What do you think?

Can you believe this is the first time I have had bangs since I was in high school!??
Ok so this is how it all came about-
Abby and I both had an appointment today to get our bangs trimmed but I have never gotten them cut straight across normally I get little side-cut bangs-you know the ones that sweep across...well anyways Christy was cutting them and I got a little daring!
As soon as I got done Abby and Reese were so funny---Abby says, "Mommy you look just like me--I love it!" And Reese kept asking to look at me again....he says I look very different! -not too sure what he thinks!
THEN I come home and had to face Greg;) Now he normally doesn't notice if I get my hair-cut--gosh- I could shave my head and he might say, "what's different about you honey?"
hehe --well he was a bit shocked....he loves it but he says I look very different too!
Isn't it crazy how different bangs can make you look?--who knew?
Anyways-I have begun the long- long journey of growing my hair out and I feel like now I at least have a bit of a hair style--maybe I can actually do it!:) -keep your fingers crossed!

Buckethead!

Reese "Buckethead" Stamps

Night-Night little guitar!

Abby has been wanting a guitar for so long and the other day she even asked for one for her birthday. So you can image how excited she was when Maw Maw gave her Greg's old guitar from when he was a kid. She came home the other day with it in tow and ohhhh was Reese jealous;)
But he was happy to find out that they BOTH get to share the guitar and if they were gonna fight about it then Daddy was gonna put it in his office for his own personal use:) (I think it's a bit too small for him but, hey, they believed me;)
Well anyway, for the first day or so they both were not sharing very well and when it came to bed time they couldn't agree on which room it would sleep in.....SO Mommy decided it would be just fine sleeping in the hallway between their doors! (picture above)
Well anyway, the first picture is of Reese playing the guitar with a bucket on his head -ok so he's a bit "different".... and no I didn't drop him on his head when he was little....he fell off the couch ALL by himself!:)

......actually he really did and it was so sad--I had just got done feeding him and gosh he couldn't have been more than 4 months old and I propped him up between two pillows and that little booger wiggled his way all the way off the coach and before I knew it he had fallen right off HEAD first---I sat there holding him on the floor and cried my eyes out....I just kept thinking, "WHAT AM I DOING WITH 2 KIDS???"
Thankfully that was almost 4 years ago and we're all doing just dandy:) Thank you Jesus!

Talent Show

Last night Greg and I invited some friends over to eat dinner and I thought it would be fun for the kids to come ready with a talent to perform for all the parents. Well it ended up sooo funny---we had 6 kids all under 5 and they were so excited and let's just say not much "talent" really happened!
Each of them had a turn and once they got up there (if they ever really got on the stage;) they either froze or in Abby's case she was all about the spotlight---I think she ended up "helping" everyone with their talent....isn't she sweet:)
Anyways the night was really special and the kids really enjoyed singing and dancing and they loved that each of us were out there cheering them on!

I posted one video of Charlie and Reese singing "I Can Fly"--they only knew those three words but they sang beautifully;) Charlie and Reese are obsessed with Peter Pan so they both wanted to dress-up as him so we call them Peter and Pan (they are twin brothers;) --it's the only way both of them can be Peter Pan at the same time....bet you didn't know Peter had a twin brother huh? (what ever works;)
I also tried to post other videos of the other kids but was unsuccessful-stink....I'll try again later!

Time with Maw Maw and Poppa

Landry and Reese--two crazy guys!

this is one serious shooter--he told me he was trying to hit the guy in the tent!

Wow Jerry had his hands full!

Jerry with the boys--this was a car bed...I think Jerry was trying to catch a little shut-eye:)

Abby and her jelly--Debbie forgot to take pictures (don't worry Debbie I understand:) I figure you probably would have gotten strawberry juice all over you camera anyways:) No worries- Abby was happy to pose for this picture!


On Friday Debbie and Jerry (Greg's parents) took the kids out to do something special for the morning!
Debbie took Charlie and Abby back to her house to make strawberry preserves--which Abby has been wanting to do and she wanted Charlie to help them too:) Debbie said they did a great job cutting and squishing the strawberries--Abby told me when she got home that I was gonna LOVE this jelly (she's always so great about remembering my favorites...I do LOVE strawberry jelly--and she was right it is great!) After they got done they went to have pizza and the day was hit!
I am so grateful for the time the kids get to spend with their grandparents--it's so important and will be some of the most precious memories they will ever have!

Now Jerry took the two younger grandkids, Landry and Reese (since making jelly would be a bit of a disaster with them:) to Cabela's --which Reese had never been to....I thought it was just like Bass Pro Shop so I never ventured in there but oh was I wrong;) Anyways the boys had so much fun seeing all the animals and getting to shoot guns and eat McDonald's (let's just say this is a "special" thing to get to go eat there because Mommy dislikes McDonald's ALOT--so we pretty much only go to Chic-Fil-A:) Anyways.....
When Reeser got home he told me two stories over and over-

1. He got to see a mountain lion eating the neck off of an elk--he thought this was so cool...but he told me not to worry because the blood wasn't really coming out! (not sure if he is aware that these animals were stuffed???)
   
2. Then he and Landry got some coins from the man working there to shoot the guns and Reese thought it was so funny that there was a man laying on back with his feet sticking out of this tent and every time he told us he would lay down on the ground and illustrate!
   

So as you can see the day was full of excitement and the kids had such a great time---thanks for taking them guys and also thanks for the time I got to get some things done--I had a great time myself;)

Going to the Chapel and we're....

Abby and Charlie at their "wedding"...I performed the ceremony.


.....gonna get married????

The other day Charlie (Abby's cousin) says to Anglea, "Mommy, I have a problem--I want to marry Abby and she's my cousin!"
How cute is he--they are so adorable...so close and have a sweet love for each other---but I told them you can't marry your cousin...well unless you move to Arkansas...hehe only kidding--sorry Catherine and Stacey;)
*** side note***
I seriously had a neighbor in college that was engaged to her 4th or 5th cousin--crazy weird--luckily they broke off their engagement! (I always thought that was creepy-they meet at a family reunion--eekkk!)

A*R*T CASTLE

She made a shield and she painted that dog herself- she named him Zak...not sure where she got that name??--but he sure is cute!

Isn't she the cutest artist you have ever seen....and so clean...that's my girl!


Tonight Abby started an art class and she absolutely LOVED it! I dropped her off at 6pm and she got to "create" for 2 hours--which she was thrilled about-I have done so many crafts and I'm starting to run out of ideas--now when I start one with her she says, "Mommy, we already did this one" --So- needlessly to say I welcome any help I can get--i am out of ideas:)
Anyways-she is the youngest in the class by about 2 years so we weren't sure how it would go, but when we picked her up the teachers were very impressed and said she was a natural--you should have seen the smile on her face--it was so precious!
She was so in her element and it was nice to see her loving something so much! We have tried a bunch of different classes and sports but she just hadn't found that one thing she had a passion for (like Reese with baseball;)
BUT.... she told me tonight that she is so happy when she does art and that she wants to do it forever!
***I think she got her "art ability" from my dad...sadly art wasn't my best subject!

( so do you like feeble attempt in making this entry look "artsy"---don't worry I think this is my first and last attempt--this is about as creative as I get:)

I have the best husband EVER!!!!!!

Okay, I must brag about what I found when I walked in the house after a LONG day of driving home from KC. Greg had been doing a ton of housework while we were gone! He had scrubbed the kitchen floors and wood floors and I'm talking grout and all--wow I don't think I have cleaned the grout yet....that's pretty embarrassing but let's just say that I am in the "maintaining" stage of housework right now---I hope to get better as the kids get older;)
Anyways he had also cleaned the refrigerator and washed all the base boards-- now that was a major scrub job!
He also painted his office--which we have been putting off for some time now!
Now can you believe how wonderful my husband is????
I am feeling so very loved right now---it means so much to me!
Thank you Greg you have won the husband of the year award in my book:)
And no you can NOT borrow him for a day to clean your house--he's mine;)

High School Musical

The last night we were in KC Granny took all of us to see High School Musical at Starlight which is a local outdoor theater there in the city. The kids were super funny--they were really into it and loved all the songs and dancing! Reese loved "Getcha Head in the Game"--he was bouncing up and down and you could tell he wanted to jump on the stage with them!
Abby loves the slow songs which is so funny...she's already a romantic at heart:)
On the way home from the show my sister took a video interview of the kids asking them what they liked most...it's pretty funny! Enjoy!
--oh in the video Reese talks about liking the girl in the blue underwear---she was not wearing underwear on stage they were just short shorts (a little too short for my taste)--just thought I would clarify;)
Also sorry the video is dark we were taping in the car!

Wonderscope!

Collecting golf balls....

Media Room--they got to learn how to run a video camera--it was huge!

Craft Room---Abby's favorite...Reese wanted to make EVERYTHING green for Peter Pan:)

This was a Lego bus/spaceship thing--everything (except the beds) was made of Legos!

Well we are back home in Texas now--we drove home Friday (long day--we beat our potty record from on the way to KC (6 stops)-this time we stopped EVERY hour....which took us 11 hours!!!) -Man my patience was really being tested...back in the day when I would drive back and forth to college I prided myself in the fact that I NEVER stopped--which made for quick trips and saved gas! Well that has gone down the drain--I am praying for the kids to grow larger bladders--we'll see if that's God's will for them:) hehe!
Anyways- while in KC Granny took the kids to Wonderscope-a children's museum near PaPa's work!
It was really cool-they had taken an old elementary school and turned all the classrooms into learning stations--they loved it! Granny and I weren't sure how long the kids would want to stay and we were both surprised when we couldn't get them out the door for lunch:)
They both loved the Ball Works room--they had about 1,000 golf balls and had made a bunch of different tracks to run the balls along--the kids were most interested in "collecting" the golf balls and seeing how many buckets they could fill....I'm not sure that was the idea behind the room but they sure loved it anyways:)
At the end of the hall they had this huge Lego room and everything was made of Legos...which was super cool!
This was just one of many things we did in KC and since I was kind of a slacker while we were there I have a bit of catching up to do:) oops...I will try my best!

Too MUCH Fun:)

At the water park with Tobey and Trevin--notice Reese is not very happy...this is how he smiles when he hasn't taken a nap for 3 days:)

Water rock climbing wall-how cool is that...Abby made it to the top 3 times!

My sister giving/taking a kiss from Reese! --notice he is holding a toy gun-too funny...I guess he's defending himself ;)

My cousin Chelsea, me and my sister

Well these pictures kinda capture about 3-4 days of our trip--we went to a water park and spent a lot of time at my sister's house. We had a busy, full and wonderful trip but by the end of the week the kids were SO tried--a couple nights Abby cried herself to sleep because she missed her daddy (so sad). So that's when Greg and I decided it was time to come home--we were sad to leave a day early but I think it was time the kids had some down time:)---today we all slept for a LONG afternoon nap!
Thanks so much Mom and Dad for letting us come stay so long--we had a great time and can't wait to come visit again!
And Christi and Scott thanks for all the fun we had at your house--Scott tell Christi to send me some pictures of the sleepover and Trevin's Birthday party--I would love to post about those too!

Pool Party Reunion!

Us girls with all our kids--we have multiplied!

Kami, Me, Jill and Julie--we all lived in the same dorm in college--good times!


On Tuesday I had some friends from college over to swim! See I recently got a Facebook account and have been able to get in contact with a ton of old friends from college and high school! After reconnecting with some of them I figured out they lived near my parents or that they would be visiting family in Lee's Summit the same time as me!
So I decided it would be great to try and get us all together at the same time in ONE place---I am thrilled that it actually worked out! We all have kids now--which is so weird-- because we were all friends during our "crazy" days --- I'm not sure any of us could have even kept a fish alive back then...but look how far we have come:P ...hey sometimes Greg and I look at each other and think, "who put us in charge of these guys?" --but hey we have kept 'em alive this far...that's pretty good i'd say!

Anyways we had a great time-we all got to catch up and our kids got along wonderfully....hey who knows maybe they'll all go to college together one day--go OBU!

"Captain Hook, this time you've gone too far!" -Peter Pan

How cute is he?

Uh-oh Peter. Watch out!


Finally Peter Pan found a Captain Hook that fights better than me:)


While Reese's cousin, Tobey, was in town Reese talked him into a bit of a duel--see Reese is totally obsessed with Peter Pan...he goes everywhere with his dagger and holster on his hip...it's adorable! Tobey was so great to play with him and Reese was so excited he could barely stand it! I was talking to my mom today that one of these days I need to keep count of how many times Reese talks about Peter Pan...seriously I think today (roughly) he mentioned him 30 times...wow!

**Also if anyone out there knows a place I can get Peter Pan birthday party stuff let me know....I am on the look out for anything and everything Peter Pan...suggestions are welcome:)

Too Much Fun!

Reese very happy he gets to sleep in Mommy's old bed!

The famous Veggie Tales room!

Gran (my mom's mom), Abby, Granny and Reese

Crazy kids on the slide!

Abby and Reese with Granny and PaPa right before the fireworks--notice the souvenirs...Reese picked a Royals hot dog and Abby got the big claw--I would have gotten a shirt if I were them;)

So we have been having soooo much fun that I have been too tired to blog at night:)
Greg came in town for the weekend so it was great to have him here a few days! Friday night we went to the Royals game in style--my mom's work has stadium club tickets so we got to eat as much food as we wanted and watch the game in the air-condition--wow that was wonderful! After the game there were fireworks and the kids got to stay up real late which is always fun for them!
Anyways besides the game we have really just been swimming and playing outside---my parents have a pool with a slide and both Abby and Reese have explored every which way to slide down it--forwards, backwards, feet first, sideways--scary-- they are so daring it amazes me! Also Reese is swimming --I mean really swimming with his face in the water and all--he catches on so quick!
Also in the first few pictures you see Reese in his bed (my old bed) and the famous Veggie Tales room---see when I left the house my mom transformed my room into a spectacular play room for the grandkids -which the kids LOVE! So pretty much if they aren't outside swimming they are in the play room having a blast! All the cousins have been together this weekend -Tobey(my brothers son), Trevin (sister's son) and Abby and Reese. They all spent the night with my sister and Uncle Scott last night....which means tons of fun, tons of sugar and very little sleeping---so today was pretty tough for the kids-- they were on the verge of a breakdown all day! We took Daddy to the airport tonight which is a pretty long drive and we weren't 3 miles out and both of them were out like a light---poor kids don't even remember dropping Daddy off at the airport:( We'll miss you Daddy!
We have a big week planned staring with the water park in the morning....I best get some sleep or I might be on the verge of a breakdown myself!:)

Are we there yet?

I have NO idea why this picture is the wrong way but it was too cute I had to include it---just tilt your head;) Oh, this is Reese and his new buddy Aiden

Swim Break--yay!

How adorable are they?--this is Maddy and Abby

Check her out....she's a mess--I love it!


Oh the dreaded words...we weren't 30 minutes out and Abby was already asking if we were almost to Granny and Papa's---it was hard to break the news to her that we had 10 hours to go...phewww!
Well all and all the trip went really smoothly and it went by quite fast--except for the 6 potty breaks, 3 stops to start the DVD player (it's hard to drive and push buttons--I figured I would play it safe:) and one rest stop to "try" and pee--oh and lunch and ice cream--but really besides that it was great;)
Also-recently I have reunited with my old friend, Jill, from youth group and I was so happy to find out she lived on the way home to KC! So the kids and I stopped and got to swim with her 3 kids-Maddy, Aiden and Isabella--our kids played together so well and it was so nice to sit and catch up! (also it was super nice to get out of the car....thanks Jill!)
She was also so nice to get the kids some ice cream--in the pictures you can see them enjoying that--notice the last picture....Isabella was a mess and the kids were laughing so hard at her--she laughed too...pretty sure she was unaware of that fact that they were laughing AT her;)
We got back on the road refreshed and about 3 hours later we arrived at Granny and PaPa's--the kids were ecstatic!
--so begins 11 days in KC.....stay tuned I will try and blog as much as possible!

Our 7th Anniversary!

Today Greg and I have been married 7 years--yay!
Last night we went out together and the kids stayed with Debbie and Jerry. We first went to the Cheesecake Factory...yummy! Then we NEVER go to the movies so we went to see Get Smart-which we thought was pretty good...many times you catch yourself laughing out loud...which I just love those kind of movies!
Then we had to go to Wal-mart....romantic huh...hehe! (we are totally ok with that--anniversaries can be over-rated and just give people an accuse to spend way too much money!)
But I must add (so Greg knows;) I would really like to celebrate kinda big on our 10, 20, 30, etc. anniversaries..hint hint! (just kidding he already knows I want to go to Europe...that's why we don't spend much now...we're saving:)
Anyways got home today from picking up the kids (they spent the night with Debbie and Jerry) and Greg had gotten me flowers in this really cool vase....he's still got it after all these years-hehe!
Flowers are the way to my heart...he's a smart man:)
I hate to say but we were having so much fun last night I did not get a picture of us...stink!
But that's ok...you all know what we look like! (just picture us very happy and looking sharp-hope that's not a stretch for any of you;)

Well the kids and I head out to Kansas City in a few days so I better get off here and get to packing....

Happy 232nd Birthday America!

Happy 4th--I hope everyone had a great day. I know we did!
We started the day off with a bang, going to the nursing home where we handed out flags to all the residents....the kids sang songs and really enjoyed getting to visit each of them on this special day!
Later on we headed over to Maw Maw and Poppa's for swimming, eating, bull riding (on a trashcan/bucking barrel), egg toss, a grandchildren parade and we ended the evening off with fireworks...of course!
The firework show was incredible...we were super close! (now it wasn't the same as our days back in DC sitting right in front of the Washington Monument..but it was still really cool!)
I was telling Greg that we really need to take the kids back to DC often so they remember their time there-it's where Reese was born so it means a lot to us for them to know the area well!
I told Greg we should go back every 4th of July (when we get rich!) and he said he would rather go in October or April.....he says it is too humid for him in July---WHAT???-- does he realize he lives in Texas?....I tell ya- I think these Texas people are brainwashed...seriously I don't think they feel the heat here...only other places:)
Anyways- enjoy the slide show....

..oh and Stacey--Happy Birthday--you 4th of July baby! -love you!

Cousins Camp 2008

While I was in Colorado at Youth Camp Greg and I were blessed to have some great help watching the kids! Sunday-Tuesday my parents came down to watch the kids (thanks for that guys the kids had a wonderful time) and then Wed.-Sat. Debbie and Jerry had them and they decided it would be a great time for Cousin's camp! I asked Debbie to write a little something up to tell us about all the fun they had at the farm! Enjoy!
-of course I had a TON of pictures to pick from but I had to just pick a few...sorry Debbie;)

We recently enjoyed another Cousins Camp. By popular demand, we returned to the farm we stayed at last year--different farm house.

This year we had small goats as well as big ones to play with and feed. We were able to go in the pen with the small ones. Also, we had a mare & colt, pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys (Mama Turkey was sitting on 9 eggs!), cats, a dog, pigeons, rabbits and a sheep. None of them had empty bellies while we were there! For that matter, none of US had empty bellies while we were there either!

We all cooperated by taking turns doing what each person wanted to do. We had a treasure hunt, played on the swings & see-saw, strung beads, & played a few baseball games (joined by none other than Josh "Landry" Hamilton & Hank "Reese" Blalock!)

We had a great time with the animals and all the cousins got to drive the car on the turn-row in the pasture sitting in Poppa's lap. MawMaw & Poppa picked sotol sticks on their recent Big Bend trip & made walking sticks for everyone. Abby, Reese, Charlie & Landry each learned leather tooling and made leather grips for their sticks. You can see the great results as we hiked with our walking sticks!

We also spent lots of time at the swimming hole. The water was so clear you could see the bottom. The rock bottom made a perfect slide into the perfect-depth of water! Then there was a deeper area Poppa took every to play in. They could slide down the bottom of the dam into the water there. Abby found pretty shells & we skipped lots of rocks across the river.

Poppa took us for nightly trips to the snow cone stand. One night Abby, Reese & Landry had eaten all they wanted. Charlie wasn't going to walk away from any of that good stuff. He pulled the left-overs over &, surrounded by 4 cups of snow cone said, "Things are turning out really well for me at Cousins Camp!"

Reese noticed immediately that our bathroom door looked a lot like the gate on a chute so each time someone went to the bathroom, when you'd hear the flush, someone would yell, "Let 'er out!" and the "bull" would come rushing out of the chute. All the cowboys & cowgirls would scatter!

Do you know what's the hardest thing in the world to tame? We learned from James 3:7-8 that every kind of animal has been tamed by man, but "no one can tame the tongue." We want to use our tongues to praise God & say only encouraging things to others. We asked God to help us do that.

All four cousins were so well behaved! MawMaw & Poppa are so thankful for the fun times we get to spend with our 4 grandchildren, & for grandchildren who obey so well, love each other & are so cooperative & trustworthy. When we got home Charlie told Grandma Reese that the rules at Cousins Camp were, "you CAN get in the pen with the animals; you CAN pet the animals; you CAN get in the water."

Why, we had so much fun we think we'll do it again next year! Thumbs up or thumbs down for Cousins Camp? That was the question in the picture below!

Bathroom door--aka the bull chute!

Walking stick-made leather strapes

Two thumbs up--I mean 10;)

Sitting on the rock with Poppa.

Charlie feeding the animals

Feeling Better Already...

Reese woke-up this morning and I asked him how his belly felt--He then looked down at his tummy and said, "Oh it's great... feel it-- it's all better!" He cracks me up ---last night you would have thought his tummy was about the explode and now....he's all better!
...and yes he enjoyed his donut!