"CARS" cars

He carries these CARS around everywhere!! We saw one at Walmart (oops went down the wrong aisle) and he had to have it!! So NOW he has 2 for each hand!

He is even sleeping with them!! I hope we don't loose one!! Thank you Grandma Lyn what a BIG hit!!

Christmas DAZE

The boys got everything they wanted and MORE!! Hope everyone has a HAPPY '09. We are looking forward to the NEW year!

P E A C E

Today the sermon at church was about PEACE. It is a word that my Poppa McKee would scream in a loud household of children. I think with his death that part of my family lost PEACE somewhere and I wish there was no McKee divide. It makes my heart sad that there is conflict between families. How can the world find PEACE if it cannot even be found within a small family unit. I pray my boys always stay close, no problem to big for them to overcome and they always have brotherly love for one another.

I pray this year for PEACE on Earth. I pray for Peace in my family and extended family. I pray for my soul to have PEACE while my husband goes through major neck surgery at the beginning of this year. I pray for all the soldiers fighting for our freedom and are far from their families this Christmas. I hope everyone who reads this finds happiness and PEACE in their lives.
Merry Christmas and a HAPPY PEACEFUL NEW YEAR!

Fancy Christmas PARTY

Max's teacher Mrs. Knight has a fancy fancy dinner at her house every year! The kids have been talking about this since the first of the year! Well, it was so nice they got to ride a school bus to her house and it was set up beautiful. All of us homeroom Mom's cooked and served the food and drinks :) Then after the fancy dinner and Christmas carols we went to the game room and played games and exchanged gifts. The children had such a good time :) All the other kids in the school were jealous that they had this fancy smancy lunch :)

Baby Blocks and Salt Dough

My friend Stephanie did all the work for the Salt Dough Ornaments! She made the dough, she cut them and baked them for us. Max and I got to do the fun part PAINT!! We have several more that we can finish this week :)

I am making wooden blocks for my new nephew coming in April. This will be my sister in law's 5th child and she HOME SCHOOLS!! She gets my vote for Mom of the year for sure. So I thought I would make the baby a special gift so here is my attempt at a tutorial.

You need wooden blocks, scrap book paper, sandpaper, Mod Podge, paint and a paint brush.
1. Cut the paper just slightly smaller than the block.

2. Sand all the blocks and sand edges.

3. Mod Podge the block and put the paper on top.

4. Mod Podge over the top of the paper let dry 15-20 minutes



5. Sand down any imperfections and the edges.

6. I used a gold paint but I think a white might have worked better. I used the gold b/c some of the paper had a gold gloss a brown would have worked too. just paint around the edges giving the block and antiquie look.

7. Wait for it to dry -so I painted more salt dough ornaments with the excess gold paint.

8. Finally Mod Podge the total block let dry and DONE :)

These are a nice handmade gift to give any Mommy. I was also going to put letters on the blocks but the paper I got was very busy. I may try that next time :)

FOUND

I found this lovely Nativity set from a garage sale for $5! Sad to say we didn't have one so I was on a mission. It is in perfect condition handmade and the instructions are in German. All I need are skinny candles to make it turn :) My Mom had one similar to this when we were growing up! However, I can't put it anywhere but on top of my bedroom dresser. Logan loves it and wants to take off all the delicate pieces.

Snowman Soup Gift

Has anyone done this before?? I found this cute recipe in the cook book my sister in law gave me last year! It is such a nice gift for special friends and teachers :)

1 pkg. hot chocolate mix

3-5 Hershey's Kisses

15 Marshmallows

1-2 Candy Canes

1 Christmas Mug (I found some cute ones at the dollar store)

Put all above ingredients into the mug. On a card or 3X5 card write the following :

"Was told that you've been good this year. Always glad to hear it! With freezing weather drawing near, you'll need to warm the spirit. So here's a little snowman soup, complete with stirring stick. Add hot water and sip it slow, it's sure to do the trick!"

HANDMADE HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS

I AM FINALLY FINISHED MAKING ALL MY GIFTS FOR MY NIECES AND NEPHEW IN CALIFORNIA. WE JUST FOUND OUT THAT THEY WILL BE HAVING A NEW BABY BOY JOINING THE CLAN IN APRIL. WE ARE SO EXCITED SO I AM MAKING THE BABY SOME HANDMADE WOODEN BLOCKS I SAW THIS PROJECT ON MARTHA:)

WARM AND COZY

TONIGHT WE HAD BEEF STEW - THE BOYS COMPLAIN I "NEVER" MAKE BEEF STEW! WELL I SHOWED THEM! I ALSO MADE THIS WONDERFUL ARTISAN BREAD (THANKS AUNT SHAWN), WE GOBBLED THIS WHOLE LOAF DOWN!! I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR IT IS FREEZING OUT SIDE AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO GO ANYWHERE I GOT TO COOK ALL DAY :)

CHRISTMAS PREP

HERE IS OUR LIL CHRISTMAS TREE :)
MAX WAS THE ONLY ONE POSING! I WAS TRYING TO TAKE PICTURES WHILE THEY WERE NOT LOOKING.

WE ARE SO EXCITED ;)

weekend pictures

This weekend was wonderful! We had a nice relaxing Turkey day, I think this picture of Logan captures what we all felt like after dinner :)

Here is a picture of one of Zach's art projects last year! We found it while cleaning out the closet :) We did alot of cleaning and put out all our Christmas stuff! Pictures coming soon :)

I guess watching cowboy movies this weekend didn't help with Logan's gun obsession :) We watched Tombstone, Wyatt Earp then The Alamo. YEEEHAWW

Thanksgiving

This year I get to take it easy for Thanksgiving!! We are not traveling to Tulsa this year because of Gregg's injury. Last year I feel like we didn't stop- driving to Tulsa for T-giving then driving to South Carolina for Christmas. I am so glad we did do all that traveling because Gregg's Grandma got to meet Logan before she passed away. It is so great when blessing like that happen in life. I am THANKFUL for all the good and all the hard things that have happened in 2008.

We are going to Grandpa and Grandma Flynn's house this year, they only live like 40 minutes away. Maria is cooking the whole dinner and all I have to make are the desserts :) So I am making Cheese Cake and Apple Pie (There will be pumpkin pie but I am not baking that one). I will be doing alot of knitting (I need to finish my homemade gifts for Christmas) and relaxing! I hope everyone has a wonderful Turkey Day.

Mommy of BOYS!!!

Our neighbors asked us if we would like their HERMIT CRABS they couldn't take care of them anymore. Of course Max jumped at this opportunity! They gave us everything we need- food, tank, special molting tank (with soft sand). So I am now the proud Mom of 3 lil hermit crabs. There is the LARGE one who Max named "Zach" the middle one named "Max" and the baby one named "Logan". They are super easy to take care of but they are kind of creepy to hold sometimes they act like they are going to come out and get you! I guess I am just happy the neighbors didn't come up with a SNAKE b/c that wouldn't be happening!!