Merry Christmas!

We did things a little different this year....
I emailed Santa (wink, wink) and had him come the night of the 23rd. So, the kids received their Santa gifts Christmas Eve morning. We spent the rest of the morning together. We played and went and saw a movie. The rest of the afternoon was spent opening gifts from grandparents and mom and dad.Every couple of hours or so, we'd let them pick a couple of gifts to open. Then dinner, and after that we read in the bible and sang Christmas hymns. The kids got to open the rest of their gifts. Then, off to bed. Tomorrow we will have our Christmas dinner with a some friends, and enjoy spending more time as a family. It has been fabulous.
We have received so many thoughtful cards, gifts, and goodies from friends and family. THANK YOU EVERYONE!! WE LOVE YOU ALL!
We are so blessed, and feel so grateful to have this time to enjoy pondering on our lives, and the life of Christ, and how richly he has blessed us through his example of love. We pray we can emulate that love, as we strive to be like Him each day.
May our Father in Heaven continue to bless you all and may you continue to feel the love of Christ in your lives!
love,
The Tingey Family

Enjoy the pictures, which by the way are not in any order at all.


Our neighborhood had a little "Cookies with Santa" get together. It was a lot of fun. The kids ate sweets, frosted cookies, did crafts, drank hot chocolate, sat on Santa's lap, and went for a hay ride. It was really fun for them.

Cali is such a cutie! She says pretty, "tee". I ask her, "Where are the pretty lights?" and she points to the mantle and says, "tee". I ask, "where is the pretty tree?" and she points to the tree and says again, "tee". It is sooo stinkin' cute!

Wesley was pretty excited to get jerky:-)

They really do love each other. Aubrey loves to wrestle with Wesley. Cracks us up!

All Aubrey wanted for Christmas, was candy.

Connect 4; Fun game.

Aubrey painted mom's toes and nails at least 3 times today.

Our little blessings.....We just love these 3!!!

Santa can't seem to get it right with Wesley; He walked into the room and saw his remote control truck and said, "I wanted a car, not a truck!". Little stinker! He does love the truck now that he has had the day to play with it, thank goodness.

Aubrey got a doctor kit....with a REAL stethoscope. She loves to pretend to give us shots and work on our teeth.

"All I want for Christmas is....."

Hay ride: This was so fun. We had a hay ride through the neighborhood and sang Christmas songs. I think Wesley went 3 times.

mmmm.....first taste of ice cream, compliments of daddy.

Aubrey is still not so sure about Santa. We MADE her go see him so she could get a free Chik-fil-A kids meal.

Enjoying the tree after a long night of decorating. I think we lost about 10 glass bulbs this year.

Cali having fun with the jingle bells.

I always forget what I have to for decorating. It is fun to get everything out and be reminded of the fun things we have to set out, from nativity sets to Santa Claus figures. It is so much fun for the kids.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

We went camping this weekend, Cali's first ever camping trip and mom's first ever camping trip in Texas! The kids had a blast. It was fun to camp with some of our church friends. It was a little cold, and I have made my list of necessary items to purchase from Gander Mountain before the next family camping trip, but when all was said and done it was fun. Sadly, I did not get many pics. Okay, I got ONE. Pictured above, Wesley and Aubrey anxious to arrive at our camp site. Wesley really was excited, just decided to pull this face as I snapped the picture. I mostly took it to get Aubrey, she looked so cute with her to-big-beanie-cap and that cute grin. The one thing I messed up and forgot to bring was my Postum (which I guess is now called, Nestum?)!!!!! grrrrrr.....I was so excited to sit around the fire and drink Postum. Oh well. Next time.

My silly kids... Notice the band aid across Aubrey's brow? We had a bit of an accident at the grocery store the other day while doing the shopping for Thanksgiving. Aubrey was dancing around by the big freezer filled with turkeys and bent down, I think to touch her toes, and smacked her head on the metal guard around the freezer. Needless to say, our shopping trip came to an abrupt stop. I slapped a band aid over her brow, and we checked out.

Cali chewing on a G.I. Joe.

Aubrey actually went out in public dressed up like this. I couldn't get her to change. We are done fighting her on some things. She wears what she wants these days. When I tell her she has something on backward, she tells me its okay because she likes it like that. I say, FINE!!! Some things are not worth the fight. She has 3 layers on, by the way.

Wesley has been on bathroom duty A LOT lately. He usually gets to clean the toilets once a week, but it has been a little more lately. I don't need to expound, if you are familiar with boys, you know why;-)

Cali, modeling one of her soon to be born cousin's (Hannah) bows.

Sure hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving holiday. We had a great Thanksgiving, with plenty of food and some good friends. I am so grateful for all we have. My kids didn't eat hardly anything. Aubrey had some olives and carrots and then sneaked a nutra grain bar. Wesley had one ity, bity bite of turkey and a couple of rolls and Grandma Posey punch. *sigh* But the rest of us ate very well. And will continue to eat well for the next couple of days, with all the left overs.

Special Moments

(Brady teaching Wesley to play the game, Othello. Brady and I use to play this game a lot when we were dating and first married. Not only did Wesley learn to play the game, but Brady also gave him a brief Synopsis of Shakespeare's, 'Othello'. :-) )

BRADY: Brady is a man that I enjoy getting to know;-) Each day I sit and marvel at who he is, and wonder how, in years past, I have not noticed some of his most tender attributes. I learn more about him each day, and feel grateful to have such a profound example of goodness around me every day, and to have this amazing man as my eternal husband. There are moments, like today as I watched him scoop Cali up off the floor and bear hug her, that my heart feels like it will burst with all the love I feel for him. He has love and concern for others, and sacrifices his time so much to help anybody in need. He loves his children and is a teacher to them. He is wise, and mature in his dealings with others. I have learned much from him in this aspect. He is quick to forgive; he is patient and kind. I love his hugs.

Wesley: My first born child and only son. He loves to be a tease! He comes up with some of the funniest stories and jokes (sometimes kinda corny). He gets that from his dad. He loves to make people laugh. He is smart. He is tender. He likes to create things and has the most awesome imagination. I love Wesley because he is really good at making me smile. He gives great hugs! He loves to read and be read to. Some of my most favorite moments with Wesley have been laying in bed with him reading him stories and then listening to him expound on what was read to him as he creates his own stories. He is doing so well in school, and we are very proud of him. Today he told me, with a very sad look on his face, that he was "very disappointed" because he did not get to do free centers at school. I love it when kids use 'big' words.

Aubrey: This girl has more personality than I previously have given her credit for. She is very witty, and very clever. I would love to visit inside her little mind for a few minutes and really capture all of her thoughts. Aubrey loves "squeeze hugs", as she refers to them. She likes to have fun by coloring, and is improving on keeping her marks on paper only:-) She likes to do things her own way, which makes for some lovely out fits these days. She loves to help me cook, change Cali's diapers (which she does quite well, actually), and clean. She just loves to be a part of what ever I am doing. I love that she enjoys being with me and doing things with me. Although I do get impatient sometimes knowing I could accomplish so much more with out so much "help". I admire her willingness to always help. I love it when she comes in and picks out my clothes. She loves this top I have, it is a teal color and sparkly. It must be the sparkles she loves;-) She is learning many things at her school and looks forward to going every week. She loves to sing, and is very good at carrying a tune. I enjoy singing with her. Her speech in improving, but still not completely understandable. We're getting there. She is doing well and improving in gymnastics.

Cali: This baby has a way of making everybody feel like they are something special. Her smile is heaven sent, her laugh brings joy. She fills my heart with much gratitude for having just one more healthy, happy child. She is crawling all over the place and is discovering that she can go anywhere she wants and get anything with in reach. She can stand, and pulls herself up on everything now. She loves to play with her older siblings. And she loves the evening when her daddy gets home from work. She loves to eat with us, and has tried many foods now. She loves to drink out of a cup, like mommy. Her favorite toys are baby dolls. Any baby doll. She gets so excited when she sees one and makes this cute little noise where she kinda sucks in air and makes a high pitch "ohhhh". That is the best I can explain it. She loves Christmas lights. I am looking forward to only decorating halfway down the tree because I know little miss busy body is going to LOVE visiting the tree several times a day.

My little family means so much to me. My heart is full of gratitude to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with each of them. I am especially happy to have the example of Jesus Christ, who teaches me how to love more deeply than I ever could on my own. I am thankful for the softness His love brings to my heart through the Holy Ghost. Because of Him, I am more willing to sacrifice, to love, to forgive, to endure. I know as I continue to build my family on a foundation of Faith in our Saviour and his teachings, peace will come and we will be able to be together forever, someday. And for now, I am grateful to be able to enjoy so many special moments and mile stones with each of my sweet children and my dear husband.

(picture courtesy of my friend Claudia) We had a little 'girls night' and Arin got to meet a few of my amazing Texas friends.

My good friend Arin came for a visit. My it was good to have her here! She is cute, funny, and nice and I love her to pieces! We laughed and remembered "the good 'ole days" and shopped, and attempted at pedicures but ended up getting very ill from the powerful fumes in the place we went. Next time we will just go to Sally's and get our own polish and do it ourselves. lol

My kids loved having Auntie Arin here! Boy how I've missed that laugh! We had a grand 'ole time painting 'the blue room'. It is now like a creamy vanilla color. Flows much nicer with the rest of the house. It took us ALL DAY LONG! I am so happy she was willing to help me out. It was a fun project for us. lol I will think of her each time I sit in that room and look at my walls:-)

Love you Arin! Thanks for coming down!!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Cali fell asleep and I never got a pic of her in her Halloween outfit, but y'all have seen it already. If you can't remember what she looked like, scroll down:-) Here she is all snuggly warm in her jammies, trying her hardest to get into this sucker.

The kids went trick-or-treating on our street, and then came home and helped pass out candy. We had a little more traffic this year than last. Still not a lot and I still ended up with candy left over! As you can see, Wesley did indeed stick with the Ninja Turtle gig for the THIRD YEAR IN A ROW! lol Aubrey is a Halloween Princess. She considered wearing a Woody costume we have (yes Danelle, the one Davey wore). But changed her mind last minute.

This is our friend Celia. She spent the day with us. She is a sweet person and loves to play with the kids. We enjoyed having her today. We went shopping at Khols, and just hung out. We had pizza and snacks with our neighbors and sat outside until it was to cold and the mosquito's had eaten us all up.

TRICK-OR-TREAT? They got the treat:-)

Wesley's pumpkin. The other two did not get carved this year.

Aubrey dressed up like a puppy for school on Monday. She thought about wearing Wesley's Ninja Turtle costume, but went with the puppy. Good choice. She makes a cute puppy:-)

This morning, we had a photo shoot. Here we are attempting to get the kids dressed. They were to busy watching the birds outside our front window. The other day, Wesley "planted" bird seed all over in the front flower bed. So, the birds were up close today, instead of out in the tree.

Say Cheese!!!

My friend, Melanie, did our family pics and pics of the kids. I am really excited to see how they all turned out. She took close to 1,000 pics today!!!!!! Take a peek at her work at www.photographybymelle.blogspot.com

Thanks Brett and Mel!!!!

Fun Stuff Happening At Our House

So, the pictures are not in any order at all....I am to tired to put them in their proper sequence, so just bare with me.......:-)

Aubrey turned 3 this past week! We were very happy to have Grandma Tingey here to celebrate our birthdays (our= mom, dad, Aubrey). Besides the fact that the girls were sick and Grandma had her purse stolen (which as all women probably know, contained pretty much her whole life!), it was a great visit. Really, it was fun to have her here and to visit. She treated us all for our birthdays, and that is always fun. Hopefully next time she comes, the trip won't be so eventful. Thanks Grandma Tingey!!!

One thing about sick kids, we didn't leave the house much so we were able to work on some projects. Grandma crocheted, which she does very well. I worked on nursing cover-ups. And Aubrey worked on my curtains (you will see a picture below of her work).

Aubrey with all of her Birthday goods!

Even Wesley got to pick out a toy. He even shares it with Aubrey, sometimes.

It took Aubrey a few tries to blow out her candles. It was so cute to watch. She'd fill those cute little cheeks up with air and then blow.....but nothing would happen. lol She did finally get it. It was so funny. All she wanted was a "pink" cake. She was very pleased with what she got.

Brady had his own personal cup cake, Black Forest Cake (with out the chocolate shavings.....ooops!) I was hoping to take him climbing on his birthday.........but that was the day of the whole purse theft incident. I owe him!!! We did have a nice Chinese dinner that night though at one of our kids favorite places to go, Chef Chan's. How sweet is he? He chooses to go where the kids want to go and will eat on HIS birthday. ;-) That's my man! Always thinking of others.

Here is a little peek into my lovely curtain!!! There are seven cuts total, the longest being about 3 inches long. Lets just say I freaked out a little over this. I screamed and scared the poor girl half to death and then grabbed her and took her up to her room and told her, for her own safety, she better stay put for a while. Drawing on walls and furniture, and now this???!!! Honestly, I was upset about my curtains, just like I get upset about her art work on my walls. But, it is just stuff. I want her to learn to take care of things, and not destroy them. But I also realize she is probably just curious. She sees me cutting and sewing, and she wants to try it. I don't want her to feel like my "stuff" is more important then her, but I want her to respect me and the things we have in our home. So, she did get in trouble. And then I had to make sure she knew I love her, I just don't love that she cut up my curtains!!!! *sigh* My mother-in-law took me to Wal Mart last night and we got some stuff to patch them up....so hopefully they will end up okay!!!!!!!!