Happy Birthday Dad

Today is my dad's birthday. He turned 55 today! I know he feels really old, but, okay there's no but he is old. LOL! Seriously though he's the same dad, I don't see to much of a differnce. I'm really glad he's my dad, I can't imagine it being another. This is one of the only pictures I had of my dad, but its a good one.

Holiday Party

Mario and I went to a holiday party our friends had saturday night. We had so much fun. I am pretty sure I have never seen Mario that laid back and enjoying himself and the people around him. Usually he's begging me to leave. I had to remind him for an hour and a half that we had to get our kids. It was awsome to see him having such a good time. They had a white elephant gift exchange, that was a lot of fun. The only downside to this party was I learned my body doesn't like vodka. I'm a very responsible drinker. I'll drink two maybe three if I'm not buzzin' on it. So, that night I had two appletini's I made a third and decided after two sips I really didn't want it. I never felt tipsy or remotely drunk, but I had a horrible hangover! It must have really dehydrated me, by the end of the night my stomach hurt, I had cold chills, and the worst headache ever. It was like having the flu. I couldn't believe it. Well ones thing for sure I'm never touching vodka again, my body didn't like it one bit. Stick to what you know, thats a good rule. Christmas was fun this year, lots of fun parties and plays, but I'm sure glad it's over. I'm really tired. Now to get ready for Jan. Tons of birthdays. Mario Jr.-4th, Ian-16th, Kalin-21st, mom-8th, Kelly-14th, Gabriel-7th, April and Rayelle-3rd, and Theren-23rd[i think] anyway tons of birthdays!

Merry Christmas

We had lots of fun. The kids woke us up at stupid o clock[6:30], we shook it off and headed to the living room. We let them one by one take turns opening their gifts. That way I could get pictures and enjoy the moment with each of them. Ian was the funniest. Each one he oppened he was so excited. "LARRYBOY, YEAH!" "DRUMS!!"[insert scream here] He was completely excited. They were all so cute and so thankful. Kalin was pretty pissed off they woke her up that early. she sleeps 'til 9. She wasn't excited unil hours after opening her gifts. Mario got a remote control helicopter. Best money I've ever spent. All I hear is the hum of it flying by. Oh, yeah and I hear drums all day. Do you ever have that moment as a parent when you get all excited to get them what they asked for, and then after the first day you think "what was I thinking?" now I have to hear ba-boom, ba-boom, all freakin' day! LOL! O, well their only kids once. One day I won't hear anything like that and probably think it's to quiet. After we opened presents we went out to eat with my parents, so nobody had to cook and clean. After that we went to mario's parents and gave them their gift. We had a wonderful Christmas, I hope all of you had the same!

The Day of the Party

Well, today was the day, and it was great fun. Lots of candy and cookies and popcorn. Plus I made peppermint cocoa and while the kids drank it I told them the story of the Candy Cane. The cocoa was delicious, plus my mom bought lots of pizza for everyone. After that we palyed a couple of games. The first one was make your teammate into a christmas tree. The second one we tied balloons to their ankles, they had to try to pop everyone else's balloon while trying to keep their's safe. It was great! After that the kids made candy cane candles, which came out really cute. The have to choose someone to give it to. I'm excited to see who they pick. Everyone had a lot of fun.When it was over everyone got a goodie bag to take home. Leah put them together they were so cute. Thankyou to Mom, Sherri, Leah, and Kelly for all your help. It was a great party! We'll have to do this again next year. By the way I will post pictures later on when I get them.

Christmas Party

I am planning a christmas party for my children and thier homeschooled friends. Since they are not in school they don't get to have parties and such like other children. So, I decided to have a party this year. It is going to be Candy Cane theme. I will be telling them the story of the candy cane. We will be having peppermint cocoa, they will make peppermint cookies, and a candy cane candle. After they make the candle they have to pick someone to give it to. It can't just be grandma or eachother, we want them to pick a neighbor or someone from church, a random person to bless. We want them to see that Christmas is more about giving than getting. Attached to the bow on the candle will be a little poem about the candy cane. We will also be palying two great games. It should be a lot of fun. Their will be 17 kids at this party! It's going to be great. I will post pictures when I get them. Oh, I forgot, the party is tomorrow.

A Fun Outing

Yesterday we took the kids to the Christmas parade in downtown Conroe. When I say we I mean me and Kelly. Neither one of us ever has our husband around when we would like. I was pretty proud of us. We got all the kids to line up in a staight line and walk through downtown to where we would be standing. Nobody ran in the street or disobeyed in any way. We looked like a school walking through the city. The kids had a lot of fun watching the different floats, and marching bands. They made out like bandits, a ton of candy. And they all managed to eat it all before it was over. So, back to the car, in a straight line we go, everyone was well behaved, all 11! Then off to the holiday in the park. We stood in line about 15 min. to let each kid go down the pretend snowhill. They weren't to impressed, they all had a blast rolling down the hill on the other side. Even Kalin got a kick out of running down and walking all the way back up. We didn't stay for any other activities, the lines were way to long and we were getting tired. So, we came home and had peanut butter and honey sandwhiches and funion chips, I know weird combo, thats what I had in the pantry that would feed 13 people. Anyway it was a lot of fun! We have a lot more Christmas activities before Christmas I may fall over by the time it's over.

My Christmas Dance

I really do not care much for Christmas music, okay I hate it. Every year when KSBJ starts playing I've got all my cd's ready to go, or some other station I would normally not litsen to, because the kids repeat everything. This year our church is putting on a Christmas play, and I am dancing in it. Well, it's been a bit a of a rollercoaster. The dance and the dancers have been changed 3 times, now I'm solo, and I have 1 week to put this together. To top it off I don't like Christmas music so I'm dreading doing this. Well the past week all I've wanted to litsen to is Christmas music, granted their are still a few songs I can't stand, but most of them are bringing me to tears. Yep, you heard me right, TO TEARS! I have this overwhelming gratitude in my heart for GOD, our creator, for sending his son to save my soul, all of our souls. The Jars of Clay version of "Little Drummer Boy" made me cry today. To think that our King would smile at us for such a simple gift amazes me! Their's a new song this year that says, "What other King has stepped down from his throne, what other God has poured out his love for me, only one." That made me feel very humble, and thankful, I don't know if I can quite explain how I feel. So, now I feel as though I can dance this dance in true worship, and not thinking, "another stupid Christmas song." Isn't God good! He changes and melts our hearts even when we have not asked. He knows what we need, as any good Father would!How I love him so!

SNOW

It snowed today!!!!!! In Conroe, Texas!!! It was Awsome! Now granted it wasn't like the snow in Ohio, but it was most definately snow. The kids were so excited. We were all running around laughing and freezing our butts off! I swear I was like a little kid, Kelly pulled up and I was jumping up and down screaming "IT'S SNOWING" She was laughing at me. Anyway, we all stayed outside as long as we could. Now when you look outside the roofs are white and the branches of the trees. The best part of this is my son Mario prayed that it would snow. His faith was strengthened today! He truly believes God answered his prayer. I believe that to, it's just like our God to do something so loving to remind us I am listening. What an awsome day!

Kelly

Out at my mom's for a bar-b-que.

After I posted the happy birthday to Joy, I started to think about how much I love Kelly. She's more than just my sister-in-law, she is my sister! If you notice when I speak about her I say my sister. She has been their with me through thick and thin. We've had our battles with eachother and our best times. I can't imagine my life without her. Our lives are so much alike we seem to lean on eachother as much as we can. When I'm sad and need a good laugh I call her, when I need to bitch and moan about something I call her! It's okay because the same is for her. I've also watched us grow in our walks with the Lord together. I guess what I'm trying to say to you Kelly is, I love you and I thankyou, for being you!

Happy Birthday Joy!

Today is Kelly's mom's birthday. I'm not sure how old she is, she would probably rather us not know! Anyway, she is a precious lady. She recently lost her husband and has moved in with Kelly and Tray. I know the holidays can be hard when you go through something like this, but I pray you have a wonderful birthday filled with joy and laughter. You are a blessing to us all!

Joy, No Depression

Okay, so I've had my breakdown as I do every year, and I'm getting over it. We figured out the finanaces and I'm going shopping this weekend! I'm getting excited about the littlt things that make Christmas so great. Like, stringing popcorn and cranberries, making cookies and crafts, and hanging out to play games. It's great! And the older they get the more fun it gets. Just letting everyone know I'm good everything is fine as it always is. I swear I just may learn one day GOD IS BIGGER! That's what happens when your a goober!HA!HA!

Family Pictures

I wanted to share some of my family pictures with all of you. I know I put a lot, but there were so many good ones. I hope you like them as much as we do.

Emiy looking beautiful!
Mario looks so handsome here. My little boy is growing up.
Ian. What a beautiful smile!
This is my favorite picture of Kalin.
Isn't this precious, daddy's little girl.
The whole family
Mario striking he's GQ pose. LOL!
Elijah being spiderman.
This a great picture of the girls.
Maya looks super happy here.
LOVE this picture. My man and my little men.
I like this picture. Mario looks like he's in love with me.LOL! I know he is!
Pretty Awsome family.
This picture is really cool.

Depression instead of Joy

Every year we seem to go through the same song and dance. We get really depressed instead of joyful. It is really hard to get all the kids their presents. We usually barely get them just days before Christmas. Somebody doesn't get what they've asked for. This year we have one gift for Kalin and 21 days to go. Anyway, I've had to repent of a bad additude. I know God is the giver of all good gifts. He will make a way somehow. He always does. So, I am praying this year I trade in my depression in for joy.
On the upside of things our roof got fixed this week!! Yeah!! No more rain in the house, no more smell of mildew. I'm starting to put the house back in order, I got my room back. My stress level should come way down.

Pockets

Have you ever noticed pockets are really important to little boys. It's almost as importanat as a purse is for us. Everything they deem special goes in the pocket. Like when we went camping Ian filled his pockets with those little bitty rocks you walk on. Their were a least a hundred of them. We all went to the zoo Friday, by the way the zoo was free and everyone in the Houston area showed up! Anyway, yesterday, Elijah goes around and finds everyone's ticket and tells them he will keep them safe in his pocket. Little boys and pockets they go together like peas and carrots. I've found countless items when I'm doing laundry. Just to name a few, rocks, gum [that made me mad], crayons, play-doh, any toy that will fit, and my favorite worms. "Take the worm outside Elijah, he doesn't want to live in your pocket" " But, momma that's wormy my pet, I love him." " You can visit him outside" "Oooookaay."
He so didn't want to get rid of that worm but he knew I would eventually freak out. Boys and pockets I swear you almost cringe every time you have to wash thier pants.