Recent Obsession

So I am not much of a reader, as most of you probably already know. In fact, I would rather take a nap, watch re-runs of Dr. Phil, or do housework than to pick up a book and read! However, the girls at work are constantly talking about the 'Twilight' series and they all went to see the movie. So I felt a bit left out :( When they told me it was about vampires I immediately said, oh nevermind, I'm not interested, ya'll have fun with that. But then they continued to talk about it, ALL THE TIME. So, I jumped on the band-wagon and boy am I gald!! This book is so awesome, on the edge of your seat, don't want to put it down awesome. So one might say, 'Like I have time to read?' You'll make time for this one, I PROMISE!! And don't let the 'vampires' push you away from this AMAZING read. I'll let you know when I move on to Book 2 (New Moon), in a 4 book series

Decisions

So we have been debating a little while on wether or not to have one LAST child, try for that boy one LAST time. So we decided that closer to MK's 3rd birthday we will work on that. So prior to making that BIG step we are going to go on a vacation, just the two of us. We sail out of New Orleans on a Carnival Cruise in May for 5 nights, I suppose you could call it our last 'hurah'!

Bud has never been on a cruise but I have and it is so AMAZING, WONDERFUL and we deserve the much needed relaxation. We are looking forward to it. Our Anniversary is at the end of May, so it is an early anniversary gift to ourselves.

More decisions, larger car, larger house, big family vacation this summer before we have a newborn baby in the house....all future posts, so stay tuned

Pre-Christmas

Ok, so I have been busy, VERY busy. Blogging has been put on the back burner, please forgive me. Last Sunday before church we managed to catch the whole family for a quick holiday snapshot under the tree. We also got a few of the girls being sweet. Enjoy! And I will try to blog more while I am off for 2 weeks.

MK's 2 Year pics

So we had MK's 2 year old pics taken a few weeks ago. Tiny Bird did them, naturally, the best!!



Go have a look at all of them.
www.tinybirdphotography.com
click 'order' at the bottom of the page
(another screen will pop up)
Click 'Mary Kathryn Session'
Password is 'Leah'

Halloween

We had an awesome time for Halloween this year. MK had a party at school and got to wear her costume. Then we all went to the church on Friday night for the festival there. Then Saturday we went to some friends house for another party. We had a Blast. Check out the pics.

MK turns 2!

I know I stink at updating this, I used to be better, when I wasn't SO BUSY!!

So anyway...MK turned 2. Her birthday was ladybugs. We had an awesome party at the house, complete with the infamous bounce house, great investment. Enjoy the slideshow.

Labor Day

We went to our family time share for Labor Day weekend this year. Our good friends, The Suggs Family, joined us. James and The Boys joined us when they could and even stayed the night with us one night. Kassy stayed at her mom's bedside for the whole weekend, rightfully so. We continue to pray for Memaw. We all had a great time, putt putt golf, swimming and some hard core Wii. Henry Loves MK, they played so well. And don't ask me what's up with Henry's 'thumbs up' in EVERY photo. Delanie and Nelson enjoyed playing on the Wii. Bud and I had some much needed R&R and some really good food.

Delanie is 6

I know I'm going a bit out of order, but it will be ok.

Delanie has been begging for a Chuck E Cheese (CEC) Birthday party since last year's party. So this year she finally got it. Let me just tell you, it was MISERALE for the parents. DO NOT DO IT!! You will be better off at McDonalds or Burger King. The kids enjoyed it so I guess that's all that matters, but believe me it was so stressful and everything went wrong, the CEC people were terrible, etc. Nevertheless, Delanie LOVED it and here are the pics to prove it. (This was our first and last CEC bday party)

First Day of School

Yes I know I am 2 weeks late, but I know you will take what you can get from me, now that I am working part-time Mon-Fri.

Delanie had her first day of 1st grade on Monday, August 25th. She is loving the first grade. She has one of her friends from T-ball in her class, so she was excited about that. We have introduced incentive charts here at home that will hopefully keep her out of touble and help her work toward some things that she really wants, like shoes, that girl loves shoes.

MK actually started her 2nd week of school when Delanie started for the first day. But I didn't have time to get the camera out on August 18th, mine and MK's first day. These photos will have to do.

Hump Day

So today is Wednesday and school is going good. MK is adjusting well. She and her teacher, Ms. Amanda, have a special bond and she goes right into her class with her every morning so it has made things easier. However, seeing MK during the day makes it harder on her, she automatically starts crying and screaming 'mommy'. So we are still in an adjustment period. Another thing, she is not napping well since she is not in her own bed, so she has been going to bed super early.

As far as I go, I am doing well. I know MK will benefit from this when she gets used to everything. My children are great. I have some at both ends of the spectrum. outgoing, shy, loud, quiet, criers, good eaters, not so good eaters, some that share and some that hit. So we are working on all of thees things. It has been fun and I have really enjoyed it.

Bud has been on vacation this week and we have had Delanie this entire week as well, so they have had good quality Daddy/Daugther time while MK and I are at school.

BUSY BUSY BUSY

I am so sorry to be neglecting our faithful readers, if you exsist, but The Armstrongs have been running full speed trying to get ready for school.

I have taken a part-time preschool teaching job, M-F 8am-245pm, and I am so very excited! MK will be going to the same school, which will be wonderful for her to get interaction with other kids and have a more set routine. It will be an adjustment for both of us, but I am really excited. We had Meet-The-Teacher tonight and I was able to meet the children in my class, I can not wait until Monday.

Delanie turned 6 last week, so we were busy with birthday party stuff, I will blog about that later. She is SPOILED, she got a Wii from us and her mother, and an iPod Nano from my mom and dad. Then on top of that she got a new bike at her mother's house. Not to mention all the gifts her friends brought her at her Chuck E Cheese birthday party. Christmas will be all about Jesus this year, let us not forget, she got enough for her birthday to carry over to Christmas. Delanie is more than ready for school!! 'How many more days?', she says.

MK's #2 Birthday is quickly approaching, and she just wants colors..we'll se how that goes.

Bud, he is solid work, what else is new? It is 210 degrees outside and he is steadily throwin coke bottles. Summer is his busiest time, especailly when others decide they can't take the heat and quit, leaving heavy loads for those that stick around.

Well, I will try not to be a stranger, bear with me in these busy times.

Family Photos

Last Saturday, July 26th, we had our family photos taken. Tyan Jacox, Tiny Bird Photography, is AMAZING!! I am having a super hard time narrowing down what I want because I want them all!! Please click here, click 'Armstrong Family', take a look and let me know what you think.

Quick Update

Well I am quickly recovering from my heart surgery that was done on Monday. They went in through both groin and carterized some 'extra stuff' I had in there causing my heart to beat way too fast. I have been on meds for about 6 years for this problem and this procedure was preformed so I can get off the meds. So far so good. *Other than my legs are super sore and bruised up from the 4 catheders that were in them, 2 in each leg.

So today is the first day that I have been released to lift more than 5 lbs, although I probably will not lift much still. Both girls went home with my mother while I continue to rest and take it easy. After all, it is my birthday today, the big 24!

So since the girls aren't here I will blog about them and post some cute pics. They are doing well. Delanie is just blowing right through the summer, before we know it it will be time for school to start again. MK LOVES shoes and likes to dress herself, usually in someone elses shoes and some kind of hat. She's a mess.

Another Pair of Flip Flops...For Dad

If you know Bud then you know her either has on his tenni-shoes or his cowboy boots. Even in the summer. He refuses to put on any form of 'sandal'...until now. A friend of ours got some Reef, Mick Fanning, Flip Flops. They are just an ordinary flip flop until you look at the sole of it. It has a built in bottle opener. Bud was SOLD! We have season passes to the waterpark and he always just wears his tenni-shoes...drives me crazy...horrible fasion statement. So Bud got these flip flops as a early Father's Day gift and hasn't taken them off very much since I brought them home.

Anniversary Date

I know I am a bit late, but I still wanted to blog about our wonderful anniversary night. We made dinner reservations at a local winery, Kiepersol Estates for a romantic dinner for 2. It was a rainy day so we were unable to tour the winery. However, dinner was amazing and then we ventured home. Both of the girls were away for a couple days. MK was visiting her Nona and Delanie was with her mom. It will long be an anniversary remembered.


We are standing in front of only part of the vineyards, there are 51+ acres.

Garden

Last but not least, I got a wild hair to plant a garden this weekend. When we went to get a rose bush for Chief's grave they had all kinds of fruit and veggie plants. SSOOO...I bought some strawberries, watermelon, green bell pepper & tomatoes. All of which are plants...I've got to keep them alive before they will produce and fruits. We will see how well it goes. Wish me luck.

Swim

We bought a swimming pool last week and the girls were just dieing to get in it this weekend. They had a blast. That $25 purple elephant pool was worth every penny. (The water shoots out of the trunk)

New Dog

Bud and Delanie's dog, Chief, died suddenly on Tuesday of last week. Delanie, and Bud for that matter, were devastated. Bud buried him and then took Delanie out there to show her where he is. We told her we would plant a rose bush there so she would always know where he is. So this weekend she picked out an orange rose bush and Bud planted it for her. She has visited him several times since Bud planted it.

Well on Wednesday morning when Bud left for work, 3:30am, he heard a whimpering coming from under the porch. There was a puppy under there but he would not come out for Bud. Bud had to hurry on to work and was unable to worry with it at that point. Well I got up and went in to Tyler that day as well and before leaving the house I too tried to lured the dog out from under the porch, no luck. So by the time we all made it home that night around 7:30pm the dog was still under the porch. Bud finally lured him out with some sausage. He is so sweet, cuddly and so darn cute. (I didn't think so at first, the last thing I wanted was a puppy to poo and pee in my house!!) Thursday night he slept with Delanie but I am still hesitant about having an inside dog. So Bud and Delanie made a play yard for him out beside the house and he even has a dog house underneath the tree. They worked hard this weekend to get that accomplished and it looks wonderful. We named him Diesel, suites our family perfectly. Diesel loves it out there as well. When I took him to the vet on Friday for his shots the vet said he is a Catahoula cowdog mix.

Kinder Program

Ok, Delanie had her Kindergarten program, all of which I got on tape. However, right after I took a picture of her and her music teacher, Ms. Hughes, my camera died. So this is all you get for this event.

Delanie did a great job and on the very last song she kept singing the chorus when all of the other kindergarteners had stopped singing. She was singing so loudly. It was cute!!

Let's play catchup...

We're alive. We have been so busy! Below is a slideshow of 2 separate events. A few weekends a go we took the girls skating for the first time and we also went to the Rodeo in Athens.

The girls loved both outings. Delanie especially loved the skating. We could not even bribe her with ice cream to get her off the rink. She was determined that she was going to do it, and do it well. We did not actually put skates on MK's feet but she enjoyed rolling around the rink with whoever would take her.

The Rodeo was so much fun as well. Delanie and her friends stood holding the railing the entire time. We all had an awesome time. The Hopson's went with us on both adventures. Enjoy!!

Switchflops

If you have not heard of Switchflops...listenup!! Last summer my friend Cindy got a pair. Well, I already had Crocs and Birkenstocks (both ver comfy) so what would I need a pair of switchflops for? Well then another one of my friends, Nanci, got a pair for her birthday this year, so I had to check them out for myself. Let me just tell you...GO GET SOME!!! They are so very comfortable and they are the coolest thing. Their phrase is 'Change your look not your sole.' And let me tell you they are AMAZING!! I got the brown ones. They come in black, tan and blue. There is even a Wedge Flop if you prefer that. View all Flops here.



They are not just your regular flip flop. They are the best thing you could put on your feet all summer long. AND you can change out the straps to match every outfit if you want...How cool is that??!?!? View Straps here. Here are a few straps I like.




Customize your very own Switchflop before buying, here.

MK sick

As we know our child has the worst allergies EVER!! Food allergies, seasonal allergies, pet allergies, you name it!! I breastfed for 12 whole months, which is suppose to help with all of that, can you imagine how she would have been had I not brerastfed?!?! Well anyway, every Spring she gets wheezing and coughing pretty bad because of all the pollen and things in the air so we have to do a breathing treatment (we have our own machine at the house.) She has been such a big girl when it comes time to do it. She just sits so still and holds it just like a big girl.



We also know how obsessed our child is with hair, hairbrushes, combs, etc. She would not even put them down to do this treatment.

Easter

We drove straight from Colorado to my mother's house to have Easter. The girls were so excited to see Nona, Pops, Linds & Kate. We hunted Easter egss on Saturday and had Easter lunch on Saturday as well. My dad always makes the best Root Beer and the girls love to watch it 'smoke'. Enjoy.

Spring Break

I am so sorry I am just now getting around to posting Spring Break pics, but I have been so busy since we have been home. We drove thru a blizzard, yes a blizzard it was quite eventful and we had to pull over at a rest area until it let up. We visited the Nature and Science Museum in Denver. And above all else we played in the snow. I had my hopes up to go skiing but my family had different plans. They just wanted to make snow angels and go sledding. So that is what we did. Everyone was out of snow sleds so we bough a wheelbarrow, and yes it made the long haul all the way back to Texas, you think Bud was leaving that behind? And plus it was good to have that special memory to bring back home. The drive was not bad at all, the girls slept thru most of it. We had a great trip and lots of memories were made. Thanks Alana for your hospitality and you are a wonderful hostess and tour guide!! We love you.

Easter pics

So we leave on Sunday to go to Colorado for Spring Break. We will not be back until Easter weekend so I wanted to go ahead and blog our Easter photos before I blogged about our vacation.

We went to Mrs. Lee's Garden, off of 271 headed to Gladewater, and the girls had a blast. The Daffodils were so beautiful. I took a ton of pictures of the girls in the Easter Dresses. Here are a few.

MK

This slide show is kind of random of MK. I'm all the time taking pictures of her and wanted to share a few. The ones of her on the scooter...that is Delanie's scooter, she loves to ride on it, but someone has to push her, of course. Then there are the pics of MK and the headband. That headband belongs to a Cabbage Patch Doll, she loves it. She puts it on herself. And the pics of MK with 2 of her (my) brushes. She is obsessed with brushing her hair. There are not many times you find MK without a comb and/or a brush in her hand. Yes, she is my child!!

Horrible Damaging Winds

On Monday night we were awakend by the roof of our carport/shed slamming into the side of the house. It was aweful. The pictures speak for themselves. We are now waiting to hear back from the insurance to let us know how much it is going to cost us to fix everything. It is a HUGE mess. It is all tarped up npw to keep the rain out until the insurance is finished doing their thing.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Yes, The Armstrongs are still alive and well. Needless to say we have been super busy.

Delanie and Bud attended their first Dance together. Delanie was SO excited and could not wait to go to 'The Ball!' My dad and youngest sister went as well, so Delanie even got to dance with her Pops. When she got home I asked her how it was? She said it was so fun. I asked her what she did, she said 'Danced a little but mostly ate cookies.' It was so cute. She even wore a wrist corsage. Enjoy the photos.