Pony Tail!

Our hair is now long enough...

Happy New Year!

This year we had an impromptu New Year's Party at our house.  My grandfather had been moved to hospice a couple of days before and spending time with all our family, especially those from out of town, just seemed like the right thing to do.  We had a great time playing games, drinking champagne, and visiting.

Andrea and her friend Jacklyn

New Year Baby

Kevin made a feast for us!Coq Au Vin and Pot Roast with yummy garlic roasted potatoes!

  

Aunt Kathy, Rachel, and Rhett

Did I mention New Years is Andrea's Birthday!!

It even precipitated a few flakes of snow!

Ashlin loves her Aunt Lala

Halloween 2010

As I was downloading a bunch of pics (you will see shortly) I came across some I had missed from Halloween this past year!  Here is Mary, Katie (my niece), and Ashlin in their Haloween costumes!

 

2010 - Year of the Rollercoaster!

This year was definitely a year with ups and downs.  I will look back on this year as probably one of the most challenging of my lifetime (at least I hope it is). Here is a recap! 

• January - Mary in hospital with pneumonia.  
• February - Move into new house.  
• April - Celebrate my grandmothers 80th birthday and the birth of my cousins baby.  
• May - Ashlin and Katie (niece) are born.  
• June - My cousin gets married and Kevin's doctor decides he needs to have a biopsy on his prostated.  July - We find out Kevin has prostate cancer.  
• August - My parents 40th anniversary and Kevin has a radical prostatectomy.  
• September - After an 8 year battle my uncle passes away from prostate cancer.  
• October - My grandparents celebrate their 61st anniversary, My father turns 60, we find out that Kevin also has kidney cancer and that they did not remove all the prostate cancer (which is why they found the kidney cancer).   Kevin's father and brother come from Ireland to visit.  Mary turns 2!   
• November - Our month at MD Anderson.  Kevin has 1/3 of his kidney removed and they are able to get all the kidney cancer. My grandmother gets a pacemaker and my grandfather is diagnosed with lung cancer.  
• December - My mother turns 60!  My grandfather is moved to hospice after a three week stay in the hospital.  

Yesterday, January 1, 2011 my grandfather passed away.  He would have been 84 in February. 

Pepa with Mary, November 2008

I am praying that 2011 will be a much less eventful year.  Kevin will spend the first 2 months undergoing radiation therapy for his prostate cancer and will hopefully be cancer free by March.  Hopefully the rest of this coming year will be filled with great experiences with our two beautiful daughters!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving... is Over!

My sister and her husband came to Midland over Thanksgiving, but it the holiday did not quite go as planned.  Laura got the tummy bug Thanksgiving morning about 4:00 am, so she missed the big meal at my grandmothers.  Her husband started feeling ill during the meal, and had to leave, thanks to the tummy bug.  My parents came over to my house and we watched the Aggie vs. tu game while we put up my Christmas tree!  That part was great, especially with an Aggie win! WHOOP!!!  

The next morning my sister (who was feeling better) and my parents came back over for breakfast and we decorated the tree.  That night we all went to eat at my Aunt Linda's, where we had dinner with my two cousins and their four children(combined).  So 7 kids 4 and under!  We had a great meal and went home to go to sleep.  

Saturday morning we woke up and went to my grandmother's house for breakfast and to help her get her tree up and decorated.  Did I mention that she got a pacemaker 2 days before Thanksgiving?  Anyway, she needed our help!  So we put up her tree.  Then my sister and I took Katie (her baby) and Mary to a birthday party.  We decided to let Ashlin go play with Janie and Mema.  After the birthday party and a long nap (desperately needed) we went to my Aunt Nancy's for another birthday party!  My sister was turning 30 that day!  So another full family function with 20 something people!  For some reason we thought this would be a good time to try and take a picture of all three grandkids in their matching HO HO HO outfits.  Below are the best shots we could come up with.  Mary was so hyper and excited (2 parties = 2 cake and ice creams = crazy kids) and Katie was just a bit fussy.  Ashlin, who was getting in her first teeth was an angel and just smiled no matter what (I love that laid back girl!).  

That night I started feeling nauseous.  I decided to go to bed early and hoped it would pass.  However, I woke up at 3:00 am with the tummy bug.  At 6:00 in the morning I called my daddy because I knew I couldn't be around the girls and Kevin couldn't lift them because of his recent surgery (I'll post more on that at another time).  My father answered the phone and said that he too was sick!  He sent my mom to my house to get the babies.  I spent all day Sunday sleeping off the bug, instead of trying to get ready for school on Monday.  

Unfortunately we were not the only ones to get hit with the bug.  Since Saturday my uncle, my cousin, John's cousins daughter, my other cousin and her son, daughter, and husband, and another cousin and her daughter have also come down with the bug!!  That is 13 people!  It must be really contagious!  I doubt we all had the same one, but you never know.  Thankfully my girls and Kevin have not had it.  I have tried to sterilize anything and everything in my house!  I am hoping for a much more uneventful Christmas! 

 My Niece Katie!

 Ashlin and Katie

All three Angels!

My Silly Mary

Mary keeps us constantly entertained!  She is always saying something funny (there is nothing she can't say) or doing something silly that is making Ashlin giggle!  I find it so amazing to watch how her mind works!  She loves doing jigsaw puzzles and will spend hours working to make each piece fit. 

Recently we have started talking to her about Christmas.  Here are a few of the cute things she has told us:

Mary - Mommy, Santa Claus is coming to town!
Me - He is, what is he going to do?
Mary - Bring toys.
Me - Who is he bringing toys to?
Mary - Mary (duh!) and Ashlin
Me - What about Mommy and Daddy, do they get toys?
Mary - NO.

I am also trying to make sure that we talk about the real meaning of Christmas.  The other night we read a book based on the song, O Little Town of Bethlehem, and she told me baby Jesus was a baby angel :)  

She has also been learning some new phrases at day care!  The other day she was sitting next to me on the couch and I put my arm around her.  She said, "Mommy, keep your hands to yourself!"  Last night when we were reading a book, Ashlin (who is trying to grab anything and everything) tried to grab her book.  Mary shoved Ashlin's hands away and said"DON'T TOUCH!"  This lead to a discussion on sharing...