went back to sleep.

We are extremely grateful that we are safe and have power. It will be a long time before Nashville will be back to normal. Drinking water is safe and is expected to stay that way with conservative use. Fairview as a whole was not badly affected because we are not as close to rivers and streams as the other cities. The flooding experienced was directly from rain fall not stream or river overflow. Now begins the process of rebuilding and service. We hope we can help those so dramatically affected by this bastard of a storm!

4 month stats.

2010-04-27T09:09:00.001-07:00

Height: 25 3/4 inches (75%)

Weight: 15 lb. 14 oz. (65%)

Easter at the Beach!

2010-04-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

For Easter this year we decided last minute to go to the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama. It was about a 9 hour drive so we left Saturday at 4:30 in the morning. The Easter Bunny found out somehow and came early and brought all the kids sand buckets, toys, goggles etc. When we arrived we checked into the hotel and got ready for the beach. The weather was WONDERFUL, not to hot, not to cold, perfect to just hang outside in ALL day. After the beach we ate at a restaurant called Lamberts Home of the Thrown Roll, thanks to Adrian and Annies suggestion. It was soooo yummy, they go around with hot homemade rolls....and you guessed it....they throw them to you. We all loved it!

This is the girls in the car at one of our stops, we were about an hour away at this point.

In the hotel, ready to head to the beach.

I caught Mya hiding in here. She cracks me up.

Mommy and Trey hanging out on the white sandy beach. The sand was so soft and fun to play in. You had to take your flip flops off to walk because you would just sink. Oh how I wish I was there right now.

Tweeb and the girls checking out the water.

Trey and daddy. Don't you just love Treys pink hat? It was the one we brought for Mya but I needed to keep the sun out of his eyes somehow.

Building sandcastles

Ellie just hanging out in the shallow water.

Hope and Ellie. Hope loved the water the most, she was so cute and never stopped playing. Mya enjoyed the sand and Ellie played hard both days and then was ready to go back to the hotel to SWIM...silly girl!

This picture is priceless because Trey HATED the beach and this is how he looked 99% of the time.

What is a trip to the beach if you dont bury each other in the sand?

Miss Mya just hanging out with mom playing in the sand.

Hope and Mya

Ellie and Trey both fell asleep on my lap and it was hard to get Hope and Mya to leave. We ended up only spending Saturday night there and then leaving to go home late Sunday. We made it home in 8 hours because Trey only woke up once the whole way home. The kids rode sooo well so maybe now we will dare to take some more road trips. It was so much fun and we hope to make this a new Easter tradition.

My Big Boy!

2010-03-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

"You want some of this" I know thats what he is saying to me and yes, yes I do. How can I resist those chubby little cheeks. He is growing so quickly and is such a happy baby. We just LOVE him to pieces.

Hair Cuts

2010-03-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

The story: In January Ellie cut her own hair, she cut a big piece right at the crown of her head and it ended up being about an inch long. I was able to disquise it by pulling her hair in a pony tail. As most of you know, this poor girl is barely getting hair so I was upset to say the least. Well, not to long later Mya had her hair in piggies and cut them off then she proceeded to cut Ellies hair as well....twice! Then Ellie fell asleep with gum in her hair and I had to cut it out. The poor thing had 4 different lengths of hair, I HAD to take her to get it professionally taken care of (I was able to fix Myas). When Hope knew that we were going to get Ellies hair cut she wanted to get hers done too. So off we went.

Ellie before, I should have gotten a close up of all the damage.
Hopey before. She need another inch to donate to Locks of Love again (the girl could have cut another inch) but was able to donate it to Pantene.

Ellie afterward. She looks so grown up in a cute little bob.

She LOVES it. She thinks she is SOOO big!

Hopey afterward. She told the lady exactly how she wanted it and I just sat back and let her do it. She LOVES hers too.

Blessing weekend.

2010-03-12T09:47:00.001-08:00

Tweebs parents were able to fly out and celebrate Treys blessing day with us. They arrived on Thursday Feb. 5th and stayed until Monday morning. We had alot of fun. They have been out twice before, so we didn't need to do much sight seeing and were able to just hang out. Tweeb and Craig took the girls to a daddy daughter dance on Saturday. The girls all got crowns and flowers and they took pictures of them too.

Doing the Limbo

I asked later if Grandpa did his beloved moon walk but I am still waiting on the answer????

Sunday after the blessing Tweeb was singing at the Commodore and so we all went to watch him. He did such a good job!

We blessed Trey on Sunday February 7th. Tweeb did an amazing job and Trey was so good for the whole thing too. I think he looks so handsome in his blessing outfit. Grandma and Grandpa buy all the grandkids blessing clothes and they did good....once again, thanks guys!

After the blessing at the church house.

After the blessing we came back home and Grandma made us a wonderful dinner of Roast Beef, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, rolls, salad and carrotts. This is Tweebs favorite thing his mom makes and so she told him she would make it for him when they came out. It was delicious, Thanks Grandma!!

Here are the three Craig Owen Gladwells.

Turning 33 on 3-3

2010-03-03T07:02:00.000-08:00

Happy 33rd Birthday Tweeb!

We love you!

This years birthday is kindof cool for Tweeb. His favorite number is 33 (that was his basketball number). Anyways, he also loves the combination number of 1033 (baseball number and basketball number) so this year he is turning 33 on 3-3-10. We were talking last night and realized that his third child will be turning 3 this year too.

Things I love

2010-01-05T07:37:00.001-08:00

I was just thinking the other day of all the things I love about Trey and babies in general. Here are just a few.

I LOVE it when I put him over my shoulder and he arches his back and sticks his bottom out.

I LOVE the way he smells (I don't know anyone who doesn't like the smell of a new baby).

I LOVE it how he moans when he stretches.

I LOVE the way he will purse his lips together.

I LOVE the way he yawns and then sticks his tongue out.

I LOVE it when he smiles at me (I know its gas but I love it anyways).

I LOVE that he is a good baby so far and will just let me sit and love on him.

He is getting so big already and is already out of newborn diapers and newborn clothing:( I want him to stay little as long as possible but he doesn't seem to listen to me when I tell him that.

Hospital Picture

2010-01-05T07:30:00.000-08:00

Here is Trey's hospital picture. I absolutely love it but you can really tell how jaundiced he was. Of course he needed a little brother shirt to match the girls big sister shirts :)

Treys Birth

2010-01-04T15:29:00.000-08:00

WARNING!!! PICTURE OVERLOAD!!!!
We started off the day with Tweeb and I leaving for the hospital at 4:15 in the morning. I was scheduled for a c-section at 7:00 and had to be there by 5:oo. We got there and checked in and then met my nurse and got all prepped for surgery. The nurse gave me a shot in my hand to numb it before she gave me the IV and it is the best and easiest IV that I have ever had. So if you ever have the option....go for it! It didn't seem to take very long before they wheeled me off to the operating room.

Once I got in there they proceeded to give me my spinal. I have NEVER had a problem with my three others but this one was a little different. It was a resident who was trying to do it (which I agreed to) and she poked me 3 different times, each time hitting bone and one time hitting a nerve. Next another lady proceeded to try....NOPE, she hit bone too. What the heck??? Finally the main guy switched needles and it worked the first time. The surgery took a little longer than usual because they had to cut out alot of scar tissue. However, it was all worth it when they handed me this little guy.

I have never been able to hold the baby after my c-sections but I got to keep him the whole time they finished up and then they wheeled us to the recovery room together.
Proud Daddy of his one and only son! I love how you can tell he is smiling even through his mask.

The new babe coming in at 7lb. 1/4oz. and 19 1/4 inches.
He arrived at 7:45 a.m.

While I was in surgery Misty and Britt had all the girls in the waiting room. (They had to leave the house at 6:15 with all the girls ready. Way to go guys!!) The nurse gave them all coloring sheets, markers and puzzles to keep them busy.

Patiently waiting.
Alivia, Hope, Ainsley, Ellie, Addison, Charli and Mya.
They had to wait a while because only one person could come back into the recovery room and for only a brief moment (Britt got to come). They did however let Tweeb bring the girls back one at a time to see their new brother but for only a couple of minutes. I felt bad because everyone else had to wait to see and hold him until we got to our room and it took a while because they could not get my temperature to go up. They had to put warm blankets on me and wait and when that didn't work they had to put a vacuum that blew hot air into a weird alien type blanket on me and wait some more. Thankfully that worked. Tweeb had already taken Trey to the nursery and was able to go eat lunch with Misty and Britt before I got back to my room.
My three cute girls in their big sister shirts. If you cant tell, Myas says big sister. Ellies says bigger sister and Hopes says biggest sister. I ordered them online and loved them.

Mr. Trey Man (as Mya would say)

The new family! I swear I was happy just extremely tired, itchy and a little drugged.

Hope and her new brother. She was so cute with him.

Ellie was SOOO excited to see him. She still just loves him to pieces.

Misty actually captured this picture for me later in the day. When Tweeb brought her back to see him, she would not touch or hold him. I thought it was funny because she was the one that was the most interested before.

Addison finally getting to hold him. They waited patiently for hours.

Ainsley and her new cousin. They were all very good with him.

Aunt Britt. They wouldnt let her hold him until everyone had a chance because she saw him earlier...lol.

Aunt Mist and cute little Alvia.

We were able to stay an extra day in the hospital because Trey had jaundice and had to be under the lights. They were going to make me go home and keep him. To say the least I was not happy about the news. Just imagine the emotional mother who just had a baby and whos hormones are going crazy. The hospital wanted me to stay in a hotel near by. Are you kidding me...do you realize it's Christmas time and you want me to pay for a hotel room. Well a little while later my doctor came in and was a little upset with the nurses because he said that they mis-calculated my hours and I was more than welcome to stay an extra night. All of that emotional distress for nothing, however I was very happy it all worked out.

Predators Game and Christmas Party!

2010-01-03T14:54:00.000-08:00

On the 4th of December both my sisters and their girls flew out to see us and to see Trey be born. They stayed while I was in the hospital and took care of my kids for me. That is 7 girls age 8 and under! Do I have the BEST sisters in the world or what. They got in on Friday evening and we just hung out. On Saturday we went to see Hope in a Christmas parade, went to see Planet 51 at Tweebs theatre and then went to the Predators game (which is the Tennessee NHL team). Tweeb was able to get free predators tickets for all of us and we had GREAT seats. On Sunday we had a little Christmas party and let the girls exchange their gifts to eachother. We gave everyone car blankets that I made and Misty's girls gave my girls the cutest little totes with their names on it and they were packed full of paper, glue, scissors, pipe cleaners, stickers etc. My girls LOVED them, if you can't tell by the pictures.

This is how close we were. I think it was row 10 or something like that.

Mya, Hope, Ainsley and Addison enjoying the game. They were all sooo good. We had people keep making comments how well behaved they all were.

Misty and Alivia

Ms. Charli and her blue eyes.

My sweet girl.

Mya opening her gift from the Shaw girls.

I think Ellie was just as excited as Mya.

They could not have gotten Hope a better gift. She is really into crafting and writing lately.

All of the girls getting ready to open up gifts. We then watched Polar Express and drank hot chocolate during the hot chocolate song. Thanks for coming, we had SOOOO much fun and can't wait to see you again!!!

Finally...

2009-12-09T13:26:00.001-08:00

a picure of the most handsome baby boy ever!

Announcing...

2009-12-07T14:40:00.000-08:00

Craig Owen Gladwell III

Trey

(Yes, this is where the pic of the little guy should be but unfortunately Danyette's computer will not read my camera. I AM SSSSOOOOOOOO SORRY EVERYONE!!!)

Height: 19 1/4 inches

Weight: 7 pounds 9 1/4 ounces

Time of Birth: 7:45 am

Where: Nashville, Tennessee

CONGRATULATIONS TWEEB & DANYETTE!!!

Pregnacy #4

2009-11-30T13:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, the only reason I am posting this picture is because I promised Steph that if she did then I would and she held up her end of the bargain...plus my mom has been begging, so here you go! Keep in mind I am having this baby in one week from today.

Ellie turns 4!

2009-11-18T19:25:00.000-08:00

Ellie turned 4 September 24th and had been wanting to go to Chuck E. Cheese for her birthday for over 6 months, so thats what we did. She was able to celebrate her birthday at school earlier in the day and then we picked Dad up from work and headed to Chuck E. Cheese. I was pleasantly surprised at how clean this one was and the pizza was not that bad either (I think they changed it). Here she is with the remote control car that Grandpa and Grandma Gladwell gave her.

Just enjoying a little stroll on the Merry Go Round.
Here she is blowing out her candles. She wanted a white cake with pink frosting and it looked okay before we got there and then Mya stepped on it (on accident). Thankfully it had seran wrap on it and was able to still be eaten.

Daddy getting in on the fun.
After playing all of our tokens and picking out their fun prizes, we headed home and waiting there was a big package from the Shaws, Grandma Mick and Grandpa George so she got to open even more presents. She was super excited.
Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful gifts you sent. She loved all of them!

Ellie's first day of Pre-K

2009-11-18T16:33:00.000-08:00

Ellie started Pre-K this year. She goes from 8:30 in the morning until 1:45 in the afternoon. She eats lunch at school and everything. She absolutely loves it and is doing very very well. I cannot believe how much Miss Randi and Mr. Kevin have already taught her. They told me the other day that she just smiles all day long. Here she is on her first day.

Here she is putting her backpack on her hook.

We found her spot on her table and left shortly after because I was getting a little emotional about all of it.
We just love this little girl!!

Hopes first day of school.

2009-08-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

It was Hopes first day of school today. She is going into 3rd grade and her teacher is Ms. Estes. Tweeb and I cannot believe that she is old enough to be in 3rd grade. She is growing up sooo fast. She wanted her hair curly this morning and I think she looked so cute. Here she is outside right before we took her to school. School started at 8:35 but the doors opened at 8:15. There was a HUGE line but the PTO was serving juice and donut holes to everyone while they waited. Here is Hopey waiting to go in.

We were able to take Hope to her classroom. Her teacher seems super nice, so we are all excited about the upcoming year. Here she is at her new desk. It was a full day today and I miss her being home already!

Mammoth Caves

2009-08-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

We went to Mammoth Caves in Kentucky as an end of the summer outing a couple weekends ago. It was just a day trip but it was quite fun. When we got there we went and got our tickets for our tour and then went on a picnic. While we were eating two deer came right up to us. They were about 6 feet away was all. It was pretty funny because as soon as we saw the first one we also heard the van door close (Hope decided that they were a little to close for her liking).
After our picnic we went and got in line for our tour. We were going to see one of the biggest caves there. The Mammoth Caves are actually the largest cave system in the world...I believe there are around 367 miles of caves that have been explored so far.

The cave was HUGE and really cool. The girls loved it and did such a good job hiking. Mya was such a trooper, it was all up hill to get back and she INSISTED upon walking. She also had to stop at every light and pretend to scan her ticket. Here the family is after the 2 hour tour.

Birthday Party!

2009-08-13T09:16:00.001-07:00

For my 29th birthday, my friends took me to The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate. It was alot of fun, as is any night when you go out with just girl friends. Thanks guys!!

It's a.........

2009-07-25T16:34:00.000-07:00

BOY!!!

We obviously have really good news to share with everyone! We found out on July 24th that our 4th baby was going to be a BOY! We are very excited to say the least, the girls are thrilled as well. We kept it a secret from all of our family and friends (except the ones from Tennessee, its kind of hard to keep a growing belly a secret) until we found out what it was. It wasn't easy but all of their reactions made it well worth it. I think the ultrasonographer thought we were crazy when she told us the news. I am SURE that people heard our excitement in the waiting room!

4th of July!

2009-07-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July Tweeb had to work that morning but was able to be off by 2:00, so we met him at the theatre and watched Ice Age Three in 3-D (the kids really enjoyed it). We then headed downtown to check out the festivities. Here are the girls just before we got started, Mya is such a cheezer!

Once we got there, they had blow up slides and stuff to play on. Here is Ellie going down the slide.

When we were in line for our second activity it started to rain and I am not talking about a little drizzle. So we ended up standing under a store awning for about a half and hour and then heading into the store for another half an hour for a change of scenery. There was a pretty big open area that the girls were able to get down and run around in. They were dancing around and having a good time, the rain was not going to spoil their fun! Here are the girls hanging out by the hats (they tried on quite a few too...they especially liked the pink ones).As soon as the rain let up we headed down to the stage and listened to the symphony and an opening act (sorry I forgot who it was). We also ate some really yummy food, the weather at this point was perfect. Here is a picture of Wynonna singing.

As soon as she was done singing (which was cut short due to a storm approaching) it started to Down Pour!! I am not kidding, it was ridiculous!! We figured we might as well stay and watch all the fireworks (which started an hour early) considering we could not get anymore wet and I am glad we did, they were AMAZING!!! As we were walking back to the car Hope kept saying.....well this is a 4th of July to remember!

5 days of Girlie fun!

2009-07-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

After everyone came to Tennessee for Hopes baptism, I kept Mistys three girls for 5 days while they went to New York City for their 10 year anniversary. The girls had so much fun. We tried to do something fun everyday and to get everyone out of the house so we did not get couped up. I did not get pictures until the last two days but the first day we went to music row (Tweebs family had not flown out yet) and then after taking them to the airport we took all the kids to the Nashville public library (they have the cutest little kid area and they loved it) and then to McDonalds. The second day we went swimming. On Wednesday I took all the girls to my friend Annies house to have a play date with her kids and also our friend Whitneys kids as well. After the play date I took all 6 to the mall by myself....I know, I know everyone thought I was crazy but they were all really good and I had some stuff I needed to get done. I took them to the play area afterward and then got them all ice cream. Thursday we went for a picnic to Bowie park, fed the ducks and played at the playground. They have this cute little deck where you feed them. Here they are waiting for the ducks to come.
Here are the ducks up close. The girls thought this was the greatest thing.Group photo from the left: Hope, Ainsley, Mya, Ellie, Addison and Alivia sitting in front.
Here is Mya swinging, the older girls were to busy to get a picture.Here is Miss Alivia swinging as well. She is seriously the best baby. She was soooo easy and is happy all the time. She really took off walking while she was at our house as well....sorry mom and dad.On Friday Tweeb took everyone but Alivia to the pool. She was asleep and so I stayed home with her. They all seemed to have a good time.

After swimming we got 2 of the cutest baby sitters ever and then went and picked Misty and Braydan up from the airport. We then went downtown (it was the county music festival) and had dinner at the Wild Horse Saloon (thanks guys it was yummy). We then went to hang out and see what was going on but guess who forgot their ID....me!! Oops! Sorry everyone! So we came home and stayed up talking. The girls were all so cute and my girls loved having their cousins come and stay. They still talk about it. We were especially glad because we do not know when we will see them again. Thanks for coming guys, we miss you already!

Baptism, Birthday Party and Family Fun!

2009-07-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

I am finally getting around to updating the blog. We have had a lot of fun things going on this summer and lately we have been busy swimming, barbequing, watching the lighting bugs... etc. We try to do something fun every day and most of the time I do not even have a chance to check my e-mail let alone blog. So to say the least, this is going to be a LONG post.

Lets start with our family coming out to Tennessee. Tweebs parents, his sister Brooke and her husband Eric and two boys Ericson and Brighton and also my sister Misty her husband Braydan and their three little girls Ainsley, Addison and Alivia came to visit us...YAY!! We started out by meeting the Gladwells and Bowers (Tweebs family) at the hotel and then going to pick up the Shaws (my family) at the airport. We went straight to the Nashville Palace to listen to Tweeb sing. It is a family place and so all the kids could go (sorry all my pictures of him turned out TERRIBLE.) The next day we took everyone downtown to see Broadway (after the boys got back from golfing). I love this picture of the 4 oldest girlies walking downtown...how cute are they?Tweeb showed everyone where he has sang down there and then we went to get ice cream at the ice cream parlor and then headed down to the famous Wild Horse Saloon (which we ate at when Misty and Braydan got back from NYC..thanks guys). Here is Ellie sitting by the "boy" horse....I was dying laughing at her hand on its leg.Here is Hope just being silly. This place has these horses all over and even has them upside down on the ceiling in the restaurant area....the kids LOVE it. We did not stay downtown too long because we had made reservations to go on the General Jackson for dinner. It is a HUGE river boat that takes you downtown, by the time you get there it is nightime and looks Amazing. It was alot of fun. After we ate dinner we all went upstairs and listened to the band. All the kids and Uncle Eric went out on the dance floor....it was really cute. Now for the whole reason why everyone came out....Hopes Baptism. Here she is with Tweeb. I was soooo proud of her for making this amazing decision. The program turned out amazing, thanks to all of our family and friends that helped. She looked absolutely beautiful.

Here she is with President Griffin afterwards.

Here is all of our family that came out to support her (minus grandma who was taking the picture) on her big day. I swear she was happy even though this picture doesn't show it. After the baptism we went to the hotel where everyone was staying and went swimming, we then got ready and went to the famous Loveless cafe for dinner. Afterwards Tweeb took all of us to the theatre and treated us to a free 3-D movie of UP! We all thought it was really cute and it turned out to be a very fun day.

The next day it was Mya's 2nd Birthday and after church we came back to the house and had dinner and then took everyone to Franklin to see the Temple and to show them the places where we like to go. We came back and had cake and ice cream and opened presents. Grandma and Grandpa gave Mya a cute pink remote control car which she LOVES...thanks guys.

She also recieved a pool from the Shaw family, clothes from Grandma Mick and Mom and Dad. I loved her facial expression in this picture....whoever said kids don't get excited about clothes!!! Thanks so much for the presents everyone!

We were trying to get a picture of her with all of her stuff but she was being shy and would not cooperate.

Everyone left the next day. Thanks so much for coming everyone. We had such a good time and thanks Brooke for the funny memories that we will always be able to laugh at. We love you guys!!

Happy Birthday Alivia, Mom and Ainsley!!

2009-05-29T17:39:00.001-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! We wish we could have been there today for the BIG Birthday Bash! We hope you all had a great time and a wonderful birthday. We Love You!!! Alivia and Ains....we can't wait to see you next week.

Gymnastics Awards.

2009-05-25T09:39:00.001-07:00

Last Tuesday night was Hope's gymnastics awards. We went and watched class and then they all got medals.

Hope on the balance beam.

Getting her medal.

Awards Day!

2009-05-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hope had an Awards day and picnic with all of the 2nd graders and their parents last Tuesday. She ended up being awarded the highest award. It was the All Star Student Award. There was one given to a boy and one to a girl and she got it. It was for excelling in all areas (academics and other wise) and for following all the keys of excellence. We are SO PROUD!! Way to go Hopey!

Hope with her award.

Standing in line for the picnic. It was really fun and a great way to end the year.

Jumping Rope.

Hanging out with some class mates, Mckenzie and Devin.

Happy Birthday Hope!

2009-05-25T08:37:00.001-07:00

Hope turned eight years old this year on Mothers Day. Can you believe that my baby is eight? I can't! She was already for church and then opened a couple of her presents. She got a new skirt and shirt, a bumbles bracelet and some brown sparkly "high heel" flip flops from Mom, Dad and sisters (which she changed into...how funny!). She also recieved a pair of cute capris, and three shirts from Uncle Braydan and Aunt Misty and money from all of her grandparents. She ended up buying herself a Nintendo DS and a game with all of her birthday money. She has been wanting one for a LONG time. Thanks everyone for making her day so special and for all the phone calls as well.

Opening Presents.

Her facial expression says it all.

Her cute new skirt.

Help!!

2009-05-21T20:48:00.001-07:00

I hate that when I change my layout I can never see the third paper. Can I change it so you can? If you can and know how.....help me PLEASE!!!

Hope's 8th Birthday Party!

2009-05-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

We had a SPArty at our house for Hope's birthday party this year. It turned out to be really fun. I put the girls into two groups and the first group got their nails painted and nail art put on. The second group put on their own makeup and then we switched. Some of them were so funny, their moms were probably wondering what the heck happened to them. We then had cupcakes and punch while Hope opened her presents. She got ALOT of fun stuff. They finished out the party by going outside to play while they waited for their parents to come. Hope gave them a gift bag to take home with fingernail polish, nail file, lipgloss and candy. We ended up with 10 girls, 12 counting Ellie and Mya. They all had tons of fun!!

Here they are getting all pretty.

Here is the final product, don't they look beautiful!!

From Left to right: Mckenzie, Abigail, Annabel, Caroline, Nicole, Hope, Emily, Kendyl, Stephanie, and Ellie in front.

Opening Presents.

Mya getting in on the action too. That is mascara.....lovely!!

New Salad!

2009-05-08T17:37:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday night I was putting Mya to sleep and after putting her to bed I noticed the fridge was cracked open. I opened it up and this is what I found. Ellie told me she was trying to make a salad! I was really mad but was trying not to laugh at the same time. The little stinker. The only reason I was mad was because I had just washed and sliced strawberries for strawberry shortcake for Sunday dinner dessert and she wasted ALL of them.

Sorry the picture is a little blurry but if any of you want the recipe it is..... 3 cubes of butter, left over gravy, two full things of yogurt, a pint of washed and sliced strawberries and a whole bunch of sliced lemons. Wha La! I did not try it but it looks delightful.

Mya's first piggies!

2009-05-08T17:28:00.001-07:00

The other day I decided that I would try to put piggies in Mya's hair. They turned out soooo cute and she loves them. She thinks she is such a big girl when they are in. She is taking after Ellie in the hair department. She will be 2 in a couple of weeks and we are barely getting piggies. When Hope turned two I had double french braids in her hair...Crazy!! They are all so different in every way and I wouldn't change it for anything. You can only see the one on the left side of her head...sorry!

Here is the back view.

Our Utah Trip!

2009-05-04T05:44:00.000-07:00

I know, I know!!! I have been a terrible blog slacker. I am just getting around to posting our Utah trip, which was almost a month ago. Better late than never right? Where do I start?? Hmmm, I guess from the first. We arrived in Utah on Monday, April 6th. My parents and Brittnie and Charli (her baby) picked us up from the airport. I was so excited because I had not seen Charli yet and to say the least she is quite a cutie. They took us to Tweebs parents home because that is where we stayed until Wednesday. That night we had a family dinner with Brooke and Eric and their family, Cammy and Casey and their family and Craig and Karen. The cousins were so excited to see and play with each other. Here is an attempt at getting a picture with all the cousins with Grandma and Grandpa. I am loving Ellie's big cheesy grin. The next day I was able to go see my friend Jami and get my hair done. I put blonde in it and LOVE it. Thanks Jami!! After getting my hair done Misty, Karen, Brooke, Cammy, the kids and I went to lunch at Maglebees.On Wednesday we headed down to Salina (thanks to Misty who let us borrow her car for the entire trip and had dropped it off at Craig and Karen's a couple of days earlier.....what a sweetheart huh!). It took us FOREVER to get there. We had to stop at a couple places to get some last minute shopping done. We arrived around 5:00 and I had to be to our annual Favorite Things party (that's another post) at 6:00 and had to still make a salad. I made it and it all worked out. Ainsley was so funny when we arrived, she ran out the front door with her arms in the air...screaming....it's about time and then proceeded to give me a BIG bear hug!! Hope was able to meet up and have a couple sleepovers with her Best Friend, Maddi Foote. She talked about seeing her a good month before we came out. I was not able to see them re-unite but Tweeb said they were soooo cute. Oh how we miss that little girl. We have just not found anyone out here quite like our Maddi!!
Here are Addison and Ellie playing dress up. They did this the WHOLE time they were together. All the girls were so cute with each other. Ellie stills tells me....um, mom I just want to go to Ainsley's house today. If it were only that easy sometimes huh. Good thing they are coming to visit in about a month for Hope's baptism.On Thursday day, we were able to hang out all day with Trent, Tanya, K'leigh, Mckay and Hannah Halliday (this is my best friend and her family) and we also got to hang out with our really good friends Travis, Cristan, Mallory, Mason and Madilyn Story. I did not get to see them when I came out for Britt's baby shower....so that was a lot of fun to see them. The boys went golfing and the girls just hung out. Why I don't have a picture, I will never know! We then went to dinner with just my family (us, the Shaw's, the Memmott's, Mom, Dad and G&G Buchanan) at El Mexicano that night. This was our favorite restaurant when we lived in Salina and it did not disappoint, it is as good as ever...oh yum! Here is a picture of my sweet grandparents.
On Friday morning, we headed back to Murray to spend Friday night and Saturday day with Craig and Karen. We went through Ephraim and had lunch with Tweebs best friend Ryan and his wife Brooke and their new baby Cooper. Oh, he is precious. I was not able to hold him because the day we arrived I got pink eye in both eyes and then broke out with 3 cold sores....UGHHHH!! Those darn airplane germs!! (Don't worry I gave it to Ericson, who in turn gave it to Karen and Misty's family all got it after we left....sweet....they are going to want us to come again!) Anyways, we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant which was pretty good and Tweeb was very happy that we were able to hook up with them.Okay this picture is just funny. It is actually quite priceless because this is how she acted the WHOLE time we were in Utah. She was sooooo shy and it took her forever to warm up to people.
After having lunch with Ryan and Brooke, we went to Cammy and Casey's house. They are putting an addition on to the top of their house. It is a girls dream come true up there. It looks so amazing and they are now in the finishing stages. We are so excited for them. I of course do not have a picture...sorry! After Cammy and Casey's we went to Brooke and Eric's. They have re-done a lot of stuff in their house too since the last time we saw it. It looks really cute!!
When we left Brooke and Eric's we headed to Tweeb's parents again. They took us to dinner at the Olive Garden. I was quite excited because the closest Olive Garden to us here in Nashville is over and hour away. It was SOOO yummy and worth all the calories.
The next day Cammy and Brooke's families came up and we all had a yummy lunch, colored Easter eggs and just hung out. It was a lot of fun. Here is Ellie getting in on the action. She really got into it this year. She colored lots and lots of eggs.
Here is the gang outside coloring eggs. I must say that grandma was smart by having them do them outside. All the kids have gotten so big. We get to see Craig and Karen and Brooke and Eric's family in June too for Hope's baptism but the next time we see Cammy's family, they are going to be even bigger.
Here is Hope smiling for the camera.

I had to wake Mya up from a nap so she could participate but she really had no interest in coloring the eggs. However, once they were dry she liked putting the stickers on. Hey, less mess for Mom right. Look at those cute tired eyes.
This cracked me up. This is a comparison of Hope and Ellies hands. Who is older??? Oh well, at least it was fun!
Once we were done it was time to pack up and head back to Salina. We celebrated Easter morning at Misty's and then we had to hurry and get ready to go to Charli's blessing. Which by the way I must let all of you know that both the Shaw's and the Gladwell's were ready, out the door and to church 10 min. early. How we did it I will never know. You might want to write that down because we are both terrible at being on time. We got 6 girls and four adults out the door in record time. Here is Hope checking out what the Easter Bunny brought her. They each got a new dress, hair bow to go with it, swimming suit, shoes and basket goodies.
Ellie was still trying to wake up but was eager to try on her new "high heels" as she would call them.

Here is Mya with her cute new bow on, checking out her bubbles.

Here is Miss Charli at her Blessing lucheon. I did not get a picture of her at the church with her blessing dress on, but she looked adorable. This is her cute new dress that the Easter Bunny brought her. I told you she was cute. I am LOVING the double chin!!

Our friend Tiffany Quarnberg came over to my Grandparents and took family pictures for us, which turned out very cute...thanks Tiff. Mya would NOT smile for any of the pictures. As soon as Tiff left I figured I should get a picture of the girls in their Easter dresses so told the girls I wanted a picture of them and Mya sad down and starting cheesing it. The little stinker!!

After the luncheon we stopped to tell the Halliday's bye and then went to Misty's to pack up. My Mom drove us to Murray and dropped us off at Craig and Karens. She was telling the girls bye and Ellie was throwing a HUGE fit because she didn't want her to leave. PRICELESS!!!

Monday morning I met up with my best friend from High School/College, Stephanie. We met up and had a yummy breakfast and then decided to go to the Aquarium. The kids were being cute together and we had a good time. They all squeezed in for a picture before we left. Some of their faces are killing me. From left to right is Baylee, Hope, Ellie, Mya and Aidan. Thanks Steph, it was so good to see you!

After the Aquarium I went back to the house and packed everything up. When Tweeb got back from golfing with his Dad (by the way, he was able to golf 3 times while we were in Utah) we had Cafe Rio and then loaded up and went to the airport. We had a great time. Thanks EVERYONE!!!

Utah, here we come!!

2009-04-05T15:39:00.001-07:00

This week I will be MIA on the blog. We are going to Utah to visit. We get to be there for Easter and Brittnies babies blessing. We are all excited to go especially the girls. Ellie told me that she can't wait to see her friends!! All the girls are excited to ride on the plane too. We will have plenty of pictures to post when we get back. Don't miss us too much while we are away!!

Unsupervised!

2009-03-31T10:15:00.001-07:00

This is what happens when your 7 year old makes herself a sandwich unsupervised. Tweeb and I were dying laughing!

Day at the Park!

2009-03-31T09:55:00.001-07:00

Tweeb took the girls to Bowie Park while I was seeing my friend at the hospital (thats a whole other post). At the park there is a big lake and so they took a walk around part of it and were skipping rocks. He said that both Ellie and Hope made their rocks skip. I met up with them when I got home. I love that it is getting warmer so we can go outside and play!

4x4

2009-03-28T22:42:00.000-07:00

Cristan this one is for you! For those of you who would like to do it, you post your 4th picture from your 4th file.This picture is of Tweeb and my brother in law Casey (Cammy's husband). It was taken at Craig and Karens house, we had gotten together and had a barbeque the weekend before we moved out here to Tennessee. It was a fun weekend, the next day we all went to 7 peaks together.

Two less teeth!

2009-03-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

Hope has had a loose tooth for quite a while but will never let anyone touch it. To my surprise when she got in the car after clubs yesterday she smiled and was missing a tooth.....but it was not the one that was loose! She was eating an apple at lunch and was biting on the other side of her mouth than where her loose tooth was and the exact opposite one fell out. She came home and I was trying to convince her to just let me pull out the one that was loose so the tooth fairy only had to come once and she would get twice as much money. She wiggled it for quite a while and then let me try. I grabbed a hold of it and it literally fell out. I cannot believe that she lost two teeth in one day. She looks SOOOO different!! When she was heading to bed she wrote the tooth fairy a note and asked her what she does with all the teeth. The tooth fairies answer was....when you lose a tooth a baby gets a new one (who knew?). She thought that was a pretty good answer.

Here she is with her new smile!

The teeth!!

Baby Shower!

2009-03-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Annie is having her baby boy in two weeks. This is her second child so they decided to just get together at the Loveless cafe. We all had dinner and she opened gifts. She got so many cute clothes. It was alot of fun....as it always is when you go out with friends! I can't wait to see him (I will be flying out to Utah the day she has him so I am going to have to wait an extra week...it's bitter sweet).

New slides!!

2009-03-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

I just love children's imaginations!! This is my children's new jungle gym....couch cushions. Every single day they move the coffee table and put the couch cushions like slides and slide down them. They put them on the floor and play a game like hop scotch as well. This entertains them for hours, and they all get along while doing it....music to my ears!

School Project.

2009-03-23T09:47:00.000-07:00

Hope had to do a report for school on Mary Pope Osborne. They had to construct a person made from poster paper to look like the author they had chosen. You open up her stomach to show the report. I helped her very little with this and I thought she did such a good job. You cant see all the little details in this photo but she had a ring and bracelet on and also shoe laces on her shoes.

I AM!

2009-03-05T13:06:00.000-08:00

I got this from K'Brina, it looked like fun so here you go.

I AM...so excited to come to Utah in April.
I WANT...my laundry to be done.
I HAVE...a wonderful family.
I KEEP...my pageant stuff (I hate that I do but I can't seem to get rid of it).
I WISH I COULD...keep my whole life organized.
I HATE...listening to people chew their food.
I FEAR...loosing someone I love.
I HEAR...Ellie watching a movie.
I DON'T THINK...I could possibly love my family more.
I REGRET...not finishing college.
I LOVE...blogging and talking to friends.
I AM NOT...as motivated as I would like to be.
I DANCE...with my kids in the front room while listening to their music.
I SING...along with Tweeb when he is playing his guitar.
I NEVER...go a day without telling my kids and Tweeb that I love them.
I RARELY... go a day without checking my e-mail.
I CRY WHEN I WATCH...Extreme Home Makeover.
I AM NOT ALWAYS...as patient as I would like to be.
I HATE THAT...my kids are growing up to fast.
I'M CONFUSED ABOUT...why I spend so much time on this dang computer.
I NEED...a pedicure.
I SHOULD...quit blogging and pick up my house.

Everyone who wants to should try it!! Write down the 1st thing that comes to your mind.

Pay it forward!

2009-03-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

I have seen this many times and it looks fun, so here I go. The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a hand made gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise (I won't wait to long or I will forget). There's a small catch...You knew there would be didn't you? Post this on your blog then come back and leave a comment, telling me you're in. Fun, huh? Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift. Let's see who looks at my blog!

Happy Birthday Tweeb!!

2009-03-04T10:06:00.000-08:00

Tweeb turned 32 yesterday! Happy Birthday!!

I got a baby sitter and then went and picked him up from work and we went to dinner at a really nice restaurant. It was really fun to just hang out together. After dinner we went to a lounge and listened to some music. We then came home and he opened some gifts. He is REALLY hard to shop for, so most of what he is getting is going to be picked out by him! I had to get him something to open on his birthday so I got him a shirt and tie (he wore it to work today, so I guess that is a good sign). I really can't complain because I am the exact same way.

Him opening presents. Misty and Braydan sent him 2 cute shirts as well....Thanks guys!!
Happy Birthday Tweeb and Daddy!! We are so thankful to have you in our lives, we could not ask for a better husband and father. WE LOVE YOU!!

New Branch!

2009-02-23T18:21:00.000-08:00

About a month ago we were split off into our own branch. Here is a picture of all of us on the first Sunday. We are obviously very very small but we are very excited to be a part of it. We are really excited for the missionary opportunity this brings us. Our branch is the smallest area geografically in the Nashville mission, which says alot about the people here. They have been wanting this for some time and we are glad we are some of the numbers that allowed this to happen. Tweeb has been called as 1st counselor in the Melchezedic Priesthood Group which includes the Elders and High Priests. He was also called to be on the Activity Board to represent the Young Adults. My new callings are Nursery Leader and Enrichment Leader. Right now I am planning and organizing the Relief Society Birthday Party. It is quite fun and a calling that I think I will really enjoy.

Class Valentine's

2009-02-13T09:49:00.001-08:00

Here are the Valentine's that Hope made for her class. They are iPods (Thanks for the cute idea K'Brina). They are made by covering a box of Sweethearts and then covering two Reese's peanut butter cups with tinfoil. To my surprise Hope asked everyone in her class what their favorite color was and so we tried to make their iPod accordingly. I was just going to do pink for the girls and blue for the boys. I should have known that Hope would come up with her own idea...she LOVES projects! She decided on the patterned paper and I think they turned out cute. We had every color imaginable but here are just a few.

Happy 3rd Birthday Addison!

2009-02-10T14:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Addison, we hope you have a wonderful day. We love and miss you!

Daddy Daughter Date!

2009-02-09T12:21:00.001-08:00

Tweeb decided to take Hope on a Daddy Daughter Date. They went to dinner at a restaurant called the Loveless Cafe. Hope was being so cute. While Tweeb was still at work she had a shower and wanted me to blow dry her her out. She also convinced me to let her wear a little bit of my makeup too. She picked out her dress and made sure she had a black clutch to match. It was of course filled with lip gloss and all other girly things. She was so excited to go and had a great time.

This is them before they left.
The is them at the restaurant. We have never eaten at this restaurant but had heard good things about it so Tweeb decided to try it out. The funny thing is that before we moved here there was a Throwdown with Bobby Flay in Nashville for biscuits on T.V. and I recorded it because I was thinking we could try it out when we got here (however it got erased). The lady that makes the biscuits is called the biscuit lady and has been on Martha Stewart and other shows. She also makes her own jam to go with the biscuits. Well the point I am getting at is that the restaurant she works at is the Loveless cafe. Tweeb came home saying that the biscuits were good and they had homemade jam. I immediately remembered the episode and went to the Food Network website and watched the video of the Throwdown to see if it was the same place and sure enough it was. How ironic! I will definitely be going to try them out for myself.

Valentines Tag

2009-02-06T11:23:00.000-08:00

Answer the questions about your sweetheart…

*What is your husband’s name? Craig Owen Gladwell II or Tweeb
*How long have you been married? 9 years
*How long did you date? 10 months
*How old is he? 31, 32 next month
*Who eats more sweets? I used to until I started to lose weight. He is not a big "sweets" eater.
*Who said I love you first? He did.
*Who is taller? Tweeb
*Who can sing best? I think that is a given.
*Who is smarter? Depends on the situation.
*Who does laundry? Both. He usually washes and dries it and i usually fold and put it away.
*Who pays bills? We both do.
*Who sleeps on the right side? He does.
*Who mows the lawn? He does, I have not mowed a lawn sinse we have been married.
*Who cooks dinner? I do.
*Who drives? He does unless he is tired.
*Who is first to admit they are wrong? Hmmm, we are probably equal on this one.
*Who kissed who first? He kissed me.
*Who asked who out first? He did, it was the Homecoming dance at Snow College.
*Who wears the pants? It totally depends on the situation but were are pretty equal on this one too.

Happy Valentine's Day Tweeb, I love you!!

Now, I tag ANYONE who feels like it.

Sick Baby!

2009-02-03T10:04:00.000-08:00

My poor baby has pneumonia in her right lung and has to be on this nebulizer every 6 hours. She has double ear infections and is on a strong antibiotic for that and her pneumonia and she is also on a steroid. I feel so bad for her, I knew she didn't feel good over the weekend but I would have never thought that it was this bad. She is so good to do the treatments, she just sits there until she is done.

2009-02-02T11:36:00.000-08:00

Super Bowl Party!

2009-02-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

We went to our friends Ken and Carries for the Super Bowl. They fed us Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches...yum! We had a medley of yummy dips, chips, desserts and wings too. There were 20 of us there. The girls just love it over there. They have girls all of my girls ages, so it makes it fun. I did not get very many pictures but here are some that I did get.

Mya and Daddy just hanging out watching the big game.

Hope, Kendyl and Ellie. Hope and Kendyl love hanging out together. They are so funny. They will actually be able to be baptized together too. Both of their birthdays are in May. This is a friendly game of ping pong between Ken and Jared. Carrie actually beat everyone, including the men. She was taunting Tweeb while doing it. I thought it was pretty funny.

The girls ended up stairs for most of it. This is Annie, she was refusing to get her picture taken because she is 7 months pregnant (she looks good huh), but I told her to smile because I was taking it anyways. She is going to be thrilled that she is on the blog...love ya Annie!!
This is the hostess...Carrie, just hanging out in the kitchen. Thanks Ken and Carrie for the fun time, we had a blast!

Happy Birthday Braydan!

2009-01-31T16:43:00.000-08:00

Happy 30th Birthday Uncle Braydan!!

We hope that you have a wonderful day and an awesome time at your Birthday Party. We wish we could be there. We love and miss you!! Love, The Gladwells

p.s. Mya would not cooperate....sorry!

My Space Update!

2009-01-22T18:26:00.000-08:00

Tweeb just put a new song on his My Space so check it out and leave some feedback. It is called Bedtime Stories. You can click on the link over at the right of my blog to get there.

Girls Night Out!

2009-01-22T12:28:00.001-08:00

My friends and I get together once a month for girls night and so last night we went to the movie Bride Wars. It was really cute, I liked it and would go again. This is not the best picture but it will do.

From left: Teresa, Me, Annie, Jill, Katie and Carrie. Missing from picture: Zandra (she got there a little later)

My trip to Utah!!

2009-01-20T18:04:00.000-08:00

Me, Brittnie, Mom and Misty

The Story....My Mom and my sister Misty flew me out to Utah to surprise my little sister Brittnie for her baby shower. We all kept it a secret and the only ones that knew were my Mom, Misty and Myself (well of course Tweeb and the girls). As soon as I flew in my Mom picked me up at the airport and we went to surprise Karen (Tweebs Mom) at her work. We then went to Brookes house (Tweebs youngest sister) she had a new baby boy since I had seen her last. He is soooo cute and I am really sad that I did not get a picture on my camera of him. Next we headed to Salina and stopped to surprise my Dad. We finally got to Misty's house. Britt, CJ (Britts husband) and my Grandma were there....so Misty made them go into her bedroom and told her that she and my Mom had a present for her but they wanted her to open it because they needed it for the shower (which was the next day). She explained how she wanted to at least put a bow on it before she saw it (hence hiding in the bedroom). They really did put a big pink bow on me. She was extremely surprised and overwhelmed. I think this picture says it all. She is going to kill me for putting it on here. She had the best reaction out of everybody (my friend Tanya was a very close second) and my Grandma even cried (that only happens on rare occasions). On Sunday I was able to go see Cammy (Tweebs oldest sister) and my friend Jami too. It was soooo much fun to fly in for the weekend (I think everyone was pretty surprised). Saturday we had the Baby Shower and then we went to El Mexicano (which I have been craving since I left) for dinner with a bunch of friends. It was so fun to see everybody and we all got laughing so hard . When we left to go home my cheeks were hurting. Thanks to all of you that came!!!

This is Britt opening presents at the Baby Shower. She is seriously the cutest pregnant person I have ever seen. I could not quit rubbing her cute little belly.

Friends at El Mexicano

Back Row: Heather Hallows, Stephanie Berg, Sandi Mason, Tanya Halliday, Roshel Horne, Bree Bastian, Amy Rosquist. Front Row: Misty, Brittnie and Myself. Missing from photo: My Mom, Leslie Nelson, Diana May and Kayla Nelson.

Here are just some random pictures......

This is my niece Ainsley and you can kind of see Addison peeking around the corner. They were even excited to see me! They were being so cute. Ainsley kept holding my hand wherever we went and then they both told me they didn't want me to leave...how sweet are they?

Me and my Mom...I just love her sooo much!

Thank You Mom and Misty!
I had a blast in Utah! I love you guys. I do not know what I would do with out you. I am so blessed to have people in my life like you!!

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-04T16:30:00.001-08:00

All three girls made it!! Here they are drinking their sparkling grape juice. We started a new tradition a couple of years ago (when it seemed like it was more of hassle than anything to get together with friends and all the kids). We eat Chinese food, watch a movie with yummy snacks and then watch the ball drop. The girls did so good and by the time they all calmed down they did not go to sleep until 1:00. They slept in until almost 11:00 the next morning so it wasn't to bad.

Hope took a picture of Tweeb and I, I think we look more tired than the girls do.
We have lots of New Years revolutions and some of mine are...
1. To read the Book of Mormon
2. To lose 100 pounds (I am not kidding about this, I am going to post it on the side of my blog and everything. I figure if I know people are going to see it then I can stay motivated). Don't worry I am going to do it the good old fashioned way ( eating right, exercising and cutting out all pop).
3. To have more patience.

Christmas Day!

2008-12-28T19:16:00.000-08:00

What pictures should I post was what I kept saying to myself when looking through ALL of them. I have a lot of the kids opening gifts but then I figured you all had those pictures too, so I decided to just post a picture of each of the girls with their stuff at the end.

It was so much fun to watch Mya this year, she was being so cute. She knew exactly what was going on and was always eager to open her next gift when it was her turn. She got a little piano from Santa and Hope and Ellie enjoy it as much as she does.
Ellie kept telling us that she told Santa she wanted a dolly and then the next day she said she told him she wanted a doggy, so I guess Santa was smart and brought them both to her. (The stuff on the floor was gifts the girls received together. The stuff on the right is a REALLY CUTE fairy village from grandma and grandpa)

Hope asked for Ipod speakers and got really cute hot pink ones. She LOVES the puppet theatre, all three of them play with it nonstop (thanks Ainsley, Addison and Alivia). Thank you so much to EVERYONE who made this such a wonderful and memorable Christmas, we love you!!

Christmas Eve!

2008-12-28T18:59:00.000-08:00

Every year for Christmas Eve we have a "Feast" or "Picnic" whichever you would like to call it. First the girls open a present (which is always their pajamas) and then we eat on a blanket on the floor. We eat finger foods of all sorts and drink sparkling grape juice. After we eat they get to open another present (which is always a new ornament). We then all take turns picking out Christmas songs and then we all sing it together. We then write Santa a note, put out the milk and cookies and then go to bed. It is very laid back, just the way I like it! (p.s. don't you love their pajamas?)

Mya standing by her new reindeer ornament (I usually always get them the same ornament but this year I just picked what I thought they would like best and I will probably continue to do it that way from now on).
This is Ellie with her jingle bell snowflake ornament. She absolutely loved anything with jingle bells this year so that is why she got this one.

This is Hope standing by her beautiful sparkly snowflake. It has crystals all over it and she loved it.

Cookies

2008-12-24T12:09:00.001-08:00

So I did officially did get the flu but I sucked it up and let the kids make cookies anyways. However I did tell them that we had to ice them this morning. This is Ellie rolling out the cookie dough.

This is Hope getting ready to roll more out. Mya was asleep on the couch so we just did this part with Hope and Ellie.

This is one of Hopes cookies, I thought it turned out pretty cute. It is Santa if you cannot tell.

Sorry this picture is a little blurry but the girls had so much fun. I have more pictures but Ellie was of course naked so here are the ones that she at least had a shirt on for. Mya was being so cute, she iced three cookies all by herself with her finger. She was a complete mess.

Just being kids!

2008-12-24T12:00:00.001-08:00

After wrapping Christmas presents, I had some left over boxes and so all three girls got a silkie and put it in their own box. Tweeb then proceeded to pull them around really fast and bang them into each other. They were having a good time and we only had one mishap (the back of Ellie's box broke on her and she fell out backward, however she just laughed and we had to get a new box).

This is one of the moments when you say.... how the heck did that happen. She was clean one minute and literally 20 seconds later she looked like this. Ellie gave her some chocolate (I guess I should look at it as sharing huh!). Sorry about the red eyes.

The last couple of days!

2008-12-23T12:46:00.000-08:00

Saturday we took the kids to The Tale of Desperaux movie (Hope read the book in school and really wanted to go). It was really cute. Sunday was a bust because Ellie was throwing up all night (Hope was sick on Friday night after we went to see the lights). Yesterday we finally went and got our shopping done. I did not have much to do because everything we are giving the kids is homemade (and on the way home Mya started throwing up). So the last couple of days have not been very exciting. I have wrapped presents all morning and we are going to make sugar cookies tonight so maybe that will make up for it (meanwhile I think I am getting the flu too!)

Check this out it is HILARIOUS!

2008-12-20T11:20:00.001-08:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Opryland Hotel Lights!!

2008-12-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

We went to the Opryland hotel last night for our activity (the night before we made Christmas gifts for Hopes friends....I will have to tell you about them later so they wont find out what they are). The hotel is AAAAMAZING!!! It is absolutely huge and you need a map to find your way around. Tweeb and I compare it to Disneyland. This is one of the many trees that they had, we tried to take pictures in front of it but the lights were to bright.

I told Tweeb that this tree is made after my own heart. It is made of poinsettias and if any of you know me you know I LOVE poinsettias (they were my main wedding flower). It was gorgeous.
This is some of the lights outside. The night that we went none of us even needed coats, the weather was fantastic.

This is the girls and I in front of a waterfall even though the picture doesn't show it.

This is not a very good picture but this was a life size nativity scene. The majority of it was where we were standing but then it also had the shepherds across the road coming to see the baby and it also had statues of Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem as well. It was the coolest Nativity that I have ever seen.

Here is a better picture of part of the Nativity.

December 18th

2008-12-18T10:11:00.000-08:00

Last night we had to go to tithing settlement so I did not really have anything planned, but little did I know the girls did. It was so cute, they dressed up and put on a whole Christmas performance for me (even Mya joined in). It consisted of stories and dancing and lasted about 20 min. It just made me realize that it is times like these that I cherish the most about being a mom. I love my girls!!

AHHHHH!

2008-12-17T09:57:00.000-08:00

Holy cow I am just realizing that there are only 7 days left until Christmas. I am not even close to being ready. I have everything that needed to be shipped done and shipped out but I do not have much done for my family. I guess I better get on the ball. I am going to try to not stress out about it and hopefully it will all work out.

Hopes Christmas Play

2008-12-17T09:44:00.000-08:00

We went to Hopes Christmas Play (Christmas at the okay corral) last night for our family activity. She did a really good job however she was being really shy because there were a lot of people there. This picture is of them standing in front of the gingerbread house. Ellie kept saying to us... can I go tell Hope hi now?

This is Hope right after the play. I could not get any good pictures of her during the play because she was on the other side and people kept standing in front of her or me.

Monday night activity!

2008-12-16T12:10:00.001-08:00

Paper Bag Reindeer Puppets!

We did not get very good pictures but here is what I got.

Hope and Ellie coloring the reindeer's body.

(It actually just looks like Ellie is quite disgusted and Hope is cheesing it for the camera)

Here is Mya showing the finished product. It is blurry but you can kind of see Ellies on the table behind her. They liked it and I think that they turned out cute.

Commodore

2008-12-15T08:48:00.001-08:00

Last weekend I played a 'round' at the Commodore Sports Bar and Grill. I was pretty excited because I play somewhere every night but this one I had to be invited to play. There are a lot of hit songwriters who play here and it is one of the best places in Nashville to meet other songwriters and artists-ya know the ones who actually get paid a lot of money to do it! It was so much fun. There were three of us and we each took turns playing our songs one at a time. We played 5 songs each in an hour slot. A few nights earlier I had played there and sang the song me and Cody Braithwaite wrote together called BTW I LOL. One of the waitresses said to me "I just barely got that song out of my head from the other night and when you started playing it I was like Oh man". She said she liked it and thought (obviously) that it was catchy. In the round after me one of the writers has had 4 top ten hits with George Strait, one is 'Baby Run'. So much fun you can't even believe it! I feel like I am living in a dream when I have nights like this. Oh this place is on U of Vanderbilt's campus-right next to the Football stadium.

Not the best pic. A nice lady took some pics for me as I sang.

A different song...can u tell? ha ha. The girl on the far left is LDS. I sang in a multi-stake choir the next night and her parents approached me and said "did u sing last night at the Commodore? That was their daughter and they live in the area but attend another Stake. Funny.

Day 12

2008-12-12T20:23:00.000-08:00

Ward Christmas Party!!

This is Hope sitting on Santa's lap (if you couldn't tell).

She asked for Ipod SPEAKERS and Santa thought she said an Ipod, so now she is worried that she will get another one. We will have to wait and see.

Ellie did so good, this is the first year without tears and she sat there long enough to tell him what she wanted and everything. She would like a Dolly this year. I also thought it was very cute that Santa gave them a bell (like on Polar Express) instead of a Candy Cane.
Mya actually sat on Santa's lap without crying. I was SHOCKED!!! You can tell from her facial expression that she did not particularly enjoy it but we were very proud of her.

This is Hope and Ellie singing with the Primary kids. They sang Away in a Manger and the one that says... picture a stable in Judea, picture a sacred silent night (the name has slipped my mind). They did a really good job. Ellie was not supposed to be up there but she was sitting quietly so I did not find it necessary to remove her. We had a really fun night and all three girls really enjoyed it and that is all that matters.

Snow Day!!!

2008-12-12T13:11:00.001-08:00

It snowed, school was cancelled and this is what we woke up to. Is that not the funniest thing you have ever seen? I would hate to see what the town would do if it REALLY snowed.

Here is some more of the damage.
Oh, Oh, watch out its a blizzard out there. I guess growing up in Utah has made me view weather in a different way than Tennesseans do.

Blessed

2008-12-11T11:13:00.000-08:00

Today my heart is so full and at times I think it may burst. I realized that I needed to write about it so I can remember how I feel. I know that it has to do with the Christmas Spirit and Family. Every time I listen to Christmas music there are certain songs that I can just feel the spirit so strong and I get a little teary eyed. Today I have laughed and cried (a happy cry), many times. I am just soooo thankful for our family and all that they do to support us in this adventure that we are on. It is all the little (and big) things they do and say every single day that keep us positive and knowing that we are doing the right thing. We have never doubted this but it helps to know that you are behind us and believe in our dream as much as we do. You know who you are, so...Thank you!!!

The booth

2008-12-11T10:57:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures of the Christmas booth that I did. It was very slow and I did not sell as much at the booth as I would have liked to. The booth next to me said that it was the slowest booth that they have ever done. I was getting stressed out but sure enough after it was over people started calling and buying things. I wonder why I worry so much some times. I knew it would work out, when you have faith in the lord it always seems to. I knew I was supposed to do the booth....so why question??? Maybe this was a lesson I needed to learn (you would think I would know it by now). Now I only have 2 tutus left and very few bows and headbands, all of my cards are gone and I have enough stitchings left for the gifts that I need to give. What a BLESSING!!!

Pictures

2008-12-11T10:42:00.000-08:00

Okay first of all if you didn't notice already... the picture on the top of the blog is terrible, terrible, terrible of me but it is the only one I had of all the kids looking at the same time. With that said now I will tell you how dumb I am. The reason my computer was not working was because something had come unplugged....HELLO!!! you would think that I would check the Internet connection. Anyways, here are the pictures of the activities that we have done.

Hope putting the bow on the top of the tree.
The girls fingernails that we painted. I did not get a good close up picture of the snowmen, but they turned out cute.

This is us at the Christmas Tree lighting after Hope and Ellie danced. They did such a good job. Poor little Ellie was freezing and shaking the whole time but did her dance soooo cute. Everyone around us kept saying, oh look how cute she is... she is shaking so hard.

This is them riding in the parade. I was at the booth so I was not able to see them. Thank goodness for technology.

December 10th

2008-12-11T10:41:00.001-08:00

Last night we set up the Nativity, which I just LOVE. I usually put white lights and angel hair down first but last year it was such a mess that this year I just said... forget it. We also watched Home Alone.

Dec 4th, 5th, 6th,7th, 8th and 9th Activities

2008-12-10T12:16:00.000-08:00

I do not have a computer right now so I am at the library trying to update. So sorry there are no pictures, hopefully soon.

The activity we did for the fourth was play a game and watch Polar Express.
The fifth Tweeb took the girls to Hopes school and watched The Grinch in the gym. The girls had a lot of fun.
The sixth Hope and Ellie were in a parade for dance and also were able to perform at the Fairview town hall for the tree lighting, so that is what we did.
Sunday we all danced to Christmas music, I know it sounds dumb but the girls LOVED it.
Monday the 8th Tweeb was gone singing so I painted the girls fingernails and toenails red and then painted little snowmen on them. They turned out so cute and I have pictures but that obviously does me no good at this moment.
Tuesday the 9th we put up and decorated the tree FINALLY!! I know the month is half over but I was so busy doing the booth that it just had to wait. Mya loves the lights and likes playing with all the ornaments. I am sure we will have plenty of broken ones this year.

We have been having a lot of fun just doing little things together as a family and I think the girls are quite enjoying it. I hope you all can try it too.

December 3rd!

2008-12-03T19:17:00.000-08:00

Today the girls and Tweeb wrote a letter to Santa. I was gone for the night (girls night out), so when I got home I found out that Hope wants a speaker dock for her ipod (this is new news to me, I guess she saw it on t.v. today). Ellie would like a Bitty Baby doll from American Girl (Hope was helping write her list so I am sure any dolly will do) and Mya would like a stuffed dog??? I guess I should say that Hope and Ellie would like Mya to ask for a stuffed dog. Tweeb did not take any pictures...sorry!

Activity #2

2008-12-02T18:35:00.001-08:00

Activity for December 2nd: DECORATING TOILET PAPER ROLLS.

(I am still getting a kick out of it)

So this is the activity we decided to do with the girls tonight.

It was really pretty fun, they enjoyed it and it was super easy.

Hope decided to make an Angel and of course was big enough to do it all without help.

Ellie wanted to make Santa but got distracted very easily by The Polar Express that was playing in the background. She did however pull herself away from the movie long enough to stick everything on.
Mya decided (or should I say her sisters decided) to make a snowman. She was actually very willing to help (if you can call it that) put her snowman together. She was entertained the whole time and tried to cut the paper and attach the tape and everything. When we were done she was also very willing to squish it, throw it and eat it too.

December 1st!

2008-12-01T17:37:00.000-08:00

This Christmas season Tweeb and I decided to do things a little different from other years past. First of all we are going to do a homemade Christmas. All of the gifts that we are going to give to each other and to family and friends will all be homemade and made with love, with the exception of what the kids ask Santa for. Second, we are going to do some sort of special activity with the kids everyday intel Christmas. We are going to try to create special memories instead of getting caught up in all the craziness of it all. Wish us luck that it goes as smoothly as I have it pictured in my head. With that said, today we made a gingerbread house together. Here are a few pictures of the girls.

This is the finished product. The only child that I could get to participate in taking the picture was hope. It looks like Mya could not quite decide, at first she was hiding behind Hope.
This is not a very good picture but I was just trying to get a picture of the icing all over her face. I personally like the big glob on her eyelid. She was being hilarious during it all. She would keep coming up to me with her mouth open for me to squeeze icing into it. Hope, Ellie and I could not put the candy on the house fast enough, she kept grabbing it off and eating it. We also have very cute finger prints all over the gingerbread house.

Working together, nothing makes a mom happier. Notice Ellie sitting on her feet, check out kids say the darndest things to read what she said about it.

Christmas Tag!!

2008-11-29T15:02:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know I said I was not going to post but I cannot just sit by and keep up a Thanksgiving background. I am sorry but I just cant do it. Plus Bree tagged me and it's really easy so.... why not.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both, depending if it is hard to wrap or not. However all of Santa's gifts are wrapped.
.2. Real Tree or Artificial? Artificial (the reason being is when Tweeb and I got married we cut down ALOT of trees for our reception so I have always said that we have cut down our fair share).
3. When do you put your tree up? Weekend after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take your tree down? I like to at the first of the year but sometimes it just doesn't happen
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, I have to be in the mood though
6. Favorite gift received? My Uggs last year from my hubby.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Tweeb
8. Easiest person to buy for? The girls! (It is to much fun to buy for them. They are not picky, YET).
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, a Demdaco one and I absolutely love it.
10. Mail or e-mail Christmas Cards? Mail (I love to make my own, however we will see if it happens this year).
11. Worst Christmas presents ever received? I don't recall not liking my presents.
12. Favorite/Worst Christmas movie? There is no way to choose, I LOVE watching Christmas movies.
13. When do you start shopping? Usually after Thanksgiving.
14. Have you ever recycled a gift? Nope
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas time? Our Christmas Feast that we do with just our little family.
16. Lights on tree? Red, Green and White.
17. Favorite Christmas song? All of them, especially the ones that my kids run around the house singing.
18. Travel on Christmas or stay home? Stay home.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Absolutely.
20. Angel on top of tree or star? Neither, I have a big bow with ribbon streamers going down my tree.
21. Open presents of Christmas eve? Yep, PJ's and an ornament.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Not having enough MONEY!!! ( I took this one from Bree).
23. Favorite ornament? Do you know what is funny, I love the one my Mom still puts on her tree of all three of us on the cheesy doilies.
24. Favorite food for Christmas Dinner? Turkey, Ham, homemade rolls etc. etc.
.25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Actually nothing. I just want my kids to have a magical day.
26. Tag 5 friends! Misty, Stephanie, Brooke, Cammy and Lisa.

2008-11-25T15:39:00.000-08:00

I just thought that I would let everyone know that I will probably be "missing in action" in the blogging world the next week and a half. I am doing a booth and it is next Saturday the 6th. I am not even close to be ready for it, so all of my spare time will be dedicated to stitching, sewing, making tutus, bows and handmade cards. I will take lots of Thanksgiving and booth pictures and post as soon as I can. Keep your fingers crossed for me that all of the hard work will be worth it. We hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Drivers Licences

2008-11-21T11:45:00.001-08:00

Ellie and Mya were being so cute this morning. This is a car for their Build A Bears but they decided that they would sit in it and drive instead. They took turns pushing each other in it on the wood floors, it was pretty funny and quite entertaining as well. They grow up sooo fast and before I know it they will actually have their drivers licences.

One day this little girl might decide that clothes are a good idea.

Are you serious!!!

2008-11-21T11:41:00.001-08:00

I was just wondering if this is what any of your children do while they are supposed to be sitting in time out. I thought it was pretty ironic that while they are in trouble they are still getting themselves into trouble. What am I going to do with them???

Our Ellie!

2008-11-10T06:59:00.001-08:00

This is Ellie showing off her coat that grandma Mickie got her for her birthday. It is finally cool enough to wear it, so she was very excited. Notice the jelly shoes, she wears these EVERYWHERE. They do not look comfortable at all and they look like they are too small. It will be a sad day at our house when they do not fit anymore.

She is turning into such a girly girl. She usually always has a purse too.
Don't you love this facial expression. She was trying to be sassy about it but it came out looking a little grouchy. She kills me.

Dunkin Donuts!

2008-11-10T06:29:00.000-08:00

Our little Joy School class was supposed to go on a field trip to a Bakery. It was my turn to teach, so I talked to the local grocery store Bakery and they would not let us come because of the liability (ok whatever). So then I was wondering where we could go and I thought of Dunkin Donuts. Hello, that is way better anyways. I called them and they were more than happy to do it for us. We went and the kids LOVED it. We took a tour of the facility and they showed them how they make donuts and glaze and ice donuts and take orders etc. etc.. The very best part however was when they let them decorate their own donut. I figured they might give them a donut but I did not expect them to go all out. Anyways they were very cute.

Me, Ellie and Mya decorating donuts.
This is actually their finished product, sorry I posted the pictures in the wrong order.

The kids decorating their donuts. They gave them all sorts of toppings and 3 different flavors of icing.

This is them getting to see the display of donuts. They were all so good. We were there for over an hour and they stayed interested the whole time. My friend Annie (she is in the blue shirt) and her daughter Abigail, came along too.

This is our cute little Joy School class

Mya, Me, Abigail, Ellie, Seth, Olivia, Reice and Katie

Katie is the one who introduced me to Joy School. It is like preschool but they learn more about themselves and how their actions can make them happy. We take turns every other week teaching and the kids have so much fun. Ellie absolutely loves it.

Silly Girls

2008-11-10T06:18:00.001-08:00

This is all three girls in Mya's crib. They played in there all day and were being so good. I thought it was hilarious and because they were playing so nicely together I let them do it. I must say I got a lot done around the house that day. What is even funnier is that Hope and Ellie begged to sleep in there too. Hope told me that she would do anything I asked if I would let her and so I told her that she had to have a shower without complaining (she hates to shower, she would prefer a bath). Anyways she did it so I kept my word and all three of them fell asleep in there. Mya and Ellie did not make it through the night but Hope did. I have no idea how they were even remotely comfortable. Silly Girls!!

Seriously So Proud!!

2008-11-04T08:57:00.000-08:00

I am seriously so proud of my little girl. This may not be an interesting story to some of you but since I am using this blog for my journal I did not want to forget it. Anyways, yesterday at school a boy in her class said "oh my ___". Hope politely explained to him that he was taking the lords name in vain and that its not very nice. He seemed a little confused and so Hope explained to him and one of her friends how when you are talking about God that it is not a swear word but when you use his name just because, then you are taking it in vain. The boy understood her explanation and then said: my Mom and Dad say it all the time. Hope then says to him: well you should probably explain it to them. She does not like to hurt any ones feelings and so I was surprised that she stood up for herself and her beliefs that way, and she did it in a way that nobody felt stupid (I should have known). I just love her so much and I am so happy that she loves her Heavenly Father enough to stand up for him.