Christmas Past

I like going back and taking a look at old photos, remembering when the kids were younger. Here are some photos from Christmases past, that I thought I would share with everyone. My how time flies!!

These are some pics of Christmas 2006. I can't believe how small the kids look. This is Raegan, Alison and Aspen. Aspen was diagnosed with diabetes about 2 1/2 months later. To the right is Taler with her new iPod!!

                                                                                                

Here are a couple from 2007. I think I skipped 2008 Christmas all together. I wasn't a very good pregnant person!!

This is a picture of my siblings and I 2 years ago when we got together to make Christmas candy & cookies. We tried to make it an annual tradition, but Rachel & I were both pregnant last year and not really in a cooking mood. Maybe we'll try again this year!!

Stay tuned for Christmas 2009 pictures!!

Decorating for Christmas

The Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, we decided to decorate the house and yard for Christmas. Dennis & my brother Tyler spent the entire day hanging lights outside while I spent time doing the inside. We like to go all out every year and I think our neighbors enjoy it.

I don't know why my pictures are coming out so blurry. Maybe I don't have a very steady hand!! Well, since all the kids weren't here while we did the decorating, we decided to leave the hanging of the ornaments to them. They enjoy doing it every year but I get the feeling we're going to need a bigger tree next year. I just wish our living room was set up differently so we could utilize our vaulted ceiling!!

Thanksgiving 2009

Gosh, a whole month since I've posted anything, go figure!! I was afraid this would happen. I feel like I can't post something unless I have pictures to go along with it and since my camera has pooped out, I'm having to use Dennis' from work and don't get as many shots as I'd like. Hint for Dennis: good Christmas gift!! So, our Thanksgiving weekend was pretty uneventful. We had a nice lunch here at the house with my sisters, brother-in-law, mother-in-law and all the kiddos. Raegan, Aspen & I made pumpkin pies the night before. It was my first time & I think they turned out GREAT!! Darn it, I forgot to get a picture of the pies. Silly me!!

Our oldest 2 stayed with friends most of the rest of the weekend and Alison was with family in Parsons. My sisters were going to Branson for the weekend after our Thanksgiving lunch, so Dennis & I figured we'd have a quiet weekend at home with my mother-in-law, Raegan and Sutton. Well, Raegan was invited to Branson at the last minute, so we were pretty much childless. Sutton sleeps from 7:30pm to 7:30am, so we had the WHOLE evening to do whatever we wanted. Thanksgiving night my friend Crystal and her husband Matt came to Winfield to stay for a couple nights with us and our friends Paul & Jennie came over to play games. We had a blast and stayed up ENTIRELY too late. Friday was spent recovering and then we did it again on Saturday night. All in all, it was a great, relaxing weekend.

Sutton's First Cereal

Since Sutton is becoming such a big boy (18lbs at 4 months), I thought maybe it was time to go ahead and start on some cereal. Formula is OUTRAGEOUS and he's already eating so much that I thought maybe giving him a little cereal would fill him up more.

Well, he wasn't a very happy camper during all this. He just wanted his darn bottle. I have trouble remembering things from a mere 6 years ago, when Raegan was this age. I believe with each year I grow older, I lose memory of another year when I was younger. Eventually, I'll only remember the present!! HA HA Anyway, back to Sutton. Poor baby was tortured by mommy because I just thought if I kept trying, he would eventually taste it & like it. I get the feeling he's going to be a "meat & potatoes only" kinda boy. So, after a few spoonfuls, I decided maybe it was a little too early for trying out the cereal and stuck the bottle in his mouth. Until next time!!

On a brighter note, I found a SUPER deal on a new Bumbo for my big boy and he sure enjoyed sitting in it and watching a Baby Einstein video. It may be my  new little helper because the newness of the baby has worn off and everyone scatters when I ask for help!!

Busy Halloween Weekend

We had a very busy & eventful Halloween weekend. First, Raegan had a Halloween party at school and we sent take-home treats for all the kids in her class. She was very proud of them and wanted to carry them by herself.

Then, Raegan & daddy spent some time carving pumpkins Friday night. She was the only big kid home, so she enjoyed that special one-on-one time. She's feeling neglected with the new baby.

They were pretty proud of their final products. Raegan was really excited to do it all by herself. Afterward, she & I baked cookies for our chicken & noodle dinner the next night.

Finally, we ended Halloween night by going trick-or-treating with everyone. Sutton, Mason, Raegan, Dayton & Kaelyn were all there. We stopped by Gma Goodwin's, Aunt Cindy's and Meme & Pop's houses and then went down 9th street.

The kids with Grandma Goodwin. They were all SO cute!!

We also ran into Aspen & Brittany who looked AWESOME as Thing 1 & Thing 2!!

Baby Sutton's 1st Halloween!!

First Timer

I decided to create a blog in an attempt to keep family & friends in the loop on what's going on in our lives. With the recent birth of our baby boy, Sutton, I haven't had the chance to visit with everyone as much as I'd like to, so I figure this is a way I can keep in touch with everyone. I haven't been taking near as many snapshots as I'd like to, so I'm hoping this blog will get me motivated to take more pictures of my family!! I hope all is well with everyone and please, check back regularly to find out what happens next in this beautifully chaotic family!!