Star of the Week

Anderson got "Star of the Week" this past week in preschool. That means he got to be the special helper all week and the line leader. Mrs. Delcourt said that he is so well behaved at school and that he's going to make a great student next year. She also said that there are a few instigators in his class that get into trouble, but Anderson is NEVER a part of it. He has also never gotten his gumball moved on the behavior chart... I'm a proud mommy! Anyway by being the Star of the Week he got to have a special backpack to bring home for the weekend. In it, it had Junior Asparagus from Veggie Tales, some Veggie Tale books and a DVD that we got to enjoy all weekend. If you have never heard the bellybutton song from Veggie Tales, I highly recommend it........ It will have you in stitches! I sing it all of the time. We also had to document Anderson's weekend with Junior and do a little project for his classmates to see. So here's our weekend with Junior!
Snuggling under the blanket after getting home from school on Thursday.. It was rainy and cold!

Having a snack with Junior ... I know you are diggin' the wallpaper!!! Riding Scooters with Junior and Grayson .. Anderson took this one himself. Doesn't he look so serious Letting Junior Play the Wii

Watching Basketball on Saturday Junior helped Anderson on his list of M words for the week... Anderson is starting to sound out a lot of the words that we are listing..

Anderson is in love with the JETS football team (only b/c he loves Jets).. Here they are watching the game. Too bad they lost.

We even took Junior to see Fire Station #38 on Lake Wylie on Monday with the MOMS Club

We are so proud of our STAR!

17 Months Today!

Well, I know it's not a milestone birthday, but I got these cute pictures of Miss Aubree today on her 17 month birthday and I thought they were too cute not to share. She's full of energy these days and getting into everything and anything. She won't sit still for a meal or much of anything at all. She's very obsessed with her belly button and has to play with it while she sucks her thumb to go to sleep. I find her every morning with her jammies zipped half way down so she can have her belly button. It's pretty cute. Her hair is growing a lot these days and it's so curly. I love it! I'm so in love with my baby doll! Can't believe in one more month she will be 1 1/2!!! Time is flying.

I Heart Gymbucks!

For the record, I love Gymboree clothes for Aubree especially! I can do Children's Place and Old Navy pretty much for the boys with a little Gymboree thrown in there if it's on the sale rack, but I just love Gymboree for Aubree. There are so many ways you can mix and match their pieces that it's a no brainer that she will get lots of wear out of the stuff. I especially love Gymbuck time! If you aren't familiar with it, let me explain how it works and how I make it work! During gymbuck "getting time" you buy $50 of merchandise, you get a $25 in gymbucks. So if you buy $150 you get $75... see how it works! Well, I never buy anything for regular price ... ever in Gymboree. So I get lots of stuff (off of the clearance rack) when I shop during "getting time" and then when it's time for redemption, I shop online (only because they have way more inventory of markdowns than the stores) and get great deals. I got some of these items for $3, $4, and $5! You can't beat that for great and cute clothes! The Gymboree fairy (aka UPS man) dropped off our Gymbuck redemption package today, and it was so fun to open! Oh yeah, and for the record, I used to work at Gymboree in high school... too bad I can't get that discount 13 years later!!! Can't wait for Aubree to wear some of her cute new stuff!!!

So Far Behind... Finally Christmas

I'm so far behind that January is half over and I haven't posted any Christmas pictures yet. So here they are, a few pics from our Christmas. It was a wonderful one! For those of you that fuss that I have way more of Aubree than anyone else.... she just posed more. I had to get Grayson when he wasn't paying attention or he would get mad at me. Pics are in reverse order... sorry. Here is where you will find Grayson everytime someone plays the Wii... He will sit there and watch all day long and be so content. Brandon's side of the fam was in town (I cooked for everyone) the day after Christmas and we all enjoyed playing new Wii games with the kids.

The Family..pretty good pic for a timer

Uncle Nick helping with Legos... Anderson got tons of them for Christmas


Grayson trying out his new "Queen" towel


Having a princess tea party

I only have two pictures from Christmas morning and they are from my mom's camera and both of Aubree. Don't want to even go into how my pics were erased off of my camera card before I put them on my computer... sob..sob..

Aubree with the Kitchen Santa brought her

The Great Grands (and one grand) with MawMaw

Her expressions just crack me up

Miss Princess.. I taught her how to do the beauty queen wave.. It's precious

Anderson was too excited about all of his gifts from Mattie and Pappy

The boys in action

Our Christmas was wonderful. It was full of love, family and togetherness. What more can a girl ask for?

Our Best Decade Yet... What's to Come?

As we were hanging out with the Holby's last night until the clock struck midnight (with all six kids and even two that made it to midnight) I just couldn't help but think about where I was 10 years ago. Brandon and I and two other couples went to a black tie formal in uptown Charlotte to ring in the new millennium. We got all snazzed up and didn't have a care in the world. Ten years sure changes things, because unlike then I have to put the remaining kids in the bed, and fall asleep as fast as I can because I know they will be up bright and early ready to play! But, as my title says, it's been the best ten years ever! I graduated college, got my first teaching job, Brandon proposed to me, we got married, built our first home, and I gave birth to three AMAZING children! On top of all of that we have made some lifelong friendships and my dad survived a major heart attack. I just don't know if this decade can be topped? The Lord has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams and I never forget to thank him for the life that he has so graciously let me live.

We have a lot to look forward to in the new year and can only hope that this new decade will be just as great as the last one. Anderson will be starting Kindergarten in the Fall and Grayson (fingers crossed) will be starting preschool. I have some convincing to do in order for him to be excited about that!!! Aubree is just growing so fast and changing all of the time. Her vocabulary is soaring and her personality is shining! Anderson will be able to start sports as well, which we are really looking forward to. We are also going to be building our dream home this winter and couldn't be more excited about having that decision made and beginning to look forward to the kids getting settled in our home. The rental is ok, but Grayson is still not very comfortable with his room at night. I am hoping that with all of the bedrooms being on one level that he will feel more comfortable in the new house and sleep all night without paying us visits. Our house will be in Lake Wylie, so we will be staying on this side of York county. Anderson will still go to Crowder's Creek Elementary which is the same school that he would go to if we were still in the rental. From everything that I heard and read it's an amazing school and I'm so relieved that he will have the opportunity to go to a top notch school. We are building with Ryan Homes and will be in the Lake Forest neighborhood. It only has about 12 or so houses in it right now, and they are going to try to keep as many trees as possible, which I am happy about. The neighborhood will only have 66 houses total, so not too big. Our lot is one road over from the lake and the neighborhood has a lake front park there so that will be neat. I think fishing poles are in order for this summer! Here are a few pictures from our lot and the front of the 'hood!!

I hope that each of you that read this has a wonderful New Year and a decade full of blessings! Happy New Year!

The Paci Fairy Returns!

Well, Grayson's use of his beloved paci at night only (since he no longer naps) was more of a crutch for me and Brandon than it was for him. He loved his paci so much, so I kept procrastinating the return of the Paci Fairy. It was just easier at night to get him in the mood for bed if I said, "Let's go get your pacis"... On Saturday, he had a busy day of celebrating Christmas for the 4th time that by 9:00 he was beyond ready to sleep. I put him down and just didn't even mention his pacis. He went to sleep easily and slept until 8am... without paying us a visit in the middle of the night! Brandon and I decided that he has to officially get rid of them for good, so we talked to him about the paci fairy and packaged them up and put them in the mailbox. He was all for it! A little later, the paci fairy came and left him some yummy sour gummy worms in the mailbox! He was thrilled... until Sunday night came and he wanted his pacis!!! He was crying "NO PACI FAIRY... GO GET 'EM" over and over again! It was a little harder to get him to let me leave his room, but he did sleep and didn't wake up in the middle of the night either.. Last night, was about the same as well. I figure in a few days he will forget all about them. We are now a paci free family!!!!!!!!!!!! We'll just have to figure out how to break Aubree of her thumb in a few years... Can't send those to the thumb fairy!!! :)

Santa, Tyler, Half Naked Christmas Tree, and Finally I Have a Mantel

Our kids have never sat on Santa's lap. No, were not anti-Santa! Anderson has been terrified of the mall Santa's every year. I of course didn't sit him with him when he was 3 months old and by his second Christmas he was really attached to me and I couldn't be two steps away from him. Even last year he would hide if we walked past a Santa. Brandon, myself and the kids went to the mall Friday afternoon to finish Christmas shopping (that's another story) and Grayson got a glimpse of Santa. We were on the top level and Santa was on the ground level. Grayson kept saying elevator...elevator! He NEEDED to see Santa. We went down to check out the line. It wasn't so bad so we decided this year was the year for Santa. We waited a long time, but finally got to see the big guy in red! Aubree was DONE with waiting so she was more excited about the pack of Spiderman fruit snacks she had in her hand. I thought for our first Santa visit, our photo that Brandon took turned out ok! I sure wasn't paying $24.99 to get a professional one!!! :)

Meet Tyler, he's our Elf on a Shelf! He arrived at our house last Friday night thanks to online shopping at Barnes and Noble! Anderson named him Tyler and he was not very keen on the fact that he's magical and can fly to the North Pole each night to report back to Santa. He was a little freaked out I think! He kept saying I don't want him to be magical. Of course, Grayson hasn't quite figured out that Tyler is there to make sure he's a good little boy, and Anderson gets mad if Tyler has a good hiding place the next morning!

We have a half naked tree this year thanks to my princess! As soon as the boys and I started putting ornaments on the tree (where she could reach them) she just brought them back to us. I tried to tell her no, but who wants to tell a toddler no for a whole month.... not me, so maybe this will be the last year that we have a modified Christmas tree!!!


There are some good things about our rental house. I love the mantel over the fireplace especially since I get to put our stockings on it. We didn't have one in our other house. A fireplace was optional and we just decided to not spend the money on it. A mantel will be a must in a new house... I think I put about every other Christmas decoration that I have out this year on the mantel....... That way Aubree can't destroy them. It's a little busy, but oh well... couldn't be busier than the rose wallpaper in the dining room right next to the pear tree wallpaper in the kitchen....oh.. the 80's! Gotta love 'em!