rachel is 18

it's official!!! rachel turned 18 on feb. 7th. she mentioned that she didnt see a post concerning her 18th birthday. here it is!! i also informed rachel that now that she is officially an adult at 18 & has no job & no drivers license that she is officially a moocher......she is mooching off of us, her parents now! she thought that was funny! i wont go into detail as I probably cant take it......the crying -  because i cant believe my beautiful fun girl is 18. on her actual birthday we took rachel to outback to celebrate. it was the first restaurant we took her to when she was a baby...3 months old...sitting in her carrier carseat up on the table. time flies when you are having fun & she has been fun.....a lot of fun. i adore her. we all adore her.

lala is dead

ok, i have to write this down lest i forget. i want to be able to re-tell this tale to Esther's children one day.
for reference Esther has said for a long time that she has a friend named "Lala". Lala is imaginary. We havent heard about Lala in a while & Esther is fixated on people getting eaten by wolves.

tonight Asher & Esther were coloring together in the floor & Asher asked Esther, out of the blue,
"Esther, where's Lala?"

Esther: "She no me friend no more." (I am writing the way she said it...not misspelling.)

Asher: "What happened to hur?"

Esther: "She no me friend no more. Me not like her. She got eat by a wolf."

Asher: "Huh? Wolves ate hur?"

Esther: "Yep. She no me friend no more. I say "wolf, eat her." the wolf eat her and she no me friend no more."

Asher: "OK."

I told Clay (we were sitting around them & listening), I dont want to get on her bad side as she is one tough girl. She told the wolf to eat her best imaginary friend. And I love that Asher just accepted what happened to Lala like it was no big deal that his 3 year old, baby sister had her best imaginary friend eaten by a wolf.

Here is the little cut throat girl who i adore!

also, this little crazy girl didnt want to go to sleep tonight. and after looking at these pictures with her sparkly eyes I wonder why i didnt want to sit up talking to her all night. She is so happy & expressive. Her eyes sparkle! Ruth is just a delightful baby. She sleeps thru the night. today she slept until 11:15AM. She went down at 10PM. That's craziness, but I wont complain! I just kept checking to make sure she was breathing. She finally rolled over yesterday morning from her back to her belly. she is a big girl...healthy. She goes Wednesday for her 4 month check up. She is in up to 6 month clothes...that's 13-17lbs & about 24 inches (i think is the measurements). Tonight I put a sleeper on that she has had for about 6 weeks & it's getting snug. I dont know if we will make it to spring in her 6 month wardrobe but I dont want to purchase anymore cold weather clothes. we will see!
the pictures may look identical but they are all slightly different. just couldnt get over how pleasantly inquisitive she looks in these pictures.

david asher turns 6

so where does 6 years go so fast? it seems like yesterday that Asher was being born. it was a fun day reminiscing with him about his emergency entrance into the world. kids love to hear "their stories".
all i know is this little boy has had his hand on this mama's heart since he was born.  i know that not a day goes by that i dont look at him & find myself having to rub the good kind of hurt that speaks of love from my heart so i can breath a little easier. he is my little joyful boy...one that is so tenderhearted and kind, wild and funny.

speaking of hurting hearts...oh this little girl makes me melt. i'm so madly in love with this sweet princess. she is the "it" girl right now! she is such a happy girl. she just turned 3 months old last Friday. time FLIES by when you are loving life & babies!!!

looking ahead

An excerpt from The Patriot Post. How quickly we forget our own words when we are just playing a game in the first place.

Looking Ahead Now that Congress has dealt with the tax crisis, the debt ceiling looms as the next showdown in just a couple of months. We can hardly wait.

As one perspicacious politician said about our ever-increasing debt, "The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our government's reckless fiscal policies. ... Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that 'the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."

That politician was Barack Obama in 2006.

happy Christmas!

this picture is the only solo picture we took of Levi...he was already in a coat, shoes & hat ready to go outside with his new tool bag & hammer something. his motto for life is "a rolling stone gathers no moss."
clay went outside & burned most of the trash from the present opening & levi wasnt about to be left out.

hope you and your family had a happy Christmas.

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Luke 1:8-14

cinnabunns

i can honestly say i will never buy a can of cinnamon rolls again. i found a recipe for cinnamon rolls off of pinterest. i thought they would be good on Christmas morning with a side of bacon and coffee. i made them tonight to see if they were as easy and as good as the pinterester said.......she didnt lie. abigail will be thrilled. she is my cinnamon roll girl. dont get me wrong...we all like their sticky, gooey goodness...but it puts abby in a good mood when she finds out we are having them.
click the link for the super easy & super good recipe for super good cinnabunns!!

homemade cinnabuns

i love pinterest and all of the recipes and ideas about fashion, decorating, education, crafting....

now for whatever reason the mention of bacon in this post made me realize i need to buy salad fixings for Christmas to cut through the carbs.

christmas is coming

well christmas is almost here again. wow!! seriously?!! where did a year go? a WHOLE YEAR!!!
it's been a big year.

here is a bit of review:

• January: We went to SC & suffered through a vomiting child all the way home & everyone got sick within quick succession. Rachel infected her recently cut out wisdom teeth wounds. It was very unpleasant.
• January: Asher celebrated his 5th birthday. 
• February: Rachel celebrated her 17th birthday.
• February: We re-homed Readen, our cocker spaniel, since she was fighting with the other dogs.
• February: We were shocked by the death of Whitney Houston.
• March: Found out Ruth was coming!!
• April: Had a long round of bronchitis & croup run through the house.
• April: Esther celebrated turning 3.
• April: Abigail celebrated turning 7.
• May: Clay & I celebrated 19 years of marriage.
• June: Sadly, Mr. Simmons passed away at almost 76 years old.
• June: We went to Nashville & Memphis, Tennessee for a family vacation. Graceland was awesome.
• June: A vicious bout of Strep Throat ran through the house.
• June: SCOTUS upheld Obamacare! (Boo SCOTUS!!)
• July: Elizabeth turned 13 and went to New York City with Clay to celebrate.
• July: We picked up our 2 sweet bunnies: Dynamite & Diamond
• August: Clay celebrated his 48th birthday.
• August: All the kids & I were in a accident in the van. My first ambulance ride!!! 
• August: Asher went on his first airplane ride.
• August: Rachel and I killed a lot of snakes!!
• September: Asher learned how to ride his bike with no training wheels
• September: Rachel started her Senior year of high school.
• October: Ruth Eleanor arrived.
• October: I had my first limo ride ever.
• November: I had my 42nd birthday.
• November: Levi celebrated turning 2!!!
• November: Barack Obama was re-elected as President...to my absolute horror.
• November: Went on a visit to GA/SC for Thanksgiving.
• December: Received my 2013 seed catalogs! 

So those are some highlights of 2012. I'm sure i'm missing tons & i couldnt put it all on here...the happenings of this year.
looking forward to what next year holds.

in the meantime:
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!