Super Bowl Party!

This year we had a Super Bowl party at our house for our Sunday School class at church. Greg and I started teaching young singles (20's) and we have loved working with this group! It's fun because we are not that far removed from our 20's:) and just being about 1 life stage ahead of them we feel really connected to them already and it's only been about 6 months.
Anyways we ended up having over 30 people there and we had so much food it was OUT OF CONTROL! No seriously you don't understand-it was insane! We all have a deep appreciation for food and love to partake of it as much as possible:) One of the guys brought stuffed peppers wrapped in bacon and beer bread that was AMAZING! We had a chocolate fountain...yes, you read that right....A CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN! It was delicious!
Well you get the point:) We did watch a little football but mostly we talked, played a little Wii and ate food....did I mention that?? Ha! Who won the Super Bowl this year away? ~only kidding!

Getting ready to watch the big game...this picture doesn't give the party justice--we had way more people there but I forgot to take more pictures...opps!:)

Charlie's stuffed peppers...wow!

Desserts! I just kept grazing this table all night...not sure how much I ate:) ~hehe!

The chocolate fountain! One of the couples we teach with just "happened" to own a chocolate fountain...what? That's so cool and I love that she shares with us--thanks Natasha!

Rodeo 2010

The pigs! Wow--they were big and VERY clean...my kinda pig:)

The whole family--thank you kids for smiling!!

Chillin' watching the show

Reese at the Rodeo

Poppa and Abby with food!!! Abby's favorite thing these days!

the kids were not into taking pictures--can you tell?:) Can you see Abby's red eye? Come to find out she had pink eye... maybe she got it from the pigs??? humm...

Every year the chicks are always a big hit---this year we got to see one hatch...so cute!

Watching the chick hatch---don't you love their matching coats? Anglea and I didn't plan this we just both have great taste:)

Every year we go to the Rodeo with Greg's parents and his brother's family. The kids are always excited to get to go and see all the animals and spend time together. This year was no exception! We had a great evening and as always the Rodeo was a hit! It was funny this year though because the kids were all about the food! Poppa spoiled them with cotton candy, popcorn, coke and dip n dots! Crazy Poppa! The kids devoured all of it--it was as if they had never eaten before! Ha--yes, we feed our kids almost every meal:) Anyways going to the Rodeo has become such a fun tradition (even though it's the same thing every year:) I am glad the kids enjoy it so much which in turn makes me happy! I'm not much of a country girl but I am always surprised how entertaining the show is after all is said in done;) I guess this country stuff isn't so bad after all!

T is for Tuff!

Reese, Tuff and Maw Maw--two very excited boys!!!;)

Tuff getting treats for doing his tricks and here he's being rewarded for a job well done!

Jump through Tuff! Come on boy you can do it!!!:)

Every week Reese has show-n-tell at school and he gets to bring something that starts with the letter of the alphabet that they are studying for the week. Well this week was the letter T and he has been waiting all year for this week because Tuff (Maw Maw and Poppa's puppy) starts with T! Well Maw Maw was so sweet to bring Tuff to school and let Reese show him off to the whole class. They have taught him some great tricks, Tuff can jump through a hoop, ring a bell on command, roll over and so many other things! He's a great dog!!! Reese was ecstatic to have Tuff (and Maw Maw;) at school! He even got to hold Tuff and go around the room and let all the kids pet him (he was really excited about that...he told me before bed the night before:)
Maw Maw told me that Tuff did really well but was just a tad bit distracted with all the excitement in the room. I don't understand why? I mean, 15 5 year olds is not that distracting is it? Come on Tuff, you need to toughen up;) Ha!
Well anyways it meant SO much to Reese to be able to bring Tuff to school and I am so thankful Maw Maw went out of her way to get him there!! Thank you Maw Maw!!

Valentines Box

The finished product....well maybe:)

I love the XOXOXO touch--too funny!

Notice the hearts that bounce offf the box....very creative Abby!


Abby came home from school yesterday and told me she had to decorate a box for her Valentines party on Feb 12th. Now normally one would wait a few days to begin since we have 2 WEEKS to get it done but not Abby girl---she didn't waste a minute and had so many ideas my brain hurt even thinking about it! Well it's been 2 days now and she has covered every square inch of the box and it looks beautiful! She says whoever has the best box with the most color and creativity wins a prize. So you can image how our little artist has taken her Valentines box to the next level....oh Mrs. Piland is not gonna believe this one:) Abby told me tonight after I "thought" she was done with the box that tomorrow she plans on adding a few more touches to make sure she has plenty of color! That's my girl--if you're gonna do it you might as well go all out:)
-oh also Reese started his Valentines box tonight and has many plans of his own....I'll post some pictures of it when he's done---should be interesting!! Ha!

Thank you Granny!

The other day I was talking to my Mom in Target and Abby was with me. As we were walking through the clothes section Granny heard Abby say she liked a dress and Granny just insisted on buying it for her:) Granny wanted to get a little something for her for being so brave during her allergy testing that she had done earlier that day. ***let's just say 54 pricks in the back of a 7 year old that normally has to have 4 nurses hold her down during 1 shot was definitely a challenge:) She did awesome though--she really surprised us but I think the fact that she got to watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs during the test made a HUGE difference! -note to self: bring along a DVD player when she gets her yearly shots;)
Anyway,
Granny I wanted you to see the dress and see how adorable she looked today at school! We love you and thanks for this special treat, she loves the dress a lot!

You Can't Touch This!

Lately Greg and I have been introducing the kids to some "old school" music and Reese really loves MC Hammer! Pretty hilarious huh? He also has a liking to Kris Kross and Pump Up the Jam:) Abby is more into musical sound tracks like the song from Funny Girl --Don't Rain on my Parade! (very different taste:)
Anyways the other day I was driving with Reese and he says:
"Mommy, sometimes at night when I'm going to sleep I sing, "da na na na da na da na you can't touch this!!" (roll with it ok? It's hard to type singing;)
Anywho, while he was telling me this he was dancing so funny and I tried to get it on camera (while driving) and I did the best I could! ~no Greg and Dad I didn't wreck, yes I know how dangerous that is and no I won't do it again;) Does that cover it??? Ha!

Enjoy---he's a funny kid!

Churning Butter

Churn away!


Finally done and ready to press

Messy process!!!:)

Silly Abby! We called her butter bangs for the rest of the night!

The other night we went over to Maw Maw and Poppa's house for dinner and before we ate Abby and Reese learned how to make butter! Maw Maw still has her Grandmother's (Abby and Reese's great-grandmother Carrie Mitchell) butter churn from a long time ago. Maw Maw remembers making butter in the same churn when she was a kid. It was fun that the kids got to learn how too! The kids started out working the churn together but pretty quick Reese lost interest but Abby just kept at it----she LOVES butter:)
Poppa also helped and he and Abby followed it through to the end and made 3 sticks of butter!!! Way to go guys! After watching the whole process let's just say I'm very happy that someone else makes the butter and puts it in grocery stores for me to buy!! I think I was born in the right generation:)

Sweet Grandma Reese

Working hard for the money!

Greg overseeing the potential spill of pennies all over the floor:) Oh Reese...our little Tasmanian "angel";)

Isn't she the sweet little great grandmother!???

Tonight we went to have dinner with Grandma Reese. She has been out of town for a week or so and we have really missed her. We saw her Sunday at church and she insisted on cooking us dinner (I didn't protest much:) We had a chuck wagon dinner (aka yummy food cooked in foil:) It was a great dinner--we were stuffed! She is always so very thoughtful and thinks of sweet things to do for the kids and tonight was no exception. She has been saving her pennies for all the great grandchildren and when they come for dinner she has them roll pennies with her. She says you have to work for the money but once you roll it it's yours:) The kids love when they get to bring a dollar home and always have a fun time playing with her! Thanks Grandma Reese! You are the best!

Special Time with Reese

Reese skiing---really cool game! It felt just like skiing.

I got schooled in air hockey.....7-2 ~I didn't even try to lose either:) Ha!

Reese showing us he didn't need any help reaching the pedals---he's getting way too big!

Greg helping out a little bit---Reese was ok with that! Anything to be with Daddy:)

Me skiing---this is as close to skiing as I will get this year folks! So sad! Now how did I end up marrying a guy who wasn't obsessed with skiing like me??? God only knows!!!


Saturday Abby's friend Hailey had her birthday party (which she LOVED:) It was a Rockstar party and they got all dolled up, painted their nails, sang karaoke and danced--she thought it was awesome!! So while Abby was having all the fun we decided to take Reese bowling. When we got there it was super packed and was really loud (remember Reese has tubes so everything is way louder than it used to be) So anyways he didn't want to bowl anymore or he couldn't bowl because he was holding his ears. I even tried putting toilet paper in his ears but that didn't help a bit and he looked ridiculous:) We ended up talking him into playing a few games in the game room there and it seemed to appease him--he didn't mind that trade off ONE BIT;)
Greg and I had a fun time spending time with just him and I know he will remember the day for a long time! I told him we would try and go bowling again but before we go I will buy him a pair of ear plugs---he thought that was a grand idea!

Weekday Silliness!

This week has been...well typical I suppose. We have had company in town for the past week and a half so we haven't been in our "routine" or whatever you want call it:) These days with the kiddos in school and stuff we are a more like a family that flies by the seat of our pants-which isn't bad it's not predictable! Anyways I got a few cute snap shots of the kids doing this and that this week and thought I would share. Enjoy!




Reese on the loose with the camera....you never know what you'll get but I thought this one was cute.

The Triple Deluxe---I got a nasty plastic burn on my elbow during this ride...ouchhh!!!!

Reese taking his boots off after Cowboy day at school

Abby taking Tuff (Maw Maw and Poppa's dog) for a ride on the swing. She and Reese want a dog SO bad --I'm not sure how long we can hold off!!!!:)

Abby's 1st Grade Muscial!!!

Getting ready for the show!!!

The whole 1st grade class

They let all the kids wave to their parents

Singing her heart out!

Adorable close-up!

Tonight Abby had her 1st grade musical and she did so great! She was very excited and nervous after school. She kept telling me that she needed to get ready and that I needed to braid her hair in pigtails since it was a Texas themed show. She looked adorable in her jean skirt, white shirt and red bandanna--what a cute little Southern Belle:)
We ended up getting to the school super earlier (Abby was anxious and I was too...we needed a good seat for the show;) They sang about 6 songs all about Texas and all the kids did great! (no worries Mom and Dad I got it ALL on video:)