This time 10 years ago I was worried about Y2K!

This time 10 years ago, it was my senior year and I remember exactly where I was and that we weren't really sure if the world was about to end or not. Y2K was a REAL concern! Fast forwarding through some of the best times of my life through the height of patriotism in 2001, my college years, being broke as a joke picking up extra shifts to make rent, meeting my husband, getting him through PT school, watching friends get married, me getting married, buying a house, having a baby (x2) and ahhhhh.....here we are. What a great 10-year span I must say. This last year was probably the most ..... sweet and sour? Right now I only want to dredge up the sweet so here is my Top 10 for 2009!

10. Harrison started walking at 15 months!! (Jan) [Hudson started at 12 mos.]
9. We got a new puppy! Charlie Brown Pierce (Feb)
8. Joel heads back to school for his doctorate!
7. Boys start talking and can communicate!
6. I started a successful cupcake business (had to stop due to time restraints)
5. My brother Jason and his wife have a successful year with their businesses! (furniture and home inspections)
4. Our parents and siblings and their families are healthy and happy and prosperous!
3. Our baby boys turned 2, such miracles!
2. Joel's Mom, Aunt and Step mom all survive breast cancer!!
1. We are healthy and employed!!

We salute you 09 but I'm happy to send you on your way.... we have a lot to look forward too, a brand new day!
I pray God guides us and His will be done, it will be what we make of it and I hope it's fun.
We hope for more good memories made and that Joel stays employed so we keep getting paid.
Two boys need training for the potty this year.....how to get there is not yet clear!
So goodbye 09 it's been real! Now for 2010 we might have a deal!

Christmas 2009

Christmas went as fast as it came this year! It has taken me a few days to get organized, find new homes for new toys and put away our decor. It was fun and magical with two little ones and a little tiring....I couldn't rehash it right away but now I am ready to talk about it! The boys have behaved beautifully, minus one little hiccup at church Christmas Eve (Harrison!). Great memories were made and traditions were carried out and some new ones were started! Here is the best way to explain....

Christmas....Hawaiian Style!!

Joel's Dad and Stepmom did things a little different this year and we had a luau Christmas party, they went all out! All the kids had matching outfits and each couple had a matching outfit waiting for them... Hawaiian menu and full out decor!

Family portrait on our way to Hattiesburg on Christmas Eve for church and our last night of "Nana Claus" because Joel had to work on Christmas day this year we stayed the night and had fun opening presents with Nana, Pop, Granny Shaw, Liam, Uncle J and Aunt Shelley.

The left side of the pew at church, it was great to have Mawmaw and Pawpaw with us this year! Hudson held that sucker the ENTIRE night and it drove Harrison nuts because he bites his and they are gone in seconds.

The right side of the isle at church, so blessed to have that pretty lady in pink on my pew!

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Christmas morning after "Nana Claus" came!

Just "helping" Harrison go on his motorcycle!

Having his chocolate milk, which has become quite the staple with Harrison.

The boys opening their stockings together at Nana and Pop's.

We went to Mawmaw and Pawpaw's at lunch on Christmas day and Joel met us here that afternoon, here is Harrison opening his presents.

Kali and her Zhu Zhu Pet!

They opened a lot of presents on Christmas day!

After an eventful day all the kiddos ready to get in the car in their PJ's

Choo Choo!! The boys new train table Santa dropped off at our house, Hudson is pulling the bell!

Opening their stockings at home, Santa brought them a cowboy hat!

Christmas Week is Here!

We kicked off our Christmas traditions by getting together with the Brown's this weekend to eat and let the kids exchange gifts. Mom did a great job cooking and having everyone over along with the added excitement level from the kids riding scooters and trucks, the occasional marching band, dodge ball game all coming through the busy kitchen while little hands are reaching for food, drink and knives on the counter! I am also so thankful that my sweet Granny Shaw can still drive herself up to my parents house from Gulfport and participate, we are so blessed to have her still in such good health!

Here are our pics from the week so far... we are getting ready for Santa to come! We have been playing with our new toys. We went to Gatti Town yesterday with Nana and had a great time...cool place. I just can't explain how special and sentimental Christmas is this year with the boys being a little older, it just keeps getting better!! I'm trying to keep the boys in line so that Santa will try to find them out here in the country where we can't get local TV piped in!

Granny, Dad and Jason recovering after a big meal, watching our Saints :(

Nana and the boys handing out stickers.

The aftermath and Grayson's antlers that you shake or something.

They are convinced that their big dump trucks are riding toys that I am supposed to push them around the house in!

Getting into the photo spirit, it was worse than the paparazzi.

We even take pictures of each other taking pictures....

Lucy read us all the sweet story about the Candy Cane.

Uncle Dean and Harrison looking at the AWESOME ginger bread house at Nana's!

The boys at Gatti town....they really did have fun...

Riding the cool train, it's pretty fast for a toddler ride...hang on!!

Guest Blogger for Christmas!!

I have been asked by the beautiful and talented author of this blog to share 5 memories I experienced at Christmas growing up as a child. Keep in mind that I was raised in a very small town called Seminary, so there were no hometown Christmas parades, attractions to go view, city Christmas tree lightings etc. All we had were friends, family, and free-time. The following are some of my fondest memories, but don't be disappointed that there aren't any earth-shaking oohs and aahs.

1. A little recollection of Christmas eve.

The one thing I remember about Christmas eve was watching the news to see where Santa was at bedtime. We would also go outside and look to the sky and mom and dad would point to a set of stars and say "I bet that is Santa right there...you better get to bed." So off to bed we scampered and slept with one eye halfway open. However, the one thing I could never really understand was how our local news said Santa was in one location, but the news off the coast (WLOX) would say he was in another location.........just had to believe.

2. A little recollection of Christmas day.

My brother Matthew and I would go to bed early so we could get asleep and the morning would come a little sooner. And sooner it did......we would always wake up around 3:00am, 4:00am, or 5:00am at the latest to see what was under our tree. Then to mom and dad's room where we didn't always get a warm welcome at that time of morning. We would wake up so early that we would go back to bed after opening gifts, sleep a few hours, and then be back up around 8:00 or so to play.

3. After all the above had taken place, we would walk up to my grandparents (Pierce's) to exchange gifts with them. Then we would return to my house around lunch to see my other grandparents (Brocks's) and the rest of my mom's brothers and sisters and all my cousins. My Pierce grandparents would also come over to eat and rest of the day was entertained by playing with our Christmas gifts.

4. I remember real well one Christmas that Matthew swore he saw Santa outside his window. He was so excited and he got to see Santa and heard his reindeer on the roof.

5. Another memory had to do with our fireplace. We had a wood-burning stove (that would heat us out of the house sometimes..... ok, a lot of times. there were many nights I remember opening doors and windows to cool off the house because it was so hot)..............but back to my memory. The chimney on the fireplace was way too small for anybody to slide down, much less Santa's big rump. So what we did on Christmas night was leave the front door unlocked so Santa could come it and not have to come down the small chimney.

Like I said, not a lot of suspense or excitement, but those are my memories that I still remember vividly at 31 years of age. It was obviously special to me and I still recall it like it was last year. Friends, Family and Free-time.

To my boys,

I hope one day when you are looking back at all these entries and memoirs your mom documented for us, you will know how much you have impacted our lives for the better. Ya'll are my heartbeat, my purpose for living. I Love you. Merry Christmas Harrison and Hudson.

Love,

Dad

This is where Harrison prefers to watch Dora, hopefully his retinas will survive.

Mommy's Gingerbread House that they cannot resist!

This poor house has no yard due to the pressure to get finished by the onlookers!!

Holiday Vacation Toddler Style!

Their first time in a hotel, this was their perch where they looked at all the tall buildings.

After leaving my brother's house we headed to downtown Mobile to our hotel. This is the boys first time to stay in a hotel so it had to be documented of course! They loved it! Harrison called the elevator the "alligator" it was funny. Joel's Mom, Ronnie, his brother Matthew, Julia and the girls came down to. It was just a mini-getaway that ended up being a lot of fun and maybe a tradition. We went to eat Friday night on the causeway at The Steamer, then on to Bellingrath Gardens to see the Christmas light display. I highly recommend this for everyone, it was great and not what I had expected, I can't wait to go back in the Spring to see the flowers blooming. It was soooooo cold, I didn't bring the boys any gloves and had to run in Target to get them some and guess what color the very LAST two pairs were......PINK. So they rocked the pink gloves and stayed warm.

Despite the looks, they had a GREAT time and loved the lights (and stayed warm :)

The next morning we all walked across the street to the Mobile Explorium. This place is so cool and another place I highly recommend.

This was a harp that had no strings, it used lasers to detect what string you were pulling. This is Kali, Harrison, Hudson is playing and Paw paw.

We played with all the hands-on games and played in the toddler exhibit called "The Wharf" and then went upstairs to the Bob the Builder exhibit which was so cool. Bob happened to stop by! Hudson did NOT like him and Harrison knew who he was and we were able to give him a hug and say hi (this is a big step for us!)

At Bob's workshop we hammered with his tools, built a stone wall, slid down the slide, drove all the characters machinery and lots of other fun stuff. To wrap it up we went to the IMAX and they watched the whole thing, it was about wild animals and they sang and danced - super cute. It was a great vacation, all the kids did surprisingly well, no melt-downs! We had great company and hope to do this more often!

Extreme Week!

This week was an "Extreme" week for our crew, literally. Extreme Makeover Home Edition was in Hattiesburg and did an unbelievable job on a new house for a family on 18th Ave. A couple of friends and I volunteered to help and it was a really great experience, they are very organized and VERY fast. The extent of the work site is just a lot to take in when you get there, it was very cool, house looked great and it will air sometime in February.

The next day we left for a mini-vacay and headed to Mobile to stay the night with my brother's family, Dean, Ashley, Lucy and Grayson. Lucy had her own marching band and they learned "jingle bells" marching around the house with their band, Hudson on xylophone, Harrison on drums and Lucy on bells. The boys love their dog Lolli, and follow her around, she is like a person and VERY patient with these two. Harrison calls her "yahyee".

Lucy and Grayson have an elf from the North Pole that comes to watch and play with them every year right before Christmas, his name is Sparky. This year he brought a friend, her name is Pippy. They feed them crackers and water and sprinkle some special snowflake sprinkles on them every night and they get up and play around the house while everyone sleeps. Sometimes they can be a little mischievous! The next morning we woke up to this mess!! They emptied Hudson and Harrison's bag and threw the clothes everywhere!! They always leave a note and they said they were a little upset that the boys kept eating the crackers that Gray was trying to leave out for them so they wanted to play a joke on them! It was all in fun they said. It was funny and mommy had to re-fold and pack their bags all over again.... :).

Despite two boys that didn't adjust so well to their first night of sleep on vacation....We really enjoyed our quick visit with them, lots of fun. More of the family vacation details coming soon!!

Ruger and Red Velvet

Joel's Mom and Step dad Ronnie had a dog "cookie" who ran away a few weeks ago. They like to have a dog around just for another set of ears and for the company. We got them a chocolate lab puppy from a litter an old friend of mine had. We took him over there this weekend and I think it was a good match!! His name is Ruger and Harrison started out calling him "Rubert" than "Goobert"now I think he has it. If that dog can survive all the kids that want to hold him, he will do just fine! He is so pretty and smart, I posted some pics below.

Boys will be boys.... Yesterday while it was FREEZING and RAINING I was... let's just say I was "tied up in the restroom" which is by the back door. My sweet children can unlock the deadbolt and "bolt" and they did. I could hear them and felt the frigid air but I was prisoner and I couldn't do anything about it. I heard them running and splashing through the rain sneezing and coughing....ugh it's like nails on a chalkboard to a mom that tries so hard to keep everyone warm and dry and well!! Finally I coerced them back inside (hope the neighbors couldn't hear me!) and they were soaked and frozen. As they say "those boys!"

Here is a great recipe I made last week and it was surprisingly a hit!

Raspberry-Red Velvet Petit Fours

makes 24 servings

1 pkg Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Red Velvet cake mix

1/2 cup of seedless raspberry jam

1 container of Duncan Hines Creamy Home style Cream Cheese Frosting

Prepare cake batter as directed, pour in a greased and floured 13x9 inch pan

Bake on 350 until toothpick stuck in comes out clean (25 to 30 min)

Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 min. than remove from pan and cool completely on rack (1 hour)

Invert cake on cutting board, cut off rounded top and edges with serrated knife

Cut cake in half cross ways than horizontally (to put jam in the center)

Stir jam until spreadable and spread on the bottom halves

Replace tops and cut each half into 12 square pieces

Microwave frosting for 20 seconds, put in a Ziploc back and nip the corner of the

bag with scissors and pipe frosting on separate cakes letting frosting run down the sides.

*I put wax paper under the cakes to put frosting on, saved a mess and they were easy to transfer to a cake plate.

Flashback Friday, Christmas traditions!!

I'm going to have to change it up a little and go with Jill on Flashback Friday!!!

Here are 5 flashback memories/traditions from Christmas time while I was growing up in Albuquerque, NM:

5. Going to pick out the perfect tree, I liked it to be full and bushy and Jason and Mom liked the spaced out limbs to hang ornaments in...we would strap to the top of the sedan and bring it on home to put the knitted afghan tree skirt that Granny Shaw had made around it. Also, something I remember that probably sounds so crazy to a southerner is that we would put strands of chili pepper lights around the tree.

4. SNOW DAY!! We had plenty of those and we would take our inner tubes up to the mountain (Sandia Mountain) and go tubing down the hill, some of the best memories I have were in the mountains tubing or skiing.

3. Going to the airport every Christmas Eve to pick up my Granny from MS. Dean would show me the out going planes high in the sky on the way to the airport and say "that sure does look like Santa, he must be getting close!"

2. On Christmas Eve we would set out Luminarias (brown lunch bag with sand in the bottom and a votive candle to light it up) lining our driveway and sidewalk, it was a Southwestern tradition we picked up when we moved there, it was so pretty when all the houses would put these out.

1. Our hallway picture...before we were allowed to go see what Santa had left us we all had to sit in the hall (no brushing hair, changing, or peeking!) My mom now has an album full of all the "hall pictures" from when Dean and Jason were babies up through Hudson and Harrison in the hall on their first Christmas! ( I will have to get one to put on here!)

I have some vivid and special Christmas memories from being a kid, thanks Mom and Dad, I only hope we can have some traditions that the boys will remember forever and carry on to their families one day.

My sister-in-law Ashley gave me a great idea and I want to pass it on. She buys a voice recordable ornaments every year and lets Lucy and Grayson say "Merry Christmas" on it and say a few things that Santa brought them. She said it was such a great way to preserve their little voices and that now they press the button daily to listen to what they got and how they sounded years ago. She also suggested getting a recordable ornament and getting the Grandparents to say "Merry Christmas" and a little message for the kids so that they will always have a memento of their voice for when they are gone someday. Merry Christmas!!