Picnic at the park

Included in some our Christmas weekend festivities was a family picnic at a local park. It was a beautiful day! We threw around the frisbee and the football, the kids climbed some trees and played on the playground. Miles and Shelbie had an especially good time cause Grants aunt brought her dogs with her and they had the best time walking them around. Shelbie had actually told me before Christmas that she wanted a dog. Well now is not really the time for us to be getting a dog so I'm glad that she got to play with one at least.

I don't know if you can see him but Miles is at the very top of this tree. Needless to say his daddy was so proud of his tree climbing skills!

Christmas Morning

Miles woke up at 4 am and came into our bedroom and said that he saw what Santa gave him. I told him that he needed to forget what he was and go back to sleep until his sisters woke up. He went back upstairs and he tried to act surprised when Shelbie and Coral woke up and they all came down the stairs together. It is so fun to see the kids so excited! We had a great morning playing and spending time as a family. Grant made everyone an awesome breakfast and then we went over to his families house around 3 pm for more food and family fun. It was wonderful to have nothing else to do but just be together. I sure hope that everyone had as great a Christmas as we did.
I have to add that when we were at Grants parents house and about to open a couple presents Miles asked if we could say a prayer first and then preceded to say the sweetest and most sincere prayer. These are the moments in life that I savor!

Christmas Eve

We had a great Christmas and it started with a fun Christmas Eve. We read some of the Christmas story, sang some songs, and opened up one present which included some new comfy jammies. Then Grant pulled the classic, " I think I hear Santa's Bells, you better get to bed." The kids ran upstairs and jumped in bed and the lights were out at 6 pm. I was cracking up! They were so excited! However, I found Miles on the stairs around 7:30 saying that he couldn't get to sleep cause he was so excited thinking about Santa. I love these kids and there innocence and pure sweetness. Below is a picture of them in their new jammies.

What life is all about!

The other night Fisher feel asleep in my arms and as I was looking at him the first thing that came to mind is, "This is what life is all about." He brings so much joy to our lives and brings so many smiles to our faces. No matter what challenges the day may bring Fisher can always brighten things up!
My life has been blessed with these four beautiful children of mine. Motherhood isn't always easy or glorious but it sure is worth everything and more that you put into it! Every time my kids smile at me and tell me they love me they remind me just what this life is all about. I mean what else in life is greater?
Saturday was a beautiful day and after a few errands we took the kids to the park. One of the errands included me running in Sam's to grab something. Grant stayed at the car with the kids and when I came out from the store this is what I saw, the kids on top of the car with huge smiles on their faces. Daddy definitely lets them do things that Mommy doesn't but they sure had fun even if they did look like hoodlums.

Coral looks so sweet and innocent in these pictures! Even though she's a handful she really is a sweetheart.

Sweet little Fisher. Below he is actually asleep in his car seat after a good long time of crying. But don't be confused he didn't stay asleep very long in their.

Christmas Program

Shelbie has been practicing for her Christmas Program at school for months. Every day she would sing me her Christmas songs and tell me her part. I have to add that she would also tell me about 5 other peoples parts as well. One day she even came home from school and told me that her and two of her friends were the only ones who got to go outside for an extra recess that day cause they knew there parts so well they didn't need the extra practice. She was so excited when the day finally came for her program. She was a wise man and looked so cute and beaming in her costume. When it came time for her part she said it word for word. Her part was, " When King Herod heard this he was disturbed. He called all his chief priests and asked them where the baby boy was to be born. In Bethlehem they said."
I just Love this girl and her Love for learning and sweet spirit!
Here she is with one of her best friends. they are so cute together. Shelbie is always drawing pictures for her and taking them to school to give to her.

Fisher was so good during the program. Here he is watching his sister perform. I wanted to put in an update about Fishers 3 month checkup. I took him in a couple of days ago and it looks like he is a very well proportioned boy. He was 75 % in weight, height, and head circumference. He weighed in at 14 pounds even and was 24 1/2 inches long.

We all just love him so much. Even the kids go around saying how much of a cutie he is! He is even starting to laugh, SO FUN!

Our Sunday

On Sunday we went down to Bradenton (about 2 1/2 hours) to our newest nephew, Benjamen Dahle, blessing. It was a great day and a lot of fun to be with family. Their church started at 11 am and ended at 2pm. Needless to say Coral missed her nap and by 3 when we had all gathered to eat together she was far beyond her prime. She threw a couple tantrums and then finally passed out beside Aunt Lori.

On our way back home we stopped by the beach. It was a beautiful evening and the kids loved getting some energy out before we headed back home. Fisher actually was really tired and he didn't like the wind in his face. In the pictures below you can tell he's not a happy camper, but still a cutie!

True Fans!

Now I know that the Gators lost on Saturday, but the true fans still love their team even when they lose! Now that that has been said I need to rewind back and tell you about our Saturday. We all got dressed up to go to a big SEC championship party and I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures of the kids in their Gator outfits (except for Coral cause she was taking a nap). We were all so excited for the game that we went to the church a little early to help set up. When we pulled into the parking lot their was only one car their. Shelbie got out of the car and said, "Lets get this party started!" I thought I was going to pee my pants, kids do say the darnest things!
My boys!

Fisher and his second Mommy!

Fisher loves to smile and it makes everyone around him smile with him!

Christmas Tree

Last week we put our Christmas Tree up. The kids were so excited from start to finish. It was so nice to have such good little helpers. Miles and Shelbie pretty much did the whole thing by themselves except for the lights (I'm really obsessed with getting the lights right). We have one of those old timely trees that you have to put together limb by limb so it takes a while, but they never gave up! The tree might not be the prettiest one around but every time I pass it it makes me smile and think of them. You should have seen the excitement in there faces when it was all done. Shelbie said it was the most beautiful tree she had ever seen. I have to agree with her because we did it together!
Seeing the world through the eyes of a child makes everything more beautiful and more exciting. I'm so glad that my kids remind me to do that more often!

Thanksgiving Weekend

I hope everyone had as great a Thanksgiving weekend as we did! I guess it's not over yet it just feels like it should be cause the kids have been out of school for so long. However, us gator fans will be finishing up the long weekend by defeating FSU tomorrow which will really make for a great Thanksgiving :)
This year we had a small Thanksgiving with just our little, yet not so little I suppose, family. We spent lots of quality family time together, cooked dinner together, played some tennis, built our first fire including roasting marshmallows, and watched the parade and even some movies. I even got to go shopping on Friday which I actually enjoy. I know it sounds crazy to get up at 4 am but there's nothing like searching for a good deal and mostly observing all the chaos that goes on. I did, however, manage to get some great Christmas presents for the kids and have a wonderful morning to myself ( and thousand of other crazy people like me). I even walked by this hair salon that was in one of the shopping centers I was at and got my hair cut. How's that for spur of the moment craziness. I've actually been wanting to get a cut for a while and I'm pretty pleased with it, Yea...
Here are a few pictures from our weekend.
Fisher asleep for all of about two minutes in his car seat.

SOOO... cute!

It's so hard to get a picture of Fisher smiling. He loves to smile at me when I'm talking to him but as soon as I bust out the camera he just stares at it with a serious face. This is one of the rare pictures I have been able to get of him grinning.

The kids have never played tennis before and ever since they found some rackets in the garage a few days ago they have been begging to go. We decided to make it a fun family outing and test out our tennis skills. Grant and I started out by playing a quick game to demonstrate. It was really cute cause Shelbie was cheering for me and Miles was cheering for Grant. In case your wondering Grant came from behind to pull off a win by one point. Above is Miles trying to learn how to play. He actually did pretty good for his first try at it.

Coral being silly playing in Fishers car seat.

Shelbie got a little frustrated at the tennis courts cause she was having a hard time hitting the ball. I let her go and have her moment, which is pictured above. She then asked me to put the camera away and she would give it another try.

Fisher hanging out in his crib.

Shelbie snuggling Fisher, which she does numerous times in a day!

Fisher is just getting so big so fast! Notice his double chin :)

Shelbie's Special Thanksgiving Hat

Shelbie is so cute about school and just loves it. Just the other day I had to take her out of school one hour early and she cried uncontrollably until I bribed her with a cheeseburger for lunch. The picture below is of her in her "special Thanksgiving hat" at her Thanksgiving lunch at school. I just love this angel girl and she brings joy to me every day.

The Boys

The other night when I went to take Miles up to bed I put Fisher in Miles' bed and let them snuggle. It was so precious that Miles asked me to go get the camera. Fisher was just looking at Miles and cooing for at least two minutes. Miles and I both thought it was so cute! I'm so glad they have each other and I'm so glad that Fisher has such a great big brother!