Chirstmas Day!

We got up in the wee hours of the morning...like I knew we would. The kids ran in and told us that Santa had came. We got the camera and ran in the living room to see what was left behind. Chance had a paintball gun, paint balls, and a movie. Amaya had a doll that she has been wanting, an outfit for the doll, a lap desk that she very much so needs as well as a ken doll that she had been wanting. Mahayla also got a doll, with an outfit and a lap desk. They got a ton of things as well that they opened from me and their dad....If you ask them what their favorite thing is...Mahayla will tell you a stroller for her baby, Amaya will tell you her Apple Ipod Shuffle and Chance will tell you his Paintball gun. I think we did good this year on getting what they really wanted. This is just some of the many things they got. They all ran over and see that Santa ate his cookies and drank his hot chocolate and were happy that he came to visit.
Then later we ran to a friend of ours mom's house. She invited us over for Christmas dinner. We had such a good time talking, laughing and eating a lot. I tell ya...how am I gonna lose all this weight I have packed on the past few days? It's gonna be hard..but I am gonna have to work on it. We had a Great Christmas...and I hope all of you did as well.

Christmas Eve!

It's Christmas Eve...and today we went to my in laws and had a great big feast! It was good seeing everyone. We exchanged gifts...well the kids did. We all buy one gift per family for each child. Amaya got a Children's Bible, A tattoo barbie, Zhu zhu pet, and money. Mahayla got a doctor's kit, Zhu zhu pet, a doll with clothes, and money as well. Chance got a Zhu Zhu pet, A nerf gun, a watch and money. They got more than enough already and Santa hasn't even came yet! Tonight before we went to bed...we rolled out some sugar cookies and decorated them with sprinkles and left a plate of cookies and hot chocolate with mini marshmallows out for Santa. We also ran outside and sprinkled our reindeer food that Mahayla made this year in class. Such a good idea...it's oats for the reindeer and glitter so they can find their way! They loved spreading it out all over the front yard. I can't wait till morning when they wake up and see what Santa left them! Just hope we aren't waking up TOO early!

Girl Scout Christmas Party Troop 1723

We had a great time at the Girl Scout Christmas Party. We had Santa there to talk to the girls, and give them candy, we had fun exchanging our $5.00 gifts we brought and had a whole smorgasbord of food to choose from. One of the girls grandmas made all kinds of sweet treats homemade. I along with the other mothers were in heaven. It was all so yummy! These are pictures I took from tonight of the girls with Santa.

Beach Shopping Trip With The Girls

This past weekend I went to Myrtle Beach,Sc and went shopping with my friend April and her mom and two sisters. We had a blast. We went to two sets of outlets, and then the huge mall they have down there. I got me some new Nike's. I really needed new tennis shoes. So I was happy about that. I also found me a few shirts at Aeropostle that I love. I have been dreading going shopping for jeans! I have only a few pair that I can actually wear...and I just hated the thought of having to try jeans on. Well I hit the Levi Outlet and FINALLY found some jeans! The girl that helped me was so sweet. It really felt good to buy me some jeans that I actually love. I hate the size of course, but I will have to work on that. I also went to Nautica and picked up Anthony a few shirts, and got the kids shirts each at Old Navy. We ate and ate while we were down there...which won't help with trying to get to a smaller size jean that's for sure.I ate at Cracker Barrel I hadn't been their in awhile. We ate at Zaxby's. If you haven't ever ate their you should definitely try it. It's Chicken and it's so yummy! Also we indulged in Dunkin Donuts! My all time favorite place!! Good thing there isn't one around me because I would have to hit it up every day. All in all we had a great weekend. I love my kids and hubby but let's face it....we all need a break now and then. It was really good to get some down time and come back refreshed!

One Proud Mama

Tonight we went to the school and watched the 2nd grade classes perform in a Christmas play and the school choir performed. So that meant two of my little monkeys were in it. Amaya was a reindeer in the chorus part of the play and then Chance was with the choir that he practices with at school. Everyone did such a great job! We were really proud of them! It really got us all in the Christmas spirit! I snapped a few pictures in front of the Christmas tree before they had to go where they went for their performance and a couple more during. Pictures don't turn out that great in the gym for some reason..so they aren't the best. Not much longer...are you ready for Christmas?

Christmas Parade (Girl Scouts)

Today we had to be in line at 2pm for the Christmas parade. We all were dressed in our Santa hats, Girl Scout sashes, red or white shirts (not that you could tell with our jackets on). It was super cold. We were all freezing. Good thing we had blankets covering all of us up! I took this shot of Amaya with Raquel (The Dog) on the float. The girls seemed so tired of singing, hollering Don't forget your girl scout cookies, and Merry Christmas! They all said they had so much fun though. We came home and I fixed us big cups of hot chocolate and that got us warmed up in no time.

We are so blessed!

I feel really blessed! I am blessed to have a loving family,and this year we are all healthy. We are always here for each other and really know what the word "Family" means.I want to thank all of the people who have loved ones that are overseas or not with them this year due to serving in our military! We appreciate you! I realize now as I type this that I didn't take any pictures while we were all gathered together today eating our fabulous meal that all of us wives prepared. I did however take a snapshot of Mahayla with her little Indian headband that she made at school. She is such a cutie! She is walking around telling everyone that she is half Indian (from her dads side) and half white (from mine). She is a mess! Hope everyone had a Wonderfully Blessed Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Carving Time!

Chance's Pumpkin
Amaya with her pumpkin
and last but not least...Mahayla with her pumpkin
We waited and waited since we haven't been 100% around here. The stomach bug claimed us if you didn't read from the other post. So here are pictures I finally took of the pumpkins the kids carved tonight...yep..waited till Halloween night to do it..but better late than never...right?

Trick Or Treating!

Tonight is the night for Trick or Treating! I haven't felt that great and neither has Mahayla my little one. We have come down with a horrible stomach virus. She is determined that she is going Trick Or Treating! We bundled up and went on our way. The kids got TONS of candy. I have to inspect it and then pick out a few of my favorites of course which include...lemon heads, Now N' Laters, and a few pieces of chocolate of course! I think they looked fantastic! Mahayla went as Little Mermaid, Amaya went as a Witch, and Chance went as a werewolf. I think I did a great job on coloring the girls hair, and Anthony on Chance's makeup! Looks so real! No I don't have the dates wrong if your wondering...in our town we are Trick Or Treating On Saturday the 29th.

Check it out!!

Hubby and I made these shirts for the girls to wear for their Halloween parties at school. I think they turned out pretty good. Anthony made the ghost...all I did was do the bow and iron it on the shirt, I however did the pumpkin shirt. I know I got compliments on them when I went to the school to go help with Mahayla's Halloween party on how good they looked. I guess I need to start making their shirts for holidays after all. It's more fun and special than buying them...right?

John Blue Cotton Festival

Me, Mahayla, my cousin Mandy and her daughter Nicole
Chance holding a snake
Kaitlyn and Amaya
Mahayla and Nicole

Every year here in town we have the John Blue Cotton Festival. It's where the kids can ride a few rides, pony's, look at animals to adopt, buy crafts that the locals made by hand and are selling, as well as eat a ton of yummy fun. My kids always love going. They have old timey toys and things for the kids to play with, as well as getting their hair spray painted or faces painted. Lot's for all to do. I took a few pictures of the kids out and about at the festival here today.

Mahayla's Pre-K Field Trip

Mahayla with Dakota
Mahayla playing with the train set
Mahayla playing in the kitchen area
Mahayla making pizza in the Pizza Shop
Mahayla under as one of the dragon people.

The Children's Marble Museum was where we went today! It was a long bus ride for the kids..but the time went by fast with April a friend of mine and me talking the whole way. We had so much fun once we got inside! That was a place like no other. They said they change it up every now and then. We moved from section to section and it seems like the kids weren't ready to leave when it was time to go. We seen a skit one of the workers did and Mahayla got picked to be inside part of the Chinese Dragon. She was so excited. I took a few snapshots here and there of her playing...didn't want to bug her too much. All in all it was a great day and we will for sure be putting this on our lists of places to go back to visit as a family. It's a great outing especially on a rainy day.

Girl Scout Patch Ceremony

Tonight we had a Girl Scout ceremony to give the girls the patches that they earned. Amaya received 6 patches. I am so proud of her. After the girls received their patches we had a big dinner. Everyone brought all kinds of goody's.We all left there full! Now I will have to find someway of getting all these new patches put on her sash. She has got quite the collection on there.

My Big Pre-Kr'

This year Mahayla started Pre-K! I can't believe my baby is in school. I took a few pictures of her doing her homework which was learning to write her name. She looks like such a big girl at the table. She was so happy she had homework (Wonder how long that will last). She got it done and was excited about showing her sister and brother and daddy what she did. I'm glad she is having so much fun in school.

Who's Ready For A Pinkalicious Slumber Party??

It's Amaya's Birthday Party with her friends! She invited several girls over to spend the night and have a good time! I must admit..I wasn't excited about having all the girls over...but I was excited to get to plan it all and get everything all PINKED UP for her!
The Pinkalicious idea came from a book Amaya loves! It's written by Victoria Kann, and Elizabeth Kann. If you have a little girl it is a really cute book about a little girl that loves the color PINK and she eats too many PINK cupcakes her mom makes and turns the shade of PINK!
We googled Pinkalicious and found a website for the book. They had some fun printables and ideas for the party. A friend of mine helped (Thanks Alayna) with typing up and making a very cute party invitation Amaya loved them and was so excited to hand them out to her friends. I got a Giant cupcake pan and made her cake! She loved it! We made a banner to hang that said Happy Birthday and printed another printable for the wall. Pink napkins, pink cups, pink straws, we wrapped the forks with a pink napkin and printed out a printable to wrap around the silverware. I made sure we had all kinds of goodies for them laid out on the table...we had pretzels dipped in pink chocolate and sprinkles, we had pink wafer cookies, pink whoppers, sugar cookies with pink icing, and of course pink marshmallows. For dinner we had pizza and crazy bread. For breakfast for the girls we had strawberries, and pink pancakes.
The girls had Soooo much fun! They played outside, they danced, they played games, then they watched Hannah Montana movie. They finally knocked out around midnight and I was glad because I was getting a headache! My poor hubby and son gotta outta the house by camping out in the backyard in the tent and made a fire to roast marshmallows. They weren't about to be inside with all these girls. I made it through our first slumber party...and I have to admit no more anytime soon! I am just glad Amaya and her friends had so much fun and it was nice to see her interact with them. All in all I would have to say she had a Great 7th Birthday!

Amaya's 7!!

Amaya turned 7 today! Where has the time gone? I can't believe she is already 7 years old and in the 2nd grade! You can really tell a difference this year on how much she has grown. Tonight we had family over to help celebrate with her! She was so excited to have everyone over just for her! I made her a strawberry bunt cake with Chocolate Icing...and of course...who could forget the sprinkles..lol. Messy looking but it was so good!

A Sick Boy

This morning I took Chance to the doctor to have him checked out. He told me he hasn't been feeling well and is running a slight fever...so we went in...and Who would have known...he has Bronchitis!! He had just started a cough. I am so glad that we took him in. So needless to say he is outta school for the rest of the week. So, I had to go by the school and let them know and talk to his teachers about sending his homework home with his sister. Hopefully when the medicine kicks in he will be feeling much better!

One Happy Little Girl

Amaya woke up and was so happy to see that the **Tooth Fairy** came last night! She was upset however that she wasn't able to stay awake long enough to get a peek at the Tooth Fairy! She is a mess! I told her to just know she was there..and has her tooth and left her some money!! She said yep I got alot of teeth left so there is always next time! I took a picture of her before she went to school today. She looks so different now! My little girl is changing right before my eyes.

Tooth Fairy's Coming!

Before

After

One Happy Girl

Tonight before we went to bed Amaya was brushing her teeth...her front tooth was bleeding a little bit. Her dad asked to look at it...and she let him. Then he asked to pull it..and he said I will try one time and if it doesn't come out I won't touch it anymore! Well the tooth came on out! She was so happy! She looks so silly with her front tooth gone! She couldn't stop looking in the mirror and making silly faces. You know once your child looses the front teeth..they don't too much look the same...so I had to take pictures that morning before..in case she had lost it at school the next day. So there is a before and after pic. She is so happy that the **Tooth Fairy** is coming tonight! She said she hopes she will wake up when the tooth fairy comes in to get her tooth so she can get a peek at her and her wings and get to talk to her! So cute! She will be one happy little girl when she wakes up in the morning!

Beach Weekend

A friend and I decided that we would take the kids to the beach this weekend..with no hubbys. We were leaving them behind to work, and to fish together. The kids were excited to be getting time at the beach. This will probably be the last trip down there we take this year. Sad, I know. We decided to get them dinner..which was a quick trip to Mcdonalds and then head home to get them in the bed. So Saturday morning we woke up and ate breakfast...made us some lunch and snacks to take..and hit the beach!! The kids were wild childs running on that beach in the sand. I have to admit it was so nice feeling the sun on our backs and the sand between our toes. The kids had a blast playing in the water. Although the rip currents were really strong so we couldn't go out that far...there was a hurricane coming in within the next few days..like 4 or so. After we stayed out there for hours..we had to come in because it had started to rain. So we came home and took showers...and headed out to get some dinner. We ended up going to Chili's! That's where everyone picked to go. It was so yummy. The kids had fun coloring the chili pepper pictures they gave them..while we waited for our food we talked,laughed and ate chips and salsa. Food was so delish! We ate so much that we had to take some home with us! Then we headed to find a Putt-Putt place to go to. We ended up at the Treasure Island Putt Putt Place. The kids had so much fun! We haven't played that since earlier this year..so that was good we got to do it again. I of course forgot my camera when we got to the Putt Putt place I realized and so I took pictures on my phone..so I will have to figure out how to upload them on here. After Putt Putt we headed to Mcdonalds and got Mini McFlurries..and headed home. We got up early Sunday morning to head back home..and get ready for another week of school. I am so glad we got to go! But ugh...another long week begins!

First Day Of School is Here!

School time is here! The kids got up this morning all in good moods..although they mentioned a few times that they wish they could go back to bed. Mahayla was all about getting dressed and getting her shoes and grabbing her backpack and lunch bag way before it was anywhere near time to go. Their all dressed and ready. Of course this post is going to be picture heavy because well you know how moms are on the first day of school. Fingers crossed they go off today and come back with great stories and excited about this year!


Okay I am having a hard time with this..all my babies are in school..and well all I have done for the last 9 years is be a stay at home mom and take care of them..I am lost and don't know what to do with myself. I haven't ever had all this free time! I know I will grow to enjoy it in time...but for today...not sure about it. I am really missing them. I can't wait till hear about three of their days and hopefully they were great! I guess it is obvious...because all my family and a few friends have called/text asking me how I am handling it all...and making sure I'm alright. I am but just sad...my babies aren't babies anymore!


Kids are home and they were all tired of course...and slinging their backpacks everywhere...and starving! They were all full of stories about what they did, and who was in their classes and all. I am so glad they all three had a great day and aren't not wanting to go back tomorrow! So..I guess we all survived the first day of school. Here's to hoping there are many more days like this to come so we can have a great year!!

Walking Them To Class

Mahayla in her classroom

Anthony walking Mahayla to her Pre-K Class

Chance in is 4th grade Class at his desk

Amaya sitting at her table already starting on some work (2ndGrade)

All the kids that live around our house..got them all before they went in for the first day! Creek Rats!!

Here is a pic of the kids when we walked them into their classes! Chance was ready to go..Amaya was acting shy..and anyone that knows her...knows that she is Far from it! Mahayla was happy but was kinda nervous..but suprisingly didn't cry. I love these pictures! I had to take one of Anthony walking hand in hand with Mahayla to her class...she looks so little to be going to Pre-k.