Christmas 2009

Christmas was good this year....We did a lot of driving around looking at Christmas lights while we waited the arrival of Santa...I even got to enjoy a house tour with a friend of mine which allowed us to tour some historical and new homes in the Columbia area....this is something I always have wanted to do, and finally made the time to do it this year...if you haven't done one yet, I'd highly recommend it. It's a great way to spend an afternoon with a girlfriend...I was able to get my cards mailed out on time, and did accomplish baking a dozen chocolate nut cookies.-That was plenty of cookies for here, I don't like stressing out over baking and it certainly isn't good for me to have in the house when I'm trying to regain my girlish figure!!L.O.L. Christmas was actually pretty peaceful and quiet this year which sounds pretty amazing for having five children, but we were very fortunate... I tried to instill in the triplets this year that Christmas was about celebrating the birth of Jesus...We have always given only three presents to each child, since baby Jesus was given a gift by the three wise-men...This way they don't get caught up in all the hoopla of gifts....works out pretty good especially since we have five kiddos to buy for, that still amounts to fifteen gifts!!! The shot up above is of Caleb and Connor at my mom's house...Don't let Caleb's expression fool you about those monkey jammies, he actually loves those things...mommy does too, they are SUPER soft and wash very well!!!

Here are the boys opening up games for their new leapsters that grandma got them...

Caleb and Connor enjoying the John Deere that was left for the triplets at Mama's house...Notice Caleb in the driver's seat, where he insists on being the majority of the time...He has made it clear to us that he didn't want one of these to share, he wanted his OWN!!!!

I just LOVE this picture...so sweet...

Mark was VERY good this year, he got his own cell phone, complete with unlimited texting!!!

Corey opening up his new Lightening McQueen remote for his Radiator Springs Geo Trax....I thought this would be a big hit with the boys, but unfortunately they haven't played with it all that much..SIGH....

The princess gets an I-pod touch....Hmmmmm Santa must have thought she was pretty good too!!!

Here is our Christmas tree for 2009...

My little darlings at Mama's on Christmas Eve...Can you tell they are tired of pictures and want to get straight to the presents???

My boys....Corey, Connor, Caleb and Mark....I hope your Christmas was as enjoyable and memorable as ours!!!

Go Cart Racin'

Not sure what happened to "I'm going to try hard to post once a week..." Oh yeah, I think the Holidays happened!!!! I have really allowed my poor blog to slack once again, I definantly need to do a better job at keeping it updated in 2010....So, here we have go-cart pictures from our Nov. Branson trip...A very exciting time, especially for the triplets because they were finally tall enough to ride on their own go-cart!!! Here is a shot of Mark and Mackenzie making their way around the track. Mackenzie is not looking to happy here... after being passed by her brother for the third time, she decided to retaliate by sticking out her tongue!!-Wish I could have caught that one on camera!!! Mark loved the excitement of smokin' his little sister out on the track!!!!

Can you tell he is enjoying himself?!?!?!

Mackenzie remains focused and determined to pass him up, even if it's just for one time!!!!

Here is Caleb and Corey....Caleb was cracking me up; their first ride he ended up with the SLOWEST cart and he was determined to make that thing go faster!!! He'd stretch those little legs as far as he could and lay on the gas hoping to catch up with his brothers...The thing I love about this boy is he is very determined and never gives up.....he never did catch his brothers, but not once did it damper his spirits...

Here is a shot of all three of them...Connor is in the middle. Mr. quiet reserved boy is actually running his cart into the back of his brothers!!! -He'd then drive by with a little grin on his face-it was priceless...

Looking like they are making a train here....They had so much fun and we had just as much fun watching them!!!

Notice how Caleb has both feet ready to go???-and that smile, oh how I love his smile!!!

Branson Day 2

Day 2 at Branson was a GORGEOUS 68 degrees, so we took the kids on their first Duck ride. For those of you who are not familiar with the Duck ride in, it is a REALLY COOl experience that you must embark upon. I got to ride the Ducks when I was about Mackenzie's age. This car/boat will take you on an adventure on land and water. You even get your very own quacker for a keepsake!!-Fun for the Duck ride definantly NOT for a car trip home.L.O.L. The kids thought Captain Magic was kidding when he said, "hang on, were going in the water!!!" The looks on their faces were priceless....

This was a view before we actually entered the water....

Here is a pretty neat shot of the Branson Belle right after we entered into the water....

Mackenzie got to drive the boat!!! I had to remind her to watch where she was going, she seemed to be captivated by Captain Magic!!!!Connor and Mark enjoying the ride....Later that day, we enjoyed some shopping and the boys got drive their own go-carts for the very FIRST time!!!! They had an absolute blast and couldn't get enough rides on them...Cute how they had enough people to enjoy their very own race...Mark and Mackenzie decided to have a race too....After Mark passed Mackenzie up for the second round, I caught her sticking her tongue out at him!!!!-Wish I could have caught that on video...so spontaneous and yet SOOOOO Mackenzie....-I'll be posting go-cart pics in a couple of days...It's time for lights out

Branson Day 1

We spent Thanksgiving in Branson this year....Instead of having a nice Turkey Dinner, we enjoyed Subway Sandwhiches L.O.L.!!!!!!! Mark and I decided to take the kids to Branson for a short trip...We were able to get into the Holiday Spirit by enjoying the ever famous Sheperd of the Hills Christmas Light Display..For our family of seven it was $47.00 to see these lights.-Not something we'd pay every year to see, but it was a nice 2 1/2 mile ride of a Christmas Fantasy World that helped get us all in the Holiday Spirit...

Much of the experience were these adorable Christmas displays behind plastic plexi glass....It reminded me of the windows decorated downtown at Famous Barr that my mom would take me to see when I was little, only a whole lot bigger!!!!

Each scene held a lot of detail...

Then there was a cute little coke-cola cart...Who doesn't enjoy themselves a good old ice cold coke-cola????

They had several of their buildings adorned in lights too. When we were done with the drive, we got to go up the Scenic Tower to see the lights...pretty neat experience!!!

Upon arrival at the hotel, the kids were pumped and ready for swimming...Notice Caleb's red cheeks from the hot tub???

They started the first day in their swim rings, but by day two, they were mostly "swimming" without them...I think I'm going to have some swimmers by the Summer...They all LOVE the water and Connor is doing so well trying to learn how to swim under water...Maybe he'll be on the swim team come Summer!!!

Corey lookin' all cute!!! He usually takes a little longer to feel comfortable in the water, but once he builds up his confidance there is no stoppin' him!!!

Had to get a shot of dad with just Mark and Mackenzie...They both look so grown-up here!!!!!

I thought this turned out cute...I know I know were missin' a kiddo; that would be my stubborn, I mean strong-willed child Corey who refused to get in the picture...Always got to have one in the bunch!!! This picture turned out pretty darn cute though, so I wanted to post it!!! I plan to add more Branson photos within the next few days, so check back soon!!!!

A Visit To The Zoo....

Last Wednesday Mark was off for Veteran's Day, so we packed up the kiddos and headed out for the zoo. We got to bring baby Kendall with us (the little one I baby sit) and enjoyed watching her have her very first visit at the zoo!!! The weather was gorgeous, and all of the kids had a great time enjoying the outdoors...

One of the very first animals we saw were the penquins, and they were a big hit with everyone..I think they might have been Kendall's favorite!!!! We arrived at feeding time, so we got to see and hear the penquins as they enjoyed their lunch...the kids found that to be very fun!!!

Connor and Corey getting a close-up view of the penquin...

Here they are having lunch...It was fun to watch, not so fun to smell.....

Then we got to see the baby giraffe up close!!! He was very intent on watching my kiddos...

Mackenzie and Corey posing by a statue at the bird sanctuary....I call this Corey's Gomer Pile smile....

Mark, Mackenzie, Corey and I had about 45 min. together while daddy took the other two boys on the train... I thought the bridge made a cute picture...

Here is daddy buying the tickets for the train....Every year we go to the zoo, Connor always wants to ride the train...At $5.00 a head, I usually always say, "Maybe next time..." He wasn't buying it this time...He wanted to ride so bad...I told daddy to take them on, because this was so important to them...Corey could have went too, but he wanted to hang out with big brother and sis...

Connor was so PROUD to be on that train...

Just look at Caleb's smile....worth every bit of $15.00!!!!

Corey....

I took these photos yesterday afternoon. Little did I know just hours later, Corey would experience an accident that could have changed our lives forever.... Psalm 91:11-12 says, "For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone..."I can tell you that there is NO doubt in my mind that my little boy had his angels watching over him yesterday. We ventured out on a hayride with the cousins and ended up stopping at a small bridge in the country to throw rocks in the water. My brother in law was over at the bridge with the 10 children while me and two other women remained in the wagon. A car was coming from the opposite direction and I instructed the triplets to stay exactly where they were and not to cross back over to me...Next thing you know, Corey turns his back to the bridge to scoop up some rocks, and falls off of the bridge!!!! I can't tell you how terrified and helpless I felt at that moment, not knowing what was at the bottom of the bridge, nor just how far he had fallen!! I hollered for Stephen (my brother in law) to get him, because I knew that he could get to him much faster than me....I have never seen a man move faster than he did in that very moment...Mackenzie said Corey had grabbed on to the edge of the bridge when he fell and was hanging on for...not sure how he did this since he fell backwards, but she saw his hands gripping the edge....she bent down to grab a hold of him and he fell 21 ft. to the bottom landing, thank God, on soft squishy mud...one to two feet further over to the left, and he would have been in the water...he could have hit rocks logs anything...Steve saw him hit the ground and said he knew he was going to be alright when he started immediately crying...He landed on his right side caked in mud....The only injuries he sustained where some minor abrasions and slight bruising on his back...I have absolutely NO DOUBT in my mind that his angels broke that fall for him...his injuries could have been much worse, possibly even tragic...I stand in awe and praise my heavenly father for his mercy and his protection over my little boy...I am thankful on this day for him and for the joy, craziness, and chaos he brings to my life!!!!!!

Kindergarten Readiness...

Corey

Connor

Caleb

Ever since the boys were about 2 years old, I have heard two repeated questions about school. (1) Will you start the boys at school when they are 5 or 6? (2) Will they be in the same class, or will you seperate them? So for quite some time, I have put the questions off, knowing that there was plenty of time to decide this. Now, they are 4 1/2 and I am faced with this question once again. Kindergarten year is quickly approaching. I have known for quite some time that Caleb would not be ready for Kindergarten at 5. He is currently in a smaller class size than Corey and Connor as well as in speech classes every week. Although I have seen progress this year, such as he can currently write his name with verbal prompts and he can actually sit and complete "homework". However, he seems to lag behind the other two boys overall...After sitting in Caleb's I.E.P. meeting, my concerns were confirmed, and although they recommended me to test him for Kindergarten in the Spring, just to see what they say, after having Parent/teacher conferences on the other two, I feel I've solidified my decision. Connor as I already knew could quite honestly go to Kindergarten now and be successful. He has been writing his first name since the Fall of last year. He just recently learned to write Yochum. This little boy LOVES to learn. His coloring is incredible which is fairly unusual for a boy. Corey on the other hand goes to school for the social aspect. He "romances" the little girls on the playground with fresh picked flowers. He has the ability to write his name but quite honestly doesn't like to take the time to do it. He would rather be playing with his friends than sitting in a chair learning. I will say that he was the first to recite and recognize his ABC's and when it comes to learning new songs, he is always the first to catch on. His teacher said he would do fine in Kindergarten at 5, but would absolutely soar at 6. After having that meeting, I knew that doing another year of Pre-K would be the best decision for my boys. Miss Beverly assured me that I need not worry about Connor having behavioral issues because of boredom because he is a child that does not like attention drawn to him and loves to please his teachers....he is his mother's son..As for whether they will be together or seperate, at this time I plan to keep them all together unless it begins to present problems...I figure once the homework load starts getting heavy, I won't have the energy to keep up with three different sets!!!! I have to admit I feel confidant and full of much relief that this question is no longer a "question." I know that I will be getting my boys started off on the right foot and I look forward to what the future holds for each of them....