Crab-Cracking Monday

Things have slowed down a bit and we finally got a little down time from Brodys baseball. We had a great Christmas and now awaiting the year for bigger and better things. Lets hope 09 is a better year then 08. Last night we were kidless and decided to go to Red Lobster for crab-cracking Monday! My favorite! I ate a whole pound and 1/2 by myself and could of eaten more! I love them crab legs! Today has been quiet without the kids, they are still at Aunt J's and are going to stay the night AGAIN! Another night kidless. We aren't going to know what to do with ourselves. Actually last night we watched two movies and tonight we will watch third one we rented. Its nice to watch a rated R movie without the kids asking "Why can't I watch that?" "I am old enough", oh and lets not forget my favorite "Dad says those bad words all the time and we hear him" . Its funny how the little things in life we appreciate! I still need to post pictures from Xmas so I will be doing that next. Happy New Year!

Christmas has come and gone

To start off we had such a good Christmas this year. We always go to Harleys family on Christmas eve and this year wasn't any different. We got to Aunt J's house at 6 and enjoyed good food and family time. The kids get to open their presents from everyone so it is a crazy ordeal. The kids got so much stuff and Brody got a lot of money. Morgans favorite present was the red polka dot halter dress that Grandma Kathy got her. Morgan was soo excited about the dress. I went into the bathroom to help her try it on, and Morgan said " This dress is soooo cute I can't even explain how cute it is"! She is soo funny. She wants to wear it to the father daughter dance that their school has every year. She gets to get dressed up and Harley gets her a corsage and they have dinner and dance at the school. They have so much fun. It's a cute thing for them. We also do the white elephant exchange and we let Morgan pick the gift and I ended up with a wall sconce that holds tealights. I really wanted the $25 gift card to Red Lobster but no luck. Someone else will be enjoying crab legs on my expense! We got home at about 9:30 and had a hard time getting the kids to bed. Brody said he was so excited for Santa to come he just wanted to punch someone. My kids have such a funny way of explaining how they feel. They are crazy! They finally went to sleep at about 10:30. Christmas morning Morgan woke up at 3:00 am and went downstairs to see if Santa came. Yep, she ran and woke up Brody and they came downstairs to peek in the stalkings. Then they went back to sleep and woke up at 6:30 and came and got me and Harley up. My kids are early risers on Christmas day. We opened all the presents and Brody got an electric drum set from Santa and Morgan got her dance clothes and webkinz clothes she wanted. Along with a bunch of other stuff! MERRY CHRISTMAS

Morgans Xmas Party

This is Jadens team

This is Morgans team

I am not sure if I have gone completely out of my mind but if I could be put in a padded room check me in! Morgan asked me a few weeks ago if she could have a xmas party and invite all of her friends from school. I figured we needed some christmas cheer around here and you can never have too much so I gave in and said YES! Well this is what I ended up with. 9 screaming girls. Morgan had a blast and so did her friends. We decorated gingerbread houses and had 2 teams competing for the coolest one. Needless to say it was a tie. The girls did such a good job on them. We also ended up doing the limbo and anything else that included music, running and screaming! Where was Harley at during this commotion? Upstairs in the bedroom with the door shut. Where else do you think he was!! He did help make the gingerbread houses and put in his architectural help along with Uncle Scott. They couldn't miss out on building something and making a mess. You can be the judge on who had the best house. Merry Christmas!!! xoxox

Polar Express

We are back from our yearly trip to the north pole and I have to say we had a blast! This is something we do every year and have been going since Brody was a baby and it gets better every year. We went with Harleys whole family along with all our nieces and nephews. The kids love going on the train and having hot chocolate and singing christmas carols. Santa joins us towards the end of the ride and hands out silver bells to all of the children. What a wonderful sound when ALL of the kids on the train are shaking their bells!! We Believe!! The elves on the train read the story Polar Express during the ride and all of the kids wear their jamies. Its just like the book if anyone has ever read it. It is such an awesome feeling when you see all the kids on the train see Santa and his reindeer. The North Pole has sooo many lights and is beautiful. This is definately a tradition we will do forever, even for my grandchildren!! This year was my niece Laylas first time going and the look on her face was priceless when she saw Santa. She was scared to death! The only thing missing on this trip was Cheryl and Scott and Jaden and Landyn. They usually go with us but this year Jaden and Landyn had a dance performance at Glendale Glitters. I was bummed I didn't get to see Landyns first dance performance but heard that she was AMAZING and ADORABLE. So was Jaden. But of course I wouldn't expect anything else!!

Puppy Love!!

Its official! Brody has a girlfriend and it has lasted a month and a half. I can't believe that my little man is getting so grown up. He came home from school yesterday and just had to go to the store to get a christmas present for his girlfriend. I took him to Walmart in the jewelry section because he had his heart set on jewelry for her. So we look at everything and he decides on a necklace and bracelet. Keep in mind they both have hearts. Brody was willing to pay $40.00 of his own money for both items until Harley stepped in and says no way are you going to spend 40.00 on someone that you won't even be dating for long. He is such a romantic man!! NOT!!! I am so glad Brody has the romantic side to him. He is my little lover!! So final decision was made on the silver heart necklace. It is very beautiful so I know she'll like it. I had to wrap it when we got home last night since I am such a good wrapper as Brody has let me know. It just has to be perfect! He was soo excited to give her this gift today. Then theres Morgan putting in her two cents like a little sister does, saying get this one Brody she'll really like it! Morgan helped Brody pick out the wrapping paper and color of bow to put on it. They were soo cute last night. Harley and I sat together on the couch thinking how big they are getting! Time goes by so fast but its moments like this that make my heart melt. My babies are getting big! We also leave on Sat. morning to the North Pole (Polar Express)! We do it every year as a family tradition and the kids love it. Morgan said this morning that she is soo excited to go up north on Sat. I will keep everyone updated on how the present turned out and post pictures of the North Pole. See you soon!!!

Bored!!

Well not much has happened except Brodys baseball and Morgans dance. Brodys baseball team finally won a game this past weekend. YEAAAHHH!!! They were so excited to play in the tournament game later Saturday night, but got whooped so bad they had to call mercy rule. For those of you who don't know what that is, its pretty self explanatory. Our team was calling mercy for the score being so far ahead they would never catch up =( Actually the umps call it to save some humiliation! One thing I can say is Brody always holds his head up high, and doesn't get down by losing. He's a good sport! His daddy taught him well!! Its kinda nice that its been raining since yesterday. Nice change. But I am not liking the cold. I am soooo bored today. I am waiting for the kids to get out of school so I can play!! LOL

Another year older

Well my hubbies 34th bday has come and passed but we had an awesome night out with the family. We all met up at Black Angus which Harley was not expecting anyone else to be there except us and when we got there and walked in, his whole family was there. What a pleasant surprise!! We enjoyed an awesome dinner and Morgie had her favorite chocolate bread so everyone was happy. One thing I have noticed is as we have gotten older, the birthday partying and getting drunk times have passed. lol It just doesn't seem to be worth the hangover the next 2 days!! You know your getting old when a nice quiet dinner and some wine does the trick. Our partying days are over! Don't get me wrong, I'll never turn down a shot of patron but the drunken days only happen a few days a year instead of every weekend or weekday(did I just admit that?) Happy Birthday Daddy Puffin!! xoxox

FINALLY!!

Well, its has finally happened. I am going to be blessed with another beautiful niece or nephew! Hopefully a nephew for Scotts sake but I will take whatever I can get. I speak as if it will belong to me, well thats the plan if I can keep it majority of the time!lol Yes, Cheryl is pregnant! I received the great news last night. I am soo excited I feel as if its my special little gift. I have been wanting them to have a baby FOREVER and it has finally happened. When I announced it to Harley and the kids, Brodys first response was " Is Aunt Chi Chi having the baby to give to us". Poor Brody would love to have another little brother or sister but we will have to take what we can get any way we can get it! We are all soo excited to have another little one around the house. I can't wait!! Brody will be such a good cousin, he loves babies. Morgan is excited too. This is going to be the longest 9 months. Congratulations Gwaltneys!!!

Off Grounded

Yes Brody is finally off grounded. He has been grounded for 2 weeks now. Driving me crazy! He doesn't have the best of grades right now due to the importance of playing football with the neighbor boys. Thats seems to be priority on his list of things to do. Hope that will change now that he has not taken a breath of fresh air for a while. Today I got the pleasure of picking up my baby (Landyn) from school. Yes she is my baby since I can't have any more of my own. I just love her to death. Along with Jaden. I have the best and most beautiful nieces in the world. Cheryl colored my hair today and it looks awesome as always! I will have to post a picture of it. Tomorrow we are going grocery shopping for the big turkey day that we are having at Cheryls. We decided to cook thanksgiving dinner together this year! We will have a blast. Can't wait to eat!! I will be rolling to the pc to post my next blog. lol I want to also let everyone know how thankful I am for the friends and family that surround me day by day. I am so blessed !! Love you all! xoxoxo

Brody MVP

Well heres the moment captured. Brody had no idea that he was voted MVP for his football team. He was totally surprised until everyone started to chant his name. It was pretty cool and he was so proud of himself. We are so proud of our boy!

The latest

Not much has happened. Morgan tried Acro at the dance studio and loves it!! We will be adding that class on along with the other two (jazz & tapp). Tomorrow is Kims fundraiser at the bowling alley. Hopefully it will be a good turnout and we will raise TONS of money for them. This is such a difficult time right now for everyone but we need to remember ALL the things that are GOOD in our lives right now. Brodys football banquet is tomorrow also and we have been told that he has been chosen MVP for his division! Thats my boy! We haven't told him about it. We want him to be surprised when they announce it. I will post pictures of this weekends festivities as soon as I can. Love to all!!

Busy week so far

I cannot wait till the weekend. This week started on Sunday for us. We had a friend go out of town and we kept her two boys with us while she was gone. Thanks goodness I only have 2 kids!! Brody has been best friends with Michael since they were 3 and Nathyn was born 2 days after Morgan so they have always been close to our family. They are basically my foster children! lol I love them to death but having four kids around and between getting one to dance and the other three to baseball practice it was a circus. Oh lets not forget the four of them getting ready in the morning for school. Showers, brushing teeth, breakfast. By the time they head out the door I am ready for a nap. Not to mention once they leave I have a mess to clean up. I complain now, but I love having kids around. Thats what keeps us young. I was thinking today that for someone who doesn't work, I stay pretty busy. I am thankful for that.

Anniversary dinner last night!!

Yes another year of being with the greatest man alive! We went to dinner last night at Carrabas and took Brody and Morgan with us. We had so much fun. As we are sitting waiting for our dinner to arrive Brody arches back in his chair and tries to grab his right thigh all while oohing and awwing trying not to cry. By this time everyone is staring at us and we are laughing soo hard. He had a cramp in his thigh that took forever to go away. I felt so bad for him but it was also funny at the same time. We never have a dull moment!! I wouldn't have it any other way!!

Finally!!

Yes, the move is complete!! Now I just have to unpack all the boxes and figure out where to put all this stuff we have accumulated. Or should I say junk. We do love the new place though so can't complain. The kids really love the neighborhood. All of their friends live next to us so they are in heaven. We had a picnic yesterday with Landyn at the "blue park" she calls it. It has seven slides and we had a blast. Poor Landyn has been wanting to go to the "blue park "for a week now and we finally went. She was soo happy. It was such a nice day out. Ok I also have been in contact with some very old friends from high school thanks to facebook. Some of the stories they have brought up make me realize how much time has gone by and what a good childhood I had. Oh and I love the haircut Kim. soo cute!!

Reading Logs UGGGHHHHH

OK does anyone else have this problem. Can't get the kids to do their reading log. Thats not even the worst part. They write down (yes both kids) write down a title to a book and pgs they read even though they have'nt read a dang thing. They think I am dumb and have never done the same thing myself. OOPS did I say that?? With 2 children 3yrs apart the oldest has already done what the youngest is doing now. Sucks being the youngest. When Brody was 5yrs old he took his report card and crumbled it up and shoved it all the way at the bottom of the toy box. When I found it he told me it was a bad card cause it had a check mark on it. The check mark was for meets standard and wasn't bad at all. How cute is that. He assumed the check mark was bad and got scared. I love that story. Morgan hasn't done that yet though.

After visiting the groomer

Before getting groomed

getting pointers at halftime

Brodys last football game of the season. He is soo cute in his football uniform.

The Dark Angel

This is the costume Morgan just had to have! The name was perfect. The Dark Angel! Thats exactly what she is!!

FINAL RESULTS

Morgan and Daddy carving pumpkins!!

Moving Stinks!!

Ok I haven't been able to blog in a few days. We have been moving so there has been no time for it. Awesome news!! Morgan made honor roll and they had a ceremony today at her school. We are so proud of her!! Brodys football season has come to an end and he did great as always. Not to brag or nothing! Now its back to baseball for his travel ball team. Yes as you can see we keep busy between Brodys sports and Morgans dance. Halloween was a BLAST! We went to my sisters and then went to a neighborhood haunted house. Got tons of candy and Harley and I checked every bit of it! Actually we are still checking it! Morgan hasn't figured this candy checking thing out yet. HEHE Now that Brody has hit the old age of 12 he went trick or treating with his buddies. He wore his football uniform and called it dressed up. He thinks he's too cool and too old to dress up. WHATEVER!! He did not get that from his mom or dad. We still dress up when we get the chance. Lifes a BLAST!!

Morgan and her Daddy at the father daughter dance

Me and Daddy Puffin

Getting good at this!!

Ok this is getting pretty neat now that I am figuring this thing out. How cute is this background?? I thought I would be a little festive with the fall colores! Well we found the house we are going to move into and I did the walk thru today YEAH!! We get the keys tomorrow which means we'll be moving all weekend long. I know what you are all thinking. Yes we need help moving. So any takers on that offer would be great. Morgan is a little bummed since we are going to be moving on halloween but I told her we will still go trick or treating! We could never miss out on all that candy. We will keep everyone updated and thanks so much to the ones who are going to help us. Ta ta for now.

Well this is my first blog and where do I start... I guess I'll start by saying that today was a typical day in the McDougall household. Oh and I did get another blogger started. Yes my sister!! I know, what is she doing blogging?? She is not the type to tell about herself but I got her started, and now she doesn't stop. Its actually nice to go on here and see how loved ones are doing. It will be interesting to see where this all takes us. I also wanted to let everyone know we are praying for Kim and she will be in our thoughts and prayers daily. Those of you who don't know Kim she is a family member who was just diagnosed with colon cancer. Go to her blog and check it out. We need all the help we can get with fundraisers etc. Also it will keep you updated on her wellbeing. We know you will beat this Kim!! There is no other option! Kimfightscancer.blogspot.com check it out. Well until next time...