My little carpenter

So the other day I was inside doing some things and I heard all this hammering going on outside.  I knew that the little ones were out there, but I just went about my business (I know I am a bad mother for not checking, but that is what happens to the 3rd and 4th child...you lighten up quite a bit).  A little while later J.J. came inside and said he made something he wanted me to see! 


Don't you just love it!  It made my heart melt when he said "Look Mom, I made a cross."  I love this boy more that words and tell!!!  I sure hope that he takes after his Papa and his woodworking!

Happy Saint Patricks day!

Here are my two cuties on St. Patty's day.  The other 2 changed into their soccer clothes before I had a chance to snap a picture of all of them.  May you find the treasure at the end of the rainbow!

Fashion statement!

One night after dinner these two clowns came parading out of my bedroom wearing my clothes!  Aren't they going to love it when I pull these pictures out in a few years!!!  L.C. did do a good job matching his shoes with his jacket, and the boots on No-Bo are all the rage right now!

Vogel

 

We decided to take advantage of a day off of school and great weather and went for a hike at Vogel State Park.   Here are No-Bo and J.J. after lunch ready to take on the trail.

All of my sweet babies.  They did awesome hiking for 4+ hours!

 If you look closely you can see No-Bo sitting here.  He sat in this spot and said "Wow Mom, this was worth the hike!"  I had to agree...we almost didn't walk this little bit, and we would have missed out on this view!  I love it that he cares about that at 7 years old.

 

"Best Buddies"   - This boy is the best big brother! 

Just had to include a family photo...aren't we cute???!!!  I made it extra big so you could enjoy our faces!

First signs...

...of spring, and I LOVE IT!!!!

I know we still have another month until spring, but little buds popping up everywhere get me excited!  What is your favorite season?

Yeah Baby!

(Photo by Linden Tree Photography)

YEAH BABY!!...  is this little guys favorite thing to say these days, and it is almost as cute as he is!!!

Horrible wife!

(Photo by Linden Tree Photography)

 I am a horrible, horrible wife!  There I said it!!   This sweet, wonderful man had a Birthday (Jan.2). and it has come and gone without even a mention of it on the blog!  To make it even worse it was the big 4...0!  

Soooo with that being said... join me in wishing a Happy (belated) Birthday to my sweet husband!  He is definitely a no frills type of guy, and because of that he said that he didn't want us to do anything for his Birthday...especially a surprise party.  Here is a little something to make up for being slack very busy:

Dearest Jeffers (affectionately called),

Happy 40th Birthday to you!  You are so deserving of a huge party complete with fireworks, a big band, and everyone you know present!  Because who you are a simple party at home is more than enough for you.  I am so thankful for your 40 years of life, and I am looking forward to at least that many more with you.  You are such an amazing husband, dad, teacher, coach, and you make a difference to those you come in contact with.  The world (and our kids) is a much better place with you in it.   Thank you, thank you, thank you for being that man that you are.  We love all love you so very much.  Here's to many, many, many more Birthdays.

Love always,

Carolyn

Snow Buddies

I absolutely love to watch these two interact.  They play so well together and make up all kind of things.  I hope that they will always stay best friends!  It just melts my heart!

Sledding!

 Doesn't it look like we are at some ski resort?  Poor J.J. keep fighting with his hat!

 I love this picture of my sweet Pipi and her delicate features.  I just wish it a sharper image.

Dog pile!

This boy loves to sled...he is a speed demon!

L.C. built a ramp and caught some air a few times!

My sweet J.J. wasn't too big on going down the hill, so he just played at the top!

 

We were going to go to Huntsville the day after Christmas, but we got all this snow and decided that we really wanted to go sledding instead the roads would be too bad to drive over the mountain (which by the way it did get a little harry on the way there).  We drove up to Rabun Gap school where there were many people who had crawled out of the hills to sled...so we joined them.  Fun, fun fun!  The ambulance only had to come once while we were there!

Christmas, Christmas, and more Christmas!

 

After school got out we headed to Pickens for a few days to celebrate Christmas with the Wilson clan.  Christmas #1

Christmas morning!

Christmas # 2

No more dreaming of a white Christmas!!

 

After Christmas at our house we made our way to Huntsville for Christmas with the Algie crew!  The kids sure do enjoy spending time with their cousins!  Christmas #3

** I am trying my best to catch up on my blog.  Like I said some other time that when I get so far behind I just shut down and can't do anything...I just dont' want to skip over these sweet moments that we have had.

**Another side note...this new blogger format is driving me crazy...I can't figure out how to do what I want and it is driving me CRAZY...that will explain why this post looks the way it does...just enjoy the pictures!

Double digits

 

My sweet baby has hit double digits!  That's right this handsome boy is 10 years old.  He is such a precious young man.  We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful kid.   To quote my good friend "Carolyn, he is abnormal".  This kid has such an amazing heart for people.  We couldn't ask for a greater role model for his brothers and sister.  I am not sure what I did to deserve this boy, but I am so thankful that he was sent to me.  Happy Birthday L.C.  We love you so very much!!!

Crazy family!

Here is a silly picture from Thanksgiving of my family.  Everyone was home except the craziest one of us all, my youngest sister!  See if you can find:  the one with no eyeballs, the one acting like a bear, the want to be a model and mother- daughter look alike, the really crazy man, 2 scared kids, the panting puppy dogs, and my favorite...the one who is about to throw up!  Love this crew!!!

No camp camping

Friday we celebrated No-Bo's 7th Birthday with a camping party.   We (meaning Jeff) had a big fire going and we roasted hot dogs and had smores!  It was cold, but the kids ran around enough to not really notice.  I was actually very relaxed with this party, and forgot to take many pictures.  Here are a couple of the cake that I made...I think it turned out great if I do say so myself!

 

I had all the candles in the center of the fire pit, and as you can see this created a huge flame!

 

Seven

Happy Birthday my sweet little one!  I hope that your day is all that you expect it to be.  We are very proud of you, and love you very much!

"The Hill"

 

We went to watch P.C.'s (Presbyterian College) last football game of the season.  The kids really look forward to "The Hill".  They were upset at first because we didn't have any boxes, but a trip to the concession stand provided all the pizza boxes we needed!   

 

Oh, and P.C. won!!!

Couponing

In September we had a big coupon session in our MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers) meeting.  The girls did a wonderful job explaining how and where to save money.  I just have to say thank you to them with one breath and then a sarcastic thank you with another.  I now spend A LOT OF TIME couponing!  Really it can consume a lot of my time, but now I HATE to go shopping without coupons!  I like to think that I am getting better at it, but I still have some tricks to learn.

We have enough shower gel to last us until L.C. goes to college, but all of this was $20 out of pocket.  I got $18 back, so it really was like getting all of it for $2 and some change!!!  The moisturizers were $16 each, the Nivea shower gels are $4.99 each, the TP is $7ish...you get the picture...this was a really good deal!  Now if I could get quicker at coming up with deals.

Don't rob the money jar...

...or you will get caught...

You think that we would learn not to take from the jar...this is our 3rd one!!!

Ebates - Waahoo!!!

We spent most of this past week out of town visiting both of out families. This requires going to South Carolina part of the time and then traveling back the opposite direction to Alabama! Fun, fun, fun!

When I get back home I ran out to check the mail because it is one of my simple pleasures in life (not that I usually get good things). There was a check for $14.50 from Ebates! This is the second check that I have gotten from them. It is totally FREE money which I love, and it came at such a great time being the end of the month and all. Anyway if you do online shopping you need to check out Ebates.

Ebates is a shopping site that gives you a of % cash back every time you shop online. You can shop at over 1000 stores including eBay, JCPenney, Macy's, Nordstrom, Overstock.com, Walmart, Kohl's, Target, snapfish, Lands End, Home Depot, and many more really good ones. I ordered boots from Piperlime and got 8% back. My Mom bought a refrigerator this weekend from Home Depot using Ebates, and she is getting $65 back!! Plus you get additional savings with exclusive coupons, free shipping offers, and limited-time sales! Anyway it is silly not to get money back from purchases that you are going to make anyway...I just saying!!!

If you click on any of the Ebates links you can sign up Ebates today and we'll each get a $5 bonus when you make your first purchase! I thought this would be a great time for those of you who shop Cyber Monday and any Christmas purchases! Let me know if you have any questions.

Okay I will post a picture of my check when I get my camera batteries charged! And I will hopefully get some more update posts of all our going-ons lately!

4

Cool tree at Amicoloa Falls!

J.J.'s art

Have you ever seen a better drawing from a 4 year old...I think not! Just look at all the detail! This boy loves to draw and make things perfect. Yesterday he said he couldn't draw a heart, so I drew one for him. He traced it a couple of times and then drew about 20 of them until he had a perfect one...now he can draw hearts like a pro...and I love him so much it makes mine hurt!