My Crazy Life

Christmas Cards

2012-01-28T14:42:00.001-06:00

I LOVE Christmas cards! I can't wait to check the mail during the month of December to find cards from friends and family all over the country. It's such a thrill to see how much our friends kids have changed in just one year. With such a love for cards you'd think I would be all over the idea of getting our's made and sent out. However, this year it didn't happen.

With the craziness of the holidays, I just didn't get around to making cards this year. The stress was building to come up with the perfect idea and the perfect card. I was realizing I didn't have a picture that was card worthy that I hadn't already posted on Facebook. FACEBOOK. The single social media outlet that killed the Christmas card this year. Not just for our family but for many of our friends as well. Where we usually receive tons of cards, we probably didn't even get 20 total this year. Strange...yes. Sad...definitely! I think Facebook may just kill off the Christmas card.

Our family xmas 2011

That said, we didn't get around to taking a family photo either. When you take pictures you rarely get your picture taken. I have gotten better over the past year or two to remember to actually get in the picture from time to time. This drives my mother crazy as she is always wanting new family pictures of all of us!

So Christmas morning we all went to church together at my in-laws church and since we were all dressed up at the same time, we figured it was a good time to take some family pics. So consider this our "Christmas card" for 2011. I will say I did miss having actual cards this year so not to say we won't change our minds next year and send one out again. That or I will make more of an effort to hand write letters & cards to people this year. I am saddened to think that in our kids lifetime the mail may become a distant memory. I hope to never lose the thrill of a handwritten card and hope to instill this in the kids with cards and letters throughout their lives.

Until then, here are some pics from Christmas day...

Adam, B & Matilda

Memaw with her Great-Grands

Nena & Papa

Precious baby Matilda

Her eyes are to die for!

My sweet baby boy

My precious baby girl

Fruits of the Spirit

2012-01-23T14:35:00.000-06:00

The kids came home yesterday singing a new song about the Fruits of the Spirit. It was so sweet and I was so proud they both could name them all via this sweet little song.

As a proud momma, I wanted to show off their talents. So last night, while I was on the phone with my mom, I had the kids come in and sing the song for her one at a time. Elliot went first and in her sweet, angelic voice sang them perfectly for Grammy.

Then K man gets up. He starts singing them in rap form, crossing his arms and throwing peace signs with each "fruit". For the big finale, he came to self-control and proceeds to moon me simultaneously with the words coming out of his mouth. I'm trying to explain this to my mom who is listening and neither of us could quit laughing. What a goof ball!!! When we could talk again my mom told me I might want to teach him about the meaning of those "fruits" a little better!

Oh how's these kids continue to make me laugh on a daily basis!

Sick & Tired of being sick & tired

2012-01-19T21:10:00.000-06:00

But these faces can somehow cheer me up...when they are smiling and getting along so nicely!

Newborn Memories

2012-01-13T14:50:00.006-06:00

Nothing will make you remember the days of newborns better than when your kids are sick. Those wonderful memories of sleepless nights. In fact, I was up 5 times before 1am night before last. I think that is worse then they ever did as newborns! Besides all the blessings of having multiples there is the curse of multiple illness. If one gets sick just hang on...in 36-48 hrs I guarantee the other will have it or worse, something else! I have to say the kids have been pretty healthy for a long time now but this past week has done me in for a while! Here's a glimpse at our Drs visit yesterday.

If you've read my blog in the past you know the first few years of life were plagued will all kinds of illnesses. This week has brought back all those memories. To the point I looked back at old post and found this picture of E. Same pitiful look!

Luckily this week it was just a long, extended cough & cold and only 1 ear infection between the two. Good news is I must have looked so rough this week that Ryan told me to have a Girls Night Out tonight! Can't wait for pedi's and Mexican! Just what this one tired, exhausted momma needs! Thx babe!

The Po Po

2012-01-11T21:52:00.005-06:00

I'm done. Done beating myself up for the terrible job I have done over the last year with my blog. Done trying to figure out the perfect time, perfect picture, perfect story, perfect excuse to come back and actually get back in the swing of things with this dear 'ol blog. Done posting how I'm "coming back" only to post one time and not return for months...DONE.

So I've decided to just write. Post pics when I can. Just remember that I started this to document the twins life, since I knew I'd never do baby books when I was running on 30 minutes of sleep at a time & coffee. Write when there's a good story, post pics that aren't necessarily portraits and get my thoughts on this whole motherhood thing down so hopefully the kids can read these stories one day and be happy I did this...and maybe a little embarrassed along the way!

So nothing like Elliot giving me a gem of a story to post for today...

We were running late this morning. Kids have had terrible coughs and Keaton has really been down for a few days. We go to a bible study at our church on Wednesday morning and we were running behind since I actually had to put on makeup and real clothes today. So we head out the door on our way. Not 1/2 a mile down the road I see a cop and KNOW that I am not going the speed limit. Immediately lights come on and I tell the kids that we are getting pulled over and to be on their best behavior!

The cop walks up and I immediately notice his last name is "Gardner" (Keaton's middle name). So I ask Keaton to read his name to which the cop was impressed that he could read "Gardner". Just before he heads back to his car to decided if he wanted to give me a ticket Elliot shouts from the back seat "Hey, do you watch cops?" Officer Gardner tells her no that he doesn't watch that show. She replies in her sweet southern voice "I do! It's my favorite show!" REALLY! Thanks E & Daddy for making me look like mom of the year! He seemed to find enough humor in it that he let us go and said he didn't want me to start the year of bad...nicest cop ever!!!

So there's the story for today. Stay tuned, I'm sure there will be more tomorrow!

The COPS watcher...

Pics taken at Thanksgiving

2012-01-10T20:44:00.003-06:00

Here are some pics we took at my Grandmurna's house over Thanksgiving. Turned into a great xmas gift for the grandparents!

All my kiddos

Tori Chase

Trae Alex

K man

Last 1st day of Preschool

2011-08-17T21:19:00.005-05:00

Well this was the kids last 1st day of preschool. I swear they were just in the 2 yr old class with Ms. Glenda and Ms. Gayla. Now we are in the oldest class and I just can't believe that my babies are the big kids now. Although trust me, Elliot reminds me everyday! This year they will have Ms. Chris. I think she is going to be a great teacher and will really help the kids be prepared for Kindergarten next year. She is more of a disciplinarian which I think will be good to get Keaton ready for structure and the routine of Kindergarten.

Here are a few shots as we headed out the door on the first day...

In backwards succession but here is a sweet pic after a few near take downs!

He DID NOT want sissy's arm around him, could you tell?

Elliot with her new Hello Kitty backpack

Keaton and his new cars backpack

I know they are only 4 (almost 5) but where is the time going???

Don't want to forget this...

2011-08-10T13:23:00.002-05:00

Was tucking Keaton in the other night and I said "I love you" and he gave me kisses. Then I said "You know you are my favorite little boy in the whole wide world don't you?" to which he said....

"MOM GO....YOU ARE WEARING ME OUT!"

Where do they get these things???

Our New Love

2011-06-08T20:09:00.004-05:00

Her name is Matilda. She has little hair, no teeth and a smile that would melt your heart. She is our new niece and we got to meet her this past weekend. We are so glad to have another niece and Keaton is still the reigning man on both sides of the family!

Here are some pics from this weekend. The kids adore her and are so ready for her to be able to go swimming with them.

LOVE these kids!!!

Trying to capture a grandkid picture is getting more difficult...

I thought we were raising them better than this....

2011-05-19T22:09:00.005-05:00

Two stories for this week's memory book:

1. Go to pick up the kids on Wednesday and the kids greet me with "We both got on red today". Now I will say that's not a stretch for Keaton but Elliot is always on green. Well apparently not on the one day I send her to school in a dress. Apparently Keaton lifted up her dress during playtime to get the boys to all laugh. And then Elliot lifted up her dress because two of the boys in her class "asked me to"!!! WHAT IN THE WORLD??? Needless to say we have been back in pants/shorts for now.

2. Just when I thought we were down with poop stories...Elliot runs in the house tonight and says "Momma, can I wash my foot off? I have Keaton's poop in my toes."???? The Keaton walks in completely naked and tells me that he pooped in his pants. Come to find out (and a little in his defense he has had #3 all night long) he had to poop and didn't think he could make it so he goes under the slide at our neighborhood park and just poops right there in the mulch. Right in front of their friends and right in front of the dad of our new neighbors, who moved here from New Jersey, and already think we are a bunch of weirdos who just let our kids run all over the neighborhood barefoot. So I made the walk of shame to the park with a Walmart bag to go pick up poop like my son is a 3 month old puppy. (The look on that neighbors face was absolutely humiliating. I think we have scarred him for life!)

So I'm guessing Keaton figured out I am blogging again and wanted to give me some material. Please dear Lord don't make me break out the belts (i.e. duck tape) again!

Why can't I just write???

2011-05-16T17:23:00.003-05:00

I'm sure no one will even be reading this as I am sure all of my followers have bailed by now. I just don't realize why it is so hard for me to just jump on here and type out a little something so I can remember this time in life. The kids are going to wonder what happened between 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 since Momma couldn't type a few sentences about our life :)

We are half way thru the kids 4th year and we are knee deep in baseball and gymnastics! Keaton has wanted to play since he was 18mos old and he LOVES it! He is definitely meant to play baseball. He loves to bat and is a really good fielder. We are hoping he will grow to love 2nd base like his momma, daddy, and uncle Jim.

E is now in gymnastics and is doing so well. They put her in an older class with girls who have taken since they were 2 and she is holding her own. Having to work on straight legs and arms a bit but that will come with time. She loves it and I hope will continue and compete one day.

Ryan just took a new job with Sam's leaving WMT after 10 yrs. I think he is going to thrive in the Sam's environment and can't wait to see how he grows now having a boss that actually cares and is connected with his people.

I'm still doing MK although have taken a little break for the past couple of weeks. It has really been nice just to be home with the family and not feel like I am constantly running around. I'm sure it will pick back up and I would love to be atleast in DIQ by seminar. I think I would love being a Director and doing more of the personal development side for my team rather than the selling side.

Well, should get to thinkin about dinner for the kids. Ryan and I have been doing Isagenix and it has completely changed our lives. We feel amazing and healthier than we have in many years! I finally feel like all the years of medicines and drugs from Fertility issues are finally coming out and I love that I can now go to the gym and work out hard and not feel like I am dying! Spinning is definitely still my love but I have found a new love for weights as well. We'll see.

Welp...someone is crying on the trampoline. Duty calls. But I am trying to commit to myself to use this as a journal and stick with it this time. We'll see.

BTW...if you did read this...I can't believe you still check my blog. Thanks for being a faithful friend and follower:)

A Story to Remember

2010-12-13T21:40:00.003-06:00

So the other day I was taking the kids to their Nena and Papa's house for a little quality time. We are in the car and almost to their neighborhood when Elliot says...

"Momma, remember when we were in your tummy and you said 'oh I hope its a boy and a girl' and then you saw us and said 'oh they are just precious' and then you brought us home. Remember that? That was a good day!"

Cute right? Well until she followed up with this question..."So momma, how did we get in your belly anyway?"

I am not ready for that discussion yet so I just said "Well, God put you there like he did with baby Jesus and Mary." Luckily she's only 4 and that satisfied her for now...only we are worried she is going to wonder where they wise men and shepherds are when they don't come for their next birthday!

Just had to be sure and blog that one because we will want to mix that into the Christmas story one of these days!

I've Missed You Blog...

2010-12-08T20:54:00.003-06:00

Yep...I've just missed it too much. Sure I like my evenings "free" and not cramming in a last minute post at midnight, but I feel like I am truly missing some things as the kids are growing up way too fast! Elliot completely talks like an 18 yr old but luckily Keaton still says some things that are so cute. Like "Teaton" and "Pleash".

I want to remember what all happened and how I coped. I think that's why the three's got a lot less face time...I was just too tired and too frazzled. But I know one day I will regret not blogging about fits and fights and spills and toilets clogged with trains and animals...

So, I may only blog a sentence or a quote but I plan on being back. FOR REAL THIS TIME!!! I don't want to miss another day of this adventure that "one day I will laugh about"...or so everyone tells me.

*I type this as Keaton tries to turn my face to him and convince me that he needs to sleep in my bed! Last night he cried not wanting to go to bed. He begged me to sleep in his bed. Then he asked for daddy to sleep in his bed. Then he cried and said "I just want somebody to spend the night with me! Where is my Grammy?!"

Master manipulators these two are!

Here's a new family pic and sneak peek of our xmas card.... Maybe one day I'll sit and post all the ones I haven't had a chance to.

Not Dead just Distracted

2010-09-06T22:38:00.003-05:00

Yep...we are still here! I know I haven't blogged in FOREVER and I honestly feel like I have missed out on the last few months. I know one day I will be really sad that I didn't document these last few months but hopefully the hard work will make for many more memories and some exciting things to blog about in the future!

We have been busy with two 3 (almost 4) year olds...some of you forgot to tell me how "lovely" the 3's are and Mary Kay has taken off like crazy!

Here are some more recent pics and I hope to slowly catch up on where we've been lately. The kids started soccer this fall and we just got Keaton his first big boy haircut. Yes, I teared up but it will grow! He is still my handsome little man!

Enjoy and we'll be back soon! I've missed yall!

Massive Catchup

2010-03-21T10:49:00.004-05:00

So I have a new adventure. Sure I am a stay at home mother of twin 3yr olds, a bible study leader, and a photographer but I guess I thought I didn't have enough of my plate...HA! So I jumped in with both feet and am now a Consultant with Mary Kay. Ok family, stop laughing. If you know me, or definitely knew me growing up, you would never in a million years peg me to be a Mary Kay consultant. But I LOVE IT! I don't know if I will ever not love seeing women transform before me and truly see themselves as beautiful. Better yet, I don't think I will ever get tired of seeing them after a week or two and feel like their skin is changing, becoming smooth, clear and younger looking. There is nothing that makes a woman feel better than having clear, beautiful skin and I admire nothing more than strong, self confident women!

Now most of you know my nature is pretty skeptical. I signed up for this and thought "Ok, I'll give just solely Mary Kay products a try and then go back to my stand by products that (i thought) I can't live without." It has only been two full weeks of using their products and I can't imagine going back to my other products. I NEVER though I would give up my beloved mascara, but I have truly found a new love!

Not to sound like a sales pitch but just wanted to blog for myself how I was feeling as this new adventure begins and how I truly am seeing results in just two weeks. Better yet, I have people who don't even know yet that have told me my skin looks so pretty lately....and then I let them in on my little secret!

So if any of you are interested in throwing a girls night, spa party or just want a facial...give me a call! I can come to you anywhere...even South Africa Cat (wouldn't that be awesome!).

Now here is a catch up of all the past days I have missed! Most of these are shot on my iphone with the "Shake-it" app. If you don't have it, it is a must! (Just know that you can't resize them for blogs that I can figure out.)

53/365

The kids 1st adventure with digging up worms!

54/365

A yummy recipe I am dying to try!

55/365

56/365

A bunch of new Paul Frank shirts from our buddy Harry!

57/365

Ryan's dirty little secret...wrastlin'

58/365

Dinner with Nena at her school's fundraiser night a McDonalds.

K was scared of the Hamburgler

Elliot love him!

59/365

1st Mary Kay delivery!

60/365

Great $1 investment...or so I thought. Check out #65/365!!!

61/365

Another victim of the Duck Tape belt. I really should patent this!

62/365

Birthday party aftermath

63/365

New swimsuits!

64/365

New bedroom furniture from a store going out of business here...Crazy deals!

65/365

Here is what the "wonderful" Flarp does to paint and sheet rock!

66/365

Poor little thing has a busted ear drum.

67/365

My house after everyone is in bed.

68/365

One of my 1st facials. How beautiful is this girl!!!

69/365

Yep, that's Keaton, asleep, with brownies in his mouth!

70/365

1st Friday night circle of the year. Friday was gorgeous and 73!

71/365

Saturday was 32 and snowing.

72/365

We woke up to 6+inches and about 1 ft snow drifts. With more snow falling the rest of the day and then to be topped off with ice!

Here comes the ice!

Hello!

2010-03-14T22:18:00.004-05:00

Ok I PROMISE I have been taking pictures everyday...I am just WAY behind in posting them. Even the other night at almost midnight I remembered I hadn't taken a picture that day and I grabbed my camera to get a late night shot of my house.

I HAD to share this picture with you all though. This is a newborn I had the honor of shooting last week. I think I am starting to adore shooting newborns. This little angel was 9 days old and was perfect. I mean didn't open her eyes once! Just had to show this to you all though before I crashed for the night. Much more to come....hopefully tomorrow!

52/365 9 day old baby shoot!

2010-03-01T20:33:00.004-06:00

Check out this angel! He was so much fun to shoot and I had such a blast with this family. I can't wait to finish up their pictures so they can see all of them. I can't wait to watch this little man grow but for now I am crazy over all his sweet little newborn features.

I also started a blog for the photo biz. If you would like to follow me there just go to

http://melissahalfordphotography.blogspot.com

I'll post some more of this little guy after I have shown his parents the rest of their photos. Stay tuned!

49, 50 & 51/365

2010-02-26T21:00:00.003-06:00

49/365

The many faces of Miss Elliot

50/365

This is Elliot's first real drawing. She told me it was a bunny....not bad!

Thursday we also learned how to play UNO. Not so much for family game night as it was to get my kids to learn their numbers....since they had gotten schooled the day before at a playdate!

And Thursday daddy was finally home...for 24 hrs! Aren't my boys so sweet?

51/365 Our Happenin' Friday night (note the clock)

The kids were asleep by 7:45! But Keaton just woke up crying. I think we may have another ear infection...

48/365

2010-02-24T16:23:00.006-06:00

You know by the looks of this its going to be a good story...

48/365

So yesterday we came home from school and I had a splitting headache due to forgetting my daily quotient of coffee. The kids were sitting on the bed, watching cartoons like little angels, and I told them that I was going to lay back in the chair and rest my eyes for a minute. I could not have dosed off for more than 10 minutes and I woke up to complete destruction by a certain set of twins.

First, I was awoken to Keaton crying that he was covered in something sticky. At first glance it looks like he had gotten into the Dawn dish soap. Not to harmless. I wipe him off and as I go down to survey the damage I notice two forks and a dumped out bag of Cheetos in the middle of my bed. Blood starting to simmer but not boiling yet.

I head down the stairs and first see TWO empty egg cartons and a dumped out cup of old chocolate pudding. Yes, it was old and I hadn't thrown it out of my frig. I can only do so much! As I turned the corner of the kitchen my initial shock was quickly overcome by my blood hitting full blown BOIL. There were broken eggs EVERYWHERE, the mysterious blue gel everywhere and something that was really shiny all over the cabinets.

Apparently the kids had made supper while I had dosed off. Remember, less than 10 minutes here. They had cracked ONE AND ONE HALF DOZEN eggs in a frying pan and some that apparently missed and hit the floor. They had also decided that busting open all the dishwasher tabs would be a good addition to their concoction. I then notice that they had two plates with the egg mixture and two spoons out on the kitchen table where they appeared to have dined together. They both said that they did eat some and "it was belicious". (I braced for a long night of terrible #3s but thankfully the Lord spared me of this!)

After yelling at my children and "spanking them hard" according to Elliot, I sent them upstairs and tackled the super bowl of kitchen messes. Have you ever tried to pick up eggs off of wooden floors with paper towels? Let's just say its about as easy as picking up oil with tweezers.

Wondering what the shiny substance on the counters was yet??? Well, to top everything off they appeared to try to fry the eggs as they had emptied out a container full of old fried okra grease into the pan and all over the counters.

Needless to say my kids probably learned some new words yesterday and they have told enough people today that they got spankings for making a mess that hopefully this will be a one time only occurrence.

So, once again, enjoy a laugh at our expense. That's what we seem to be on this earth for.

OH, did I forget to mention that Ryan is out of town this week?

OH and did I not mention that the night before the kids pulled off the shower drain and Keaton decided to drop the kids off???

I need a massage!

Weekend Update

2010-02-22T20:30:00.003-06:00

43/365

Spring teaser

44/365

Happy 80th Memaw! We enjoyed celebrating at Monte Ne!

45/365

I'm thinking about renaming my blog...Noodles in my Washer. Seriously, I found this in my washer Saturday morning and after taking this picture, I put my camera up and then washed another load...WITH THE NOODLE STILL IN THERE! I seriously need a vacation!

46/365

Look at these lashes!

I found the kids laying like this after their bath the other night. So sweet.

47/365

Playdoh Love

AHA Go Red!

2010-02-17T21:12:00.002-06:00

So here is what I have been up to these last few months. I was asked to take pictures of the featured survivors this year for the American Heart Association. Each survivors picture and story are featured on the posters you see below and will travel to all the AHA events this year! I had so much fun taking these photos, especially all the little ones! I hope you all are involved with some sort of organization that raises money for children and/or medical research. You dollar does make a difference! Congrats to all who put the Go Red for Women luncheon on yesterday. You did a fabulous job and I can't wait for next year!

41/365

Is he not precious?

Thanks Tina for snapping this pic for me!

This is not one of the poster but an actual picture from one of the shoots that I just had to include. This precious, precious little miracle was such a little ham! She was so easy to photograph and was not shy one bit! I had to include this picture because it is probably my favorite from all the shoots. This sweetheart was at the luncheon yesterday and seeing her made my day!

42/365

If your kids needs a little extra vitamins and you can't get them to take them, try these. My kids LOVE them. In fact, they constantly ask for them...ALL DAY LONG! I just went down and snapped this picture for the day because Bubba just asked if he could have "2 biteamins".

Weekend in Benton

2010-02-16T15:58:00.009-06:00

Have I mentioned how unbelievably happy I am that my brother and his family moved back to Arkansas? We had the best time with them and all the cousins are starting to really grow close to one another. It is so sweet seeing them all snuggled up watching a movie or crowded around a iphone.

We were able to go home this weekend to celebrate Ryan, Mandy & Tori's birthdays for this month. The highlight of the weekend was a trip to the #2 Burger joint in America according to the travel channel...Cotham's! (I would include their website but it seems it has blown up after being featured on the Travel Channel.) But luckily I took along the camera to capture the yumminess.

37/365

Friday playdate

38/365

My favorite pic from the weekend. My baby and my daddy....LOVE THIS!!!

Still has the original sign...

There was the best balloon artist there to entertain the kids before the food came.

Seriously , how cute are they? SO glad they are home!!!

The Double Hubcap

Trying to fit it in...

The aftermath

The table decorations

The outside. How cool is this old building. Love the half torn down Alcoa sign!

Later that night we went to watch Trae play basketball.

Prayer before tip off...

Just can't figure out where Trae gets her competitive side???

Keaton with his favorite hobby....the iphone

39/365

Sunday we went to Northside and if you've ever been there then you know this tree.

These are the branches I climbed up as a kid

40/365

Monday night the kids decided to watch tv in their bumbos. TINEY HINEYS!

Totally Rad!

2010-02-11T18:03:00.004-06:00

So I made a purchase today...Totally Rad Action came out with presets for Lightroom and they are, yes, totally rad! I am so excited and can't wait to play with them. If you have Lightroom go out and get you some TRA today!

35/365

This is the greatest cleanser ever! Cleanses and takes off all makeup with just a dime size drop. I have seriously had this bottle since summer and you can see how much I've used. You can get it at Sephora.

36/365

Here are some pics of the kids before school this morning. It was their Vday party so they wore their new shirts. Keaton was not into a photo shoot before school....

Playing Catchup

2010-02-10T17:14:00.006-06:00

I haven't forgotten my 365 project and I promise that these pictures were taken each and every day I haven't blogged. Enjoy these catch up photos and hopefully I won't get behind like that again...its way too hard to do all at once with two kids tugging at you AT ALL TIMES! (Sorry these 1st post are from my iphone and I can't seem to enlarge them...better photos below)

26/365...This is what time I finally got to kids to sleep this night.

27/265...Ryan's Birthday (Robert Hall Cab=YUM!!!)

28/365...Ok so Elliot took this picture but I thought it was priceless, especially all the laundry. Is that laundry on the dvd player???

29/365...These next two were taken the same night but wanted to remember how Keaton will not wear underwear the right way if there is a picture of a character on the butt!)

Love this finish....this is my kids that just moments before this declared that they "were NOT tired"!

30/365 Our first redbox

31/365 My nightlife

32/365...Super Bowl Sunday=start of baseball season for our family! Yes, this is a throwback Willie McGee figure.

33/365....SICK OF SNOW!

Same day but too cute of KG!

34/365 Love for ring pops!

Ok, now maybe I can get back to actual blogging and recalling my daily life for all to read. Its always something here!

New Look

2010-02-04T23:57:00.003-06:00

As you can see the blog is looking pretty different these days. Its still a work in progress so bear with me, but I wanted to update it so I can do this...

BIGGER BADDER PICTURES!!!

Stay tuned for a much needed 365 update!

365/22,23,24 & 25

2010-01-31T21:48:00.004-06:00

365 from this past snowy weekend. We ended up with an inch+ of ice followed by 8ish inches of snow. We have had a blast playing and sledding down the awesome hills in our neighborhood. I took tons of pics so I will try to post more tomorrow for the fam to see. Wish yall were here to sled with us!

Iphone pic of the beginning on Thurs night

365/23

365/24

Our old school sled...LOVE IT. Thanks Aunt Barbie!

365/25

When you have multiples you have to multiply everything you do times 2 (or 3 or 4).

The kids of course had to have their own snowmen. BTW...dum dum suckers for the eyes works great!

365/21

2010-01-27T21:50:00.004-06:00

I love my Best chair!

Elliot does too. (More to come of the impromptu photo shoot yesterday.)

If you are expecting you must get a Best chair! You will love it.

365/20

2010-01-26T22:42:00.003-06:00

The end of another great bible study. I love my bible study girls! Can't wait to see what God has in store for us next!

365/17, 18 & 19

2010-01-25T20:57:00.005-06:00

365/17

The kids sit on the end of our bed and watch cartoons every night. Keaton has been obsessed lately with his Batman shirt but had never actually watched Batman before. Well, we found it this night and they both were glued to the tv.

Then when the show losses their interest, they start tackling again.

365/18

Sunday was Papa's birthday so the kids helped me make a 3tier lemon cake from scratch!

This is the lemon filling that is to die for!

The finished product.

We also had his (and my) favorite...fried okra!

365/19

Keaton rediscovered his Cardinal hat today. How precious is he in a ballcap?

On just a blog note, I wanted to share my conversation with Elliot today

E: "Moooom, I was watching Sponge Bob downstairs."

M: "Does Momma like you watching Sponge Bob?"

E: "No, but Jesus said I could watch it!"

I am so in trouble with that one! I love her spunk but her mouth is going to get her in trouble. Wonder where she gets that?

365/16

2010-01-23T21:27:00.004-06:00

Keaton's new art...He brought me this last night and said "Look mom, my alligator. ROAR!"

Then he brought me this and said "Look Momma, it's Teton (Keaton)".

I'd say this isn't half bad for a three year old!

365/15s

2010-01-21T22:29:00.008-06:00

So these were technically taken yesterday but I am sharing them as day 15! We had an impromptu photo shoot yesterday with the neighborhood kids. (What do you expect when you have two photographers in one cul-de-sac!) I also was getting to play with an 85mm lens. We have some dang cute kids around here! Of course today it was raining and freezing again. Hopefully we can get back out tomorrow. Come on Spring, hurry up!

This girl LOVES to swing!

The Elliot we all know and love.

Not sure what was going on here...

Chandler

Coby...love that hair!

Carmen...so gorgeous!

Our beautiful Cameron

Keaton's twin

I know....CUTIE!

The boys...aka Keaton's idols!

Love this in b/w too!

My younger boyfriend. Grayer is the cutest thing ever!

Look at those curls!

The girls. So beautiful!

Watch for some of these popping up on my website possibly. I will also post them on facebook where they should look a little better. I hate how blogger distorts my pictures. Project #1025. Any other blog suggestions? Wordpress?

365/12, 13 & 14

2010-01-20T21:37:00.005-06:00

Behind blogging photos but I have still been taking pictures everyday! Here are some for the 1st of this week.

365/12

A rare site in our house...clean floors! (the kids were in school)

365/13

Change of season...yes those are dead mums I have yet to cut back!

365/14

This is "the tree" for our neighborhood. In the summer at any given time there will be as many kids as those branches can hold. I love that our neighborhood has a climbing tree like we did growing up. (for Northside folks...the old Magnolia!)

365/9, 10 & 11

2010-01-17T22:08:00.005-06:00

This was Friday night. K was playing waterslide on Ryan's iphone. If you don't have one....greatest babysitter ever!

365/9

I love pictures of feet and hands, especially of newborn babies. I use to take a ton when the kids were little but hadn't taken any of their feet in a long time. Wanted to capture their little feet as long as they are little. And yes, they are playing with our iphones.

365/10

Sunday night we started back up Community Groups. We made the dinner tonight and for dessert I made my mom's infamous fudge pie. This with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream....YUM. Guess I need to hit the bike in the morning!

365/11

365/8

2010-01-14T22:18:00.004-06:00

So tonight after a long day of editing and getting orders in, I grabbed my camera and thought I wanted to snap some shots of the kids in the tub. Yes I know my kids are always naked or in the undies but I hadn't taken bathtime pics in a while. I was curious to see how they would play having a camera right there with them. Believe or not I somehow captured these two new favs! Man, these kids are cuties! I just love them to pieces! I cannot believe how big they are getting and I am really trying to capture these last years of babiness.

On the camera geek side, I used two different presets to capture these looks. It always amazes me how presets are different with every photo that you take. The first pic is a preset I have been wanting to use forever but it always made my pictures too green (ironically it is named 7-up). I never thought I would like it and then tried it tonight and walla....I love it! I love the post production side when I can take time and feel creative. Research online...I think you will be surprised what all great actions and presets you can find out there for FREE!

Now, on to the pics for today. I couldn't decide so you're getting two tonight!

ISO 640 28mm (I covet this lens...thx Allison for letting me play!) f/3.5 1/60sec

ISO 640 28mm (YUM!) f/4.0 1/60sec

*Note from yesterday's pic. I forgot to mention that to get that shot they put me on a lift 19ft in the air! It was crazy!!!

365/7

2010-01-13T21:47:00.007-06:00

Well, here it is...my first night photo shoot. When I arrived the electric company was doing some maintenance and the front, interior and parking lot were PITCH BLACK! Luckily they finished up so we could turn the red lights on. We'll see how it turns out in print but for now I am happy with it.

*This is also a special picture to have because this is where I spent 4 long years of fertility treatments as well as where the kids were born!

ISO 320 28mm f/10 13sec.

365/6

2010-01-12T22:04:00.004-06:00

I was approached yesterday to do two things I have never done since I began photographing for more than just fun. 1. Shoot a window display (with live models) and 2. Shoot a local hospital at night. Oh yeah, and both will be in a local magazine (Citiscapes) next month! Of course I said yes and then realized I am going to be winging it!

Luckily the store ad today went great. WOW it is so much different shooting a bunch of adults that hold still than a bunch of kids! After feeling pretty good about that shoot I realized...oh crap, I have never shot at night before. What am I going to do???

God blessed me with some bad lighting tonight and the shoot was postponed until tomorrow night. So after dinner I hopped in the car and drove around looking for something to shoot. I ended up at St. Stephen's and took this photo. Thankfully after I couldn't get my first lens to even fire, I switched to my 50mm and propped it up on the dash and ended up with not a horrible pic. Who knows what will happen tomorrow night since they will have Willow Creek lit up like the 4th of July. Hopefully I can post a pic for you in the next few nights.

I now own a tripod.

*I am added some photo geek stats above the picture tonight for those of you that are interested. I know I LOVE when others do this!

ISO 200 50mm f/10 1.0sec

365/5

2010-01-11T21:27:00.004-06:00

This was taken by my iphone, above & behind my back!

Keaton crawled up in my lap today and we had some sweet one on one time. It was just precious so I had to capture it from my point of view and the iphone was all I had. We ended up watching three cardinals come up on our deck and eat some bread we threw out before the snow storm. Unfortunately it began to snow and covered the bread before the birds could realize it...so they are just now discovering it after 10 days. I swear I think this snow will never melt! (Sorry fam back home. I know you would kill for even some flurries right now) Good news is it is suppose to be in the upper 40s this week!

365/4

2010-01-10T20:31:00.004-06:00

Playing with my new point & shoot Nikon I got for xmas. I clearly have no idea how to use it yet. Tried some different post production to see if I can improve them. Amazing I can handle a $1500 camera but can't grasp a $150 one!

Here is the kids intro to Fruity Pebbles (sorry Papa). Thanks for direct advertising, Elliot told me that her and Bubba HAD to have it!

One more to throw in. Here are the kids watching Boomerang (greatest channel ever) and both playing on Iphones. If you ever get a strange text or see a strange status update from us, its probably Keaton or Elliot. Yes, they have posted to my facebook page before. Pretty soon they will be fixing out computers and working the blu-ray players for us!

365/3

2010-01-09T21:01:00.002-06:00

Always in our bed...blankies and sippy cups.

365/2

2010-01-08T21:42:00.005-06:00

We have been snowed in all week and woke up to wind chills of -15 this morning! If you know me at all you know I am a summer girl, 100%. So let's just say this entire week of no school, too cold to play outside AND husband out of town all week...I am a little stir crazy.

Here's my 365 pic for the day. This is my kids after they told me they "dressed themselves". So typical. Yes they are playing on an iphone (they can call people and even post things to my facebook at age 3) and they found my twin nursing boppie and turned it into their new "stools".

Here are a couple of shots from Monday when we got out and played a little bit before we froze. The kids are all about sledding this year. Can't wait til we can load up and hit the big hills!

So for all of you in the warm weather (ie....South Africa & Australian Friends :0) please don't let me know how you went to the beach and laid out unless you are planning to have visitors this weekend. Stay warm everyone!

365/1

2010-01-07T22:36:00.005-06:00

I know I have a lot of catching up to do on Holiday photos but I do have some news that will make many of you (family) happy. I heard from family, friends and near strangers when we went home for the holidays that I have slacked on my blog. I would say doing better would be a New Years resolution but I don't make resolutions.

HOWEVER, I have started a new project. If you are familiar with many photography lovers there is something that a lot of them have done called project 365. This is where you commit to taking photos everyday for an entire year. I am committing to doing this for the next 365 days. I am doing this to help me get more creative in my photography, help me work on some much needed skills and watch a year of my families life unfold before our very eyes. I can't wait to look back January 7th, 2011 and see what all has happened over the past 365 days. I hope you all will enjoy the journey with me! (And keep me accountable!)

So that being said, I wanted to post this picture for today. It is CRAZY cold here. Possible wind chill of -20 tonight. What is that? If I wanted that cold I would live in Minnesota (btw...I could NEVER live in Minnesota or anywhere north of KC). Hopefully our next move will be nothing but SOUTH!!! Only 5 months and 5 days until we leave for the beach.

This was a pic from my car at 5pm this evening. The sun wasn't even fully set yet. Ouch!

ps...you can follow my 365 journey on Flickr. I may add it to facebook as well and if you haven't seen I set up a facebook page for melissa halford PHOTOGRAPHY. Check it out and become a fan!

Merry Christmas Yall!

2009-12-18T11:01:00.003-06:00

Here's a peak at the 2009 Halford family Christmas card...plus a look at our 1st real family photo since the kids were born! Happy Holidays!

Oh the holidays....

2009-12-14T11:35:00.004-06:00

As you can tell the holidays really get in the way of blogging. I so admire my friends that are able to post something nearly everyday. Wow...either they have really dirty houses and laundry to the ceiling or they are much better multi-taskers than I am. (Probably the later) I will try to do my best to keep updated through the holidays so that I am not posting a whole photo album come January.

We have been busy with holidays parties, traveling and getting ready for Santa Claus to come. We are so excited to get to spend xmas with my family and my nieces this year who are moving back home!!! I am sure I will have plenty of pictures of them after our trip. Until then we have lots to finish up around here.

As a photographer the last thing you seem to do is have your own families pictures taken (with you in them!). I needed to get a family picture made this year for my grandmother for xmas so we decided to take some pictures and hopefully have a good one to put on the xmas cards. Thanks to my awesome neighbor Allison we accomplished our first good family picture since the kids were born! I will wait a few more days to reveal the ones that we used for our actual cards, so that family can get theirs in the mail, but wanted to post a few on here today.

LOVE this of my boys!!!

Fall Fun

2009-11-11T20:07:00.005-06:00

Here are some quick pics from the kids playing in the leaves last Thursday. I think you will love Elliot's evolution of a frown...

Our buddy Jake!

When you try to get 3 three yr olds to smile for you...

Mine & Ry's new favorite!

Halloween...we made it (mostly)!

2009-11-10T17:02:00.006-06:00

If your new to the blog you need to know that EVERY year something hits our family and threatens our trick-or-treating festivities. This year it was high fever and a virus. We ended up missing going to daddy's office and trick or treating which is always a highlight of Halloween day. But this year our fevers broke the morning of Halloween and by golly, we were NOT going to miss it. Our neighborhood really celebrates Halloween so we were not going to watch from the front door.

The kids ended up having a blast and so did the adults! After walking the neighborhood (where Keaton would just open people's doors and yell "trick or treat") we came back and had a fire in the firepit in our driveway. All the kids ended up in our house eating candy and watching the kids newest addiction...old school Pink Panther! LOVE IT! Next time I am home I am getting Elliot my pink pompom. (My high school's fight song was a sped up version of the theme from the Pink Panther)

Needless to say it ended up being a great Halloween and the kids actually went to bed decently even though they had dined on candy since about 3pm! Here are some pics (in reverse order) of our day. Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween as well!

Ready to go with the neighbors!

We went by Memaw & Carl's before heading out. Of course they ended up on the golf cart!

"Surprising" Nena and Papa.

Finally a cute family pic and the kids won't cooperate!

Our AWESOME teachers Ms. Martha & Ms. Loren

Our Ms. Bickie...she's the best!

*We had every intention of going as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell but I found $4 costumes so we ended up having a lion and ladybug. Stay tuned for coordinating outfits next year (unless I find a deal)!

3rd Birthday...where'd the time go???

2009-10-25T18:06:00.019-05:00

So we have been swamped with birthday activities and celebrating our 10th anniversary. October is always a crazy time of year for us!

The kids turned 3 on October 19th and I just wonder where my little babies went. Everyone says time flies and when your in the midst of multiple night feedings you think they are crazy. Many times in those first few months you think the days drag out forever. But I can tell you, looking back, I am missing those days already. Not so much the breastfeeding two people at one time but the quite, calm, non-trashing-my-house-every-two-minutes moments. Two's have been a whole different ball game for us and we praise anyone who tries to get through them with triplets or more!

I will be updating their stats in another post as we are not going to get to go for our well checkup tomorrow because we aren't well. Fevers, coughs, runny noses...welcome fall!

So sit back and enjoy the birthday pics.

Miss Hannah (Elliot's school buddy)

E & Cameron (her idol!)

Going down the slides will mess up your pretty doggie ears!

Party at Jump Zone (highly recommend!)

We separated the kids in the party room so Elliot felt like she had her own party and Keaton felt like he got his boy party. E chose Hello Kitty for her theme and Bubby of course chose baseball!

Most of our friends at the party...

Grammy and Memaw sitting in the birthday thrones.

Love this one!

E's matching Hello Kitty bows!

My big kids...(sigh)

My precious family...I am so blessed!

The present opening chaos!

Nena & Memaw

We got the kids bikes for their birthday presents.

Elliot was so excited to finally have her princess bike!

All Keaton wanted was a motorcycle-bicycle.

Only problem was this bike seat does not adjust. Not quite sure what kid is smaller than mine and needing a bike???

Keaton trying to "fic" it.

So we made a run to Wal-Mart and he picked out a new Tonka bike...with adjustable seat!

Thanks for the awesome shirts Miss Amanda!

E first bike wreck. Yes she was fine...just a little drama queen.

K's first wreck...he was fine too!

Does this look like a tough kiddie gang or what? This pic cracks us up!

Birthday night dinner.

Nena and Papa

Finally, this is one of Elliot's bday presents (thanks Kaffie!). She had to put it on and wear it all evening. YES...she did her own hair!

*Just a quick note for all you NWA mommas...Jump Zone is a awesome place to have a birthday party. They literally take care of everything so all we had to do was enjoy the party. They also have open jump on Wednesday from 10-1pm for younger kids. Admission is only $5.

The Things to Never Forget...

2009-10-08T19:19:00.004-05:00

As most of you know, I originally used this blog to journal the raising of my kids since I am a terrible at physically journaling and knew I would never get around to baby books. So occasionally I will be posting things the kids say or do that I just happened to over hear or see. Luckily for you all these are becoming all to numerous occurrences with Miss Elliot.

For example, this morning we were getting ready for school this morning and I was brushing Keaton's crazy hair. E tells me the following: "Momma, be careful brushing Teton's hair. He is grouchy and may try to fight you."

This afternoon I was upstairs picking up and the kids were down when I hear E tell K "Teton, you better put your underwear on before daddy gets home and spanks you with the hammer!"

Now, I will say we have never spanked our kids with an object more or less a hammer! Things that these kids say sometimes!

Welcome New Peekaboo Readers!

2009-10-06T11:41:00.005-05:00

For those of you just checking our blog out for the first time, WELCOME! Thank you for taking the time to read the twin edition of Peekaboo magazine as well as jumping over to our blog. I hope you will continue to find stories about Keaton and Elliot that make you laugh...just hopefully no more poop stories!

I mentioned the Ultimate Crib Sheet in my story in Peekaboo. Here is a picture of what I am talking about. You can only get them at Babies-R-Us, in store or online. I promise this is the best investment any mother can make. It also makes a great gift! Check it out if you get a chance.

I can't wait to begin our journey into the 3s! Stay tuned...

IT'S HERE...

2009-10-01T22:08:00.003-05:00

Well its finally here! Recognize these two?

For family & friends, I am getting copies so I will send you one as soon as I get it.

For my blog followers, I will be back in full swing! At the end of our story in their magazine, Peekaboo posted the address for this blog. So get ready to live life along side me and these crazy kiddos of mine. I've missed yall!

Big News!

2009-09-23T14:12:00.008-05:00

Massive post of summers pics coming soon but 1st...

Guess who is going to be cover models for a local children's magazine???

Too bad we can't just use this pic. I snapped this quickly before we headed out to our 1st shoot. Our cover shoot will be Friday. I will be sure and post the final cover once it is ready. Yes family, I will get plenty of copies so you can have one!

Some funnies I don't want to forget...

2009-07-08T14:46:00.008-05:00

The other day we were swimming and bubba started to sing his ABCs. I got so excited because he has never spontaneously started singing them on his own, yet alone sing them all the way through. When he was done and I was cheering with pride, Elliot grabs my arms, turns me towards her and proclaims "NO Momma, that's MY song!"

Just today....oh your gonna love this...I found the kids sitting on the toilet together with their feet in the water. When I asked them what they were doing Elliot tells me that they are "playing hot tub"!

Yesterday Elliot had all her animals lined up and was playing zoo. She decided to put a stage in front of them out of blankets so she could perform for them. I hear her announce...."Ladies & Junglemen". Not sure if this is confusion of vocabulary or if she is smarter then we know!

I've been meaning to write down all the things they are saying now because it is too funny sometimes but as you know I am a HORRIBLE journaler (and blogger lately). So here are a few so I don't forget them...

Somescream=Sunscreen (E)

Swimsoup=Swimsuit (E)

Tick, tick, tick, BOOM=??? (K)

Baeball-Baseball (K)

nocone=Snowcone (E&K)

Bunkie=Blankie (K)

Nemanade=Lemonade (K)

Wewie=Leslie (E&K)

Nina=Nana....looks like she is gonna be Nina instead! (E&K)

Kappy or Kafy=Kathy

Papertowl=toilet paper

Who talk?=Who are you talking to on the phone momma and not paying attention to us?

Of course I can't think of more when I actually sit down to write them out. I will add more as I remember or hear them say it since we talk non-stop all the time now!

Here are some pics for you to catch up on...

Rockin' the new bangs...

Love this pic...

Loves her some sweets!

Love that they are mirroring each other here.

Nothing better than wet, grassy, summer feet

Playing in the sprinkler

She posed on her own for this!

Showing me her sad face.

I promise I did not stage these....all her!

1st slip-n-slide experience

Finally found something that matched!

I have this exact picture of me when I was little.

Best buds....usually

She loves the doggie ears.

Be back soon with pics from the 4th of July!

I'm Coming Back!

2009-06-08T23:43:00.003-05:00

Wow....I didn't realize how badly I had neglected the 'ol blog. I have so many stories to catch up on (moving to the hell that is toddler beds, easter with the cousins, school, swimming, potty training). Maybe that is why I have felt like I have been losing my mind....because I haven't had my blog to vent to. If you know me you know I always have good intentions of journaling for my kids but I slowly realized that I kept most of their memories on this blog. Its also good to know that this blog holds me accountable to getting my camera out and using it!

So for all of you that have wondered... I am still alive, the kids are great, Ryan is great and I promise I will be back on (hopefully) a more regular basis.

For now, here are a few pictures to tide you over...

Prayers for my family

2009-02-06T23:25:00.002-06:00

I ask for your prayers tonight for my family, especially my Aunt Barbara and cousins Kim, Kristi & Keri. My uncle lost his battle with cancer and our hearts are breaking for their loss. I can promise you this though, Heaven got a lot funnier tonight and I know that God is so excited to have him home!

Thank you blog family!

I know...I know...I know

2009-01-29T14:19:00.012-06:00

Shocked to be hearing from me huh? I promise I will update soon with lots of funny stories, the toddler bed saga that I have promised you, what all funny things the kids are saying these days and some self pity from the week of ice we are currently having.

Ok...one quick Elliotism...

The other night we were watching the Golden Globes and she kept saying "Oh Momma...she 'necked'!". We realized she was saying this anytime someone came on wearing a strapless dress. Atleast at 2 she has some modesty in her! (Let's just hope it stays that way when her and her daddy are fighting over what dress she wants to wear to prom!)

For a quick fix for my family, here are some pictures from the ice storm this week. Enjoy and I'll be back soon!

Daddy likes to bake when its cold out....E likes to help!

We LOVE to brush our teeth!

Getting ready to head out...just need shirts...

Not to sure what to do in gloves with no fingers...

Tasting the snow...

See the snow ball? We gave him one and he immediately somehow knew to throw it at E!

View from our window...

We ended up with about 2 inches of ice topped of by 1/2 inch of snow.

Pool at the Nana & Papas....couldn't see the pool but the hot tub was nice!!!

Quick Hit/Merry Christmas!

2008-12-23T22:12:00.007-06:00

know....I owe yall a story and trust me, I will update that soon. For now, just trying to get through the holidays in one piece and trying to figure out why when we just start to get well, someone breaks out a new fever. Have I mentioned....I HATE WINTER!!!

Wanted to post some cute pics of the kids from last night. We were invited out to Memaw's house for dinner and the kids got their gift from her and Carl. They got this adorable Crayola art easel and they just love it! I even found washable dry erase markers today but found Keaton eating the chalk like it was a candy cigarette. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

I promise to update soon and the hell that is transitioning to toddler beds and about my new camera! Yep, I upgraded and cannot wait to play more with my new toy. More on that, along with lots more pics to come!

Merry Christmas everyone! Take some time to remember and reflect on who we are celebrating this holiday season and the magic that was the birth of our Redeemer!

So 2007 but still funny!

2008-12-09T22:29:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thanksgiving Recap

2008-12-05T21:26:00.015-06:00

The holidays kicked off with us heading to the Lighting of the Ozarks with the kids and the Buschlen's for some Tim's pizza and some holiday festivities.

Our attempt at a family photo...

This sums it up...E couldn't contain her excitement and KG kept waiting for them to "pop" (thinking they were fireworks)

The week of Thanksgiving we got to spend the first part visiting with Adam and B as they were in town for the holidays. That means gathering with the whole clan for the annual xmas card pic. KG was beyond a bear that day (should have known something was starting to be up then) and luckily stopped crying for the pic. We couldn't get him to look but sitting still and not screaming was a win in my book after the fits he had thrown all day.

We headed home to my parents for Thanksgiving and to have our Christmas with them. It was SOOOOO good to be home for Thanksgiving for the first time since Ryan and I have been married. Oh how I have missed that food and was it as ever good as I even remembered!

Her new "smile"...

Miss E helped her Grammy with the clean up of the mashed potatoes...

Girl LOVES her some mashed potatoes!

All the little cousins were there and thanks to the warmer weather, they all got to play outside and eat on the picnic table for their Thanksgiving feast! After dinner and a buffet of desserts, we enjoyed our family tradition of playing some games. It was so fun to finally initiate Ryan into the world of spoons! Unfortunately he missed the true experienced and long nails are out and I didn't see anyone bleed this year. E LOVED it and I think will be in for a round next year!

The Boys...

KG immediately spotted the slide. Yes, the same one you've seen before that we grew up sliding down on with wax paper.

Does this child need a trim or what???

We surprised my grandparents by putting up their tree and each family member bringing an ornament with their families names on them. I think we ended up with 55+ ornaments on the tree for them. I know, how could I not get a picture of that?

We also celebrated Christmas with my parents on Friday night...after the amazing Razorback victory over LSU! GO HOGS!!! We got my parents a webcam so that they could video chat with all their grandkids now. I think you can see my mom was excited about their gift this year!

Yes, football was on at all times!

Opening stockings and slightly tired (we let him go with no nap that day and he did not crash...stubborn like his daddy!)

I'm pretty sure somewhere we have this same picture of my dad explaining a toy to me!

KG got the cutest remote control choo choo train and literally sat there for 20 minutes waiting for it to be ready to play with...only to have it not work...down with Toys-R-Us!

He was so disappointed but Grammy bought him a remote control car and has mailed us two trains to make up for it! He LOVES trains and sat and watched most of the Polar Express today.

We had a wonderful time at home and are looking forward to spending Christmas in our own house, starting some of our own traditions. E has already started hers by indulging in "daddy's candy". Ryan makes KILLER peanut butter fudge if you've never tried it. We got new cookware from my parents and he used it last night to make a batch of fudge and it was the best by far! If you are in the area, stop by. We'll have fudge all through the holidays!

One last photo for your enjoyment....

E or Pedro. Nice Oreo stache sister!

(the girl loves cookies so much that when you ask her what her memory verse is for church she says "God Loves COOKIES!"....every single time.) Guess it could be worse. When I was in the 1st grade at church we had to tell what we wanted to be when we grew up and I said either a Solid Gold dancer or a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader! Oh yes....guess I fell short of that goal!

So now we are back, dealing with no MDO until January and boy do I have a story for you...but you will have to wait until next post! Oh its good. Just you wait!

Fall Backlog

2008-11-24T23:10:00.018-06:00

Once again, I fall behind on posting fall pictures. I figured I would atleast try to post fall/halloween pics before we leave town for Thanksgiving! Enjoy the following pics from the past month...

Oh those kids love to spot airplanes!

This is too cute! One day they'll figure it out (hopefully soon because my triceps are killing me!)

This gorgeous tree was in front of my friend Allison's house. I just loved looking at it everyday!

Sweet Eva...love the hat!!!
What's fall without playing in the leaves?
Ready....
Set....
Go!!!
He's in there somewhere...

Oh that sweet face!

This is a rare shot of some post nap snuggling!

The week of Halloween, several of us headed over to Kathy's house to make Halloween Tshirts for all the kids. It was a blast and I believe a new tradition has begun!

Oh yeah....wait for it.... ORANGE TIE DYE!!!
Emma helped me stir the tie die mix.
Look how cute...and they're not even finished yet!

Our amazing friend Mandy painted spiders for the bigger boys using their thumbs!

This girl loves to paint. Here she is telling Mandy "My turn, my turn!"

Just a sample of the crowd we had...
Here are the kids on the day before Halloween, wearing their new shirts to school.
KG loves all the cars and books at school.
EE modeling her new threads!
Then we got to get a sneak peak of the box maze. The kids were obsessed with this!
Well, obsessed with that or the flashlights one.

KG got a new Tball set for his Halloween surprise. (EE got the Tinkerbell movie). Do you see a potential accident waiting to happen?
OH....just missed her. Good aim buddy!
The boy LOVES and I mean LOVES baseball!
Miss Avery showing off her scary teeth.
Halloween day...heading to see daddy at the office.
I love this one!

Yes, KG actual stopped to pick a dandelion!
Trick or Treating at Daddy's office. They racked up!

Checkin' out the goods!
Off to see Nana & Papa

They're not proud huh??? Look at the excitement on those faces!

EE with her 5th & 6th suckers in hand. (She ended up eating 7, a bad of M&Ms, and a jumbo pixie stick with no dinner. Somehow she still fell asleep on time!)

Yep, there's the pixie stick...
The group about to head out.
Kyra's castle is always the hit of the neighborhood! This is where the handmade pixie sticks originate!
They actual first trick or treating experience.

Playing downtown at the square with the Matherly's

I TWO!

2008-11-17T14:03:00.007-06:00

This is the now famous phrase you will most likely hear from my kids ever since turning two back in October. They love to tell anyone and everyone their age these days. The other morning, Keaton had ended up in bed with us sometime during the night and I awoke the next morning to him sitting up in bed, staring at me and he uttered the following..."Hi Momma! I two!"

So since they are so into being two, I figured their momma better update the blog (finally) with their two year old stats and favorite things list!

(The first difference you will notice from all the other Drs. office pics is that we have our clothes on! When you hit two, you now longer have to strip down to diapers and secondly, you actually get to stand on the big kids scale. I am still debating if this type scale is accurate for my tiny children because it said both kids weighed the exact same and I can tell you just by holding them, that ain't right.)

Miss E:

Weight: 23 lbs (5th percentile)

Height: 32 1/2 in. (10th percentile)

Teeth Count=15and cutting more like crazy!

Favorite Toy: Definitely Playdoh. She also loves anything art and still loves to play outside.

Favorite Color: Green

Most Common Phrases:

"I wanna play paydoh downstairs!", "Momma, Momma, MOOOOOMMMMM!", "Daddy, Daddy, RYYYYYAAANNNN!", "I need a poptar", "I wanna ride scooters outside.", "I go PeePee!!!"

Favorite Foods:

Poptarts, Pizza, ramen noodles, Green Beans (french style or momma's garlic green beans), Refried Beans, Pcorn (those ice cream Hershey kisses....no idea why she calls them Pcorn), corn on the cobb

Favorite Beverages:

Gatorade, Milk & "Cold Coke" (when she can steal a sip from someone)

Attachments: Still has a paci at bedtime and must have her blankie to sleep....and now must have her belt on for nap & bedtime!

Favorite TV Shows: Wubbzy, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Curious George

Favorite Movies: Tinkerbell, Toy Story, Peter Pan, Madagascar, Cars

She loves to pray (she even started and said the prayer tonight on her own for us!) and kiss everyone goodnight and always tells me "I wua you momma" before laying down.

*E is so loving and has so much spunk! We couldn't imagine how quite our house would be without her. She is talking up a storm and is following in her big cousins' footsteps with her vocabulary. (She told me she needed to go to the "restroom" the other day? What 2 year old calls the potty the restroom?) She is very protective of her bubba and always runs to his rescue if he is ever hurt or crying (Tonight she even volunteered to go to Time Out with him just to keep him company and when he wouldn't apologize she just kept saying, "I sorry momma. I sorry!"). She is still the boss but is starting to mind so much better and realizing that no matter how stubborn she is, she will never out stubborn her momma! (Sorry baby, just the way God made me!) She is doing very well with potty training and would probably be done is she were my only one to potty train. She is going 4-5 times a school on her own! Oh and she LOVES school! No more tears when we drop off or pick up....can I get a HALLELUJAH!

KG:

Weight: 23lbs (5th percentile)

Height: 33 3/4in. (15th percentile)

Teeth Count=16 and cutting more. He is actually drooling again even!

Favorite Toys: Cars, Airplanes, Choo Choos & Baseball. He too would rather play outside then anything and would swing til next week if you would let him.

Favorite Color: Purple (I am not sure if this really is his favorite but it is what he says every time if you ask him what color something is)

Most Common Phrases: "I want baseball" (He asks to watch baseball every night....bring on spring training games fast!), "Outside!", "I want fruitsnacks", "more juice", and he is constantly making car, train, plane and animal noises

Favorite Foods:

Pizza, Refried beans and salsa, fruit snacks, ramen noodles, any snack they have at Sam's, hotdogs

Favorite Beverages: Gatorade, Cranapple juice, Milk

Attachments: Has to have his "bunky" (blanket) when he goes to bed or gets sleepy.

Favorite TV Shows: Wubbzy, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Diego, Curious George

Favorite Movies: Cars, Peter Pan, Madagascar, Jungle Book

KG loves to cuddle with momma in the mornings and right after naps. Loves to watch sports with Daddy, especially baseball!

*KG is our sweet little boy but the twos are definitely bringing out the true boy in him! He is constantly climbing or self destructing something around here. He is so sweet to his sissy and loves to give her kisses before bedtime. He loves books and is currently OBSESSED with any and all toy catalogs! The other day he climbed up in the recliner and looked at a toy catalog for 45 solid minutes! He is starting to potty train but you still have to tell him to go. He will but you have to do all the leg work leading up to it. He would just sit in it and keep on playing for all he cared. He could still play alone for hours and doesn't like being interrupted while watching something he is really interested in. I could not imagine my day without getting to cuddle with my baby boy. He is such a sweetheart! He does however avoid eye contact at all cost when getting in trouble and will cover his ears if you are getting on to him in public! Oh that one makes people laugh every time!

K & E, you are such a blessing to daddy and I. Our family would not be complete without you! I am continually grateful that God blessed us with the wonderful gift of multiples. I wouldn't want it any other way! Sure we are tired a lot of the times and sure we can get frustrated some days, but two hugs at once, two "Amens" every night at the end of our prayers, two kisses before bed...I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love that our house is always loud and our laps are never empty! Oh how I love you babies and want you to know that I will thank my God everyday for giving me both of you...at the same time! Now, lets go do something funny for momma to blog about. I am sure the 2 year stage will be full of life lessons and much laughter at our expense! Until then, stay tuned for our Halloween update!

Update...

2008-11-12T22:42:00.003-06:00

The kids got out of their duck taped diapers twice EACH last night before finally going to sleep (with Duck Tape double wrapped I might add)! What's a tired, withered hands from bleach, sick of excrement mom to do?

BTW...I have a shoot in the morning and then I am going to update the blog for two year check up and Halloween. Man, how do I get so behind? OH YEAH...because I am busy chasing around two naked 2 yr olds!

It's Time...(my kids will kill me for this post one day!)

2008-11-04T10:46:00.009-06:00

On this historic day (starting typing this out yesterday obviously) of electing our next president, I can't think of a better post than to talk about poop! (*For those of you that don't know, I can't stand politics and talking about poop today basically sums up my feelings on the whole thing!)

My children have always been good poopers. I have never had the extreme constipation issues that I have heard my friends in tears describing. But as far as having to deal with actual poop....that is another story!

It started several months ago. I know, I know...why did I let it take me so long to go to extremes? I guess I have just always had hope that this was something that was weird and the kids would just snap out of it. THINK AGAIN! The kids are starting to potty train and if it weren't for having two, Elliot would be all said and done with the whole thing! But something comes along with potty training. I have heard it from almost everyone I know who has been through this trying situation....potty training leads to poop fear!

Sure my kids have pooped on the potty but once they started getting the hang of going potty, pooping on there stopped! So they decide to just go the old fashion way or hold it for nap time! Mine have primarily opted to hold it for nap time. Getting into the comforts of their own beds they relax and finally go.

The only problem is now that we are potty training, they don't like the feel of poop in their diapers. That is a good sensation that we need them to have so that they will progress to full time potty use. HOWEVER, not liking that feeling, being alone in their beds and for some reason...NOT CALLING MOMMA TO HELP THEM, they have decided to take matters into their own hands. And by hands I mean literally...in their own hands.

It started with Elliot, taking off her diaper and sleeping in the buff while her dirty diaper lay beside her. Not too much harm in that! Then she decided she should explore this phenomenon further. We have hit every gamut from fingerpainting with it, wearing it as blush/makeup, throwing the harder pieces over to bubba's bed like a baseball...oh yeah, it's gotten ugly. I guess once she introduced this new thing to Keaton, he decided he should create some creative medium of his own. And remember...he's a boy and boys are naturally messier! He tends to play with it as hair paste, hide it in his drawers (we have rearranged the furniture now) or is bold in his attempt to cover every inch of his bed with the stuff. Thank goodness their beds are black!

All this being said, I was tired of stripping the beds and washing them twice to three times a week. First thing to go was the bumper pads. Those things are not getting hand tied back on to their beds again...ever! Next thing to go were several pillowcases who were so far gone I was not going to try my best Martha Stewart impression to try to make them cream colored again. ( Since then, we have moved to chocolate brown pillow cases!) We have moved to pillow covers that are waterproof for extra protection. And finally we could not have made it through these first two years without our Ultimate Crib Sheet!!! They are seriously the #1 best investment of a parents lifetime! Get them people....you will not regret it!

So last week we loaded up, headed to Wal-Mart and let the kids pick out their own Duck Tape! We were going to nip this in the bud once and for all. Elliot is currently obsessed with green so she picked out the lovely shade of lime green. I put them on the next day during nap, calling the tape their belts. Well....IT WORKED!!! And now the kids cry for their "belts" before going down for nap. I don't care what they call them, what color they decide they want, as long as it works and keep momma from having to handle more feces than anyone woman should.

So there is the short version of our poop-scapades. See...your life isn't all that bad. You could be having to clean up poop Xs 2!

New Favorite!!!

2008-10-30T22:41:00.005-05:00

I couldn't possibly love this little girl anymore! How ridiculous are those lashes!