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!

My Avery Baby!

It's hard to believe that my baby is already almost 18 months old! She is so fun and is full of attitude! She has been really sick with croup. We had to take her to the emergency room Friday night because she was having such a hard time breathing. She is doing pretty good now. She is coughing a lot and her voice still sounds pretty hoarse. It's so funny to hear her talk because she just has this little squeaky voice. I have to either sleep in her room or she sleeps in my room because otherwise, I won't hear her cry in the middle of the night. We slept with the windows open for a couple nights so she could breathe in the cold air, and during the day, we made frequent trips outside when she got congested. On one of those trips, I put her in her little tutu and took some pictures of her when she was walking around the yard. I bought these tutus (one for avery, and one for Mackenzie) a couple months ago with the intention of taking their pictures together and I just havent done it. I'll get to it one of these days!

Mackenzie playing on her bed with all of her stuffed animals. She has a TON of them and loves every one!

Finally!!!

After 2 weeks of sleeping on the couch our bedroom is finally done!! Dallas completely gutted our bedroom. He replaced the cieling, and the sheetrock on the walls. We were living in complete chaos! I thought I was going to go crazy! But, it was well worth it! All we have left to do is the door, the closet doors, the trim. and the floorboards. We are going to have the bedroom door and closet doors custom made, then Dallas is going to make the trim. Hopefully it won't take too long! We also got new furniture, new curtains, and new bedding. Dallas and I have never had a very nice bedroom so I am so excited to have it done! And I was happy to get rid of the log bed!

The only thing i'm not sure about is these pictures that I hung up. Not all of the frames have pictures in them yet! I think I need an interior decorator bacause I am not sure what to do! I like it, I'm just not sure if I like it there. any suggestions??

Little miss Dance!

The dance team at the high school does a fundraiser every year where they teach the little girls a dance and they get to perform at the girl's basketball game and get their picture in the newspaper. This is the first year we have been able to do it and Mackenzie had so much fun!! Also, this week in school is "pig out" week. Each child has set a goal for the week to read so many books. All of the first graders have the goal to read 10 books. Well Mackenzie is my little over-achiever. They started logging their books Friday night after school and as of Sunday afternoon, Mackenzie had read 37 books. She has been reading to Gavin, to Avery, and Friday night she had a friend over here to play and she sat and read to her too! She loves to read! At school, she will even stay in from recess to read. She has a love for learning and I hope that never goes away!