Christmas Day 2008

Christmas Day went off without a hitch at our house this year. That's a first!! Nevermind the fact that Noah was up at 1:30 a.m. It's a good thing Santa came early and that Noah was a bit too groggy to want to play. Whew!! Back to bed he went and didn't get up until much after 8am. Here's a pic of Scottie enjoying the last few moments of peace and quiet before all the kids got up.....

Here's Sydney discovering that we did, indeed, find a Wii for her. (Thanks to Aunt Dana in AZ)

Noah w/his train he's been asking for for weeks on end. He liked it so much that he had to be forced to open any of his other gifts. The girls ended up doing it for him. It was all about the choo-choo for Noah.

One of the only smiling pics I got of Reaghan for the day. Who knew the teenage years would be so hard to adjust to?

Later in the day Josh, Jacquelyn, and Mary Ella came over to play. Ella and Noah played suprising well together w/his trains.

Meanwhile, the rest of the family was otherwise engaged. Nick had to work so they weren't able to come up. Here's what Dana & Wes were doing out in Arizona.....I'm so jealous!!

Way to represent the Hogs on the slopes Dana!!

Thanks to Mom and Dad for this:

It's my Christmas and Birthday present for the year. It takes some great point and shoot pics, and I'm sure it'll take even better pics when I figure out all of the features.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas this year. Let's not forget to give thanks for all of the blessings that we've been given this year.

K

The tree is lit...mostly

I finally put up the Christmas tree today. Let me just say I love, love, love having a pre-lit tree. That is, when all of the lights are working properly. My patience was not in abundance today, so needless to say the more un-lit portion of the tree is against the wall!! Oh well, the kids still had fun decorating it!

Noah really wanted to play w/this one, not hang it!

Trying to get the hook to stay put!

On the stool to reach up high...

The girls finally let me get a pic w/them in it!

Another pic of all three kids. Amazing!! They're not even fighting!

I guess when I take the tree down I'll have to spend some time figuring out which lights are out. Until then, I'll just not look at the back of the tree!!

K

Thanksgiving at the Sample house

We had Thanksgiving dinner at our house again this year. We definitely had a house full! Adults aside, we had 3 toddlers ages 3, 2, and 1. That made things interesting. As usual, we ate too much! We've had a pretty stressful year this year, but have so much to be thankful for. Thanks to everyone for making the drive "up the mountain" to share the day with us.

There's no telling what story dad is telling Noah...

Noah feeding Riley

Ella w/her Tigger

My monsters

K

Boy VS. Countertop

So we had a bit of an incident in the Sample household on Sunday afternoon.... Ella came over to play and the babies were a bit wound up. Needless to say, all of the running in the house ended in one swift moment. Here's how it went down:

Granite Countertop

+

A running 3 yr old

=

One HUGE shiner...

I'm relatively positive that he's not as bothered by it as I am. It actually looks worse in person than it does in the pic. Ugh...he looks awful.

K

The Jeremy Camp concert was....

AWESOME!!

The Jason Johnson Band opened for him, and they were great too. I wish I had remembered to take my camera, but of course I forgot it as usual. Anyway, I met up w/some girls from work (Tammy, Kristi, Becky, & Jill) at the Fayetteville Town Center. The concert was so great! I'll definitely be looking to pick up his new CD out November 25th. If you haven't ever heard of him, you should check his music out. Here's a link to his site:http://jeremycamp.com

Seriously, you should check out both bands. Awesome!!

Oh, btw, it's 36 degrees here today and was spitting SNOW this morning!! Bring it on!!

K

Going to the movies..

Provided my girls behave themselves (that is no fighting, bickering, whining, etc) between now and next Friday, we'll be going to see the Twilight movie. The girls are hooked on the books, so I thought we'd have a girls afternoon to go see a matinee. We'll see how well they cooperate:)

K

More new house pics

Here are a few more pics from the new house. It's not very organized right now, so overlook the mess!!

This is Noah & Sydney's bathroom

Noah sitting on his bed

Another view into the living room & kitchen

The dining room again..

The kitchen banquette minus the seat cushions I have yet to get.

Noah hanging out on Sydney's bed

Reaghan's room

Maybe I'll get it all put away eventually. You'll notice I haven't posted any pics of the gameroom yet.... because it's still storage for an ugly mess of unpacked boxes. That's my goal for this weekend. One box at a time.....

K

Mmmmm...smells so good

WoodWick Candles

A friend gave me a new candle as a housewarming gift. I usually don't get excited enough about things like this to spread the news, but I LOVE this new candle. It has a wick made of organic wood and emits a gentle, soft crackling noise as it burns. I have the biscotti scented one, and it is heavenly. Just thought I'd pass this little tidbit on to the rest of you.

Kids say the funniest things..

I've been meaning to post Noah's latest mangling of the english language, but keep forgetting. I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as I do. Have you ever heard a kid say something funny and then keep acting like you didn't hear it so he'll say it again?? I'm guilty as charged. It's just so funny when he says this that I can't help but make him repeat it. The conversation went like this:

"Mom, wanna go to papa's."

"Why do you want to go to papa's Noah?"

"Wanna ride in his hiccup truck."

"Huh??"

"Wanna ride in his hiccup truck!! (with more fervor this time)

"Papa's what??" (by this time I know full well he means pickup truck, but I'm giggling)

"MOM!! WANNA RIDE IN PAPA'S HICCUP TRUCK!!"

"Oh, you mean his pickup truck??"

"Yeah, his hiccup truck, sheesh." (he's pretty disgusted w/me at this point & sheesh is a new one of his sayings too)

I'll have to write this one in his baby book.

On another note, here's a pic of Noah and his buddies trick-or-treating on the Fayetteville Square.

That's Sam the Monkey on the left, Riley the Astronaut in the middle, and Noah the Policeman.

The boys had a really good time. Riley's mom and Sam's mom have pics posted on their blogs too. You can find their links to the right: Tales of a Tool Woman and Rowdy Rogers.

Enjoy!

K

We're In!

We've finally moved into the new house. Everything's not all put away, but we're sleeping here. Here's a progress update so far:

The dining room is in place. Well mostly, it still needs drapes and blinds, but the furniture is in there! Old Grandma would be so proud that it's all going to be displayed properly.

The office is pretty much just a great storeroom for right now, but it'll get there. It also needs blinds and drapes. I guess all in due time.

The kitchen is mostly put away, although I'm not sure I'm content w/where everything is stored yet. We'll see if it all stays the same. At least it's functional for the time being.

And now for the piece de resistance!!! (at least according to Scottie)

Notice the big flat screen above the fireplace?? That's his new baby. I'm thrilled...can you tell?? Hopefully this obsession won't last too long, or at least it'll wane when football season is over. We'll see.....

K

It's Official!!

It's official. Scottie finally found a job locally!! Where, you may ask??

He'll be a Tyson employee as of tomorrow. He'll also be working with my brother Josh again but on an opposite shift. I'm so excited that he found something locally, as I was afraid we'd have to move away. Not only away from the new house we just built, but from the kids friends and schools and our awesome sitter Nana Suzy. This is certainly an answered prayer for all of us.

As for the house, we're moved in, just not all put away. I'll be posting some pictures soon.

K

Rest in Peace sweet Danielle

imikimi - Customize Your World

In loving memory of Danielle Bush Cotton..
One of the sweetest, most funny and loving people I've ever known.
You'll be missed.

Update...

FINALLY!!!! It's official, we start moving at the end of this week!! It's about time :)

On another front, no news yet on a new job for Scottie. I, however, will most likely be doing a quick 13 week travel job in Tulsa. Not ideal I know, but will more than keep us afloat until he can find something in our area. We really don't want to move, and need to get through the holiday season when hiring will come to a halt. Provided all goes through as planned, I'll probably start going over to Tulsa the first week of November. I'll keep my PRN job at Willow Creek, I'll just work my minimum 2 shifts/month.

We're at mom & dad's this weekend for my cousin Aaron's wedding. Of course, I forgot my camera so I'll have to rely on someone else to send me some pics before I can post them. Noah's getting in lots of tractor riding time. Here's my morning alarm clock today, "Papa, let's ride the tractor......papa, let's ride the tractor!!" Cute huh?? but not at 7am. Tomorrow it's back to the old grind, only now I can really start packing!!

More on the weekend's happenings tomorrow....

K

I've Been Tagged....(thanks Lindsay!!)

My friend Lindsay (aka. scrapbookfairy) tagged me, so here goes 7 Random Facts About Me...

1. My original college major was Pre-Med (go ahead, it's ok to be surprised!!)

2. I'm the oldest of four children

3. I'd like to get my Master's, but am not sure I'm smart enough anymore to do it.

4. I'd live like a gypsy, traveling place to place if I didn't have kids.

5. I'm VERY lazy.

6. I can play the piano.

7. I love to fill out forms (labels, applications, etc. crazy, I know)

Since I don't know many people with actual blogs, I don't have people to tag that aren't already!!

K

All Hail the Queen!!

As promised last night, here are pics of the new 6th grade Homecoming Queen for 2008!

Queen Sydney in all her glory!

Sydney w/her escorts Cole & Tristan

Sydney and her best friend Taylor

Enjoy!

K

"mom...mom....wanna ride papa's tractor"

I know I must hear this statement at least 50 times daily. So.....Noah FINALLY got to go home with Dad weekend before last and got to ride the tractor. Here's a glimpse of his latest obsession come to fruition....

K

Update.....finally.

So we've had a very stressful and upsetting last several weeks. Here's a recap:

1. Scottie no longer is working at Yellow Transportation. It's a long and painfully drawn out story, but the ending remains the same....NO JOB.

2. The house is STILL not finished....we lack the driveway pad, and sidewalks and doorknobs. Unfortunately, the builder is not very forthcoming with the itemized documents required by the lending institution, therefore we are at a standstill.

3. My stress level is at an all time high, imagine that!!

On a brighter note:

Sydney is the 6th grade HOMECOMING QUEEN!!
(pictures to follow tomorrow night...)

Farm Much??

As most of you already know, we are not farmers. I have never had the desire to be a farmer, live on a farm, or be a farmer's wife. Not that there's anything wrong with the farming life, I'm just a city girl at heart.

Noah, on the other hand, is fascinated with all things farm related. Monday, we walked into the local Cresent Department Store, and this is what he saw:

I thought he'd almost wet his pants. He couldn't focus on anything other than these boots. Nevermind the fact that they're green, bright kelly green. He couldn't be persuaded to like the camo version. I absolutely abhor camo, but in this situation, it would be the better of the two boots.

Long story short, we bribed him by telling him "you'll have to ask Mimi & Papa to get you some boots," like the good parents we are. I have a feeling that someone in our house will end of with some new boots soon.......

K