Hardin Valley Bball

It is church ball time time here in Knoxville, TN.  Laura, myself and Kandice were the designated cheerleaders for our Hardin Valley YW.  I felt like we were back in high school again cheering on the team.

My amazing girls. Sarah, Elizabeth, Baryn, Morgan, Kate, Kimmy, Becca.  These girls went from being so scared of the ball that they would run from it, to being shooters, scrappers and ballers.  I am so proud of them.  We made it to the second round of the tournament and then was beat out, but despite that loss, my girls were amazing.  I couldn't be more proud of them.  They won in my book!

First Attempt at Deco Mesh

I have always wanted to make a deco mesh wreath.  So I watched a ton of You Tube videos on how to make one, bought the stuff, and went to work.  

Here is my finished product.  Not to bad if I do say so myself.  Now that I know what I am doing, I am going to try and make a Tennessee one for my door during football season.  I love trying to do new things.

January In One Post

Hang on to your hats ladies and gentlemen, cause here we go...

January at a Glance...

The first part of January, we spent hanging out at home since it was still part of the kids' school vacation. It was nice to sleep in and enjoy them.  

A week after Tyson went back to school, (because Taryn's school would not start till mid February), I was getting ready for the Jack and Jules sale.  Let's just say I put in a lot of stuff and sold it all but 10 items.  I made over 200.00 and was delighted.  I made enough that each of the kids will get 100.00 for their summer clothes and shoes.  Which is the whole reason why I do the sales.  It is a lot of work, but well worth it.

MONSTER JAM

Vaughn and I have wanted to do something special for both kids.  Tyson's surprise came in January with a trip to the Monster Jam.  We didn't tell him where he was going, just that he was going for a ride with dad.  When they got to the Monster Jam, he was so excited.  See the picture above.

He loved it!  Vaughn said it was so fun to watch Tyson's face light up as the trucks revved up their engines.  It was fun to do something like that for Tyson.

                                                            SNOW DAYS

Then came the snow days.  And yes I said days.  On Tuesday of this particular week, Vaughn and I went to Nashville to take care of a few things and left the kids with one of my Young Women, who has graduated high school. It was a quick go down, and come back.  Becca only had to watch Taryn for the day and then Tyson for a little while when he got home from school.  Piece of cake.  Yeah, right!  While we were in Nashville it started to snow, and it came down so fast that they let school out early.  I let Becca know that Tyson would be home early and left it at that.  Long story short...Tyson's bus got stuck in the parking lot for an hour and then it took another hour to get him home.  By this time I was freaking out, and so was my babysitter.  I couldn't get the school to pick up their phones and so I had no idea where my kid was.  I was in Nashville and couldn't do anything about it.  I felt so helpless.  When Becca called, after what seemed like an eternity, and told me Tyson had made it home, I was so relieved.  Vaughn and I finished up our business and headed home, only to hit bad roads an hour out of Knoxville.  It was kind if fun to drive in real snow again.  Loved it.  And all this made for a snow day for the kids the next day.

We took the kids sledding.  We found this killer hill just up the street.  It was quite steep and we all got our exercise going up and down the hill, but it was so much fun.

Here goes Tyson.

He made it down and Bear chased him the whole way.

Here comes Vaughn.  Needless to say this was the only run he made.  He hurt his bottom at the end.

Bear was in heaven.  We took him off his leash, since there was no one around, and let him run.  He loved it!

Back up the hill...

There she goes, down the hill as fast as she can with Bear chasing her.

Taryn loved sledding.  

We played for hours, until our legs gave out from going up and down the hill.  It was to the truck to make some donuts in the parking lot and home for hot chocolate and warm blankets.  

BEAR'S GROWTH

This is Bear's favorite place to be.  He loves to wrap himself up in the bottom of our bedspread.  He has grown twice his size since we got him.

CHEESECAKE FACTORY

All I can say is yummy!  This was so good.  I had a lunch date with some of the ladies, and we all had different cheesecakes and tried each one.  They were all delicious.  

And this picture sums up January. Bear sleeps like this most nights.  We go to sleep laughing. January was crazy and fun and a great start to 2014.

New Years 2014

Happy 2014! Time to put away the old year and bring on a new one.  Vaughn is finally finished with his Residency, I finally got my teaching license renewed, the kids are growing up, and this year promises to  start off with lots of new and exciting adventures.

We were lucky to go over to the Curlee's for New Years Eve. Most everyone's husband was gone, funny, so all us ladies got together with our kiddos and hung out.  We had tons of food and fun. Then we played BINGO for an hour and a half.  I brought the old turning BINGO game and I had prizes; everyone had a ball. 

Then the count down began. We had noise makers, confetti, and lots of noise as the ball in New York fell and brought in the new year.  

I needed a selfie of the kids and I.  2014 here we go...

Skating In December

After Christmas we had a few really nice, warm days.  It was time to learn how to skate for Taryn and time to see if we remembered how for Tyson. 

Oh this girl is the purple princess.  She actually didn't do half bad for her first time on skates.  She never fell, but that is because we held on to one hand the whole time.

What a sweet picture of brother and sister.

Taryn decided after an hour of holding our hands to skate, that she might be able to do it by herself.  It was so awesome to see her be so brave and try it on her own.

Oh yeah, here he comes.  The kid figured out the way to skate on his roller blades.  He was flying around the tennis courts.

A few days later the rain and snow came and we couldn't skate outside.  Bummer!!!  Luckily for us they have an indoor skating rink 15 minutes away.  Taryn really liked the smooth skating rink floor.

Tyson was trying to race everyone around the rink.  He was wobbly the first 20 minutes but then he figured it out and was off like a rocket.  He wanted to race us.  After we had been at the rink for about 2 hours they had actual races for the different age groups.  Tyson was thrilled!  He was beat by this really fast little kid, but he was okay beating everyone else.

This girl skated by herself.  She loves her skates she got for Christmas.  Yeah for mom and dad!  We got her something she wanted and likes.

There she goes.  We had such a blast roller skating.  It has become my new favorite thing to do.  I cannot wait to bring the kids again.  They loved it and they were active.  Yes!!!  The new year is going to be great!

Preschool Christmas Time

On the last day of preschool, before winter break, the kids had a special visitor from the North Pole.  Santa came and gave each of the kids a book for Christmas.

Taryn was so excited to see Santa and to let him know that she had been a good girl all year.  She also informed the man of what she wanted for Christmas.  It changes daily.

She was so proud to show off her book that Santa had given her.

These are all the kids at the preschool.

And here all most of Taryn's teachers.  The high school girls loved their necklases and gave lots of hugs to Taryn, thanking her for them.  It brought a smile to my face and my heart swelled with happiness.  I love to make others smile and I taught that special lesson to Taryn today.  She wanted to know what we were going to give them next.  

Preschool is out till February, while a new set of high school kids are trained to teach.  Taryn is excited for the long break but said she will miss all of her friends.  So cute!

The Nativity

Back a few weeks ago we had the Thompson's over for dinner and cookie making.  After the festivities at our house, we took them with us to the church where the Farragut ward was putting on a Nativity program for all to come and enjoy.

They had nativity scenes from around the world that people had donated for the program. After a little 15 minute program, full of the Christmas story and singing, we were able to go into the children's area for crafts and dress up.

Ella, Tyson and Taryn were loving the whole dress up scene.  They would try on the different outfits of the people in the Nativity and then want pictures.

My little wise man.  Tyson is a crack up.  He always has some play or idea or scene to show us.

The two wisemen and Mary.  Taryn just wanted to play Mary and hold the baby.  That is my little mother hen.

Xander, Tyson, Ella, and Taryn all wearing their angel craft on their heads.  Xander didn't want to dress up no matter how much we all coaxed him.  Oh well.  The others had fun.  It was a nice time to hang out and enjoy our Savior all at the same time.