Looking back.....

Wow what a year!  09 has been quite a ride.  I glanced back at the year through my blog and had forgotten most of it.  Here is a recap of our year.

-James bought a semi, Tina got out of jail, and Victoria started Kindergarten.  Three HUGE changes in our lives.

- I learned more about Esther, and Discerning the voice of God.  I can't wait to "Break Free" this year.

-My Aunt Kathy and Uncle Howard came to visit and were finally able to meet my kids.  We had so much fun!

-My sister battled breast Cancer, my niece had multiple spine surgeries, and my Father in Law had many hospital trips this past year.  Hoping that 2010 brings less trips, if any, to the hospital.

-Speaking of, lots of trip to the ER for us.  Anthony spent most of his year sick and in and out of the hospital.  We also found out that both twins are allergic to Amoxicillin, and Hand Foot and Mouth disease isn't fun to have when taking care of sick kids.

-We vacationed at Holiday World with the twins, where I had my emotional meltdown on The Legend.  Nothing like a roller coaster to help you "let it out".

-Addison had her first haircut, got caught stealing her sisters play food out of her room, pee peed on the potty and spent one whole doctor visit pretending that the doorstop was a lotion dispenser.

-Anthony had his traumatic experience getting a hearing test, discovered the wonders of Fun Dip, and spent his Halloween as a red legged duck.

-Victoria was our Princess at the Pekin 4th of July contest, she informed the concession stand worker at the zoo that Gramma Harb is a "Diamond member", and we found out she is allergic to pot roast.

-James has worked at several companies (5) only to return to the first one that he started at.  We discovered that the semi that he purchased is a lemon and that they are VERY expensive to repair.

-I survived one more year as stay at home mom.  I have settled a little more into my role, been easier on myself, and become more comfortable in my shoes.  So what if one day I left church and forgot that Victoria was still there? (LOL!)It has been quite a year of transition for us but God has stretched me and strengthened me over the year. I start 2010 optimistic, and ready for a brand new year!

The meanest mommy in the whole world!

What mommy would make something like this with big sissy......

and tell this boy that he can't eat any of it?????

Addison Pee Pee'd on the Potty!!

I took a shot at introducing the potty to A&A again.  Addison pulled her diaper off and had a seat.  Within 5 minutes I heard it and started having a party.  She sure did.  #1 on the potty.  We all hurried into the bathroom to cheer her on.  She put on some panties, and wore them for a while until she pee'd through them.  Apparently she pee'd later on this evening at Mamaw's while she watched them for us for a few hours.  I think we may have one that is ready.  It does make me nervous because her favorite part is the wiping.  You all have seen what she can do with a box of Kleenex.  I may have to stock up.

On a different note.  James and I got out of the house for a few hours alone.  This was the first time in 3 months.  The last time was for a wedding of James' best friends daughter. We get childcare at church and that is the ONLY time we get just the two of us around other adults. It was SO nice.  Those of you that get a chance to go out and have date night with your husband, or go to the grocery store alone, or get a chance to just wander around town without buckling a car seat, treasure it!  If only for a few hours.  If you husband gets to come home at the end of the day and not the end of the week give him an extra squeeze.  Heck if you husband comes home at the end of the week give him TWO extra squeezes.

 We met up with Mom and Dad and watched Avatar.  Good movie.  Of course I could have just sat and watched commercials for 3 hours and been just as happy.  I was in a dark room with no kids to watch.  BLISS! I used to take the fact that I could pick up and go see a movie for granted.  James and I was thinking while sitting there and figured out that the last movie we had been out to see was Up.  I just checked and that was released in May!  That is 7 months folks!  Wow, glad we picked a movie that is 3 hours long, we needed to make up for lost time.  We did enjoy it and glad we decided to go 3D.  Great to have time with my husband out.

Craig Christmas

I have found that one Xanax is all it takes along with a couple of Burbon balls to make my anxiety over the Craig Christmas celebration much better. Too many opportunities for drama. I have to say had a nice time!  I got two of my favorite presents while there.  I asked for two new garbage cans for outside.  Mine look horrible and the coons get into them something awful!  It worked out wonderfully.  We packed up all of the kids stuff in the can, wheeled it over to  the truck, took it home, wheeled it straight into the kitchen, took all of the Barbie dolls and such out of the packages, stuck the trash back into the can and wheeled it out into the driveway.  Now Christmas couldn't get much easier than that!

Merry Christmas!!!

It is finally here! I am just so excited. I was actually the first one up. James shortly followed. This Christmas holds so much magic I couldn't sleep at all. You never know when Santa will no longer be viewed as "real" in Victoria's eyes, and the kids are old enough to understand a bit better about Santa and the fact that he brings you stuff under the tree. We took full advantage of it except for charging the camera battery. I missed some shots that I really wanted due to the camera only staying on for about 3 seconds before it would shut off.

The kids checking out the tree. Anthony giving his look he gives when he is telling you something that you too should be really excited about.

Addison loved her Christmas book. 

Anthony started reading his Brown Bear book by memory from when he was in First Steps.

"I have a new dress!!!"

Victoria flipped when she saw her travel mug like Mommy carries everywhere she goes. Hot Chocolate will taste wonderful in that I am sure.

Those of you that follow my blog will understand why this was the first outfit worn from her Christmas stash.  The tag said To:Victoria, From: Peacock.  She couldn't believe that her peacock at the zoo rode in Santa's sleigh to bring her exactly what she wanted (School clothes, specifically a shirt "hooked" to a skirt.)

Addison was excited to see "My Puppy" again under the tree.

Anthony's big gift was his Cars Lightning McQueen that revs its engine and talks when you shake it.  OK now, picture Anthony grabbing this wrapped present under the tree to only activate it BEFORE the gift was opened.  If you think about what someone would look like if they had a bucket of ice water dumped on them, that would be pretty close.  His mouth dropped open, he said, "CARS!", and his hands were a blur as wrapping paper was thrown from one end of my living room to the other.  Now 2 days later it scares him and we had to flip the switch to keep Lightning from talking.  My poor sensitive boy.

OK now is the time to mention costume changes.  Have you noticed that Victoria is the one that asked Santa not once, but twice for school clothes and Anthony has had to try on every outfit that he pulled out of a box.  It took him forever to get through his presents because he had to try everything on. 

Christmas Eve Festivities

Christmas Eve brought craziness and great times! We ran late for service and was unable to sit in the sanctuary so into the overflow we went. Service was really nice. Mom will be relentlessly teased about saying "That was the most beautiful song I have ever seen!" and we topped off the night searching for someplace to eat that was open after church. We settled on Burger King. There we all were sitting in our Christmas best, eating a Whopper. The kids didn't care who saw them as long as they were being seen. We topped off the night with my fourth trip to Charlestown to see the lights and show Dad and James.

Victoria throwing Reindeer food on the roof.

Addison showing off her dress and pony tails.

The only way I could get Anthony to sit still for a picture.  He looked so sharp.

Victoria in her Mrs. Santa Claus outfit.  Don't forget the very important shoes that make noise when you walk in them.

Big thank you hug for the traditional Christmas eve PJ's.  Gotta love fuzzy pajama pants.

Addison taking her time, Anthony not...

Me trying to get a pic with all of my kids.

Addison refused to go to sleep.  At 11pm I went in and tried to get her to lay down.  She gave me this look and told me in a very polite but firm way, "No".  I told her that if she didn't go to sleep that Santa couldn't bring presents, she looked at me and said in her most pitiful voice "I sick".  The child is not sick, been doing just fine, and continues to be fine.  Just one of her bargaining tactics.  I had to control my laughter on that one.  She was trying so hard to just stay up.  Now our ongoing joke this week is "Addison can't she is sick.".

Anthony was holding firm as I was dealing with Addison my "sick" child.  Until he heard me over his bed with my camera.  His cover of pretending to be asleep was blown. 

Christmas Eve-Eve at the zoo.

An afternoon phone call sent me into a frenzy of grabbing kids dressing them warmly and heading off to the Louisville zoo. Had a blast!! 

The entry of the zoo had some festive decorations. 

We wouldn't want my little ER boy to get his hands cold now would we?

Victoria got a kick out of pushing Anthony.  Anthony freaked out when he saw that she was pushing him and not me so I had to stay behind them out of view.

My favorite shot at the zoo is through these silly tunnels.  The kids were quick today I didn't as many good shots as I would have liked.

Addison would make her way through the tunnel, sit down for .2 seconds scream "CHEESE!" and down the slide she would go!

And then there is Victoria who would hold up traffic to get a shot taken of her. I do like this one though.

Can't go to the zoo without saying hi to the peacock.

A little snack of french fries and hot chocolate at the African Outpost.

When we left the zoo mom and I decided to try out luck with Bass Pro this evening.  Boy am I glad we did.  Free pics with Santa (the kids were pushed up to Santa in a cart and the rest of us stood around the carts )  Free games, and popcorn.  The place was decorated so beautifully!

Anthony wanted to try his hand at the target practice game.  "You'll shoot your eye out!"

I wanted to share this one too.  This is the kids sweater sets that we picked out for Pennington Christmas.  They looked too cute in them.

The birth of Addison's "My Puppy!"

Addison has hijacked Victoria's Hannah Montana dog that Leslie got her, you can read about it here.  Victoria hasn't seen it in about a month and a half.  She screams for it at night and can't be without it.  I decided that it was time for Addison to have her own "Puppy".  So off to Build-a-Bear we went.

Addison was picking out her heart that she wanted to kiss and put in her puppy.

Giving the puppy a bath in the air blower.We wanted to get a black lab just like Hannah Montana, but they didn't carry it anymore, so we got the closest thing.

No Build a Bear dog is complete without an outfit!  Holiday dress it is!

Anthony, not a fan of Build a Bear.  He went into cardiac arrest when he heard the stuffing machine start.  I didn't realize how loud it was till my son turned purple from screaming. 

Entering in our information for our birth certificate.  Notice that Anthony and Addison are entering information into a computer also.  Wasn't aware it took 3 computers to do this. 

"Oh my gosh!!!  My own puppy!!"  We even named her "My Puppy!"  Very fitting since that is what she has been calling Victoria's Hannah Montana dog.

Waiting for mommy to pay for it, and put it in that very cool box.

Leaving the store with her box dragging behind her.  So proud.  I did manage to get the box into the back of the car and distract her with other toys so that Santa can place it under the tree on Christmas day.

Christmas cookies at Punkin's

The tradition continues.  We had so much fun!  Victoria woke up this morning and said "Punkin Day!!!" Punkin had is set up so nice, it looked like Willy Wonka's factory. There were about 7 kids decorating cookies and I was getting games ready and watching my two little rascals in the living room.  They iced gingerbread men, made peanut butter balls, and even made gingerbread houses out of graham crackers that turned out so cute!  Victoria was bouncing off of the walls, and Anthony and Addison were amazed by how big Aunt Punkin's tree was.  Love going to my sister's for Christmas cookies.

Not my camera..

I have been waiting to load pics from my mom's camera to go with old posts that I have.  I just don't have the energy to go back and post them on the correct ones so I will give ya all of them in one post. 

Left: Me and the kids in front of the tree at Horseshoe.  Right: Addison couldn't possibly eat yogurt that day without her dress up sequin gown. 

 

Left: Anthony and Addison's matching shirts for the season.  Loved these! They wore them often.  Right: Addison again playing dress up in Grandma and Grandpa's basement.  That is my old tutu from my Granny when I was about her age.  Of course I didn't have bumble bee antennas and a Hawaiian lei...

These are the pics from the post about the kids making Christmas cookies in the kitchen.

Addison shoving one in her mouth when we wasn't looking.

Then Anthony started showing off his "moves" when the sugar from the cookies kicked in.

Addison playing on Aunt Punkin's bus on Thanksgiving.

God only knows what was turned on when Punkin started her bus on Monday morning.  All 3 of them were in the driver seat at some point.  They found the intercom and we all exited the bus pretty quick to get our Tylenol.

That's what it's all about!

Nope we are not talking about the "Hokey Pokey". Before bedtime tonight Victoria and I sat on the living room floor and wrapped her gifts for her teachers and her "girl" present for school tomorrow.  After completing that task with Victoria's help picking out what wrapping paper she wanted on what gift, we moved along to another set of special gifts.  This year at Church we started a campaign called "One less gift".  Many groups at church as buying one less gift this year and donating the money that would be spent on that gift to Help Heal Haiti, one of our many missions at Northside to help provide clean drinking water.  This idea has caught on like wildfire. One middle school boy told his parents that he didn't want anything at all for Christmas and wanted all of his Christmas to go to Haiti.  One boy made that decision and that one decision made a $500 donation.  What a giving heart at such a young age.

Our team leaders in Large Group are doing our one less gift for a family in our church that is struggling financially and we have all decided to help them out with Christmas for them this year.  I was in charge of getting a toy for the two girls.  Victoria and I wrapped the gifts for the little girls tonight after her school ones.  She asked who these gifts were for.  I explained the situation to her, and asked her if she would like to help me pray over the toys.  She gave her most heartfelt prayer of thanks for Jesus and his death allowing us a chance to go to Heaven.  She asked that the little kids smile when they see their presents and that they like playing with them.  She also asked that they have a very special Christmas.  As if that didn't have me misty eyed, I asked her what paper she wanted to use, she got up and grabbed her special Tinkerbell wrapping paper that she bought to set out for Santa to pick up and asked me she could share her paper.  I couldn't be prouder!  THAT folks is what Christmas is all about.  Sharing your Tinkerbell wrapping paper.

The big 13

13 years ago today, I can't believe it has been that long.  Johnathan's Birthday is today.  I have become friends with his adoptive father on good ol' Facebook.  He was sweet enough to add a photo album of pics of him.  This year he is getting  drum set to nurture his musical side.  Apparently he plays piano by ear and alto sax in the school band.  He also plays a little guitar too.  LOVE that he is musical!  He loves to snowboard, and  plays soccer.

He is called Hickory by Rich (his adoptive father) I asked him the story behind the name.  He said that he named him that because that is the Tin Man's alter ego in The Wizard of Oz and said that he has his heart.  I thought that was so sweet.  He also sent this..

each year at this time, anne and i thank you for such a special gift you gave to us -- and the gift you gave to him -- my heart is filled with joy knowing that you are both celebrating your lives knowing that the intersection of each other's present and future is made possible by the open hearted past!"

This is a pic with his brother Samuel.  Although he is also adopted he is a spitting image of his adoptive father.

Looks like he has my sense of humor!

Loves the ocean or anything to do with surfing, skim boarding or waves in general.  I am a lucky girl to have the opportunity to see how a life changing choice has developed into such a beautiful family.

Jeremiah 29:11  "For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

!  .