What a Wonderful Christmas Day!

I finally lost the battle this year! All three boys got a "plastic" gun for Christmas! I am pretty sure these are their favorite gift.

Getting my baby fix with my sweet Nephew Luke. Isn't he adorable?

My grandparents cat had kittens. They boys and my Pepo are watching them outside the window.

Here is Don opening up her yearly Calendar. She has been getting this same Calendar each for as long as I can remember.

Clay's first Bike!! He was so EXCITED! He had to take it outside, in the freezing cold, and start riding it. It was so great to him so happy.

It has been a wonderful day and it is only 3:30pm. Richard and Caleb are sleeping. Clay is watching the movie, Bolt. My parents are working hard on Christmas dinner. It has been such a great day. I love my family very much.

Merry Christmas!

Twas the Night before Christmas

Opening a little early

Santa's little helpers

A Family Tradition

The Cousins

It has been a wonderful day.

We started off having a wonderful breakfast and opening presents at Richard's parents house. It was a great time and The Binns' did way too much for us.

We then headed through crazy amounts of rain to NEAR. The highway had several flooded areas. It was a bit scary. Firetrucks and rescue workers were on hand to help those in need.

We were grateful to make it to Paragould for dinner at my Grandparents house. It was another great time.

After lunch, Richard and I had to make a quick stop in Walmart for a couple of last minute items, and then we headed to my parents house to get ready for Christmas Eve Service at my church.

It was a wonderful service. I love hearing the story of Jesus' birth. What a remarkable blessing. Our pastor read from the book of Luke which I am used to this time of year, but he also read from John 1. I loved verse 14 which says, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." (NIV) This is time of year when we celebrate that Word. How awesome that is! I had just never really thought about looking at the book of John before.

After church we got to spend some time with my nephew Luke and his Mom, my sister-in-law Laura, and Dad, my brother Brock. Later tonight, the boys and my Dad continued the family tradition of baking and decorating Christmas cookies. They had a great time.

It was time to put the boys to bed. They went down quite easily because they were so excited about Tomorrow. I want them to enjoy the presents, but most importantly, I want them to understand the greatest present of all - Jesus Christ. I know tomorrow is going to be a wonderful day.

Good Night and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Fun December Moments

Clay - a shepherd in his school play. He was so excited! It was so precious so see these 3 and 4 year-olds reenacting the birth of baby Jesus. It really touched my heart.

We were at Chucky Cheese's last night, and we noticed Caleb spending a lot of time at the ticket exchange machine. We discovered he loved the sound of the machine chomping away the tickets. The funny thing - he didn't push the button that gives you the receipt for how many tickets you turned in. He thought it was just another game :) Someone got really lucky after Caleb spend time at those machines :)

While babysitting Faith the other night, she appeared with a bright pink face! She had gotten into the magic markers. Doesn't she look happy about her new face color!

The boys with Santa. Clay went outside after the pictures to watch Santa fly away. He was a bit disappointed he didn't get to see the reindeer.

Danielle, Shelli, Rachel, Sarah, and myself reuniting for our annual Christmas get together. (Sabrina - so sorry you missed our photo opp). It was a wonderful night of catching up. I just love these girls. They mean so much to me!

I cannot believe it is only 7 days 'til Christmas. So many fun memories of this season already. I look forward to seeing what the rest of December holds.

Blessings!

Pajama Time

It's Pajama Time!

Nestled All Snug in Their Bed

It has been such fun on our trip this year. I love how well the cousins have gotten along. They have jumped on their beds, played in their closet, played cars, built Lego houses, and played hide and go seek! They are just adorable. I am going to miss watching them together.

*Kristy did a great job making all the plans and reservations. Amazing!!

*Mimi worked hard making all the meals. Yummy!! She is such an amazing cook.

*Zack was an amazing baby rocker! Thanks Bah Bah.

*Richard and Reagan were great wrestlers. I heard a lot of crys for "MOMMA!"

I pretty much sat back and enjoyed the ride. It was a great weekend.

Take time today to appreciate your family and tell them how much you love them!

Branson Here we Come!

Dixie Stampede Feb. 2009

Caleb - still in Diapers

Let me out Caleb!

Today we leave for our Annual "Binns Family Vacation" trip to Branson. It is hard to believe how much our family has changed since our last trip.

*Caleb is speaking in sentence and no longer wears diapers.

*Byron is potty training and has had some great success.

*Clay can count to 20, recognize some words, and played his first sport - soccer this year.

*Clay is no longer on his Asthma treatments - Praise the Lord.

*We have a new addition to the family - Baby Carter. - Yippee!!

*Reagan and Elizabeth lost over 20 pounds each and they look wonderful!!

*Richard and I found their 20 pounds! Yikes!

*Kristy and Reagan moved to Fayetteville.

*Caleb is now eating in a big boy chair all by him self.

*Clay and Caleb can dress themselves and put on their shoes "all by themselves"

*I finished my first manuscript.

*Richard got to join his companies Leadership Team. Way to Go Babe!

*Clay pretty much gave up napping :(

*Caleb developed an opinion of his own :)

*My love for my family grew more and more each day!

I am really excited about this weekends trip. I know it will be so fun and I can't wait to see what changes happen by this time next year.

Seasons Greetings!

This is what I call Camping!

This morning, Clay asked me to make he and Caleb a tent. It brought back so many wonderful memories. I so remember making tents in my home when I was a little girl. I would pile up pillows, stretch blankets across chairs or other furniture, and crawl into my creation. It was so much fun!!

I don't usually allow the boys to eat or drink in the Den, but today I made an exception. They ate nuggets and graham crackers under their tent (I did ask them to lift up one side of their tent while they ate) and also watched a movie on our travel DVD player - Star Wars. I think Clay could have stayed under their all day. He asked me if he could take his nap in his tent :) I loved watching them have such a great time together.

Have a great day!

Mommy's Little Helper

After living in our house for over six years, I thought it was finally time to paint the bathroom. The white walls were starting to get to me.

As I was painting, Clay came in and wanted to help. My initial reaction was, "I don't think so." I even sent Clay out of the bathroom initially. But, as I thought about it, what harm could he do. After all, the walls cannot look any worse than they already did :) I called him back in and I am so glad I did.

We had a lot of fun. Clay was so proud of himself and the work he did. Every so often I would here, "Ah Oh - I got it on the tub; Ah Oh - I got it on the baseboard; Ah Oh - I got it on the light switch." Just get a towel and some water I would say. I loved seeing how excited he was. I am thinking about just letting him finish it :)

Never be afraid to let your child try something you think might cause a Big mess as long as it is safe and observed. I guarantee you will be glad you did. The mess they make is worth the smile on their face and the joy in your heart. These are the memories that last a lifetime.

Have a great night!

One of Those Days...

Before

After

I had a great morning with the boys. We made pancakes and played trains (Thomas of course). Then, we made a regular trip to Walmart. With both boys it is an adventure.

I have not yet figured out how to keep them in the cart. They seem to move from the cart to the floor, then from standing on one side of the cart (on the outside) to the other side. At one point, Caleb was underneath the cart. Not safe! Who knew a shopping cart could turn into a play gym.

We finally made it out. I took a deep breath. Thank goodness for the sunshine.

Well, due to the nice weather, I let the boys play outside while I made lunch. Clay quickly ran inside and said, "Mom, come here. This is serious." I ran outside to see the boys standing over a dead bird! I told them not to touch it and it dawned on me I better asked them if they already had. And of coure, they responded - "Yes. They had just petted it." I quickly took the boys inside to the bathroom and we scrubbed our hands. Oh, what a day.

After playing and eating lunch in the playhouse, it was time for bed. Lets see, while the boys were supposed to be sleeping, they managed to dump most of the toys out of the toy baskets. (See photo above.) When I went into check on them, they were playing tug of war with a rope I had hung in the boys room that once displayed drawings they had made. I decided it was time to separate the boys. Caleb quickly feel asleep.

It is almost 4. Better go check to see what Clay is doing. I hear music playing and he is singing. Not exactly what I meant when I asked him to "rest." Oh well, got to love um.

Never a dull moment around here!

My Little Monkey's

One Family Photo

One Cute Climber

One Happy Camper

One Darling Nephew

What a Wonderful day for family photo's.

Each year my in-laws come into town and we all try our hardest to get all the grandchildren to cooperate for a Binns Family photo. I seriously took over 300 photo's and the photo I posted at the top was the best one of our family. As you can see, even our best one looks a little off. It seems like in each shot at least one of us looks a little goofy. Since Clay is our biggest character, I chose the one with him looking a little silly. Oh well :)

The boys had a great time. They loved climbing on the rocks and playing by the streams. Tanyard creek was just beautiful this time of year. And, oh, what a perfect day! We had a great time. I loved having everyone together.

Happy Fall Everyone!

Oh What A Wonderful Weekend!

Sweet Little Carter

The Binns Crew

Caught!

Transformers - So much more than meets the eye!

Grumpy Old Man and His Old Hag

Impact Fun

Super Slide

Rolling On Down the Hill

The Weekend got off to a great starts. Aunt Kristy, Baby Carter, and Big Brother Byron came over to play on Friday. It was so much fun! Then, later that day, all the cousins went to eat a yummy meal together at O'Charley's (so happy that kids eat free!!) We love spending time with the family.

We also had such a great day today. It started off with Clay coming into my room and saying, "Mom, you have got to see this." I caught Caleb on the counter reaching for the cupcakes. As you can see, it looks quite proud of himself. I am sure glad the oven or the stove was not on!! Looks like I need to do a better job training my boys not to climb on the counter tops :)

Tonight, we had a great time at our Sunday School Class (Impact) fellowship. Many thanks to Pam and Jim Darst (aka Old Hag and Old Man :) for hosting such a great event.

After the fellowship, we headed over to the FBC Fall Festival. It was great! The boys had so much fun bouncing in the bouncy houses and sliding down the slides. Can you believe my boys went down this scary blue one (above). They even went back for more!! Yikes. Richard enjoyed it too - I love my three Boys!

We ended the night with our dear friends the Vizena's and some of their neighbors. They were all so sweet and kind to our family. The boys especially loved rolling down their steep hill. My, that brings back some happy memories. I used to love hill rolling.

It was a great and blessed day.

God Bless and Good Night!

PS

Don't forget to set your clocks back tonight. I love that extra hour.

Great Day to Play

Boys will be Boys - Dog Pile!

So Silly, but So Cute!

Chilin' in the (Porta) Crib

A Genius Already

Check out My wheels

My mommy takes such good care of me!

Girl Talk is so much fun!

What a fun day! Kelly did such a great job hosting on this not so pretty day. The kids had so much fun and were all smiles when they saw the candy Kelly had put out for them. Clay and Caleb were especially excited!! The sugar rush has already begun. No calm kids here :) That's ok. Thank goodness Halloween only comes once a year!

I just love getting together with friends to laugh, chat, and share what is going on in our lives. Friends are so precious. Days like today remind me of that.

Clay and Caleb just loved playing with their friends. They especially loved rough housing with the Anderson Boys. Sorry Kelly, your home may never be the same again!

Our day got even sweeter when we got to meet Baby Lena. I wish I had a photo of her. She is about four weeks old and just precious. I got to change her diaper and feed her a bottle. It brought back sweet memories from those early days with my boys. Clay and Caleb loved playing with Big Sister Sarah Grace and did NOT want to leave. Sorry to you Tracey, I know your house will never be the same again!! I hope that sucker spot came out.

The Binns Family won't let a little rain get US down.

Good Night and God Bless!

Meet Baby Luke

Proud Parents: Brock, Laura, and Baby Luke

Super Excited Aunt B

Very Proud Grandmother Paige

BaBa Phil and his little boys!

October Birthday Crew

What a wonderful weekend!!

I loved meeting my new Nephew Luke Wooldridge. He is just precious. Brock and Laura are just wonderful parents. I cannot believe my little brother is a Dad. Wow!! I am so happy for them.

Each October, my family gets together to celebrate those of us who were born in October. Myself, my brother DT, my Grandmother Don, and Laura all were born during this great month. And what a great addition to our crew. Luke was born on my Grandmother Don's bday! What a wonderful birthday gift. I sure couldn't top that!!

This was a wonderful time, filled with joy, happiness, and laughter. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect weekend. I am very blessed.

Note: Please say a prayer for Baby Luke. The Doctor says he may have colic. Which, those of us who have experienced this know is not fun for the Baby or for the parents. He is the sweetest little thing, but not so happy in the evenings. Please pray Luke will feel better, find comfort, and rest. Please also pray for rest and peace for Brock and Laura. Thank you.

Tri Delta Reunion

My dear Tri Delta sisters, Heather and Stacey

Each year, the girls and I get together for a Reunion. In the past, we have always met in Arkansas, but being that Stacey lives in Dallas, we thought a trip to the Big D would be great (and much easier with Stacey and her one year old little girl). It was so much fun!

Note: We sure missed Ginger and Ashley (the missing two of our Five Girl Get together.)

We shopped all day on Saturday. What better place to shop than Dallas! I even purchases a really cute shirt and a Christmas present for Richard (that I am so excited about!).

Most importantly, we just reconnected. We talked, laughed, and just caught up on each others lives. I especially loved meeting precious Lucy. She is such an adorable little girl. It was a very special time.

The girls and I have been friends since we pledged Tri Delta in 1994. What a blessing they are.

Looking forward to next year!

In the Bonds :)

Berkli

Oh what a night!

So much better now!

Mommy, take my picture too!

All wrapped up!

Clay and I were up most of the night last night.

Starting a few days ago, Clay told me his finger was hurting. I couldn't see anything wrong with it, but on Sat. afternoon, we noticed it was starting to swell. By Sunday afternoon it was even bigger and turning yellow. Yikes! As last night progressed, Clay started to get a fever and his finger got even bigger and even more yellow! I of course wanted to take him to the hospital at 3am, but Richard calmed me down and said it could wait until the morning.

Caleb already had an apt., at a different doctor's office in Lowell this am, so Richard took Clay in to our doctor in Bentonville. Both appointments. were at 11am. I was so glad Richard was able to help. The diagnosis: Clay had gotten a cuticle infection. We think from the fact he bites his nails. They drained it and cleaned it and wrapped it. I am so glad we took him in. He feels so much better.

If your little one complains of a hurt that you cannot see or if he bites his finger nails, always keep a close eye on it. It might turn into something that needs medical attention.

We are all ready for a nap now.

God Bless and Have a great day!