Joshua is 5 years old today!

So today Joshua turns 5...I can't believe it! He is such a special little boy who makes me laugh and never gives me a dull moment. Our lives would much quieter without him but not near as fun. I played checkers with him last night and he beat me! It was so much fun and I laughed so hard playing with him. (I wanted to post photos from when he was born till now but they are on my other laptop which is not at the house so these will have to do...)

AHHHH Peace and Quiet

So this weekend Andy had to do some computer work in Cabot and he took the boys with him to my mom's since they hadn't seen each other in a while. And I stayed home and CLEANED! That's right I had the whole house to myself and I cleaned....sad isn't it. But it needed to be done and now I can relax. The boys ended up staying the night so I was able to go the the grocery store that I kept putting off for the last 4 days. And then I was able to do some work from home on the school website. So sadly enough I didn't really do anything exciting but I did get a lot done which is important for my mental state of mind..........though when everyone came home it seriously took them less then 5 minutes for them to make the living room look like someone robbed me but didn't take anything. So needless to say we had a family meeting to clarify a few things and so far they have done a good job about cleaning up there messes. So thanks hubby, mom, and in laws for helping with the kids so I can get my house in order!

What's been going on!

Well it has been awhile since I posted so this one is an update.

I got to have some "me" time 2 weekends ago. My friend April and I went to eat at a Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar one night after she got off work and then we got pedicure's the next afternoon. Which was nice since it had been this past summer that I had my last one.

Then this past weekend Andy's parents watched the boys on Saturday afternoon until Sunday so we were able to go see Mall Cop...too funny! and then we ate at a different Japanese Steakhouse restaurant....um...seems to be a trend with me lately.

And last week we sat down and made a budget for us for the 1st time since we have been married and I actually like having a budget. So I am looking forward to this year being the beginning steps of "we don't owe any man but to love him" year.

Baseball sign ups is already here so we will have 2 boys playing baseball again this year...I just hope that this year Joshua (who will be 5 this Tuesday 1-27) takes it more seriously and actually plays ball and doesn't act like the ball field is a big sandbox like he did last year or that his glove is a hat or a ball that you throw high in the air and catch and that wrestling with your own teammates for the ball can be considered counter productive in the game of baseball....and some may say it is "cute" but I could have bought him a sand box that sings, dances, and teaches kids their alphabet for the price I paid for him to play in the sand at the ball fields...do you get where I going with this...anyway hopefully it won't be that way this year!

Jessie got on the Honor Roll this semester and he got a Best Writer Award plus a free kids meal at Colton's Steakhouse...

Jessie accepting his honor roll award

Noah has speech therapy twice a week and one day a week his therapist comes to the house. So the night before she came last week he didn't feel good and actually had a fever so we let him sleep in the living room on a mattress. And he wanted to wear his Cars underwear but he already had on his pajamas. So he put his underwear on the outside of his pjs and I took a pictures of it b/c his therapist thought it was too cute...

New Year's 2009

So for New Year's we had Josh and April over and they stayed the night with us and we played Canasta and ate Steaks and the fixings to go with it. We had fun but I was ready for bed. The next day I went to Cabot and stayed the night with my mom and we had our girl cousins and my aunt come over to eat and play games. I had a fun time and it was nice to have a break from the kids for awhile. :) Also, Andy's parents watched the boys for us the next night so that was a nice break too.

I am excited about the new year and I am not making any resolutions because I never stick to them but there are a few things I would like to work on for the new year. So hopefully I might accomplish a few of them! I am glad we are getting back into a routine again after the holidays...I was getting to the point that I didn't know what day it was...everyday seemed like Saturday!...LOL The bummer is that Andy was suppose to be off for 2 weeks but he ended up working A LOT. Due to a server problem at one of the schools. So I am glad that is over! I hope everyone has a great 2009 and blessings to all!

On a side note...I have been entering daily to win the HGTV Dream Home Giveaway. But I haven't mentioned it to anyone. Well Joshua likes to pray before we eat and the last couple of days he says, "thank you for our houses and our tvs"...which is funny because we only have 1 house with 1 tv...haha maybe he is thanking God in advance for us winning the Dream Home...lol...wouldn't that be nice...

Our 2008 Christmas

So this Christmas was a little weird for Andy and I. It was the first time we didn't have Christmas with either of our parents on Christmas Day....that I can remember. Andy's parents came the Saturday before Christmas because they were going to Ohio to see Art's oldest sister who was giving a few weeks to live due to cancer. My mom came the day before Christmas as did Andy's brother Ryan and his girlfriend Candice. So the day of Christmas we had Josh and April and their parents, Josh's brother Caleb, and 2 foreign exchange students that stay with April's mom all from Oklahoma City, and our neighbors the Kirby's over for Christmas to eat lunch. It was a full house but we ate good and then everyone found a spot and took a nap. Later our brother in law Tony and our nephew Bayliss stopped by. I don't have any pictures of the day of Christmas but below is a slide show of before and after Christmas. Jessie was at his dad's for Christmas this year which worked out because he wanted Ohio State stuff and since Andy's parents were going to Ohio we had them pick up some things since we didn't get Jessie back until the 4th of January. I do have a short video of the boys opening bedding they got from Nana and Papa. Jessie got Ohio State, Joshua got Arkansas Razorbacks, and Noah got Lighting McQueen.