New Pictures

I have been wanting to get new pictures of the kids but the lighting isn't that great in my house and everything is still so yellow and ugly outside. I did try to take some a couple weeks ago but the kids would not cooperate at all so I just decided that we would go to the studio and get some done. It has been a long time since we have done studio pictures. Some photographers are SO good and will bend over backwards to get the kids to smile and and will do nearly anything to get the perfect picture with the perfect pose and some... well, what you see is what you get. Sit, point, shoot.... Avery was very upset and would not sit, would not smile, and would not stay where I put her and the photographer really didn't even try that much to get her to cheer up. She just left it all up to me. But, the problem was, that as long as she could see me, she wanted me to hold her. When Gavin was little, the key to getting a good picture was for me to walk away where he couldn't see me- then, he was fine. So, after fighting with Avery for quite a while, I did the only thing I could think of and got her some candy. We did get a couple of pictures when I was holding the candy up in the air and teasing her with it, but in most of the pictures, she has a bag of skittles in her hand. By the time we got to the group picture, she was done so finally I tried just holding her on my lap and the photographer managed to snap one picure before she started screaming. Somehow, we managed to get a few cute ones of her which is a good thing becuse I think it's going to be a long time before we try that again!! For now, I will just stick to doing them myself!

Mackenzie's new hair

Mackenzie was looking through her scrapbook and saw the pictures that we took about a year and a half ago when we cut her hair and ever since has been BEGGING me to cut it again. I was hoping she would forget about it but she hasn't. She asks several times a day. I really didn't want to cut it because we have been growing it out for so long and her hair grows so slowly! Well, yesterday I had a hair appointment and she kept begging to go with me so she could ask if someone could cut her hair too so I gave in. We decided that she is old enough to make some of these decisions on her own which is a hard thing for me to accept! It does look really cute on her!

HappY 24th Birthday Tina!!!

It has been 3 1/2 years and it still seems so surreal! Sometimes it feels like it happened yesterday and other times it feels like it happened an eternity ago. I remember my mom sometimes getting upset at us kids for fighting and telling us that we should always be kind to each other because you never know when it may be the last time you would see each other. You don't realize how true that is until you experience it. Tina and I were always good friends, but when you share a room with your sister, I think some tension is going to be unavoidable! I am just grateful that we were able to spend the last few years just being friends- without the drama! Today is a happy day though, not a sad one because it was today that Tina became my sister and that is always going to be a reason to celebrate! I wish she had been able to stick around but someone had bigger plans for her!! I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have- I know that she is okay and I know that she checks up on us every now and then, and most importantly, I know that she is my sister forever. She will always be a part of my life, and I know that I will see her beautiful face again!

random

I have been horrible at keeping up with this blog. I will do better.... someday... We have been busy with the house- the story of my life. One day it will be done. We are getting closer though. The living room is done for now. We will replace the light fixtures one of these days but for now, it is done. The flooring and light fixtures in the kitchen and hall are done, everything has been painted except for the bathroom and laundry room, and all of the interior doors have been replaced besides our closet doors. We have them, Dallas just hasn't installed them yet. I will post some before and after pictures eventually!! Soon it will be time time to tackle the back yard. I am not looking forward to that! Here are some random pictures from the last month or so.Mackenzie with the horses

Gavin and his best friend Tucker

Mackenzie and her cat KallieGetting ready for church Gavin and I went on a date a couple weeks ago. It was so much fun! He is such a funny kid and I love spending one on one time with him! We went out to dinner and then we went bowling. Obviously Gavin didn't wash his fce after eating). And, judging from the expression on his face, it looks like he has inhaled a little too much cigarette smoke from the bar that is next to the bowling alley! Funny picture!
I took my old camera and it takes horrible pictures indoors.
St Patricks Day.

we have never celebrated St. Patricks day but since we moved here, we have realized how many people do. The teachers here make a pretty big deal about it and last year, Mackenzie just didn't understand why the lepruchun doesn't come to our house and he does go to so many other kids houses so I told her that they only come if they are invited. So, this past month she has been begging me to invite the lepruchuns, and, of course, I did. The kids set a trap and used a gold coin as bait. Somehow, the lepruchun escaped with the gold coin but he left the kids with lots of green treats... green pringles, juice boxes, bubble gum, candy frogs, and some green sour candy. They were pretty excited!
Mackenzie has beautiful morning hair don't you think??

While the lepruchauns were here, they made quite a mess! They threw blankets, pillows, and books on the floor, and they emptied the kids' drawers onto the floor! I thought this was a funny picture. Most days, I get Mackenzie's clothes out for her. She has just never really cared too much about what she wears. I just wake her up, grab some clothes out of her closet, and she gets dressed. Well, last Saturday she picked out her own clothes- and this is what she chose! She said that she wanted to wear a skirt but she was afraid that her legs would get cold so she put on some jeans under it. Problem solved!
and... This is what happens whan Avery is left unattended! I spent a couple hours yesterday in the bathroom. I am trying to get it ready to paint. After a while, I came out to check on Gavin and Avery and this is what I found... She had dumped a bunch of laundry detergent on the floor in the laundry room and had gotten into the markers and had colored all over the hardwood floor in the living room- Thank goodness they were washable markers!!

Gavin's room

We have had Gavin's room done for a while- I just haven't gotten around to taking any pictures. He picked the colors and helped me paint a little bit and he was so excited! His room is pretty small so it's hard to get much of it in the picture but I think it turned out pretty good! All we have left to do is to get the closet doors hung. For now, I just hung a curtain. He has been pretty spoiled lately. Monday night me and him went on a date. I told him we could do whtever he wanted and he chose to go bowling and then out to dinner. It was a lot of fun! He is a funny kid. Then, Tuesday, Dallas wanted to go see Avatar but it's such a long movie, I didn't want to take Avery and I didn't want Kenzie stying out that late on a school night so Gavin and Dallas went by themselves. They both really liked it! Me and Kenzie are going to go see Alice in Wonderland when it comes out. Anyhow, we have been busy with the house. We are replacing all of the doors, the trim, some light fixtures, and the flooring in the kitchen. I have got the living room almost done. I textured the walls and painted, we hung the new door, all we have left is to put up the trim which should be this week so I will take some pictures when it's done!