Farewell 2009, Hello 2010

Cheers - with our sparkling white grape juice - from the Jobes!
We ended up staying in and celebrating together as a family. We played a couple of games of Die Siedler Von Catan (Settlers of Catan - I saw the English version at a couple of places before Christmas, you should pick it up, great game!). We toasted and celebrated with the East Coast just in case someone falls asleep (mainly Jason or Peyton) before we hit midnight.

A few highlights - In this past decade, we added a baby (Peyton in October of 2000) and a dog (Eddie in December 2003), Mackenzie went through Elementary and Middle Schools and started Junior High. In 2009 we built and moved into our new home, Peyton made a smooth transition to a new school and Mackenzie's good health for the past couple of months of 2009 makes us very happy . Every day is a gift and we share them with so many wonderful friends. We can't wait to see what great things 2010 brings.

Happy New Year!

July 4th and Friends

What a GREAT fireworks show - just some of the amazing entertainment:
Happy birthday to all our friends that were 4th of July babies, including Emily! (bottom row, far right)

Can you believe the kids above, were these kids five years ago?It makes me want to cry!

What a great weekend! Nothing like knowing you'll be spending some time in a hospital to make you really make the most of a few days. Mackenzie tried to get a lot of swimming in since she won't be able to for a while - even when we get to come home, she'll have her PICC line in. She had a few friends over and all the grandparents came to visit.

I love this picture!

(Emily, Morgan, Mackenzie, Maddie & Peyton)

Halloween 2008

We had a very nice Halloween. It was great that it fell on a Friday night and the weather could not have been better! Right after school the girls got ready as fast as they could and they started the candy quest at Jason's office. We stopped to Trick or Treat at the Watkins (the girls were their very first trick or treaters EVER!). Here they all with the Bee-utiful Bella:

We ended up trick or treating on Central which was so nice with all of the older homes and a lot of people that really got into the fun of Halloween.

Fairy pose:

Peyton was a "Copper Fairy" and Mackenzie was a...hmmm...I guess we'll go with Zombie (she just wore the costume from her dance recital). This is one of the ways my girls are very different. Peyton will go ALL OUT when it comes to costumes or dressing up. She loves the hair (wigs of course if necessary), make-up, all required articles of clothing. Mackenzie on the other hand, not so much. She didn't want to wear the cute (award winning!) Velma costume - maybe because of the wig? She did put on a little make-up and let me tease her hair (although it doesn't matter how much hairspray we use, it usually falls out within about 30 minutes). I am not complaining! I'm just glad she decided to go trick or treating!

We also stopped by the old neighborhood to do a little trick or treating. It was so crazy to go to the house we lived in and gave out candy from for 10 YEARS! I even got a treat at that house - mail!

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Today the girls took all of their loot and turned Mackenzie's room into a candy shop.

Costume Carnival

Peyton's Costume Carnival was last night. Since we had her birthday surprise and only got to stay for 30 minutes, she didn't get dressed up. This was a little sad for me because it was the only time she hasn't dressed up since she was 2 (we've been going to this since Mackenzie was in Kindergarten) and it's probably the last time she'll go since we'll be at a different school next year. Each class has a booth and Peyton's was the basketball shoot - so here she is with her basketball head jack-o-lantern:
With Ms. Lange:

With Woody and Jessie, I mean Drew and Kendall:

With Emmalee, Morgan and Kendall:

I don't think she was ready to leave but we had to get to get to the surprise by 6pm, I'll post about that next (but unless you are a 30 year old in an 8 year old's body, you may be disappointed).

July 4th

We relish Fourth of July celebrations as we will never forget the summer two years ago when they admitted Mackenzie into ACH on July 3rd and we spent a good part of July in one little hospital room with a few visits to the roof for some fresh air - I'll also never forget being huddled in a corner with my parents, Jason and Mackenzie with our faces pressed against the window trying to see the fireworks that were just out of comfortable viewing range. Now on the fourth, the grass is greener and the sounds of the kids playing is so much sweeter. We are so thankful for this time.

We went to celebrate Emily's birthday - and Independence Day - with the Adairs. The girls were so excited to see Emily and Ashley after a week and a half (too long!). If you notice the gap in Mackenzie's smile, it happened that night - how convenient it is to be at your dentist's house when you have a tooth that is ready to come out. This would be the second time Mackenzie has lost a tooth at Emily's house while celebrating her birthday and Peyton had a tooth pulled during one of Ashley's parties - I promise we don't plan these things.
Earlier in the day on the 4th we had lunch at Jason's parents, here the girls are with their cousin Lexa.
There was another picture that was supposed to be here of Thursday night when we went with Michele and the kids to watch fireworks in Bella Vista but for some reason after I edited it it was the size of a pencil eraser. It was definitely a firework show they'll never forget - the sky opened up and it poured about five minutes before the show was over but it was still a lot of fun.

Donuts With Dad

Jason was so lucky and got to take Peyton to school this morning and stay for "Donuts With Dad" - a little Father's Day celebration. No, it wasn't the "Father's Day Beer", but it was still a very special time to have with Peyton.

He got a little story too:

My dad is the most wonderful dad in the world!

His name is Jason.

He's as strong as a gorilla.

He is 33 years old.

He has brown eyes and brown hair.

My dad likes to eat hamburgers.

His favorite clothes to wear are razorback t-shirts.

My dad and I like to go canoeing.

I think Dad is funny when he comes home.

But I know he's really angry when I don't clean my room.

I wouldn't trade my dad for a jeep.

I love my Dad because he's mine.

Mother's Day Tea

I just got home from a Mother's Day Tea with Peyton and it was so nice. Peyton and I have been so excited all week and Mrs. Burrow outdid herself with all the treats!




All the kids read things about their Moms and the video I took was sideways (I wasn't thinking!), so I guess I'll just type it in. This is how Peyton filled in the blanks:

My mom is the most wonderful mom in the world!

Her name is Christy.

She's pretty as a butterfly.

She is 30 years old.

she has brown eyes and brown hair.

My mom cooks the best pancakes.

Her favorite clothes to wear are jean jackets.

My mom and I like to go shopping together.

I think Mom is funny when she dances to music.

But I know she's really angry when I hear her yell.

I wouldn't trade my Mom for anything in the hole wide world.

I love my Mom because she has a sparkle in her eye.

Funny, I wore a jean jacket today for the first time in about four months! You know I had a tear in my eye to go with the sparkle.

When Peyton first told us about the Mother's Day Tea, Jason asked her when they were going to have a Father's Day Beer - I told her to ask Mrs. Burrow...

Happy Valentine's Day - A Day Late

Why a day late? Peyton's out of school this week and spent the night with a friend so she wasn't here yesterday morning. Mackenzie had school pictures and NO Valentine celebrating at school(this makes me so sad)...so we took a picture this morning.

Christmas with Dad

We went to Fort Smith yesterday to have Christmas with Dad.

Eddie

We always give Eddie Christmas gifts in gift bags with treats at the bottom so he'll "open" them. I caught him trying to sneak a peak in the bags under the tree.

Two Little Elves

I love the Office Max thing with the dancing elves! I laugh every time someone sends a link of their family dancing around so...We "elfed" the girls!

Silver Dollar City

We went to Silver Dollar City on Saturday. It wasn't quite as warm as I believe they were predicting all week but we still had a great time. The girls rode one of the rides 14 or 15 times. I snapped this picture when we were at the giant tree waiting for the big lighting ceremony. It was dark so I can't believe the picture turned out. We also tried to get some shots of the girls on the little roller coaster but all we got were some good shots of the fog. When the girls got off the ride we were looking at the shots they sell and you could see the girls sitting on the ride with Jason and myself in the background looking at our camera...Jason thought we should have bought it to have a family picture.

Christmas Tree

We finally got the tree up last week (not the Saturday after Thanksgiving like I normally like to get all the holiday decorations up). We (I) went with green and brown (maybe more green and gold) decorations so I was able to leave a ton of ornaments up in the attic. This is also our cheap tree from Wal-Mart that we got last year since I was tired of the 9ft tree we'd had (it was too wide!).

We went to look at a house and I was distracted by their tree - she had black and white pictures framed on red and white scrapbook paper and I loved it so I wanted to copy it. I don't have nearly as many pictures but more ornaments and I used the green and brown paper and sepia toned photos.

Happy Halloween 2007!

We carved our jack-o-lanterns last night. The girls drew out the faces and Jason and I cut. Mackenzie's - top, Peyton - below.

July 4th

Here are a few pictures from today!

We had BABY girls in the house again!

This is Cadey

This is Lexa

Mackenzie, Tara, Cadey, & Peyton

Cadey's first fireworks show! Peyton "watching" the Grand Finale!