HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENDEN!!!

This was us two years ago. Isn't he beautiful??

This is him now. It's not dirt, it's makeup. Where was i you ask? sitting on the couch next to him. I don't know how I didn't notice.
Kylie came by the house and brought Brenden a present. A basketball hoop. She knows the way to his heart, he was very excited about this.

Thank you Kylie!

She also bought him some converse shoes, which I was VERY excited about, but not so much Brenden. He threw about a 10 minute fit when we put them on. (he does this with his brown shoes too, weird) but he got over it. We then headed to Fuddruckers for dinner. Jeff had a meeting so Kylie was my fill-in husband :)








My parents sent Brenden the coolest present. It was a blow-up castle. I could not wait for Brenden to see it, but I forget about his strange phobia with inflatables, and it was 9:30 at night (and he only had a 30 minute nap that day). So this is what we got. (sorry mom and dad, Austin loved it though, and I know it will grow on Brenden)

O! The Weather Outside is Frightful...

We had our first ice for the season, and these pictures are for my parents, sister, and Kelley who cruelly said, "It is 80 degrees here" ;)

Our beautiful landscaping :)

Our poor tree couldn't handle it.
One of the many power lines that were down. Some poor people didn't have electricity for days, luckily we were only out for about 12 hours (and 8 of those we were sleeping)
This was a common scene throughout Owasso :(
Okay, I just had to post this because I think I am in love. I have always hated coffee, and wanted to like it because everyone looked so cool when they go to Starbucks. So I finally tried White Chocolate Mocha with Caramel and Hazelnut. It is sooo amazing. So this was one of our stops today.

Below are two videos of Austin. Nothing too exciting, just wanted to show the family what a normal winter is like :) (Remember to push the play button two times)

KNOW YOUR FRIENDS CHRISTMAS STYLE....
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? wrapping paper!

2. Real or artificial tree? artificial (I love the real ones, but I was tired of bleeding by Christmas Day

3. When do you put up the tree? Right after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? usually on Christmas Day because we go out of town the next day, and we are now tired of the tree :)

5. Do you like eggnog?um..never tried it, and don't plan to, an egg drink?? gross

6. Favorite gift received as a child? a My Child doll

7. Do you have a nativity scene? yes, with no wise men (they weren't really there for his birth anyway, right?)

8. Hardest person to buy for? my grandad!

9. Easiest person to buy for? my kids of course

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? ??? I am thankful for everything I get ;)

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? National Lampoons Christmas

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Black Friday, and I ususally finish that day too!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I recall

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? I just love having a big Christmas dinner!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? either

17. Favorite Christmas song?Mary Did You Know, and O Holy Night

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? home until the day after Christmas

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? yep

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? one Christmas eve and all christmas morn

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? hmm.....
23. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color? yeah, we bought maroon and gold Jeff and I's first Christmas and we STILL use it 8 years later!

24. What do/did you leave for Santa? Cookies & Milk, but I am not really a big Santa fan :)

YOUR TURN!

Best Week Ever...

...In November anyway! Jeff and I got the chance to get away for the week and go to a Youth Specialties Conference. We haven't done anything just the two of us in over 3 years, so just being at the airport with NO kids was a blast!!!! We spent Friday to Monday at the Conference in Atlanta. We would get there at 9 in the morning and not get back to our hotel until midnight, but it was so much fun! We got to hear great bands: Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Desperation Band, Third Day, just to name a few. AND awesome speakers: Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio, and Doug Fields. It was so uplifting and encouraging to both us!! Then, we drove to see one of our teens from Florida who is now going to college in Georgia, so good to see her again! Then drove to SC to see our friends, Todd and Kelley. Oh my goodness, I miss them. We haven't laughed so much in a long time!! Then we flew back to Missouri on Wednesday, just in time to spend Thanksgiving with Jeff's family! So fun!

Chris Tomlin

David Crowder (my personal favorite)

At Vannessa's Beautiful College! I love you Vannessa!

Austin and Brenden's future wives (they don't have a choice) Haley and Taylor

We went to Silver Dollar City after Thanksgiving and it was sooooo cold! Brenden was perfectly happy bundled in his stroller and did not even want to get out to do rides (but he of course, had no problem when it was time to eat!) The kids had alot of fun and the lights were just beautiful!

Austin rode his first roller coaster, he is the second to last car

Austin, being silly...imagine that :)

Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving

Well I have been dreading this birthday since, well, since I turned 29 :) I know I already have a minivan and two kids, but something about turning 30 was a little depressing, BUT I had the most fun birthday. I woke up and Jeff decorated the whole house, then I went to drive my car, and Catelyn (one of our teens) had decorated the outside of it, my sister (I love you Shannon) sent me my favorite flower, daisies (which luckily did not come in black), Kylie bought me a high school musical cd and texas fuzzy dice to keep me young, and then....I thought Jeff and I were to go on a date that night. I was sitting in our living room waiting for our babysitter when these masked people all dressed in black came and kidnapped me. They put an OU shirt on me and wrapped me in an OU blanket and threw me in a van. We started driving and no one would talk to me the entire way (it was about 20 minutes). We finally arrived and when I took off my blindfold, it was my all my friends taking me to my favorite restaurant, Olive Garden. You guys are the absolute best!!! (btw, friends and family if you want to see pictures of that, you will have to go to Mandi's blog on my sidebar and find Birthday Bandits) SOOOO.....thanks to everyone who made my 30th birthday so much fun and not at all depressing!!!





The front of the van said "Hot Mama" and pointed to the driver, and it was so great when Jeff had to drive it a few times!!!

HALLOWEEN FUN!

We had a great Halloween. Jeff and I got to dress up to go to an 80's prom costume party, Austin was a member of the S.W.A.T. team and Brenden a boxer. We walked around the neighborhoods and then went to our church's Trunk or Treat. Both of my kids cried putting on their costume (yes, even Austin) but once the candy came rolling in, they were fine! It was a great night and we will be eating Halloween candy until this time next year!



Austin with his Ms. Batterton at his Halloween party!

Brenden and one of his many favorite teenagers!

PUMPKIN PATCH

Jeff and I took the kids to the pumpkin patch to get some fall pictures. The kids were so cute and I just love watching them together. Austin is the perfect older brother, always concerned and trying to protect Brenden. And Brenden, well he was just a goofball! By the way, to get him to actually take pictures and wear his hat, we bribed him with mini m&m's. I have a few pictures (not posted) with his mouth open waiting for Jeff to put one in. Too funny!



My "cool" man!





I just love his chubby hands in this picture!

We were telling Austin to keep his eyes open and this is what Brenden would do!

FALL BREAK TRIP


We took the teens camping during their fall break trip. Okay, it's not REAL camping, we stayed in nice cabins and we only ate at the campgrounds twice :) BUT, it is my kind of camping! We watched videos that encouraged the teens as well as myself to be better witnesses, and then we did some other fun things like, horseback riding (I am still so proud of you Myranda!!!), go-karts, putt-putt, shopping!!, Branson landing, etc...It was a fun trip, and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our teenagers!!!!












Everett and his gynormous lollipop! He skipped all over Branson Landing!


Jeff spent his 31st birthday camping, so we had to get him with silly string!

Each cabin carved pumpkins, and I would have to say this is my favorite! Just because Aimee and Myranda were in my cabin does not make me bias!

This is Austin's third season to play soccer. I can't believe how much he has improved in a year. He went from being timid, going the wrong way, stealing it from his teammates, and peeing in his pants (okay that was only his first practice, but I thought it was worth mentioning :) to knowing how to pass it to his teammates and how to play smart, and he is very aggressive. I am proud to be his soccer mom! :)

Best buddies on and off the field. These two are fun to watch because they really work together! Last game a kid tripped Austin (on purpose) so Austin got a free kick, but afterwards Jacob came and patted him on the back, and then Austin returned the pat, I would love to know what they were saying to each other, but I am sure it was good job buddy! :)

Before the kick...

After the kick...he is so proud of himself!

This is what Brenden usually does during the game, eats (except when we forget to watch him and he wonders off, that's another story)...he's got his granola bar and capri sun, life is good!