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. 

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!

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. 

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."

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!

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!

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.