Stamps Family Winter Olympics

Today Debbie and Jerry held the 2nd Stamps Family Olympics but this time it was winter sports...my favorite! The kids have been working with Poppa to make a bobsled for about 2 weeks and they were all very secretive about it---it was cute how excited they were! Maw Maw and Poppa had prepared 3 events for Team USA and Team America to compete (parents against kids)
First was the hockey shoot, then downhill skiing and then the (long awaited) bobsledding.
We started our Olympics off with opening ceremonies and the kids got to carry the torch which they thought was super cool:)
I got some great pictures so enjoy! Thanks Maw Maw and Poppa....yet again you out did yourselves!!! I am editing a movie of all of the events again this time so stayed tuned!!!

Abby spent the night with Maw Maw and Poppa last night and helped decorate for the family Olympics....she thought that was very cool! It looked great!

Bobsled that Jerry built with the Grankids---it actually went fast!!! (not that I doubted you Jerry--haha!)

Opening ceremonies passing the torch....carefully!:/

Abby and Landry's hand off

Hockey shoot

Landry got a goal in the hockey shoot and the kids were thrilled! Way to go Landry!

Abby downhill skiing

Greg stretching before the big race...ha!

Poppa had a little weight on his skis...hummm??

Reese--fierce competition:)

Yo VIP Let's Kick it----nice Greg:)

Abby loved this event!

Sorry Anglea, this is just too good not to put on here:)

yep, that's me---just being goofy:)

Debbie and Jerry the master minds behind this whole event!

She's such a trooper! 79 years old and still a firecracker:)

Too funny! What a great Grandma!!

Reese pushing Grandma Reese out of the shoot....scary!:)

Kids getting ready to ride the bobsled---they loved this event!

Abby and her gold medal

Reese and his gold medal

Greg...need I say more? :)

Singing the National Anthem---very cute

I have always wanted to ski in the Olympics....looks like this is as close as I will get to ever winning a gold medal so I was just overcome with emotion;)

Yay Maw Maw and Poppa are the best!

Bye-Bye Snow!

Not sure if you all remember BUT we use to have lots of snow on the ground just a few days ago but this is all that remains of our glorious snow fort! I can't believe how fast it melted and today it was 60 degrees! Nutty Texas...you gotta love it!
~I'm sure glad we spend a total of 6 hours out playing in it--can't say we didn't make the best of it!
Now we wait for our next snow....it will happen just wait and see:)
--Mom and Dad can you please send down my ski's? I think I might need them!!! Ha!

What a Rock Star!

Nice moves!

Check this girl out!!

Soccer started tonight and Abby did great---it's gonna be a great season! Yesterday we headed to Academy to get Abby all decked out in her soccer gear and she got some cool stuff! She seems to be pumped for the season and I'm just thrilled she wanted to play a sport! She always tells me, "Mom, I love art and riding horses!" Which I am totally fine with but I just want her to try everything out and see if she likes anything else ya know? Anyways this season holds some great promise--let's cross our fingers and hope she likes it:) How could you not like soccer? (Greg, don't answer that;) Ha!

Sweet Daddy!

Valentines dinner with my honey!

Rose from Daddy!

My roses....isn't that a cool vase?

I just love flowers!!

Friday Greg ran out for an errand and when he returned he came bearing gifts!
Abby was all smiles when Greg gave her a rose---you could tell it meant the world to her!
I also got some roses and lets just say he got some major brownies points--they are beautiful:)
That night Greg took me down to Sundance square for a very nice Valentines dinner. I always love our times together and was happy to get to spend the evening with him! Thanks honey you are the best!

Special Delivery

This morning Reese came in to wake me up, he gives me a kiss and says, "Mom, I brought a special delivery--a toot!" Oh thank you Reese what a way to wake-up!
~ thought this was pretty funny and wanted to make sure I wrote it down:)

Bubbly

A few weeks back Jerry and Debbie asked me to sing at church for their Sunday School class Valentines Date night. Every year they do a special night for all the couples and ask a bunch of people to sing for a little"romantic" entertainment. This year a few of us could do it and I was excited to dust off my guitar and get back singing again! I have missed leading worship since we lived in DC so tonight was really fun! I NEVER ever post this kinda of stuff but talking to my Mom today I told her I would post it so she could see. I have serious "issues" about putting myself out there on the internet for all the world to see but I am just gonna have to get over it huh?:) Anyways it went pretty well. I definetly started out a little rough but by the chorus I recovered...keeps you humble:) When I got there to sing my friend Mark Vaughn had brought his djembe drum and I was thrilled for him to join me! He did a great job! Thanks Mark we will have to play together more often!!!

1 Foot of Snow in TEXAS!

Are you kidding me??? This is AWESOME! As of last night we had about 8 inches of snow and this morning we were super surprised to find that about 4 more inches came down over night!
The kids hadn't been up an hour before we got all of our clothes on and headed out to play! We just came back in from building our snow fort (I was freezing because we had been out there 2 hours...I think the kids could go all day but I told them we needed to warm up:) It has been so fun playing and I am still in shock that we have this much snow down south! I know this is small potatoes according to the rest of the country but it's a big deal for us!!! Good times!
I went out first thing this morning and got some beautiful pictures and was able to get some great pictures of the kids too! Don't you just love snow??? It's my FAVORITE!!!! ~now if I could just go skiing....now that would be thrilling!!!!!!




This tree does not normally touch the ground!

So deep! The kids were running and just diving in the snow! I am SO happy they are getting to experience this because it makes for some awesome memories!

Very cute! She doesn't care how cold she gets she just keeps going...what a trooper:)

In some places in our yard the snow was half way up our shins!

This is our house with snow on it....never thought I would get a picture like this!

Our neighbors house looked so crazy....check out those bushes?? Seriously is someone tricking us? We can't be in Texas can we????:) Weird.

How adorable is this? He was in heaven!

thought I would take this to show how deep the snow is....the sign is almost covered

Reese got tired and is taking a break. He kept putting his drink in the snow to keep cold....built in cooler....too funny!

Greg came out again for his lunch break and helped with the fort---he's a master builder:)

Not quite finished with the fort but the kids are having fun playing in it anyway. We are gonna go back out here soon and finish the roof---it's almost 5 feet tall! NUTS!

Snowing again???

This is our 4th snowfall of the winter here in Texas!!! We woke-up this morning to snow covering the ground and it didn't stop ALL day. Tonight they said on TV that we had over 8 inches of snow. That's crazy!
After the kids got home from school we immediately got all our snow gear on (which takes forever and is such a total beating) and we headed outside to play! Check out these pictures- we had a blast! Tomorrow Abby's school is canceled and Monday she also has off.... yeah for 4 day weekends! Let's have a snow party!!!! Come on over:)


Bring it!!! You boys are so going down:)

You don't see this everyday here in Texas--very pretty!

We had a snowball fight so we built these awesome forts---finally I get to use my snow skills-ha! Used to play in the snow all the time when I was growing up in Kansas City but here in Texas my skills have been getting rusty:) ~no worries though it all came back to me. Notice the peep holes in our fortress...pretty sweet huh?

Greg came out after work and helped Reese with his fort--boys vs. girls!!

Ready to go!!!

After I had been outside with the kids for 2 hours I couldn't feel my feet so I went inside to make dinner. While I was inside Greg and the kids made an insanely huge fort that you could walk into! Greg you rock! You can't tell here but it's over 4 feet tall!!! Wonder how long it takes to melt?---too funny!

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!