I won

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Favorite Memories

Eliora - "I liked it when I blew bubbles as big as my face and Grandma said it was a big bubble"

Audrey - "My favorite memory of Grandma is, you know, when we went to the store to buy bubblegum and you know I blew a bubble as big as my mouth. Mom, you were gone."

Sadie - "Ummm, Happy Birthday for Grandma"

The first time Ben and I played we were in Europe. The Austrians told us it was a German strategy game unlike our American games. We wasted them. Later we were disinvited to their home. I finally got it as a Christmas present for Ben. Tonight I won by a close call. And Terry - I need a rematch.

Abbey's First Birthday

Disclaimer - Birth Story
If this makes you queasy then skip to the pictures!

It was a Saturday and I was very pregnant. The kids had been up all night and we were tired. We decided to go for a bike ride to wear them out and get a good night's sleep. Yep - nine months pregnant and going for a bike ride. We came home and the kids crashed. Ben and I had just discovered the first season of Psyche and decided to watch one show and then go to bed. We were exhausted. It was only 8pm but it was that kind of day. The episode began. I felt a little uncomfortable. About 15 minutes into it I decided I was probably in labor. Dang it. We really were tired. We walked up and down the street in front of the house we were renting at the time and started timing. The contractions were 12 minutes apart. We had time. We called my mother-in-law Terry and she drove over. The contractions were still only 12 minutes apart. We told her this was going to be a long one and showed her the futon in the spare bedroom. (Anyone that has slept on this futon knows that Terry is a saint). We decided to lay down and try to sleep as much as possible. Ben crashed immediately. I twisted, turned, sat up, and timed. Still only 12 minutes apart. I stood up to walk around some more and felt a drop/swish/painful something. Contraction....1 minute later.....contraction....1 minute later......contraction. I woke up Ben. We hurried to the car without waking anyone and without taking anything. In the car I needed to push. NOW. Ben was on the cell phone calling our midwife Katherine Grimes. We got to the birth center were Ben was telling me to hold it in. The midwife wasn't there yet. It was cold and dark and Ben was having visions of delivering in the parking lot. I was just trying not to push (whoever has done this knows it is not easy). Katherine sped in and unlocked the door. The nurse Trish came shortly after. They filled the tub. I got in and Abbey was born.
Total labor - 5 1/2 hours
Time we left for the birth center - 1:00am
Time Abbey was born - around 1:30am
Afternote: Nativiti was awesome. Trish's daughters brought us a homemade German chocolate cake that was amazing while Katherine tried to convince us to name her Katherine. When we got home at around 5 am Terry woke up to a light going on and a newborn crying. She didn't know we had left.
Interesting note: All four of my kids have been born on a Sunday

Rush and Abbey were born two days apart. Abbey on the 13th and Rush on the 15th. Rush's sister Paige was born on the 14th. Combined party anyone?

After the singing we let them dive into their goodies. Rush dove straight in and you can see the results. Abbey wanted a fork and then daintily ate the whipped topping off her cupcake. Rush a took bath. Abbey didn't need one.

Dustin Thoughts

Hurry, go check them out! Just go to the link for funniest kid alive over on my favorite people. And remember to comment. Comments always bring a smile :)

Homeschool

We always have so many homeschool projects and pictures that I decided to start a separate blog where I would post all school related items. Mostly it is for me to document what we are doing, lesson plans, favorite websites, books and the like. I am going to try and update it once a week as a way to keep myself on track while I slowly add all the stuff I have bookmarked and saved in my computer. It is in the infancy stages but I did post our field trip last Saturday if anyone wants to check it out. I will also have it in my list of websites under homeschool stuff.
www.myhomeschoolstuff.blogspot.com

The Holidays

Happy 2009! This year we stayed in Texas and had the Davis clan come down to our home for dinner. It was oddly quiet Christmas morning with just us. I am one that usually likes all the relatives, noise, and craziness but this was fun in a whole different way. Each girl started to open a gift and all the others would crowd around to see what she got and then want to open and play with it all together. It took forever......but was really sweet. New Year's Eve we drove up to The Woodlands and the next day got in the annual paint ball game. Ben loves starting the New Year with bruises :)

I spy a little girl...

Ben enjoying the puppets more than the girls. His other favorite presents included a Red Ryder gun and a tent. Yep, just a big kid at heart.

The beautiful princess is waving goodbye. Little does she know she is about to be eaten by a T-Rex and a shark.