Christmas at Uncle Bobby's House

Uncle Bobby hosted Christmas for the family at his house this year. It was as beautiful as usual! I took so many pictures I won't bore everyone with all of them. This year everyone was there except my Bobby, he had to work. I really missed him but Andy, Tammy and Austin were able to visit this year and they haven't been able to join us for Christmas for a long time so it was wonderful.
Brooklyn picked out a Christmas outfit and fixed her hair all by herself. She looked lovely.
Ayden was so sleepy by the time we got to Uncle Bobby's - it was his nap time. He rested with Papa while Mommy unloaded the van. That shiny blue is his blanket. He just loves it! Thanks Aunt Holly for his Linus blanket!
Ayden was playing with everyone, I am so glad he seems to be getting over the stranger issues. It was fun having Aunt Tammy there - she is always so great with the kids!

Ayden got so excited when I picked up a piece of chocolate to share with him. He loves chocolate, like any other kid! I bought his Christmas overalls, Bobby loves penguins so I thought this was perfect! He looked so dang cute it them!
Caleb got something great to shoot at his brother! Just kidding, Seth got one too. Perfect for two boys.
Grana (GG) and Papa (PapaG) were getting ready to open their gifts. Uncle Bobby wraps the gifts so beautifully. Unfortunately Grana fell going down the last couple of stairs as she was leaving and she is now in the hospital. We are all worried and praying for a quick recovery. She broke her wrist and her hip but came through surgery well so now she needs to work on getting better.
Seth managed to steer clear of pictures at Bobby's house somehow! We got this one of him with his favorite person - Grandma Sheryl and there is Uncle Andy! Holly and Brian avoided the camera this year too, hmmm... How did they manage that?
The tree was spectacular! We all loved to see the changes that Uncle Bobby and Bob made to their home. They worked so hard to make us all feel welcome and they did a wonderful job. The food was delicious and everyone had a good time.

Proud to be Hufflepuff

The sorting hat says that I belong in Hufflepuff!

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot, and treat them just the same."

Hufflepuff students are friendly, fair-minded, modest, and hard-working. A well-known member was Cedric Diggory, who represented Hogwarts in the most recent Triwizard Tournament.

 

Take the most scientific Harry Potter
Quiz ever created.

Get Sorted Now!

Ravenclaw was a close second with 88 out of 100 and Gryffindor was 68. Slytherin - no way at 33.

Christmas round one!

Santa came early this year! I had to call the Santa hotline but it was a must since we would be out of town for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. There just wouldn't be enough room in the car to fit all Santa's stuff along with our bags! The kids had so much fun unwrapping everything and Santa was good to us this year. He brought Brooklyn a digital camera, Caleb a junior size NFL football and UT shirt and cap and Seth got a scooter and spiderman dart set. Bobby likes for Santa to wrap everything so there was paper and smiles all around. It was nice to just open them together as a family and let the kids ooo and ahhh. They also opened their gifts from Grandma and Poppy Orr. They were so excited to see everything. They figured Christmas was over as far as presents went but nope... it was on to Uncle Bobby's house for gathering with my side of the family.
Ayden looked so cute grinning in his Astros hat! Bobby was so proud.













Brooklyn got a pink watch from Poppy and Grandma Orr - she just loves pink and jewelry so it's a perfect match!

Caleb is all about football right now and I guess Santa knew that. Pop's was too big so now he has one that is perfect for his hands! It even came with a pump and stand.
Seth loves to dress up so this year he got Michaelangelo so he could dress up with Caleb who got Raphael. (Doesn't Bobby just look thrilled?)

Transformer invasion!

Caleb had a sleep over party. Actually it is still going on! He was so excited. The theme was Transformers and I found some masks. I thought they'd be cool but they were a pain to put together and didn't stay on their faces. They sure looked cool though! Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and tried to eat cake but after four pieces of pizza it was difficult. Seth was a bit jealous because these weren't his friends but he got over it when the pizza got here. We got Caleb a scooter with red handlebars and wheels. He seemed pleased. This is such a busy time of year for a birthday but it was fun!

Funny what a month can do...

On his birthday Ayden would take two steps then fall down. Slam! Right on the bottom. Now he just cruises. He is in a hurry everywhere he goes. Often his belly gets too far in front of him and he topples down but just keeps going in crawl mode. Nothing deters that kid!

Ayden is a baby on a mission. A mission to explore and discover Planet 1-5-2-7. It is a territory of myriad discoveries. There are drawers that open and things inside them and if he gets to them quickly enough he can pull everything out before that dreaded sound, NOOOO, he is not quite sure what it means but it gets the inhabitants of Planet 1-5-2-7 angered enough that he pays heed. Then there are the doors. So many doors it makes a little head swim, and Ayden's is smaller than most. Just recently a new passage way has been opened up for exploration and the noisy door that slams by the cool hard floor is particularly fascinating to Ayden yet frightens the other inhabitants for some silly reason. All Ayden knows is that it leads to fresh air!

Okay that just got way geeky but I am waiting for this video to download and process so I'm bored. Can you tell? Needless to say I'm terrified of Ayden getting out the front door since we are upstairs. Every time the kids go outside I lock the door behind them and they have to knock to get back in - is that horrible? I let them in, usually. He he he he JK!!! I always let them in right away, I can hear them coming up the stairs, they are not exactly silent and sneaky. I wanted a better video but this will just have to do as he always runs away from me.

Grandma's Gingerbread House

Every year Grandma Carol has sent the kids a gingerbread house kit. It has become a favored tradition with the kids and Bobby to make the house. The kids had been pestering him for quite some time to get this done and finally Sunday seemed the day to do it - with a little hint from me ;). So Bobby broke open the package and got the icing ready. He's the builder and the kids are the decorators, of course. This year Ayden tasted samples of icing. I'm sure next year he'll be into it in more ways than one! The end result is a festive, lovely, colorful creation that looks good enough to eat, well, the kids sure think so anyway!! The kids enjoyed it and Bobby, although angered with the icing, as he is every year, enjoyed it too. I took pictures while the kids were doing homework so pardon the books on the table. Now the question is - how long will it remain intact?

Elves

I think this link will work but I'm not sure. With Vista I can't pull any of these up so let me know if it doesn't work so I can just delete this entry. Bobby says it's just disturbing but there you have it... our children as elves... http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9552165350

I am so very vanilla...

You're Vanilla.

				You're as popular and relaxing as vanilla ice cream. You go with the flow, and get along with all sorts of people. You appreciate peace and simplicity, so you sometimes find crowds and loud noises overwhelming. You are a chilled-out, calming influence on the people in your life, and your friends appreciate how supportive and flexible you are.

I don't ever eat vanilla ice cream by itself unless I'm totally hard up for something sweet but apparently I am as boring as vanilla. :( Oh well... not like I didn't already know that and completely embrace my boringness... if that is even a word.

My cousin Marcie tagged me with this one.
A. Each player has to list 6 facts/habits about themselves
B. At the end of the post, the player tags 3 people and posts their names

1. I believe that eating cookies/cakes/brownies for breakfast is just as good for you as eating donuts, so I do it whenever I have those things.
2. I have to sleep with a loud fan on or it's just too quiet.
3. I truly do love days when I can lay around in pjs and read or watch TV.
4. I have amazing patience with my husband, children, students and friends. But not so much with myself.
5. My husband and kids are my world, even if I complain too much.
6. I love to read. Please do not talk to me while I am reading. Please expect me to be short on the phone if you call me while I am reading.

Tag... Aunt Suzie doesn't get on the computer much :) so... Danielle, Bethany, Heather Y

Wow - what is an appendix for anyway...

besides causing you pain? Last Friday Bobby woke me up to tell me he had been in serious pain all night. He was motioning mostly to his lower back, right side. I did a quick search on the internet and figured it was 1. kidney stones 2. kidney infection or 3. appendicitis. Well... based on the title in the subject line you've probably guess what it was. By 3:30 pm Friday afternoon they had removed the infected organ and Bobby was feeling better if not way dopey. Everyone was so great and stepped right in to help with the kids so I could be at the hospital as much as possible. Sheryl kept Brooklyn, Caleb and Seth for two nights! She made it so fun for them even though she was sick and Dad had to work. My friend from school took on Ayden and let him have a sleep over with her baby girl who is a month older than him. He didn't even miss me - the little booger. So for anyone who is wondering - Bobby is doing much better and will be back to work on Thursday. What a weekend though!

Halloween

We went to trunk or treat this year. It is a tradition. This was held the Saturday before Halloween. It was a bit different this year in that the ward had a chili cook off. Everyone enjoyed trying out different types of chili and Holly even won 'family favorite'. I don't know if Dad won anything but his was good too. (A bit spicy for me the first time I tried it though!) Ayden really likes chili. So do Caleb and Brooklyn but Seth had a hotdog. They put dry ice in the root beer which was cool b/c it looked spooky. Then it was out to the parking lot for treats and a few tricks. Everyone gets really into decorating their trunks. Maybe next year they should offer a prize for that. Well, it was chaotic once the kids started trick or treating - they ran off in every direction so I only got a few pictures. Dad's Tahoe looked cool all decorated by Sheryl and Travis. The picture of Brooklyn is with a friend standing in front of a trunk of Jaws! Ayden was a skunk - Lil' Stinker seems to fit him well and the boys were Spiderman and Venom. We had a good time and the kids made quite the haul but I ran out of candy, Ayden was grumpy and we headed home.

Ayden's 1!

Ayden had a good time at his party. We invited his little friends Avery and James. He got presents but was more impressed with paper and boxes, of course. Bobby said I picked the wrong time because we had it at 10am and by the time we got to my dad's house Ayden was falling asleep in his car seat. It only took him about 20 minutes to perk up and play. He loved playing with his cake, he loved it even more when Bobby put some icing on his tongue and he realized that it was fun to play with but funner to eat it! Then he smeared it everywhere. He had to get dunked in the bath of course and we left my dad's soon after. The poor little guy didn't last long in the car on the way home before crashing out!

Zoo trip

I couldn't believe it when Bobby suggested going to the zoo. Anyone who knows him knows he doesn't like to leave the house much. However, he suggested it Friday afternoon and so on Saturday morning we were off! We decided that a membership was the way to go so hopefully there will be more trips in the near future. Houston's weather has been so nice lately and everyone had a very good time. Ayden was in a good mood and the kids were happy to get out and play when it wasn't too hot. Halfway through Bobby commented that he didn't know how his parents had the energy to do this kind of outing with six children and I suggested it's because they took it slow and rested on benches every now and then. Bobby was ready to zoom right through the entire thing. We didn't get to see the elephants, giraffes or big cats but there was a bald eagle that the zoo has because it's injured! The kids got to sit in the replica of a bald eagle's nest. We saw monkeys, zebras and so many other animals. We ended with the reptile house which is what Bobby was the most interested in seeing. We can't wait to go back!