Squeaky Shoes!

Treyson wears alot of the squeaky shoes. There are so many brands, and he's had different kinds. But these squeaky shoes are WIDE, and he has very wide feet. We are not crazy about the squeakers, so we always take them out and throw them away. They get really annoying, really fast. So I bought Treyson a new pair of black squeaky shoes on Friday, and Jerry wanted me to put them on him with the squeakers still in to see what Treyson would do. Treyson thought it was hilarious, and was running and dancing all over the place. Enjoy!

Good Morning to Donuts

Friday morning after workout class, I stopped and bought donuts.....doesn't make sense does it? Dadoo and the kids were very happy to wake up to fresh donuts. I took a couple of pics of the kids as they were playing in our bed. Have a great weekend!

Birthday Present

Jerry surprised me in a really big way for my birthday. He gave me a Nicholas Sparks book, and tucked inside it were some papers. Those papers were the information for a trip he planned for us to take! He is taking me to Niagara Falls!! I'm so excited to go do this with him! Mom and I went to Toronto for my 21st birthday, and we took a trip to see the Falls for a day and it was amazing. We had a fantastic time. I am so ready to enjoy this with Jerry too! We'll be staying in this hotel overlooking the falls (this is on the Canadian side--the better view by far...sorry America!) He had planned it for the end of March, but we're going to wait until June because it's too cold up in Canada in March (especially since we'll be up close to the falls doing the tours).Then, we're going to eat dinner in this restaurant which revolves and also overlooks the falls. We might do "Maid of the Mist" (I did this with my Mom, and it was incredible) Or we might do the hike under the falls: Maybe a helicopter? (although I'm sure it's rather pricey)
Jerry, you sure got me on this one. I can't wait to travel here with you! We are going to have such a great time. I love you so much!

Mommy's Birthday!

Well, since somebody (ahem) won't blog in this household, I'll have to just toot my own horn about how fabulous I am for my own birthday...haha!

I had a great birthday on Wednesday! I was bound and determined that this would be a great birthday since it's my last one that begins with a "2". First, my alarm went off at 4:30 and off I went to go to my "Body Pump" class. I was thinking that I'd just keep it mum about my birthday so that the instructor wouldn't embarass me. Well, I was doing pretty good until my card got scanned, and then computer announced (very loudly I might add), "Happy Birthday". And then about 3 or 4 workers in the gym shouted out to me Happy Birthday as well.

I got home and all of the lights were still out (about 6:25), but I could smell something yummy. I rounded the corner to head to my room and Jerry and Anniston were in the kitchen with the lights out with a candle lit in the middle of a stack of pancakes and started to sing "Happy Birthday" song to me as soon as they saw me. I made my wish, then Anniston and I sat on our bed to eat like princesses.

Afterwards I got ready for work, and Anniston got ready for school.

Treyson even got up early to spend extra time with me.

And then he saw that we had leftover pancakes, and he wanted in on that action!

I went to work Monday. At lunch time, Jerry rolled in (unannounced) to take me out to eat. We chose Mexican....yummmmmmm! I love surprise lunch dates!

After work we went to the Ash Wednesday service at our church which is always a very powerful, moving service. We went to Dairy Queen afterwards to get my favorite, a dipped cone (except I get it in a cup).

Once we got home, we watched the olympics for a little while with Anniston, put her to sleep, and then watched the movie, Couples Retreat. It was cute, and I'd been wanting to see it for awhile. Let's just say that I HAVE to go to Bora Bora soon. We watched the credits and it was filmed at the St. Regis in Bora Bora....I don't care if I'm there, but I just want an over-the-water bungalow....oh my goodness--AMAZING!

Now if that doesn't look amazing, i don't know what will please you!

Thank you Anniston, Treyson, and Jerry for an amazing birthday! I look forward to Saturday evening's celebration with MaMa and PaPa as well!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a great Valentine's Day weekend at our house. On Friday, Anniston had her Valentine's party at her school. We got "Princess and the Frog" valentines to give to her classmates and tucked Smarties inside. Mommy wrote the names of her Anniston's friends, and Anniston wrote her name on all of the Valentine's...that was a total of 15 times! We are so proud of her. Here's one of her Valentine's she did (we have some work to do on our "S"...those are tricky, according to Anniston!) :At her party, they had Ice cream sundaes and made a valentine's headband. Here's a picture of Anniston with one of her best buddies, Baylor:

Mommy and Anniston:

That evening, Aunt Courtney stayed with us at our house. She was in town for a bridal shower. Anniston and Treyson both went NUTS when she walked in the door. Anniston put on quite a little performance for her after Treyson went to bed.

Saturday morning, Mommy and the kiddos gave Dadoo his Valentine's present. A big cookie cake from the Cookie Company (Dadoo's favorite). I didn't take a picture before, and now there's only a small part left, so you'll just have to imagine. Dadoo then gave Anniston and Mommy their Valentine's present:

Dadoo has gotten Mommy roses every Valentine's Day for 15 years (and he's arranged them himself almost all of those years except for when I was living in Little Rock), and this year he gave Anniston a rose too. Anniston told him it's because we are both his princesses, and I think she's right. I already feel sorry for the man that she meets in the future. Dadoo's setting a very high standard for her!!
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Saturday evening, Mrs. Amber kept the kids for us and Jerry and I went out to celebrate Valentine's day. He took me to Carrabas Italian restaurant for dinner, and then we went to see "When in Rome" afterwards. It was so nice to be able to escape to have a nice dinner and chat (mostly about the kids) over a bottle, yes, bottle of wine (we don't do this very often!!).

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Sunday morning Anniston sang at church. She was SO excited to perform for all of her family that came to watch her. Thank you Aunt Robin, Uncle Mike, Meredith, Ryan, Nanny, PawPaw R, Aunt Courtney, MeMaMa, MaMa, and PaPa for coming to watch Anniston sing. She is still talking about all of you being there to watch her!

After church, we all headed to Monte Ne Chicken to enjoy their southern family style dinner. It was so tasty, and we were all stuffed. Then we came back to our house and the grandparents had Valentine's for the kids. They opened their gifts, and then we tried to get some pictures. However, it was already an hour or two past our normal naptime, and Treyson was NOT happy!! Dadoo then made his traditional Valentine's Day dinner later that evening. Steaks and grilled lobster tails....yummmmmy! We went to bed stuffed, stuffed, stuffed!
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Happy Valentine's Day to everybody!

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Thank you to my wonderful husband for making this an amazing Valentine's Day weekend for me, and to my two littlest Valentines who I can't imagine living without!! I love you all! Love,Mommy

Girls Date Day

Anniston, MaMa, and I went to go see "The Runaway Bunny" and "Goodnight Moon" at the Walton Arts Center last Saturday. It was really amazing. They used puppets for all of the acting, and the sets were amazing too. I think Anniston really enjoyed herself. Children were encouraged to wear their pajamas for the performance....not Anniston--she decided that she'd much rather wear a beautiful dress instead.

After the play we went to Olive Garden for lunch. We had a great meal, and as we were leaving Anniston said she needed to go to the bathroom. So MaMa stayed out in the waiting area while we went in. Anniston gets up onto the potty and asks to hold my hands (she does this at public restrooms because we don't let her hang on to the edge of the potty like we do at home). So I crouch down and hold her hands. She goes potty, and then announces that she has some "boo-boos". So, I tell her ok, go ahead. She starts grunting really loud (like loud enough for everybody to hear). I thought that if she only did it once, no big deal. Well, she kept on and kept on. So I said, "Anniston, you don't have to make that loud noise when you go boo-boos." So her face turned beet red as she was quiet, and then she loudly announced that "Boo-boos just don't come out if I'm quiet Mommy" and she began to grunt again. Then, when she was done, she let out this exhausted breath of air and said, "There, I'm done now Mommy".

It was hilarious, and I'm sure that the other 2 ladies in the stalls and 1 waiting in line were quite entertained.

Thanks MaMa for reminding me to tell that story. How is it that I've got 2 posts about "boo-boos" in 2 days? That's just my life!......and I love it!!

Boo-boos?

Let me start by saying that Jerry's mom, Nanny, calls going #2 boo-boos. We got used to saying that when Kinley (our niece) was born, and then it just came natural to call Anniston's and now Treyson's bowel movements boo-boos. (I know you are so anxious to read further! haha)

So tonight I was in the kitchen cooking, and Treyson walks by and I thought I smelled something. So I crouched down and said, "Treyson do you have boo-boos?" I then pulled his shirt up, pants and diaper out, then said, "No boo-boos". Then as I was still crouched down, Treyson walked behind me, raised my shirt (thankfully didn't pull out my pants), and said "boo-boos?"

Silly little boy, and so smart! I just love him to pieces!!

Treyson and Pretend Baby Treyson

This is a picture of Treyson with one of Anniston's dolls "Pretend Baby Treyson"--yes, that is his actual name. She got him shortly after Treyson was born from MaMa and PaPa, and that's what she named him. Treyson was being a good little Daddy to him tonight by loving on him.

I guess he figures that since Dadoo puts him on his head, he'll put Pretend Baby Treyson on his head too! Notice the lovely black eye that the trim surrounding our staircase gave him. Staircase-1, Treyson-0. (I'm sure it's the first of many!)

Giving Pretend Baby Treyson his paci

Close-up so we can all remember how awesome his cheek and eye look just in time for pictures on Valentine's Day (although I'm sure it will be lovely shades of yellow and green by then) This happened on Tuesday evening. Jerry walks in the door. Anniston was the pantless princess running crazy, and I was rocking Treyson while he was down to the "whining" phase of his injury. I was holding him like a baby to be able to restrain his arms so he wouldn't pull off the ice pack I had (which he hated by the way). Jerry walks up close and is evaluating the situation and then says, "What on earth is that?" He was referring to the "ice pack". Well, you see I never did end up throwing out the excess breast milk packs I had frozen (no particular reason, more like forgetfulness/laziness??), so it made for the perfect ice pack. I'm pretty sure Jerry thought that was rather odd. I was actually proud of myself for thinking to use it. It was the perfect little size!

Big Sister, Little "big" brother

Anniston and Tresyon thought they were hilarious when she picked him up. She's picked him up before, but he usually just dangles like a limp noodle. Now Treyson hikes his legs up and she can carry him around for a few steps. I'm pretty impressed considering she's 40 pounds and he's 28!!

Look very carefully, or try and click on this pic to enlarge. You can see a nice black eye that Treyson has with a nice scrape to enhance it on his cheek. Treyson slid into the stairs (like the wood trim on the corner....the stairs won!)

LOTS OF SNOW PICTURES!!

We had so much fun playing in the snow. Our last big snow was when we had escaped to Ft. Smith over Dadoo's birthday weekend. Here are several pictures from that day. Enjoy!

sledding on the driveway (PawPaw R sure got a good workout!!)

Waiting with their ammunition....who will strike first? (I'm pretty sure Dadoo did)

Snow angels!

Sweet Sissy and Bubby!

I think Nanny is sensing something very big, wet, and cold about to pound her in the back side of the head!

PawPaw R. pulling the kids on the old-fashioned sled that Dadoo used to use!

"Watch out Nanny! There's a snowball about 6 inches from pelting you in the head!"

Dadoo sailing a snowball at nanny

If you look very carefully, you can see a snowball flying towards Dadoo (it's flying in the middle of the shrubs that are in front of the pool deck). Nice shot, Nanny!

"Hmmmm.....to get cold/wet, or not to get cold/wet.....that is the question"

"I feel like I can barely walk with all of these layers on, Mommy"

Nanny and Dadoo reloading for another round:

Anniston scraped some snow off the top of the hot tub and she's showing it to me:

We've definitely had our fair share of snow. I'm sick of it. How about you?

Deep Thoughts

Jerry, Anniston, and I were sitting around the kitchen table this evening eating a snack after she and Jerry got home from dance. Somehow the conversation led me into talking about not following strangers. Jerry and I talked about never walking away with a stranger, even if they seem like your friend, etc.

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So then I started setting up several scenarios. I said, "You're at the park and a really sweet person walks up and tells you to come to their car because they have a beautiful pink balloon for you. But you have to go to their car to get it. What do you do?" Automatically she answers "Yes!" So I realize she's way too kind hearted, and trusting. We go on and on with different scenarios using various luring items (cotton candy, sprite, dora fruit snacks, toys, sucker, etc). She finally got the hang of it, and was then telling us how she should run away and scream. So we definitely made progress, although it did scare her talking about not being with Mommy and Dadoo.

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So, we were about to say our prayers this evening. We were gathered around her bedside kneeling, and Anniston says, "Mommy and Dadoo: If somebody walks up to you and tells you to come to their car for some wine, what do you say?" Jerry said, "What did you say?" And then Anniston went on to repeat it. I had to turn my head because I was laughing so hard. I won't lie to you people....I love some good, fruity, blush wines. But I'm no "wine-o" by any means. Her little scenario cracked us up, and it was really sweet how serious she was. So of course we played along and said, "Yes". She said, "No Mommy, you run away and scream for your Anniston and Tresyon."

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One more funny Anniston story (some day I'll have funny Treyson stories....he just has to learn to talk first!). When Treyson was little people would tell us he's cute, how sweet, etc. and we would respond, "Yeah, we think we'll keep him." So.....Anniston and I were showering one evening, and she is into rinsing every.single.body part. So I was trying to rinse my shampoo and she frantically says, "Mommy, I really need to rinse my ears. I forgot." So I stepped out of the way and she puts her ear up to the stream of water. It was so cute, so I looked at her and said, "You are so stinkin' cute Anniston." She got done rinsing her ears, and looked at me so seriously and said, "So do you think you're going to keep me?"

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I just love the mind of a 3 year old!! So funny, and they have no clue how sweet their little comments are!

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Oh, she is such a doll! I won't post a blog about her without a picture. Here's a couple of pics from dance from a few weeks ago. I had to take them through a double sided mirror, so they didn't turn out great. I'll take my big camera some day and get better ones!

Following Mommy's footsteps?

Doesn't sound like it right now, but you never know! Anniston is singing in church next Sunday. They sent home the music with us to practice, but I really wonder how many parents have/had piano skills to be able to help their kids. Anyway, lucky for Anniston her Mommy played the piano pretty well back in the day.

So today, we were singing and playing our two songs ("We are the Church" and "Hymn of Praise"). Then Anniston wanted to switch and play while I sang. That was hilarious, so of course I had to video it. She was SO serious and really thought she was playing very well.

I have so many snow pictures to download, so this is just a sneak peek into the fun we had last weekend in Ft. Smith.

This is Anniston with PawPaw R (and he's holding Treyson)

And here's Treyson getting pulled (actually, it's the end of his ride, but you get the point!)

There will be an entire blog post with about a bazillion pictures coming soon. I'm trying to blog today while deep cleaning my closet--YUCK!

Happy Birthday Dadoo!

Jerry had his last birthday in the 20's last Sunday. We were in Ft. Smith to celebrate ( I was too chicken to stay home because I didn't want to endure having no electricity again). Jerry's mom made his favorite meal --roundsteak and mashed potatoes with gravy, and had a huge cookie cake (which was all gone by Monday!).

Happy Birthday Dadoo! We love you so much, and we hope that this year is even better than the last!

Love, Mommy, Anniston, and Treyson