A New Year and a New Start

    For my little booth at the Southern Antique Mall in downtown Laurel, I was going to go to market to find some new great things for the year. I also accepted a part-time teaching position at Laurel Middle School, teaching 7th grade English. Some great things to report.... Harrison and Hudson got their star reading reports after the 100th day of Kindergarten and they have both made tremendous improvement and are almost independent readers. Kindergarten has been wonderful and they are learning so much. I got accepted into the Dyslexia Therapy program at William Carey University and will start this summer. I am really excited about and can't wait to start helping kids become life long readers! This is dear to my heart but that's another post!

Here is me, Andrea and Chrissy ready to get after it. It is no joke, a lot of walking, thinking, looking at maps, timing, buying and planning!

Guess who this is?? Christopher Radko! We have a lot of his ornaments but I'm sad to report he has sold his ornament business and is into lavender now....who would've thought?

After drum lessons one day we were in town and it was such a nice day so we went swinging at Gardiner Park, my favorite park in Laurel.

Their 100th day of Kindergarten! They did a poster to represent it and it was all their work, except I helped glue on a few balloons when the melt downs started showing up :/

These sweet babies (Lucy and Grayson in our wedding) turned 13 in January, is it possible?? They were the first babies in our family and stole my heart from the first mention of their existence. 

She wanted her hair rolled too, she is little tender-headed, we will definitely have to work through that, I see many of tears and arguments ahead over that head of hair!

Besties for sure! Kayla and Saylor are the sweetest girls together and to hear them laugh and giggle is the greatest sound.

The girls stayed with us one night and we spent most of the next day at the park, fresh air is the best therapy.

Nelson Christmas and New Year

After we got dressed we went to the Nelson's Christmas, we always have a huge spread here and play a great game of Dirty Santa!

Mawmaw and her girls waiting to start the game.

After the Nelson's lunch, we went up to Mawmaw and Pawpaw's for dinner and presents, which is always fun! We got them new bikes this year, don't they look great on them !!?

Sweet Uncle "Maffu" (Saylor calls him) gave Hudson and Harrison a set of horns from a deer he killed a few years ago that he had just gotten mounted. They loved it!

This little hunter was so proud like they were his own trophy!

This was at home that evening, these two were whipped!

At church in their new clothes Aunt Julia and Uncle Matthew had gotten them.

No words......

This was the first year that Laurel Junior Auxiliary hosted the Casino Night New Year's Eve party and it was a GREAT turnout. We raised over $11000 for the children of Laurel and Jones County!

My dear sweet friend Courtney, we always feel like we are out of the loop on fashion etc but we pull through together ;)

Happy New Year!

New Year's Day we went to BWW for some wangs.

The "girl side"

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning 2013

I always do this... after Christmas is over it takes me forever to go back and post about each event! Here is our last late Christmas post! :)

Here is the view I had on the day before Christmas Eve, running our last errands. They were over it.

We got a new TV and Hudson squeezed in the box one day, I had no idea where he was and I laughed when I found him....so typical. It was a great hiding spot.

We were going to the Pierce family Christmas and every year there is a theme, this you as you can see is "Redneck Christmas" Saylor got her ink on her arm and was ready! This is as redneck as she got, she still wore a smocked Christmas gown :)

The rest of us, however, went with it.

This was some of the decor in the yard, hilarious.

The cake, and yes it was blood red on the inside.

That night Nanny, Pop and Granny came to stay with us. It was so nice having them there Christmas morning!

Saylor got a new kitchen and that was the first thing she wanted to do!

Christmas Morning 2013

A slingshot!

Harrison got one too! Knock on wood but no injuries to people or property have been reported yet!

Sweet Granny got some fancy new PJ's!

Say and her new Minnie high heels that light up!

It was the best yet! I say that every year but each year it gets better and we get more thankful. WE are so very blessed and had a wonderful 2013!

Brown Christmas and Ears

Saylor had to have tubes put back in because she could not get rid of the fluid that was on her ears without them, she also had her adenoids taken out. Dr.Sisk did it all and it was a breeze!

Here is Mawmaw holding her before we got called back to pre-op, she was in great spirits considering no morning milk :)

Daddy and Say, "I love my Dada!" she says it all the time!

We hosted the Brown Christmas at our house this year and everyone came and stayed the night, we played Dirty Santa and let all the kids exchange gifts. It was so fun, I love having all these kids in my house!

Freckles gave all the kids a nose like Rudolph, Grayson (12), Hudson, Liam (7) and Harrison

Nanny did Nana Claus with all the kids, they always look forward to Pop and Nanny's gifts

Hudson got some shaving cream and immediately had to go shave ;)

Our sweet girls! Lucy (12) and Saylor (2)

Super Stacker

We had a fun first few weeks of the Christmas season and did some usual traditions. I say it every year but each Christmas is more fun with the kids getting older and into the whole Christmas story.

Our Sunday School class got to ride in our teacher's Wagon in the Laurel and Ellisville parades. It was probably the coldest day on record for December but that is what makes it memorable.

These two are bff's and I had to document how they sleep inside. They have tried to both fit in the crate together but there is just too many legs.

I got to hold two new blessings on the same day, Avery Eavenson (right) and Russ Moore (left) they were both just perfect :)

Harrison had a great surprise for us, he came home with this trophy and a letter from school one day. He won the "Fastest Stacker" award for the whole West Jones Elementary Kindergarten. Out of 170 students! We had NO idea this was even going on much less that he was a pro! 

Santa made a special visit to Nanny's house one night and Harrison told him he wanted Battroborg, a bow and arrow, and a robot dinosaur.

Liam told him he wanted Battroborg and high-count Lego sets.

Hudson asked for  a new bike, a bow and arrow, and a fishing pole.

Saylor didn't want to talk to Santa but as he was leaving out the door she yelled (in what sounds like baby spanglish) "A bebe y cahseat y strollah!" (a baby, with a carseat and stroller)

Lolli and Mercy, cousins