I guess I should start with Hayley's birthday. She turned the big 2 on November 8th. That Saturday we had tacos for dinner, followed with cake, ice-cream and presents. She was so funny with her birthday cake! She would pick up the entire piece of cake on her fork and basically gnaw at it. I have a short video clip of it but I wish I had the whole cake and presents thing on video. She was a lot of fun! She was clapping while we sang Happy Birthday and said "Yay" with us when she blew out the candle. She's such a sweetheart! Here are a few pictures...

We decorated the tree a couple of weeks ago. It was a lot of fun. We had a lot of helpers and a lot of rearranging to do. LOL! Poor Hayley...everyone was so excited about the tree Hayley was still covered with food from dinner. She found a doll ornament to play with and a box for her head and she was quite content.

Helene's birthday was December 15th. We had the Collins family over for dinner since Aria and Rebecca are two of Helene's favorite friends. Their birthday is December 18th so we had a triple celebration. We had tacos (it's a family favorite!) for dinner a Blue's Clues cake with all three of their names on it, ice cream and presents from the girls to each other. Earlier in the day Helene had opened the rest of her gifts. It was a lot of fun and we all enjoyed the fellowship.

I will never forget the day any of my children were born, but Helene's birth story is especially fun to tell! If you didn't already know, Helene was born in our van on Old Callahan Rd on our way to the Birth Center! My labor was only 2 hours and she was here! We arrived at the center approximately 10 minutes after she was born. It was quite the experience! I call her my little whirlwind!

We are having a themed Christmas tree contest at work and I thought I'd share ours. My team at work is just a little silly. Anyway, I didn't come up with the idea but I did all the artwork. Paul, a co-worker, made the tree from styrofoam . Too funny!

Well, that wraps up this entry. The big kiddos are home from school and I have a ton of things to do! Thanks for checking in!

I'll leave you with a peek of just a few of the 11 (eleven!) cakes that I did in November...

I did not post about Thanksgiving or our trip to MD and NJ, but I will do that in my next entry, which I hope will be soon! :)

Coming soon

I just wanted to let you know that a new entry is coming soon! It should be up today, so please check back! I have a lot to share including Hayley's 2nd birthday and Helene's 4th birthday. Thanks for checking in, come back soon.

Blast from the Past

I thought I'd share some old pictures that I found stored on my desktop while you're waiting for a recent update (see prior post.) I know what you're thinking... "Does she really think people are lined up waiting for her next blog update?" LOL!

Guess who??

Asleep and still holding his spoon!

This is one of Nana's favorite pictures of Havana.

I am sure Haddon will appreciate this picture when he's older!

So cute...but she's chewing on a dog leash! ??

Wow! Havana has grown up so much!

That was fun for me and I hope you enjoyed the pictures too! "See" you soon!

MIA

I'm sorry that I've been MIA lately! We are having computer issues (the laptop decided to stop charging) so I have not been online much. I am not as patient with the S.L.O.W. desktop so I haven't even tried to fiddle with uploading pictures yet. I was hoping my next post would be about our trip to Atlanta but all the pictures are on the laptop and therefore I am not able to access them until the problem is corrected. Anyway, I will have a "real" update soon complete with pictures! Thanks for checking in!

Pumpkin Patch & Happy Birthday to....ME!

The kids were off school last Monday so a few ladies got together and met at The Fruit and Berry Patch: http://www.tnvacation.com/vendors/the_fruit_and_berry_patch/ We took a "hay" ride......where was the hay???? We jumped off and picked our own pumpkins from the patch before feeding the goats. It was a lot of fun for the kids. Even Hudson got a miniature pumpkin! We got back on the ride and they dropped us off at a corn maze that was made for kids. I had never been in one before so it was a new experience for me too. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, except poor Hudson. It was much warmer than we thought it would be and I think he was just hot and sticky like the rest of us. Overall it was a nice time. At the end the kids were given apple cider in a take home pumpkin cup and a Pumpkin Patch coloring book.

My 32nd birthday was on Friday. Normally I would have worked but we have to work one Saturday every 6 weeks or so. This Saturday (20th) is our scheduled time to work but I switched weekends since I'll be seeing my Dad (!!) this weekend. I had a normal day and in the evening we took a gift certificate to El Ray (Mexican) for dinner. We get gift certificates every once in a while from: http://restaurant.com/ If you've never tried that website, I encourage you to do so! We usually get $25 gift certificates for only $5! We've used these as gifts and for ourselves. At the end of our meal the servers came out with fried ice-cream and sang to me while making me wear a bright blue sombrero. The kids loved trying it on. Hey... maybe I could borrow it for the Missions Conference?? After dinner, we picked up a movie to watch with the kids at home. I had made rice krispy treats earlier so we enjoyed those during the movie. It was a fun family night!

On Saturday morning I worked from 8-1. It went quickly, although I froze the whole time! I don't know why they keep it so cold in there! It was great when I was expecting, but now... BRR! Our friend Tawny came over after she got off work so that Harley and I (and Hudson!) could go out. We had another gift certificate: for A Taste of Havana (authentic Cuban cuisine.) If you're here in TN, you need to try it! This was our second visit and we have enjoyed it both times. I recommend the Havana Pollo Tropicale and the Guanabana milkshake! We wanted to try the corn maze in Corryton after dinner but they had already closed the gates for the night at 9pm. I'm glad I called first! We stopped in at Kohl's and then returned home for the night. I had a great birthday weekend and I don't feel a bit older! (We stopped at the US Cellular store before going out and took this picture of Hudson...)

We have started helping in the nursing home ministry of our church. Harley preached the message this Sunday. I really enjoy going and the people are so sweet! Please pray for the residents of the Golden Living Center! The kids, and I, are especially fond of sweet Ruth (pictured below.) I believe she is 92 and a total sweetheart. She really likes Haddon! I haven't learned everyone's names yet, but I did meet a lady named Marcel also. We'll be back next week for our third Sunday there.

The kids looked really cute on Sunday (they ALWAYS look cute) so I snapped some pictures before church.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Come visit again!

Cakes...and a whole lot more!

I had a big cake weekend with 3 orders! The first was a baby shower cake for a co-worker's daughter who just had TRIPLETS! Second was a first birthday set including a castle cake, a #1 smash cake, and 12 cupcakes. Third was a Power Rangers cake and matching cupcakes. It was fun and I managed to get everything done EARLY this time!

We got new pictures of our neice Zoey...isn't she a sweetheart?

And for everyone who thinks Havana looks like me, look at my mother-in-law!! We think Havana looks so much like her!

Hayley is just getting over a virus. She had a high temp Thursday night through Saturday morning. These pictures are from the day before (Wednesday.) She loves Sadie!! Poor little Sadie is such a good sport...she gets her tail pulled and then gets a big hug!

Here are a few pictures of the kids before church this morning. I curled Havana's hair (large rollers) and Helene's hair (small rollers.) I do Havana's often, but Helene wanted me to do hers this time too. Of course, first thing this morning she told me she didn't want her hair to be curly! She's silly, but she's such a cutie!

Hudson is such a smiley guy. However I'm having a hard time getting a picture. I just got the end of one, but you can kind of tell he was smiling.

And here's a picture of my boys!!

My maternity leave ended and I started work again on October 1st. I am working 5 hours a night, 4 nights a week, equalling 2o hours. I was so afraid I'd cry, but I made it without. It wasn't bad returning and I really like having Wednesdays off now. It breaks it up quite nicely and I don't miss church! Best of all I'm up for my year review next month as well as my third raise!

Harley really seems to be enjoying his new position at KUB too. He has his own KUB truck and is no longer stuck in front of a computer.

Havana and Haddon are doing great in school, and Haddon'e behavior seems to have greatly improved! The little ones and I have developed a nice routine at home and things are going rather smoothly. Yay!

Well, that about wraps up our update. Have a wonderful Lord's day and check back soon!