My Beautiful Tree

So,

I finally got what I wanted.

A huge Christmas tree

Like 9 1/2 feet tall Christmas tree

It was a lot of work putting it up

Like hours and hours of work

Shaping

Putting lights on it (after a late night trip to walmart to get more)

Like 3000 lights

Standing on a ladder to put the bow on top

Adding lots and lots of ornaments (after another trip to walmart)

Like 118 to be exact

Plus icicle looking ones too

Then walking around and around it to make sure it was just

PERFECT!

And it is

J.U.S.T. P.E.R.F.E.C.T.

So if you are out and about

drive by and look for the big GLOW

and you will see my

huge,

beautiful,

just perfect,

chocolate brown,

sage green,

and gold,

Christmas tree!!!

p.s. the picture doesn't do it justice, so you should really just stop by and look at it in person:)

aLvIn the elf

I saw on one of my friends blogs about Elf on the Shelf. I thought it was a great idea and decided that my kids needed one. So..... I ordered one:)

He arrived last week on Friday and the boys couldn't quite understand it all. I read them the book and they asked lots and lots of questions. They couldn't understand how he could fly, why he couldn't talk to us and how he got here......

They decided to name him Alvin! Braylon came up with the name. So we registered his name and printed out our certificate of ownership and he is ours forever!!

So meet ALVIN!

Isn't he just adorable?

Bronson jumped out of bed Saturday and Sunday at 7 to try and find him. I was so excited to get Alvin but wasn't excited to have Bronson waking me up that early to see if I knew where he was.

Hopefully having Alvin around will help with some of our behavior issues and all!

I am so excited to be starting this new tradition in our family.

Christmas Recap

Christmas has come and gone and the only thing we have to show for it is lots of new stuff, pictures and memories! I will show you a few of the 100's of pictures I took:) We all had a wonderful Christmas and were truly blessed with everything we got.

What it looked like after Santa had dropped his presents off.

Santa brought Braylon a tractor with a trailer!

Santa brought Bronson a Mizzou Tigers football uniform set!

Look at his RED eyes! I need to fix that:)

Braxton got a AC/DC Cd from Santa (above) and his favorite thing from Santa was his Nerf gun tag game (below).

Braylon's favorite thing~ TIC TACS! Thanks Andrea:)

And from us the boys got a WII! They were super excited and very surprised! It is lots of fun. My arms are sore from playing boxing! And I thought I was in shape.

What our living room looked like after we had opened all of our presents from Santa and from each other! What a mess:) But what great fun.

Braylon and his jeep from Grampsie and Grandma Teresa! He loves it!

Bronson got chaps from Grampsie and Grandma Teresa! He loves them. The first thing he said when he opened them up was, "I need to call Colby!" I made him wait until the next day to call him. The picture is terrible of Bronson but I wanted you to see the front of the chaps. They are awesome! Some lady from Unionville made them!

Doesn't he look cute in them?!

I just love this picture of Braylon! He is being so patient, waiting for his brothers to open their present so he can open his next one!

Braxont got a huge Mustang GT remote control car from Grandma and Da! He loves it! Can't you tell by the expression on his face?

Bronson and Braylon got a kitchen from Grandma and Da. They were super excited, as you can tell!

I love this picture of my grandma's too. They look so good for being in their 80's! What a precious picture that I will cherish forever!

All in all it was a great Christmas! I can't wait for next year:) Hope yours was as great as ours! Happy New Year!

I have a video to upload but it is giving me grief! I will try another time, until then......

Greetings

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I won't be around the computer for a couple of days. Hope everyone eats lots, laughs lots and remembers the true meaning behind Christmas!

Loves to all of ya!

Game night!

Andrea's post reminded me to post these pictures. I wanted to post them Wed. but I forgot my camera. Anyhow, Tuesday night we played games with the boys. Braxton didn't know what game he wanted to play that the two little guys would be able to play too so after we got done playing Sequence for Kids we decided to just hang out. The boys were playing with those Magniex (sp) things and Braylon kept stealing them from Braxton so Brax tackled Braylon to get one of them and one of them stuck to one of Brax's presents. He jumped up saying "AHHHH, my present is magnectic." Oops:)!!!! So that reminded me that that present was a game so I let them all open one present.

Braxton got the Deal or No Deal game that was in a TIN! We have already played the game several times. It is really fun! He wanted the game and was really excited when he opened it.

Bronson got a Charades game for kids. We haven't played it yet, but I am sure it will be entertaining:)

And Braylon got binoculars. He LOVED them. I wasn't able to get a good picture with them though! Maybe another day.

So all in all they were all happy with their new presents. I have never really let my kids open presents early. Maybe every now and then, but I am starting to understand why Andrea lets hers. They appreciate them more if they aren't opening them all at once.

Have a safe and happy weekend everyone! Braxton turns 10 on Sunday, so remember to wish him Happy Birthday! He is having 3 friends over tonight. Wish us luck:)

The Joy of Giving

This year I talked to the boys about how some families don't have enough money to buy their kids presents for Christmas. I asked them if they would like to adopt a child for Christmas to buy presents for. They were very excited about it. Bronson wanted to know if they were going to come live with us for Christmas. So I took the boys a couple of weeks ago to pick out the child they wanted to buy for. Braxton got a 9 year old boy, Bronson got a 6 year old boy and Braylon got a 2 year old boy. We went shopping Tuesday night and the boys picked out what they wanted to get the child they adopted. So here are the pictures of the boys with their presents for the child they picked out.

I am so proud of them! After they picked out the child they wanted. They asked me if they could spend THEIR own money on the presents. I was so happy that they would want to do that! I let them spend their own money b/c I figured it would really and truely make them understand what they were doing. I hadn't even thought of them spending their own money. I was just going to spend our money on them, but for my kids to really think outside that box and want to spend their money made me realize that I am raising my kids right (most of the time, *cough cough*, previous post!). I am hoping we will keep this tradition up every year! So here is to great, thoughtful kids!!!!

tis the season

This is a picture of "my" tree. I love it! Every year I think I am going to buy different ornaments and change my tree and then I never do. Once I get it up I love it just as much as I did the year before.

Here is a picture of "the boys'" tree. They have fishing lights, shot gun shell lights, hunting and fishing ornaments and much, much more! They love to decorate it on their own.

Kansas City, Here I Come!

I am so excited to head out tomorrow for Kansas City! My mom, my 2 aunt's (Marian & Connie), my cousin Amanda and I are going Christmas shopping. My mom and aunts have been going every year for as long as I can remember. Last year was my first year going. Let me tell ya, they wore me out. I was the first one asleep. But I am going to show them this year that I am not a weenie and I will be the one last asleep. Maybe Amanda and I should stay up the longest and freeze their underwear:) That would be so great! I will let you know how that works out for us. Keep us in your prayers as we are going to be on the road a lot. We are leaving tomorrow at 7 and won't be home until around midnight on Sunday night! Happy weekend!