Goodbye 2010

Well 2010 was a year that surprised us all with sadness and happiness.
The new year will be dimmer with less time with our loved ones that have gone to heaven, but our life was brightened because they were in it.  We will miss them so much.
-We lost a grandfather.
- We lost a cousin.
- We lost an aunt.
The new year will be brighter with the smile of a child.
- We welcomed a daughter that brings immeasurable joy to us all. She lights up our life and keeps us laughing.

We know our God is awesome and will continue to be with us in 2011. He is never changing and forever loving. I know 2011 will also surprise us, but our surprises will be a part of God's plan, and I am looking forward to discovering what he has in store for us all.

A New Year's Eve PARTY!

Yep.  This is what a Stringer party looks like these days.  We know how to bring in the new year with a bang.  Now everyone go look in the mirror at your green faces.  I know you envy our partying ways.

Best Invention EVER!

I got an awesome Christmas gift from Hattie this year. We took the girls to D*llar Tree to pick out gifts for everyone. It was such a stressful fun experience. Hattie chose tweezers for me. I guess it could be the 100 beards I grow a day that made her choose such a marvelous gift. Let me tell you about these tweezers. They have two special features that I now know I cannot live without.
#1 They have an LED light. Do you know how many times I've tried to pluck my eyebrows in the dark and wished I had a flash light on hand? Problem solved.
#2 It has a magnifying glass that you can slide into place. You know you all have those hairs that are invisible to the naked eye and have to be plucked. I know I do. Thankfully I have that covered now.

Please, be careful as you rush to your local D*llar Tree. They have to be selling out of these very fast, but that is no reason to drive over the speed limit.

Convo with Hattie

"Mommy, are you going to have a baby?"
"No, I'm just fat."
"You want a son don't you."
"Yes, I do."
"You know, he WILL pee on your face."
"I want one anyway."

New Year's Eve Fun

We broke out the Blizz*rd maker that Hattie got for Christmas from Nana.  It made enough for Emogene and Hattie to have some, but took four people to make it.  It is not a quick activity, but was a lot of fun to do together.

 Eric was adding the salt.

 Hattie was waiting with her P*p R*cks candy.  It was not needed until the ice cream was done, but Hattie was ready ahead of schedule.

Emogene was the first crank master.  She had it easy.

 

Hattie cranked next.  It was getting tough.  Eric helped out in the end.

The girls ate it with a smile.  We decided that it would have been better without the candy that was provided in the box.  Hattie admitted that hers didn't taste that great.  I had a taste and then insisted that Eric taste it also.  We both came to the conclusion that it tasted just like amoxicillian (sp?).  Hattie isn't a fan of medicine, so I guess that is why she didn't like it so much.  She did finish it though.  

Lydda was sleeping during our ice cream fun.  She stayed up 30 minutes past her bedtime.  Hattie was begging me to put her to bed.  Hattie was playing in her play kitchen, and it just wasn't the same with Lydda helping (hehehe).  Hattie kept telling Lydda she might get burned.  What an imagination!

I hope everyone else had just as much fun ringing in the New Year.  Now I'm hoping the older girls get tired and go to bed a few hours before January 1st.

Uh Oh!

I think Sheldon may have been worried about his territory and marked Emogene's G*-G* dog. I will be doing some slight cleaning of the "fur" on its face. Emogene and Hattie think Lydda got a yellow marker and attacked the dog. Yep, let's go with that thought. I'm still going to clean it.

Christmas Morning

This year was super special with our extra love here.  She wasn't as excited as everyone else, but she did get the hang of it.  The girls got almost everything they had wanted.  Emogene revealed today that she had wanted an MP3 player.  Well, I think we just need to scour the house for her lost one.

 They waited in their rooms very impatiently while I brushed my teeth.  Isabel gave me a special gift just by coming over and being with us for Christmas.  She got to the house on Christmas Eve after all the littles were sound asleep.

I eventually let them out of the room.  As you can tell, Lydda was not pleased.  I think it was the "abrupt hand off to Isabel so I could snap the picture" that got her in a bad mood.

 Lydda got a riding toy.  Hattie tried very hard to teach her how to do it.

 She hasn't been on it since this happened.  Emogene's new soccer goal ruined it!

 Hattie was shocked to get something from the Americ*n Girl company.

 Lydda was obviously smitten with her new Wubbie.

 It even passed the smell test.  She was cracking us up with her opening skill.  She would open something, say "Ahhh!," and then chunk it as hard as she could to the ground.  She then got too interested in what Hattie was opening, and we had to force her to open the rest of her gifts.

 She didn't get anything else out of her stocking once she saw this candy.

She was already licking her lips for that chocolate.

  Emogene loved her G*-G*!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  We enjoyed it with our girls.  

God blesses everyday we spend with them.  Thank you Lord!

Wall Pictures

I have been very aggravated that I don't have pictures of Lydda on the wall in the girls' bathroom and my bedroom wall.  I took some yesterday and finally have two that I like.  I am obsessed with having close-up eye pictures for the bathroom wall.  The bottom picture was satisfactory. Lydda actually tried to cooperate.

WHO CARES

This is what happens when Hattie has to go to the car to retrieve things.  She was perfectly fine with just wearing one shoe and a very short gown.  I told her to put on pants.  Just to let you know, she has some on in the picture.  They are extra short pajama shorts.  Hattie tends to attach to special clothing and hollers, "WHO CARES!" when I tell her something is too small.  She often steals one of Lydda's gowns and wears it sometimes.  It has been worn by all of my girls and it is extra soft, but a tad bit small on Hattie.  She wore a shirt today that we bought in China.  It is too short on her arms, but "WHO CARES!" 

We are All OK!

 We let our guard down today and had an unexpected attack.  I think it was T*y St*ry 3 that distracted us, but thankfully we all survived and recovered quickly.

We were attacked by a STICKER MONSTER!

Emogene and I were the first to get hit.  As you can see, our legs were not spared.

 Lydda had one leg that was spared, but the other wasn't so lucky.

 Hattie, wearing too small pajamas, was completely ignored by the monster.  Who could it have been?

 Lydda was pointing an accusing finger.

 

Do you see that guilty smile?

I think I'll need to buy more gift tags next Christmas.

Being Crafty

I have been inspired lately to do some craft projects.  My friend Amy is super crafty and she is my inspiration.  If I want a gift idea that doesn't involve sewing I check her blog and then I check the blogs she reads.  I found this one and decided to try it for a Christmas gift.  I bought plates for 50% off at H*bby L*bby and covered the edges with painters tape.  I then spray painted them with chalkboard paint.  I thought it would be cute in a kitchen.  My sister and sister-in-law can write menu items on it or sweet notes to their husbands. 

I also bought a chunky frame for Emogene and Hattie's room.  I painted the glass with chalkboard paint.  They were a little disappointed that we had no chalk in the house.  I'll have to take care of that later.

Eric wants to take credit for painting the border of the plate.  He DID not paint that.  I covered up pictures of roosters that would not have matched their kitchens.  I hope they like them.

Lydda's Surgery

 Lydda had surgery to lengthen and close her soft palate.  We got up super early to get to the hospital for 5:00am.  She was in a great mood.

 She played a lot in the waiting room.  We were the first ones to arrive.

She played peek-a-boo with PawPaw while we waited.

She was relaxing with Daddy.

She loved playing withe Brother David's watch. 

She got in a much better mood when she realized we would be going home afterward.

She did very well.  The surgeon raved about her palate and lip repair that happened in China. 

I had to stop her from eating the wrong foods for the first couple of days.  She is an eating machine.

She healed very quickly and is ready to have tubes put in her ears on Monday.  We will then be done with surgeries for a while.  Yay!!!

Mean Mommy

Can you believe that Mommy wouldn't give her the marker back?

Merry Christmas from Us!

 Did you know that when you have three children, getting a picture with all three looking at the camera with a normal smile, is almost impossible?  I tried and tried and tried.

 2 out of 3

 0 out of 3

 1 missing

 Not too bad.

Sleepy Hattie

This one was the winner!

Merry Christmas!

A Lizard Montage

Dolly and the Cookie Snack Trio

Here was the Trick-or-Treating bunch.  Olivia was Dolly from Hello Dolly.  She wants to make sure you notice her gold, glittery shoes.  NOTICE THEM!!!  She was so beautiful.  Lydda was an Ore* cookie eater.  She played her part very well.  Emogene was the Ore* cookie, and Hattie was a glass of milk.  Hattie was the slowest Trick-or-Treater, EVER.  The girls collected way too much candy, and even with all of my attempts, keeps reappearing.  Lydda can find anything she sets her mind to.

A Retired Dad

 My dad has officially retired.  Well, he retired over a year ago, but we just had his retirement party.  

 My dad was thanking everyone for coming and for all the kind words.  He is such a wonderful person and had many people to tell us about his devotion to helping others and being there when they were hurting.  My dad was a great employee and an even better coworker.  He was roasted a little bit, but mainly by Eric.  But in Eric's defense, our whole table made him do it.  I can't talk to large groups, I just start crying, so Eric was forced to roast my dad.  He resisted a lot, but the whole room was looking at our table because none of us had talked.  Eric HAD to do it.   

 Here are just a few of the guests.

We had such a great night.  Now my dad relaxes at home and drives my mother crazy, just like he is supposed to do.