Only Hannah....

Would refuse to take her sunglasses off...IN THE BATHTUB!

Ice...what Ice?

We survived the ice storm...sometimes I was questioning whether we would or not, but we did.

We were without power from Tuesday until Saturday night. Emma thought it was fun to sleep all together in the living room in front of the fire. I did not. Emma and Hannah thought it was fun to play Candyland 5 gazillion times. Travis and I did not.

(We are investing heavily in new board games for times of crisis.)

(Candyland, Memory and Hi Ho Cherry-O do not suffice.)

This ice storm was like camping...I hate camping...I don't voluntarily go camping.

Now that I have that part out of the way, here are some pictures of our yard covered in ice.

Here are some pictures of what we did while waiting out the storm. We had electricity for the first 4 hours, which is why the girls are playing the Wii.

No Power

I just have time for a quick update before my laptop battery dies.

We have been without power due to the ice storm in NWA since Tuesday. We are lucky though. We have a wood burning stove and have been able to stay warm and cook soup. We also have a gas hot water heater and are able to bathe and wash dishes (that's what I have been most excited about!).

The girls are restless and ready for the electricity to come back on, but we have been playing games and jumping off furniture to get some of the crazies out. I am restless too, but Travis tells me I have to be an adult and NOT jump on the beds, (he's no fun!).

I have tons of pictures and will post them soon. We will probably be with out power until Saturday at least. Our neighborhood was full of beautiful 30 year old oak trees...the operative word being WAS...

We are all warm and safe, but please keep those in your prayers that are not as fortunate as we are. I will be back posting soon!

Apparently NOT!

I haven't posted any of these in a LONG time, but man...we have had some "Emma moments". I am going to post these more often. But, enjoy!


Scene: Travis and I talking to each other...NOT EMMA.

Travis: I am going to start getting up and cooking breakfast for you girls in the morning.
Boni: Wow, you are going to have to get up early.
Travis: Yeah...but...I don't know if I will be able to get up that early.
Emma: Apparently NOT...or we would have hot breakfast this morning!


I was laughing to hard!


Oh Em's....like your mother....unspoken thoughts are NOT your strong suit!

Baby Shower

Lauren, Megan and I threw Meredith a baby shower a few weekends ago. We are all so excited for Reece to make his entry into the world, but he still has a few more weeks.

I don't have many pictures at all as I was trying to write down all the wonderful gift Meredith got. I am very proud of the rocking chair that I gave her for Reece's room. I wish I could take credit for it, but once again I was rescued from my creative side. Amanda from Bibs and Cribs made a wonderful chair for Reece. It will be PERFECT in his new room.

(If you haven't checked it out yet, head over to bibs and cribs to see just how talented she is!)

I don't have a picture of the chair, but Mer has it on her camera. I will post it...I am not promising soon, but I will post it! :)

I am so excited for Meredith and ME as this will be the first baby boy edition to our group!

Not only did we have a great shower, but this is the first time in over a year (since Meredith's wedding) that all five of us girls, pictured below, have been together. We always have a blast!

Stay tuned for more on baby Reece in the coming weeks!

Christmas 2008

So, I live by the mantra "Better Late than Never". That being said, below is a recap of our Christmas escapades! Enjoy!

The weekend before Christmas we went to Hot Springs for a Burton Family Christmas. We go every year and get together with all my dad's siblings, my grandparents and my cousins to have one fun-filled Christmas party. It's always tons of fun playing Wii, Phase 10 and dirty Santa. We also had tons of family fun at Garvan Gardens to see the MILLIONS of lights!

Christmas Eve and Day is always spent with just the 4 of us. We have our own traditions of making candy and cookies as well as other various activities to help our girls understand the true meaning of Christmas. (and yes, there is present opening included!)

Christmas afternoon, my parents came up and I hosted my first ever Christmas! We had steak, potatoes and salad for dinner (thanks, mom and dad) and enjoyed tons of togetherness. It was great! I only took this one picture of Daddy Brooks and Hannah...nice hair bow Daddy Brooks!

Saturday after Christmas, we went to Travis's mom's to spend time with his mom and company. We had a blast playing Guitar Hero and tons of other Wii games. It was wonderful spending time with everyone.



This past weekend, we headed to DeQueen to spend time with Travis's dad and the rest of the family. We had so much fun playing outside and letting the girls hang out with Travis's Mimi (their great-grandmother). My camera battery was dead, so I have no pictures to document the fun.

So, there you have the abbreviated version of our Christmas. We are very blessed to get to spend so much time with all of our family throughout the holiday season. And trust me...ours was filled with food, family, fun and love!

Hannah...future model?

OH Hannah....

Last night, I was taking pictures of Emma before her program and I wanted to take some of Hannah.

Here is Hannah's new smile...what am I going to do with her?

Then, I thought I would try to get some of them together. This is what I got...

Is Emma hugging her to trying to choke her?

Sick and tired of pictures

What is the world am I going to do with her? If you haven't gotten our Christmas card yet, now you know why!

Emma's Christmas Program

Last night, Emma had a Christmas program at school. It was quite the spectacle. All ages from 2 through Pre-K came out and sang two songs.

Emma sang very loud and proud. If you can get through the beginning of the video, she has a small solo at the end. She did a wonderful job and we are so proud of her!

Branson

This weekend, we took the girls to Branson to visit Silver Dollar City (or as Travis and I refer to it "Redneck Vegas"). Both of them are obsessed with Christmas lights and this was the perfect place for them.

Hannah stayed in her stroller most of the time as it was SUPER cold. Emma had fun riding the rides. The best thing we did was go on the Train through the woods and hear about the Christmas Story. The ride was wonderful and the girls loved it, despite the 1 1/2 hour wait.

As we were leaving the park, the big Christmas tree on Main Street was doing a light show. It was so neat. There is a picture below of Travis and the girls...they were in awe!

We were so busy the whole time we were there, I didn't take many pictures. But, we had a blast and are already planning to go back this summer.

Slacker

So, I have been a blogging slacker lately. We have been so busy that I have had very little time to post.

Since I keep this as a record of what our family is doing, I am going to catch up.

Thanksgiving was nice. As usual, we spent it in Hot Springs, ate too much and played way too many Wii bowling games. Unfortunately, Travis's grandpa passed away. So, he and I went to the funeral on Saturday.

We got our Christmas tree put up and all the decorations up. It looks so pretty. I am hosting Christmas for my side of the family this year at my house. This will be the first time EVER! I am really excited, but want everything to be perfect. (fingers crossed!)

Emma is getting ready for her Christmas program at school. She is doing great and has been the star student TWICE in the past month. We are SO proud of her!

Hannah is fast approaching two years old. As most of you know, with that come pushing the boundries to see just what she can get away with. She is so stubborn and strong-willed. We love that about her, but it does get her into trouble.

Since it is the the Holiday Season, I am sure I will have many posts with tons of pictures. I will leave you with these of the girls playing outside! ENJOY!