Bayou Bisque, New Braunfels TX

In March we visited John while he was in Texas. During our trip I was able to meet up with my good friend Noel and her precious daughter Salem and handsome chunkers Tavin!

We took the kids to the pottery place and let them go to town. It was so relaxed, the kids had a ball and there were practically no rules. The each were able to pick out what they wanted to paint and the colors to use.

The kids by a "real" cactus outside Bayou Bisque. They were in awe of this thing.

Hayden by the cactus

Let the fun begin

Love that look!

World of Coca-Cola

Back in mid Feb, we took a trip to North Georgia with a stop in the ATL on the way. We stopped in at the World of Coca-Cola. The place is full of memorabilia, a small theatre room broadcasting all the different commercials ever made, a pop art area, and actual bottle works packaging area, and the taste test area. By far the taste it area was everyone's favorite.

Let the tasting begin! With over 60 different drinks from all over the world, they kids always migrated back to the drinks from North America!

Me and Moo watching the coke being bottled

All the torches used in the Olympics

The Fam

Moo snatchin' her complimentary Coke on the way out!

By the time Ethan was done, he had a rainbow mustache and a bulging belly!

Sorry daddo, Mountain Dew isn't made by Coke!

There is no rhyme or reason as to the order of these photos. I tried to add them in order, but the thing went crazy!

Christmas 2008

We had a Fabulous Christmas this year, John was home!!!!!!!

Christmas morning the kids awoke to a tree full of presents and fun. However, upon arrival in our room that morning Hayden is the only who noticed the presents were there and the stockings were full. The kids walk right through the living room to get to our bedroom, I guess Ethan and Abigail were still asleep as they trekked through the house that morning! It started out with a big bang(literally) and one kid crying! Ethan tried to pull his stocking down before we got in there and pulled down a little more than his stocking. Four out of the five fell to the floor along with the stocking hangers and the garland on the mantel. I am very surprised that nothing broke, but we were lucky. Ethan was very lucky the stocking hanger didn't hit him on the head or something, they are very heavy. So after we put all that mess back together the kids tore into their stockings as presents!!!

Moo on her new bike, it even has a baby carrier on the back that Karate Chop rides in. She is doing awesome riding it. Our circle that goes around the neighborhood is a half mile and is very hilly. She has gone around it twice without stopping with very little help. We are still working on using the brakes going down hill!

Abigail's new American Girl Doll. It looks kinda like her and she has a ball brushing her hair and changing her clothes.

All sister wanted for Christmas was Play-Doh, well Santa came through and she wouldn't put it down. It is about the only thing she wants to play with.

A breakdown in the middle of the festivities......I think someone touched her Play-Doh!

Life's better now

Big Daddy and his iphone! John came through on presents this year as well. Of course no pics b/c I am ALWAYS the one taking pictures. I got a new green ipod nano with the Nike+ system, and jewelry armoire, the diamond scrabble edition(no it doesn't have any real diamonds), lip gloss, peanut m&ms, and the new New Kids on the Block cd. (laugh if you want, but I was in love with them in the 8th grade)

Moo and her big wad of gum in her mouth

Ethan and one of his Lego Star Wars Ships. The Republic should prepare b/c Darth Vader's fleet is about to hit them hard!!

More Star Wars

Hayden and his Nintendo DS. Santa also delivered for the boys this year with a Wii. He left the present on our roof and the boys found it. They were so excited they could barely handle it. We figured out that it must have fell out of his sleigh by accident. They just couldn't believe he got them a Wii. I didn't get any pictures but got it on video. It was hysterical.

Running back to the tree for more presents.

Ethan and his Nintendo DS
Oh, did I mention Ethan's avg on Wii bowling is a 196. Yeah, he blows us out of the water. He also gets Turkeys pretty regular which her calls Chickens!

All the kids in their new L.L.Bean sleeping bags. Abigail is hiding. I have no idea why this picture came in sideways. I didn't even take it this way. Who knows!

Crazy Man

They have slept in these things every night since Christmas. Well, I guess we have had company sleeping in their beds, but they didn't care!!!

Cookies for Santa and little something for the Reindeer too!

We baked fresh cookies right out of the tub and a cold glass of milk for the jolly man in red.

Before all the baking festivites took place the kids went outside and left food for all the reindeer.

My Christmas Babies

Since Abigail was born we have started taking a yearly picture in front of the tree in Jammies. This picture always make its way to the calendar I make each year of the kids for the month of December. It's also just a lot of fun to see how much they have grown. Things here have been very busy with the end of the year approaching us. We are finishing a bonus room in our house and I am running all over doing things for the boys' school. We will have picture of the room as soon as it is finished, which should be real soon and pics of Christmas posted as soon as it comes. Merry Christmas to you all!!!

Freaked Me Out!

Okay, today I got a call from the ABC televsion channel out of Tallahassee! They wanted to come to my house and interview me for my thoughts on the possibilty of the implementation of school uniforms for our Lowndes county PUBLIC school system. I know right, me!!!! Well, last night there was a big community forum at the high school where parents, students, and staff all voiced their concerns over the issue. Needless to say, almost everyone there is against it. I am against it as well. If I wanted uniforms I would send my kids to a private school. Many argue that the economic status of kids wouldn't be an issue any more and they would all be treated and seen as equal. Yeah right!!! Those that can afford name brands now will show up in name brand uniforms as well. Not mention, kids will still find a way to show their status by watches, earrings, purses, shoes, etc. Our Superintendent even stated that our test scores are less likely to increase and discipline is less likely to decrease because, WE DON'T HAVE ISSUES WITH IT NOW!!!! Lowndes County School System is one the best in the state GA. So many there last night asked, "Why are we even talking about this and why are we here?" Well the answer to that is some little committee formed and has nothing better to do than waste our time talking about. It is not cost efficient, I have done the research and emailed all the numbers to the board. I still have to buy clothes for my kids to wear outside of school, it increases my landry each week, along with my power bill. Not mention that you can walk in any store today and find an item for 4.99 that was full price 2 weeks ago. Well, then they say that it is less hassle in the morning when kids can't decide what to wear. My answer to that is ...HAVE YOU EVER SEEN SUPERNANNY???? Give your child two choices the night before and make them choose one of the items you present. BE A PARENT....YOU ARE IN CONTROL, NOT THEM!!!!!! I was so glad to see so many students show up and voice there opinions and concerns, it was awesome. If you have a child who is a behavior problem, a new pair of khakis and polo shirt is not going to correct that. What will correct it, is Mama and Daddy wearin' out that hide! I think the reason I was called for the interview was that I was quoted in todays paper from the forum last night. My comment, which I thought was very good, just asked the committee to consider the large amount of military families we have in our community. Many of those families are here from 1-3yrs. They will spend a large amount of money on uniforms and when they leave for their next assignment they will be stuck with clothes they will never wear again. So, after the call I go into complete freak mode because I have and hour and a half before they will be here. I mean a literally broke a sweat running around picking up toys and shoes for 3 kids, only to have them call back and say they had another story break down south and they will have to reschedule with me. So now I am on here telling ya'll aboutit and trying to stop sweating!!! What a morning!

We're the Rambin Wreck from Georgia Tech and a helluva Engineer!!!

Our Victory Lap!!!

Yes, GT won yesterday against Florida State. A much deserved win!!! GT came to play and they played hard. Even when we lost our quarterback in the middle of the 3rd qtr and allowed them to score 10pts and bring the game back within 3, our defense was able to make an awesome play causing them to fumble and Tech recover with 45 secs left. For those who don't know, John and I really don't like FSU, we never have. Not to mention in South Georgia you have more FSU fans than Tech and we have quite a few in our neighborhood. This was a great win for us!

GT 31 vs FSU 28

So we loaded up the crew and took a Victory Lap around the block.