Thoughts and Prayers

I just heard that Kate's Dad passed away this morning after his struggle with cancer. Kate, my heart goes out to you and your family.

Funny noises

Jolene is getting quite boisterous these days. She loves to laugh and her new thing is spitting. I think she continues to do so cause her dad and I laugh so hard when she does it. Her face scrunches up and she looks like a cabbage patch doll- all puckered up.

The sickness

Emmett has come down with strep throat and Luke is not feeling very well either. It is a house of sickness today. Cross your fingers that Jolene and I stay healthy! Jolene is 24 weeks this week and growing like crazy. She is loving the green colored foods, but not handling the "oranges" very well- the nastiest diaper rash I have ever seen! We'll try them again in a few weeks. Fruit got started a few days ago and she doesn't seem to care one way or the other. Moving right along.....before I know it, she'll be ordering up pizza!

Birthday party

Our friends', Tara and Willie, daughter Cora turns 4 on Monday so we got to help celebrate today with cupcakes, a pinata and Skittles the Clown. Emmett really did not want anything to do with the clown because Tara's son, AJ, had so many toys to enjoy! (At least I got some great ideas for his birthday coming in a few months!) Skittles painted the kids faces, made balloon swords and animals, and danced and played with the kids. Everyone loved her. It was a very fun day for all the kids. If Emmett is infamous for anything it's playing hard and falling hard asleep on the ride home. He was blowing his birthday horn one minute and out like a light the next.

Happy New Year 2010!

This new year, we had the opportunity to try something new. Our friends, Jeff and Jessica came over with their kids and we got to celebrate without anyone leaving the house. Their oldest, Melody, got to invite a friend since Layla and Emmett are the same age and would've driven her nuts. So Melody and Skylar came with huge intentions of not spending anytime with the "young" kids. They brought a laundry basket of play clothes and played dress up for hours by themselves. I guess when the girls left to come over they exclaimed "It feels like vacation!". Glad we could oblige. It also felt like vacation. Emmett and Layla played without a problem and we never saw the "older" girls and Jolene was in bed by 8:30pm. The adults had a wonderful fillet mignon dinner and the kids had "make your own pizza" night. The kids celebrated with fancy horns and tiaras with sparkling cider at the "New York" new year. Once the kids went to bed, we adults played cards and had a few drinks to ring in the actual new year. We got up this morning and made breakfast and watched the parade. What a wonderful way to start the new year. Luke, Emmett, Jolene and I went to the Anderson's to watch football and enjoy the last of fattening food before the resolutions begin. We did celebrate the year's good fortune with a new recipe for Spicy Black Eyed Pea Dip that is delicious and nutritious! The much good fortune from eating the peas is well deserved this year. We wish that fortune for everyone! Happy New Year to you all!

And a HUGE congrats to Sara Bomar and Eric on their engagement!!!!! What a rock! I mean... what a wonderful guy! Ok, both will do!