The "Twinkie" or "Big Cheese"... Call it what ya please...

Since her first day of kindergarten, Allie has begged and pleaded with me to let her to ride the bus. Why? I don't know. When I was a kid, I would have killed to be a car rider every day! The idea of Mama driving my pampered butt to school in the mornings and picking me up each afternoon would have rocked my 5-year-old world. Seriously! Anything but the bus... who wants to ride the bus?!?

Who??? My wonderfully independent and free-spirited Allie... that's who.

Ordinarily, this would be no big deal... except for the fact that in our county, all grades ride together... kindergarten all the way up to 12th grade. Same time, same bus. Now I don't know about you, but I for one don't necessarily want my 5-year-old repeating some of the things I know teenagers might say when mom and dad are not around to stop them. I'm just sayin...

Well, this year they finally changed the bus 'rules' and now the elementary kids ride on their very own bus! And so, today...

I gave in...

...and she LOVED it!

Drive In

Don't ask me. They dream it up... I just take the pictures.

Trendsetter...

So... a little over two years ago, I tell my family that I am going to start a blog. "A what?" my mom asks. "Ummm... why exactly?" asks my sister sarcastically. I gave them both the same answer. "I just thought it would be a cool way to share quirky little stories about the kids, and tell a little about the things we've been up to, and most importantly... post pictures." (Cuz' you know I gots to add pictures!) Anyway. I don't think they completely understood, but they went along with it. They even read it. (More often than not from what I've heard.)

Well, between the kids, and work, and the fact that I discovered Facebook, (LOL!) the poor ole' blog took a backseat. A month went by, and than two, and then six. And now... almost a year later, it still sits... just the way I left it.

And then one day, my Sister informs me that she has started a blog. (Mmmm hmmmm. So, what? You have a kiddo and suddenly feel the need to share pictures and updates? Like, on a blog? HA!!! Welcome to motherhood, Pam!) And my Mom? It seems that she is now a blogger too! How is it that they both jumped on the bandwagon I fell off?!?

Well! I'm not one to be outdone, so consider this blog re-opened! It will take some work and some serious backtracking to get her going again... but I'm willing to do what I gotta do to keep up with the Jones's. (and the Bell's... and the Burrus's...)

Stay tuned, Folks!

Stolen Stole

Well. It is cold outside and all.

Ummmm, no. What we really have here is yet another addition to Wyatt's ever growing blanket collection. It's seriously getting out of control! There are a few simple rules we have learned to follow during the accumulation process. Here they are in no particular order...

1. If it's satin... it's Wyatt's
2. If it's soft... it's Wyatt's
3. If it's fuzzy... it's Wyatt's
4. If it belongs to you, but has any of the above three qualities... it's Wyatt's
5. No blanket is off limits & No pattern or color is too girly. If Wyatt likes it... it's Wyatt's
6. All laundry (clean or dirty) is subject to search. Should an item of interest be located therein...
you guessed it... it's Wyatt's

Pretty simple really.

Oh, and you want a actual count, you say?!?!? Here's a quick 'Blankie' roll call...

3 Small Army Green Camoflouge Blankets With Satin Trim
1 Small Blue Satin Blanket With Multi-Colored Satin 'Taggies'
1 Large Off White Blanket
1 Pair of Size 4t Satin Dora Pajama Pants
1 Pair of Size 4t Satin Pink Pajama Pants
1 Pair of Size 4t Satin Turquoise Pajama Shorts
1 Pair of Women's Satin Pajama Pants (Stolen from a bag of stuff I
was going to donate to Goodwill)
1 Cars Child-Sized Fleece Blanket
1 Pair of Men's Basketball Shorts
1 Light Blue Faux Mink Stole With Satin Lining (Ahhh!! A twofer! You can't beat that with a stick!)

Yes, that's 12.

You can only see 5 of the 12 in the pictures. The others are either in the crib or being are being washed. You know, before he notices they are missing or anything.

(oh, and if you look really hard in the first picture... you may catch a glimpse of my favorite pink bedroom slippers. Classy, I know. But yes... he LOVES them, too!)

Tomorrow, Tomorrow....

That seems to be the story of my life lately! October has been SOOOOO busy... I have not had a minute to myself in I can't tell you how long. I've been shoving things off on tomorrow's to do list for weeks, so naturally the current list is about a friggin' mile long now. It has been an awesome few months to be in the photography business though, and considering the current economic state... I can't complain a bit!! I have been taking so many sessions here lately and have even had two preschools thrown into the mix, adding an extra 130 or so kids on top of it all. Oh well...aside from the fact that my head has not hit the pillow before 3:00 a.m. in weeks I can't complain.

In my daily mad-rush to get everything done, naturally blogging has been on the back burner. (Back burner... like... one of those things you use for cooking, right? Well, that my be kinda a bad analogy for me... my burners are always open since most of you know how much I adore (gag) cooking! LOL!) Anyhoo... sorry about that, dear blogging buddies! I promise I am going to try to do a little catching up. It may take a day or two (or four), but I am going to try to visit everyone's blog and play some serious catch-up.

Until then I thought you may want to see some updated pictures of the kids, so I figured I would post a few to hold you over until I can get back into the swing of things.

And now I present to you the Halloween costume selections for 2008!








XOXO,

Annie and Daddy Warbucks

Blessed

Today has been a tough day to say the least. Michael's grandmother, Meme, passed away this morning after suffering through a series of illnesses which gradually weakened her over the past few months. Now I find myself trying to come up with words to describe what an amazing person she was. To simply say that she loved and cared for her family, or that she selflessly gave of herself to help others, or that she was patient and kind to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren cannot begin to describe her and what she meant to our family. In fact the only thing that's seems more difficult to me is putting into words how much she was loved. Or how much she will be missed.

I feel very blessed to have gotten the chance to know and love Meme over the past ten years. I used to kid with Michael and say the only reason I married him for his amazing family ;) If you have a minute tonight, please say a prayer for us all as we go through this difficult time.

Once Upon a Potty...

Today, while sifting through the abyss that is my hall closet, I came across Allie's old potty training seat. I didn't think much of it until I saw Wyatt's curiosity peak. Well, you better believe that I seized the heck outta' that lil' opportunity and promptly stripped Wyatt of his diaper and set the seat on the potty to show him what that gem was used for. I didn't think anything was actually going to happen... but I figured what the heck? Any chance for changing one less diaper was worth two minutes of my time. Well, to my surprise... he knew just what to do and within seconds he was down to business! I was shocked! The funniest part is each time he would go, I would cheer and clap for him... then he would stop and cheer and clap for himself... then quickly return to his 'game face' so he could try to go more. He finally spotted a magazine on the floor and pointed at it. I think the kid may be catching on. Not bad for 19 months!