Budding Artist

Ali has been taking an art class this year, and she LOVES it!  It's not just a home school crafting class (which would be a waste of time, in my opinion.)  These classes are taught by an artist, who has her own studio and is very talented.  The bonus is that the classes are only $5 a piece!  The down side is that we have to drive to The-middle-of-nowhere, MO for them, but in my mind, it is well worth it.  Ali has also met a friend (Alura) there and they have really hit it off.  They have tons in common making art class is the highlight of Ali's week.

In December Ali decided to enter her art teacher's holiday art show.  She submitted four pieces.  Her art teacher wasn't sure which category she was going to put her in (intermediate or advanced) and we didn't have time to actually attend the art show.  A few weeks ago we were notified that she took second place, but we didn't know which piece had won, and in which category.

Yesterday was her first art class of the semester, and she got her big news.  Her "big" piece (she worked on it forever!) had won in the ADVANCED category!  She is super excited!

(Yes, her name is spelled wrong.)

We are so proud of our little artist!

Week One is in the Books!

Our first semester of the 2012-2013 school year sucked.  That's the truth of it.  We had lots of abnormal circumstances and we had to flex a lot.  It just made it really difficult.

THANKFULLY, our first week of the 2nd semester is now over and it was a really good week.  Not crazy, structured, we can never maintain this kind of good.  Just normal good.  Yes, that elusive normal.  Everything got done, the house was in pretty good shape, etc . . .  It felt great!

ALSO . . . I am excited to report that we have decided to take a road trip for spring break!  We are heading out to Phoenix to visit Aaron's grandparents.  We are SUPER excited to see them!  We are also excited to see a part of the country that we have never seen.  (With the exception of Aaron, and he was pretty young.)  In addition to Phoenix, we will also visit the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert, Grand Canyon, Four Corners, and Hoover Dam.  There are about a million other things that I want to see, but time and money are limited.  I keep thinking, "We're not THAT far from San Diego" or "Hmmm  . . . how can we fit White Sands into our itinerary?"  : )  But I am very thankful for all that we get to see.  Only two months away!

Back to Braces!

My beautiful young lady is back to braces! : )  She is doing a two phase treatment, and this is the beginning of phase two.  Her first set of braces was put on when she was 9:

I can't believe how little she was!!

Last night we "celebrated" by have a pre-braces feast!  Hard shell tacos, almonds, beef jerky, popcorn, Milk Duds and Starburst.  Fun times!  Overall, she is excited to get her teeth straight, but not excited about all of the food restrictions.

Happy New Year!

It was so great to be able to be with old friends to ring in the New Year!  This is a long standing tradition of ours, but this year we had to travel to do it.  In November the Alligoods moved to Peoria, IL.  We were sad to see them go, but it sure is fun to stretch our New Year's celebration out over 3 days!

Fellowship Bible Church has a long standing tradition of celebrating together on New Year's Eve.  Ummm . . . conflict?? : )  No biggie.  Jason & Aaron took the kiddos to the FBC bowling party and Amber and I got to stay home and enjoy some uninterrupted girl time!  (That's my favorite!)  For dinner, we all enjoyed a chili supper at FBC, including a game of Pictionary.  We got home around 9ish, put the Littles to bed, then carried on with our usual celebration. Yummy food, Trivial Pursuit, Scene It with the kids and a LATE night!

The "Biggles" ringing in the New Year with some sparkling grape juice!

Love them!

We've been taking this picture since they were ten.  What a hoot!

Silly Emma & Karis

Can you tell that we are exhausted??  Amber had a strict "No unnecessary sleep" rule.  We were determined to not waste a single minute.  Sleep would have to wait!  Needless to say, the first thing I did once we got home was take a four hour nap!

Happy New Year!

Christmas 2012 Recap

I'm really bad at remembering to bring my camera to all of our Christmas celebrations!  The sad thing is that I have a small camera that I affectionately call my "purse camera."  The idea is that I will always have a camera with me . . . but it is rarely in my purse.  : )  Oh well, here is what I have for this year!

Our first Christmas is with our immediate family.  We celebrate on Christmas Eve, and I LOVE it!  I love staying at home, hanging out as a family, staying in my jammies all day long.  It's my kind of Christmas!  

Bella even joined them in the picture!

The first present that was opened was from Aunt Sandy!  She passed down a ton of Leanna's old American Girl stuff and they LOVE it!

Here they are, getting ready to start in on other presents.  After this, I put the camera away.  I wanted to enjoy watching them without having a camera in front of my face ; )

On Christmas we were with my parents.  My Grandparents and my cousin, Katrina came down from Wisconsin this year.  It was great to see them, but I have NO pictures.  (I might be able to snag a few from my mom though!)

On the 26th, we were home in the morning, then celebrated the House family Christmas in the evening.  Again, no pictures.  We were SO thankful this year because Grandma House was having a really good day.  She even saw Aaron, hugged him and called him by name (that's a HUGE deal these days!)  So, that was quite a Christmas treat!

On the 27th, we celebrated the Patton family Christmas with Aaron's parents and siblings.  We enjoyed brunch together, then opened gifts.  Nice and relaxed.  And of course, I have no pictures.

On the 28th we were able to just be at home, which was great.  We took down Christmas decorations and started thinking towards our trip to Peoria.

On the 29th, we hit the road!  (More on this trip later). That evening we did our "Pattigood" Christmas and I DID have my camera! 

Emma opening her gift from Karis.  Matching BFF necklaces!

Ali scored big time from Mrs. Alligood's yarn stash!  Tons of super cute yarn!  That will keep her crochet hook plenty busy for a long time : )

I'm not sure whose children these are.  I made "BFF" t-shirts for them this year.  (FYI:  "The BFFs" is the name of their "band")  Aubrey got the socks for Christmas this year and very graciously shared them with her friends.  They also decided to "dress up" with their interesting choice of pants.

And Christmas wouldn't be complete without a silly picture. : )

I hope that you all had a great Christmas!