Jethro Gibbs Day

Jethro is our new kitten. He was a gift for the kids from Josh's sister, Jessica, and her husband, Aaron, for Christmas. Jessica bottle fed him for the first six weeks of his life. He was found in the field by their house. He was already litter trained by the time we got him. We kept the name Jethro (named by Grandma Sheets) because we love the show NCIS with Jethro Gibbs being the main character. More appropriately we should have named him Socks. He loves to bite socks. They can be on your feet or off, it makes no difference. He is the biggest brat in our house and I have a feeling that will be the case for awhile. He eats like a pig and plays like a dog. He chases his tail, carries balls around the house in his mouth, loves to play tug of war, likes baths or anything involving water, waits under the table hoping for accidentally dropped table food...we think he is confused. Anyway, it won't be long before we can have him de-clawed...although my bigger worry is the teeth! His favorite person thus far is my dad. I thought my dad would not enjoy the fact that we have a cat, but Jethro took to him on day one. They have become great buds. Jethro cuddles with him like no one else. Kaleb likes to tackle the cat, which you can imagine the kitten does not enjoy. Kaleb is not phased by the cat biting him or scratching at him. He just keeps going after him. Josh says the kitten in toughening Kaleb up. (WHATEVER!) He is a welcomed addition to our family and has thus far given us great laughs. Welcome Home Jethro!!

Christmas Morning!

Josh and I planned well ahead this year for Christmas for the kids. We knew that otherwise they wouldn't get much. Turns out they are VERY spoiled...who woulda guessed! They got some great stuff that will keep them busy for months to come. Kaleb is in love with all his new dinosaurs and drums, Kylie her Hannah Montana filled room and new keyboard, Kelsey and her Rose Petal Cottage and babies. Grandpa comes over every Christmas morning to spend it witht he kids. This year he brought his girlfriend, Teresa. They have been together nearly a year. My kids adore her. We had our traditional morning of waking up and gathering on the couch to read the Christmas story from the Bible. We thanked God for this holiday and each of the kids told us that it was Jesus's birthday and that is why we celebrate. They have really grasped the concept this year more than ever. We made a cake and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus later in the day. That was what they looked forward to more than presents. Mamaw and Papaw came over later in the morning for presents as well as Papaw Scott and Grandma Donita a little after that. We had a great family day. I will never regret making our decision to stay home as a family for Christmas and letting grandparents come to us!

Great-Grandpa Eades

We went with my dad to visit my grandpa before Christmas. The kids have really taken to him. They love to cuddle on his lap and listen to him read to them.

Or for kaleb, he just enjoys playing dinosuars with Great-Grandpa, who made the greatest dinosaur sounds (and let Kaleb pretend that the dinosaur had eaten his finger off). They love their visits with him, but I think he enjoys it the most! We love you grandpa!

Sheets Family Christmas

Christmas presents are being unwrapped and the kids can't wait for more!

Aunt Chrissy and cousin Katie pose for a pic!

Our beautiful niece Julia shows of one of her Christmas dresses.

Christmas Outfits

Aren't they all adorable?!!!! The three musketeers crack me up. That picture of the boys...they could care less about getting their picture taken. They were more concerned that I interrupted play time at church. Kelsey know how to light up the picture as usual. hten there is Kylie...not really sure what was up there. She was posing but looks like she was gonna hit the camera!

Disney's 100 Years of Magic

This show was incredible! We did not tell the kids where we were going until we got there. Kylie kept guessing we were going to Disney World so it was hilarious that it was a Disney on Ice Show!

All of their favorite characters came out and each new story line led to more and more excitement.

By the end of the night, with light up toys in hand, they couldn't stop talking about their favorite parts of the show.

My parents took my brother, Ben, and I to MANY Disney on Ice shows growing up and they are a favorite memory for me. I hope to make that the case for our kids as well.

Laid Off Again

As expected, Josh got laid off again today. This time it could be awhile. The economy sucks right now and no one is thinking of building or renovating so his company is hurting. They have narrowed themselves to a very small work force and have no idea if or when work will pick up. I have little to say about it all. We know God will provide. My job helps some. Of course we also have to thank Dave Ramsey for putting us on the same page financially. He has given us a new perspective when it comes to money and how we spend. We just keep praying!

Basketball Season is Here

Kylie's favorite sport to play!! Daddy coaches her team each year. Next year he will be coaching the twins as well. She was actually one of the tallest kids on her team this year. She was the tiniest last year. She was also the oldest on her team. She already knew how to shoot and dribble. She was not shy about letting everyone else on her team know that she was their best player. She was sweet about trying to get them involved though. She was like a big sister cheering them on. We love watching them play. The league division was all 3 and 4 year olds. Next year she will play in the Kindergarten league and the twins will be in this league. She has already taught them how to play defense with their hands up in the air. They can both dribble because she has drilled them on it. Occasionally she will let them shoot the ball. I love this picture of her with Papaw Scott!

All Aboard!

We took the kids on a trip to the North Pole!!! (Okay it was Connersville, IN...but they don't know that) We drove just under 2 hours to get to the station for this seasonal trip. They offer the Polar Express every Christmas Season, but the tickets go quick and we were lucky to have got them at all. When you arrive there is a number of photo opportunities. We then loaded on the train. All kids wear their pajamas, as they do in the book and movie. We sat in seats facing each other. When we began the trip, the conductor came around and asked each of the kids names. He then punched the first letter of their names into their tickets. My kids are obsessed with the movie so they thought this was awesome. Then they began reading the Polar Express story over the intercom as girls dressed as waitors, such as those in the "Hot Chocolate" song moved back and forth in the car showing pictures in the book. They then served us hot chocolate and cookies, but did not perform the song. We were all disappointed. :( We then arrived (2 hours later) at "the north pole". It was a lit up village with elves and all. We had to sing Santa Clause is coming to town as loud as we can and then Santa came out of his house. He then boarded the train and the rest of the trip he went seat to seat asking the kids what they wanted for Christmas and handing out bells just like the ones in the movie. The kids had so much fun and we had a blast watching them see all the "magic". They are already asking us when we can go again.

Josh turns 30! (Old man!)

Josh turned 30 today! We had a surprise party for him. He never suspected anything, but unfortunately he got off work early and showed up before half our guests did. We all still had a great time and AWESOME food. FYI Bird's Smokehouse Barbeque in Daleville is Amazing. We ordered their food to serve at the party and all we can say is YUM! We had 50 people in our house this evening. This just reminds me that much more of why Josh and I constantly talk of adding onto our home. The best gift we could have gotten was that Josh is back to work. It may only last a month, eventhough they keep telling him they won't lay him off again. For now he is working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day. We are paying bills left and right!

Trick or Treat. Smell my feet!

Obviously Kaleb was a dinosaur...surprise surprise. Kelsey chose to be an angel (very appropriate) and I may be a little bias but I think she must be the most beautiful angel EVER! Kylie chose Hannah Montana...again are we surprised?! We had a blast trick or treating. We went with the Webb family. Kaiden and Hunter, our godsons went as Remy and Emile from Ratatouille and were sooo adorable. The kids remembered wuickly how to ring doorbells and say trick or treat. Kylie had also learned the "Trick or treat, smell my feet give me something good to eat" song. She taught it to the twins. Of course they only remembered the first two lines. They gather 3 huge bags of candy between my mom's neighborhood, our church, and a few other random stops. They were sugared up and hyper at the end of the night and I wanted to collapse and go to bed!

Carving Pumpkins

We drew faces and let the kids choose what they wanted on their pumpkins. The girls were ready to dig in and clean out their pumpkins. Kaleb touched the inside once and we never saw him again until they went outside. He just kept saying it was "disgusting!"