Happy Birthday JESUS!

Just a short video clip of the family singing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

Winter Clean Up!

After starring at the snow for days on our deck, I thought it might be smart to remove the heavy snow from our deck, so I put Darren and Ty to work. Ty was in his glory helping daddy shovel the snow from the deck by throwing it over board.

Enjoy a few cute pictures.

Snow Fun With Daddy!

My boys were very busy in the snow today. They spent countless hours constructing stuff out of the beautiful snow that God sent our way (they are still out there actually). Ty and Darren's two most impressive masterpieces, with snow, were "Frosty the Snowman" and an igloo that fit both Darren and Ty in it. I told Ty I had a hat that replicated the hat Frosty wears in the movie. I think he thought once I "placed it on his head" he would begin to dance around. He was a bit disappointed.

When I say, my "boys", I'm not just speaking of Darren and Ty. I mean Ninja too!!!! Ninja always loves when it snows. He's a snow dog at heart. Watch as he runs away from our house and back to it.

"Annie"

It's so much fun to introduce the toys, movies, stories, and music to your children that were once your favorites. My all time favorite movie was and still is"Annie." I purchased the movie for Ty about 3 months ago. Although he did not enjoy the movie as much as I still do, he really did love it. I was esctatic when I found out that "Annie Jr." was coming to the Mill Mountain theatre, so I quickly jumped on purchasing tickets. We invited Jill, Ashton, and Piper to join us.

The cast consisted of 35 children from all over Roanoke and the New River Valley. Annie was performed by a young girl that attends a school just 4 miles from our home.

If you or your child have never seen the movie, I highly recommend purchasing it for them. It would make a great stocking stuffer at Christmas time ($9.00 at Wal-mart). It's a great way to introduce the topic of adoption. Jill took the topic of adoption a step further after Piper asked her what adoption meant (being "Daddy Warbucks" was going to adopt Annie). She related it to how Christ adopts us into his life!

We really love spending time with the "Higgs". They are such a blessing to our lives.

Christmas Excitement is in the AIR!

We had a few cute ideas for our Christmas cards this year, but unfortunately, it's next to impossible to be successful and fulfill those expectations when you are trying to photograph a rambunctious 4 year-old and two 9 month-old twins. Below are a few photos that Shannon captured of Ty jumping on the bed. Can you tell the "Christmas excitement is in the air"? Shannon, thank you for giving me a second chance :) Being that I am a perfectionist, I know I am a tough cookie to work for.

52 Christmas Activities

For those of you who will be home with your children during the Christmas break, I have a "must buy" for you! It's called 52 Christmas Activities: By, Lynn Gordon. The pictures below pretty much self-explain what this is all about, but I will at least tell you that I purchased them from www.amazon.com I believe they were $6.95 for the stack of 52 cards. I didn't really pay for shipping because I ordered some Christmas items at the same time I placed this order. I knew about this author because I had once received (and still own for anyone who is interested in looking at them) 52 Alternatives to Watching TV and 52 Ideas to Do With Your Toddler. Let's face it, especially for the stay-at-home-moms, our days can be quite a humdrum. So, I do my best to spruce it up a bit. There's only so much hide-and-go-seek and match box cars you can play :) Below is an example of 1 of the 52 cards included in the box.

Let me know if you join in on the fun!

A Sleepover Filled with FUN!

By Webster's dictionary, the true definition of a sleepover is "a house party by which young people spend most of the night talking, eating, etc. etc. etc. It's funny because this is exactly what the night was all about for these two sweet boys. A few weeks back, Ty slept over his friend Nicolas' home. It was nice because Darren and I put the twins to bed at their normal bedtime (6:30 pm) and decorated for Christmas from 6:30 pm - 10:30 pm. The following weekend, we returned the favor to Nicolas' parents and let Nicolas' sleepover.

We started the evening off by allowing the boys to choose where they wanted to eat. Of course, they chose McDonald's. What kid doesn't enjoy a Happy Meal? I took them to Kroger afterwards. I had planned on letting them bake cookies, but they were having so much fun, I don't think they wanted to stop what they were doing to be a mini Martha Stewart. So, we just bought those fantastic tasting sugar cookies that have the frosting on the top of them. The boys played for while before it was time to take a bath. Nicolas' was so funny. When he walked into my bathroom, he said, "Whoa, I've never seen a shower like that before. And why do you have both of these in here?" He was referring to the tub and the shower! I said, "Well, we have both for a night like tonight. You boys wouldn't want to take a shower would you? " He said, "No way. I want to fill up that big tub with lots of bubbles." And that's exactly what they did.

After bath time, I popped them some popcorn and prepared a napkin filled with two frosted cookies. Ty always loves having friends over because mommy bends the rules a bit. We lined the living room rug with blankets, put up a "Meet the Robinsons" tent, and popped in Parent's Trap. Normally, Ty sits through a movie without a peep, but I think he was so excited to have a constant playmate that the silence only lasted about 30 minutes. I allowed the boys to stay up WAY passed their bedtimes. I said, "I allowed", because they even stayed up later than Darren did. HA HA HA

Ty and Nicolas got along wonderfully. They really have become great buddies. I enjoyed Nicolas' company immensely. He is a very intelligent and extremely well behave. It's also nice because they had their "rough housing" times and then they also had times where they could play on an intellectual level (ie. they played UNO and well for 4.5 year olds).

On the side: While we were eating dinner, I cannot remember what we were talking about, but some how the topic of Ty having a crush on Cami. I said, "Ty, can I tell Nicolas' who you have a crush on?" He said, "Yes" bashfully. I said, "Nicolas', Ty has a crush on Cami". Nicolas' just looked at me with a dumbfounded look. And I said, "Do you think anyone is pretty or do you have a crush on anyone?" In his sweet little voice, he said, "Well no. Pretty much I just think my mommy is pretty!" I thought that was so sweet!

He's Back!

This is a MUST buy for those of you who LOVE fun, Christmasy traditions. We adopted this tradition last year and re-introduced it to Ty a few days ago after decorating for Christmas. YES, that's right. We are fully decorated for Christmas. He was so excited to get a revisit from "Nicey". I think we forgot his name briefly though and we have been calling him "Elfie!"

We do try to relate the "Elf on the Shelf" to Christ, so that we continue to keep our Savior in the forefront of his mind at all times. We explained to him that the Elf only watches him, to see if he's being good or bad, for a few weeks leading up to Christmas, but that Jesus is always watching him. I don't see the harm in creating some imaginative fun throughout the holidays!

It retails for $29.95 and if you buy it locally you can save at least $5.95 on shipping/handling. If you didn't get to view our pictures last year when we introduced this tradition to Ty, let me know, I will send you the album which has the captions below each picture, detailing what this "Elf on the Shelf" is really all about.

Ty Finds A New Friend!

The mother guilt has set in BIG time. I just cannot seem to find enough time in my day for a GOOD consecutive hour alone with TY. At most, I get 25 minutes or so. Lately, Ty has made several comments that Darren and I are always too busy to play because we are always feeding babies or changing diapers. Some of that is just Ty playing the violin for himself, but I have to say, my have times changed. I'm sure once brother and sister are a lot less needy, Ty will be so thankful he has not one, but two siblings to play with.

To pacify his loneliness/boredom, Darren spotted a stray kitty, on his lunch break, just hanging out in our garage, so Ty decided to take him under his wing. There is something about the presence of a cat... that seems to take the bite out of being alone . :(

Ty convinced me to feed him milk and cheese in our garage. He went as far as asking me if we could get rid of Ninja (our 14 year old, lovable and very sweet family dog). I told him no. He begged and pleaded. I never gave in to that one. :)

Anyway, enjoy a few pictures of him feeding the kitty and a hilarious video clip of Ty asking me if he could keep BOTH Ninja and the kitty. Is he crazy? I have enough things to take care of.

Material World!

This post is NOT a post about Madonna's song, "Material Girl". Okay, well maybe in a sense it is. Darren and I are trying really hard to instill good values into Ty's life, but sometimes, a four year old can be the most selfish thing in the world. Well, let's say 99% of the day.

Lately, since one of Ty's daily chores consists of getting the mail, he is well acquainted with the abundance of "kids catalogs" (as he likes to call them) that we receive daily. He runs to the mailbox looking for either a package from Gram, as she sends him little trinkets in the mail weekly, or kids catalogs. If he doesn't receive a package from Gram, those catalogs are the next best thing to him AND honestly, for me too! Let me explain:

If a kids catalog comes in the mail, Ty runs indoors, grabs a pen and a pair of scissors. He immediately begins to circle and cut everything out of the catalog that he wants for Christmas. It takes a good 45 minutes for him to go through an entire catalog and cut everything out, which helps me during that stressful time in my day when the babies have to be fed (both bottles and baby food) and I have dinner on the stove/in the oven.

I've tried to explain to Ty that he has WAY too much stuff picked out and that if he's greedy, Santa will bring him nothing. I'm not sure he gets that as you can see from the picture above.

"God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame." ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Halloween Brings Out the Fun In Our Home!

Being a christian, you have to be careful how you celebrate Halloween. I'm good at staying away from the wicked stuff, but I do enjoy decorating the house a bit and watching Ty "dress up" and have a little fun being in "costume".

I'm sure Darren would agree, that all these extra pressures I put on myself cause the sign below to usually say, "The Witch Is In" instead of "The Witch Is Out!"

Isn't this mummy so cool! He lives inside Ty's bedroom. If you're out on the town one night, drive by and take a peak. The kids will get a huge kick out of it. Just be sure you visit before 7:45 pm. The lights have to be on in order to view this mummy and lights are out in Ty's room by then.

She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not!

On Sunday, I took the kids to the park. On the walk home, Ty decided to pick some flowers. He proceeded to tell me that he wanted to give them to Cami. She is our pastor's ONLY daughter of 5 kids. Oh BOY! He sure does have his work cut out for him. How will he ever WIN her love while trying to fight off 4 brothers and a VERY strict daddy? I guess now is the best time to start. And flowers are a great place to start. After all, what girl doesn't enjoy fresh cut flowers hand picked from her man! We can always train Ty to fit Nick's standards. :) He also colored her 3 pictures. On Monday, after I brought the flowers to Bible study so her mommy could bring them to her, he came home from school, waited a few hours and said, "Do you think Cami is off the bus yet? Do you think she liked my flowers?" Too Sweet.

A Blast From Halloween In The Past

Above 2008

Our household is completely ready for Halloween. Our home is being decorated as we speak, the costumes have been picked out, purchased, and received, and we are all ready for the camera to start snapping away. I cannot wait to publish the kids in this year's costumes.

Enjoy a picture of EACH year that Ty has been able to dress up so far. This year's costumes are by far the best, I think. This idea of 3 children is getting more fun and more fun as the days go by. Although I would have felt more than blessed with ONLY Tyson, I am so glad God blessed us with 2 more.

What a gift!

PS. For those of you who have ALREADY tempted my son to sin, by disobeying his mommy's request to NOT reveal what the house is dressing up as, shame on you. So far, I think ONLY one person got it out of him. He denied many other's temptations though.

Above 2007

Above 2006

Above 2005

Ty Completes His First Chore of the Day!

Yesterday was the first day of Ty's second year at preschool. Darren and I are trying to instill scripture, morals, responsibility, manners, respect, love, and kindness into his life. We began a "responsibility" chart which includes all of the above on it (except scripture - this is done throughout the day, at home, at school, at Church, and before bed). The first chore, yesterday, was to check the mail. This is a picture of Ty on his way back from the mailbox. It looks like he's having a hard time holding all of it in his hands :O)

Out of a possibility of 10 stars yesterday, Ty received 8. He lacked in "teasing" his brother/sister all day. I am not even sure he does this on purpose, he just truly has no idea what being "gentle" is all about and if he's NOT gentle, we count that as teasing. He should have received 9/10 stars, but I reminded him that just because his "teasing" star was taken away for the day, didn't mean he could continue to tease, AND if he did, another star would automatically be removed for additional teasing.

His other chore: changing all the glade plug-ins throughout the house. What's it going to be today? Hmmmm, maybe the toilet bowls. LOL! Just kidding.

A Trip to Short Pump Town Center

On Friday, we left Lilah and Jax behind with surrogate mommy Kaitlyn and took a small trip to Richmond, VA. We were able to spend the day at the Short Pump Town Center where we shopped until our feet were tired and ate until our bellies were full. We enjoyed two meals: one at the Cheesecake Factory and the other at Chipolte. This shopping center is also fun for kids. It has a train that takes them for a drive around the mall (the mall is an outdoor mall) and it also has an ice skating rink outdoors. Ty enjoyed a scoop of ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery and got to shop around a really cool toy store. Darren and I were MOST excited to shop at the C28 store. The store sells some fantastic Christian apparel. C28 stands for Colossians 2:8 which states, "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ." For anyone interested in purchasing some items at their store, you don't have to visit the store in person, just go to http://www.c28.com/. We purchased several items from their store and then the sales associate prayed with us before we left the store. Pretty cool! This trip was certainly no trip to the beach, by any means, but it sure was a nice deviation from it.

A Few of Ty's Favorite Peeps!

The summer is slowly coming to an end for all and before it does, I just wantd to thank a few significant and FAVORITE men/boys in Ty's life.

Shawn, you have been a true blessing to our family. Tyson really looks up to you like a big brother and a great Christian role model. Darren and I are thankful that you have joyfully cared for him throughout the summer. You allowed the transition of the twins to be a lot less stressful by adding fun times into his summer. Just because the summer's over and you are beginning a new chapter in your life, please don't be a stranger. He will miss you terribly on Tuesdays and Thursdays for sure. You are going to be an incredible dad one day. You sure have gotten plenty of practice with my three children, haven't you?

Jake, although your visits were far and few between, Tyson still talks about those times with you. Your last visit with us was a lot of fun. Who doesn't have fun at Chuck E. Cheese? You taught Ty the true signs of humility by giving him your 780 tickets that you rightfully earned at Chuck E. Cheese. Thank you! It is my prayer that Ty grows up to be just like you one day. You are going to make a great husband, but in the mean time, keep up the great work of being an amazing help to your fantastic mommy.