Goodbye 2013....

The kids are still a bit sick, so they didn't make it to midnight.  As you can see from the pictures, they were a bit delirious and crazy!  But they had fun being silly and blowing their horns!

This year, Madison turned 9 and started 4th grade - her last year in elementary!  Nathan turned 6 and started kindergarten - his first year in elementary!  An emotional year for me, that's for sure.  But I will say that giving Nathan another year before starting school was amazing for him....the best decision we could have made!   He started school with no hesitation and no adjustment period.  He was ready.  We bought three dogs before finally finding a keeper....little Toby.  We also went on our yearly beach vacation to Pensacola in June, twice to the Great Wolf Lodge, and then to DisneyWorld in November!  It was a year for vacations.  Michael and I celebrated our 11th anniversary in September, and every year that goes by, I feel more and more blessed that I married him!  I always hate saying goodbye to another year...I get so emotional thinking of all the moments with the kids that we'll never get back.  I know, I know, I  need to be more positive and realize that God has many more memories in store for our family!  I just cherish these years right now with the kids, and I want to freeze time just how they are!  I'm blessed to have a wonderful husband and two precious kids, and family that loves us all.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for 2014...praying for another good year!  Happy New Year!

A late Christmas present?

Well, after a long time of searching for that perfect dog, I think we found him!  We drove past PetSmart on Saturday and saw they had an adoption going on, so we decided to look.  We went right to him.  And even though I didn't want a male dog, or a shelter dog, OR this breed (whatever he is!), I think he's a perfect fit.  He isn't at the top of my cute list for dogs, but his sweetness totally makes him cute!  He's potty trained, crate trained, walks on a leash, cuddles, doesn't bark, stays in his crate all night and waits until you get him, and he doesn't get into anything around the house!  It's almost crazy how good he is.  We just love him.  Our little Toby...

The kids are really excited to finally have a dog, and they love him already.

The Train Man....

This is our third year to see the Train Man in Richardson!  So sad that it might be his last year to do this (insurance is giving him a really hard time and he can't afford it anymore).  The kids love doing this, especially when Lacey and Cody are in town!  It's our last night with them, so we went to Kobe Steaks and then headed over to ride the train!

This  man is the sweetest man, and you can just see how much joy he gets from doing this!  Praying it's not the last year for him to do it....for us AND him.  It's become a fun tradition!

We had to say goodbye to Lacey and Cody tonight, and it's always so sad.  The kids have so much fun together, and they all get along so well.  We are reminded each visit when it's time to say goodbye, how much we hate being apart!  But I'm happy we have these times together....where the kids can make special memories together during their childhood years!

Another Christmas celebration!

Today we got together with Grandma and Grandpa...it's our last Christmas celebration of the year, and the kids are a little sad about that!

They had some fun outside with leaves and the swing!

Gun time!  As Michael said, "You might be a redneck if your family Christmas looks something like this!"  My dad was showing Michael and Richard what was in his will for them!  Michael said he felt a bit Rambo-ish, but I think he was having fun.  :)

And the craziness continues....what is more fun than playing in the dog's cage??

The kids had fun playing today, and you'd never know they are sick!  Nathan is getting over RSV, and Madison isn't feeling good either, but it didn't slow them down any!  We still had a good Christmas.  I just can't believe it's now officially over.  Goes by too fast!

Clover's adventures....

The kids have loved waking up every morning trying to find Clover and see what he got into every night!  It's the first thing they do every morning.  Here are some of his crazy adventures in our home!

Clover getting a better smell of the potpourri....and playing peek-a-boo with Yoda!

He hid in the "get along jar" and wrote a note.  "Please be good.  Love each other and be kind.  Santa is happy when kids are on their best behavior.  I know you both can do it.  Love, Clover"

And the last night, he took some of Santa's cookies out of the package!!

He left a note this morning...

We will miss Clover.  He always brings a lot of laughter in our house during the month of December!  Can't wait to see him next year!