Our recent disasters

I think these pictures speak for themselves!

Creating mud pies in the dogs' water bowls

Yikes...my heart stopped when I saw this one.

And this one....

That room still smells of syrup even after I shampooed the carpet. The carpet is disgusting...it will hopefully be getting ripped out someday and replaced with something that cleans up much easier!

I promise I do watch her but she is FAST and SNEAKY!!

This is gross...sorry!

Here's what happens when you throw a baby around after they just ate....

Sick, huh?

красивое российское платье- Beautiful Russian Dress

My sister in law, Elena, is from Russia. Her entire family lives there and I am sure she is missing them especially since having her baby. I already love Elena like a sister and love learning about her culture. Even though I have never met her family or even talked to them, her mother offered to make Lexie a dress. I took her measurements and we sent them to her. I received the dress this week! It is absolutely the most beautiful dress ever! It was more beautiful than I could have ever expected. I am so grateful to her for making this dress for Lexie. It is perfect and very special to me. The details of it are incredible. I am inspired to learn to speak a little bit of Russian before I meet her mother which may be this fall! So to Elena and her mother....

Большое спасибо

Thank you very much!

Me and Elena

First Fight

Tripp's cousin, Zander, is 5 weeks younger than him but is showing him up with his strong, powerful rolls. He rolls over so fast and so often. At our little playdate on Friday we had them laying next to each other, and Tripp was grabbing onto Zander's sleeve trying to pull it toward him to suck on it. Zander all of sudden started rolling over on him and it looked like they were fighting. It was so funny and we got it all on video tape....how perfect is that! Most of our playdate we spent guarding the babies from an extremely hyper Lexie who would have stepped right on them...she never pays attention where she's walking!

My New Low

When Randall is out of town on his hunting trips I usually don't cook. Well, Saturday night I was struggling to find something to feed Lexie for dinner when I happened on our Ramen Noodle stash. I first was just going to make them for me and then pondered a bit thinking " No, I can't feed her Ramen Noodles!" I made them and thought about letting her try a noodle because she loves to slurp noodles. After letting her try one it was all over....she wanted the whole bowl. I usually only make whole wheat noodles which don't slurp very good. Wow....Ramen's are the best slurping noodles around! It was hilarious and she absolutely loved them. I had to add a side of squash and strawberries for dessert to make me feel a little better. However, I think she will get Ramen's more often now...

"You put the noodle in your very wide open mouth with your head tilted back""You slurp it up like this with your head still tilted back " (Notice the puckered lips)

"Voila! You do it again with another noodle! "

(It was a slow process at first and then she just started grabbing handfuls of the noodles.)

Barney

Lexie really likes Barney. Although we haven't gotten to watch the show all that much, she has really taken to the song. She has even started to sing what she can of it. See if you can make it out on the video. This is after making her sing it a million times so she is a little burned out I think. Gosh I love that girl so much. Here are the words in case you don't know it. I love you, you love me We're a happy family with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you won't you say you love me too.

Chuck E Cheese Please!

I have very fond memories of Chuck E Cheese so we decided to try it out and....

we had a BLAST! We were driving home both saying "man, I can't wait to go back." Lexie was so happy there the whole night. I think her favorite thing was trying to butt in on other people's games...no, probably licking the Barney (yes, over and over). He surely was clean wasn't he?? No...probably her favorite thing was riding the life size horse. She kept wanting to get back on it although she never really smiled while riding it. She actually thought she could just get on it anytime even if there was a line to ride him. It was tough trying to explain to her to wait her turn, but we made it through! It was a fun night with our friends. They helped watch Tripp while he slept in his infant seat a few times so Randall and I could both go play with Lexie. Here's a few pictures and a video of Lexie on the horse...

skeeball is mommy's favorite!

pickin out my prizes

They had lizards!

My Dad

You thought I forgot to blog about my parents, huh? My parents have always been the people I look up to the most. They were always very perfect in my eyes and I strive every day to please them. I found when I got older that my parents aren't perfect which was a wake up call to me. I have learned some great lessons from my parents since being married. Although it's a little sad to think that they aren't always perfect, it is reality. God never intended for us to be perfect or for things to be easy all the time. It has helped me realize that I don't have to be a perfect parent or a perfect wife. There is a great thing called forgiveness that God grants to all of us who ask to be forgiven! Whew! As a child I always remember my dad being very silly. He always said things like "I am going to go shake a tower" instead of take a shower. Some of my fondest memories were of him rubbing his fingers through my hair at night and of him playing "mean horse" with us. He always took us to Circle K to get slushies which was such a treat! I always loved going to work with him on Saturday mornings. It was time with just my dad by myself! I used to love going out to the country with him. We would play around all day long out there, riding the 3 wheeler, making fires, shooting BB guns, fishing, popping fireworks, and just hiking around. It was some great family times. As I got older and involved in sports in High School we really bonded during my playing softball. He really enjoyed ( I think) watching me play. He always would try to encourage me and give me advice. With 5 kids I was grateful to get some attention on just me! We had some great times! At the end of my junior year in High School my parents hinted that my dad may be taking a new job in Plano and we would be uprooted. I was a fairly good child, typical middle child personality, and I always went with the flow. However, this did not go over well with me, and I let my parents know that I didn't want to go during my senior year as I was very involved in school and was looking forward to it. So now looking back I see the sacrifice. He turned down the job. I don't know that it was all for me, but I like to think I had a big part of it. I think my dad has sacrificed a lot for us kids. You see...he is a very intelligent man, very well read, hard worker, ambitious, loves to travel. I am sure he had to put many things to the side for his family. My dad is a very deep thinker and we don't do it often enough, but I enjoy his conversations. He usually causes me to think for days after our conversation. I feel my dad is very nonjudgmental and has been happy for us in our decision to try other churches. There are probably so many more things about him that I haven't even realized yet. You know...you start to appreciate your parents more as you get older. Above all, he is my dad and I love him. I need him in my life and I am so grateful for him. I have so many fond memories of him as a child. I hope to create many more happy ones in the future! Love you dad!

Tumble Time

running up the ramp and jumping off!

Lexie has been in gymnastics since April. She was in the baby class first where they basically got to just run around and have a blast and do whatever they wanted! Then came the Mom and Me class at 18 months. I took off the month of September when I had Tripp, and then the first week in October we went back and she had to move up to the next class. Yikes....it was rough! They were much more structured meaning they had to sit and watch the instructor first show them what they wanted them to do, wait their turn, and leave to go to the next rotation when the teacher said so. Well, if Lexie was enjoying jumping in the pit and the teacher said it was time to go to the balance beams, she was NOT happy. We had several fits. I even contemplated quitting because by the end I was so tired of fighting her to listen to the teacher and sit when told and chasing her because she kept running off somewhere that she wasn't supposed to be. I was somewhat frustrated that they weren't allowed to just run around, have fun, and tire themselves out. I wasn't paying $65 a month for my child to be upset the whole time. Anyways...I kept on trekking and she is doing much better now! I realized that it is really good for her to get acclimated to some structure and discipline! Technically we do whatever she wants all day long at home! She actually really loves her teacher and would much rather Coach Stephanie do things with her than me. Tripp has done pretty well in his car seat with a few exceptions like me forgetting his pacifier!! We do have a lot of fun and I actually get a pretty good workout too while I am there! Here's my cutie patootie doing some of her Olympic moves!

I am a fantastic bouncer!

She loves to slide into things like a bunch of foam blocks piled up at the end of the slide

Look at that cart wheel!

doing a front roll

climbing the rock wall

swinging like a monkey

A New Year

I am sorry to report that I have NO pictures of any sort to share from the party we attended New Year's Eve or the party we attended New Year's Day! I don't know what I was thinking... However, they were both great times sharing with friends and family and getting to know some new friends. Here are some of my goals for the new year! I am so hesitant to write them down for people to actually read because that means I will be held accountable for them!! Yikes! 1. get back in shape-not just in weight but in muscle tone...I need to firm up! 2. praying more for others 3. reading the bible everyday 4. work on not being a slave to materialism (thanks Dad for that idea) 5. being a better friend (checking in with them more) I always wait for people to call me. :( 6. reading more (for my entertainment and not parenting) 7. start volunteering again at church 8. making a budget and sticking to it especially groceries. That bill is incredibly too high! 9. get more organized with cleaning the house ( I am a horrible housekeeper) 10. Quit being a wimp and get out more with my kids! 11. Find Lexie a school for the fall. It really freaks me out leaving my child in someone else's care. 12. Go on a vacation without my kids (Lake Tahoe for my 30th Bday!) Friends, save your money and come along! 13. Find some new healthy recipes and get excited about cooking again. Hope you all have a wonderful New Year!

Christmas Day-Grandma Collum

Normally we would switch off every Christmas day going to Grannie Annie's house one year and then Hallettsville to my dad's family the other. This year we skipped going to Hallettsville because we were just so exhausted from everything. We enjoyed organizing our toys and just relaxing.

Christmas evening we celebrate with Randall's mom and brother and sister. We met over at her house where we ate dinner and visited. It was a really nice evening. Lexie loves being over there! While Grandma and Lexie were outside swinging we brought in Grandma's new TV to surprise her! She was thrilled and emotional. She deserved it though since she has been SO very helpful since Tripp was born. Lexie really loves being with her and staying at her house. She always goes out of her way to be there for us and our kids no matter what is going on in her own life, and is always asking if Lexie can come stay at her house! We are all so blessed to have such a giving person in our lives. She is one of those people that truly gives from her heart. It makes me very emotional knowing that someone loves my babies as much as I do! I feel excited that Lexie and Tripp have such a loving grandma that truly wants a close bond with them! I think she treats them better than I do! When I go to pick Lexie up from her house Lex cries when she sees me because she knows I am there to take her home!

We love you Becky!!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning is set aside for celebrating with our little family. It is new for me since I have NEVER celebrated anything Christmas morning...always Christmas Eve. Christmas morning was somewhat awkward for me as I didn't feel very pretty (for pictures), I was hungry, and still a little sleepy from being up so late on Christmas Eve. I am learning the ropes at how to make Christmas morning a little more special and meaningful. I realize now that we don't have to get up and open presents right away! We can make breakfast together and enjoy that, actually brush our teeth and wash our face first if we want, perhaps let Randall atleast put a shirt on (I can't post many pictures of him because he is half naked!), turn on some simple Christmas music, and create meaningful traditions that my kids will be writing about as I am one day. So I am going to do better next year at making Christmas morning a magical experience for all of us!

Lexie's new easel Lexie in her new tunnel/tent/ball pit. It's enormous. I don't know what I was thinking!

Lexie's favorite toy of all was a pack of $5 dinosaurs I picked up last minute at Target. It is incredible watching her pretend and interact with these dinosaurs. The picture of her opening her dinosaurs is the ONLY picture of her smiling during the entire Christmas experience!

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas was completely wonderful this year. Both of our families have always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve which makes for a hectic evening but always very special. We start off at my parent's house where we have a very nice sit down dinner amongst lots of laughing and chit chatting and many kids running around. My mom cooked 2 beef tenderloins this year which was such a treat! As you have seen from previous blog posts there are 5 kids in my family plus 4 of us have a spouse or fiance plus 6 grandkids. It makes for a very fun, loud, and crazy time and TOO many presents. We eat, sing Christmas carols, and then open our gifts. We made plans to start some new traditions next year including reading The Purpose of Christmas by Rick Warren before our celebration and then sharing parts of it that touched us before opening our gifts. We also thought it would be fun to start reading some Children's books to the kids before opening our gifts. My sister Kathy recommends reading Olive, The Other Reindeer. She read it to her class this year and she said it was so cute, and that she probably enjoyed it more than them! So we will start looking for some cute stories to share!

The best shot we could get of all 6 grandkids (5 boys and only 1 girl!) Nana and Grandpa got a new TV from everyone! As kids we always went to Christmas mass, drove around and looked at Christmas lights (my dad would point out the red light on top of the water tower in our neighborhood and would say it was Rudolph). He would tell us that Santa must have been to our house already! We would be so excited. Then we would go home to a house full of presents under the tree. I still don't really know who put out all the gifts for us each year! It was completely enchanting. Around 8:30 we leave and go over to Randall's aunt's house which is only 3 minutes away! He celebrates with all his aunts, uncles, and cousins which makes for a rather large party as well! We have tons of appetizers and desserts to eat for the rest of the night. They have a unique tradition where they hire a Santa to show up at the door and deliver one present to everyone! However, we didn't do it this year, but will do it regularly again starting next year when Lexie really will understand more of what is going on. Lexie and Tripp are the only little kids on that side of the family. Everyone played games and just visited all night long. It was a great time! We didn't get home until 11:30 or so. Lexie and her Grandma coloring in her new extra large coloring book

Christmas Eve was very special this year and we are already looking forward to next year when we can make it extra special for our kids. I love trying to come up with new traditions especially ones that really will teach my kids the true meaning of Christmas... I would love to hear some of your family favorites...

I will have to post about Christmas morning and Christmas day later so stay tuned!