Fort McClellan

The kids love making forts - inside or outside!  Right now Conner and Drew each have their own fort built in one of two pine trees on Uncle Bill's lot.  When their friends come over, they try to build fires by rubbing sticks and stones together for two hours (it keeps them very busy!!), they "hunt" with their pellet guns from the tree stands they built in the fort and they dig and dig and dig huge holes in the mud so that their forts can have private lakes!  Needless to say - the outdoor forts are tons of fun and result in tons of scrubbing in the bath tub and tons of laundry.  Brenna sneaks her way into their forts quite often.  However, they now often have sign that read "No Gurls A Loud!"  The inside forts are both my favorite and my worst enemy!  Oftentimes, EVERY SINGLE blanket, hand towel, beach towel, sheet (even the fitted sheets!!) will be pulled out of EVERY SINGLE closet and be used to make the fort.  The kids love it and they love playing and sleeping in the forts.  But somehow, by the next morning, they forget how to fold and put away.  Oh well....the memories are worth more than the hassle of folding (well, folding everything but the fitted sheets!!)

Not Enough Snow?!?!?

I think I am the only person in our family who dislikes snow! I think we only had two good snows this year and each time, all three of the kids (and Jason) couldn't wait for it to stop so they could go outside and play!  I went out for about five minutes so that I could take pictures.  Then, I enjoyed watching them from inside our warm house!!

Brenna is TWO!

Brenna turned two on Friday and we had a Cow Girl/Cow Boy party to celebrate!  We played chubby bunny, hot horse and we had a fabulous dance party!  Brenna got lots of new clothes, a new neigh-neigh (rocking horse) which is all she asked for and a bunch of new babies (including her first American Girl from MawMaw and PawPaw).  Brenna is talking up a storm these days - her favorite words are Bubby and Dew and Please, Thank You and Excuse me.  Her favorite phrases are "me see poop" and "me eat please" and "me SNACK".  She definitely has the McClellan sweet tooth and loves her sweet snacks!  She is also busy copying EVERYTHING her brothers do and EVERYTHING Jason and I do.  She is potty training herself - all the time - I think she pees about two drops just so we can take the five minutes to get her undressed (yes, naked) and read her "The Potty Train." She runs, she laughs and she does things for attention.  She still loves to cuddle with Jason and me and we still rock her to sleep every night.  She loves to sing and she loves to dance - but only in front of us.  She is bossy and independent - she knows what she wants and when she wants it.  She is shy when she chooses to be.  She loves people though - all people; especially Tiffany (Titty), Saylor (Say Say) and Maw Maw and Paw Paw.  She has been such a blessing to us and she has completed our family.  We love you Brenna Grace - always and forever!

 For the first time, I had Jason order a cake for a birthday party.  I sent him some pictures and said I wanted a cake with horses on it.  When I went to pick it up, the lady looked at me and said, "Um...is this not what you wanted?"  I said, "Brenna is a girl!"  She just looked at me with pitiful eyes and said, "Oh".   I was dying laughing.  After I got the cake, I picked up the boys from school.  Drew sees the cake and asks why it has orange diarrhea on it.  I could NOT quit laughing.  Then Conner kept asking what it was - "a sun but whats that other stuff?"  Needless to say, we added some toy horses and it worked perfectly.  However, I will never let Jason live this one down!

Drew Lost his FIRST Tooth (First Two Teeth!!)

Drew lost his First tooth in the morning last Saturday.  Brenna ran into him and "knocked my tooth right out!"  Drew was SO excited for his first Tooth Fairy visit.  Then, just a that same afternoon - his second tooth fell out while he was chewing on a sock - yes, I have no idea why he was chewing on a sock but he was...He got 10 dollars from the Tooth Fairy for those first teeth!  He was SUPER excited and now he cannot wait for more teeth to come out!

Basketball Saturdays!

Mommy and Daddy!

As you have probably noticed - I never really post pictures of your Dad and me together.  Funny thing is, is that since Conner was born I would bet that we have less than five pictures that have been taken with just the two of us in them.  Most of the time it is because I am behind the camera, I am afraid at what your dad is doing with you, your dad is busy or I am busy.  Honestly though, we don't do much without the three of you - not because we don't trust anyone to stay with you or because we don't enjoy doing things together - but more so because we want to spend time with you while you are young.  We both know all too well how quickly time goes and how valuable each minute with each of you - at every stage of your life - is and will be. Your Dad has made it his life's goal to teach you everything he knows by the time you are teenagers.  I have made it my life's goal to show you all that the world holds for each of you.  As you can imagine our days right now are full - but not full with hustle and bustle but full of life, skills and lessons for each one of us in our little family.   I can imagine that 18 years from now we will have many more pictures together - but for now - here is one from 2016!  

Christmas Morning - 2016

The kids must have been very good this year!  Santa brought Conner a double deer stand with a new pair of shoes, Drew got a new bike and a fishing pole and Brenna got her very own kitchen!  I loved seeing their faces and all of their expressions.