Holiday Downtime

My sweet oldest child. How can one child bring you so much joy??

I adore Will Henry's little smirk!

He can be such a sweet baby, but about 10 percent of the time he is a WILD MAN!!!

My little princess in her dress-up creation.

She needed her Daddy to take a shot "exactly like this."

Will Henry is always willing to twirl in this skirt. In fact he has it on right now.

And this is one tired Mama.


We have had a wonderful Holiday season. As soon as I get the cameras downloaded I will do a holiday post. I have started a New Years post that I need to finish and publish.

Merry Christmas

As we are in full swing of this wonderful Holiday my hope is that each of you have all of your dreams come true.

Merry Christmas!

Hugs,

Chesnye

The Nutcracker

Clark and BellaRuth resting at the luncheon.

With Clara, or Marie, and the Prince.

BellaRuth loved this dancer!

With the Chinese dancers.

I LOVED this costume! It just looked like so much fun.

With the Candy Cane dancers.

This was the darling little girl that we shared a table with. She and BellaRuth had so much fun together.

With Mama outside the Nutcracker. Boy, it was cold!



We took Clark and BellaRuth to the Nutcracker in St. Louis last weekend. First we attended a Sugar Plum fairy luncheon that was in a beautiful old home on the campus of Washington University. The children had such a great time meeting all of the characters and getting their autographs. Then it was time for the performance. After about 10 minutes Clark asked me, "How much longer?" I thought that he must want to leave, but no..... he said, "I don't want this to end." How precious! We are already talking about next year.

Christmas Choir Concert

This was our serious picture before the concert. I love the way that Clark put his arm around his sister without being asked. He really loves both of his siblings so much... and they also adore him.

Goofing around before we left for the concert. This picture is a true reflection of BellaRuth's personality. At times I just stand in awe that we were blessed with such a funny little princess!

The entire choir. Clark was in front of Miss Sharron.

All of the children before the concert.

BellaRuth is looking at her Daddy.

Clark was really concentrating on his songs.

Today Clark and BellaRuth were in our town's Christmas Choir Concert. They have been practicing for the past month and they really did a wonderful job. Will Henry kept hollering "Clark......Bella Ruth", but it actually sounds like "clerk.... bubber" Too cute. We are all so proud of both of you!!

Thanksgiving and Christmas Card Pictures

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend spent at home. My sweet hubby had about 25 relatives that we spent Thanksgiving Day with and boy did we have fun! We weren't able to take very many pictures due to a "technical problem". We were pleasantly surprised to get a Christmas Card picture. I actually ordered the cards today. After a long search I finally decided to use the picture as the whole card front. The inside has individual pictures of Clark, BellaRuth and Will Henry on the beach in Sanibel this summer. Of course I included a sweet Holiday greeting too. I thought I would share some of the photos that didn't make the card.... and the one that did!!!

(I LOVE the way that Clark is looking at his brother in the picture above.)

Will Henry was trying to escape! And BellaRuth has the funniest look on her face.

I think that this is a sweet picture.

BellaRuth is trying to get Will Henry to look at his Daddy. Poor Clark just wanted it to be over.

This is our Christmas Card picture for 2008.

I really think that it captures each one of my children. I can't wait to see yours...please share!!

Halloween

Will Henry had a fun time at his big sister's class party.

Caroline, our cousin, was out of school so she came to the costume parade with Ninna.

Bella Ruth, Miss Mary and all of her class.

Clark's class getting ready for the start of the carnival.

The Star Wars character in Mrs. Pollock's class. We were missing a few others.

Clark was Commander Cody.

Trick or Treating at Grandparents with our cousins, Caroline, Reese, and Anna.

With Anna and Ninna. Will Henry would only sit on Ninna's lap after she took her spider mask off.

These pictures are a little late, but I thought that I would add them anyway. My sweet hubby is the only one who knows how to download pictures to our computer so I'm at his mercy when it comes to blog updates. And it has been a crazy fall!! Soccer coaching for two teams, All-Star coaching, housebuilding, and running a business. This is not to mention Gymnastics, Dance, Dance team and RCIA classes. I am going to have him teach me how to download, though it won't be today because he has to work. :(

We hope everyone is having a GREAT Thanksgiving Holiday!!!



I have added some updates in August (8/4 and 8/28), September (9/26) and October (10/16) too.

Our Madison

Clark and Maddie getting the playroom ready for Bella Ruth just a couple days before she was born. ( Clark had a horrible haircut for the occasion. Too funny!)

Clark was ALWAYS loving on Maddie.

Madison watching over baby Bella Ruth.

Clark hanging out with Madison and Jenni.

Maddie and Jenni on the basement stairs.

Our sweet dog Maddie, or "Maa Maa" as Will Henry says, went to dog heaven after a short illness on Tuesday, October 28. She was a 14 year old chocolate lab that I had since my first days of teaching in Oklahoma. This has been an extremely big loss to our entire family. Chris, Clark and Bella Ruth are making a beautiful wood box for her, and I am making a quilt for the inside. Her final resting place will be on our lot under a Magnolia tree. It is very fitting because she spent the first 6 years of her life under a Magnolia tree in my backyard in OKC. We love you and miss you Maddie!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch on a field trip with the kiddos school. This was the first year that this trip wasn't canceled because of bad weather. It was a beautiful, fun day!

Clark and his cousin Charlie. They are in the same class. In fact his Mom is my best friend from College and his Dad is my sweet hubby's first cousin. We meet at their wedding June 11, 1999.

We rode on a wagon to pick a pumpkin. I gave mine to Will Henry. He loves pumpkins, he calls them "pumps". Soooo Cute!!! They also loved this lasso area.

Miss Bella Ruth watching the pig races.

See you next summer "Beggs Farm" for some Strawberry picking!!

Do you wanna hear what I was doing October 16,1999?

This was the day my sweet hubby asked me to be his bride.
Here is the story of our engagement.

It was a beautiful Saturday and I spent the day with my family at my Nana's home. My sweet boyfriend was at his home, 500 miles from me, coaching a little league football game. Yes, he was a single man that volunteered his time to coach 6th and 7th grade boys to help his community. This was just one of the things that I loved about him. He would usually call me after his game to let me in on the outcome but this day I didn't hear from him. As the day turned into evening I was getting a little irritated. I was planning on going to a dinner party with my parents and knew that if I didn't talk to my sweet boyfriend before dinner then I wouldn't hear his voice until the next day. I broke down and called him, probably only the second or third time in our relationship, and I got his voice mail. I was very sad. I called my parents to tell them I was ready since they were going to pick me up. About that time there was a knock at my front door. I ran downstairs and opened the door to the most handsome man, my sweet boyfriend, in a suit with flowers in hand. He said, "I was missing you, so I flew out here to take you to dinner." It was a believable thing because his family had a plane so I really didn't think much of it. I politely invited him to join me and my parents. After this crazy dialogue for a few seconds I finally realized that this was planned. My parents knew that he was coming to surprise me. I still had no idea what was about to happen. We drove to a special lake and that is where he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. I wish I could remember what he said. I do remember at the time I was so nervous that I barely heard a thing. I just cried until he finally said,"I guess that is yes."

Thank you my sweet husband for making all of my dreams come true. And More.

Always.

Cheers for Our Local Boy

Friday night as I was rocking Will Henry before bed, my phone rang and one of the sweetest girls I know was on the other end. We talked about her life, her new job, the job she wants, and her trip to LA. She was on her way to the airport to visit her boyfriend. You see, her boyfriend plays baseball for the LA Dodgers. I have mentioned him before on one of my blogs. He is such a nice young man, and his Mom was one of my life savers when I moved to this small town 9 years ago. So please, watch the Dodgers, and give a big shout out for Blake DeWitt!! He had an incredible night tonight, he hit a triple with bases loaded, and I couldn't help but shed a tear because I knew that his Mama was in the stands to enjoy this wonderful moment of his life.

New Cookware

When my dear hubby and I married we were given a cookware set. It has served its duty but it is time for us to move on. We are in desperate need of a good set of cookware. Does anyone have a set that they love? I have one friend who is a great cook and she uses the Mauviel Copper set. Another friend thinks that Calphalon non-stick is the best. And I think that my brother has the Calphalon Contemporary set and I know that his wife loves it. So please, I need some help.

Update from Sunday

The new church that we visited was very welcoming and we really felt right at home. Since we live in a small town you know lots of people wherever you go. Some of our closest friends attend this church, and our children attend school there. But this is also why it can be a little difficult to try new things. You see, we are very active in our old church and we knew that everyone would hear the news... that we were "church shopping." And we got a call Monday morning asking if we were changing churches. The truth is that we have been praying and talking about this move for a long time. I mean for a few years. My husband is the type of person that takes lots of time to actually make a decision, but when he does he is finished with the debating or contemplating. Remember how long this house building has taken us. :) Also, this is not the first church that we visited, we have actually "shopped" a couple other churches over the course of a couple years. We feel very confident in our decision and are excited to become a part of this church family.

Dining Room Question

Ok Ladies, I need a little input on our Dining Room situation in our home that we are building. I am considering a round dining room table. My hubby is not sold on the idea but I really think that it will give us more floor space in that room. The architect agreed with me, but now I'm starting to second guess myself. What do you think? Is it going to be too trendy? I do think it would be great for the conversation flow. Can't wait to get some input from other women.

On our way to Church

We are on our way to a new church this morning. This will be the first time that we actually attend as a whole family. All of our marriage we have attended the same church that my husband was born and raised in. The church has had some major changes over the past 5 years and he is not comfortable there anymore. Please pray that all goes well today. I will try to post some other updates later this afternoon.

Love,

Chesnye

County Fair

Earlier the year our school visited the County Fair. Clark's class with their teacher, Mrs. Pollock.

Bella Ruth milking a "cow".

These were the neatest paper sack hats. The children really loved this activity. I can't believe that I didn't get a picture of the finished product. Bella Ruth still has hers in her bedroom. Maybe I can get a picture today.

The big turtle was a hit too.

Clark finally would pose with this cool animal. He has gotten to a stage where he doesn't want to take the time for a picture. I can only imagine Christmas card pictures this year.

Bella Ruth and her buddies, Vincent, Connor and Hayes in the chicken barn.

Bella Ruth LOVES horses. She can't
wait to take riding lessons in the Spring.