There's No Place Like Roam

The first Saturday of December, I hosted my first Cookie Exchange. I had been wanting to do this for years, but things were always too busy. I decided to go ahead and do it anyway this year and it was fun! Lots of ladies attended and the cookies were great! Maybe I will do it again...

While the family was in town Diana, Heather, Jackie and I decided to go to Sips N Strokes in Trussville, AL. They were doing a Holiday Wreath that we all liked. Well, this was not one of my best, but it was definitely a blast! I think everyone had a great time. I can't wait to go back!

Carter had his 7th birthday party today. Jason's sister Heidi and all her family were in Alabama for Thanksgiving, so they were all able to attend his party at Party Central. We all had a great time! Click here to view these pictures larger

Click here to view these pictures larger The boys had a great time Trick-or-Treating at Glenwood Terrace in Anniston. Its amazing how many Annistonians can speak with an Italian accent. It-za Mario! It-za Luigi!! Poor Toad just wouldn't keep his Toadstool cap on! Graham and I also went to the nursing home in Oxford with a group from our church. Everyone loved his smiling face, the cute lion costume didn't hurt either!

Click here to view these pictures larger Well, I've not been having too much luck with my digital camera. No, its not a bad camera, I love my Sony Cybershot . Over the past 3 months I've lost the cord to download the pics....lost the camera twice and now I've let the battery die, with the charger left at work. GEEZ! Luckily, I've had friends/family in the right places, at the right time to take some pictures. Above you will find the pictures of my family that were on Jackie's camera from the past few months. Thank goodness she let me borrow it for our yearly trip to the Pumpkin Patch at Old Baker Farm . We decided to celebrate Graham's birthday there with some free cupcakes given to us from Winn Dixie just for Grahams 1st Birthday. Oh, the benefits of spending too much for diapers for the past year.....a 6.99 batch of cupcakes. :-)

In a never-ending attempt to become more efficient I have decided to start a Shutterfly photo page . So now as I bore the world with the day-to-day of our lives, I will upload my pictures to Shutterfly (which will protect them in a place other than my computer), select the ones I would like to share on my photo page and with one click post them to the blog, where I hope to keep a journal about the photos.

Weekday mornings around my house are pretty hectic. When the boys stay in bed too long in the morning, I make them get into the shower together to save time. They don't like it at all...and constantly fight over who is getting more of the hot water. Carter is usually quite the crab in the morning. So, I was surprised when I heard him cheerfully ask Hunter if he wanted to "play fire". I didn't know what they were up to, so I started eavesdropping. Carter: Hey Hunter, do you want to play fire??? Hunter: ummmm, YEAH!!!! We can hold our hands up to the "fire"!!! Carter: YEAH!!!! {Silence for about a minute} Hunter: Hey Carter, why are you under ALL the water??? (I assume he was standing there freezing, holding his hands to the water.) Carter: I'm the firewood. Needless to say, I had to break up the fight that ensued. :-)

My friend let us borrow this costume and Graham didn't mind wearing it one bit. We all had to snuggle with him....he was just too cuddly!

I'm not really sure what age kids usually learn to ride a bike, but I have a feeling its probably before they turn 7. Jason took the training wheels off Carter's bike right after he turned 5 and Carter was having NONE of it. Jason put them back on, occasionally moved the wheels up so Carter would start to balance on his on. EVERY time Jason moved the wheels, Carter would figure it out, park the bike and refuse to ride until they were moved back. So, one day Carter saw a new bike that he just had to have at Walmart and Jason promised him that when he learned to ride without training wheels he could have it. So, Jason removed the wheels and in one afternoon, Carter learned to ride. Here are a few pictures. I have a feeling that the new bike will show up for his birthday. :-)

This fall Carter wanted to play soccer. We chose for him to play in Upwards Soccer in Alexandria at Mt. Zion Baptist Church. They practice once a week and play one game on Saturdays. They don't keep score and they don't play with a goalie, so its limited in that way, but it is easy for our busy family. Shia and her friend Jason. Shia and her "boyfriend" Hunter. Shhhh, don't tell her "other boyfriend" Carter! Graham taking a break from cheering for Carter. He spends most of his soccer field time eating Goldfish and climbing all over Ms. Sherry.

Hunter turned the big 05 on Saturday, September 26th. He had a Mario Bros themed party. It turned out pretty well. He had a good turn-out at his party, even though it came a flood about the time everyone had to get in their cars. Thanks to all who braved the weather! The kids had a great time and no one got konked in the head while they were trying to break the pinata! :-) Hunter's Cake - I didn't even cry while decorating it! Daddy and Graham watching the Pinata action! Temporary Tattoos Isaac hitting the Chomp Chomp Pinata Hunters BIG present - A playground that is still sitting in boxes!

Well, I was pretty sure we were going to have to build an ark this September. It has rained for almost a month. I guess the prayers that were prayed during last years drought were answered tenfold. Here are some pics of the boys with my umbrellas. Funny thing...now I can't find a single umbrella.

Its almost bow season. YIPPIE!!! Jason got out his new bow that he bought off Ebay last year. Shot it a few times....sold it to a friend and bought another bow. This bow is Faster, Quieter, and Smoother Shootin'! Impressive, huh? Well, even if you aren't impressed, the boys are. They think their dad is Awesome! My dad and Lisa came up and stayed overnight. Here is a cute pic of my dad and Hunter during their visit. Here is a pic of Jason's new wheels. I'm sure he wanted a truck, but decided to go with something more practical now that we have 3 kids. We drove all the way to North Carolina to pick this one up. And of course....we got it on Ebay! The last pic is from the week that Graham had the flu. Yes, it could have even been the dreaded SWINE flu (H1N1). We caught it early and when treated with Tamiflu he only had a fever for 24 hours. He was a bit cranky all week, but we had a good time together. Apparently I wore him out.

Well, its that time again. Carter is in Ms. Maxwell's 1st Grade Classroom at Wellborn Elementary. Hunter has Ms. Sondra in Pre-K at Word Alive Academy. Although Hunter was excited about school all summer, I was afraid he would change his mind on the first day. I was pleasantly suprised. He went right in and sat down. Carter did too, but was kind of annoyed that I followed him to his classroom. Hey Carter - its FIRST grade, not your Senior year! Here are a few pics of the big day and Grandma Jackies first day of school Pineapple Upside-down cake for Hunter (he doesn't like frosting). Graham got his first taste of whipped cream! As you can tell from the last pic...it was pretty exciting!! !

Carter once again ran the Kidstock 1 mile race which is sponsored by the Anniston Runners Club . Jason ran the Kidstock with Carter....no 5K for him this year. I think it took a month for his knee to recover last year. Carter says he wants to run the 5K in 2010. I guess I should train with him....but running in August in Alabama???? Bleck!