The Awesome {D} Family

I feel like the blog here has been neglected for a bit too long! Seems as though winter just drug on and on, and now that it is warming up a bit, it's time to get posting again!

Here's a quick peek for my friend, who is the cutest mamma to 4 sons! Never a dull moment for them!







Hope you like them! I'll have more for you soon!

The Adorable baby {L}

This little angel was only 9 days old when these were taken! She was SO alert, not wanting to miss anything! Here's a sneak peak for her cute mamma! Thanks for letting me come and meet your little angel!





I'll have more for you next week!

First Gymnastics "meet"

I've mentioned that we've started gymnastics around here a few times. And it really has been the VERY best thing for her! She was already a monkey on everything, but now she that is getting instruction on how to tumble properly, there is really no stopping her! In a very short period of time (like 4 months) she is doing cartwheels like a pro! (and don't be surprised if you see her doing them just about anywhere!) When she gets the urge to cartwheel, it must be done!

So throughout the class, the kids were preparing for their "routines", just like at a real meet. I couldn't believe that kids this young could really remember a "routine" but sure enough they did. They each did a bar, beam and floor routine. She's been a bit timid with the bars, so when the other girls were doing their routines, she got a bit intimidated since she's never been confident enough to transfer to the high bar. But by the time all the girls did theirs, she was ready to do hers. So proud of her for not giving up and doing the best she could do!

So after the tears at the bars, her teachers decided to let her go first on the beam (which is by far her favorite apparatus....which TERRIFIES her dad!) My favorite part was her dismount!

The floor routine was great! They started with a backwards roll, then went into a straddle roll, then into a cartwheel, then a "tabletop" (which is like a back bend), then they "galloped" over to do a handstand, then they each put their arms up when the finished! So cute!!





It took me awhile to find a gym that I really loved! I love that this is a "non-competitive" gym. They get "medals" at the end of the "meet" but there are no points or rankings. Which I felt was the best way to get the basic tumbling skills down! Plus there is plenty of time for "competition" if she decides to pursue this! But right now, it is the best thing for her! And I love seeing her excel! She was even invited to a special class that will help push her and help her confidence!

My baby is FIVE!

Even though this happened a few weeks ago, I'm just getting around to posting about her birthday and party! She was MUCH more aware of her approaching birthday, and as soon as we were finished with Christmas, she wanted to know if the next day was her birthday! It was a TOUGH 3 weeks to wait! (I guess that's the payback I can give her for making me wait 3 weeks for her to FINALLY arrive!)

She'd been talking about having an "Ariel" birthday all year long, so I thought I had the plan all ready to go. But then she threw me for a loop, when she told me she wanted to do "Princess Tiana" from the new movie "Princess and the Frog". I did a quick internet search, and found that I would need to order the party supplies, since none of the local stores carried them yet. I showed her a few "princess and the frog" cake ideas, but since most of them were "frog" cakes and NOT "Princess Tiana", she just wasn't buying what I was trying to sell. So off we went to the bakery hoping to find an option there. Sure enough we found a bakery that would do a lovely airbrushed cake with a "Princess Tiana" on the top! Score! (And it made it SO much easier for me!)


She even helped me plan the party games. We had lots of "frog" games to choose from, and it was tough incorporating the "princess" side of it into it, but with Nikelle's help, we found lots of fun games to play! And this was the first year that she participated and didn't throw a fit when she didn't win, or get to go first, etc...etc. (What a relief!)





When it was finally time to open her gifts, she was more than ready....in fact, she was ready before we were, and had one package almost unwrapped before I had turned around!! She's definitley figured out how to unwrap!





And here is a quick review of the past year of her!



There are days that I am just plain exhausted, and she wears me out, but I am so grateful she is a part of my life! Just wouldn't be the same without her!

Introducing baby {H}

It was my great privilege to photograph this adorable angel! He was absolutely PERFECT! He grunted and squeaked when we would reposition him, but then he settled right in, and slept, until the next time we had to move him.

So here is a quick peek for you Amber!

















Thanks for allowing me to come over and play with your little guy! See...all the stress was totally worth it! He's absolutely beautiful!

Christmas 2009

While I know I might be a BIT slow getting around to Christmas, my goal this year was to FINISH my Christmas pictures before I was dealing with birthday pictures! Over the past 5 years, I've seriously neglected my Christmas photos, which is silly cause it's the ONE day I take the most pictures! I think I just get overwhelmed with SO many to choose from, I just don't even know where to start!

But I was determined to DO something with my pictures this year, instead of load them onto the computer and look at them! So I've been busy scrappin all my fun memories from this past Christmas! So even though I know it might be past Christmas, and you may not be interested, I just wanted to share! (And Mom, I know you NEVER care how late I post the pictures!)

Here are the kids waiting to come downstairs. I actually had to go down and wake up Donvan. Nikelle was up and her light was on, when I first heard Carissa peeping! Guess I know which kid was the MOST excited for Christmas!


And here was Carissa discovering EXACTLY what she had asked Santa for!


Carissa had the whole unwrapping thing ALL figured out this year!


This one is a two-pager just showing all of her loot! (I don't think I have enough storage for all her stuff yet, and she has her birthday this week!)



And while I can see that it looks like Carissa was the only one opening anything, the big kids did have a few to open. But how exciting can new socks be?? They did get some CD's and DVD's they wanted. And I will be scrapping theirs later this week. I was mainly trying to get Carissa's Christmas done before the party! But here is a sampling of a few "lovely" gifts that they received. (NOT approved by me of course) I'm including the journaling....cause it really does deserve some explanation!


I’m not sure why my sweet husband struggles every year. I’m sure it has something to do with the way he was raised. But that is a story for another day! I beg him to not try to shop for the kids, and to take them with him when they shop for me, but somehow, he always sneaks in a few “questionable” “gifts”. Last year, it was food items he gave to the kids. This year I told him he was NOT allowed to give any gifts of food. Apparently, I should have specified, that ALL gifts needed to be cleared with me first!

As the annual opening of presents was winding down, there were two remaining packages from him, and I had NO idea what they contained. The kids looked at me with questioning looks, and I could tell from the outside, that they were indeed larger than a bottle of BBQ or fry sauce, and truly looked like picture frames, so encouraged them to be “brave”. Donavan was the first to unveil his. His face was one of utter confusion. And Andrew just stood there (once again) with his mischievous smile plastered on his face! On the top of the “poster” are the words, “Defense National Stockpile Center”. Then we hear a “What the HECK????” Before he would explain, Nikelle had to open hers up, which revealed a framed picture of former president George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Sooooo, the story is that one of his clients was moving locations, and as they were cleaning out, they decided to NOT take these two pictures (treasures), and leave them behind AS GARBAGE! Being the “green” person that he is, he decided to bring them home and pass them off as “cool” presents. After all, the poster from the Stockpile Center, was SIGNED by the ADMINISTRATOR!!! (Ya, I’m serious, he really thought they would be “cool” gifts!) So the kids both politely declined displaying them in their rooms and invited him (maybe not so politely) to hang them in his office!

Maybe next year, he can follow my advice and NOT shop or SALVAGE any “gifts” at all!

And after all the whoop-la, and the mess is tidied (like it can ever be "clean"!) Carissa danced the day away in her new "Princess and the Frog" dress!



Now I just hope that I survive the BIG birthday!!! She was telling me for months that she just wanted to be four "forever" (Isn't that the Qeew-tist??) but now she is actually REALLY excited to turn 5!

Christmas Eve

One of my very favorite Christmas tradition is getting together with my sister on Christmas Eve. A few years ago, her sister-in-law made costumes to dress up for the nativity (something I should do to...but it's nice to have hers handy!) So we've been getting together for the past few years.




We usually have a simple dinner, and then it's time to pass out the outfits. We've been trying to convince the little ones to be Mary and Joseph for a few years now, but Carissa was never willing. This year she wanted to be a sheep again, and with some coaxing (for the magician Camille) she agreed to be Mary! So naturally Nathan was Joseph! Josh was less than enthusiastic about being the "donkey", but as far as speaking parts go, that one is the easiest! Last year we had the "3 wise guys" and this year it was the "3 cute girls" (unfortunately, no picture of the 3 of us!) Nikelle had to "girlify" her outfit with a cute flower and a big sparkly heart necklace! It was really cute! Donavan was a tough shepherd, and because this was the first time we've done it at my house, we had to scramble for the "gifts" to give to the christ child. Nikelle came up with a teapot, a play spice bottle, and a bottle of hand sanitizer!

Then after we read the Christmas story, we sing a few songs, and then we exchange gifts. I'm so grateful that I have some family here (even if it's only ONE sibling) we really enjoy getting together (which isn't often enough) and the kids all have a great time together! This is a tradition we did as kids as well, so it's been really fun to see them grow up doing this as well. What great memories! Hope everyone had a great Christmas!