Jack's Kindergarten Program

Tonight was Jack's kindergarten program. They all did so great. This is one of 5 songs I think. He is in the top row, right under the paper tree. :)

Super Sunday

Happy Sunday! It's Super Bowl Sunday...but honestly I don't care. :) I'm happy for Kurt Warner though, he was the QB for St. Louis Rams in 99/00. He's a good guy.

Today I fill in for the 3 year/4 year old class in Sunday school today. It's official - that is NOT my calling. :) I'll stick with just being the preschool greeter - that's more my cup of tea!!

Look, I sat down to blog but my dog just have the "Daddy's home" howl...so I'll have to post another day. Have to go give my hubby a smooch. :)

Enjoy the football game!!

Lynn Family Christmas Pictures

We celebrated Christmas Eve at my Grandma and Grandpa Lynn's house.

All the great-grandchildren had a good time. :)

Jack, Allison, CJ (2nd cousin), Grant (2nd cousin), Hannah (1st cousin)

Gumdrop tree...carried over tradition from my generation.

My family, my mom, my bro and his family. Clearly some members of the family were NOT up for a photo at this time.

Jack, Grant, Allison and Hannah ... being cute AND sweet!

wow - it's been a while

Wow, apparently it's been a long time since I posted anything on here. Who knew?

I am looking forward to some BBQ with some good friends tonight. No, neither of us are cooking, we are hitting up "kids eat free" night at Dickey's BBQ. :) Hubby worked today at his new Guard gig and came home to a joyous reception from the kids & dog this afternoon. This was his 5th day of waking up at O Dark Thirty...so he's happy to be finished with that for the month.

I've been attempting to keep the kids busy for the past 5 days and convince them that Daddy is simply too exhausted to {fill in the blank} when he gets home. Glad that's over for now!

We all had a great Christmas and spent LOTS of quality time in the van. We drove to Mississippi to see the Jackson family and then up to St. Louis to see mine. All told, we spent 30 hours in the van. That's two 34 year olds, a 5 year old, a 3 year old and a 6 year old dog. Are you jealous? I know you are. We really did have a nice Christmas & New Years and got to spend some time with friends & family.

This weekend the exciting news in my world is that my Uncle Bob received a kidney transplant on Friday night. Excellent news, excellent. :) He has (well - had!) polycystic kidney disease and as a result had been on kidney dialysis for a while now. I am so thankful for organ donors. My family has been blessed with FOUR transplants. Amazing. Two have worked out well and two, well not so much. Regarless, God bless the organ donors and their familes. My dad received a kidney transplant in 2003 ... but ended up with some issues and passed in 2005. I also have PKD and my uncle's transplant has renewed my hope.

Seems like there has been more "stuff" going on ...but my uncle's transplant seems to have trumped that.

Both kids are back at school...whew. Jack was truly ready and had missed his friends. Allison ...she wasn't as eager, but I was. {hee hee}

We'll most likely have an interesting spring as Karl has finally received a date for the whole training thing...so stay tuned for those fun stories. I'm focusing on 1)I get a housekeeper and 2) it could be worse.

Jack has a new found LOVE (and I do mean love) of all things Star Wars. It's kinda fun. It's weird though, he's not my baby boy anymore!

I need to post pictures from our Christmas adventures...but that will have to be another post. I have to wake sleepy husband from his nap....

we're ready for Christmas

We actually had our little family Christmas ... due to Karl's schedule and traveling....

The kids visited with Santa after Allison's preschool Christmas program.

We are all ready for Christmas! We'll be visiting family and embarking on the Christmas vacation ... in the van! Here are some Christmasy pictures!

Ice Skating!

Jack and I went to his buddy Jackson's birthday party yesterday. It was at the ice rink that they put up here every winter. We both had a great time and Jack did really well. He used a metal walker type thing on the ice to help with his balance. He didn't fall at all! :) I ice skated too (without a walker) and had a blast.

snow!

It snowed in Houston! For real (as Jack would say). :)

It snowed for a few hours! Jack and Allison did get outside in it - but no pictures -sorry.

This morning my sliding van doors were frozen shut!!!! That made getting to school interesting.

Happy December

We are in the full swing of December! The kids are enjoying the lights, decorations and general happy buzz in the air. Allison is getting ready for her Christmas show at preschool - all the mommies and daddies will show with their video cameras! Jack will have his first non-Christian "winter party" at school. Not sure how I feel about that, but alas we are remembering Jesus' birthday here. :)

Karl had his first "drill weekend" for the Texas National Guard on Saturday & Sunday. Nothing too exciting to report from there. He will have training in February. Could be a LONG spring for me......

I've gotten the Christmas cards out, bought all the presents (with the exception of a few) and now I'm antsy to wrap. I'm hoping tonight...but we'll see what the day throws at me.

Yesterday Allison didn't get a nap and then went to bed at normal time. Well she slept until 8:50am today (usually up at 7:00) and now isn't taking a nap. She is laying on the couch, but I think I've started a viscious cycle. I NEED that nap time to get mommy things done around here.

I think that's all the excitement from here......

Friday!!

Today is my first day without house guests since LAST Wednesday! Whew. We had great visits with everyone! :)

Now we are in CHRISTMAS mode! Woo hoo. The house is all decorated and some of the presents are wrapped. I just need to tie up loose ends ...and then I'll be finished with the shopping.

Karl is on reserve now with Continental - so he's been home a lot. Tomorrow he starts the TX Air National Guard ... 2 days a month. He'll go to UAV training in the spring for that....

My bow business is doing great and I am soooooooo thankful for all my awesome bow customers/friends!! Yeah!

I am hanging with Allison today while Jack is at school. He's 5 1/2 today!! Where has the time gone?

Have a great weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been a while since I've posted anything...that seems to be a trend!

We had a nice Thanksgiving here at home and Mom, Dottie and Ying came to celebrate with us! I am full of yummy food and I think ready for bed!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Tomorrow...I get to decorate for Christmas!! Woo hoo!

It's a Monday

Jack the pirate & Allison the princess at Lexi's birthday party at the Children's Museum.

We had a weekend full of birthday parties! We celebrated a 2nd and 4th birthday ... lots of pizza and cake. The kids had a great time at both parties! :)

I have spent lot of time making bows over the past several days. I have one more set to make...but I'm taking a bow hiatus today. :) I'm actually working on a Christmas present project today. There can only be so much "craft" time in one day.......

I went to the eye doctor today (what a thrill) ... but nothing exciting to report. My eyes haven't changed since my last visit. Then Karl, Allison and I went to Toys R Us and he and I covertly bought presents without Allison seeing. :)

Karl just headed off on a bike ride with Jack. Now I'm going to go play with my Allison!

It feels like it's been a looooong day. I think it's because our "nighttime routine" sucks the life out of me. The kids are hugged, kissed and tucked into bed and I'm ready to CHILL OUT.

I was trying to think of something "good" to blog about ... but there hasn't been much going on! Karl is on reserve for the month, but has only been called in for one trip so far. He's already stir crazy! He actually just left (8:07pm) to get his flu shot from the Randall's Pharmacy (they are open till 9:00 - who knew). That's one really bored dude.

I took the kids to the dentist today and that went well. She said they have beautiful teeth and no cavaties! That's awesome!!

Karl and I got a new trashcan today -that was our excitement. :) Actually we bought a stainless steel one that we've wanted since we moved here. So, to us, it was exciting. :)

He and I are totally hooked on the show "True Blood" on HBO. So much so, that we are switching cable companies ... but aren't until the season is over!!! It's gooooooooood. I never knew I liked vampires, but after reading the Twilight series and now watching this - I do!!

I'm going to breakfast tomorrow with some friends - I'm looking forward to it! I crack myself up thinking about it though- because I'm going with the soccer moms. That's just funny to me.....

My Grandma Lynn is hanging in there, but probably not for much longer. :( My uncle is coming from Australia to see her and arrives tomorrow night. I think she is holding on to see him.

I've had Christmas on the brain for the past few days. I managed to get my Christmas cards ordered over the weekend. YEAH. I've made them for the past few years, but that just didn't make it in the schedule this year. I'm working on some other Christmas projects and have 1/2 of my shopping done........

Ok, now I'm going to veg on the couch and watch "Samantha Who". :)

Pictures from my cousin Lynn's wedding

The family...

My two babies!

Hannah, Jack & Allison - 3 of the 5 kids in the wedding!

Karl & Jack



Jack showing off his new watch.

Lynn and her Dad

The wedding party.

Lynn & Corey cutting the cake.

Allison with my cousin Lynn, the bride. :)

Me & Karl

Jack and the other ring bearers break dancing!!

Allison smelling the roses. :)

Karl, Jack & Keith

My brother and his family.

Pictures from New York City

Me & Allison at Toys R Us in Times Square.

Jack and Simon the Mime just outside of Central Park. The kids thought he was a robot. :)

Allison & Karl in Toys R Us - we were on the ferris wheel - inside!

The family on top of Rockerfeller Center Building.

me & Jack on top of Rockerfeller Center - that's the Empire State Building in the back

Me & Jack in Central Park

We flew on Karl's flight to NYC. It was great for the whole family.




We had the best time in New York City! It was such a great experience for the kids too! It ended a little on the stressful side (we got stuck at LaGuardia airport for 6 1/2 hours) but the overall memory is GREAT! :)

catching up - can it really be November?

It's been a whirlwind for the past few weeks! I just wanted to catch up my blog (is that the correct sequence of words?)!

Karl's mom was here for Halloween and soccer. The kids scored some serious candy on Halloween. We took them to the shopping center near our house (grocery store, Starbucks, etc) and they were giving out some quality candy!!! :) It was fun to see everyone out and all the different costumes. There were some GREAT ones! We ate dinner at the mexican restaurant there and then headed back to our neighborhood to trick or treat! Jack was the red power ranger and Allison was Cinderella. They looked great!

We finished our soccer season on Saturday (whew!) with 2 games and 2 trophy parties. Allison basically got a trophy for wearing the uniform. She spent the last game skipping up and down the field. Jack is really into soccer and has gotten better and better with each season. :)

I have a million awesome pictures from October and some fun video clips too! I want to get some of those posted.....stay tuned!

This week is catch up time ... laundry, house, bows and then the Christmas shopping!!

My mom and Dottie (SIL) are coming for turkey day, so I bought some Thanksgiving-y decorations today. I REALLY like to decorate......

Karl is on reserve this month for work. Not my favorite... you know I like a plan. There is no planning with reserve.......they called him into work this morning ...phone call at 6:00am. Nice.

Alright, must accomplish much more before Allison wakes up .......

busy busy

We have had some busy weeks! This past weekend we had my cousin's wedding and the weekend before that we went to New York City! It makes me tired all over again just typing about it. :) Seriously, both were GREAT!!

New York City was amazing! We flew up on Karl's flight and we all loved that. We stayed right off of Times Square and filled our Saturday with fun ...and lots of walking! We went to the 4 story Toys R Us (twice), the M&M store, Rockerfella Center, American Girl Store, Central Park, the Subway, Hard Rock Cafe and more. The kids loved it ... so did we!!

I have more to write - but I have to go get Jack from school! :)
Pictures to come soon!

family fun

I thought I would post a fun video Karl took on Monday. We had a nice family day together that included a favorite park/playground....

Unrelated....
We still don't know if we are going to New York City today...but we're ready if the flights have enough seats! I am NOT a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl, so this is just nearly sending me into hysteria! :)

Hoping to get to NYC

This week has been a blur somehow and two things have occupied my brain: 1) getting a dress for my cousin's wedding and 2) this New York weekend. After 2 mornings of looking, I finally found a dress today. Whew. Next week I'll tackle shoes -- surely that will be easier, right?!

So, New York. We are HOPING to get on Karl's flight tomorrow. Right now it is waaaay booked, but we are really counting on people taking earlier flights. I guess if it's meant to be -- it will. Anyway, if we get there (me and kiddos) then the four of us are going to be tourists in NYC!! We are going to the American Girl Doll Store and Karl wants to go to "The Top of the Rock" - at Rockefeller Center. Not sure what else. I don't want to plan tooooo much in case it doesn't pan out. We would be staying at a hotel on Times Square, which seems pretty cool! :)

The following weekend is my cousin Lynn (yes we have the same name)'s wedding in St. Louis. My kids are flower girl & ring bearer (along with 3 other cousins) and I'm reading. It will be a busy & fun weekend.

The kids are good -- Jack is becoming a pro at his "sight words" and Allison comes home from preschool with new songs each time. Tonight they were busting some moves to Phinneus and Ferb. They crack me up!

hair bows

Made to Match Gymboree's Lots of Dot's line ... this one is a mini for a sweet little one year old!
Made to match Gymboree's Classroom kitty ...also a mini for another sweet one year old!

Halloween piggies for a cutie in Arizona!

More Halloween piggies for the other cutie in Arizona!

I have had the opportunity to make bows for lots of friends this week! Yeah! Just wanted to post some pictures of them!

what we've been up to

It's been almost an entire week since I've blogged! Yikes! Well, that book series has taken over my life. I am FINISHED though. I finished the 4th book yesterday. I don't know WHAT it is about the Twilight series, but it was mesmerizing and addicting and I think I'm left with a little post-Twilight depression!! If you've read it ... you probably feel the same way.

I have also had several awesome bow orders this week. Yeah! That's such a happy hobby. I need to get to making Allison's halloween bows and also a few others that she needs! On Tuesday she wore last year's Halloween bows {gasp} and informed me there were too small!! So, I'll be making her some BAB (big ass bows) this weekend. She is hilarious.

Jack had a good week in school - but he is TIRED when he gets home and a little on the grumpolump side!! Let's hope that goes away!! Karl got to have lunch with him at school this week and that was fun for both of them!!!

Tonight was Allison's soccer practice and tomorrow is Jack's and then Saturday is GAME DAY. Unfortunately I'm be single parenting it..... Karl's at work. Joy. Joy.

Ok, I'm tired as can be...so up to bed I go! :)