My dog, the beaver

We joke around that Ivy is part beaver. She loves to chew on everything! She has chewed on our Leland Cypress trees, my azalea bush is gone and she chewed part of the kids playset off. The other day I caught her in the act :)

John Paul Jones

The 2nd grade has a Wax Museum every year. Each child is assigned a historical figure and has to write a paper on them, dress as the character and give a speech about who they are. Colton was assigned to be John Paul Jones. I didn't know who that was, but now I do! He is considered the Father of the American Navy and is famous for saying "I have not yet begun to fight!"

The class did a great job. Even I learned something new!

SNOW

This year turned into a fairly decent year for snow. We actually had enough for a little sledding. The kids LOVED it!! We had to quit when Papaw pushed Colton toward the fence & Dusty turned his ankle trying to save him :)

Vols Basketball Game

Dusty & I took the kids to a UT Mens Basketball game. They had a blast! Colton is really into basketball right now & loves watching the Vols. Kenleigh had to wear her cheerleader uniform & was rooting them on from the stands!

Ponytail

Kenleigh's hair is growing! We finally have enough to put up in a ponytail :)

Christmas 2009

Here are some pictures from our Christmas

Cookies & milk for Santa

All dressed up for church

Making Santa cookies

Christmas Eve visit with the Vinyards

Going for the stash

Uncle Richard playing Santa at Julie's

We had a wonderful Christmas! Uncle Richard came up from Texas & stayed with us for two weeks. It is always great to have him around. We started Christmas morning at our house - the kids must have been good because Santa sure did deliver! We headed to Julie's to open gifts with the Trimbles & Stubblefields & ended at Papaw & Kay Kay's house. We had our annual Christmas dinner at Julie & Aaron's - it was delicious!!!

December 2009

Now the December Summary!!!

We woke up on a Saturday morning to find....SNOW!! It was a great surprise. We haven't had much snow around here lately - at least not like we had when I was growing up. It was mostly gone the next day, but it was pretty while it lasted!

Wrigley & Ivy enjoying the snow

Making a snowgirl :)

Getting ammo for the snowball fight!

On Friday Dec 4, I got a call from the clinic at school that Colton had hurt his finger on the playground. We figured he had jammed it - it was nice & purple & swollen. On Monday, he still didn't have full movement so I called the doctor. Of course, we couldn't get in until Tuesday afternoon. The doctor did an xray & his pinky finger was broken! He set us up with an appointment with the orthopedist for Thursday. Dusty kept telling him - you won't need a cast, maybe just a splint. Well was Daddy wrong! I felt so awful for not trusting my instinct & taking him to the doctor the day it happened, but the orthopedist said it was fine. Colton wasn't bothered at all by the cast - he thought it was the coolest thing ever! He had it all through Christmas & New Year's - he was even a little upset when it came off.

Kenleigh with her two "boyfriends" - Brett & Bleau - at her school Christmas program

Uncle Aaron starting him early :)

The kids at our church Christmas program