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!