Thanks to Our Oregon Family!

A few days before we left for North Carolina, we received a giant box of goodies from Mom. Inside, there were all sorts of treasures and presents! Things from Grandma Ida, Aunt Sue and Uncle Steve, Chrissy and AJ, and stuff from Madi, Joe, and Ella. Wow! You guys rock!

Here's Tom with his box. And no, it wasn't just a box that we gathered all of the presents into. That was the wrapping. I'm telling you, I kinda sucked this year on the "fancy" factor. Not so much of that going around. Oh well. Anyway, Tom (and all the kids) got money from Madi, Joe, and Ella, from Grandma Ida, from Aunt Sue, candy and gloves from AJ and Chrissy, and other assorted fun items from our Oregon Family. Thanks so much you guys!

This kite looked really cool, but they opened it up before I could stop them. I managed to save 4 kites though. We'll fly them on a nice sunny windy day. I'm looking forward to it. I do like kites! Don't you?

What would Christmas morning be without some sort of projectile launcher!

Eme and Joe had a lot of fun with the tea set. And, if you look on the couch, you can see the beautiful doll from Randolph, Brandy, and Fan. Isn't it beautiful. It's from Pottery Barn. Thanks guys!

Here's Jimmy with all of his treasures. The fun fruits were his favorite part. He ate them all within 5 minutes! Thanks Chrissy. And the binoculars were a big hit with Brent. He loved them. All the noise at random times. And the Flight of the Bumblebee song. Yeah, it was the highlight of his day.

Thanks Illinois Hartys!

Thanks so much to Uncle Randolph, Aunt Brandy, Uncle Fan, and Uncle Josh for the great presents! There were so many, that we had to open them the day after we got to North Carolina. There simply wasn't room for presents under the tree and people. That was fine with us. We all like to open presents! You guys are awesome!

Jacob and his fancy Star Wars ship. Sorry boys, I don't know what it's called. Boy was he excited when he opened the package! Thanks Randolph, Brandy, and Fan.

Dad with is present from Uncle Josh. Star Wars rocks!

This is my movie from Uncle Josh. I liked this movie. Jim Carrey is awesome :) Thanks Josh!

Here's Brent with his present from Randolph, Brandy, and Fan. A big Star Wars ship. Excellent :)

Joe and his castle from Uncle Randolph, Aunt Brandy, and Uncle Fan. How did you know that we LOVE Imaginext? Thanks so much!

Jimmy and his new cash register from Randolph, Brandy, and Fan. Anything that makes noises and has hiding compartments is good in Jimmy's book!

Yeah, a food processor for me. I sure do love cooking. Thanks so much Randolph, Brandy, and Fan.

Eme and her pony from Uncle Josh. Such a pretty pony!

Tom and his large Star Wars ship from Uncle Randolph, Aunt Brandy, and Uncle Fan. Thanks you guys. You are awesome!

Thanks, Grandma Lyn and Papa Steve

Thanks to Grandma Lyn and Papa Steve for these cool presents for Christmas. While they were visiting Ohio, Mom and I went to Wal-Mart the day after Thanksgiving, and found some great deals. Then, we hid them in plastic bags in the shed. If I were really good, I would have wrapped them in wrapping paper before giving them to the kids, but, well, OK, so I'm not really good. They got to open them in the same plastic bag they were hidden in. Oh well. It's the present, not the wrapping, right?

Tom and his remote control Jeep

Eme and her My Little Pony. It talks and takes a bottle. So cute.

Joe and his remote control truck. He sure thought he was a big kid!

Jacob and his remote control Jeep. He's been wanting one of these for quite a while now :)

Jimmy and his big dump truck. Every little boy needs one of these :)

The Flag Football Game

So, for Christmas Day, there was a grand game of flag football. Wait, not in my family. That was the neighbors. But for some reason, Tom didn't get that message. Maybe he couldn't tell that it wasn't his family.

Anyway, he went up to them and asked to join in their game. They happily agreed. He was on the team with the mom and the dad. Poor mom and dad. Tom has skills, but not necessarily flag football skills. In fact, in one of the pictures, you can see him running all by himself, trying to make a touch down. Unfortunately, he's running the wrong direction. He didn't score, so no harm/no foul, but still. Poor Tom.

Brent promised to take him out and teach him the finer skills of flag football soon. Like which way to run. :)

Jim's New Hat

Look what I made! First, I crocheted this lovely yellow hat. Yes, yellow. Lovely :) Next, I made the cream and blue. Much better. And they loved how it had ear coverings. Well, Joe didn't . The hat was supposed to be for him, but he freaked out when I brought it near him. Apparently, his ears are just fine the way they are, and don't need any coverings. Sorry Joe. My bad :)

The Fabulous Make-Over!

Here's Grammy Harty and Eme, just after their make-over by me! Aren't they beautiful. Can you believe how old Eme looks! Golly :)

Merry Christmas from North Carolina

Here's our family at church on Sunday, in the hall. Have you ever tried to get your picture taken in the hallway at church, right when classes were let out? No, well you should try it some time. Really, really, a great fun time :)

But really, it did turn out pretty good. Aren't we all cute and happy?

Merry Christmas

Well, we're almost ready to leave for Christmas. We're heading out to North Carolina for the holidays, to visit Brent's family. It's always fun to visit Grammy and Grandpa Harty! The kids love them.

So, we decided to take today off from school (really we should have been off anyway) and pack and clean and get ready to go. We've worked from 8-10, and now we're taking a short rest. We still have to clean the kitchen, clean out the truck, and pack the grown-ups clothes.

Brent should be home around 3-4, and if we're ready, it should only take us about an hour to get out of here. It's a 7-8 hour drive, so we'll arrive really late. Last year, we stayed at Brent's Aunt Eleanor's house, but she's full of company this year, so we'll be in the pop-up trailer, or on the floor inside Paul and Carol's house. It's good to have options.

Anyway, I'll definitely take lots of pictures and put on lots of posts when we get back! Take care, you all, and have a wonderful Christmas!

Santa's Pants

My sister sent us a Christmas box the other day, and in it was a new Christmas Outfit for Jim. She thought it could have been for Joe, but there's no way it would have fit Joe. He's just too bag. The pants fit Jim perfectly. The shirt, frankly, as a little tight, but will work for this Christmas. He's simply adorable in it.

Anyway, he thought that he was Santa. I don't know why. Maybe because it was the red velvet suspenders. Maybe it was the red and green plaid print on the pants. Maybe it was the bowtie. Whatever the reason, he thought he was Santa. His reaction was so precious, I had to get a video of the thing. Priceless

Things I've Said to Jimmy in the Past Few Days

* Don't eat the glue stick!
* Eww, don't drink the paint water!
* Stop shaking the Christmas Tree!
* We don't lick people.
* Leave your diaper on!
* Don't touch the poop!
* How did you get poop on your ankle?
* Don't color on the walls!
* Don't dump the water on the floor!
* Stop eating the butter!
* Leave the dishwasher alone!

And, some of the nicer things.....

* Yes, Jimmy, I love you too.
* Again? Yes, we'll sing your favorite song again.
* More? Yes, you can have more water.
* Santa's pants? Yes, you're wearing Santa's pants.
* Yeah, you did it!
* Me? Yes, you can color with the other kids.

How Well Do You Know Me?

Bethany Quiz

Yeah, I made one for both Thomas and Jacob, but I lost them. Eventually, they should email me something about them, and then I'll post them. They're kind of fun to see how well you know us all!

Weed Man

You know what, it sounded more innocent and funny at the time. Tom was dressing up with the garland today, and calling himself Weed Man. I guess he thought my garland looked like a weed. I thought it was cute.

Then, as I was downloading these photos, I thought about another meaning for "Weed Man". Nice, my kid is calling himself "Weed Man", and doesn't even realize what he's saying. Of course, it took me 5 hours to figure out the double inendo too.

More Jib Jab Fun

Don't send a lame Starring You! eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Don't send a lame Starring You! eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

December Pack Meeting for Pack 30

Our Pack meeting was this past Wednesday night, and we really did have a lot of fun. It was a Christmas/Pizza party. We had Scout budget that we needed to spend, so Little Cesears was calling our name. Boy was it tasty.



We had pizza, Christmas desserts, games, Pinewood Derby car presents, and lots of fun. Here are lots of pictures of the fun and craziness that is a Pack meeting!

Joe building his puzzle. It's cut up xmas cards. Pretty neat, actually.
10 pizzas. Everyone left super full!
Not Jimm, but Spencer. Don't they look similar?
Eme and Mayle, building xmas puzzles. I'm sure glad that she's here for Eme at the pack meetings. They have a lot of fun.
Jacob loves babies. Isn't he sweet!
Tom and his buddies, doing their skit.
Eme with Laura and her baby brother. Laura is in Eme's Primary class, and has brothers in Scouts too. Lucky Eme.!
Eme and the Tyre baby.
Jimmy and his food. Piz! as he calls it.
Jimmy, after getting knocked to the ground by Spencer. This is a change. Usually it's my kids knocking someone to the ground, not the other way around. Poor Jim.

Jacob, and his Scout Xmas gift. The Pack bought Pinewood Derby cars for all the boys.
Tom and his car. See it in his fingers there. Nice pose, Tom.
Jacob getting his Scientist badge. And Joe giving him bunny ears :)
No, Mom. I don't want to be in this picture. Maybe if I lean back like this, I'll be out of range!
The boys in the Closing Ceremony.