Sorry I havent written in awhile. I can't get the computer to down load my pictures. So as soon as I get it to work I will have several updates for you all. I hope everyone is having a great Christmas Day so far and I pray you all have a very Blessed 2010!!

First Snow

Today was the first snow and the kids were sooo excited. Joshua said "maybe Santa came" and they all ran downstairs to look. When Brendyn saw the snow he said "this is the best Christmas ever", it was so cute. For 2 hours they begged to go play in the snow (ok dust of snow). So even though I new it was freezing out there I knew they wouldn't stop asking me. So James and I bundled them up and let them play for a few minutes. I can't believe that after 15 minutes they were still upset when we had them come in. I have a few pictures to show you the first snow play time. I was inside taking pictures through the window. I new better not to go out :)

I did enjoy watching them throw snow/dirt at us and Joshua trying to eat snow. Alyssa even tried sliding down the yard. They had a good time and got some yummy hot chocolate when they were done. In my opinion that is the best part.

Extra Pictures

I found one picture on my phone of the cow santa.

I also forgot to say Thank You to Jennifer, Amy and Kelly who watched the other two little kids when I left. Thank you so much for your friendship and taking such good care of my babies while I was gone. I am so blessed to have great friends that are always willing to help me out!

I will also say that Jennifer had the best time with them I think :) The kids had a sleep over in the family rooma and stayed up until 1am and then they were up by 5:30 am. All I can say is "good times".

Sorry I couldn't figure out how to rotate the picture.

James Big Night!

Well last night was James first time playing out with his band. We have been waiting for this for years! This is his favorite hobby.

First James, me, Jennifer, Brian (other guitar player) and Emily all went to dinner at Oliver Garden. It was a nice dinner and quiet without the little ones. Then we headed down to Jefferson City to Mikes Corner Pocket to get ready. We got there 3 hours before they had to play. The guys wanted to make sure they got there in time to set up and do a sound check. Plus they were really excited (and nervous).

The band played and the girlfriends and me(I am the only "old lady" of the group) all supported our men while they were jamming. It was really interesting because all the girlfriends names of our friends are my sisters names..Amy, Rebecca (Becky for short), Jennifer and Emily. That made it easy for me to remember names :)

My sister Noelle and her boyfriend, Andrew came out and one of James old roommates, Shane

and his girlfriend Becky also came out to support the guys. Thanks so much. I know it meant a lot to the band, especially James.

The band did really well. They had a good turn out for their first show and the manager really liked them. So well that they were asked back for a paying gig. The guys were so happy about that. Plus they want them to open up for a bigger named band! The manager even wants them to write a few songs of there own. So for now we are going to be widowers to the band. I said as long as they don't write songs about me I was good.

Here are a couple of picture from last night. I hope they turn out. Jennifer is going to send me more picture later and I will add them. I know those turned out good. My camera phone didn't do much justice. You can see James in one but the singer is blocking him in the other :)

I forgot to tell you that James is also singing backup. We are so proud of you, James! Can't wait to see more of the band playing in the future.

We have been very busy lately. Here is what we have been up to...
We are working hard on school, do to all the construction we took a two week break and now we have a great school room to work in. The kids are enjoying having everything in one room and getting to do work on the computer. They are all doing so well.

I finished my Christmas shopping this weekend while I was in Springfield visiting my best friend, Lori. I went down on Thursday and came back Saturday night. I took Brendyn with me because the last time I left he got really upset and cried most of the time I was gone. I enjoyed getting to see my friend and her new son, Paxton and seeing how big Adriana is getting. She is not a big fan of her brother yet but is working on it. I can't believe I didn't take any pictures. I'm very sad about that.
We relaxed, shopped and went to go see a cow dressed as Santa. They have a restaurant called Chic-fi-la (I think that's right) and they have a cow that says "eat more chicken" as there mascot. It was really cute. Adriana was very excited to see him. Since there wasn't a lot of people there the cow even came to eat breakfast with her. I think this was the best day of her life so far. I also feel she was borderline stoker. It was so cute to see her reaction and hear her talk about it the rest of the day. They even got pictures to take home with them.
Brendyn on the other hand would have nothing to do with him. The cow even went behind him to sneak a picture for me but Brendyn wouldn't have it. O well maybe next time. Thanks Lori and Ryan for letting us come and visit you and see your new house. You truly are great friends!

Extra Pictures

Here are some of the dishes and the men relaxing after the "big feast".

Christmas Trees

I do have some pictures of our trees. This year we have three trees. One downstairs and two upstairs. Then all the kids have their own little one in their rooms. We love Christmas! The kids had fun decorating and picking out new ornaments. Alyssa picked out a princess one, Brendyn did a flamingo one, Joshua did a fire truck and police car, I did one of a woman shopping (james felt that was appropriate), and Miranda picked out several right colored ones. The kids decorated the basement one together. That was fun each one of them knowing were it all should go. There is a couple of spots that have covered up ornaments but they liked it and I was good with that. Keira and Donavon were here to help with all the decorations this year. Keira and Alyssa Had a fun time decorating her room. I know I still need to put pictures up of the girls room. That is on my to do list.

The one upstairs Miranda and I worked on together. Miranda enjoys decorating so I let her finish while I started dinner. This tree only has red and gold on it and I think it turned out great. Now I just need to get a tree topper. I am so picky I still haven't found "the one".

The one in the window Brendyn and Joshua did together. After a few minutes Brendyn was the only one doing it. Joshua I think got tired of Brendyn moving all the ones he was putting on. It was cute to watch.

Black Friday!

Miranda and I got up at 5:15 to go to Kohls. We were planning to be up and ready by 3:15 but Miranda forgot to set her alarm. But in the end it all worked out. I got most everything I needed that day at great prices. I spent way to much but I am almost finished shopping. Miranda even got started on her list. I don't have pictures but I got the cuties snowman dishes and decorations from Kohls. They were 60% off so I got some extra things like serving tray and serving bowls with little spreaders. They are so cute. I will try to post pictures later.

Thanksgiving Day

I am a little behind with my blog. We have gotten really busy. I'm sure that the rest of you know nothing about that. :)

Thanksgiving Day was so much fun for our family. We have a lot to be thankful for and we got to spend the entire day with family and friends.

Starting at noon my sister Noelle, my sister Amy, her husband,Bill, and daughter Jazz came up for our first Thanksgiving dinner. We had a great time eating and sending time together. They also got to see our basement finished. Bill loved the idea for a man cave. But then again what man wouldn't. The kids played and did craft activities I got off the computer. After Bill got a good nap (we were upstairs and could hear him napping!) they were ready to head home. We enjoyed having them all here. I know the kids love when their Aunts, Uncles and cousins come to visit them.

We all then went downstairs and rested while watching a movie. At 5:30 Any, Anthony, Little Anthony, Stacy, Neiona, and Duran came over for a dinner. Amy and Stacy were our first foster kids we ever had. They are now older with kids of their own. I am so lucky that we still get to be apart of their lives. We again enjoyed food and time together. The kids ran around and played and we big people got to talk.

I didn't remember to take any pictures (which I am very upset about) but we had a great day with our family and friends!

I think the house is finally put together. I need to do little things around the house but all the major things are done. So this weekend we just tried to relax a little.

Miranda was in a school play the weekend.. Grease she was a car hop. so she was pretty busy with that all weekend. She had 4 performances. At the end she was very tired and glad it was over.

Sat. the three little ones and me went roller skating with Aunt Des, Mason, our friends Jennifer and Andrew. Great Grandma Perkins and grandma Lauren even came to see them skate. The kids had a fun time and afterwards Jennifer, Andrew and the 4 of us went to stake n shake for lunch. Then we headed home to get ready for the school play. Jennifer kept Brendyn and Joshua so we wouldn't have to chase them during the play. Thank you so much, Jennifer!

That evening we went to Great Grandma Perkins house to celebrate Grandpa Mikes birthday. We always enjoy getting to spend time with them. Aunt Des and Uncle Micheal took Joshua and Alyssa home to spend the night with them. (Brendyn wanted to go home with mommy) They had such a good time. Before we went to grandma's I picked up Naiona and Duran and they spent the weekend with us. (Their mom Stacy is an old foster daughter of ours and we love being able to help her out.) Aunt Des enjoyed getting to hold Duran for the evening.

Sunday we went to church and came home and got ready for Alyssa and Joshua to come home. That evening Aunt Des, Uncle Micheal and Mason brought the kids back and then stayed for dinner. I even made a pumpkin pie for the first time. I think it turned out well.

So that was our weekend. I hope everyone else had a good weekend also.

One more thing... My best friend, Lori and her husband Ryan, had their baby Saturday. Paxton Michael was born at 1:06p.m. he weighed 9lbs and 13 oz and was I think 21 inches long. We are so excited for them. I am also excited because get to go spend 4 days with them the first week of December. I can't wait.

Well now that you all know my every move from this weekend I must go and finish school with the kids. Have a great Day!

Family Room

I really like how this turned out. I haven't got everything on the bookshelves yet but am working on it. I also need to hang the curtins. I am just waiting on James to find his charger for the drill. We really like that the play room is next to the family room. They can play in both rooms and at the end of the day it is easier to clean up then taking everything back upstairs.

Now I just have to clean the breakfast area, my room, and the play room and everything should be where it needs to be. They play room will be done tomorrow because if they clean it really well then they get to rent a movie and sleep down there tomorrow night. They are really excited. Now lets see if they stay down there all night or if I have to sleep with them.

School Room

Here are the pictures of the school room. This set up will work really well. There isn't a tv up here anymore so there won't be any distractions.

Three Rooms Done!

So far I have posted three new ones today. I will post as I get rooms done and cleaned. If I don't the house will never be cleaned. The children are going right behinds me undoing everything. Here is a picture of the laundry room. We didn't do anything to it but it was so nice and cleaned I had to take a picture. It isn't very often that there isn't clothes on the floor to be washed. We have organized our shoes so that we one don't lose them and two we can't have them on the carpet anymore.

Here is the sitting room. I still need to get a lamp for the small end table but other than that I think it is done.

ok so we will do this one room at a time. Here is Joshua's room. He is really into police officers, fireman, and ambulance's.

One Room Done!

Tonight I finished the downstairs bathroom. I have put some pictures in to show you how it turned out. We all think it turned out nice. The girls even started moving some of their stuff into the bathroom. We are still messing all the covers to outlets but we should have them soon. Tomorrow we get the carpet put in and hopefully get to start moving things downstairs. I just wish the rain would stop. I can't help but wonder how the workers are going to keep my carpet clean?! So here are the pictures and hopefully there will be more tomorrow!

ok I couldn't get all the pictures on the last one so here are the rest. The one with Alyssa's name I made. All the kids will have one for their bedroom doors. They picked out the decorations for it. I got this idea from my best friend Lori, thanks! This is a picture of the hall way going towards the stairs. They would be on your left. Next week all new pictures of what the "new" house looks like.

Basement Almost Done!

So here are pictures of the basement. They finished painting it today! We would be done tomorrow but the carpet we picked won't come in until next week. My house upstairs is a mess and so disorganized. I can't wait until this is all finished.

The play room didn't take because there was no light in there. The one with the bar is the "man cave". It is not what I was really wanting but it will do for what he is wanting.

Basement Update

So here are some pictures of what the basement looks like so far. The date it should be done is Nov. 13. I talked to the builder today and we decided to make a few changes.

We are working on a man cave for James and it has been a challenge. James DOESN'T know what we are planning and I hope will be very surprised (and excited) about what we have done. It has been a very long processes, but worth it. I think he will love it. The man cave and the kids play room are going to be switched so the painters are going to have to change the color in two rooms. Then after we talked it hit us both that the playroom could stay gold. So the playroom and man cave with be the same color. I am very happy with everything so far. I can't wait for it to be finished. The upstairs is packed with to much stuff and soon everything will have its place.

Yellow long room is the play room

Bright green room is Miranda and Alyssas room

Light green is is family room, hallway, and stairway

The blue that you can see in the family room picture is the bathroom. The girls picked that color and we really like it.

I dont have a pic of the man cave but as soon as it is done I will send more pics.

Halloween Fun

Halloween night we went to a friends house (Jennifer and Andrew) and had pizza, then went trick or treating and came back and had goodies. Jennifer made all the food before hand so when we got back the kids got to decorate it. It was a lot of fun. James even had the night off and got to join in the fun. He really liked all the candy and treats!

Alyssa went as sleeping beauty. She was all fancy with her hair curled and make-up on. She loved it. Brendyn was Anica from star wars. After he figured he got candy for saying "trick or treat" he really liked it. He still will say it with a big smile on his face. Joshua was a SWAT team member just like his daddy. The first house we went to he said "trick or treat" got the candy and when everyone was done he said "more please". We then had to explain that he would get more at the next house. Miranda went as a teenager and helped keep the kids in line. At one point she ran into some friends and they joined us for the evening.

All in all it was a good night. Plus the kids didn't get tons of candy. So that means less fighting with them about how much they can eat in one day or how much mommy and daddy can steal from them.

I am going to post several pictures so hopefully it works.

Pumpkin Cake

Last night grandma Lauren called and asked if she could bring us a cake. Of course we said "yes". When she got here we got the kids up and enjoyed the cake. It was so cute and tasted great. Thanks Grandma! Hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween. I will put pics up tomorrow of all of our Halloween fun.

Stairs Surfing

As I was making dinner tonight I heard lots of laughter coming from my three little ones. Then I could hear a crash. So I went to go see what was so funny and here is what I saw.

Yes, they were taking a baby mattress and sliding down the stairs. I thought is was funny and was impressed to see that they were somewhat (as much as you can) sliding down safely. Until, my 7 year old Brendyn tried to do it standing up. I wasn't as eager for them to try it this way. Needles to say they had a great time while I was preparing for dinner. For the first time in a while I wasn't breaking up fighting! Of course dad had something to say when he came home for dinner. Anyone else surprised by this?! If you know James you would understand. The boy who used to throw knifes at his brother for fun. O how being a parent changes you!

Pumpkin Fun

On Saturday we decided to go to Peach Trees Farm with some friends. It ended up being a beautiful day, just a little muddy. The kids had a good time, well most of them. Brendyn was not impressed with anything, until we left and got french fries. While we were there we feed animals, took a hayride, went through a hay maze, got put in jail and played in side a tp. As we were leaving we remembered that we could have gotten our faces painted. So to make up for that we went and played at Burger King. All was forgiven.

After that busy day I needed a nap. So my wonderful friend, Jennifer took my kids to her house to play. I went home and took a little nap. It was great! The teens and I then went to rent movies and get pizza. The kids were excited to see.... the pizza. I was told to leave and come back later. It is starting already :(

All in all it was a good day. I am glad we got to spend the day with Jennifer and Andrew.

Here is who is in the pictures. (Alan went with us but didnt let me take any pictures of him)

1. Brendyn, Miranda, Heather, Joshua, Andrew, and Alyssa.

2. Miranda, Brendyn, and Mom (Brendyn did not want his picture taken)

3. Andrew, Alyssa, and Joshua