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.