Squeeky Clean!!!

That better be what my house is...now that I've been cleaning it for 3 entire days! I'm so sick of cleaning and laundry that I can hardly stand to get up in the morning right now! You're probably thinking, "Has she gone mad? Why is she cleaning like the President is coming to her house tomorrow?". Well, you see, in the last week we have had pneumonia, colds, pink eye and rotavirus going through our family. You kinda get to a point to where you just want to get rid of the germs no matter what you have to do so that no one else will get sick! That's what happened to me. So my feet hurt, my legs hurt, my back hurts and my arms hurt...all because I've been clean, clean, clean, cleaning...not to mention taking care of all the sickies in the family! So if my house isn't Squeeky Clean (as Boz, one of the boys favorite dvd cartoon characters, says), then it never will be!

Guilty As Charged!

So we were watching the news today and there was a segment on the Olympics, of course. They were talking about how people are staying up way too late/or getting up too early watching them and loosing sleep since there is such a time difference. I admit, I'm one of those! They're adicting! And fun to watch too. Our boys love them almost as much as we do cause they've never seen people do half of that stuff. We're having a lot of fun watching them and I'm sure will be a little sad when they are over, but it will be good for our sleep! :-) One final tid bit about our watching experience...the boys are so cute when we are watching! Each new person/team that they show they ask "Is that us? Is that America?" and if we tell then yes then they start talking about how good America is doing and that we love America 'cause that is where we live. You gotta love seeing things through the eyes of a child! Go USA!!!!

Look Out Sea World...Here We Come!!!

Chris and I decided that we wanted to take a bit of time away from the mundain business of life and take the boys on a vacation this year. Really it was our first family vacation since before Cade was born. We had a great time and are glad we did! First, we went down to Beaumont, Tx to stay/visit with Chris' parents and brother. The boys had a blast at Nanna-D and G-Daddy's house...we hadn't been there 5 minutes and they were telling me "I love coming to Nanna-D and G-Daddy's!". It was so cute. G-Daddy took us all to the Fire Truck Museum one day and the boys LOVED that of course! Then one evening they took us to Chucky Cheese which is always a hit! They will play as much "money" as you give them. :-) Chris and I even got to go on a date to the resteraunt Kendal, his brother, works at...that was a lot of fun. From there we drove to San Antonio and spent an evening looking at the Alimo and walking along the river walk. Our hotel room was VERY nice! Chris found a great deal at the Hyatt Place...our room had a 42" plasma screen tv in it which was a hit for all 4 older boys. They got to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics on it and play our Wii...MaMa was too tired to really stay up to enjoy it much. :-) Then we spent the next two days at Sea World. We were hot and poor Chris was sick but overall we had a blast and got to do almost everything there. The boys have been talking about it ever since and have watched their Shamu movie Grammy bought for them about 100 times (that might be a bit of an exageration but not much!). We will cherish the memories made! Here are some pics to highlight our fun!
I love my Mommy!
My Mommy loves me!
Do I get some?!!
Uncle Kendal served us!
I love Nanna-D!
Talking to/Smiling at my Nanna-D!
Can you believe we got almost everyone to look AND smile! Amazing...maybe even a miracle :-)
Daddy and the boys in front of the Alamo
Ooooh, what does this do?
Say Cheese!
Riding in a clear elevator...they thought that was SOOO cool!
On the riverwalk
We got to Sea World and had hardly made it through the front gate and Callen was already fussing at me to not go wherever I was going. I was thinking "you've got to be kidding me" when I turned around to see what he was pointing at...these Happy Birthday Penguins. He wanted to go give them a hug and get a picture with them...so we did. Then he was as happy as could be! It was sweet!
Hmmm...what should we do next?
Well, I think we should go over here and do that!
Can we do that mommy, can we?!!!
They were so polite to stand in line at the water park, I didn't even have to tell them too! I was a very proud mommy!
Cohen loved the water too! Who wouldn't when you've been HOT all day!
They loved the Shamu show...
and thought it was so cool they could touch this Shamu!
This was a band we got to watch...they were mezmerized by them!
This is what Cohen did about 65% of the time we were there, Praise the Lord! He was SOOOO good!
We even got a picture with Dolly Dolphin and Shamu! And Callen danced all by himself with them!
Corbin couldn't have loved Sea World any more...this face shows how much fun he had!
All the boys watching the dolphins.
One of the dolphins swam RIGHT in front of us and we were all SOOOO excited.
These fans were a lifesaver! I propped one up while Callen took a nap the second day so he wouldn't be so hot. He slep forever like that!
Notice what his shirt says! :-)
I think Cade ate almost the whole time we were there...both days! :-) He's our eater!
The Sea Lion show was one of Corbin's favorites! It was so funny!

Straight hair, Curly hair, Crazy hair, Too Much hair?

I'll let you be the judge of that! I personally LOVE my sweet little boys hair...so much so that I admit, I usually let it grow long (hey, that's in style now, right?!), sometimes maybe a bit too long. But it is SOOOO soft and cute that it is SOOOO hard for me to cut off. So when I finally do (and yes I said I...I cut all of their hair myself. Come on, with as much hair as they have can you imagine how much I'd spend on haircuts?!), we have enough to donate to make wigs out of! Not a joke. It makes me almost cry that all that hair goes to waist when some children their age just wish they had hair at all. :-) Our sweet little Cade has a friend, Emma, in his class at church who was born the day after him. That means she will be 2 this month on the 30th. She still doesn't have much hair at all yet and then their's my sweet boy with enough hair to put in pigtails. What do ya do? Anyway, here are some before and after pics of their latest hair cuts. And yes, I do still think they look adorable even with the hair cut off! Feel free to give us your vote...long or short. Not that I'll take your advice though! :-)
Crazy hair rockstar #1!
Crazy hair cutie pie!
Crazy hair rockstar #2!
Look out Shirley Temple!!!
Locks of Love! :-)
What a stud!
Do I look cute now Mommy?
I liked my curls!
Can I be done Mommy?!!
Those are good sized tiles under that hair, not lenolium, if that helps you to put in perspective how much hair that I really did cut off of those sweet little heads! Amazing!

Back in business!!!

That's right, break OVER. :-( Just kidding, I'm really excited and have been a bit anxious (in a good way) to get back into the swing of things...as if I have nothing else to do, right!? Hey, every mom needs something fun she loves to do that can release a little stress at the end of the day and good ol' Dave Ramsey would say, why not make a little money while you're at it! I'm giving my best stab at it, that's for sure. It's been a dream of mine for years and I'm having a blast.

So, all that to say, I'm back. If you need a cake for any occasion or a custom, unique gift for someone go and check out my website...well, temporary website. My new website is under construction and will be up soon. You can always e-mail me at kara@niftythriftydesigns.com with any questions or orders. And right now, in honor of a Hot, Hot Summer, I'm running a special on my tank tops. 1 for $12 or 2 for $20.
Thanks for checking my business out and we would appreciate any prayers for all of us when you think about us 'cause it is one crazy house over here! :-) God is good and is faithful to those who believe though, I'm resting in that promise!