Christmas - the finale

I'm ready to wrap up Christmas with a big shiny bow and put it back in the attic!!

So here's my final Christmas post and it is all about the big morning!!

Parker had big plans to get up around 5:00 to open presents and I flat out told him that wasn't going to happen!! I put an alarm clock in his room and told him not to come out until at least 7:30. Then I set it an hour ahead hoping for 8:30!! Luke came in around 7:45, so excited that Santa had, in fact, come!! He said Alex and Parker were in the playroom playing video games. So, I'm not sure how long they had been up, but it didn't matter because we all got to sleep in a little.

We all make it into the living room and Alex brings me a present and Parker takes Scott a present. I say something like, "guys, why don't yall open your presents from Santa first? We can wait to open ours." And Parker sweetly says, "no - yall open first. We love yall more than we love ourselves!!" Scott and I say "aaawwwwww - ok!!" (not sure how much truth there was to that little statement, but it was very nice for him to say!!)

Parker gave Scott a mini Minnesota Vikings helmet and Alex gave me this:

The picture is not very clear but it is a blown glass thingy that says "mom" with a red rose.

Here are the boys opening and having a little fun:

Here are the night before pics in our new jammies and with Santa's milk and cookies. A sign of the times - I realized about 5:00 that we hadn't made any cookies for Santa. Thankfully, Santa loves Oreos so that's what we did!!

Landry was done with pictures by this point, as is evidenced by his showing of his mean eyes!!

Here's the big gift of the day. This was technically for the three older boys so we wrapped it in way that they could all have a part in opening it. Luke started us off -

When Luke got into the bag, there was a big box for Parker

When Parker opened the box, there was a box for Alex.

And when it was opened, we had a Wii!! Yay for the wii!!

As you can see from the picture, Luke is still a little upset that the big present wasn't for him exclusively!! It seemed like such a great idea at the time!!

All in all, it was a fun day. I totally forgot to take pictures of lunch at my mom's house. I think it was because Edith and George and specifically "Little George" weren't there. "Little George" always gives the kids such a good time, playing whatever they want - football, basketball, wrestling, games. They think he's like 15 years old, even though he's a little older than that!!!

Finally, here are the pics of the completed gingerbread house!! My camera batteries went dead right after we finished it, so I kind of forgot that I never posted the finished product. Let me just say that I forgot how much fun these really are!! It completely tested my patience but the kids had a great time. Once I got over the fact that it wasn't necessarily going to look anything like the box, I was able to enjoy it and watch the kids have fun!!

I hope your Christmas was amazing and utterly exhausting, as ours was!! The lady working the drive-thru at McDonalds on the morning after Christmas (shopping, of course!) summed it up best when she said, "I'm just glad it's over!! I'd alot rather go to work than do Christmas again!!"

To which I replied - thanks for sharing!!

The new addition . . .

No - I'm not expecting a baby - thank you Lord!!

The newest addition to our family came in a box under the tree on Christmas morning.

It is ....

a Wii !!!

This game system is so stinkin' FUN - I would have never believed it if I hadn't actually played the crazy thing myself. But it is super FUN!!

We had thrown around the idea of getting the boys a wii for Christmas but I didn't really even think of looking for one until it became apparent that they were nearly impossible to find. So, one day while I was doing a little shopping at Walmart, I went to just talk with the nice electronics people and see what my odds were of actually putting my hands on one before Christmas.

When I walked up, there was a lady shopper there who was almost beside herself with excitement. I tentatively smiled at her like, "am I missing something here?" and she said with great enthusiasm, "they're taking them off the truck!!" I say, "they're taking what off the truck??" Practically screaming, "the Wiis!!!!!"

So, in a rare stroke of luck or providence, my timing was perfect and I walked out with a Wii!!

Fast forward to the last 2 days and that crazy toy has been a load of laughs, singing, crying and throwing our bodies into all sorts of shapes and contortions. The sports package that comes with the system is fun, but my personal favorite game is Dancing with the Stars. I think my love of this show is well documented, but the game is hysterical! If you know me, you know my dancing ability is unparalleled! Phenomenal, if you will!! And this game only enhances my moves!!

(OK - that whole last part was a big joke if you didn't already know that. I have NO moves and I can't even imagine what I look like when I play this game, but it is so fun!)

Anyway, I'm going to try to get some pics of the boys playing it so you can share in the fun!

Did I mention that it is really a lot of FUN??!?!?

It is!!

Christmas - numero dos

Sunday night, the party was at our house!! Grandma and BigPa, Debra and Jeff, and everyone else (Mom, Dad, Ryan, Shannon, girls) came over for some more food, fun, and presents. Even Uncle Joe made a cameo appearance sans the wig. (If you know Uncle Joe, you'll understand that. If you don't, nevermind!!)

Anyway, this night is always fun because we just don't get together that much anymore so it's always fun to see everyone and for them to get to see the kids in all their glory!! Grandma and BigPa decided to give the gifts gift cards so the kids could pick out their own presents and so the three older boys got a Visa gift card. We didn't think Landry would understand the concept of a card instead of a gift, so he got a new tricycle. Little did we know the next morning as Scott was getting ready to take them shopping (it is Christmas Eve, after all!!), Landry would come in demanding to know where his "DEBIT TARD" is!!

Anyway, here are some pics from the fun night:

Deb and Jeff got everyone a Mavericks something - they looked so cute - and the picture turned out really well!!

Landry LOVED his new trike!!

Here are Grandma and BigPa with all the boys!!

And here are Mom and Dad with all the kids!

Good times with family!!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas - numero uno

Christmas Eve is upon us and we are ready for the big day!!

This weekend, we had 2 Christmas events and I thought I'd better blog about them before they all ran together!!

Saturday night, we went to my mom and dad's for Christmas with them and Ryan, Shannon, and the girls. It was lots of fun and everyone got lots of great gifts. Here are some highlights:

Here everyone is eager with anticipation!!

Here are Alex and Meagan's big gifts of the night - mp3 players

Here's Parker with his Fur Real Parrot - just a little annoying!! (another post for another day)

Landry got a new basketball goal and he had quite a bit of trouble actually getting the ball into the goal. He fell a lot and got hit on the head a LOT with the ball!! Quite funny to watch!!


All Luke really wanted for Christmas was a football and he got 2 on this night!! A happy boy!!

This is always a fun time with family, good food, and great gifts!! Tonight was no exception!

The early bird gets a .. .. ..

My friend, Leigh blogged a few days ago about the benefits getting to sleep late.

While I could not agree more, I had to get up early this morning in hopes of finishing up my Christmas shopping. My theory was that if I got to the mall when it opened (8 am) that I might avoid the crowd. So, I arrived at the mall at 8:15 and went straight to Old Navy. There was a nice lady at the entrance and she asked if I wanted to participate in their gift card give away today.

So, I say "huh?"

She says, "if you spend $20, you get a gift card for $20"

I'm like "seriously??"

She says - YES!!

So, of course I want to participate and I get my ticket to get my gift card!!

How crazy is that?? Apparently, the first 100 people in the store today got a gift card if they spent $20!! I love Old Navy!!

And yes, I did avoid the crowd both at the mall and at Wal-Mart, but I still have one gift to buy! There's always one tough one and I have yet to find it!!

But I did get a bonus $20 at Old Navy today and that makes for a great day!

Baby Brody

A new little baby has entered the world today!!

A very special baby!!

Brody Matthew

6 lbs. 12 oz.

19 inches

3:37 pm

After a lot of weeks and months and lots of high, high blood pressure for Jenny, Brody finally made his grand entrance to the world. He is so beautiful and perfect in every way!! Jenny is doing well and probably no one is prouder than his big sister, Baylee!!

Here we all are keeping Jenny awake at the hospital when she was so tired!!

And here's the happy family of four!!

Congrats you guys!! He's beautiful!!

The Big 1-1

Happy birthday to Alex today!!

My firstborn, who weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds and 5 ounces, celebrated 11 years on the planet today!! He is growing up to be a nice young man!

Here are some pics from the big day today:

Playing Capture the Flag

Eating pizza

Blowing out candles

All the boys in front of the bonfire!! They had lots of fun with the fire and smores!!

All in all, a very fun, exhausting day!!

Happy birthday Alex!!

A trip to the post office

Going to the post office on December the 15th is foolish, I know!! But that is where I found myself today because, obviously, I had some stuff that had to go out in the mail! And I needed to get some stamps for those Christmas cards that are going to get made, addressed and delivered before Christmas!

Anyway, I went to the little Lake Worth office because it's closer, smaller, and I thought I would have better luck there. I should have known something was amiss when I pulled up and counted 5 cars!! Instead, I couldn't believe my good fortune at such a low turn-out!! I loaded up my 3 packages and went inside to find a dark post office!!

Not to be deterred, I headed over to the next closest post office and was not at all surprised to find the parking lot to be packed!! This is more like it, I thought!! I went in and immediately saw the people, as they were right in front of the door. I looked to my left toward the end of the line and saw about 8-10 more people before the line ended!! I smiled and got in line! There were approximately 30 people ahead of me and pretty much everyone was thrilled to be there!!

Here's a sampling of what I saw/heard/observed:

* Cute, newly married couple both with strawberry blond hair, mailing presents to her parents and nieces/nephews (pure speculation!)

* Older, grandma type ahead of them that received a call on her cell about 3 minutes into my wait. We got to hear all about her very red, puffy eyes and the medication she was taking for that, that "Kenny" was having surgery on his gallbladder and something about his liver, and her version of the local forecast, including yesterday's report and what should happen today.

* An obscene amount of ear hair in one gentleman who I heard say more than once, "my favorite memory about that was . . . "

* The nice young girl in front of ear-hair-man who very patiently listened to his stories while wearing her lavender pleather jacket with matching pink toboggan and purse.

My favorite happening at the post office occurred when it got close to closing time and an employee asked those of us who were not actually in the office part yet to come in and wrap the line around so that they could close/lock the doors. I hope I can accurately put this into words how this happened. But anyway, another lady and I were the closest into the office so we just kind of got behind the people inside the door and probably 5 people got behind us. The lady behind them must not have been paying attention, but she looks up and she's at the door to the post office and she looks at the lady in front of me like "what do you think you're doing? I'm in line here??" So the nice lady tries to explain that the employee lady asked us to move in so they could close the door and that the line is now "back there." So the lady says, "Well I'm in line and I've been here all this time and that is NOT the line back there!" So, nice lady goes through it again and the not-so-nice lady isn't buying it!!

The nice lady turns around and looks at me like UH-OH and I'm thinking that I'll just let her in front of me when the time comes if it will keep the peace. I really don't want the lady to cause a scene - it's just not that big of a deal!!

(easy for me to say - I didn't have my kids so I could have waited all day!!)

About that time, I feel a tap on my shoulder and look to see a woman 2-3 people back. She was well put together with a nice black leather hat and she calmly says - Don't you let that woman in front of you - the line is back here and if she's gonna try to cut, there's gonna be a throw-down in here!!!"

I'm like - uummm, ok??!!?! I'm thinking we definitely don't want any throw-downs in here!! I mean, I don't really know exactly what that means but it doesn't sound good!!

As I stand there pondering my options, thankfully the post office lady came over and sent the rest of the line, with the not-so-nice lady as their leader into the office behind our line!!

We all breathed a big sigh of relief and everyone lived happily ever after!!

The End!!

We three kings

Parker:
Mom ... what are the real names of the three kings that brought gifts to baby Jesus??

Me:
Good question, Parker. I really have no idea, but maybe you should ask Poppy. He knows about stuff like that!!

Parker:
I think I know their names.

Me:
Really? What are they?

Parker: (without hesitation!)
John, Marcus, and Lewis

Who knew??

Basketball, Football, and Peace

When we moved into this house last year, we had a playroom. It took a while to learn that we played in the playroom instead of the living room. Just when we semi-mastered the correct location of playing, our playroom suddenly changed into a football arena!!

Many Family (and friends) Football nights were held in the arena and I probably still have the rug burns on my knees to prove it!!

Thankfully, the football arena has now been replaced with a basketball court!! The boys rush in from school pretty much every day to begin their ritual basketball game. The two "goals" that used to be dirty clothes hampers are now permanent fixtures on the court. My favorite part of watching/listening to them as they play is the starting line-ups. Each team takes turns introducing the player(s) from the other team, including their number, position, height, etc. Sometimes they are their real name; other times they are professionals (Dirk). Oh - and sometimes they are still in college.

Which brings me to the funniest starting line-up to date. Yesterday, Parker was introducing Luke and I overheard: (in his best deep, announcer voice)

From the Tar Heels, introducing a 3 foot 5 inch SENIOR - - - LUUUUUUKKE BAGG!!

The 3 ft 5 part was reasonable, but when he threw in the "senior" I almost busted out laughing!!

Here are Alex and Luke doing their special handshake/warm up
whatever

Landry isn't quite ready for the high level league that the older boys play in so he has to get his fun in a different way. He enjoys playing a little one-on-one football with his Dad:

He goes long, but misses!!

To continue this completely random post, I was making supper tonight and peas were on the menu. Landry was helping me and asked me what they were. When I said "peas," he responded with this:


And said "Peace out!!"

Finally, look what came in the mail yesterday:



Grandma and Grandpa Bagg sent this to the boys and they were very excited to get it and get started. I had a couple of unexpected hours at home today and I thought that maybe I would just go ahead and open it and get it all ready to go for when they got home from school. Then I thought - No, I always try to make everything just right and take all the fun out of it - I'll just wait until they get home and we'll open it all together and just have a jolly good time!! So what is the first thing I read when we open the directions?? "Icing" the first 4 pieces together and wait 1 hour. "Icing" the roof on and wait 2-3 more hours!! Oops!! So, this will be a 2 day project!! This is how far we got today (and one of the sides fell off as it was drying!!):

Notice all the cans holding it up!! That was the directions' idea - not mine - but a good one!! Take careful note of the box, because that is pretty much exactly what ours is going to look like when we are done!! :) Great fun!! Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!!

Shower cuteness

This has been a busy weekend because of Scott's basketball tournament - that is a post for another day! But after we got home late last night, the little boys got in the shower to wash off the nastiness of a night at the gym.

Just for the record, Landry doesn't usually take a shower, but I wanted them to do the same thing for time saving purposes and Luke wanted to do whatever was the fastest way to get clean!! That is where the shower came in.

Anyway, this is what they enjoyed most about taking a shower:


Happy Saturday!!

An old friend

I got a special Christmas card in the mail today - one I look forward to getting because it is often the only way I can "catch up" with this friend of mine! It always has cute pictures of her kids and she has four of them, like me!!

Marla and I go way back to high school. I can think of a lot of funny stories that involve her and I - crazy good times!! We had lots of fun playing volleyball and basketball, just hanging out, and talking a lot! To this day, if I see a 1989-ish Barretta, I think of Marla because that's what she got her senior year?? Maybe?? I have a terrible memory, but I know she drove that car!!

Anyway, for those of you who knew Marla (and if you need a memory aid, she was the really tall one with the really good posture!!) or even if you've never heard of her, go and check out her blog! It's super cute, along with her kids, and you can find it here.

Happy 80 degree day tomorrow!!

I got nothin'!!

In all my years of blogging, I don't think I've ever taken a week off!!

ha ha

I think Thanksgiving and the shopping that ensued afterwards just wiped out the plethora of creative genius I regularly share here.

A week later, I still don't have anything. I think sometimes life just gets in the way!

This is all I have -

Landry comes looking for me yesterday with a mysterious substance flowing from his nose and says -

MY NOSE IS COMING OUT!!

Thankfully, his nose was still fully attached and he was introduced to the concept of a runny nose!!

Have a great week!

The Post-Thanksgiving Report

Wow - what a great Thanksgiving!!

While it had some fun and interesting parts, it had all of the classics that make it Thanksgiving - lots of family, lots of food, and lots of good times!!

Along with the regulars - Mom and Dad, Ryan, Shannon and the girls, BigPa and Grandma, George and Edith, and Shannon's parents - we had a new member join in the turkey fun! This is Cali - Meagan and Lexie's new puppy -


This is one of the cutest puppies EVER - she's only 7 weeks old and VERY calm at this point in her young life. Anyone who kind of knows Landry knows that he is "stared" (scared) of pretty much all of God's creations in the animal department. And dogs are at the top of his list! So when Cali joined in the fun, I was a little worried about how Landry would react (even though she stayed out in the garage for most of the day - accompanied by her heater, of course!!) But he really warmed up to her - I was very pleasantly surprised! Here are some cute pics of them!

This is of Landry's hand actually touching her back - very impressive! Way to go, Landry!!

And this picture shows just how far Landry came in one short day - to have a look with any kind of excitement on it at all shows huge progress!!

Onto the food report -

The turkey was great, the dressing amazing, and the pumpkin pie awesome! This, however, shows what a big girl I'm growing up to be:

My mom made this Paula Deen recipe for Broccoli Slaw. Now, I have to admit, when I heard "broccoli slaw" I thought that that didn't even make sense. That would be like having green bean cobbler or grilled spaghetti or something equally as odd. And when I saw it, I was 100% sure that that would not be passing through my lips. It was made for the over-40 crowd and my mom certainly didn't expect me to eat any!! But when I smelled it, it really smelled pretty good. So, being the big girl that I am, after both Ryan and Shannon tried it and didn't pass out from gross-ness, I tried it and I, surprisingly, liked it! It was good!! I'm not sure I would make it for the boys, but it was good. Interesting, but good!! (this picture was in the leftover bowl - I didn't think to take a picture of it beforehand, because I didn't plan on eating any!!

And from the crazy Thanksgiving file, it started to snow late afternoon!! What makes that so crazy is that it has been so warm for like the last, well, since last spring!! To put it in perspective, on Tuesday, I was cutting the grass, riding around the yard in my shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops while my neighbors were putting up their Christmas lights!! (funny picture!) On Thursday, it was snowing! That is insane!! Let us work into the cold weather, for goodness sake!! Here's the proof:

I know, it doesn't look like much - but it was enough!! Of course, the ground was plenty warm from our summer-like conditions so it didn't stick much.

And, as always, a highlight of the Thanksgiving weekend is the Friday after. The post-thanksgiving day sales always beckon me and I must go! My normal shopping partner, Jenny, couldn't go this year because she is at home on her left side, growing a very special baby in that high blood pressured body of hers!!

So, my good friend, Emily agreed to be my partner and meet me at Walmart before 5:00 AM!! Now, anyone who knows Emily know that her spiritual gift is NOT getting up early!! In fact, the night before, I could sense a little back-pedaling in her commitment to find the best deals on earth. (for example, she said - If you don't see me there when you get there, just go ahead and go in - I'll find you! uh-huh - sure you will!) But she actually beat me there and already knew the lay of the land when I got there. We shopped from before 5:00 until about 2:00 and had some crazy-good times. Lots of interesting people and shopping going on on a day like that! The good news is that I got many people marked off of my list and Emily ... well, you'll just have to ask her how it turned out for her!

One last picture from a great couple of days:

Thanks

Sometimes, in the big picture of life, even "thanks" doesn't seem like enough. For the God of the universe to choose me to have such a charmed life is really unbelievable at times.

Why am I here and not living in Mexico in a small hut with a dirt floor with meager possessions?

Why have I had the opportunity to hear of God's love more times than I can count when others on this planet have never heard even once??

Why does God continually bless my life in ways beyond my imagination on a daily basis??

The only answer is because of His grace. He has allowed me to live a life that many on this planet will never even dream of. Though I know it is not deserved, I am so grateful. His grace is so abundant in my life - his mercies ARE new every morning!

He has blessed me with a family that is amazing and unique! He has gifted me with a group of friends, some new and some old, that make my journey a little easier when I find it's getting harder. He has opened my eyes this year to new insights about Him and I have relied on Him like no other time in my life.

Most of all, He gives me His grace. That, coupled with His unconditional love, is more than enough!!

And for that, I am thankful!!

Dancing with the boys

Ever since Emmitt Smith made it all the way, we have been big Dancing with the Stars watchers. Especially this year with such an interesting selection of "stars." As with every season, there are always the predictable losers and the unpredictable twists and turns of the drama.

All that to say, I'm in it for Helio - go all the way, BABY!!! He and his cute little partner, Julianne, are just so stinkin' cute!!

I haven't actually voted for him, or anyone else yet, but I think it might be time! If Marie Osmond beats him, I just might be done with DWTS!!

OK - this is really the point of this rambling post -

After we watched it on Monday, Parker decided to bust some moves and recruited Luke to help him! After several costume changes and different dance moves, I snapped this picture to remember their fun!

Parker is wearing my Nike hooded sweatshirt and pants and Luke is wearing the lining of Scott's winter coat over his pj's!! At one point, Parker was wearing some pants, no shirt and a tie!! Crazy!!

This picture was obviously a lift (much drama has been made this season over the lift) and I was very impressed with Luke's form - from head to toe, he's definitely a natural!!

Actually, I cracked up when I saw this picture!! Good times!!

Thanksgiving Break - Day 1

Today is Monday and we have the whole week ahead of us!

That's scary and exciting, all at the same time!!

We had to make a quick Walmart run this morning so I called Grandma to see if we could stop by for a bit. We ended up taking McDonalds over and enjoying a little Fall fun while we were there! We don't have many leaves around our neck of the woods, but Grandma and BigPa had plenty and the boys had a blast playing in them.

BigPa got out his leaf blower and the boys tried to make a pile of leaves to jump into.

Here they are taking their turn jumping in -

Here's Landry running toward the leaves until, at the last minute, he spots the dog in the yard next door and comes to an abrupt stop!! "I stared of da dod" = I scared of the dog!!

Here's the leafy fun!!

Happy Fall!!