Our snow group

Fisher and payton

SNOW SNOW AND MORE SNOW!

this is my dear sweet and amazing husbands "good idea" of keeping his "drinks" cold and ready for him during the "day of play" in the snow!

we all went out around 10:00am to play, and the kids did really well in the 6-8 inches we had... we were expecting about a foot (so i was really dissapointed) but the kids did so well, and any more snow would have been too much!

* just had to give chris a little love for his cool- cooler of snow :) love you darlin'

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Possible new bff

So, I just rented my first movie from "the red box"- my sister keeps talking about it and finally I did it! Chris is gone again for the evening and with the snow approaching- no time like the present right?

So with scooby do in hand and pizzas in the oven, I got a date with my 2 favorite kids ;) and they are excellent movie watchers!

Alright... pizza, movie, heating blanket, king size bed, two dogs, and two kids (and maybe a glass o wine for me) I'm planning on an excellent evening!

Thanks to you sister and red box!

My taco soup creation!

I made some chicken tacos for dinner last night- nobody was in the mood, so I created taco soup today for lunch (never done that before) and oh my its sooooo good! And I am awfully proud of my creative cooking!

My painted cabinets

This has been a project since we moved in (4 years ago) our master bath cabinets irked me- so, oil based primed- painted white, and now this really cool shade of brown/bronze! Love it- and I love our bathroom again!

Sick kids :(

Poor pitiful kids- stomach bug has now hit each of us- why can't this be me?

roanoke trip

ella with coal the puppy-- jaime let us "puppysit" for a while-- which trilled ella to no end! we have recently found two different puppies that we have found new homes for-- we don't need 3 dogs! so, getting to puppysit for a while was all we needed to remind us that puppies are cutest when they go home to someone else!



ella and jarron's lovers spat. i know that ella adores jarron-- and jarron knows the exact buttons to push-- super cute! she was sooo mad at him! and i have no idea why!



gracie and coal playing-- big momma needs a puppy to play with!



fisher and jase-- how stinkin' cute! they would be soooo much trouble if we lived closer to them!




make-up-- nuff said!


the trip started out pretty slow. i had been sick all monday morning with a stomach bug-- praying that the kids didn't get it, and chris was already gone to new orleans for a business trip-- i had to get out of my house, i was sick, exhausted, tired, blahhhhh! so going on with my plans to roanoke was the only option!



me, kelsey, and sister in law denise- but denise has been around us forEVER! so, she might as well be a sister too! we took the kids, mom and jarron to carvins cove (roanoke's resevoir) for a picnic in january-- it was FREEZING! but the kids and mom seemed to really enjoy themselves. there aren't tons of opportunities that the four kids and mom all get together. so this trip was too perfect for getting them all together!







the kids all ADORE mom and jarron- i love that our kids have a great "fun" uncle. the uncle that is for playing ONLY! and jarron fits the bill perfectly! jarron does an amazing job teasing them, pestering them, and loving them... thanks for being so amazing to our kids!



i took the kids to roanoke last week for a visit with mom and dad- jarron's last couple of days before he went back to california and kelsey was meeting us there of course. it's easier to plan visits when we can meet at the same time- instead of her driving 5 1/2 hours to me, or me to her.

Mondays

Dear monday:
My love hate relationship with you continues. I love that you always show up on time, are consistant, and start each week with gusto!
However, you take my husband away from me, usually come with ugly weather, and put an end to my weekend jig.
But then again, you also give me a day to recoup from my weekend, do laundry, allow my children to lay around and be kids. So, honestly- I just don't know what to do with you!

**** and you do provide the bachelor- I just might like you more than I realize ****

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Fisher's best friend

How cute sharing a seat!?

Somethings I'm learning...

- I need to do 1 load of laundry a day- at least
- fisher just might be the cutest and smartest and sneaky-est kids around
- I want to re-do my home- top to bottom
- I love my home
- ella is the sweetest when she is sick
- I am right where I am supposed to be
- I am crazy about my family

Noah's Ark Day

So, the trip to roanoke was really great- time with dad, mom, kels, denise, jarron, jase, taylor, and my great aunt lucielle. Fun fun times!

I did return home to listen to the message on the answering machine- noah's ark day- dress like your favorite animal! Uh- I've got two grumpy, sleepy, mad, sad kiddos. So, ella wore a cow skirt- and fisher, I was at a total loss!

But, a great neighbor came to the rescue! Egg crates and a green shirt! Presto turtle! The front is an old pillow case circa- 1963 and his hat has rolled up socks with black dots on them- he was sooooo stinkin proud! And thrilled! Love it! And I love my hot glue gun that made it all possible!

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The front-

Here's my turtle!

Noah's Ark Day at school!

Made it to roanoke!

We are in roanoke for the next two days- this should be lots of fun!

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we finally made it out of the house-- the only time in the month of january that we have left is to run to the car-- that's it. even with the dusting of snow that we got (a couple of dustings) we have remained indoors due to the 3-15 degree weather. but yesterday was AMAZING for us!

we went outside to PLAY! we brought out bikes, ride-on toys, basketballs, kickballs, baseball, bats, and t's-- i loved getting a small dose of vitamin d- while the kids just wanted to go back inside. ;( but, needless to say- i made them stay outside for well over an hour and they finally adjusted to it-- they have been awfully cramped up- cooped up- pent up- etc...

so, we made it out! i loved it- ella and fisher will take some getting used to it-- ella kept saying "i just wanna swim!" so... come on summer!!!!

breakfast in bed

let me begin this post with two words "MY ella"

ella requested on her own last night that chris bring her "breakfast in bed" complete with cinnamon rolls, milk, and a tv for her room...

she did get two of the requests, cinnamon rolls and milk- that's it- no tv in bedrooms-- i am a firm believer in that for sure!

anyway-- fisher and ella both got breakfast in her bed-- then i called in the cleaning crew :) bubba and gracie- fantastic job!

a dream i had...

i have been having some pretty crazy dreams lately. i blame it on not being able to sleep all that well- anyway- i dreamed last night that i was in my Nana's house. Nana has been gone for well over 13 years now... but i was in her house like it was my own. walking around, remembering the colors of the walls, the carpet, touching things, the deck, the yard, the dip in the backyard that lined the pine trees... all of it. i remember the soap, where the washing machine was, i could even smell what the rooms used to smell like. (nana's room to me always smelled like secret spray deodorant) and i loved every second of it. i didn't want to wake up. i remember also dreaming that i would want to write about it on the blog. weird i know. but the house was empty and i was going to be moving into it with my family. i was really excited about it too because nana's house has four bedrooms-- mine only has three. the downstairs had an amazing bar area that could hide toys, books, and games. the backyard is big enough that the kids could play and we could fence it in for the dogs... it was so nice to remember all of these things. i know that my mom would love that i was thinking about nana and her house. we spent so much time growing up there... it was a wonderful walk down memory lane for me.

i miss my nana-- as well as all my grandparents that i have lost. but my nana was someone that i really wanted to be like-- and for a little girl to wish that she was a 70+ year old lady i think is a bit odd. but, she was classy, her purse always matched her shoes, her hair was always perfect, house clean, beds made, and i don't think that i ever saw her mad. what an amazing person to be around. she had the most beautiful roses in her garden, and she drove a Delta 88-- ugliest car that i can remember :)

thanks for the dream and having a night to remember her- and all of the things that made her wonderful-

Kiffin

Dear coach kiffin,
I don't really know who you are or what you really do... But since your announcement my husband hasn't got off the phone. Football (at least college) is supposed to be over, I would like my husband back.
Thanks,
Kara

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Ella's moves

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Fisher's flying leap

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Fisher winking

i know it's alot in one day...

fisher has become a "little man" over that past few months... he's a bit crazy/insane/full of motion... he's ALL BOY! that's to say the least!

i have come to love him more than i ever expected. he is sweet and cute and mine all mine :) i love talking to him in the mornings-- he is a morning person! watching him grow and change and move and run and leap and skip and gallop and again... he is ALL BOY!






my little lady is growing up so fast. it makes me so sad to think that she is already four! FOUR! time flies... i know that everyone has said that and i never understood that until lately. she says the sweetest things-- with a flair of attitude-- i don't know where she would get that from??!!



okay, so missing in action doesn't even explain where i've been... i swear it has been so important to make it through the day, that blogging hasn't even been on the radar. the kids have kept me so busy that we've missed a lot on the blog. but i promise to be back in action-- i love blogging. i love telling little family stories. i haven't done very well with keeping a baby book-- AT ALL so this was supposed to be my little baby book of our lives-

so to catch up-- it is 2010 and my kids will be 3 and 5 this year. chris and i will have been dating/together/married for over 11 years! our dogs will be 8 years old! what????!!!! we will have been living in tennessee for 4 years in march-- oh my! it's crazy what this year will bring! so here's to it! can't wait to see what's going to happen!

thanks for all that might stop by and take in a tiny bit of "battel family"

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Ella's favorite thing to do now, color! And she slept in braids last night... Hence the curly-crimpy hair!

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New boots for the first snow

alrighty now...

so i think that i have my "phone blogging" working! i hope that it's really going to work, because i really do miss blogging. the kids are changing so much, we have lots going on, and i miss having a few minutes to remember it all! so, here is to hoping that the blogging will start up again! happy 2010! cannot wait to see what is happening this year!

some new year's resolutions for me...

- drink one glass of wine a day-- at least one, no more than 2 :)
- lose some weight... gracie and i both
- learn how to do some redecorating/remodeling around the house

last year was so hectic, traumatic, exciting, and fun that i really hated to miss out on blogging about most, if not all of it! i love that we have really put down some roots around the area, we have real friends, our kids are in school, i've had the same audits for three years now... it is amazing how much times have changed!

i promise to keep blogging, and sending at least one picture a day to the blog-- that way we can go through all this together! yeah!!!! blogging is back!

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This picture cracks me up!!!!

new year 11 days in...

is it possible for me to get this blog back up and running again???? i think about it all the time, i have tried several times to get it back on track... but it always gets lost in the shuffle of my day.
so i am going to try to start some mobile blogging-- really hope that helps me, since getting on the computer is much more difficult than picking up my phone! so give me a few minutes and lets see what i can get done!

kara

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