Merry Christmas!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. I survived it ;) We had our first Christmas function Thursday night and our final one last night. I am EXHAUSTED! I have cheated this morning and put a heavy blanket over the boys window so that Kyle David will sleep past 7a.m. (and it is working... 9a.m. and not a peep) After all the madness of Christmas morning and going to 2 more family get-togethers- I had to come home and get my house in tip-top shape for a realtor to show it on Monday. I was praying for the Lord to help me because I was dragging..... and my kids have enough new play-thingys for an entire elementary school! It took an hour to place items in the correct bedroom before I could actually start cleaning(Thank you to everyone who bought a toy.... they really NEEDED those!) lol

Oh the kids.... they have been in full force.... keeping us on our toes at all times! Kyle had a rough go at school last week- his behavior was NOT becoming of him and his teacher was at a loss with what to do with him. On the 3rd day I was at my rope's end with it too.... so we have a major "come to Jesus" meeting. By Thursday he came home and had stayed on green (which is a sign he did good) and I asked him "Now see Kyle, was it THAT hard to be good at school today?" in which he replied "Yes it was! I cannot breathe if I don't talk!"   You have 3 children and you know that one of them will likely be the death of you..... yep..... he is mine....well.... last week he was Joe David's ;)

Kaylee had her first school dance a week or two ago. It was Christmas in Hawaii themed so I allowed her to take a change of clothing to school so she would be properly dressed for the occasion. ( OK- keep in mind- she goes to a very small school , the "dance" was from 3-5 and only 3 grades were invited- so don't panic that I let her go) Well this must have set something off in her little mind because we went to Santa's Village where she wrote her list of gifts she would like to have..... and on the list..... "I would like a prom dress. Size 10 or 12. Thanks, Kaylee. Yes, a prom dress..... and when asked where was she going to where the prom dress that she DID get .... she said , "well , I guess to a funeral because it is black and white" Lord have mercy!

And then there is Kaden....Mr Meany..... he is the grouchiest child I have- yet he is so stinkin' funny! He is everything Kyle is (Power Ranger, Spiderman, etc.) he says everything Kyle says- if Kyle's stomach is hurting, so is Kaden's. If Kyle is irritated with Kaylee, so is Kaden. He talks up a storm, sings all the time- he even makes up his own songs ( he was singing "I don't have to go to my woom Kaywee" the other day) He can almost count to twenty and can recognize letters and numbers when he sees them- which I don't recall the other two doing at two years old.... then again I hardly remember what they did yesterday....

And now you are updated on the Cantrell's.... and I am still sitting her in silence.... aaaahhhhh.... The Lord sent rain just for me today so I apologize for y'all who had to get out in it...... maybe since am so lazy this week I can do about 10 catch up posts.... don't hold your breath!

Happy Tuesday!!!

Meet our Elf....

His name is Crimson ( yes I know.... we are Bama obsessed in this house!)

 

He enjoys Super Mario on the DS

Rides the Gingerbread Express (aka... the cookie jar)

He plays dress-up with Ken's tuxedo...

He loves dad's guitar (though Dad's guitar playing needs work!)

Plays on the stocking holder

He hangs out with the Gingerbread person in the kitchen

Plays tic tac toe with Mr. Lion

And leaves a reminder note that he is watching the kids and their behavior is  

in need of improvement..... like staying on green at school for Kyle and picking up after yourself for Kaylee.....

And Mom has figured out the Crimson is a job to keep up with ;)

Christmas program 2011

Kaylee, Sophie & Peyton

Katie and Kyle (Mary and Joseph... and Allie the Angel )

Kaden the broken ear reindeer

Kaden was supposed to sing with Kyle, but wouldn't do it. Kaylee picked him up (and her dress came up all the way in front of everyone) and tried to assist him.... and he still didn't do it.

Beautiful Star of Bethlehem (with Dad)

Kyle sang alone after the Kaden fiasco!

Granny with the babies

Emily, Chad & Karsyn

Oh Christmas tree....

I have now sat down after 3 or 4 hours of dragging out and putting up the tree and all the "stuff " that goes along with it. I am a single tree kind of girl..... I used to put small table top trees in the kids rooms but IN CASE we MIGHT be moving... I opted to be simple as possible (ok... lazy as possible.... ) I put my kitchen stuff out which I had not planned on doing so I am not a total scrooge....  The kids L.O.V.E.D helping me do the tree- well- Kaden was only awake for the lights .... and now he is awake to see it all done! (so much for rushing to bed because my back and legs are throbbing!)

Here are the results..... from  my cell.... much quicker to download to blog and I am LAZY remember!

Taa-daa..... my first attempt at the mesh stuff.... harder than I thought!

I will try to get pics of the kids sides of the tree... Kyle said he put 400 on ... and most of them are on

the same 5 branches :)... Kaylee's side is covered in Barbie ornaments that she played with longer than

she decorated the tree!

My star is kinda sad but I refuse to buy more glitter-coated-anything after cleaning up that mess!

Our family ornament we get every year

Got this made for my kitchen because I LOVE some gingerbread people

And thats all... and I am tired.... Goodnight :)

In our world....

Oh the things going on in our crazy world! We are in the throws of the holiday season.... jam packed weekend schedules (and some week days!) We have family functions, church functions, friend functions... all of which I am looking forward to... all of which would be less stressful if my "to-do" and "to-buy" and "to-cook" lists were completed..... If my multiple personalities were actual PEOPLE I could get this all done alot quicker ;) Oh, and not to mention, someone is supposed to be buying my house (keep praying- no contract yet but it is in the works) and my realtor calls me with the details and says "Oh, I knew there was something I meant to tell you..... they want to close in DECEMBER!  I was like "Praise the Lord" and "What in the world" all in one thought.... I have nothing packed.... I don't want to jinx it by doing any packing too soon.... but I also realize that leaves me 4 weeks to do it all PLUS show up at all these dates that are marked on my calender..... mercy mercy mercy.... maybe Santa will bring me an Elf to help out!

We did the Thanksgiving run-around. I went to see my Maw Maw and Paw Paw on Wednesday night. Trying to get 3 functions in one day when 2 of them start at the same time is impossible. We went to Granny's for lunch on Thursday and to Aunt Debbie's that evening. We ate and ate and ate some more. JD and I have been on the South Beach (aka- Meat, cheese, salad, No-carb, try to kill me) Diet. His cholesterol is at such bad levels the doctor was wanting to put him on  medication but we are trying this to see if we can control it with diet before he has to resort to that. Anyway- We cheated Thanksgiving (& I did the rest of the weekend... shhhhh.... I don't think he noticed!) I had lost 6 lbs but I am thinking I found it after all the cake and pie and dressing I consumed.... it was worth it !



I did the whole Black Friday thing.... it was fun... I realized after I returned home that I bought more for me than for everyone on my list ;) Having the new house has made my list pretty long! My best purchase was my $49 bar stools! I was afraid they would look like $49 bar stools so I took one out of the box (in pieces- I am sure I will be assembling them soon) and they are really pretty and sturdy (well , should be sturdy- again I will be assembling them :) If you get a chance to come to my new house..... you might want to sit at the table!

Oh and how could I forget to throw a ROLL TIDE in here after that fantastic game Saturday! Well, what of the game I actually watched.... I kinda napped through the first quarter and I was suddenly awakened to a disaster in the second quarter..... Kyle and Kaden were upstairs at Karen's house where they were supposed to be watching cartoons... well you know what un-attended boys do.... they try to open the windows (she has the kind that crank open and they are fascinated) ... while doing so they knock over the end table with the lamp and decorations and the wax filled Scentsy-type thingy... and the wax goes pouring down Kaden's head- all in his hair- all over Kyle's arm- all over the table- luckily not so much on the floor..... both boys had goose-egg knots on their heads from the falling objects.... and both were screaming to the tops of their lungs...... (insert my repeated I-need-a-straight-jacket comment here) We cleaned it all up, peeled what wax we could off of my children- took a fine tooth comb to Kaden's hair to get the massive amounts of mulberry-ish scented wax out of his hair.... and THEN (yes, you know my stories always get a little more interesting) Kaden starts having an allergic reacation to the scent in the wax and Karen's puppy and his entire face whelps over, his eye swells, his cheek puffs out on one side..... and he and I take a trip to good ole' Grant Pharmacy for a Benedryl run........ this is true life here.... no reality show needed!

And here I am today- blogging while the babies are asleep..... yes babies... Miss Karsyn is staying with us now while Amy recovers from having baby Anzlie. I was in the mood to do a post so I let blogging take precedence to the mounds of laundry and crazy weekend madness that seems to be strewn all over my house. I guess I will get it started now...... happy rainy Monday!

And Roll Tide again.... :)

Happy TEN year anniversary....

WOW! Ten whole years! I can not believe this day has come. I knew we would make it this far- no worries about that... but on November 16, 2001 I would have never have believed that we would have so much extra in our lives and be without so many people whom shared that very special day with us! I got out my wedding albums- the professional one and the snap shot one and I was amazed at the changes that have taken place since that day. We are now 4 grandparents less than we were but we are very thankful to still have 5 of them with us today. Some of our friends have moved away, some we just aren't close to like we were then. Some very dear people that we would have never thought would no longer be here have went on to be with Jesus- but that is a "happy-sad" as a sweet little girl once said. We have had a great ten years since that day.... and we have hopes of having many many more together.

We have a good home- not just a house- a home- which was always what we strived and longed for. We have 3 beautiful, wild, funny, healthy children- which were just a dream 10 years ago. We have a great church and wonderful church family. Every one is in good health- which I learned is something to be grateful for at any age because sickness does not discriminate because your are young, have kids or have a life so busy that you just don't have time for it. We have each other- and I am oh so thankful for that. Good, Bad, Hard Times, Easy Times, Happy, Sad, Sick (which JD tends to think he is most days ;) Well, Frantic or Calm- we have each other.... and need each other.... and are thankful for each other....
that is precious to me. And most of all- We have the Lord and we know without a doubt it is because of Him that we have anything and everything. He is our supplyer and our foundation.

So here is to ten years of bliss- sometimes madness- a touch of temper- a lot of hugs and an abundance of patience.....I love you JD!

 

Fall into Pictures...

This is the good one of about 10 shots... seriously.... guess who wasn't in the mood???

And yes... I figured out later that this is the same shirt I did his pic in last year with the pumpkins....
maybe it will teach him to eat more so he will grow ;)

At least his face is in character with his shirt!

He escaped (& I wanted to show you my awesome new wreath ;)

Buzz Lightyear takes on NMS Fall Festival

Kyle aka Black Spiderman in the costume parade...with no mask.... and no shoes...

CeCe from Shake it Up doing her prance in the costume parade

Western day at NMS

Kyle in his non-western-had-buttons-there-for-a-church-shirt and his boots

Crazy hair & socks day

Woody and Bullseye

I can't believe how BIG she is looking... Mrs. Growny

I bet none of you have a paper boy that is this adorable :)