10...9....8...7....

...the countdown is on until the famous ball drops tonight. I can't believe it's the end of 2007. This will be short & sweet.... I'm battling a sinus infection so I don't feel great & haven't been on the computer much lately. I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year!~ I hope your 2008 will be fabulous!

The Aftermath

Well, we are home. We had a great Christmas & enjoyed spending time with family & opening lots of presents and eating lots of yummy food. We got home late last night and today has been a doozy. Coming home after Christmas or any trip is always hectic trying to get all the stuff unloaded, unpacked, washed, put up, etc. I don't enjoy that part. To top it all off we had some extra drama today. Carter woke up in the middle of the night a couple times with a sore throat. I knew he would have to go to the doctor today, so Corby took him & he has strep throat. Chandler had a sore throat a few days while we were at my parents, so the dr. said he probably had it too. They are both on an antibiotic and Kensley is still on round 3 of antibiotics for her ears.

Then, I started washing the mounds of clothes, from being gone for almost a week, this morning. I was in the bedroom unpacking & thought the water sounded really loud. So I walked into the kitchen to check on it & there was probably close to an inch of water in the laundry room running into the dining room. PANIC! I immediately shut off the washer but it was still pouring out.... still panicking.... So I turned off the water valves... water still running... I told Chandler to go to the neighbors to see if they had a wet vac... I finally figured out that the water was draining out of the back & the hose in the back had detached from the washer, so there was really nothing to do except wait until it finished draining. I grabbed every towel that I own & started throwing them on the floor trying to soak up the water. It finally stopped and my feet were freezing from standing in the really cold water. My neighbor did come with the wet/dry vac, so that helped a lot in cleaning the mess up. My towels are still hanging on my clothesline & dripped with water all afternoon! Corby came home after lunch & fixed the hose. Then the washer got off balance and wasn't level, so it has jumped and banged every load I've washed this afternoon! Ugh! I hope my floor doesn't collapse from all the wetness & the banging of the washer. So, needless to say, I didn't get much done today with the washer drama, a sick kid, and Kensley being attached to me all afternoon.

So, to sum it all up. The kids had a great Christmas and got everything they asked for... plus a lot more! Here's a few pics of the kids over the past few days. By the way, Kensley is walking pretty good now. She tries (key word) to walk more than she crawls now.

The boys throwing out the reindeer food on Christmas Eve.

Kensley LOVED opening presents.

She loves her babies! She got a carrier that she insisted carrying all of her babies in, despite the fact they fell out every time she took a step.

Kensley and her babydoll stroller... she loved it, although hasn't quite got the hang of it on hard floors yet.

Carter & Chandler both got a Nintendo DS

The boys both got real firefighter gear from Mimi & PawPaw

Me & Corby got luggage from my parents

The boys (wearing their firemen suits which they just took off today) made their own santa sleigh with 2 hot wheels-reindeer!

Merry Christmas to all!

Well, only a few more days till Christmas. It's been such a busy week... I looked at my last blog entry & realized, whoa.. that was a few days ago & seems like I just posted that last night. All the wrapping, cooking, baking, shopping, washing, packing... and pretty much anything else that ends with -ing... has got me tired & ready for a break. I love Christmas, but all the preparation can wear you out. I read a devotion today that marked this Bible verse as the focus:
“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11(NIV)
She talked about focusing on the word "today"...what is our reason for celebrating this season? It's Jesus of course... but concentrate on how you can celebrate Him today, not worry about all that you still have left to do in the coming days. Praise Him by singing carols while you wrap your gifts; praise him while you bake your goodies as if you were preparing them to take to the stable He was born in; praise Him while you are buying those last minute items and standing in the long lines at Wal-Mart by smiling and greeting someone around you with a Merry Christmas (that last one is one I came up with... from experience).

It's so easy to get wrapped up in all the hustle & bustle of it all and believe me, I have. But every time I read something that brings me back to the real focus of this season, it makes me so thankful that the tiny baby was born in a place so humble. The least I can give to him is the glory He deserves... in all that I do.

We are heading out of town tomorrow, so I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!

Making Memories with Mom & other stuff

Today was the Kindergartners "Making Memories with Mom" day... we made gingerbread houses. It's a lot of fun and our house turned out pretty cute. Here's some pictures from our day...
This is Carter with his best buds, Weston & Hunter


Working on our house


The finished product

I had the van checked out yesterday & fortunately the damage wasn't too steep & only the bumper cover needs to be replaced. I can't take it until Jan. 2, so it's a little embarrassing to drive around a van with a big dent in the front, but at least it's drivable, so we don't have to worry about all the holiday travel issues.

On the other hand, I must say when it rains, it POURS. Our heat has been doing strange things for a few days. We had problems all summer long with the AC and they never could figure out what was wrong with it. So on Sunday night, as freezing at it was, I was up at 1:15 am trying... praying... to get it to come on. It was 63 degrees in the house & one of the coldest nights we've had all season. I was worried about my babies freezing all night. I messed with it about 30 min & finally, the Lord answered my prayer and it came on. So, I called first thing Monday morning. The guy came & was here for about 2 hours and he ended up replacing the motor. A very steep bill later, he thinks it's fixed... including the AC problems too.

Soooooo.... it's been an interesting few days, but thankfully, the Lord is taking care of us & things could be much worse. I keep reminding myself of that.

A CRAZY Weekend

We had a very eventful weekend... some good, some bad. It started off bad. We went to Forest City on Friday night to let the kids see the Christmas lights downtown. They were pretty. When we got home, I needed to go to Wal-Mart, so we got the kids ready for bed, I put Kensley down and headed out the door about 8:30. (For other moms reading this, you know how much easier it is to go to the store without kids...can I get an amen!) Anyway, on my way to Wally World, I ran into the back of someone in my van. That's the bad part. I am so upset with myself. I don't think it's really bad (still drivable), but I've got a big dent and tear in my front bumper. The guy was pulling out onto 74 or so I thought and he stopped for some reason and I ran into him. BIG bummer. It didn't hurt his car bad, just looks like someone took a round ball or their fist and punched it into his back bumper. Still issues to deal with.... insurance, body shop to get the van fixed, it's Christmas, all the stuff we'll need to haul back & forth, I'll have 3 kids crammed in the back of a car...thankfully, my parents have an extra car and they were gracious enough to let us borrow it while I get the van fixed.

Anyways, onto the rest of the weekend. Corby was super busy with Y stuff and he's so glad his weekend is over. My parents came down for Saturday and Sunday. We had a fun weekend with them and I am so thankful for their help. Today was the busiest day. We had a special combined service for our church at Shelby High School auditorium. We normally have 3 services, so we put them all into one. Corby was a second-rate mall Santa to start off the program (very funny) and he also had a part in a skit during the service. I sing on the praise team and we sang some very good songs. It was a full house and a GREAT service!

This afternoon was the Shelby Christmas parade, so me & Mom took the boys and FROZE our buns off. We only stayed about an hour it was so cold. The KIDS church had their Christmas program at church tonight and Chandler was in it. After the program we had our church-wide Christmas party with lots of yummy food and a hilarious skit to the song My Favorite Things (from The Sound of Music). The pastor dressed up like a woman and sang the song while a bunch of the leaders and deacons of the church dressed up like the things "she" was singing about...for example, girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes... 2 men dressed up like girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes... brown paper packages tied up with strings was a man in a brown box that looked like a package with strings tied around it... (read all the lyrics here and just imagine a bunch of men dressed in these costumes). It was a great way to end the night and I haven't laughed that hard in a while.

Here's a few pics of the kids. They looked so cute today in their Christmas colors.

Kensley is still not walking on her own without a lot of coaxing, but I did get a shot of her walking by herself.

But she LOVES to stroll her babies around in her walker. Santa is bringing her a baby doll stroller for Christmas... she'll love that!

A Child's Heart

Corby sent me this link today to this conversation on YouTube that a little boy is having with, it sounds like, a radio DJ. This is precious! Listen

Sweet Baby Girl

I had such a great day with Kensley today. I guess maybe because it's the first day in a while that we've stayed at home the majority of the day. She was so sweet all day (not that she is normally bad, because she's not... just extra sweet & cute today). She laid in bed with me this morning & cuddled after the boys left for school, then we got up & played & ate breakfast. She is SO funny & animated. Her expressions are hilarious! I took a bath & she tried to get in with me... she's trying to get in the tub now & almost did. She hugged me a bunch & gave lots of kisses. We played with the baby & gave it nummy, nummy & she took all of her babies for lots of "strolls" in the walker she pushes around. She also took a forever long nap & I got a ton of stuff done. It was just a sweet day with her. I love the mother/daughter bond that we are developing. The boys were always really sweet too, but it's been so long since I've had a baby at home with me.

Chandler had his Christmas Around The World program at school tonight. I didn't get any good pictures because my camera does horrible in dark rooms & we were sitting to far back. He did so good! We've got a busy weekend coming up, so I might not have a chance to blog for a few days. I'll have lots to catch you up on when we get back.

Uh... is it December?

I can't stand this weather. It is December, not September! Some of you may love it, but when I am sweating in December, that's not a sign that Christmas is around the corner. It's supposed to be cold and I'm supposed to be bundling up on the couch with warm blankets, not turning on the AC and the ceiling fan. I don't know the official temp today, but it was over 80 I'm sure. I sent my kids to school in short-sleeves (and probably could have put shorts on them too... but I refuse). I'm ready for winter to come back. Can we say 'global warming'?

Kensley is walking some, but we've not been home much for her to actually practice. It's been a busy few days and the rest of the week is pretty busy as well. I am one present short of being completely finished Christmas shopping... woo, hoo! Carter had his Kindergarten Christmas program last night at GWU. It was really cute... he's holding the W in the first picture. The second pic is of him singing at church with the WeeWorship on Sunday.

Step by Step

Well, she's finally done it.... Kensley is taking steps. I wouldn't say she's walking yet, but she is making her way there. We've been trying for a few weeks to get her to take steps, but as soon as you let go of her hands she would sit on her bottom. She's been walking with her baby-block walker like crazy for a few days, so I guess she built up enough confidence to try it on her own. She loves to prop herself against the couch, so I decided to take advantage of it today. I got in front of her and said "walk to Mommy" and she took 3 steps to me. Of course I was by myself and have no pictures or video of this.... ugh! She kept getting up and wanting to go again, so she would do it over and over. When Corby got home, we had her walking outside back & forth to us and she's taken 7 steps so far. I WILL get this on video and pictures tomorrow... even if I have to rig up something. My baby won't be a baby much longer... she'll be a TODDLER!!!

A Visit with Santa

We went to Uptown Shelby tonight to see Santa. We've done this for the past 3 years & it's so much fun. They have a Santa house every Friday night before Christmas in Dec. and they offer lots of games & activities for kids, horse carriage rides (we've never done that), Christmas music, free hot chocolate and the court square is decorated so pretty with lots of lights in the trees. We got there at 5:10 and stood in line until 7:45 to see Santa. Yes, it's ridiculous when you can go to the mall and spend about 15 min... if that much... from start to finish. But, I really didn't mind it. I was freezing and my big toe was numb, but we knew plenty of people in line around us and the atmosphere is great. The boys always look forward to this. I wasn't sure how Kensley would be, but she didn't care too much for Santa (as you can see from the picture). She didn't mind looking at him or him talking to her, she just didn't want to sit near him. The boys asked for their video game and a bunch of other stuff I've never heard before and we were on our merry way.

Focuntrate

Chandler has created a new word... "focuntrate"... the other day he was doing homework & it was kind of loud and Carter was bugging him, so he screams "i can't focuntrate!" I just busted out laughing because it's a pretty good word I think. He combined focus and concentrate... therefore we now have "focuntrate". He's used it a lot this week. I think I should send it into Websters... hee, hee!

Haneline Family Christmas 2007

We had Christmas this weekend with Corby's family. This is the second year that we've done it early & it's great! With 22 people in the family and lots of kids and parties and Christmas plays and functions, it's much easier. I really gets you in the holiday mood. The kids of course love it because they get presents early.

We had pictures made on Saturday morning of the whole family. I'll post those when I can. I think they are going to be great. Then we all went to lunch on Saturday. The kids played hard all afternoon and Sat. night we opened presents. His parents are building an addition onto their house, but it wasn't quite ready yet. However, it was far enough along that we got to have Christmas in the new part. We pulled out lawn chairs, put down a tarp, hung some festive decor & the kids helps decorate the tree. It was great. Sunday we went to church and that afternoon the kids opened their stockings. We had a great weekend.

Kid photographers

Inevitably, my boys are goof balls every chance they get. When it comes to picture taking they do great until I say that I'm done & then all I hear is "let me take a picture" until I hand over the camera. Here's the results of tonight's "after photo shoot" in front of the Christmas tree. Kensley didn't cooperate much tonight, so I didn't get the picture that I wanted of all of the kids. It was fun seeing the boys being silly though.

My little cheeser

I've trained my kids well. A lot of people often wonder how I get great pics of my kids.. it's because I have a camera stuck in their face for practically everything they do. They've learned to smile at the site of the camera. Kensley is learning already. Every time I pull out the camera she does this:

Last night I was trying to get some pictures of her in front of the Christmas tree with a Santa hat. She cooperated well for me... as usual... (she looks like such a big girl in these pics)

On a totally different note, this girl can make a mess like it ain't no body's business. She can clear her bookcase in her room in a minute without blinking. The other night, Corby was cleaning out some boxes from work & put the throw away papers on the couch beside him. She was on it like lightening.

Gobble, Gobble

We had a nice Thanksgiving...on the road a good bit, but still got to see most of the family. Corby had to help with the annual Turkey Trot/Fun Run in Boiling Springs that morning (it's a YMCA run). I always look forward to watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade... although, I rarely get to watch much of it at all. Chandler started flipping the channels at 8:55 & I put a halt to that at once. I declared that "on Thanksgiving Day we will always have the TV on the parade." It's a tradition that I grew up with & I want my kids to continue it as well.

At lunch we headed to Morganton to eat with my family at my Aunt Connie's house. My cousin Dereama was in town from TN as well. We all ate until we were stuffed like a turkey ourselves. The boys had their usualy ride in a military truck. My cousin Brandon collects old military vehicles and the boys love to ride in them. It's seems to be a tradition he's started over the past few years. We visited for a while and then headed to Statesville to Corby's family gatherings. We went to his grandparents house (his Mom's parents) for supper with the Wyatt family and then to his parents church for another supper with the Haneline family. We didn't eat at both, just nibbled as I say. My kids had about 20 cookies each over the course of the day. We made sugar cookies with sprinkles on Wednesday and they love them. After our rounds in Statesville, we headed back home. It was nice to get to see everyone and spend little time with family.

Today we spent the day decorating for Christmas. The boys always look forward to helping put up the tree and have been asking when we can for a couple weeks. I refuse to do it before Thanksgiving, so we usually end up doing it the day after. We decorated the outside this morning and this afternoon we worked on the tree. Apparently I got rid of a lot of decorations last year, so the tree is looking a little slim. After all the hooplah of Black Friday and the day after sales, I'll hit the stores to restock. I'm tired and tired of looking at all the boxes in my living room floor, so I'm off to bed. I'll deal with all the mess tomorrow.

Nummy, Nummy

I have breastfed all 3 of my kids. With all 3 of them I would always say "do you want some nummy, nummy?" when it was time for them to eat. Why, I really don't know. I think I would talk to them and say "nummy, nummy, it's good". (nothing like some good ole baby language)Neither of the boys actually called it that but Kensley says it all of the time. My name has now become "nummy, nummy". It is really funny to hear this little 13 month old baby saying it over & over while pulling at my shirt. If she wants it, I can't hold her or she gets very loud and squirmy. When she wakes up in the morning, sometimes I pick her up out of her crib and I hear "nummy, nummy, nummy..." you get the picture. So I finally captured it on video tonight. It's kind of dark in the video, but you can hear her very well.

Pigeon Forge trip & other stuff

We just returned from a family vacation tonight with my parents. We had a great time in the Smokey Mountains of TN.. Pigeon Forge. We left Saturday and stayed through today. The boys had a blast playing in the pool & hot tub at the hotel & hitting all the arcade's, riding go-carts, playing putt-putt... and not so much fun tagging along during our shopping trips (but they survived). It was nice to get away for a long weekend. The drive up was beautiful... we still got to see the tail end of the beautiful fall colors on the trees.

Last night we went to The Comedy Barn to watch a show. It was so funny! I haven't laughed that hard & that long in a while. I HIGHLY recommend you see it if you are ever there. It was great fun for the whole family & it was clean. We had front row seats. Corby actually got recruited on stage for a "storytelling" along with 2 other people... he was the hero of the story and he had to leap forward and say "stop or I'll shoot" and do a little dance. The guy who was leading the story was hilarious and really went on and on with Corby. In another part of the show he was doing a different segment with 3 volunteers where he beats them on the head with these soft bat thingys. About 9 months ago he was doing this & one of the guys that was on stage was laughing so hard that they about didn't finish the segment. This guy's laugh is so funny! Corby has seen this online before, so we looked it up on YouTube. You've got to watch this... it's a little long, but I promise you'll laugh so hard!

On a different note.... who watched the Bachelor finale & the After the Final Rose? I really liked this guy up until tonight. What's up with him????? He obviously has issues. I'm not busting him for not falling in love, I just don't get why if his feelings were so strong, he couldn't at least try the dating thing with one of them. He said a lot of stuff that just didn't make sense at all. How can you "care for someone so deeply" and "think about them everyday" and "you'll never know how much I care for you".... then turn around and say, I can't give you 100% of me or even give it a try. I guess he has such strong feelings for both that he said forget it about both. It's irritating to watch this show & get all hyped up & then be let down. Boy, those producers really know how to suck you into these shows.

Feedback please!!!

I'm trying to get some info for Christmas. Carter wants a gameboy... no problem, it's in the works. However, I do have 2 boys that fight over everything. We are leaving this morning to go on vacation to Pigeon Forge for a few days. So I asked a friend of mine if I could borrow her Vsmile Pocket for the boys, primarily Carter, to use for the ride up there. Carter doesn't care much about watching movies, but he loves our V-smile that hooks up to the tv, so i thought that would be a good entertainer for him when he's bored with movies. Well, Chandler wants to play it too and they've fought over it. So I asked Chandler what he wants for Christmas & he says one of those... meaning the Pocket system. The problem is, I've read horrible reviews about this thing. We have about 8 games already for the v-smile, so it would be wise to get something I can already use games with without having to invest even more in Gameboy games. Rather than buying two of the same thing, I figured that they could trade off... one use the Gameboy and the other the v-smile. I just don't know what to do.

So I need your help...
If any of you have or know someone who has the V-Smile Pocket, please comment & let me know how it works for them.

I've read very good and very bad and a lot in the middle. I need a swing vote from actual people, not people I don't know who have commented on random sites.

Where is your promised land?

My friend Heather came and spoke at the Women of Faith night for the YMCA last Thursday. Props to her, but mainly God for using her to touch so many women... particularly me. I so needed to hear what she had to say. One thing that has stuck with me most is this. She talked about what our "promised land" is. Yes, as a Christian, our goal is to live our life so that we can reach the ultimate Promised Land. However, where are living in until we reach our final promised land? Right now, I'm living in the land of fighting siblings, bad attitudes, homework, squirmy baby, constant house work and cleaning. I often feel overwhelmed and tired and I just don't want to deal with the present. But I'm also living in the land of a sweet baby and loving boys, lots of hugs and kisses and teaching my children. I need to learn to be happy with what I have NOW...not focus on the "could have's" and "wish I had's." Sometimes I get so frustrated and angry and what I'M going through. It's all about me, me, me and what makes ME happy. I'm not looking at the bigger picture and seeing what I am doing to shape my family. That's what really grasped me that night. What am I teaching my children about the real Promised Land and how to get there? What kind of example am I being for them? Sometimes, it's not a great one. Ooooo... that hurts. All I need to do is go to God... pray... it's that simple. So, I just need to deal with it. This is what God has given me now... good or bad, frustrating or fun...live in the moment and share God's love with the people who I am closest to.

Siggy

**see mine in my new page header***
This is the coolest thing I've been excited about in a while. A friend of mine introduced me to "siggys"... I had never heard of them, but she emailed me hers and I had to have one.

Isn't that the cutest thing ever! Ah...I want another one with a Christmas theme. I got mine from here

How cute are they!!

I must admit, I'm a little prejudice...my kids are the cutest in the world! (At least in my book) These are the pictures that I made for Halloween. I think they turned out so well.


These pictures are some from Kensley's 1 year pics.

A bunch of loons

My boys are crazy. They are constantly making up stuff...noises, faces, acting silly, laughing... ya know, being kids. Kensley is taking right after them. She cracks us up all of the time. She is very vocal and gets her point across even though she's only 13 months old. I've told you about her eating habits before... how much she likes to eat. Her new thing the past couple of days is when she's ready to eat, she puts her hand to her open mouth and makes the "ah-bah" sound over and over until you acknowledge what she wants. It's so funny! It's almost like she's saying give me some food to put into my mouth... NOW!

She's getting a little better with standing, but on her terms only. I've tried over and over to coax her into it so I can get a picture, but it doesn't work out very well. Here's one picture I got, but the quality is bad. It's good enough to see her expression which is so cute. She's so proud of herself when she does it.

On a different subject, Corby is home... YAY! We are all so glad he returned safely.

Happy Birthday to You!

Today is my honey's birthday. He's in Jacksonville, FL at a conference, so babe if you are reading my blog today... here's a shout out for you... uh-hmm
Happy birthday to you
you live in a zoo
you look like a monkey
aaaaaaaannnnd you smell like one too.

hee, hee! (birthday song from the movie Madagascar.... it fits him well... JK)

Standing up

Well, Kensley turned 13 months old today. I want to hold on to the line "she just turned 1" but I'm a month out now, so I guess I'll revert back to the month age system again. She hit another milestone today... she's stood up on her own. We were laying on the air mattress in the floor at my parents house & she was off & on for a while until she decided she wanted to stand up. She would stand up, keep her balance for a few seconds, then drop to her butt. Once we clapped and "yayed" a few times, she would try to do it even faster and fall even faster but laughed every time. The longest she stood was probably 20 to 30 seconds. I know that's not much, but she's that much closer to walking now... and I'm not looking forward to that. It's so cute when they do walk, but then the baby is gone... they are officially toddlers then. I'm trying to hold on to my "baby" as long as I can since she's my last. Of course as soon as I left to go get the camera, she quit doing it.

All the kids have the "crud". We had a jinx last year that every time we went to my parents house one of them would get sick. I know it's just bad timing, but it all came out Saturday morning when Chandler woke up with the barking cough, Kensley had a green crusted nose and red, runny eyes and Carter sneezed all day. I really hope we don't start that again this year. It's really not my parents house, because I know they've picked up whatever bug they have before we get there, it just always seems to hit them after we get there.

We are waiting for Corby to come home. He's been in Jacksonville, FL since Thursday (that's why we went away for the weekend) at a First Tee conference. The boys ask everyday, "how many more days til Daddy gets home?" We will all be very happy to see him on Tuesday.

Trick or Treating

We took the kids trick or treating in our friends neighborhood last night (Reagan is with the boys in the picture below). This is the first time we've actually done Halloween the old fashion way. We his a few houses and Chandler said "this is the best Halloween ever". They were running way ahead of us and we could barely keep up. I thought for sure they would complain about having to walk so long but they didn't at all. They got plenty of candy and had a fun time with their friends. Here's some pictures from last night.

Okay this is totally unrelated, but I just had to post this. I made a cake tonight for a friend who's daughter is having an almost sleepover party. I thought the cake turned out so cute!