Thursday, December 31, 2009

Goodbye 2009! Hello 2010!

I have had a wonderfully blessed 2009.  I am truly thankful for all the gifts God has given us this past year.  Blake and I were not affected by the economy other than everything is more expensive.  However, we have a house over our head and we have food on our table.  We are able to provide for our children.  We were able to go see Phish 3 times this past year.  It was a first for both of us.  We spent time in Indiana with cousins, saw my sister get married, watched my best friend get married, skied for the first time as a family, and went to the beach with my brother.  I graduated from college!  Blake is trucking right on with his schooling.  WOW!  That is a lot of praises to be sooo thankful for. 

Steven earned a couple merit badges this past year.  He was baptised this year!  He played with the school football team.  He has grown and started really looking like a teenager just since August.  His voice is changing and he weighs 128 pounds.  He is just a hair taller than me.  He received two electric guitars this past Christmas and is starting to really get into music more.  He is still in concert and stage band and will travel to New Orleans with the stage band in April.  He has had a much better year this year schoolwise and is slowly(and I mean slowly) starting to get organized. 

Bryce is a chatterbox.  He is so bright and knows how to do just about anything.  He is so curious and likes to get into anything.  His favorite saying this week is "That silly Bryce."  It is so funny.  He is 3 feet tall and weighs 28 lbs.  He knows all of his colors and likes to sing, dress up, and dance.  He is watching Scooby Doo, Cailou, and Max & Ruby.  He loves trains, tools, playdo, dinosaurs, and pirates.  He has to stay busy and with the yucky weather lately it is either too cold or wet to go outside. 

Well, I have caught up on our life in 2009.  We can't wait to see what the future holds in 2010.  I feel like it can only get better. 


Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Temporary Break

We are still enjoying the holidays. I will try to post some but getting the laptop out with a toddler usually is not in my best interest. We are loving being at home and relaxing with each other. I will catch us up soon. I wish all of you out there a Happy New Year!

Thursday, December 24, 2009

You Hate Christmas????

I saw this morning on facebook someone who updated that this person hates Christmas!  Well, I am sure that some can have horrible memories of this day and the material reasons for the season BUT it is the day that Jesus was born.  That is more than enough to be thankful for and to be a little more jolly!  It is a time of year when everybody is just a little nicer to everyone.  The traffic may be more congested but if you keep the real reason in your heart Christmas should never be hated.  I do believe that some are more materialistic than others so maybe that is the reason.  Plus, you are what you are.  It is a choice to not like something.  I guess for me Christmas is just such a great time of year.  I love the music and listen to it constantly without boredom!  While I do miss those who are no longer with us, I still love this time of year.  I love the story of Jesus's birth and think it has to be the top story in the Bible!  This year I LOVE the magic of Christmas.  Bryce is old enough to know what is going on and he is super excited for Christmas morning but he also knows what the day really is too!  My wish to all of you is that you ALL have a Merry Christmas. 

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Some Bryce-isms

Bryce is a character, as some of you know.  He keeps me laughing and amazed most of the day.  Yesterday, I asked him to come back to the couch so I could read a book to him.  Instead of an okay, I get, "Hold on Mommy, I busy!"  To say he is verbal is an understatement!  here are some of my favorites:

After receiving anything he says, Thank you!  And it is so sweet and heartfelt.

When he is doing just about anything and it is to his liking he will stand back and say, "oooooo perfect"

Last night was a great night.  When Blake walked in the front door from work Bryce came running and gave him a huge hug and told him, "Yea Daddy, I love you so much, I miss you!"

"Yea, that what I talking about."

Wednesday, December 9, 2009






It's official. He is now a truly big boy! We finally changed over the crib to the toddler bed this past weekend and Bryce feels truly big. He was so proud and told everyone so far about his bed. The only problem is that he felt safe in the crib and he gets scared while trying to go to sleep. We are working on that and hope that the transition will be a quick one. So far, we are still sleeping through the night. Let's pray that doesn't change!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Roll Tide! SEC Champs!


What a game on Saturday! I never thought that we would win like that. I expected it to be a fight tooth and nail but no all we got was a little crying!

Great Game Bama! Here we come Pasadena!

Monday, December 7, 2009

Snow in Alabama!

For us here in the southeast, snow is never around. We usually never get the flurries the weathermen tell us are coming. People flock to the stores to buy bread and milk because if the power goes out they can at least have bread and milk sandwiches. I thought to myself, "Self, what if we buy chili? Maybe we can still use the turkey fryer to rig up something to heat up chili with!" After that wonderful thought I never thought anything of snow again until around 6am the next morning. After being aroused from my slumber by a toddler loudly calling, "come get me out my bed mommy!" I noticed through the blinds that everything looked white. Well, Bryce was off and ready to get dressed and go outside. So, Blake andI, dressed and headed outside before 7! I am glad we did because the snow was gone by 9. Steven also ran a race that morning in the freezing cold. I think the low was in the 20's but he braved the elements and was up and running early! He finished 4th in his mile race. I have no idea how many people ran but I know it was cold!


Sorry, this is a cell pic. But look at those feet. They both look like they are off the ground.

These are a few of my favorite things......

So the tree is up and I meant to post this last Friday to go along with Kelly's Korner's show us your home for Christmas post. But, true to form, I am behind and just catching up. Here are my favorite ornaments that I have. They are Gone With the Wind and they are Hallmark Keepsakes. That is my favorite movie next to the Griswolds. I have the Barbie dolls too. I know, I know....go ahead.... I am a dork! My only beef is that they have not made a Mammy ornament. She would be a great one! I started collecting in 1997 so I am missing a few but ebay has some that I am looking for! WOOHOO





Okay, so I think I mentioned that I fell in love with a Santa picture at Kirklands and waited almost two months to buy it because I just knew it would be on sale on Black Friday. Well here it is! We also have our elf on a shelf. He has no name yet and probably won't get one until next year. Bryce hasn't caught on to it and Steven knows who reports to Santa!
The last of my favorite Christmas things would be our stockings. Steven and I had our made by my Grandma. Mine says love, Grandma on it! Since my grandmother had already left us before Blake and Bryce I ordered some from LL Bean for them and they fit right in! Blake finally got his this year. We have always put it off and finally ordered one this year. We always meant to but something always got in the way. Probably kids!

If you really know me, you know I love Strawberry Shortcake. I still have my blanket from my twin bed that was decorated in her designs. Here is one of my first Christmas Ornaments circa 1980!
Steven also said that I had to post his football player! They sure played this weekend against Florida like this guy looks! Maybe that is why Tebow was crying! HAHAHa, Ok that is all the fun I will make of Florida.

I am catching up slowly but surely, so hold on to your hats folks!

The Perfect Tree

So, the night before Thanksgiving I had noticed that Home Depot had reaalllllly tall trees in stock. We tried to find a tall one last year and just couldn't find one tall enough! Christmas is my favorite time of year and when we were buying a house I looked for houses that would look cute at Christmas. That Wednesday we were all going to be home since the holidays can be busy plus Steven takes on selling trees at Marvin's with the scouts. We headed out when Blake got home from work and he and Steve quickly spotted the one they wanted. At the back of the trees. They worked hard moving them all so we could get to the big one. The workers from Home Depot must have thought we were nuts to want a tree already! After we loaded it up we headed for home so the boys could get to work.

They trimmed up the bottom and moved very quickly to get it in the holder so we could add water. The bottoms can sap up and I think one year this happened. We had a crunchy tree one year so we were trying something a little different. Here is the Carroll Family Christmas Tree! It wasn't going in our yard!

The next trick was getting the netting off. Since it had to be out from the wall we had to work some magic getting the netting off. Bryce and Steven were of course there to help and Bryce had to have his ladder and his apron on. They fluffed for me so I could take their picture. They are so sweet together!


I think they both learned that putting the lights on is not half as fun as going to get the tree so they went to play upstairs while Blake and I decorated. Bryce came down when we finished and said Ohhhhh Perfect!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

My Favorite AUNTIE!


Friday, December 4, 2009

ROLL TIDE


Thursday, December 3, 2009

Christmas Card Deals are Everywhere!




There are tons of deals going on for sharing your Christmas spirit with those you love.  I have ordered three different sets of Christmas cards and even have some great return address labels to go with them.  Now, some of these deals include shipping, some do not.  Here's the run down of what I have found:


SeeHere:  Get 50 free 4X8 photo cards and only pay shipping  use promo code NEWBABY.  I had a hard time using it in internet explorer but it works great in Firefox.

Vistaprint:  They have their address labels currently free, you pay shipping.  These are super cute and totally worth it!


I hope this helps with your holiday season.  I can't wait to start mailing ours out.