Lucy Katherine Willis is HERE!!!

She is here!!! Lucy Katherine Willis arrived on January 30, 2012, in Auburn, AL.  She is a tiny little bundle of all things great!!!! I can't wait to get my hands on her, but for now these pictures will have to do!

We are planning on going down Presidents' Day weekend to get all of our lovin' in!!! This is killing me not to be there since it is the first birth of a niece or nephew that I have missed - boo, work!  Oh well, I am coming soon!

It's That Time Again!!!

We are finding ourselves at the ball park already.  Carter is not playing yet, but the FHU Lions are.  We are sad that this is the last year we will get to see many of our boys play (especially Hunter), but we are trying not to focus on that yet!  I am sure we will be spending MANY hours out here this spring!

Come With Me . . . and You'll See . . .

We enjoyed Laura Beth's book club so much the other night.  We have not met since the first of November because of the holidays, so we chose a longer book for the girls to read, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  I had a great time planning this one, but wish I had had a little more time (and energy) to put into this one.  I had ideas brimming over!!!!  Here is a look at the night . . .

I used odds and ends from party supplies in the party supply closet to create the table.  I thought it turned out so cute.  The girls LOVED the different colors of plates, napkins and silverware.  Each place also had a box of Wonka candy (of course) and Fizzy Lifting Drink (which actually isn't in the book but HAD to have it!) - aka Sierra Mist.

No Wonka party is complete without candy EVERYWHERE!!!! I used ice cream sundae dishes that were filled with Nerds, Gobstoppers, and Sweet Tarts.  In each dish were Wonka (or Ronald Dahl) quotes that I loved.

 Vases filled with Wonka candy also graced the table.

The girls and the table

For our menu, I wanted to get as close to Wonka world as possible, so we had a fondue night.  Cherri was a great help with the food for the night. Here she is explaining to the girls what would take place.

Wonka Menu

Cheese Fondue

Served with:

French Bread cubes, broccoli, carrots,

pretzel rods and apple slices

Chocolate Fondue
(Grease pot with butter. Add 6 oz. of choc. chips and 1 cup of marshmallows and 2 tbsp of milk. 
Heat until melted on med-low heat. Stir constantly to make sure it does not burn on the bottom. 
When it is melted, add 1/3 cup whipping cream.)

Served with:

pretzel rods, apple slices, bananas,

marshmallows, and brownies

Fizzy Lifting Drinks


We had a wonderful, magical night filled with sweetness on EVERY level.
We are excited about our next book that takes us to Paris!
The Family Under the Bridge

Happy Birthday to YOU - times two!

To say we love our college kids is a MAJOR understatement!! We love celebrating with them in any form or fashion.  This celebration was brought about by TWO birthdays within weeks of each other.  Being such wonderful friends and roommates, they decided to share their birthday dinner together - Thank you, girls!!!!

Anyways, Hayley and Amber invited some of their friends over for a Friday night full of Mexican foods,  Just Dance and basketball (which I am sure they are sick of since they came from basketball practice).  Carter was NOT thrilled with it being an all girl night (Damon was even gone), but wound up declaring it "not that bad."

My sweet birthday girls - Amber and Hayley

My precious girls!

Carter "gave" Amber his Kobe jersey - she got it on, but
almost had to keep it on!!!!!

LOVE!

Carter and Cynthia representing blue shirts -
Cynthia's being Kentucky -
Carter's being as close to Kentucky as he will EVER get!

Thanks for coming over, girls!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

HAYLEY and AMBER!!!

We love you!

Bring It On: LSU/BAMA Edition

How lucky are we?  Our principal is a HUGE Bama fan and so for the National Championship game, we got to wear jeans to school!!!! (a very big deal)  Now, I am team teaching this year with Jill - who is great, but she is an LSU fan (for those of you who don't know - I am a BAMA fan).  We have already had one go at it this year and got to have another.  She got some girls on her side and I had my crew.  We took these pics before school that morning, and I just love them!!!  We really were nice to each other!

FRIENDS - despite the shirts! 

Just BRING IT!!!!

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!!

I was a good winner and wore my houndstooth with pride

for the rest of the week!

They're Baaaccckkk!!!!!!!

Jessica and Anna Catherine (along with their parents) took off for a few months on a European semester abroad.  We missed them oh so much, so when they came back, we planned a "Welcome Home" dinner for them!

The day they came home we HAD to go over to see them.
The kids sporting SOME of the souvenirs they brought back for them.

My friend, Jennifer Hart, designed all the paper decorations you see for our Night in Paris theme.  I thought it was just the right touch. 

I found 2 Eiffel Towers at Hobby Lobby that turn into
photo holders to use as our centerpieces.
At JoAnn's I found a slew of Paris inspired products that I got for the girls to take home
with them (as well as the Eiffel Towers).

We dined on chicken and rice, green beans, salad, and southern sweet tea! It was so great to be with the girls again.  We are thankful they had this chance to go, but are so glad they are back in our world again!
I hate that I don't have any more pictures.  BOTH of my cameras died Christmas morning, so I am struggling in more than one way without a camera at the moment.

Getting My Life Back In Order

Many of you may not realize that I was hired as a new third grade teacher 1 week or so into the school year this past August.  One reason I am SO behind on my blogging.  Needless to say, the whole house has been thrown into a tizzy.  I have felt like I have been running 2 weeks behind since August and the house - bless the house - has taken a HUGE hit.  So, over Christmas I tried to get some things back in order.  I made this board to help with meals, schedules and notes.  I found a bulletin board (in the clearance section at Wal-Mart - score!) and covered it with wrapping paper.  I mod-podged clothespins with scrapbook paper to make my kitchen and made days of the week labels with my cricut and my Creative Memories circle punch.  I glued the days of the week to the clothespins and then glued the clothespins to the board.  The cards hooked to the clothespins hold an index card that tells us what each child is having for lunch at school each day as well as what is for supper that night.  I use one card for 2 weeks - front one week; back, the next.

I just pinned the calendar to the bottom of the board and, since then, I have pinned all kinds of notes to it as well.  It is working so well, and I love having it all together in the kitchen where we are so much of the time!!!  YAY for OCDness!!!!! Can't wait to see what else I can come up with!!!

Family Faces During Christmas

This would be LB's bike helmet.

So This Is Christmas . . .

What a Christmas we had this year!!  We enjoyed the WHOLE family being at Mom and Dad's for the big morning.  Santa did come for Walker . . .

for LB . . .

for Carter . . .

The kids enjoyed playing with all their gifts throughout the morning and the day.

The reaction to getting the Boys II Men CD for Christmas!
Yes, we are raising our kids RIGHT!!!!

The best present ever - I don't think this hat has left her head.
Seriously!

I LOVE this picture of Damon and Carter looking at baseball cards that were
in Carter's stocking.
Like Father . . . Like Son  . . .

Walker loved my Coca-Cola tin!

What 8 year old gets excited about a suit?
MINE!!!!

We had a great Christmas! We are most blessed beyond measure!

My Favorite Night of the Year

Twas the Night Before Christmas . . .

and the story needed to be read . . .

stockings placed with care . . .

and treats left for the Big Man himself!!

(with the carrots for the reindeer!)

I love Christmas Eve! This year we ALL stayed over at Mom and Dad's since Richard, Amy and Walker were in town.  It was fun to have the cousins all together for the big morning, and it was fun to be with the brothers as well!!!!