Year In Review - 2007

Today is the last day of 2007- here comes 2008. Lots of things happened in 2007, so here is the recap!!

January - - We celebrated Ken's 33rd birthday this month, Katelyn turned 4 months old and was officially started on solid foods. We started with rice cereal and then moved on to veggies then fruits. She did really well with all of them except carrots. Eating carrots gave Katelyn a very bad bad diaper rash. Ken and his parents also took the kids to see the Monster Truck Show this month and they had a GREAT time. They even had pit passes to get pictures up close with the trucks and their drivers.


February - - Gavin passed out Valentine cards to all the kids in his preschool class and had a cute little party at school. On the 18th we had Katelyn baptized. We celebrated with family and friends this wonderful day. 2 days after the baptism Katelyn started sitting up on her own!!

March - - The 3rd was Ken and my 6th year anniversary! How time flies. On St Patricks Day we went bowling with our church group and Gavin and Danyelle had a wonderful time! March was also when the kids had spring break. We made this year Gavin's First Annual Spring Break Party. We invited all the kids from his preschool class over for a play date during the week. We had bubbles, hula hoops, balls, and lots of snacks. About 10 kids or so show up and had a great time. April - - Grammie and Grampie took all the grand kids on a Easter train ride. A real working train brought them to see the Easter Bunny and color some Easter eggs. Such fun. Katelyn celebrated her first Easter and started crawling this month. We also took her to the park for the first time where she loved the swings. May - - The 11th of May was Gavin's last day of pre-school. The school put on a wonderful end of the year ceremony and officially sent them off to kindergarten. This month turned out to be the month where Katelyn decided to start getting into everything. The dishwasher, throwing stuff out of the cabinets, and even opening the fridge and taking salad dressings out.

June - - Gavin started karate this month at our rec center. He loves it and has a great time. He earned his white belt at the end of the month. The kids and Ken also started going to Adventure Island on Wednesdays during the summer. They go with my inlaws and have a great time cooling off in the pools and water slides. Ken even got Gavin to go on some big flumes with him.

July - - Gavin had his first ever visit to the dentist this month. All is good and no cavities. The 10th was Gavin's 5th birthday. We had family over on his actual birthday for cake and presents. That weekend we had a bowling party to celebrate with his friends. Spongebob was the theme for both parties. We took our family vacation to the Nickelodeon Hotel in Orlando. The kids got slimed and had their picture taken with Spongebob. Our themed room had bunk beds for the kids and was decorated with Timmy Turner from the Fairly Oddparents. The last week of the month was vacation bible school. I was the volunteer teacher for the kids crafts so Katelyn spent the week in the nursery. She DID NOT like that at all. She screamed and cried for the whole 3 hours she was there. What a mommies girl!

August - - The kids went back to school this month. Gavin was such a big boy as he started kindergarten. He had a rough couple of weeks to start but he now loves going. Katelyn turned 1 on the 25th and had a great time at her first birthday. Gavin also lost his first tooth this month and got a visit from the tooth fairy. September - - This month Gavin participated in his walk-a-thon at school and earned his yellow belt in karate. Kateyn started walking at the beginning of the month and got her first pair of shoes.

October - - This month we took in a couple of fairs and fall festivals. We also took a weekend trip with some friends to Orlando. While we were there we went to Sea World and had a great time. Gavin lost his second tooth a couple of days after the trip. Gavin was Darth Vader and Katelyn was Princess Leia for Halloween. What a cute pair!

November - - On the 11th Katelyn got to make her first ever family trip to Busch Gardens. She went on the egg ride with Gavin and Danyelle. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my in laws and celebrated Danyelle's 13th birthday at the end of the month.

December - - Gavin started Tball this month and LOVES it. We spent a great deal of time this month getting ready for Christmas and Santa Claus. We had a wonderful holiday season.

Well, that wraps it up. I loved looking back at all those memories and cant wait to bring in more with the new year.
Have a safe and happy New Year!

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Christmas Recap

We had such a wonderful Christmas :) We attended our church's Christmas Eve service where Gavin was in the choir. I love hearing children sing Christmas songs. From there we headed home for the long wait for Santa. Gavin kept saying he wanted to go to bed so Santa could come, but it was on 7pm! He was so excited. We sat under the tree for a while looking at all of the wrapped presents. Gavin told Danyelle which present he was going to open up first and second, and which present he was going to open last. When it got a little later, Danyelle and Gavin went outside to sprinkle the reindeer food all over the grass. They also hung the special "magic keys" outside our front door. The keys are for Santa to get into our house since we do not have a chimney. And right before bed Danyelle and Gavin picked out some homemade cookies for Santa's snack and left a glass of milk for him. Gavin slept in Danyelle's room and as they were laying down I heard him say " No chit chatting Danyelle, we have to go to sleep!"

Christmas morning Katelyn was the first to awake. I had her go and wake up Danyelle and Gavin to get our morning started. Gavin was so excited that he ran right past his filled stocking and Santa present to start grabbing gifts from under the tree. After the kids had finished unloading their stockings and ooohed at their Santa gifts we started opening presents. Gavin even did his in the order he had picked out the night before!

We headed over to Grammies around 11 to see the rest of the family and have Christmas lunch. All the kids had such a great time together and Katelyn was just happy to be in the midst of it. Gavin opened all her presents for her that she would look at and walk away from.

When we got home later that afternoon we all crashed down for a 2 hour nap. Much needed rest!!
Have a great weekend everyone!

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Merry Christmas........

....... from our family to yours

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Yep, Its Christmas Eve !

How do I know? Oh that's right, I have a 5-year-old who has asked me 620 times today when is Santa getting here. Its only noon! This day cant hurry by enough for him. He is so excited that I am trying to be patient with all his questions. When is Santa coming? When is Danyelle getting here? When is it nighttime? Are we doing a fire tonight? Your not going to forget Santa's cookies, are you mommy?
These questions have been asked at least 80 times a piece. Santa, Please hurry!!

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Week and Weekend Recap

Boy, I have got alot to catch up on!
This past Monday Gavin had his first night Tball game. All the kids were excited to play at night with the big lights on the field. Gavin did excellent and scored 3 runs. He played short stop, third base, and first base. While he was playing third base, the ball came right to him and with the coach's help, promptly stepped on third base to get an out! Yeah!

Wednesday night we were invited to a "pizza party" at Gavin's friend Jimmy's house. About 10 or so kids were there. They kids were about halfway done with their pizza when the doorbell rang. And lo and behold it was SANTA!! Yippee! Santa and Mrs. Claus popped in to check on the kids and make sure they were being good before Christmas. Gavin was soo surprised that Santa was actually there. The kids all sat around Santa while he called each one of them up. When it was Gavin's turn they talked about karate, Tball, and Gavin being in kindergarten. Santa really did his homework. He even gave Gavin a pre Christmas present and some food for the reindeer for Christmas Eve. Katelyn did not grace Santa with her presence on his lap. She just walked around him checking him out. And would run from him if he dared speak to her. Maybe next year!

And another yippee, when we got home from seeing Santa Aunt Gina and her fiancee Paul had arrived from Alaska. They are here for 2 weeks and Gavin is ecstatic to see his aunt. And as I am writing this Katelyn has warmed up to both Gina and Paul!

Friday night was my turn at hosting a Christmas dinner. We celebrated early this year with my mom since Gina and Paul will be celebrating Christmas day with his family. Since I didn't have the timing right on the dishes I was cooking we opened presents first. The kids had such a great time! Katelyn needed help opening hers and loved the dolls and stroller set grandma gave her. She hasn't stopped playing with it since! She pushes her babies back and forth and back and forth. Sometimes they are even sitting upside down in the stroller and sometimes the babies are barely hanging in there. Is that how she feels when I am pushing her in her stroller. Dear lord!

Saturday Danyelle went to work with Ken to pass out the mountains of Christmas cookie tins that were put together last weekend. Daddy and daughter have been doing this together for a couple of years now and Ken really enjoys that she goes with him. She does a great job even though she has to get up long before the sun comes up!

Saturday night was more presents and celebrating at Grandpa's house. By now Katelyn had the hang of tearing open the presents. She actually started ripping into them before it was time! Gavin got a way cool RC car. Of course after it was charged up and ready to go, who do you think was playing with it??? That's right, not Gavin but Daddy. I think he just got a kick out of chasing my brother's dog with the car and making her crazy!

Well, that just about wraps it up. Gavin knows that tomorrow is Christmas Eve and he just cannot wait for it. We are going to our Christmas Eve service at church were Gavin is singing again. Hopefully the weather cools off enough so we can have a fire in our fire pit tomorrow night before bed.
Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

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What?

Tonight as Gavin was going to the bathroom before bed he pointed into the toilet and asked me "Is that saltwater?" I told him no, that it was not. He said " Is it regular water?" I said yes. He then wanted to know if people could drink the water from the toilet.
What is wrong with this child? Why would he think of drinking water from the very place he was peeing into????
I think I will blame it on him being a boy. That has to be it!

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Weekend Recap

Since we live in Florida Gavin does not understand why it does not snow here for Christmas. All the holiday shows he has watched have snow in them and the Christmas books we have been reading have snow in them. He really has been holding out hope that it will get cold enough to snow this year. So, this past Friday night Ken and I surprised the kids and took them up to the rec center where they were having a WinderWonderland. Gingerbread houses, crafts, and SNOW ! ! We were there for about 2 hours watching all the kids play in the snow and have snowball fights. Gavin got his wish to see snow and had a great time. Both Danyelle and Gavin were soaked by the time we left. This "snow" is actually the leftover ice from our local skating rink. Its the best we can do here in Florida! Katelyn took a snowball to the face also when Danyelle missed me and got her poor sister.

Saturday morning Gavin had another Tball game. Once again I am a very proud mom! I think he did wonderful. He scored 3 runs and played catcher and short stop. He was especially happy to have Danyelle at the game watching him. From there I took the kids out to breakfast and after that we headed to the flea market. I love the flea market and haven't been in very long. This time I think Danyelle and Gavin had a better time than I did. They were both amazed at everything we saw. Gavin was impressed by all the toys and even puppies that were there, and Danyelle wondered why there were so many socks for sale!! That night we made homemade Christmas ornaments. Very easy recipe that I got from Three Peas in a Pod. But of course nothing I do is easy. I couldn't get the consistency right and Danyelle and Gavin had cinnamon and applesauce stuck everywhere. Danyelle also had a good time laughing at it all.

But the finished product turned out well, doncha think? Gavin did the gingerbread man, I did the snowman for Katelyn, and Danyelle did the Christmas tree.

Sunday we went to Grammies for lunch and our annual Christmas cookie frenzy. My mother-in-law make the BEST cookies I have ever tasted. A couple of years ago my husband decided that homemade Christmas cookies would make great gifts for all of his receivers at work. So now every year my mil doubles her cookie batches so he can take tins to work. So Sunday was our day to pack up all the tins with about 20 different kinds of cookies. Danyelle and Chris help with this every year. Gavin and Ryan are still too little to help with the tins and Gavin decided to cry about it for about an hour. A very long hour! After that all the kids got set up to put icing and sprinkles on some cut out cookies.



This involved all of four of them yelling at each other that each was doing it wrong, so and so is licking the knife, so and so is putting too much icing on, or so and so was putting too many sprinkles on. I thought I was going to loose my mind! But thru all of that the kids all had a wonderful and memorable time. I LOVE that we do this every year and these are going to make the greatest memories for my kids. All they will remember is the fun they had and not all the bickering. Maybe by next year I will have forgotten all of the fighting and crying too. Have a great week everyone !

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Tacke it Tuesday

Its getting close too Christmas and I am starting to feel many many things pile up. I have alot on my TO DO list today for my tackle.

First of all: CLEAN. My whole house needs to be spotless by tomorrow morning when my sister and her fiancee arrive from Alaska for the holidays. That will be my major tackle for today.

The rest of the stuff may not be done today, but it has to be done this week. Like: I still have to post my weekend recap, 3 more things need to be bought for Christmas ( I am thinking Target may see me tonight ), I have to tackle the never ending laundry pile, and a whole bunch of other tiny things. We will see how it goes! Happy Tuesday everyone!

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VOTE FOR ME ! ! !

Ok, everyone. Here is my shameless plug to please please please vote for me in the holiday photo contest. Click on the link above to be directed to the site. Scroll down a couple of posts to see my entry. Come on now, isnt Gavin the cutest???

Thanks so much!!

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Wordless Wednesday - Tea Party

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Holiday Cheer - Photo Contest

Write From Karen is hosting a Holiday Photo Contest. The theme is HOLIDAY CHEER. You have until December 14th to enter if you want to participate. Then, please stop by her site beginning at 5:00 p.m. U.S. central time December 14th to 8:00 p.m. U.S. central time December 17th to vote for your favorite photo of Holiday Cheer. Hopefully, it's ME ( hint hint ).

OK, on to my photo. I thought about this one for a while. What comes to mind when I think of holiday cheer? I thought of a house all lit up with Christmas lights, the kids putting cookies out for Santa on Christmas Eve, and the excitement of opening presents on Christmas morning. After I got out last years photo album, the choice was obvious.

Last year my adorable Gavin was chosen to be one of Santa's elves in our towns Christmas Parade. This is an annual parade that draws in huge crowds. Beads, candy, and Christmas music make the parade a day to remember. Gavin was so cute in his outfit and had the best time of his life sitting on the float with Santa.

The pictures below are of before the parade when Santa and Gavin were both getting ready. The picture of Gavin with his hands in the air are because he was waving his arms around the hear the jingle bells that were attached. Hope you enjoyed my Christmas Cheer Photos!!

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Ten Things I Want For Christmas

This weeks Ten on Tuesday assignment is 10 things I want for Christmas.

1. A new camcorder. I just tried to use ours last week and realized that it doesn't work anymore. Yes, the battery was fully charged and there was a tape on the inside, but nothing would record and some of the buttons did not work.

2. Perfume. I haven't had a really good perfume in a couple of years. I mostly use body sprays.

3. Pajamas. I sleep in a hodge podge of stuff right now and would like some stuff that actually matches.

4. Socks. I know, boring, but I need them!!

5. A gift certificate for a Massage.

6. Chimes. I love hearing the sound of chimes in the wind.

7. A new CD case for the car.

8. A refrigerator. A long shot, but ours is really crappy!

9. Towels. Bath towels are needed around here.

10. The last Harry Potter book.

Well, that's it. We will see what happens. Hopefully DH will read this! Visit http://www.yanowhatimean.com/tuesday to play along!

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Weekend Recap

This past weekend we did a whole bunch of nothing!! And it felt nice to not be on the go the whole weekend.
The weekend started early on Friday with Gavin waking up with a slight temperature and a sore throat. So I kept him home from school. Katelyn was not feeling too well either. She had a very bad runny stuffy nose and a sore throat.
Saturday morning Gavin was feeling better thankfully. His first Tball game was at 830. He did so well!! He got to bat 3 times and scored 2 runs. His first time up batting he hit the ball past 2nd base. Unfortunately, instead of running to first base he stood at home at watched how far his ball went. By the time he started running and made it to first base he was out. His 2nd and 3rd time batting went much better and he was able to make it all the way around. He played left field and short stop twice. His next game is this coming Saturday and hopefully their uniforms will be in by then.
We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing. Katelyn was cranky and irritable the whole time. Her sore throat made her miserable. Every time she swallowed she screamed. And her poor nose kept running nonstop which made it hard for her to breath. I spent most of the weekend wiping her nose. She was not pleasant to look at!! Poor kid.
As of today Gavin was back in school with just a slight cough. Katelyn is still the same. Which is probably why this post is going up so late. She is very clingy.
Have a great week everyone!

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Her Obsession

Katelyn ( and probably all toddlers ) has a fascination with the dishwasher. When she started crawling and could pull herself up she would stand at the open dishwasher while I loaded it. Banging on the open door made her happy. Once she started walking she would pry her little fingers into the side of the door and open it on her own. Plates and silverware would go flying out. So then I had to start locking the dishwasher all the time.

Little Miss Katelyn, however, seems to hear to dishwasher open from miles away. No matter where she is in the house she she comes running the minute I try to load or unload the dishes. So it is a wrestling match between us as I try to pull her away and she screams.

But now life is so much better! Katelyn has now figured out how to reach up and unlock the dishwasher all by herself! Oh joy! Now it is a 5,6, or 7 times a day occurrence that she is throwing dishes all over the place. What fun we are having!

This is a picture of her from last May when she was about 9 months old. What a little devil!!

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Flaunt It Friday - Guilty Pleasure

This is my first Flaunt It Friday, hosted at http://takenwithagrainofsalt.com/. This weeks topic is Guilty Pleasures. After thinking about this, I realized, boy, do I have a lot of guilty pleasures. From the shows I watch on TV, to the bad food I eat, and to the insane amounts of time I spend on the computer!! But I did think of the one thing that I think I enjoy the most: The Bathtub!!
And, no, that is not my tub. I take a bath probably 4-5 times a week. I take them at night and usually I have even taken a shower that morning. I grab my towel and tell my husband I am off to the bath. The door gets shut and no one is allowed in. I turn the water on to almost scalding and I just lay there. Just relaxing. I let the water run the whole time and if it gets too high I let the drain out. The water runs until the hot water is all gone. This is a guilty pleasure because 99% of the time the kids are standing outside the door crying and knocking to come in. I feel bad about not letting them in, but hey, I need some alone time. My husband usually looks ragged by the time I am done, but its worth it!!

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Wordless Wednesday- Summer Vacation

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Gavin's Career

When we got home from Tball practice tonight Gavin set up some bases in the living room. He kept his cleats on and his baseball gloves. I watched him for a little while running around the bases and pretending to bat. I asked him if he was practicing Tball. He told me he was pretending to be the coach. I told him he could be a coach one day when he grew up. A look of irritation went across his face before he said "Mommy, don't you remember? I already told you when I grow up I am going to be a rock superstar, a hockey player, and a bread man. I cant be a baseball coach too!" Oh, excuse me!!

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Weekend Recap

Our first Christmas-y weekend!! Friday night we all just kinda took it easy after Ken got home from picking up Danyelle.
Saturday morning we had Gavin's first Tball practice. It started at 10am, but Gavin was up bright and early at 7 and had his cleats on by 715. He wouldn't let 5 minutes go by without asking me if it was time to go yet. When we arrived at the field he got to meet his coach and his other teammates. They started practice with some warm ups, then catching the ball, and then batting. They all got to play different positions on the field while other kids were batting, and Gavin even got to play pitcher.

After Ken got home from work that afternoon we went up to Lowe's to get our Christmas tree. Gavin kept calling it going to the pumpkin patch. Why? I have no idea. But it sounded cute. Katelyn got pushed around in her stroller throughout the tent full of Christmas trees. She kept reaching out to touch them saying "OOOOOH OOOOOH OOOOH" Like she had never seen a tree before. We attached the tree to the roof of the car to go home. Gavin just could not get over the fact that our Christmas tree was on top of the car. He thought it was very exciting. But he spent the whole drive home yelling at me to go slow because he thought it would fall off.

Once the tree was up in the living room we walked up to the park for their annual lighting of the Christmas tree. This is a very big celebration. They have tons of booths set up with crafts for the kids, live music, dancers, and of course.....SANTA. We got in line for Santa where Gavin all of the sudden decided he was not going to talk to Santa, just sit on his lap with Katelyn. Ok, fine with me. Danyelle didn't sit with Santa, I guess she is too old now. So sad!! Katelyn took one look at Santa and started screaming like a banshee. But of course being the wonderful mommy that I am, I made her sit on his lap anyway. I wanted that picture!!! Crying kid or not! Gavin ended up changing his mind and stayed on Santa's lap long enough to tell him what he wanted for Christmas. We met up with Danyelle's friend Alexis and after getting popcorn and balloons made our way home.

Sunday morning Gavin sang in church. I love hearing him sing all the cute little Christmas songs! After church we got all of the Christmas decorations out of the attic and got busy!! Ken hung all the lights outside while Gavin, Danyelle, Katelyn, and I sat outside and watched. Gavin just thinks it is amazing that daddy goes on the roof. We spent the rest of the day inside decorating the house and putting the ornaments on the Christmas tree. Katelyn was fascinated by the lights on the tree and all of my singing decorations. Have a great week everyone!!

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Christmas in Dixie

Be sure to head on over to Mommy Cracked starting Dec 3rd for an awesome giveaway!!

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What Could it Be??

Sometimes as a mom you have to work to solve puzzles. Like today. When I went to make Gavin lunch I made the mistake of asking him what he wanted. He thought for a couple of seconds before a big smile spread across his face and he got really excited.

"I want that thing you and I had a long time ago that was really good." Gavin told me.
Oh geez, what the heck is it? He proceeds to tell me that you have to break it open, its really hard to eat, and it is brown.
Of course I have no idea what he is talking about. So now I have to play detective.
Q. When did we have it? A. a long time ago
Q. Did it come from the freezer or fridge? A. the freezer
Q. What does it look like? A. brown
Q. Who ate it? A. gavin and mommy
Q Did I make it for dinner? A. No mommy, you dont MAKE it , you eat it.

Oh gosh, this is really hard. So now I ask him to draw a picture of it. He draws a square and asks me if that helps. Nope, nope it does not help me solve anything. So my way of solving this is to walk away from him and hope that he forgets.

Every half hour or so he asks me if I have figured out what it is. We spend quite a good bit of time looking in the freezer , fridge, and pantry trying to find this mystery food. During this time he does eat the sandwich I made him, but was not happy about it at all. He really wants me to find the good stuff.
Finally, about 3 hours after this mystery began I asked him, Gavin what does it taste like? His answer? Chocolate.
NOW I GET IT!! Yesterday ( not a long time ago) I took a Kit Kat out of the freezer and shared it with him. So now all of his answers to my questions do make sense.
Watch out CSI here I come!!

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