Thanksgiving Part 2 - Tyler

We also enjoyed our time in Tyler getting to see the other part of my family. My kids got to see all of their cousins and they really enjoyed that and so did I. We just had a great time hanging out. We did not get any really great pictures, but we tried.



All the girls
We love cousin Elle
Gramme and the girls
Happy Birthday Josey
Riding in the Barbie Jeep that they love
Playing in the yard.

Leaving Lubbock

On the way to Lubbock you see lots of cotton and windmills. We grabbed some cotton on the side of the road on the way to Chad and Lesley's but Riley wanted more. We told the kids we would stop when we left to get some more. Joey also wanted to stop and check out the windmills so we did. We stopped and got out to let the kids pick cotton and take pictures by a windmill. It was fun. Thank you farmer for not caring that we were on your property and took a little bit of cotton - you made my kids day!



Look how big it is
It was windy

The windmills are big
Lucy was not sure what to do
Riley really thought it was neat to pick cotton.
Josey talking on the phone and picking cotton (multitasking at age 4)

Thanksgiving part 1- Lubbock

We had a great time in Lubbock visiting my brother and his family. It was my family's first time to meet Ezra. They love him of course. It was nice to just hangout and enjoy being together, not having big plans to go and do. It was a fun filled time and we are very thankful to Chad and Lesley for taking such good care of us while we were at their place. I also want to thank my Aunt Celia for opening up her home and letting us come over to hang out and eat dinner with family. We enjoyed feeding the ducks, eating the good food and meeting Alivia and getting to play.



Watching Aunt Lesley make smores
They were good!
Taking a walk after feeding the ducks
My girls with Ezra
My girls with Alivia
Feeding the ducks
Lucy talking to Ezra about what is to come in the toddler years.
Lucy loved their table
Riley climbing in Aunt Margie's trees
Josey was most smitten with Ezra. I think she would have held him all day.
Aunt Lesley showing them a scrapbook from when she was younger.
The girls love it when Uncle Chad reads to them.

Josey is 4

It is hard to believe that Josey is 4. We celebrated with a princess party and she had a great time with her friends from church and school. Josey is such a blessing and just happy with life. We are so thankful that she is part of our family.

Josey and Kellie Deatley (she gave her the crown to match her dress)

Riley and Emma eating cake
New princess Pajamas
Josey and friends

Princess Cakes

I did not get a picture of all of the finished product, but they turned out better than expected and Josey loved them.

Fall

TV Free

So we took the tv out of the house about three weeks ago. We were tired of the bad attitudes, the kids wanting to watch it all of the time, us having to tell them no then having to deal with the fits and them just turning it on without asking...so we just decided to get rid of it. The kids woke up the next morning and there was no tv. It has been good and now we have a stage. At night the kids usually just put on some sort of show and we just have a great time. We did decide to let them watch a movie on Friday night. It was funny because we made them watch it on our portable dvd player and they loved it.

Movie time

I took pictures yesterday...

and I am posting them before the two month mark. I know I know you are all surprised, but I am going to try to be better about it. Don't hold your breath!

It has been a while and a lot has happened

This may be a long blog today unless I just can't think of anything to say. It has been almost two months since I have updated the blog. I have just not felt like getting on here. I have been good just to get through the day with getting everything that has to get done getting done. Anyway, this is what has been going on in our lives the last two months.
Josey has started school at Carpenter's Kids and loves it. She wants to go everyday, but it is only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She gets to take show and tell and she gets to go to chapel this year and just loves her teachers. This is a picture of the first day of school - she was excited!



Riley enjoys her school as well even though she probably will not come out and just say that she does like it. She got to go to the Fire Department and learn about Firemen as community helpers. We all went with her and it was fun. I am pretty sure that Lucy had the best time and really made the Fire Fighter's day. Riley did not want her picture taken and you might see a trend through the pictures of her making faces because she does not want her picture taken and we have to catch her at the right moment to get a good one.

On September 15th I was scheduled to have my first doctor's appointment because I was 9n 1/2 weeks pregnant with our fourth child. On the 14th I began bleeding, but there was not much I could do so I just waited until the next morning and went in to my appointment. I knew that I was having a miscarriage. They did blood work and it came back normal, but the ultrasound showed no baby. I was told that I needed to come back in on Wednesday to have more blood work. Well, on Tuesday my body took care of everything on its own. I was thankful that I did not have to have a procedure, but having a miscarriage is one of the most difficult things I have ever had to go through. Just as I sit and type this I have tears streaming down my face. I am still struggling emotionally, but I know that God has plans for us. Some days are really hard, but I have to be thankful for what God has blessed me with and remember that I can use this struggle to relate to others.Joey and I went to fight night to support one of the guys that lived in the dorm last year. Max did a great job and won his fight. It was fun and crazy. Joey and I were not the typical fight night crowd (or at least not in the section we were sitting) What an experience!
Riley had the idea that she wanted to make a scarecrow so we did it. This is Riley and Josey with their scarecrow named Seriphina.
Lucy really like lip gloss! She gets into everything these days. You really cannot turn your back on her or she will immediately get into trouble.
Halloween Pictures!

Girls just want to have fun!

Joey and Josey Duet from Emily Myers on Vimeo.

Girls just want to have fun from Joey Myers on Vimeo.

This one has Riley as the Director.

Thank you Little Rock from Emily Myers on Vimeo.

This one should actually be Goodnight Little Rock, so what can I say my memory is not so great. I hope that you enjoyed the videos as much as we did making them.

Ice Cream

For those of you who know us, you know that we love our ice cream. Well, today we stocked up. A friend gave me $1.00 off coupons and the ice cream was on sale so we got it for $1.27 a carton. Not too bad. We know have 19 things of ice cream in the freezer and 5 boxes of fudge pops all for less than $30. The fudge pops were $.16 a box. So here are the kids very excited about the stockpile.

The Wedding

I must say the wedding went off much better than I expected. The two oldest were in the wedding of some of our really good friends. I think that Marideth is pretty brave having the girls in the wedding, but they really did great. The wedding was on Aug. 15th. I tried to make it as special as possible so it would be neat for them and they had fun. It was a long day, filled with getting their hair done, pictures, the wedding and then the reception. So here are a few pictures from the beautiful wedding.

This is at rehearsal (they got tired of standing)
I took them to get their hair done and Marideth as still there so we got a picture with the bride after she had her hair done (pre hair for us)
Post hair do (I know they look way too grown up but they were beautiful in the wedding!)

With the brideWith the groom
All the girls with the bride
Doing the duty of a flower girl (yes, I know that Josey's bow is crooked, but I was at the front making sure they would come all the way)
They also got tired of standing during the wedding and I think a little bored, but they did great.
The wedding party after the wedding (we had a tired little Josey)
She had enough - sorry about the blurry picture, but it was too funny to not include! (She was running to me)

The cutest baby boy in the world

Chad and Lesley have the cutest son! I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to fly out and spend a little bit of time with their family. Ezra is adorable and Chad and Lesley will be super great parents. I miss holding him already. I wish I did not have to wait until November to see them again, but that is just the way life it right now. Too bad we live so far away. Hugs and kisses to you little Ezra.

Riley's First Day of Kindergarten

Today is Riley's first day of Kindergarten. I am so thankful to have options on where to send her. We are very blessed to be a part of a new school in town, Crosspointe Preparatory. I felt very comfortable dropping her off at school this morning knowing that three out of the five school days will be at home. We have always considered homeschooling, but with my job and the little ones we did not see how homeschooling full time would work, but this is a great option for everyone. We are super excited. Anyway on with pictures which is what everyone really wants to see.


Riley in her "uniform" It is a very relaxed uniform and for that I am thankful.
With her big backpack

With her loving sisters
Walking up to school with the big backpackRiley with her teacher

Riley at her table
This morning while I was doing her hair she said, "Mom, I am a little scared." So we talked about how this was the first time for either of us to do this and that we would be okay. I am very thankful that my kids can express their fears, concerns and emotions to me. It is much better to talk about it than for her to throw a fit when I dropped her off. She did great! I hope her day goes super well. Thanks Nana for the new boots - She loves them!

So, I am alive and doing well

I don't know why blogging seems to be such a hassle these days. It really is not hard and does not take up that much time, I just don't make it a priority. So to those who check my blog sorry for slacking. Anyway, I will start with some pictures of the kids since that is what most of you would like to see.

Here are our mock Easter pictures. We had to take them over on a different Sunday because on Easter Sunday it was pouring down rain!
Riley is getting so big and all of the girls love to help me in the kitchen. This is Riley peeling carrots. What a helper!

Joey has really fixed up our little yard and we just love spending time out in it. That is probably what we do most of the time. So this is a little glimpse of our summer.
These are random pictures of my cute kids.

We went to Granny's house on the 4th for lunch and enjoyed spending some time with her.After we left Granny's house we came home and had our own little party just the five of us. It was fun. We had water balloons and a few fireworks and drew with our sidewalk chalk on the parking lot.

The end of the year was really busy for me since I am on a learn as you go kind of program and just have to figure everything out! But we survived and the summer is even busier, but as of Tuesday I will get a break that I am very much looking forward to. Joey and I will be able to get away for a few days when his mom comes into town to keep the kids. I must say I am looking forward to that very much. That pretty much brings you all up to date. We are very blessed and thankful for were we are and that God is in control. I am looking forward to meeting my nephew that will be arriving the end of this month Lord willing. Work starts back up on August 3rd for me and Riley starts Kindergarten on August 11th. So we will be in full swing again real soon.

Lucy Turns 1

I can't believe that my baby will be one tomorrow. It seems like just yesterday we were at the hospital. It is amazing how quickly time has gone by. We had her little party on Friday. Just family (and Cindy, but she is family to us) was able to come and it was nice. Lucy enjoyed the cake. She really should not have had any because she is not supposed to have anything with corn in it and everything has corn syrup and the icing was full of it. But it is a birthday and you can't have a birthday without cake.
She is jabbering a lot and has taken up to 10 steps, but is still not sure she really wants to walk. She is a very fast crawler and can climb anything. She loves to laugh at and with her sisters and loves to put small objects into containers of sorts. She enjoys bath time even though it is in our kitchen sink for we have no bathtub. She sucks on her bunnies ears when she sleeps. She has two different ones and you can't get the lovely odor out of them for long. She is a blessing and we are so thankful that her tummy is getting better and that she rarely spits up anymore. We now know that her little system has trouble with rice, corn and milk. She will continue to outgrow the sensitivities to the food and we are thankful for that.
We are truly blessed by our little angel. Happy Birthday Lucy!

Riley saw this little project in my family fun magazine and she just had to do it. So we did. She added her special touch and had a blast doing it.

OUCH!

So, I am playing city league basketball and I am not sure if it was such a great idea. It was fun, but I got kicked and as you can see it is pretty ugly. Not to mention my lungs were hurting for about an hour after I was done playing. It has been eight years since I had played basketball and my body thought it had been a lot longer than that. Like I said it was fun and I did score. I shot twice and I made it once. 50% is not a bad average! I just thought I would share the pretty leg picture.

Mud Puddles and Kite Flying.

This one is for you Dad.

Riley asked for a real ballerina outfit for her birthday and Papaw bought it for her and Josey ended up with one too. They love them!




Action shot!

Videos from the party

Pinata fun



tour of the castle



Uncle Jared as Karate Kid

It's My Party and I will cry if I want to

Riley got a little overwhelmed and this is the result (she did not want her picture taken with group)
Chris, Maria's mom, made these for everyone to have their picture made and these are two of my RA's that came to the party.
Judah with his sword surrounded by the ladies
Josey very excited to give her gift
Birthday girls in the maze

blowing out the candles

everyone with their sword and shield

We are ready to go in the castle
the front of the castle maze (you can see joey finishing it up)
The birthday girls

Wow! It is so hard to believe that my baby is FIVE! Five is a big one. Joey and I have been talking about how this is the beginning of the end. I know that sounds bad, but now she will be getting ready to go to school and she will have her friends and be spending more time away from us than we would like. Anyway, enough of that. She is an amazing little girl and we just love her so much. You can always see the wheels turning in her head. She likes to know everything. I know that she will do great in school.
We had her party on Saturday and it was great fun. It was a double party with one of her friends from school whose birthday is on Wednesday. We had a fairytale party with a castle, princesses, knights and dragons.
This morning we woke up and we had some mommy/daughter time. She and I went to get doughnuts and then took them to a local coffee shop and just enjoyed a little time talking about life. It was fun. Then Nana took her shopping and out to lunch. Tonight she is picking her place to eat supper "the peanut place" her favorite. It is also known as Colton's. It has been a good day. We have enjoyed the pretty weather and will continue to do so once I get off to the computer.

Preparing for the Party

Well, Riley's birthday party was yesterday and I was going to put these pictures up before the party, bu it did not happen so here they are. I once again made her a pinata. We had a fairy tale party and so we decided that the boys (and everyone else) would like to slay a dragon and we did. The castle cake was for the girls (but we all enjoyed eating it).

Swimming Pool?

You might ask if it has really been that warm? Well, no; it has not been very warm, but the girls decided they wanted to go "swimming" in the planters that daddy made so we let them. They had fun.

Trip to Tyler

We had a good time in Tyler on my Spring Break. I will say that it was not near the relaxing trip that I wanted, but I did get to go to sleep early every night. The girls enjoyed their time with Papaw and Carolyn and Gramme. We were able to be there for the opening of Style, the Salon that my Dad and Carolyn have opened up. You can see the pictures of the girls getting their nails done. They enjoyed that and I must say I enjoyed my pedicure and facial as well. The weather held out for us most of the time that we were there so we enjoyed playing outside everyday. Here are just a few pictures from the week.

All in a day

The girls wanted to ride their bikes the other day, but they just can't with all of the traffic and Lucy was napping so I came up with what I thought was a great solution. (I must say I was very proud of myself for this one)



Putting on a show.

Valentines

For Valentines we attended our church Sweetheart Banquet. We were part of the entertainment. It was fun and you may go ahead and laugh.




So as you can see I should have been more informative on how to run the video on our camera. I wish we could have gotten the whole thing because it was funny. So here is the very end!

Chores

So I came up with an idea for a chore chart. One of my friends helped me make it at the curriculum lab here on campus. I think it turned out well and the kids love ripping off the chore once they have finished it. (It is velcro) They want to help out all of the time so I am focusing that desire and putting it to good use.

Pictures and stuff

Well, on Jan. 28th I turned 30. It was a nice day and it was not too bad. It is hard to believe that I am 30. I feel like I should still be in high school. I am sure those days are quickly fading. One of my presents was a Nikon D90 (it was for both Joey and myself but the big 30 was a great reason to go ahead and get it) We are really enjoying it, but don't know how to truly use it yet. We will get there when we have some free time (yeah right). Anyway, so maybe some of our pictures will be worth looking at now.
Lucy turned 10 months on Sunday. She is getting much better at her balancing. She is really such a happy kid. Yes, she is still spitting up just like always, but she is so fun. She is climbing and getting into everything. (Including the toilet - yuck) She loves unloading the dishwasher for me, which is always a big help from a 10 month old. She will be walking before I know it. That will be crazy.
We are looking forward to this weekend. My mom is coming in to visit. Tomorrow we are going to make valentines. The girls have been asking me all week so tomorrow is the day and if you are lucky you might get one!!! (Who knows what they will look like or if there will be much to them. When a 3 and 4 year old get a hold of scissors you never know what you will end up with.)

Our Little Dancers

The girls just have so much fun dressing up and pretending. Notice the poncho that Riley is using as her skirt. Oh, the fun we have!