Abby's Christmas Concert

*Abby is the third kid in on the top row

Today Reese and I went to go watch Abby practice for her Christmas program at school. I really wanted to see her sing because we will be in Colorado skiing when she has her concert. She was so cute and the kids sang so loud. When Abby got home from school today she told me her favorite thing was standing on the stage.....maybe she isn't as shy as everyone thinks???
Also Reese was super funny watching all the kids sing---he kept asking to go up there too! I thought for sure Reese was the ham in the family.... but Abby might be giving him a run for his money--who knew?

Christmas--a little early!

While we were in KC we decided to exchange gifts because we will be staying in Texas for Christmas. Now the kids thought this was a great idea--as you can see in the pictures! But for us adults it was a bit of a challenge to get all our shopping done so EARLY--but we all pulled through and had a great time! The kids got some great stuff, but one of the gifts Abby wanted to model for all of you! She got a wedding dress-up kit and they thought of everything even the garter and flower girl basket! She loves to play wedding with her cousin Charlie so I know he will be thrilled to know we finally have a bouquet--poor me...they always pulled flowers out of all my arrangements so this gift even makes mama happy---and that my friend is the best gift of all:)
-----And sorry Jerry we beat you this year---we had Christmas before December 1st:) I know if you had your way we would have already done the Stamps Christmas--hey I'm on your side....so how about this Friday? It's never too early to exchange gifts right?

MU #1 in the Nation!

Everyone heading off to the game--in many layers of clothes!
notice Greg is the only one not sporting MU gear--well at least he wasn't wearing KU colors!

Look my dad gave Greg a MU sweatshirt--he almost looks like he's from Missouri doesn't he?

Abby and her cousin Trevin all Mizzoued out!



Papa proud as can be! (he played for MU so he would love to see Abby go to there:)

WOW!!!! I must say that game was awesome! Greg went with my parents and my sister and her husband to the MU/KU game tonight and they were hilarious putting all the layers on! It was FREZZING!! I was honestly a bit sad that I didn't go, but I just had to give my ticket to my husband since I am really not a HUGE football fan normally and I would NOT have been able to take the cold weather--I am a wimp!! .
Anyways my parents got Abby a MU cheer leading outfit and Reese a football jersey--they went around all day yelling, "Go Tigers!" --my dad is so proud!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Too many cooks in the kitchen!

Dig in!

Watching the Macy's Day Parade!


Last night my parents and my sister's family all came over to cook all the desserts for Thanksgiving! It ends up we don't all work together very well--we about killed each other by the end of the, but we sure had some yummy desserts:)-- (we first hand discovered the meaning of "too many cooks in the kitchen") I also realized that my parents and sister think I don't have a clue how to cook--they had no confidence in my abilities, but don't worry I proved them wrong with my pumpkin chiffon pie (with a little help from dad) and green bean casserole--which I know isn't that difficult, but I'm sure no one can make it better--hehe! I have discovered that no matter how old I get I will always and forever be the youngest child....which really in this case might be to my benefit... because next year I'm gonna play dumb and get out of cooking forever:) ---sounds like there are some perks to being the youngest after all:) (only kidding guys--they really thought I was only kinda ignorant in the kitchen) --it's cool no offense taken--I don't mind you all doing all the cooking -really I don't! .... and Christi I have separated an egg before:)

So anyways besides all this drama we had a wonderful relaxing day of watching the Macy's Day parade (which the kids loved) , eating and sleeping! The kids and I slept for a couple hours--napping while everyone else is watching football is a beautiful thing--I mean what would I do if I was into football?---I would never get any naps since all the games are on Sunday's mostly ---seriously that would cramp my Sunday napping style terribly so I have decided to stick with baseball --hey at least I like that one for Greg's benefit right?
Welp-hope you day was great and I hope you go to sleep with full bellies---don't forget to workout tomorrow--you're gonna need it:)

Creative Kiddos!

Ok so Abby, Reese and Trevin (my sister's son) have been putting on "shows" for us all week. Tuesday night we were all playing over at my sister's house and the kids dressed up as Pilgrim's and Indians and acting out the first Thanksgiving--it was pretty hilarious...they even had a rock to show they were on rocky ground--too funny!
So Wednesday we got out all the crafts stuff we could find and we helped the kids make Indian outfits--Reese didn't want to put his on for the picture so here you can see Abby dressed as Tiger Lilly from Peter Pan---she thinks Tiger Lilly is beautiful! --In this last picture they called this "show" the animal show and all they did was throw the animals up in the air-- very creative:) They were so proud and of course so were we!

Playing in the Leaves!

Tuesday it was in the 70's here in KC so Granny and PaPa thought it would be fun to jump in the leaves! The kids at first were a little reluctant but once they took that first jump there was no going back! The pile was enourmous probably the biggest I've seen in a long time--I remember when I was little and we would all go out and jump in leaves for hours....good memories! Now the weather today was in the 30's and snowed a bit so the same leaves we jumped in on Tuesday we are eating snow off of today! --crazy global warming....just kidding Greg:)

Christmas Lights

Every year my parents get all the lights up before Thanksgiving and then Thanksgiving night we all go outside and watch while my dad turns the lights on--although sometimes they don't turn on right away but my dad always gets them turned on eventually:) When we got to town they still needed to put up there train so Abby was their helper! She kept telling PaPa that she thinks he might have put it together wrong.....but it ends up she was looking at it upside down:)

Granny's Office

We drove to Kansas City yesterday and we had a really good trip. It was just the kids and I since Greg had to work so that always makes for an interesting trip! They are such troopers and the DVD player we borrowed from some friends was a LIFESAVER! (thanks Shane and Misty--and your 3 wonderful kiddos)
One time the kids had to go to the bathroom and they weren't gonna make it---we were on a toll road outside of Wichita and there were NO bathrooms in sight----sooooo I stopped on the side of the road and both of them went right there! Now really this is quite normal on road trips except that Abby went all over my foot and the car smelled of pee all the way to KC--classic! We finally got here around dinner time after 10 long hours---let's just say the kids were READY to get out of the car and play with Granny and PaPa! Both the kids didn't sleep a wink the whole trip so they were both asleep around 7:45pm---that's a record bedtime in our house because we normal don't get them down until 9 or so!

Anyways this picture is of Reese at Granny's office. She has this great break room that has video games, ping pong, free coke machines and about 20 nerf dart guns---why a business needs this is a mystery to me--oh they also have treadmills and 2 deluxe massage chairs---crazy---where can I sign-up? So you can imagine how much fun the kids had there and we plan to go up sometime on Thanksgiving day and let all the kids play (and the adults:)
Well I should have some really good blogs this week so if you can find time between all the eating come and check it out! Happy Thanksgiving!

Stacking Cups!

Abby got some stacking cups for her birthday and she loves them! If you have never heard of this game before you time your self stacking a bunch of cups and try to beat the clock--it's pretty fun! They also glow in the dark so the kids think it is so fun to play with them with all the lights off! Abby and Reese haven't set any world records yet but they are well on their way! I on the other hand have not gotten a hang of this yet--and it drives me crazy---why can't I stack these silly cups? .......I guess you have to be under the age of 18???

Reese's Surgery

Reese getting ready for surgery

Reese a little loopy from the drugs--we kept having to hold him from falling off the bed!

Reese in the recovery room-we finally got him to
stop crying and get some sleep!


This morning Reese had surgery and he is already pretty much back to his normal self! He didn't seem scared at all even when the doctor's were all around messing with him. The surgery was really fast-even faster then the doctor anticipated-he said Reese went to sleep quickly and gave them no problems. When we got into pre-op they gave Reese this little red "cocktail" (drugs) as they called it and then they warned Greg and I that he might get a little loopy. He did get loopy but actually he was just giddy and relaxed. Greg and I have never seen our son "drunk" before (of course) so it was quite humorous watching him! As they took him back I was a little concerned he might get scared, but he just laid back and waved goodbye--sweet boy!
So after he got to recovery we got to go back one at a time and see him. He was not as happy as before the surgery and actually he had quite a difficult time coming off of the drugs. They ended up having to give him more drugs because we could not get him comfortable and to stop crying for an hour--it was so sad to see him this way! After the drugs kicked in he was really comfortable finally and got to watch a few cartoons-which made him really happy! Besides throwing up on the way home we had a pretty low key rest of the day--he got in a nap and was running around shooting a bow and arrow by tonight---man they told us he would bounce back quickly but I was never expecting it this fast! I plan to sleep with him tonight and continue to watch him closely through the night, but it looks like we are out of the woods and appreciate all the prayers and concerns!

Reese's Surgery

We are leaving right now to take Reese to have surgery- at 7:30-8:00am he will be going in to get tubes and his adenoids taken out. Please be praying for him that everything will go smoothly and that he will have NO problems with the anesthesia. We will keep you posted!

Abby's 5th Birthday Party!

A few weekend's ago we had a Princess Tea Party for Abby and I am just now getting to blogging about it--so sad....I am disappointed in myself! Anyways it was a great party and Abby planned every detail from the cake to her Granny being the clown! When the girls first got there we had a tea party all set up and they all sat down for tea---it was funny how quiet the girls were I wasn't sure if if they were bored or overwhelmed! We then had a clown show(my mom was the clown) and all the kids seemed to really like that. The part Abby liked the most was running around and playing in the bakyard! (figures-- we mom's try to do too much when all the kids want to do is run around together!) Well I think she liked her presents too and the cake was incredible---who made it??? Only kidding!
Well we are finally done with all the kids birthday's and it wasn't as bad as I thought---I really was praying that this year I would just enjoy the kids and not get bogged down in details and that's exactly what I did! So Happy Birthday 5th Abby we love you! Can't wait till next year--ok I am lying I could use a break:)

Speedway 5K

Saturday the kids and I ran in a race together---well kinda--they ran in a 50 yard dash and I ran after them in a 5K . We have been planning this for a few months now and thought it would be really fun for the kids since it was at the Speedway---during the whole race you could hear the cars speeding around the track---it was pretty cool!
Well the kids had fun running....after they finally got up enough guts to get on the starting line:) Greg kinda had to push them and I ran along the side of the road for support. At the finish line they each got medals and they smoked all the other kids...ok not really but they had a blast and that's all that matters!
After the kids ran they got to watch me run in the 5K--it's kinda boring to watch me run since you really only see me at start and finish but they cheered like crazy and were a great support! This run I was feeling terrible so after the race we headed home pretty quick which means we missed the awards and I found out tonight I placed 1st in my age division--stink I didn't stay to get my award! --And I'd say 1st place is pretty good since I about threw up twice during the run.....man if I was feeling that bad and got 1st I wonder how second place feeling:)????
Anyways we had fun and both the kids said they wanted to go to my next race---we'll see about that-- I'm not sure they want to hangout for 2 hours while I run 13 miles---but I guess if they want to I can use all the support I can get!

Is it already that time of year again???

We decided to put our Christmas tree up last night. We will be out of town some of this Christmas season so we wanted to enjoy our decorations as much as possible! The kids had such a blast putting together the tree---they helped daddy put it all together! This is our first year to have a fake tree so we will see how it goes....at least I can't kill this one:) Also Reese took the first picture and he wanted you all to know!--pretty good I'd say!
Well I guess we can officially start playing Christmas music in our house---yeah! (no waiting until after Thanksgiving this year!)

What is wrong with this picture?

If you guessed swimsuits in November then you are correct! What in the world is going on with this weather??? I like it, don't get me wrong-- but we are all a bit confused in our house---we washed the car during the day and put up our Christmas tree at night! WEIRD!

Camping Trip with Maw Maw and Poppa!

cooking marshmallows!

Get back here Reese!

climbing a mountain!

Picture of a herd of deer--kinda:)

**Guest blogger: Maw Maw Stamps--Greg's mom

God blessed us with perfect camping weather and a perfectly wonderful trip altogether!

We got to our campsite & Poppa told us we needed to get our things unloaded &, without another word, all 4 of the kids, Abby, Charlie, Reese & Landry, started taking things to our campsite then returning & asking Poppa what else they could carry. They kept up that spirit until Poppa told them that was all--they'd finished the job!

Besides perfect weather, we were also blessed with the best campsite at the park! When these kids' daddies were little guys we discovered this spot & always requested it when we went there. It has a rock table, benches, and fire pit & wonderful big rocks to climb & hide around--all going right up to the lake.

Our activities Friday night & Saturday included lots of hiking; hide and seek and climbing on & among the giant rocks (yes, they're "bigger than GOLIATH"!); sitting on those rocks and looking at the stars; a campfire, complete with s'mores; Abby & Charlie dancing by spotlight; several Brer Rabbit stories (the kids discovered that his hole just happened to be at the bottom of a tree right outside our shelter!); a big camping breakfast; and lots of sweet and simple thanks to God all mixed in. Oh yes, we also had a raccoon visit our site and saw a deer with a pretty good rack of antlers crossing the road! After that the kids all became deer. You can see their antlers in the picture. We woke up to a rooster crowing (he looked a lot like Charlie!) and immediate giggles all around!

We talked about God telling Jeremiah how He knew him before he was born & even had a plan for his life! And the same's true for each of us. God even told Jeremiah not to say, "I'm too young" but to be a bold messenger for Him. We talked about how we can know God's plan by knowing His Word because His Word is a light along our path. Poppa showed us how the flashlight lights our paths when it's dark--just like God's Word guides our lives!

Probably the biggest highlight for MawMaw & Poppa was watching the kids all interacting. All 4 of them were so thoughtful, encouraging and respectful to each other and to us. They all looked out for each other and showed thankful hearts toward each other, toward us and toward God. As we prayed at bedtime, Reese thanked God for "letting us go camping with MawMaw & Poppa and for the fun, fun, fun we're having...." As we ate our ice cream before heading home, Charlie said to all his cousins, "Don't we have a sweet Poppa!" They all agreed--& giggled!

Father, please bless Abby and Charlie and Reese and Landry, and each of us, with tender and thankful hearts toward You! Please help each one of us to learn & love Your Word, to be bold messengers for You and to walk on Your path for us all the days of our lives!

Bikes!

Abby got a new princess bike for her birthday and she is loving it! Reese is also loving the fact that Abby got a bike because now he has a new "hand-me-down" bike! --win-win! Happy Birthday to everyone:)

Abby's First Field Trip!

I wanted to get a picture where you could see how close we were--that's the stage on the right-crazy!

Me trying to get all of us in the picture--victory! (well Abby kinda got squished but she's fine!)

Today Reese and I went with Abby on her first field trip at school! I feel like a real mom now--you know a real "room mom"--I think I was a bit more excited than the kids:) (see this is why I stay home--I get to do all the fun stuff:) Well anyways the field trip was at a local theater and we saw Charlotte's Web. When they took us to our sits we were surprised to be seated on the first row---it was awesome! I don't think I have ever sat that close in my life---seriously we were so close I was worried they might spit on us when they were singing--yuck:) hehe I guess maybe I'm a bit OCD:) --anyways the kids had fun and the play was just long enough and was done really well! I can't wait for her next field trip---those were always my favorite days in school!

Happy 5th Birthday Abby!

Abby waking up to a birthday cupcake!

"This is a yummy breakfast mommy!"

Abby's birthday cake at the Cheesecake Factory!-we told her she could pick where she wanted to go and she picked here--what can I say?--she has good taste:)

Abby opening a present from Mommy, Daddy and Reese--she got a bunch of princess books--yeah--as if we need more princess stuff!

Today was Abby's 5th Birthday! We had her birthday party Saturday with all her friends and family so she was a bit confused about today--she kept asking if we were gonna have another party and I told her that we would just have a little family party today--(and I am not making another castle cake:)!
Well we started off the day with cupcakes and singing and then for lunch we went to chick-fila and then met daddy at The Cheesecake Factory for dessert! We had a lot of dessert today --wow I didn't really notice until I started writing it down-- it seems like a sugar overload---no wonder we couldn't get them to sleep tonight! --hehe!
Well anyways I think she had a great birthday -- as I have said before I really love birthdays and look forward to making the day as special as I can! I have really enjoyed these past 5 years and told her tonight that I look forward to 500 more---and she said, "no mommy a million more!" *we'll see if she feels this way when she is a teenager--oh I hope so:)

Reese's Dedication

New family photo--good picture of us but the kids aren't looking again!!

Sunday we had Reese dedicated at church. We have been wanting to do it since he was born of course but being in DC we really just wanted to wait until we had a home church. Well this weekend my parents were in town and Greg's parents and Grandma could be there so we went ahead and did it! I was a little nervous what Reese would do on stage (being 3 year old and all)-I guess I thought he might crack a joke or something but instead he cried! It was so sad! The pastor wanted to pray for Reese and asked him if he could hold him and Reese wasn't too excited about that! In the end all was fine and Reese couldn't wait to get a donut--which I promised him if he was brave!