Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Can I Whine for a Minute?

If it weren't for Christmas, these past couple of weeks would have been unbearable!  Hadyn had strep throat for a few days, but handled it like a trooper.  She passed it to me, though, and evidently I'm just not as tough as her!  I got on antibiotics and was feeling better in no time.  We thought we were through with sickness for the year.  However, poor little Hadyn then got the stomach bug.  After a couple of middle of the night sheet changes and quick baths, we again thought all was well.  However, Hadyn's bug bit Daddy.  He doesn't require alot of attention and actually prefers to be left alone, so I packed up the kids (including my niece, Blaire, who was staying with us for a few days), and we headed to S.A. to watch the new movie, The Tale of Despereaux.  It actually went better than I expected, and would've been even more successful if the movie had been a little more interesting.


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So, that night we were getting back to normal.  Daddy was starting to feel better and all was good.  However, Blaire and I started feeling a little nauseous, and sure enough, that little stomach bug bit us, too.  I had to call my parents at 10 pm to come get her, because I knew I would be no help to her stuck with my face in the toilet.  My dad had to come because, yes, you guessed it, Mom had it, too!  I thought I was on my death bed the next day and knew that my strain had to have been MUCH worse than everyone else's, (wink-wink) because I just couldn't get up or keep my eyes open longer than a few seconds.  I missed an entire day of my life!  Ok, I would now say, "And we then thought all was good again..."  And then I would say, "However..." but I know you're tired of me saying that, so I'll make it short and sweet.  Hudson is now battling the stomach bug.  He's not eating and is very irritable.  And I was at the Urgent Care this morning and got a shot and a round of antibiotics for a sinus infection.  And the only good thing about that is that a sinus infection is NOT contagious!  You're probably thinking that Kenedy is the only one that hasn't been sick, but that poor baby has had a bad cough since the week before Hudson was born.  Yuck!  I have to give a BIG "Thank You" to Lyndsi (our beloved sitter) for taking over as Mom and Dad for the past few days!  We definitely could not make it without you!!! OK. I'm done whining! I promise!!!


By the way, is this child abuse?





This has come in handy with us not being very energetic parents these days.  These little cars will just run on their own and Hudson will sit there forever and watch them go 'round and 'round.  (I always wondered how men could sit and watch Nascar... same cars... just doing the same thing... for hours.  I guess they're born that way!)


I thought we'd skip waiting up to "Ring in the New Year" for the sixth year in a row, but the girls both had two and a half hour naps today, so I'm guessing we'll see that ball drop at midnight this year!  Fun times!

 



HappyNewYear2009


We wish you  GOOD HEALTH  in 2009!


 




Thursday, December 25, 2008

WHOA!

We must have been really GOOD this year! Here are some pictures from our exciting Christmas morning!


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Believe it or not, Santa found a green camera, and even took a picture of himself with it!


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"This is fun!"


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I think she likes this one!


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Need help Hudson?  No Problem!


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John's Gift to the Girls (Just what he wanted...I mean just what THEY wanted)


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Their Favorite Toy (Yes, that's Hudson's)


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"I like my new hat, Mom!"


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Woo Hoo!  New Four-Wheelers!


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Their First Collision






Wednesday, December 24, 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS ! ! !

We hope all of you and your families have a wonderful Christmas!


Christmas Eve Jammies (The girls' are not very Christmas-like, but I couldn't resist!)


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No More Waiting...


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Snack for Santa


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Snack for Rudolph (or Our Cats)


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"What do you mean I'm on the Naughty List?"


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Christmas Eve Giggles









Monday, December 22, 2008

Christmas Festivities

We've been completely enjoying this Christmas season!  I love everything about Christmas!  The Christmas songs, decorations, holiday activities, and getting to decorate cookies every other night! One of our most favorite things is to drive around looking at for Christmas lights!  I say looking "for" because it seems that there are less and less each year.  So sad!  (We got ours up, but we did downscale from last year!)  We have Christmas music playing in the car everywhere we go, unless Daddy forgets his ear plugs.  We've been doing tons of Christmas themed crafts and drawings.  We've also been to many Christmas activities in and around our area.  The first was the English Brother's Christmas Chuckwagon Supper and Show.  (Their site:  English Brothers)  We've been to this a few times, but this was our first Christmas Show.  Momo and Mop joined us and it was so much fun!  Hudson loved listening to the music and watching the show!


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We also went to watch the very talented Blaire Hambrick in her church Christmas program.  She is an unbelievable actress and an even better singer.  She blew our socks off!  Way to go, Blaire!


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My little Christmas Cuties at the Program


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Next on our list was the North Pole Village in Canyon Lake.  This is a MUST for us every year!  It's indoors (Yea!) and there are several little buildings set up, each with a different activity.  There's a library where they can pick out a free book, a toy store where they can pick out a toy, Pet Store with puppies, a Fishing Hole, Face Painting, Cookie Decorating, Hay Ride, etc.  It's really a wonderful place and the girls love it!


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Kenedy's Kindergarten Christmas Party was also a lot of fun!  More Christmas Crafts, Christmas Cookies, Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!!!


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Another outing was to the Trail of Lights in Wimberley.  This is another one we frequent during the Christmas season and Mema and PawPaw (my parents) joined us again this year.  It's a walk-through with thousands of lights and little scenes, and live music by a fire pit where you can roast free hot dogs and marshmallows.  They even have hot chocolate!  Still yummy even though is was 70 degrees outside!


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Hadyn just couldn't resist making sure Baby Jesus was comfortable!


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Last, but certainly not least, we attended a Christmas Party for my 96 year old grandmother, Noni, at her nursing home. The entire family was there and it so great to catch up with everyone. I think Noni had a wonderful time and we really enjoyed sharing part of this Christmas with her.


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Oh my gosh!  I'm exhausted just trying to recall all of that!  I guess that'll do it for this year's activities as Christmas is right around the corner!  December has just flewn by!  Oh, one more thing... Santa emailed us videos of him talking to the girls about his Naughty/Nice List and such.  Hadyn watched hers before Kenedy got home from shopping with Daddy.  I should've had the camera, because her face was priceless.  It was almost as good the second time around after she had explained it to Kenedy:





Santa, we're ready now...



Sunday, December 21, 2008

Say "CHEESE," Santa!

We love getting to visit Santa to make sure he knows first hand what the kids want for Christmas.  We haven't missed a year since Kenedy was born.  It's so much fun to see their faces when they see him and to hear what they ask for!  This year, we went to see Santa the week before Thanksgiving.  I really hated doing it that early, but we have a photographer friend here in Spring Branch that has Santa in her studio for two days and we just can't resist making an appointment with her instead of tackling the long lines of people at the mall, especially this year with three kids!  It was so early the girls hadn't even thought of what they wanted. Kenedy absolutely could not come up with anything, and Hadyn asked for a green camera. (What?) Kenedy just told him she'd write him a letter when she decided, which she did. So now we're up to new bikes, DS games, chocolate, AND a green camera!


Here's our 2008 picture (Santa had his hands full this year) and then our past Santa pics!



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2003


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2004


Ken & Santa 2004


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2006


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2007 (I wonder if a baby brother was on that list?)


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Wednesday, December 17, 2008

I've Been TAGGED!

Amy Harlien Tagged me with this:


These are the Directions:


1)  Choose the 4th Picture Folder on your Computer.


2)  Choose the 4th Picture.


3)  Explain the Picture.


4)  Tag 4 More People to do the Same.


I had to go to the 4th Folder, and then the 4th Folder, and then the 4th Folder and then this is the 4th Picture!  (I have almost 30,000 digital pictures on my computer!)


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This is Kenedy at 4 Months Old.  (4th Folder, LOL!)  Not much to explain... we just hung out everyday waiting for Daddy to get home from work.  Fun times!  I swear, this looks just like Hudson, but in pink!


That was fun!  Thanks, Amy!  Check out Amy's Blog:  Harlien Happenings  (I hope you don't mind me sharing!)  It's a fun read!


OK, I TAG:  Kristi, Lisa, Sarah & Shelby!!!



Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Birthday



Happy 11th Birthday, BLAIRE!!!


We love you so much and hope you had a wonderful day!


Here's your beautiful Birthday Song:





OK, let's try that again:





Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Let it SNOW ! ! !

Wow!  We woke up to snow in the hill country this morning!  The girls were so excited!  Kenedy spotted it outside the kitchen window as she was eating breakfast.


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Hadyn has strep throat (poor baby), so she was still in her jammies and didn't get to stay outside very long.


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Hudson said he would just take our word for it!


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