Christmas Came and Went.

It was so stinkin fast! Our holiday was fun-filled, happy, meaningful all wrapped up in a nice bag of CRAZY! Seriously though, 4 Christmas's in 1 day is just outta hand! I keep thinkin, "How the heck can I do this better? How can we still see all our families for the holidays but spread it out?"

See now, this is no easy task seein as how both our families are in the area. We obviously have our Christmas when the kiddos get up then we head to my dads for breakfast and gift exchanging. Well then we Have to go to Smithville for lunch at Mema's and there's no changing that one. It's been lunch at Mema's on the holiday for as long as I can remember and if you can't make it then you can't make it. There is no movin that one around. Then we come back and do the extended Decker family for dinner. Oh and did I mention that Christmas Eve is with the immediate Decker family?

Now don't get me wrong, I love my family. I'm just tryin to reduce the craziness! So far I have no solutions so any opinions are welcome. I'll post some pics later today.
TTYL

What the heck have we been doin?

We had a blast at Thanksgiving in Smithville and the Decker's. So good to be with family. This is my sis and cousins:

Then we headed up to Chattanooga to visit the Richmonds. They live in FL now and we miss you guys so much! Owen, Gabi, Logan and BrynnWent to the arrival of Santa and lightning of the tree on the square. It was

fffffrrreeezing but Big Brother loved it. Doesn't Lil Sister look like Ralphy?


This has to be the best Santa pic eva! Big Brother and Santa are soooo over it.

And here's our tree:The End

Christmas Came Early in the Decker House!

He is off today and informs me the night before he's got some "stuff" to get done. Hmmmm...what's he up to. He has to take my Jeep and then I notice the stoller has been taken out and placed in the garage. So whatever he's up to is gonna have to fit in the trunk.

Well he finally makes it back and out pops a DELL box!!! It's just about the size of a puter!! OMG I can't believe it actually happened! I tell him we can't do this right now. We don't have the finances! No matter how much I've pouted I'm a big girl and I'll be ok for a while! He assures me it'll be fine.

So we rip it open and get it upstairs. He says we are just gonna use our old monitor instead of buying a new one, which is completely fine with me! Well the monitor is so old it won't work with this fancy new contraption! So he grabs the keys and bails! Not even a good bye, see ya later, be back soon. This time he comes in with ANOTHER Dell box! He said he was gonna wrap the monitor and put it under the tree for X-mas but well...it's gotta be done now.

This machine is Amazing! The screen is gynormous! I kinda wanna take a picture of it in all its glory. I had absolutely no clue! I was thinking maybe in a few months but apparently the Black Friday deals were just that awesome and he couldn't pass them up.

So there you have it. The most awesomest hubby in the world and the most awesomest present eva!

what.to.do.

I have been without a 'puter for about a month now. At least I think it's been a month. My heads kinda swirly and disoriented so i'm not exactly sure how long it's been. it crashed. That's right crashed. He said I got the "blue screen of death". I have nothing backed up because I could never burn a disc on the durn thing. I try to hurry and get in and check my emails on his laptop before he rushes off to work which, lately has been before i take the kids to school. Then he gets home and has to do work on it so i try to slip a little me time on the puter when I can. This has taken a toll on my mental well being. If you know me you know my addiction. I think about it all day...things i could be researching, browsing or learning new skills on. I miss my friend and i mourn our time together. So what have I been doing you ask yourself? Well I sak myself the same thing...wake, get kids ready for school, go to school, do some cleaning, daydream about 'puter, holiday decorating (which really doens't take that much time), play with B, more cleaning, more daydreaming, get kids from school, make dinner...bored! sooooo bored!

Many have pointed out the obvious: He works at Dell and you don't have a 'puter! Haha yes, I see the irony. As a wise woman once said,"It's like the mechanic whose car doesn't run, or the doctor who's sick or the baker who has no flour"...ok i made that one up but, you get my point. Until well who knows.

The Money Shot

No not that one...This one...
Two little tiny baby teeth!

And it's a good thing I did because this is all
I was getting out of the girl after that!

Here are some random pics to show evidence of all the fall things we've done in previous post. This is Logan's first costume. Yes, he had a wardrobe change. We were trick or treating at The Avenues with The Parkers here...

This is ZAch and Logan and the Harvest Party
where the hayride and roasting of marshmallows took place.

I just really liked this one.
No fallish stuff going on here.

Ummmm I think our punkins nose is in the wrong spot and it has a booger! Josh must not look in the mirror often. Or at people in general for that matter. HA!

Trick or Treat to you too!

We've had a great fall season so far! We've done all the necessary fall things:
Go to Pumpkin Patch
Buy Pumpkins
Go to Harvest Party
Go on a Hayride
Roast Marshmallows
Carve Pumpkin
Eat lots of Candy
Go Trick or Treating
Here are a few pics from our All Hallows Eve night...

The Cousins...Logan Brynn Zach and Austin

A bumblebee and a tulip fairy. FYI, the Tulip Faeries shoes squeaked when she walked!
We've gotta get a pair.

Our first stop was at Pop and Nana's

If anyone needs a clogged toilet fixed, these are your guys.
They take their work VERY seriously!

Next up
DECKER THANKSGIVING 2008!

Say What??

I needed to do a few Brynn updates cause I've been slacking lately. Apparently the girl is ready to crawl! She just can't seem to get the whole hand knee coordination down but she is staying on her knees much longer now! Time to baby proof...ohhhh the joys that lie ahead!

I've been working, working, working to get B to say mama for her first word. Well that didn't happen. Instead she said baba which Logan insists meant brother. He said, "No Mom! Brother was her first word! Now write it in her baby book!" He asks me almost daily if I've written it yet. Finally yesterday I got mama out of the girl and now she won't quit. It's so cute.

And that teething post I did a while back...well she's Finally got some! Two to be exact. Now she loooves to bite down on her spoon while I'm feeding her and hold it there. She's growing so fast.

7 Years/6 Month Portraits...

Yes, I know Brynn is almost 8 months old and I'm just now posting her 6 month pics! What the heck have I been doing? For some reason there was always something else I had to do that was more important. Maybe it's because I don't like coming upstairs to get on the computer! I feel cut off from everything else. Ohhhhh to have a laptop! One day I tell ya. Well, here they are in all their glory. Had a hard time narrowing down so Enjoy!



FYI, these studio pics I did at my sis-in-laws house. www.myreflections.org
The rest were just done around town.




And here is my Big 7 Year Old! So Handsome. This one will make a fine man one day. He's so considerate and thoughtful. He's been holding doors open for people for as long as I can remember. Even strangers! His wife will appreciate the fact that he can already do laundry and make his bed! Things that most men seem to be lacking. Now if we can just get those dirty clothes to make the hamper.

And here's brother and sister together. I thank my lucky stars everyday that I have 2 healthy, happy kids.

We hope you've enjoyed your stay!

Walden Farms...

Friday we went to the Walden Pumpkin Patch (best punkin patch this side of the mississippi) with some of our closest friends and had a blast! Brynn is sooo outnumbered in this group of boys!
Rundown of the group:
Me, Logan (7) and Brynn(7 months)
Carol and Adam (4)
Jamie and Bailey (3)
Carrie, Maddox (4) and McKane (2 months)
Aunt Tiner
We were a GROUP! The kids always have a blast when they get together and we all get to chat (when we're not chasing a kid down!) Lots of pics to follow...had a hard time narrowing them down.

This is the first pics of the day and Logan is already sick of them.

My Lil Punkin headWonder what they're all thinking here? Something was very interesting!

My other Lil Punkin Head

It only took about 20 shots to get a half way decent one. You should see the ones that didn't make the cut! Maddox's face is Carrie made over.

Our newest member...McKane

In motion hugging

I was trying to get a good shot of the 2 of them together and Logan did this pose. Then he said, "You like it when I do this don't you mom." Man, I've got the boy trained!

I hope they stay close forever!

It was a great day. I thank my lucky stars every day to have such AWESOME friends. Seriously, I don't know what I'd do without you guys!

Baby Model

Through the miracles of the internet I heard about a baby casting call. It was a girl out of Springfield, TN and she was doing a photoshoot for a company called Baby Legs. I have been dying to get Brynn a pair of these so I was hoping that if I nominated Brynn for the shoot I'd get a free pair...And I DID!! YEEAA!!! Well she just posted a few of the pics from the shoot. Copy and paste the link:

http://reflectionsblog.blogsome.com/

I picked the green and white striped pair by the way.

The "Video Games & Other Stuff Club"

Logan's bedtime ritual consist of what we call "sleeps". Basically you just lay in bed with him and talk about his day. Well tonights sleep was very interesting. It started this afternoon when he came home with a membership card that his buddy Spencer made him. This officially makes him part of the "Video Games & Other Stuff Club". Here's a rundown of how the club works so far:
1.) Monday is Mario day
2.) Tuesday is dodge ball day
3.) Wednesday is freeze tag day
4.) Thursday is chase girls day but also consists of Bahooki (which apparently means bottom) Ball day. You throw a ball and hit someone in the Bahooki.
5.) Friday is mix up day (I'm assuming this means they can play anything)

I'm sure this is just a starting plan and there will be more rules to come. Spencer is the leader of this club. It only has 4 members so far but Logan is planning on doing some recruitin' tomorrow.

Our sleep doesn't end there! Peyton is also in the club and he is the leader of another organization called Paco. I think Pacos are like a different race or species maybe. Anywho, Pacos walk around in the squatting form, which looks to be very painful. When anyone who's not a Paco comes near someone yells, "PACO INTRUDER!!!!" and all the Pacos scatter! Oh and they even have a Paco Dance. It's very amusing as well. Maybe Logan will demonstrate for you one day.

If you cold just hear the enthusiasm he has in his voice when he's explaining all this to me you'd want to be a part of these clubs too! Who knows, maybe one day I'll get my membership card...fingers crossed!
Ahhhhh to be a kid again!

Seven Month Faces...

If there's one thing the girl can do it's make some crazy faces. Here's a lil example of some of her latest work.

She always has a good time eating in her highchair and yesterday was no exception...hence the food on her face.

Six Flags

Dell really knows how to show employeee appreciation! They decided to rent out Six Flags in KY for the day to show their employees how much they care. We got discounted tickets and there was a picnic area set up all day with free food and beverages! I really liked Dell this day. Cause, believe me, there were days I wasn't so fond. We traded Brynn for my lil bro Vinny that day and had a blast!

DS's are so much fun and a great distraction for the ride down.

Our first ride of the day was the Himalayas. You all remember this from the traveling carnivals. There's always one there. Obviously this is an action shot and very blurry! Logan did not want to ride this but had a blast once he was on it.


Next, on to the Flying Dutchmen. Who woulda ever thought that a giant dutch shoe that you can sit in and swing round and round would be so fun and relaxing.This is a view of Logan's first roller coaster! Thunder RUN!!!! It was one of those really awesome ole wood coasters that's got lots of hills and twists and turns. Don't worry Mimi, no loops!
I'm really not sure what was going through his little head here but I'm pretty sure he was nervous!

Ben & Jerry's makes it all better! Nuff said.

Vinny was all smiles on every ride and completely fearless! Logan, on the other hand, well he'll get the hang of it.

Vinny wanted to ride with me all day! Thank goodness he was my partner because Logan was having no part of riding with me. It was really cute why Vince said he wanted to ride too:
Vinny: Do you know why I always wanna ride with you?
Me: No! Why?
Vinny: Remember that time at Go USA that we kept beating Josh and Logan in the Go Karts? Yeah, That's why!
Me(in my head): Man I AM Awesome!! hehe

For some reason my car kept going in reverse during this! It made bumper cars very difficult. I just kept ramming into people backwards.

As we bring this session to a close I'd like to mention how much fun we had! The boys were troopers! They had a BLAST in the water park and were able to ride every ride. This is the perfect age for them to go because they are just getting tall enough to ride everything. Hopefully Dell will keep this up every year!