The Dreaded Stomach Flu!

What a week! Starting on Monday we have had a week of the stomach flu. Apple came down with it first, then Sunshine, then Sassy(while we were cleaning the church!) and now Mike and Jo. It is not the 24 hour kind unfortunately, Apple threw up on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The big ones who've had it are sick for about 2 days. I have only been out of the house two times since Monday. Courtney and I are the last ones, hopefully we won't get it! At least we are grateful to be sick in such favorable circumstances, in our comfortable house, with access to medicine and medical care, unlike the poor people of Haiti who are suffering so much after the terrible earthquake there. I can't imagine trying to take care of sick loved ones in such a circumstance. A girl in Sassy's dance class(Sharbine) was adopted from Haiti, and her birthmother and brothers survived the earthquake. Sassy's dance class is raising money and clothes for her adoptive mom to take directly to Sharbine's family and the orphanage she was adopted from. The girls were so excited and ran right to their rooms to get clothes and their dollars from their piggy banks to send to the kids in Haiti when they heard about it. So I guess we don't have that much to complain about after all.

The Splits and Valentine's Day Projects!

Sassy's dance class has really been working her hard lately but the payoff is that she can now do the splits!!! She is so excited and so am I because I was never able to do them! Her little sisters wanted in on the fun and had to show off their split skills, too.
Then today I decided to do a craft with Sunshine to keep her from watching movies all day, and because she loves to do crafts! This is what we came up with, melted crayon wax paper hearts. Sunshine loved it and wanted to make a million of the hearts. They look so pretty with the light from the windows shining through them. I love the Valentine's Day feeling they give to the room, because it is one of my favorite holidays!

Another batch of Back in the Day Pics!

This is how we looked back in our junior high and high school days! Mike's football picture is from 9th grade and the top one is his 10th grade picture. That is how he looked when we met and it is my favorite picture of him! I have a framed one of him above the kitchen sink :) The bottom one with my lovely permed hair is in 9th grade, and the top one I am 17 at the Ft. Worth Zoo.

Old School pics are coming....

Thanks to my lovely husband I have learned how to scan in old pictures so I can have access to them on my computer! So, for your laughter and entertainment, here is the first batch! The bottom one is prom with Jason Askew and Chris Beckman, the one above it is with Barron Hicks at prom. The one above that is my best friend Lisa Jemison and I before 9th grade banquet. Above that are two of the pics that Mike's sister Raquel took of us at his mom's house and the Bedford Boys Ranch, we were both 17. The top one is with our friend Jeff Winn at the Riverwalk in Las Colinas, we were also 17 in that one. Good Times!!

Sassy and a Flour Fight!

Sassy had her friend over last friday and they decided to make "Every Candy in the House" cookies because we were out of chocolate chips, but it quickly deteriorated into a flour fight. Oh well, the cookies were worth it, and the girls cleaned it up!

Apple's Baby Love

Apple just loves babies! Sassy took these pics of her while she was watching her. Anytime Apple can find a baby, she is dragging them around. So funny to see a baby toting around a babydoll and trying to take care of it! She keeps us laughing.

Ward Ski Night!!!

Mike and I and the girls have never been skiing, and so we figured the ward ski party would be the perfect chance for some of us to learn! Mike and Courtney took snowboarding classes, and Jo got to take skiing lessons. Sassy hung out in the lodge with me and Apple and Sunshine. Apple tried on some ski goggles before we left to get in on the fun. The hardest part was trying to get enough hats, gloves, ski pants, socks, etc for everyone! We had a great time and plan to do it again next year!

Skiing vs Snowboarding...

Some people in my extended family love skiing, some are snowboarding fans and so when we went up to the mountain, Mike and Courtney decided to try snowboarding and Jo decided to try skiing at the last minute. Uncle Jeff helped Mike and Courtney before their snowboarding lesson, and Jo got her own private lesson! Grandpa and Grandma were up skiing too, along with Uncle Mike and Aunt Nikki. We had a great time hanging out with family and learning how to ski!

While the Skiers were Outside...

While the skiers were outside on the slopes, Sassy, Grandma, Sunshine, Apple and I hung out in the lodge and ate chili and cookies! This is the only picture I got of Jo because after she saw how much fun everyone was having skiing, she wanted to try it too! So Grandma took her down and helped her get her ski rental and her own private lesson! She had a great time and really enjoyed skiing.

Susnshine and the Penguin Slide!

Sunshine wasn't just content to sit in the lodge, so she and her friends (and Aunt Nikki!) decided to do the Penguin Slide. That is where you just go sledding on your tummy! She had a great time and was out there for about 40 min. She even got to ride the magic carpet(conveyor belt on the bunny hill) with her friends!

Wrapping up the Night!!!

We had fun hanging around the lodge, watching the skiers come down and eating chili and cookies! The pic of Mike and Lauren is after they came down the mountain the last (and only!) time and were so tired after learning to snowboard! The first one is Nikki and my brothers clowning around, and then ones of us all outside the lodge. Sassy is with her friend she hung out with and who helped her and I wrangle the kids!

A nice surprise!

When I came home on Friday after taking one of the girls to dance Sassy had cleaned the whole upstairs for me!! It was the best surprise, I loved it and it really made my day! Then I made all the family (and Sassy's friend) yummy pizzas for dinner and we watched Jungle Book. Saturday the kids got to got to a movie night at Grandma and Grandpa's and they loved it! It was nice because Sassy and Jo got to go shopping at the mall with Aunt Melissa while the little kids watched the movie. Apple even let Grandpa give her a bottle! We went to the movies while the kids were with Gma and Gpa and guess who we saw? All my crazy brothers, acting suspiciously! Turns out they were going to a r rated movie and didn't want us to see them! They acted like they had run into their mom and dad or something. We must be getting old! Ps all the pics are from way back- Sassy's is when she is 11, Gma and Gpa with the kids is at Eric's wedding 4 years ago, and the one of the boys is from Jeff's wedding almost 2 years ago :)

A Good Week for Courtney!

This week was parent teacher conference for little Miss Courtney, and she got an awesome report! She is reading 112 words per minute, at a 3rd grade to 4.6 grade level. She got A's in language arts, writing, math, and behavior. She also got a special recognition from the principal for good behavior, which meant she got her name in a drawing and won a special lunch with a deputy! A deputy came to her school and she and 3 other students got to have lunch with him and sit in his patrol car. Courtney loved all the positive attention, and we love having her in our family. She is the first one to volunteer when anyone needs help, and inspires us all with her positive and kind attitude.

The horses

These are the newest(and only) residents of our pasture! The mare(bottom picture) is going to have another foal in the summer, and her colt(the middle one) is not quite one. The white one is the old man of the group. Belle is so great about taking care of them, she does it all by herself and I never have to remind her. Grandpa has been showing her all the stuff to do and she has a natural ability for taking care of them, which is good since Mike and I don't know a thing about them!