Love these crazy boys!

Real Moms

MOTHERS Real Mothers don't eat quiche;
they don't have time to make it.
Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox.
Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids.
Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn't come out of carpets.
Real Mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.
Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'
and get their answer when a little voice says, 'Because I love you best.'
Real Mothers know that a child's growth is not measured by height or years or grade...
It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother...

Christmas Play at Calvary...

The boys loved singing in the Christmas play at Church. They played wise men and shepards.

Amy and Hayden played Mary and Joseph

Autumn and Gabbie were Angels

Alex, Jake and Josh on the front row, Autumn and Gabbie on the back row.

Gathered around the tree to hear the story of Jesus' birth at the beginning of the play.

Thanks to Lori and Linda for pulling off this great play! We were amazed at how well everything came off without a hitch. We had a full house and the kids did Awesome!

Christmas Caroling at the Nursing home 12-14-08

The kids from our Church went to the local nursing home to sing Christmas carols. It was a blessing for those singing as well as those that heard.

Christmas Day 2008

All tuckered out on Christmas afternoon. Jake above and Josh below....

Mom and Peanut opening gifts. Josh is camped out playing the Wii next to me.

Granny came up and opened gifts with us too! After we finished with gifts we went to church to celebrate the real meaning of the season. It was a blessing to be able to honor Jesus on his birthday!

Frank's favorite gift- a Dallas Cowboys bear from build a bear workshop that says "touchdown Cowboys!"

his other favorite team- the San Antonio Spurs!

Josh and Jake enjoying the excitement of Christmas Morning at our house. They loved wearing their PJ's to church this morning too!

Josh was super excited about Santa bringing Wii Music!!!

Jake is in LOVE with Taylor Swift. He got a doll that looks like her and sings his favorite Taylor Swift song- "Our Song" He took her to church and we accidently hit the button and she started to sing and we hit it twice more trying to shut it off! Our church family is wonderful and gets a kick out of the chaos our family brings with it so we are blessed! lol!

They loved these Wii and Mario Jammies!

Our tree Christmas Morning...

Santa delivered!!!!

Christmas Eve...

We got up, got ready, the boys opened a gift from the Build a Bear workshop, we picked up Granny and headed to Grandma's house at the lake...

Skip and his Mom Eloise

Grandma Pat, Skip and Jake

Eloise with Jake and Josh

Grandma with the boys.

Our family.

Granny with all of her Grandkids- so sweet!

Paul, Laura, Sarah and Katie.

Josh, Granny, Paul and Marla

Sarah and the boys being silly! I promised them they could be silly if they took some good pictures!

The kiddos!

Katie and LauraPaul and Sarah

Me with my new scrapbook idea book

Josh with the marshmallow shooter- this is a huge hit!

Jake with the remote control car... he was CRAZY to play this once he opened the package and we finally had to stop everything and open it up! The kids all had a ball with it. they tied stuffed animals to it and gave them rides around the house.

Laura and the girls...

Katie with Uncle Paul's gift...

Skip with the rug we got him for his new shop...

Granny taking it all in...

Jake with Grandma Pat and Daddy...

The kids table at Grandma's. They had a great view of the lake! The boys ate ham like they had never had it before.

I finally got a picture of all of the kids sitting still and looking in the same direction- this one took some effort, about 26 tries to get the good one! ;)

Christmas Eve Morning...

I had these neat animals made online at the build a bear workshop and I recorded messages to the boys on them so they can take them to bed at night and punch the button and hear my voice telling them that I love them to the moon and back. Sorry if it's cheezy, but they like it! LOL!

Jake above with his dog and Josh below with his bear. They are dressed in soccer clothing since they played soccer this year.

Making Cookies with Roo and Rissa...

The finished cookies by- Josh, Marissa, Jake and Ruben

Jake working on his Masterpiece

The boys hard at work

My wonderful, BRAVE, friend Kiesha

Crazy baby Rissa- just what she needs, more sugar! LOL!

the crew!

Ruben working on his snowman... and eating some of the snow/frosting.

Josh frosting his snowman and posing.

Jake decides his gingerbread man is frosted enough- it's time to give it a taste!

Once again, my friend Kiesha is a brave woman! She always comes up with great things for the kids to do and she is adventurous enough to take them on with 4 kids age 4 and under! The boys LOVE LOVE LOVE to get together with Ruben and Marissa and it is always fun to watch them together. Thank goodness for a good friend who understands that having fun is more important than worrying about if there are fingerprints on the windows.... no wonder we get along so well! ;)