Valentines 2012 * Stricklin Style

Happy Valentines Day!

This year the kids came up with the menu and decorations.

We made it for lunch, since Randy is able to join us most days for lunch.

Ansley made the white chocolate layer cake with strawberry icing.

Judson chopped up strawberries.  (after all, he does have his whittling chip from scouts)

Turner made the lemonade for strawberry lemonade.

Sawyer helped supervise, taste test, and set the table.

Mom made the spaghetti as well as the shrimp scampi.

Dad fixed the tea.

So it was a family affair.

The kids loved it.

We ate off of the good china

And tried to use our good manners.

(some more successful than others)

And what would Valentines be without a little bling.

They each got a dog tag with their name and phone number printed on it.

Ya Know What's Curious?

Sometimes you just gotta get away, 

even if it is up on top of Mom's frig.

When you are old, you can get away with such things.

She used to get shot with a water gun when she did such things.

Now, not so much.

Give a Boy a Chicken Leg

And he'll gnaw it down to the marrow and ask for a 2nd one!

(Btw...J will not eat meat.   T will only eat ground meat.)

Week In Review

So, what did we do this week????

Play date with new friends.
Home School.  (finished day 113 of 180-we are on the down hill slide!)
OT for Sawyer
Speech for Sawyer
Well Visit for Ansley.  Grew 3 inches and gained 5 pounds this year.
Saturday School for Judson

Sewing

Thankfully, Ansley is not too picky about Mom's sewing expertise.

Mommy-Son, Daddy-Daughter Date Night.

Daddy-Ansley went to Chickfila Annual Daddy-Daughter date night.
I took the boys to try out a new restaurant in town.
Both dates were a success!
 
Lots of outside play because it's February and 60 degrees!

 No, it's really not that cold out.
However, Ansley's signature color is PINK.
So, she found everything she could that was pink and wore it!
Don't be hating because you don't have a pink hat like that!

Things We Are Doing

So, I've been slacking.  Not on purpose.  It's just been busy getting back into the swing of things.

Sawyer has O.T. and Speech, weekly.
Ansley and Judson are doing gymnastics.
Plus, home schooling, doctor's appts, scouts, Saturday school, dentist appts, etc.
I'm also working on a few sewing projects. 

I don't have many pictures.  Why?  Because I'm a LOSER.

Took the kids to Yellow River Game Ranch.  By.My.Self.   Took our friend Luyushu, too.  So you will forgive me when I tell you I left the camera in my front seat.  I did not lose any kids though.  Major accomplishment since the place was packed because it was $1 day.

I did take one picture when they got home.  You will see they have their backs to me.  Our friend Luyushu is doing pretty well considering all she's been through over the past year.  A bit sad.  A bit less exuberant/bubbly. 

Here's another picture of Little T.  Notice the hat.  It was a gift from Santa.  He never takes it off.  Even sleeps in it.  It's his Ethiopian hat because it has the same colors as the Ethiopian flag.

Sawyer received an Elmo hat (SO CUTE) from Santa.  (don't have a picture though)  Suffice to say, he wears it a lot also.  Anytime we go out, he has to have it.   Never mind the temps around here hover around 60 these days, we have to hunt the hat down before we can leave the house.   Thank you Santa for shopping at Rosey Posey!

So, we aren't sick or boycotting blogger.  We are just busy.  Maybe February will bring some more pictures!

It's About Time!

Yeah..I know I've been slacking.  But really, I've been 'in the mix' so much, I haven't had time to take many pictures.  This weekend was a picture weekend!  Hooray!!!! 

Randy took Judson and his cousin Abigayle to the NASA Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. They went with a group from Judson's scout pack. 

(I Stayed home with the other 3 and took ZERO pictures)

There were rockets, capsules, and other space stuffs.

They also watched an IMAX movie (or 2) and built and launched

their own rockets and rode a few rides/simulations. 

(Yes, I know I'm being vague.  They are too tired to give me clarification.)

They spent the night onsite also.

I think I'm safe in saying, "A Good Time Was Had by All".

As for me and the 3 littles, we had a good time also.

We made a trip to Walmart.  

I took them out to eat at Applebee's where Sawyer pointed out he was using his good table manners.

We played Ants In  Your Pants.

And Ansley had her "Every time Dad is gone, I'm going to push Mom to her limits" moment.

It was not the worst she has had but I sure wish she'd just 'outgrow' them.

Tomorrow?

Yellow River Game Ranch.

Maybe even a few pictures.

So You Think You Can Dance?

Yeah, well.  

Anyone who went to weddings with Randy during the nineties and early 2000's, know that isn't true.  He has a gumby-ish style of dancing.  It's quite fun to watch and even dance with him because then people hardly even notice how bad a dancer you might be.  

(I mean, if I were a bad dancer it would be nice.  But I'm not.  OKAY, enough already.  I'm horrible.  But we aren't talking about me)

Tonight was the Girl Scout Father-Daughter dance.

Ansley was pretty excited about it.

I even think Randy was pretty pumped about it.

Ansley wore a new dress in her signature color.

We painted her nails in the same color.

Fixed her hair.

Dad found a suit coat and tie he hadn't worn since the last wedding he went to in forever ago.

And away they went.

I hope they have a great time!

Sawyer's first words when he saw Ansley in her dress:

"You look like a princess"

When he saw Randy: 

"Look at you!  Nice."

Happy Birthday to my little girl.

Every Mother has one.  The child that pushes you to your limits.  The child that makes you think you are a terrible mother but in the end will make you a better mom.  This is that child.  

She pushes.  She pulls.  

She never lets up.

Every day I feel myself growing as a result.

In spite of it all, she is an amazing little girl.

Artistic (just like her middle name predicted), 

smart, funny, beautiful.

 No, we didn't have cupcakes for breakfast.

She stayed in her pj's all day.

You can do that when you home school.

Happy Birthday, Pooh!  

We Love You.

WHEW....We're back!

So we made the trip to Tennessee this year.  400 miles, one way.   This year, we did it in the DRIVING RAIN.  Ever been over Mount Eagle Mountain?   In the rain? Yeah...lots of rain and fog.  So, not fun.

Buuut....when we FINALLY made it, we had a great time.  Visiting with family for 5 days.  Our annual Christmas Eve party had about 40 people. (all related somehow or another)  Lots and lots of kids.  Love Christmas even more when there are kids involved!

We had our annual visit from S.C.  Ansley is pretty sure she knows who was in the Santa suit. All but one child was willing to sit on Santa's lap.  Sawyer LOVED Santa.  He could not get enough of SC.  He did pretty good about giving everyone their turn but he would have loved to sit in Santa's lap for the whole night.

Then, of course, we had Christmas morning and Christmas with my Dad on Christmas Day.  Yet, I was so busy playing with toys, etc I didn't get many pics.

All I can say is "There's nothing better than seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child"

A Song for the Holidays!

Oh the Fun We Had!!!

From the Santa Cow, to hiking, to eating, and most of all spending time with family, it was a very busy and exciting and wonder filled weekend.   LOVED IT!

We put up the aluminum tree.

It's older than I am and I'm way older than dirt!

Notice the color wheel.

The kids and I made 'white trash' because we just haven't eaten enough this month.

*Had a video of the kids singing Rudolf but it won't load right now*

Judson, Randy, Uncle Troy and Cousin CJ walked up Stone Mountain.

We also got to meet Santa Cow and his Elf and make ginger bread houses!!!!

More Baking

Only this time, it was the guys.  Randy, Judson and Sawyer had to make something for the Dad-n-Lad bake off for scouts.  

First, Dad and Sawyer made P-nut butter cookies with P-nut butter cups in the middle.

The finished product!

Then Judson and Dad made their world famous Rolo-Pecan Delights which Dad renamed Pretzel-Rolo-Pecan Napoleons because he watches Food Network and he knows all those technical names and such.

The finished product.

Then Mom went against her will happily to take pictures.

Some of the more notable entries.

Christmas is for Baking

This is our week for baking.  Yesterday was Ansley's turn.  She had to make a plain white cake for her Daisy troop.  Each girl could choose from 3 recipes:  Banana bread; Blueberry muffins; Plain white cake.  Ansley did had to do everything by herself.  (measuring, mixing, sifting, etc)  The only thing I could do was place the cake in the oven and take it out. 

We had practiced making the cake twice before with Mommy helping.  She did everything today.   She did really well. 

I went to pick her up.  Her first comments:  "Mom!   I didn't win but I sure had fun!!!"

Works for me.

Redneck Christmas

Complete with stuffed deer in the background.

Target shooting.

(if you are looking for cheap fun, this fit the bill.  They had a lot of things for the kids (big and little) to do that were free.)

We finished up our outing with a burger at Johnny Rockets!

The kids had a great time.

Do You See What I See?

She is 14 years old.  She loves her tree.

Now, you might 'see' that a 4 year old is doing math.

I see a 4 year old's handwriting is very legible.

That was not the case even 6 months ago.  

He could not hold his pencil with enough grip/strength to make a character that you could see,

Much less distinguish.

As for doing the math,

I fully believe most (if not all)

kids are able to achieve this kind of result.

His oldest brother was doing it at 2.

His sister was doing it at 4-5 year old range.

His brother with Down syndrome(age 7) is doing it.

Let me tell you, it ain't the teacher.

It's a little bit of one-on-one time and a lot of sibling rivalry.

Yay for December!!

Lots of exciting things to do:

1.   Delivering Scout Popcorn

2.  Christmas Parade

3.  Putting up Christmas decorations!
  A work in progress.  Pics to follow.

4.  Homework.   (School must go on)

5.  This week we hope to see Santa!!!!