merry christmas!!...

well, it's officially over!! (for this year at least)... we'd a wonderful christmas... ours started out last night (christmas eve) meeting at dad/mom's house... spike, i & all 6 of our kiddos (suzy came too!), aaron, sharon & 2 of their kids, jim jones, dad & mom were all there... we all ate until we were stuffed (great food too!)... then the natives began to get restless & wanted to open presents so we moved that direction & everything that everyone got was a hit *smile*... we stayed & visited for quite awhile & then left, came home & dropped everything off (gifts, chairs, tables, food, etc.) along with brit who got very sick (stomach flu) on the way home & the little bear cubs... we got everyone in bed & then spike, myself, dad & mom all went to the indianapolis airport at midnight as some great friends of ours were there to pick up their 2 newest children from haiti... donalson & stevenson hilty arrived just about midnight to some very happy people who've had an incredibly long way... praise the lord their home & have started 'living' now *smile*... we then came home, got to bed about 3am, got up at 6am to exchange gifts as we had to be done by 8am as spike was taking barbara (who brought the hilty boys 'home' & had spent the night with us) to the airport... we knew that when he returned from the airport we'd all be needing to get ready as we were having christmas with his side of the family at 1pm... after opening everything, spike made his 'airport run' & then returned & said he wasn't feeling well... it's now evening & i've got spike, brit & dustin just walked in & they['ve all 3 got the stomach flu YIKES!!... needless to say, we did NOT go to grandmas today for christmas, we'll have to catch her later on this week... saying all that, now we know we could've all slept in had we known all this, getting up only to take barbara quickly to the airport & then we could've opened gifts when spike got back, but who knew?!?!... i'd started friday, taking all the girls' hair down, bathing, washing hair, rebraiding, etc.... then after braiding, i decided to jump in there & try extensions & here's the outcome (above)... they turned out much nicer than i even thought they would (for my first try)... i was rather pleased & they LOVE IT!... well, i'm bushed & heading to bed as it's after 1am & i've been up since 6am & only running on the 3 hours of sleep i got last night which i can assure you, was NOT enough... nite all & merry christmas!!

still got some sick kiddos...

well, karleigh's somwhat better, but still keeps complaining her belly hurts (poor baby)... kiara's got a runny nose & watery eyes so they're both a bit under the weather... ruby's for now doing fine, so she may sidestep the whole thing... we're all just like shut-in's over here in that we've not been out of the house for days - talk about stir crazy!!... we've still got all the wrapping to do (UGH, haven't even started), still have to take brit out for her last minute shopping (alright, up to this point, she's only bought 1 gift!! - how can this be, with a mother that's always shopping?!?!?!?)...

we've a sick little bear cub around here...

well, our littlest bear cub's not feeling well... karleigh got up this AM complaining that she was sick... boy, she's been very sick all day long & i so hope that she wakes up tomorrow feeling better... she's mainly been on the couch or sitting on my lap all day... no fever, just an upset stomach & 'choking' (you guessed it!) a lot... i'll post tomorrow on how she's doing, but please be praying for her as she's a sick little girl...

our new family pictures...

well, we got everyone together the other night & had family pictures taken & they turned out really well... our kiddos are great & it sure shows!... dustin's 21, brit's 15, kiara's 4, ruby's 3 & karleigh's 2 (in picture of kiddos laying down, kiara's on bottom left, smiling really big, ruby's just to the right of kiara & then karleigh's at the top!)... dustin's the great protector of 'the group', brit's (AKA edna~long story!) is a HUGE helper around here, kiara's the mother of our group, ruby's our drama queen & also miss independant & karleigh's our fireball - what would we do without any of them?!?!...

he's 21 today!...

well, our son turned 21y today (how can he be that old & we're still so young? *wink*)... we spent some time with he & suzy this weekend & took them to olive garden (his favorite place)... he's a great guy & committed to himself & everyone that he's on the right track to getting the things in his life cleaned up (YEAH DUSTIN!)... we love him so much & can't imagine not having him around... if you've got dustin for a friend, you've got a friend for life... here's a picture of him, isn't he handsome??... i hope you've a great birthday dustin... remember how special you are to everyone that knows you... we love you & want only the best for you... always remember ~ we're a team!