In The Beginning

On Wednesday last week, the "B Wing", otherwise known as Pre-K, K, 1st, and 2nd grades, put on a little show called "In The Beginning". It was the story of God creating the earth. It was very cute. I went to the morning performance then Alex was sick on the bus so we didn't make it to the evening show. My pictures didn't turn out so great but All the kids were way cute. The Pre-K

My Punkin
The whole gang

Joey was bored to tears so I held the camera out in front of us and took a picture. He said "Hey, you took a picture of us" and smiled.

I took some video but my stinkin camera would not stay in focus but I figured at least you could hear part of the song. Take caution, video may cause nausea.


Kindergarten's part was about creating the sky. There song was "Bautifully Blue".

A-mouse-ing Situation

Yep, that's right. We had more mice. Joey here's the word mouse and this is where he ends up: It's still so funny! Just as an update, we have had 4 mice that we've seen and our cat, Morgan has caught them all! One morning she was bringing us her prize at 5 am into our bedroom. Good thing Brodie heard it squeaking before she jumped on our bed with it in her mouth!

Joey and YouTube

Joey loves to watch YouTube. He calls it Thomas and the kids. Most of the videos are of kids making stories with their Thomas trains. This, however is his favorite. He gets the biggest cheese whenever he finds it.


Joey loves kitty cats as well. For the longest time, this was his #1 YouTube video. I am also a fan. it's catchy =)

Our 2nd Snow

Okay so this was not our very first snow this year but that snow melted before we got a chance to build a snowman. It only lasted roughly a day. We got another chance today when we got some more snow. Not too much, maybe an inch or two. Not very good for building a snowman but good enough to build a small one. Here it is:Alex and Joey with our little snowman. Our family

Joey likes to to watch Thomas on youtube. A lot of the videos are of crashing trains to the Thomas song "Suprises". This is Joey's version. =)

Perfection

We got the game Perfection for Christmas. As many times as we have played it, it still surprises us every time.

EEK!

Ok so about 10:30 this morning, I'm just getting back from Alex's school. Brodie is at the table working and Joey is playing with the ponies (Alex does not know about this), also at the table. Brodie yells "a mouse!" Simutaneously, Morgan, our cat, darts into the kitchen. Brodie and I both run for the kitchen. When returning to the dining room, we find Joey on top of the table. We rolled on the floor with laughter, containing ourselves for a moment to capture the moment with a photo.This is Joey, perched on the table, away from the mouse. This is a photo of the mouse in our bathroom. He came back.

It is now 2:20pm and Joey has spent most of the afternoon on the table. Even after discussions that the mouse will not hurt him and we're sure Morgan will catch it. If she doesn't, we will. As an update. She had it trapped in our living room. We heard it squeeking. It got away when we came in and distracted Morgan.

Update: Joey has no reason to fear now. Our kitty did her duty and Brodie just found the mouse dead in our living room at 2:47. Good kitty!

Puzzled

We were on vacation last week so today was Alex's first day back to school. She brought home a bunch of stuff she missed (even though her teacher sent a bunch with us), including a blank puzzle piece. I'm reading the instructions. The theme is service. The school wants to acknowledge the acts of service performed by the families at school. Decorate with thoughts of "celebrating service" in mind. Please return to school by Wednesday, January 21,2009. I'm thinking, "January 21st, thats, thats, TOMORROW!" I spent from 4:00 when I got the note from the bookbag until right now, 10:30 putting it together. I only stopped to cook and eat dinner which lasted about half an hour. Things just were not working out the way I wanted. Anyway, here's the finished product: Now I'm going to bed.

Freedom at Last

Well, it only took 5 years but we finally did it. As most who know us, know that our children sleep in our bed. As much as I didn't want them to go, Brodie and I just were not sleeping well. There was always a head, foot, or hand in our backs and various other places. Joey is a mover and we have been completely uncomfortable for a good 6 months or so now. We were going to attempt the move when Alex started school but I just couldn't do it. My fears get the better of me. I worry myself to death about a fire or a break in in the middle of the night and feel they have a better chance of survival if they are with us. It HAD to be done.

Alex has been willing to move for a while now, as long as Joey came with her. Joey, on the other hand, was not the slightest bit willing. We bought him some Thomas stickers for the wall around his bed back in August. The deal was that if we put the stickers up, he had to sleep in his bed. We got them home and he was not having it. We asked a couple of times over the next month and he wanted no parts. He found the stickers a few days ago and was excited to put them up as well as willing to sleep in his bed. To be fair, we got Alex some stickers for around her bed too.
This is Joey, excited about sleeping in his bed with Thomas. Alex was not as excited but willing

I must say it went much easier than I ever expected. We read a story like we do every night, turned on the sound machine and turned out the light. I heard not another peep all night long. No one got out of their bed, much to my surprise. I thought Alex would be fine but would not have been surprised if she showed up in our bed but I really expected to see Joey in the middle of the night. How did I sleep you ask? TERRIBLE! I woke up what seemed like every 10 minutes. I kept hearing things like someone was in our house. I kept looking to see a kid walk in our room. It's gonna take some time but I'll get used to it.

Our Gingerbread Train

We promised Joey a gingerbread train this year and just finally got around to building it. The kids added all the candy. It didn't turn out quite like the picture. Then again, things rarely do. We still love it and the kids like eating it.

The Poconos

We have a timeshare in the Poconos at Shawnee. Our weeks are in the summer. Last time we went up, there was a mix up and we ended up with a comp week to use whenever we wanted. What better time than winter! Laura (Brodie's goddaughter and honarary family member) came with us too. We relaxed, played games, put together puzzles, and best of all, went SNOWTUBING! It was COLD! We had a blast! This is the view from our timeshareInfatuated with eating the snowWe built a snowman that my only contribution to was the carrot. His name is Snowy. Do you like his hair?

This is just a random scenery shot with Laura and Joey

SNOWTUBING

Moving up the people mover with the tubes

This first video is of us in single and double tubes. Alex is closest by herself and I'm farthest in a double tube with Joey. Brodie is with Laura taking the video as he is going down too.

Warming up for a minute. Drinkin hot chocolate (not pictured).

Here's a shot of all of us warming up with HOT CHOCOLATE. YUM!
Going up for a family tube down.

Me and Alex and Joey

These are videos from the family tubes. The first, I took the very first time down. We didn't know what to expect so it gets a little shaky. The second, Brodie took. He did a better job.

Brodie's Baby Picture

For Christmas, Missy (Brodie's sister-in-law) put picture frames together of each of his Mom's boys and their boys. They all have juniors now (Brodie's real name is Joseph). This is the pics of Brodie and Joey... I'm thinkin Joey looks more like me.Brodie (Joe Sr.) Joey (Joe Jr.)

Some Photos from Christmas

I'm finally getting around to some pics from Christmas. I'm so far behind. This post does not include the big gift my children received this year...that's a whole other post.

Alex's kindergarten class

Christmas at Mommom and Poppop Campbell's

My babiesPoppop and JoeySteffie and her beau Joseph with Alex Me and the best mother-in-law everOur niece SarahEddie, Me, Alex & KevinSteffie kickin Eddie's butt in chessHangin round the tableBaby Thomas and AlexJoey constantly sticks his finger in the hole from his missing tooth

playing cards

Christmas at Pappap Brida'sPappap Brida

My brother Brandon and his girlfriend Chrisse

And My Punkin's Riding the Bus

My Punkin is such a big girl. School is 20 minutes from our house but on the bus, it's like a 45-50 min bus ride. Besides that, she's only in kindergarten. Isn't that too small to ride the bus? Not to her. Once she realized every other kid in her class rode the bus, she started asking. Plenty of other kids get picked up from her school, just no one else from her class. It didn't help that the kids constantly asked why she didn't ride the bus. As of Tuesday, Alex officially rides the bus home from school. She already has to get up at 6:15 to be ready by 7:30 so riding in the morning is virtually impossible. Life moves too fast! So we called Mommom and went out to dinner and she couldn't figure out what the heck the big deal was.

Heaven Was Needing a Hero

The first time I heard this song, I new Jodee Messina was talking about my Momma. At least in the eyes of many that knew her, especially her children. My Momma was always my hero, right up until the day she died as well as after. I could always count on her when I needed rescuing.

When I had my first car accident, she was at the hospital when I arrived and she was an hour away. She held my hand when I had to go to court for it. When my grandfather died, she had me booked on a plane to come home the next day from FL before she even told me he passed. When my car insurance dropped me, my Momma brought me the $1500 that I needed for down payment right away. When I was too nervous to tell her I was pregnant, she told me.

I can remember specific instances from when I was young too. One time, she made me a potato stamp for school and I didn't like so I left it home. When I got to school I realized it was perfect. I also remember my Momma running in the highest heels I had ever seen carrying my brother when he was like 2 or 3.

Her disease was one of the scariest things I've ever had to face, yet she was a trooper. She faced every day with strength and hope. She was a fighter all the way to the end. I guess "Heaven Was Needing a Hero". She was and alwas will be my hero.

A Tribute to Momma

My Momma died of ALS a year ago today. Her death was a horrible one. Especially her last days. ALS is disease I would not wish upon anyone. However, these are not the images or thoughts I wanted to reflect on today. Instead, I want to remember her life and the happiness she portrayed upon all that surrounded her. May she know the love she has given will never be surpassed nor forgotten as well as her memory. Missing you...

This is one of my favorite photos of my Momma
This is one of the funniest. She's trying to give my brother-in-law the finger. It was hysterical!

Alex's first B-day party

Momma and her Honey
Momma loved to go to concerts. Here she is with my sister at a Tim McGraw concert.

She also loved playing with the kids:

Here, she's giving Camryn and Evin a horsey ride.
Here, she's exercising with Alex. This was from the last Birthday she celebrated. She turned 48. We celebrated her husband, Mike and her birthday together. Longwood Gardens
One Hot MOMMA! Her wedding day
Momma and her grandbabies
Momma and her children My wedding. She walked me down the aisle. This is a photo from the cruise
At the time, Momma didn't need the wheelchair all the time but she did need some form of assistance like a walker. We spent quite a few hours in the parks at Disney so she needed the wheelchair. Here, she's taking a break from riding. My momma cracked up when Mike decided to let her push for a while.

My Momma loved Tigger

This is a video of Momma being showered with the money raised from her beef and beer fundraiser