Cody is 8!!!

I feel like I should be packing Cody up to go to college!! The boy is going to be as tall as my by the end of the year, I'm sure of it!!!

We didn't do much, just cake and ice cream at our place. Cody actually passed up the opportunity to do Monster Jam . . . no one has quite figured out why. Maybe he's convinced it's just not meant to be after last year ;0)

Thanks to G-G-Ma and G-G-Pa! The boy thought he was "RICH" after your gift. Funny how quickly he went through it . . . now he just reminisces about how he was, "rich once."

Christmas 2008

Soooooo Christmas went fairly well this year. No major catastrophes, no trips to the hospital, and amazingly . . . the kids didn't complain about what they didn't get . . . . that should go down in the history books ;0)


Doesn't our family just look soooooo happy ;0)



It was actually excruciating trying to get everyone to cooperate for this picture . .. go figure ;0)



Cody, of course, enjoyed himself ;0)


Miss everyone, hope y'all had a great Christmas too!!!

Babies All About . . .

So my beautiful girlfriends both had their amazing little bundles of joy! How cute they are . . . . but I still don't want another one ;0)

I love that they are discovering this new and amazing world now that they've had these babies. So funny how our lives change so dramatically after children.

Here is Aimee & Ryan's baby boy, Kaylon:

Here is Andrea & Brian's baby girl, Ashley:

HALLOWEEN

Halloween has come and gone but the candy still remains!!!

Cody decided to be a little scarier this year! He actually freaked Nikki out, she did not like the mask (at all)!!! Cody thought it was the coolest think ever!! When you pump the handle, blood runs down the face of the mask ;0)

Nate was pretty freaky too . . . don't know what he is but he really liked the get up so that's all that matters ;0)

Nikki was very excited about her costume even though Mom wouldn't let her trick or treat (after days of argument). She did get to show off her outfit to her softball girlfriends at their little get together.

I think they're a pretty good lookin' bunch!

So the kids went their separate ways, Cody's first year knocking on doors alone. Ha, creaped him out a little! We got about half way around the block and he gave up. He still ended up with a full bag of candy but I don't think he wanted to argue with me anymore about keeping his mask on so people would know he was dressed up ;0)

Cody also got to make his first pumpkin this year. Much to his dismay, he had to paint it because not only did I NOT want to clean out the guts, I don't trust that boy with a knife ;0)

Goofin' Around

I am proud to announce that Mom & Dad went on a date for the first time in a long time! You go guys, keep it up!!

I stayed with the kids while they were gallivanting around town. After homework was completed the boys (Nate & Cody) went off to play so lovingly like they normally do (ha ha ha). When the noise level was almost obsolete, I knew I was in for a treat. See what happened next . . . .

I'm so proud of how well they spend their spare time ;0)

Nikki's Birthday

Poor Nik-Nak! This is her second Birthday now that has been postponed due to a hurricane. A couple years ago it was the exciting Rita evacuation. This year, Ike. BUT, she didn't complain and we celebrated at my place this year, which is a first!

Due to the storm, we stood in the line at the grocery store for 20-30 minutes just for cupcakes. Nikki and I enjoyed that the plastic character rings which topped these mini birthday cakes were woman of great statute like Tinkerbell, Cinderella and Barbie.

We did manage to find a Benihana's that was open and Amy joined us for the celebration. I learned how to master the chop sticks . . . . Nikki and Cody found another use for them.

I think Amy was impressed by the zucchini train the chef made.

Against Nikki's best efforts, we still managed to announce her birthday and d0 our part in embarrassing her on her very special day.

IKE!!!!

What a mess!! Around 2 a.m. Saturday, September 13th Dad and I woke up to what we thought was the Wizard of Oz movie. The house sounded like it was going to blow away at any minute. To my amazement, the kids slept through it!!

We "hunkered" (which I just learned means to crouch) down, made it through the night and literally, come 10 a.m., Ike was done with Houston.

Dad and Nikki made their way around the neighborhood to help in any way they could. Amazingly enough, the extent of our damage was no power, mangled trees, and a few missing roof tiles!

I was lucky enough to only loose power for a few hours during the blunt of the storm and my apartment complex was virtually untouched. Mom finally gave in and decided to save what she could from her fridge and move the family into my place. So, Mom, Dad, Nikki, Nate, Cody, I, Titus, and of course, My Grandmother from Colorado (this was her first hurricane) staid at my place till Tuesday.

We survived but not without finding a new appreciation for our loved ones. You can really get to know your family when they're crammed into a two bedroom apartment for three days;0)

There are still a lot of people without power and dead trees that line the streets waiting to be collected by the wood chipper but Ike has passed and we are surely counting our blessings!