Sister Europe Trip- April 25-26, 2009- Journey to Amsterdam

I’m gonna attempt to try and remember every detail from my Europe trip with my sister, but since I didn’t write it down, its all running together, so bear with me. My sister and I really had some fun, memorable, and hilarious talks/moments together on this trip. We haven’t had anytime to ourselves since we were prob in our mid-teens. So this was def a needed trip for us sisters. Thanks again to our parents/in-laws/ and my hubby for allowing us this time to share with each other and experience this whole new place together.
Last year for my 29th birthday, Keri sent me a very sweet note with a passport holder telling me that she was taking me to Europe for my 30th bday. We immediately started looking for trip ideas- we were thinking about a cruise or just a few days in a couple of difference places in Europe. When Keri found out that Keith’s company’s European conference was going to be in Amsterdam, she thought that would be a perfect location to begin our trip. Since we weren’t totally comfortable with traveling alone the whole time, this would give us a chance to see Amsterdam for CHEAP and see Keith in action.
I have to say that packing for this trip was one of the funniest things. A couple weeks before leaving on my trip I started to wonder on what all I would need to bring. I asked lots of questions and got some great feedback from friends and especially my sister. She pretty much gave me a list of what you need and don’t bring anything more than that. I knew that she had already been to Europe before, but we are also very different when it comes to “packing” light. So I got my ONE medium suitcase out to pack and needless to say was able to get everything that I needed in that suitcase. Jason came into the bedroom and asked where my other bags were and I told him that was it and he laughed out loud and said BS, you brought more than that to the Guntersville gig a month ago. Lol! I guess I do tend to over pack a little ;) So anyways, I pretty much brought what I was GOING to wear, not that I THOUGHT I may wear. I think not having to pack for Kelson made things a little easier. Overall I have to say that I did rather well with what I brought. Keri and I even shared our clothes while we were there. I still don’t see how she packed such a small bag for a month in Europe. Anyways, so I packed my bags- and did have a carry-on, but it wasn’t too big either. Just had necessities- book, blanket, pillow, etc....
I gave Kelson a BIG hug & kiss goodbye and Jason took me the airport- I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to handle being away from Kelson for sooo long- the longest I’d been away from her was 2 days, so 9 days was going to seem like a lifetime. With Jason I was kind of used to being away from of all the traveling he did with Heartland. I was stressing to Keri about being able to keep in touch with the family- since my Verizon phone didn’t have global capabilities- so she suggested I hooked up Skype on my home computer so Jason and Kelson could keep up with me. Not being able to text when I wanted to really sucked, but I managed to live 9 days without my cell phone. Thank GOD we had Keri’s laptop with us. We keep everyone updated on our trip using Facebook and Skype- it was great.
Well my flight from HSV to Atlanta was fast and painless. Keri and Keith came and met me at my gate so we could go meet Kyle at baggage claim. It was great seeing them again- it had been since Christmas. Kyle and Renee live in Atlanta, so he had some time to come hang out with us until we left for 9 hour flight to Amsterdam. We all went and grabbed a bite to eat and had some interesting conversations- we normally do. Lol. Keri saw a funny mural on the wall so we went and took some pics with it just for giggles.
A day with us is never boring. After we had gone through security and heading towards our gate, the guards started yelling- “freeze- everyone stop now”- so all of us did and it freaked us out. Then some of the guards started running and the lead guard asked if each entrance was secured and they replied with a YES from each station. So after a minute or so the lead guard thanked us all for partaking in their drill. Whew- we caught our breath and laughed. We weren’t sure what to think after that little stunt.
My mom’s BFF (and my godmother), “Aunty Paula”, was the lead flight attendant on our flight, so we got the total hook up.Unfortunately, first class filled up at the last second so we didn’t get upgraded, but we got every other perk you could possibly have without being in first class… including ice cream sundaes, extra biscoff cookies, and getting to actually sit in the captain’s seat! Keri and I were even invited to come and get pics in the cockpit. It looked VERY confusing up there. The plane itself was awesome! Each chair had it’s own TV with touch screen capability. They had on-demand movies and TV shows (Keri and I watched Slumdog Millionaire (been wanting to see that) and I also watched Yes Man, Keri watched Benjamin Button, and Keith watched Frost/Nixon), games (we played trivia, poker, and some tetris-logic type game), music, and you could track exactly where the plane was graphically. Even on this overnight 9 hour flight, we hardly slept- well except for Keith. I really thought this plane ride was going to take FOREVER, but all in all it went by rather fast. I didn’t sleep at all- I think I was too excited. Keri and I did lots of talking too. Keri and I had originally been sitting by a SUPER hot Amsterdamian guy ;) but since Keith was all alone, we convinced a lady to switch seats with us so we could all sit together. I was trying to be slick and get a picture of him, but he caught on and was turning away. Haha!
Our flight left Atlanta at 5pm on Saturday and arrived at 8am on Sunday in Amsterdam (due to the 6 hour time change). We met up with Keith’s co-workers, Jeremy and Jen, at the airport, then found our way to the hotel via train and foot as fast as we could. None of us really slept so we were ready for our beds by the time we got to the hotel. The walk from the train station to the hotel was madness- I then knew why Keri told me to pack lightly. Unfortunately, when we arrived at our hotel, they told us that check-in wasn’t until 3pm, so we all set up camp on their couches in the lobby. After a little sweet talking and some help from the conference coordinators, we managed to get into our rooms around 11:30am. I was sharing a room with Keri and Keith- to keep down on costs- so we had requested a room with 2 queen size beds. When we opened the door to our room, there was one king-sized bed (which was actually 2 twin-beds, but there was no way to separate them anyway). We were so exhausted that we decided we’d deal with that later, and it didn’t take 5 minutes for us to all crawl under the covers (with Keri in the middle), close the curtains, and fall asleep! We didn’t wake up until about 7pm. That was one of the most comfortable beds I’d ever slept in. We stayed there for four nights and didn’t bother to change rooms- haha. I wasn’t sure what to think of this place- the bike riders and drivers were very impatient and I always seemed to be in the way, but after a couple of days I felt like I fit right in and wasn’t scared to jump out.
Many of Keith’s colleagues from out of the country arrived on Sunday so a large group of us went out for dinner at an Indonesian restaurant that night.
I wanted a traditional Dutch meal, but we found that there really wasn’t such a thing. The guidebook told us that because of Amsterdam’s location, they’re actually known for importing food from other places so they don’t really have a food that they call their own. So… Indonesian it was! The food at the Indonesian restaurant was amazing! Keith and I split a sampler entrée that consisted of about 10 different items, and they loved every bit of it too. Kelly even got a “lemon squeezer” souvenir to take home (I swear the waiter told me to take it home when I was raving about it, but he didn’t really speak good English so I have my doubts). Ha-ha. We had the best wine too. I swear EUROPE has the best food and wine EVER! If it wasn’t for all the walking, I’d be 300lbs. Plus many of the Europeans don’t drive- they either walk or ride their bikes. I noticed how much FATTER Americans are when I returned back home- lol. One of the funny things was you had to order your water “still”- otherwise they would bring you tonic water. YUCK. So in one of the pics I’m holding “still”... Kelson loves to play the song “Hold Still” on yo gabba gabba, so I took that picture for her. Jason didn’t get it until I explained the water situation to him. We even managed to capture a picture of chicken curry sauce that had spilled into a Mickey Mouse shape- I found that one too.
After dinner, everyone else was still tired so they headed to their rooms to prepare for the next day, but we hit the fair that was going on in Dam Square right in front of our hotel. We didn’t go on the rides, but we checked them out and partook in a huge bag of cotton candy. And no, cotton candy doesn’t taste the same as it does in America. It’s not quite as sweet and a little bit more cottony. :) I really liked it. We were still pretty tired from the flight and now full from dinner, so we decided to call it a night, but not before stopping by a coffeeshop  Before going to bed, Keri “Skyped” with mom and the kids- and of course mom couldn’t help but hearing me laugh in the background- lol. It was only 6pm or so back in FL, so they were all awake and we were already in bed. It was nuts.
And this… is only the beginning…
Journey to Amsterdam

Weight Loss

Well I'm right near my pre-Kelson weight. I'm soooo excited. I only have like 9 more lbs to go. My body fat is getting better too. I'm started getting toner by using the Wii Fit- I think that's how I figured things out- the gym is for cardio and Wii Fit is more for toning- like the hula hoop for my abs, the yoga and strength training for my muscle tone. Course I'm lighter on the Wii, but the official weigh in scale is what matters. I've lost 18lbs so far and a few % body fat. We've only got 2 weeks left- I can't believe it! That means Europe is only 3 weeks away- wow! I can't wait!
Jason's done really well too- he is down 16lbs and a few % body fat. You can really tell in our faces and clothes. Just happy and wanted to post!!!

Baby Mine...

The last few weeks when I've been rocking Kelson to sleep in her room she will be snuggling on my shoulder and will sweetly and softly say "Momma"... and I'll say "My Baby" then she says it a few more times and then will look at me and smile. Its enough to melt your heart. I just wanted to share this PRECIOUS moment. I love my little baby girl and can't imagine my life without her. She does like to snuggle at night- I hope she stays that way for a long time.

Lions and Gorillas and Butterflies... oh my

Jason and I took Kelson to the Rainforest Cafe yesterday in Nashville for lunch. She has really shown a big interest in animals lately, so we thought she would love this place. She really was excited about the HUGE and COLORFUL butterflies. The fish really excited her too. Jason tried to show her the gorillas. As soon as he did, the rainforest thunderstorm started and they started freaking out and doing their motions. Kelson immediatly started crying- she wasn't a fan of all the noise and lightening. Bless her. We sat her back down to eat lunch and we assured her that the gorillas were nice. So next thunderstorm time she was acting like she was petting the gorillas saying "nice, nice". She is such a smart girl. She saw one of the monkey's swinging from the tree and Kelson said "Weeee"- :) Jason showed her the elephants and some colorful birds. We stopped by the gift shop on the way out and of course got her a RFC t-shirt and some animal figures for her collection at home. She really had a good time. Next we visited the Disney Store- the one in Hsv is closed:( so as soon as she saw the Mickey Mouse Ears she ran to the store- it was sooo cute. She walked in and you would have thought she entered Disney World. Now Jason and I really can't WAIT to take her to Disney. We are thinking October this year. We just hope Disney doesn't have thunderstorms every 30min like the rainforest cafe did ;) It was a very fun day for us!!! Kelson only got a 15 min nap so come 8:30 she was bathed and ready for bed ;) What a fun day!

Kelson has been SUCH a mommy's girl lately- waking up wanting me to hold her, always reaching for me... its sooo sweet. I'm sure its a phase, so I'm soaking up all I can right now.

Her new fav phases/things to do are: act like she's tickling us and laughs, making a funny face (like on Yo Gabba Gabba), when she finds someone she's looking for she says, "There's.... so and so". ex: Like looking for me then finding me -"There's Momma"... its so cute. Gets excited after you get her after he nap. She loves to color and stays in the lines rather well. When she wants you to color or feed her she says, "Do it".. and when she wants to watch something over she says "Again"...
Funny thing- I've been calling her private her "tutee" and it just so happens thats the name of one of the characters on yo gabba, so when they say her name on the intro song of the show she grabs herself like Michael Jackson- haha! Oops- my bad. Jason doesn't find it as funny as I do. She has learned how to blow out a candle- she did it at my 30th bday, and I'm sure there are several other things. She is soooo much fun....

I'll post pics from the Rainforest Cafe tomorrow!!!

Milestones.... and things we want to do...

I forgot to mention in my last blog that my little Kelson did a forward roll a couple of weeks ago ALL BY HERSELF. Her and I were sitting in the livingroom and she just did it. I was amazed... I was sooo excited. No one was there to tell or scream to, so I just grabbed her and hugged her. I guess Tumblebeez is starting to pay off. She really does enjoy those classes and I'm really happy that I started the class with her. Jason has even gone a couple of times. I got a couple of pics while we were there last week. Aunt Nin and Uncle Pops, Lucy, and Theana all came to watch her. It was a lot of fun. Kelson has started walking with a little bit of attitude- I love it. She seems to be really interested in the cheerleading stunts too- she tries to do a "V" like the top people do- its so freaking cute. I was NEVER a top person, nor did I attempt that, but well see- maybe she'll be a base like her mommy was. What a sweet baby girl I have. I want to take her to the pump it up place we have in town, but still yet to make it there. Jason and I tried to take her to Chuck E Cheese last Friday night, but it was wwwwaaaaaayyyyy crowded and looked like a bunch of older kids. We may try it again on a Sunday afternoon. I also am really anxious to take her to the rainforest cafe in Nashville. She LOVES animals, so I know she would love that place. AND they sent me a $5 coupon for my bday! Awww...

Happy 30th Bday to Me!!!!

Wow, what a wonderful and memorable bday I had. Being the big "3-0" has been wonderful, so far ;) I claimed the whole weekend since daylight savings time fell on my bday and made me lose 1 hour of my bday, so I showed them. Haha. Course I think I do that every year regardless of the time change. Haha.
JAB played Friday night at Ruggby's- it was a great time with friends- even met a few new ones that night. Sat night JAB played at LeeAnn's. I wanted to show off my 15+ lbs that I lost, so I went all brave and wore this dress that has been sitting in my closet waiting on the right occasion. This occasion seemed to fit. The funniest moment of the whole weekend, was when the guys all chipped in and bought a "Carmen Electra signature professional stripper pole". This has been a running joke for years at the cave and finally we have one. I did try out the pole- and have LOTS of bruises to prove that. I have a new appreciation for those girls- that is really hard to do... Much harder than it looks. I couldn't do much, but I found out that some of my friends could- haha! I had a blast trying out my new present and hanging out with my friends all weekend. I got some really funny cards from my friends. My bday presents were awesome too. Nikki got me a gorgeous red/black corset- I admired a one that she had on once- so she got me one for my 30th. Its really pretty!!!! Stacey got me personalized initials to put on my car, a make up box (Jason referred to it as a tackle box) filled with GREAT hair products, and some Mariah Carey perfume/lotion. Sharee got me two tickets to see Sugarland and Billy Currington on the arsenal in May. How fun!
I was very excited that my friends thought of me on my bday.

On my bday I pretty much relaxed and hung out with the family. Not too bad of a hangover- thank goodness ;) I think I was more excited than anything. Jason made me a WONDERFUL meal that I had requested. Sunday is usually our "cheat" day so I went all out ;) He made Chicken Cannelloni and Chicken Parmesan- it was DELISH! My husband is a GREAT chef. My mom and dad got me a "girl scout mint choc chip" ice cream cake and lucy made me a carrot cake. There was 20+ people for dinner and presents. I felt extra special on my bday. My adorable niece sang me a happy bday song- so sweet- on my voicemail. I also got to talk to my brother for a few min too. I got many wonderful presents from everyone. Aline and George got me a set of towels that matched some other ones I won at bunco one month and a Kohl's gift card (for my new tennis shoes), Louise and Chris got me a Kohl's gift card as well. Yea. Adrienne,Tim, and Elliot got me a vanilla scented diffuser- it smells really good. Jason and Kelson got me a Wii Fit ;), Mom and dad gave me a $100 bill for my Europe trip, Theana got me some really cute and cool flip flops- they are supposed to be the new "rave" this summer. Yellowbox is the brandname- well see ;) They are cute. Lucy, Nanny, and Jason got me a HUGE wicker chest to match my rocking chair from Pier 1. I'm sooooo excited. I had a list and got everything I wanted. Thank you so much family and friends for making my 30th bday so memorable and fun!

At the end of April, Keri and I are headed to Europe for an additional party for my 30th bday.... It just never stops ;) I'm fine with that ;) haha! I'm so freaking excited. I've been working my butt off to lose weight for my bday, a photo shoot with the family in April, and this Europe trip.

The Biggest Loser Competition is going VERY WELL. Everyone is doing so good and losing weight. There is lots of motivation and several of the competitors have already dropped a size. The competition is going to end on April 19th... We had to push it back a week since the 12th is Easter Sunday. The 1st place slot has lots of potential winners, so I guess only time will tell. About 5.5 weeks to go!!!!

My little Kelson is something else. She has really changed, grown up, gotten so smart over these last couple of months. Her vocabulary is unbelievable. I get SOOOO many comments about how advanced she is for her age and how much she already knows. I think its because we CONSTANTLY work with her on colors, sounds, numbers, and Disney character names ;) She can point out all the Disney princesses and knows how to say most of their names. Its amazing. I truly believe that signing with her has pushed her communication to a new level. I'm soooo happy that I started that with her so young. She is so freaking adorable too. People are always complimenting her on how beautiful she is ;)
Recently she has started to count to 10 with me- its so cute. She loves to do it- it’s a game with her. I show them to her on the fridge (number magnets) and I start with 1, and she says 2, I say 3, she says 4, etc.. Her fav is saying "10" really loud. She loves the "hot dog" dance/song from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show. She dances/sings along with the characters. She's still a huge Wonder Pet fan and has started to sing the theme song a little bit. She knows all of the animals that they save and says the wonder pets' names each time they appear on the screen. She has a mouthful of teeth. She has started telling me poopie when she has poopie in her diaper, so I may attempt to start potty training her. She loves to look at the stars and moon at nighttime. She likes to play outside, play with bubbles, and check out the birds and horses in the backyard. She is gonna love swimming this year- she has already started practicing kicking in the bathtub. She signs/says baby anytime she sees a little baby anywhere. She loves to watch her Disney characters sing a long video- it has the real characters dancing at Disney World. She tried to mimic a lot of their dance moves. Even does the "happy feet" move- when she sees the penguins- from Mary Poppins. Lately she has been wanting to snuggle before bedtime. Normally she would have her milk and I would lay her down and she would go to sleep. She has been wanting some cuddling time- which I don't mind at all- but I have to get sleep to so I can go to work the next day. Maybe its just a phase. Well I think this about wraps things up, but I know there will be so many more memories to come. This year we have lots of things coming up- we plan on taking Kelson to go see Disneyworld, I'm going to Europe, Jason and I have our 5th wedding anniversary, going to Mexico Beach to stay with Aunt Joan, and Kelson's 2nd bday! Next year we want to try and save up to go on a Disney cruise!!!!!! :) If heard nothing but wonderful things about it! We still want to go to New York City too. So much to do- so little time to do it all.

Where to start?

My goodness so much has happened in the last week or so. Well start with Miss Kelson- she is now 18 months old- she has really grown up so much. Her vocabulary has blown up- I can't even keep up with all the words she is saying now. She knows how to go around getting in trouble and making things look cute instead of getting into trouble. She has around 10 teeth. We are going to the dr's today, so I'll give you all the updates after we get back. She has to get her SHOTS :( I'm really sad about that- the last time we went it really killed me to see her in pain like that. I just have to rememeber to have a sucker ready for her after they are done. There is no easy way to deal with it, but I know its for her own good. Kelson really does have her own personality and names for everyone- Me- mama, Jason- dada, Mom- Gigi, Dad- Papa, Lucy- Memere, Bob- Ba Ba, Aline- Nin, George- George (but were working on pops), Louise- Wa Wa, Theana- Toodles, and a few others. She says kids names really well- she says Elliot really clear, Belle- her cousin, and were working on Corgan. Plus she is repeating her name back to us- well sorta ;)
We are still attending Tumblebeez once a week and still known for being the adorable little girl who wears the leggins ;) Her teacher Mrs Penny loves her and hates if we have to miss a class. Last week was V-day week so Kelson brought V-day goodie bags for all of her classmates- and it was perfect timing cause the reg lolipops they give the kids were gone, so Kelson came through- we gave the kids some candy, lolipops, heart shaped goodies, bubbles, and stickers- they LOVED it. I felt like the cool mom :) The kids were so sweet and thankful too. She almost has her forward roll now- with a little assistance. She is starting to count on her own too. Some of her fav shows right now are: The Wonder Pets, Yo Gabba Gabba, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Dora. She sings along with the theme songs. Its adorable. She LOVES LOVES LOVES the Disney Princesses- her favorite is Cinderella or as she calls her Rella. I can't wait to take her down to Disney World again towards the end of the year.... how exciting!!!

At Kelson's 18 month checkup she weighs a little over 24 lbs (50th percentile) and 31.5 inches tall (70th percentile). Dr. Zbell said that she is above average in her learning skills ;) and is PERFECT.... gotta love that.

We are meeting with one of Jason's old high school friends in April for a free photo shoot. She contacted him via myspace and said she wanted to do this for us :) I'm really excited since we get to have a proffesional take some pics for us. I have a few ideas of what I want to do. Plus this gives Jason and I another month and a half to lose some more weight. She usually doesn't charge- just takes donations for mission trips and other various things for her church- I thought this was a GREAT idea. She said that she believes her talent was given to her by God so she wants to use it giving back to him....SO SWEET!!!

We are both doing very well on our biggest loser competition- although we gained a lb or so last week- we have lost around 12 lbs/each and 2-3% body fat already. Ir's pretty exciting and so much easier when we are doing it together.

Next month, March, I'm turning "30". I still can't believe little ole me is gonna be 30 already, but to me its just a number. I don't think I'm gonna have a big party or anything this year at home- just attend a JAB show and hang with friends. I plan to lose more weight and look even hotter before this. The plans for the Europe trip are underway and I'm sooooo excited- I still can't believe I'm getting to go with my sister- and for a reasonable price ;) I can't wait! We are both very excited!

Jason recently went up to Nashville to talk to their producer, Walt Aldridge, about their next release. While he was up there he was presented with a plaque that stated "I loved her first" went GOLD (sold over 500,000 copies). What an awesome achievement!!! I'm so proud of him.

Yea Team Biggest Loser

I'm happy to report that EVERYONE that is in the competition (11 girls and 6 guys) have lost weight. We are in week 4 and Jason and I have both lost around 10lbs/each and some body fat :) I haven't started working out like I want/need to, but I have started, so that's the first step. I don't have a workout buddy this time, so its just to me to go. I actually kinda enjoy going alone so I can do my own workout plan and spend more time on the things I want to. I haven't done any of the classes yet, but I think starting next week I will. Just to mix it up a bit. I'm pretty much doing 45 min of cardio, 3 sets of 15 reps of free weights (10 lb weight), push ups- my new addition, and 3 sets of 15 sit ups on the exercise ball. I can defintily tell that my body is getting leaner... its so exciting. I still have about 20 more lbs to go, but I really feel by my 30th bday that I will be close to where I want to be!!! YEA!!! These girls have really motivated me to stick with it and try harder this time. Having Jason and his mom and sister doing the dieting has REALLY helped out too. Jason and I did have a splurge day on Super Bowl day- we have a covered dish and there was SOOO much yummy food. Although we ate what we want- we really couldn't eat too much cause we got full faster.
I haven't gotten any compliments on my weight loss so far, but its ok, that pushes me that much harder to lose....

Anyways, just wanted to give you guys an update... I'm really excited that I feel like this is going to be a successful competition. Jason and I want that money!!! :)

Are people actually reading my blog?

I thought about just having a private blog since no one really seems to be reading my blog anymore. I've really slacked the last month or two on writing, so that's my fault, but I'm really doing this more for Kelson than anything else. I have a handful of people that read and comment occasionally, but there are over 40+ people on my approved list to read. I don't know if they are too lazy to sign in and comment or they would just rather read than write. I do rely on facebook a lot now to communicate and talk about certain things, but its def not a "diary" sort of thing I want to have out for everyone to see. Maybe I should just not care who is reading this and continue on....

i'm just happy that I've kept it going this long so Kelson will have lots of memories to re-cap! :)

All About Kelson...

Kelson has a book called "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"- its about a little mouse that wishes and wonders what stars are all about. Its really a cute book. Aunt Natasha got it for her last year. Kelson likes to point at each star and say "star". I took her outside and showed her some REAL stars lastnight. She saw a really bright one and she said "Moon"- i said no that's a star- and sadly the moon wasn't out for me to show her the difference between the two. She has a moon in her room, so she knows what it looks like and knows that its bright. As I changing her after reading the book, I started singing Twinkle Twinkle little Star to Kelson and she was in awe... she grinned from ear to ear- it was adorable. She even started singing along- I couldn't believe it- she was actually pronouncing the words.
I've been working more with Kelson on her singing. We sing a Wonder Pet's lullaby song (The WP's sing it to a baby piggy to get her to go to sleep) I thought it was a really sweet song, so I started singing it to Kelson. Course i changed some of the words to sing it to Kelson instead of a pig ;) "Rest your head Kelson, don't move or budge, just listen, imagine that your floating down a gentle stream... Dream, Dream, Dream".. so now Jason, Kelson, and I sing three part harmony on the "dream" part- its soooo sweet and cute. I can tell that she is really into music- already.
Last weekend Jason played in Mooresville at a Bar and Grill- where kids were allowed so we took Kelson with us. She had a GREAT time listening to her daddy- but she wanted to grab his guitar and his microphone. She stood right in front of them playing for a couple of songs. Then she started doing her dance- the one armed shifting side to side dance- its sooo cute. Mom said that she is so much like I used to be. Walking around saying hi, waving, singing, smiling, just happy. It was fun to have her at the show for a while. She even conned a guy out of BOTH of his birthday balloons- haha!

Now don't get me wrong its not all fun and games ... she has her impatientness (thanks to me) and her temper at times. I can't help but laugh when she does her temper tantrum cause she turns it on and off like that. When she doesn't get something her way she cries and then a few seconds later she SCREAMS and turns red- I just laugh at her now. She gets over it quick.

Kelson finally has two teeth coming in the back- mom saw em first. They are pretty purple, so i was worried, but my facebook (social page fad) mom friends assured me that was normal. She had a few restless nights and some pain, but overall she's handled it very well. So this will put Kelson at having 10 teeth at 18 months old.

History in the making...

Today, Jan 20th, Barack Obama was sworn in as our 44th President. He is the first african american to ever become president. Although I was at work during the inaguration, I heard his speech was great and the whole thing went very well. I was a little worried that some southern white citizen may do something STUPID during the ceremony, but I'm sooo relieved and happy to hear that it didn't. Although I'm republican and didn't vote for Obama, I'm proud to say that he's our president and will give him a shot at the presidency. (Like I have a choice) ;) Sometimes change is good and since sooo many folks resent George W. Bush I guess its time we let someone else take charge- regardless of color. I have a feeling that a woman will become president in my lifetime as well. I just wanted to capture this moment because of the historical meaning.

AND.. another moment- today is my 6th year anniversary that I've been working for the Boeing Company :) Yea me!!! I'm currently a level 3, Staff Analyst, working for our SBInet program (border control). I am in charge of making sure the "little" things are taken care of. Meetings, charts, action items, risks are being worked, travel, badging, facilities work, the list goes on.. I'm pretty much here to make my team look good and keep them in "GREEN" status.

Biggest Loser.... First Week

Well, at first it wasn't a good week, due to the fact that the batteries were low in the scale and gave me some VERY inaccurate numbers. Scared me really. Said that I had lost 6 lbs- which I was really excited about- but gained 4% body fat. I knew something wasn't right!!! Luckily the day before weigh in i figured out that the batteries needed to be changed, so once I did that, everything turned out just fine. I lost 5 lbs and my body fat stayed the same. Jason lost 3.5 lbs and lost 2% body fat :) So it was a GREAT week for us. According to the posts on facebook- most everybody lost last week :) YEA!!! I didn't get to work out like I wanted to- only twice- but I plan on picking back up this week. I went yesterday to the gym- did cardio for 45 min, free weights, push-ups, and ab work on the ball. I'm pretty sore today :) Jason's supposed to start going to the gym at Beez. Its connected to Kelson's Tumblebeez class. I went with her lastnight- what a fun time. She looked so cute in her pig tails, blue leotard, and pink/white striped leggins! What a cutie :) She's always a hit!!! Papa and Toodles joined us too.

Biggest Loser Competition... TAKE TWO

Well its a new year and so I decided- who doesn't want to lose a few lbs and make some money doing it :) I've put together ANOTHER Biggest Loser Weight Loss Competition (mostly all new members) and Jason even started a boy's biggest loser competition. We didn't like the idea of a combined gender competition- as we know- those never turn out fair. Right Sister ;) So anyways, we started this competition on Jan 12th and it goes until April 12th. I'm really excited about the competition this time for several reasons: 1) Jason's doing it with me 2) Lucy and Theana are doing it too so that's helps with the dinner plans each evening 3) More money ($40/pp) and 4) These girls seem to be SERIOUS about this competition. I have a good feeling that most all of the girls are gonna lose weight. It will be a close run. I've started working out again- it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I've only just begun. Jason is getting ready to join the Beez fitness gym, so I think that will def help in his weight loss. He was pretty negative nelly at first (due to his LOVE for cooking), but he's figuring out that there are some good things out there that aren't full of fat :) We have weigh in on Sunday, so I'll be anxious to see if I've lost- I better have. My traineo will show that number Sunday night. I'm at a -7 due to gaining weight since the last biggest loser contest ended. Oh- and the fact that I ate like a pig the weekend before the beginning weigh in :) I'm hoping to lose around 25 lbs

Jason and I went grocery shopping yesterday and OMG- it costs so much more for diet foods- thats ridiculous- If I was president ;) I would give the average person a tax write off or no tax on diet foods to promote them to eating healthier. I think that's a rip off that it costs more to eat better. That's BS!

We bought one of those rotissere chickens- already cooked- to use in salads and stuff. When we got home I deboned it to store the meat and didn't even have a bite of the skin (that's my most favorite part)... so I was very proud of myself!!! :)

Well the competition is underway so wish Jason and I luck :)

We have 13 girls and 7 guys competing... may the biggest loser win....

Christmas Eve/Christmas Morning 2008

What a fun year we've had. So many wonderful memories! I knew Christmas was going to be such a fun time this year with Kelson being a little older. We tried not to go overboard with buying her TOO much stuff and for the most part i think we did rather well. I was off work from Dec 24th-Jan 1st- it was wonderful! Got lots of time with the family and friends. I would love to try and go somewhere really cool one year during our Boeing christmas break, but we have yet to make that happen. Maybe New York in 2009. Well see. My parents are moving to "The Villages" in the fall of 09. Still can't believe it, but its gonna be such a GREAT thing for them. They deserve to do what they want. I'll surely miss not having them here, but FL isn't too far away and they are really close to Disney/Orlando. Knowing our family, we will be there at least once or twice a year. I'm really happy for them!
With having so much time off we got to attend so many different parties. It was a lot of fun- but wears you out. Kelson and I went to Aunt Natasha's for Christmas at her house one day and GOODNESS- she spoiled her as if she was Mrs. Claus. She got Kelson so many wonderful things. Tinkerbell luggage, Precious moments tinkerbell figurine, Dr. Suess books, a cute outfit from her sweet mother, and the big thing was a DISNEY bradford exchange tree that had all the characters around it. It was unbelieveable. I'd seen it in the magazine, but it was really expensive, so I can't believe she got it. It was actually a gift for Kelson AND Jason :) I wish i had a picture of it, but I think Aunt Natasha does. I'll post it when she send them to me. We were pretty wrapped up in opening presents to capture too many pictures. She got me some great stuff too. What a girl!!!
Well, Christmas Eve morning we were pretty lazy- getting all the presents down to Lucy's house- and Theana guessed the number under the tree (although she kinda had an estimate in her head since she helped count them) ;) but it was 184 presents. That was with some of the additional family members being there too. Brady got a chance to come down for a visit from Minnesota. We've REALLY enjoyed him being here. Kelson really has warmed up to her Uncle Brad. He's great with her. We had a WONDERFUL Christmas Eve meal- thank you to Lucy and her sisters- then it was present opening time. Kelson enjoyed stacking all the presents up on top of eachother- as much as opening them all :) Like most kids do. She got some great things for Christmas from the Alberts' and their families- clothes, pillow for her crib- with adorable pillow cases, toys, ming ming doll, Flying tinkerbell (huge hit), books, puzzles, ($5 hooker dolls- haha- some dolls I grabbed for Kelson from the $ store at the last minute- they were just cute offbrand disney dolls- but Bob called em hooker dolls cause they were cheap looking) haha, beautiful disney globe, I'm a little teapot doll, tea set, furry vest, pj's, and so much more. Nanny, Grand Memere, Aline and George, Louise, Chris, and Elliot all got to join in for the Christmas Eve dinner and present fun.
Jason and I must have been very good to cause we got lots of presents too from the Albert family :) I got my Chi hair straightener :) That's been on my list for a few years, a Wii system with games, Vera bradley pj's, clothes, wv outfit, partini game, floor/carpet vaccum, dvd's,
Jason too was a very good boy- he got LOTS of Blue Ray movies, a blue ray player, WV attire, Wii games,Xbox game, good set of knives, kick butt pillows, lounge pants, Capt Morgan sign for the cave, and much more. We stayed up till 1:30AM- Kelson did too- and wasn't fussy at all- we still had some presents to open, so we home and put Kelson to bed. Jason and I got the Santa presents ready- well some of them cause he had to bring the rest- and we put out the cookies and milk for him, then went off to bed.

Christmas morning around 8:30ish we had to go wake up Kelson. She opened up her presents from Santa- Santa got her quite a few things too- Elmo live doll- which she loves, Disney throw- loves it, books, Snow White doll (for later), bicycle (for later on this year), outfits, pj's, bath toys, christmas tigger toy, and a few other things. Let's just say she was a VERY good girl this year!!! Next it was time to go to Papa and Grammy's house. The Donald family got there Christmas Eve night, so they were already there. I was very excited about having all of us together. The kids got along so good and had lots of fun opening presents together. Belle just enjoyed OPENING the presents- she didn't care what was inside- lol. Kelson got some more great stuff from my family- V-tech learning system, a kitchen, dvd's, books, clothes, toys, bath toys, little people amusement park toy from Uncle Kyle, and so much more. Again- Jason and I got some GREAT stuff. I got some pj's, dvd's, money towards my 30th bday Europe trip with my sister, and Jason got Dvd's, games, clothes, redneck windchime for the cave, Wolfgang puck knives, and more. I can't even remember everything we got, but I know we were VERY happy and felt very blessed. We stayed there until 1:30pm or so and went back to Lucy's to finish opening those presents and our Christmas socks from Nanny- she always has the BEST things in there! We all took a short nap then headed back to Grammy and Papa's for a delicious Christmas meal. Kyle got to join us - he had to travel from Mobile, so it was great to have the whole family together. Keri got lots of pics from Christmas day so I hope to see those soon.
Overall is was a WONDERFUL and MEMORABLE Christmas. I can't wait to experience all the fun/joy that we will have for the years to come. Thank you so much to everyone for being apart of our lives. We love you all! Happy New Year!!! Christmas Eve Pics
Christmas Morning

Kelson- December- 17 months old

I captured a couple of adorable pics of Kelson over the last month. She has grown up so much already. She is waaay beyond the average 1 1/2 yr old. At least I think so ;) She is already repeating ANY word that you say to her. She knows her princess characters, animals, family members, pets, and more on her own when pointing them out. We will read through books and it amazes me how much she remembers and can say. I'm still not even sure how many words she knows now- has to be at least 75. We still do the signing with words. I'm trying to teach her how to say potty/diaper when she feels like she is about to go pee/poop. I figured this would be MUCH easier when it comes time for potty training. If she knows when she is going to go or what it means then she can sign to me, so I can put her on the toliet so she will get the concept. I'm anxious to see if it will work. I'm gonna see if I can list all of the things that Kelson knows now. She is saying "abre" (spanish word for open) thank you Dora ;) and she understands the meaning. When she wants something open she says this and ROLLS her R- can you believe that!? I was amazed at that. Lucy is working on her numbers in french and I'm teaching her the english ones. She is starting to color and really enjoys that. She is starting to recognize the colors- she knows green, but we are working on the others. My sister made mention that Kelson is already paying attention to detail when it comes to coloring. Most kids scribble -which she does some- but mostly she likes to try to color in the eyes or the smaller areas on the page. Keri said that is pretty advanced. If she does have any artistic ability- that's all her daddy :) I noticed the other night she was coloring again on her own and again she was coloring the detail part of Tinkerbell instead of coloring all over the page. PROUD MOM!!! She understands and responds very well when we speak French to her. She still only has 8 teeth, but I'm sure more will sprout out soon. She eats like she has a full set ;) She is still picky with her food texture, but overall she will eat whatever she is given. But when she is full, she is full! No more- she repeatedly says "done" "done". We still give her a bottle of Vit D milk in a bottle before she goes down for a nap and bed. She sleeps 12+ hours a night. She communicates VERY well to us, so if she gets fussy or needs help she signs/speaks it to us. She has been a BIG mommy's girl lately- and I love it! Being back at work- after having two weeks off- has been hard, but I'm managing. Jason is at home with her, so that makes things easier on both of us. Kelson can watch a whole episode of wonder pets and not move. She is starting to sing a little too- jason and I have been doing some words and carrying a tune with it and she repeats us. One is part of a wonder pet song that they sing- a lullaby song. It's so sweet to hear her sing. I can't wait for that day she sings a whole song to us :) She hasn't been sick much at all- thank the lord- one ear infection, a mean diaper rash, and a the occasional cold- that's it! THANK YOU LORD! She loves to be around other kids and give them hugs. She shares VERY well and is always feeding people- she gets that from her Papa ;)

Some funny things Kelson has been doing:
-Kelson would give kisses or hugs to her dolls we would always say "AW" cause it was sweet, so now when she gives kisses/hugs on her own she says "AW". Its adorable.
-She says CHEESE when taking pics
-Spins round and round when she sees Belle and the Beast characters (I let her watch the movie and she saw them dancing in the ballroom, so now she does it)
-Jason and I will kiss and hug then look at her and she smiles so big and wants a hug and kiss too- its sweet
-Calls her grammy- Gigi
-Still does the sheep face for people

She weighs around 23lbs and is 34 inches tall.
Kelson definitely has my patience. She will not wait for a second for ANYTHING. Goodness- I'm sure I was that bad though :) Gotta take the good with the bad. She is our entertainment- no matter where we are. She is no stranger to anyone. She loves the outdoors and enjoys playing with all of her princess characters. Pretty soon well be playing "dress up" :) YEA!!!

Kelson- Dec 08 Pics

Dirty Santa Party- Dec 13th

We had a dirty santa party over at Louise and Chris's house. The only downfall about doing a "dirty santa" with family is they are afraid to steal from the other family members, so it doesn't make it as fun. ALTHOUGH, I was NOT ;) afraid to steal a present. Nanny had a really cool candle burning light that I really wanted, so I took it from her. No one could believe that I would steal it from her, but I did :) hehe. That's part of the game. Mom was next and guess what- she stole it from me :) lol. So its cool I ended up with a gorgeous candle holder (that looks great in our bedroom), so everyone was happy with what they got. We had a great time hanging with family, eating yummy food, and getting to open presents.
Kelson and Elliot got to open some presents of their own too. Kelson got Elliot some race cars, a CARS backpack for school, and a CARS toddler look and find book- he loved it. Elliot got Kelson an adorable rocking chair (that she uses quite frequently). Lucy got them a pair of matching PJ's too- they are sooo cute together. She can say his name rather clearly now. I can't even keep up with her and her vocabulary now. We had a great time and hope to do it again next year!!!!

Dirty Santa Pics

R-E-L-I-E-V-E... find out what it means to me...

About a week and a half ago I found a huge lump/mass on my left breast. I conduct my regular breast exams in the shower and came across a funny feeling mass in my breast. I thought at first it may have been a muscle tissue but when I didn't feel it in the other one, I got scared. All sorts of things were running through my mind- as it prob does for anyone who finds something that could be life threatening. I made an appt to see my gyno/obgyn right away, so I got in last Thurs- which was good because I needed to get my annual check up anyways. Dr. Rushing checked me out and he said he didn't think it was anything to worry about, but just to be sure he scheduled me an appt at the Breast Center. I went this morning- after many days of positive and negative thoughts- and lots of prayers- I have heard how painful a mammogram was and OMG- its soooo not painful. I was shocked when she was done- I said- that's it? So now I'm glad to know that I can handle those- no problem ;) Anyways, they did a mammogram and ultrasound. The whole situation was weird because there were two girls- prob younger than me- in the waiting room waiting on results- you just think of breast cancer or mammograms for OLDER women. So I felt a little more relieved that it wasn't uncommon for someone my age. The nurse came out and told me the great news that they couldn't find ANYTHING wrong- that it was just breast tissue :) WHEW!!! I texted my family to let them know the good news, then went to change clothes. I just couldn't imagine getting horrible news - esp before the Christmas holiday :( I cried (with JOY) in the room and thanked God for again blessing me. Our GOD is great!

Christmas Parties Galore...

The last couple of weeks there has been SO MUCH going on that I feel like I don't have time to relax anymore. We've had Jason Albert gigs, holiday parties, ornament parties, work, shopping, gymastics, etc.. Not that I'm complaining ;) cause I love to stay busy, but whew. I have had NO time to even step foot in a gym. Sad, huh? Oh well- 2009 is a new year and a fresh start for me.


One of the ornament parties I went to was at my girlfriend Natasha's house on December 6th- we had a fab time! This is her 2nd annual ornament party. She went all out (like any project she does) and did so many special things for each guest. She made each one of the guests an ornament with our initial on it- very cute idea- her and Stacey spent a few hours getting those all together- they turned out VERY cute. My girlfriend Stacey is a consultant for Upper case living- they sell some really really cute stuff. I need to get her my order- come to think of it ;). Anyways, we did our ornament exchange- with no hair pulling or name calling, so everyone was pleased with their ornament picks this year. lol. Stacey's sister, Summer, made an awesome and adorable cake for the party. She's so talented in that area. If you are looking for someone to make a personalized or theme cake, let me know, so I can pass her information to you. She is SOOOO good and creative. We each had little presents- given to us from Natasha. The gifts were anything from soaps, lotions, chocolates, to scented socks- that's what I got ;) I think they are super cool. Smell like watermelons- not sure how long that will last- hehe. Anyways, we had a great time eating, mingling, laughing, and exchanging ornaments. More pics from the party

After that party was over I had another ornament party to go to- it was another friend of mine- Cici's. I've gone to her parties the last couple of years and they are always a lot of fun too. It's great to be surrounded by friends and family this time of year! Oh what fun...

Thanksgiving Blog

Again- i'm sucking at getting these out on time, but at least I do ;) We had around 40+ for Thanksgiving dinner this year. Things were def more organized this year so we had a chance to do our "what we are thankful for circle". Its always nice to hear updates on family and what everyone had happen to them for that year. There were some funny moments, sad moments, and exciting moments. Congrats to Derrick and Liz on their news of being parents. Since they stayed at our house, Jason and I passed on a few words of advice being new parents. It was exciting to be there to hear the news in person.Claire and Uncle Paul will make WONDERFUL grandparents as well, I know they are all excited. Rebecca will be a fashion queen awesome aunt. We are very excited for them and know they will make wonderful parents. We had a bet this year on how long the "thank you" circle would take and my dad and Kelson won the pot. We gave the money- $40 to Derrick and Liz to go towards the baby :) Sweet aren't we ;) LOL. After that was all said and done we took some family portraits. We had dinner around 6- it was DELICIOUS!!! My brother and his fiance Renee joined us for Thanksgiving- it was great to see them- it had been way to long. They had assigned seats for everyone- with adorable cookies that Jeannette and her grandkids had made for everyone- cute touch to the holiday dinner. Kyle and Renee sat with Jason and I so we got some time to catch up. Kelson had an early dinner so she played while we all ate- what a girl ;)
My sister and her family weren't but an hour or so away from us- hanging with Keith's family in T-town- so we made a trip to go eat at Dreamland and hang out few an hour or so. It was way to quick, but it had been too long. I can't wait till they come at Christmas time- Corgan and Kelson are def at a fun age that they can play together at Grammy's house this year :)
Now that Kelson is a little older and running around she was able to have fun and play with her cousins much better than last year. Its so neat to see your child having fun with other kids. Brings a smile to your face.
Sadly, a lot of the kids were sick so eventually Kelson got sick too :( But we took her to the dr and got her some medicine for her ear infection and she is pretty much back to her fun and entertaining self.
Thank you to everyone who came this year and all your help in getting all this prepared. It was another great Thanksgiving at the Albert acres and we hope to keep the tradition going....

PS- Next year we plan to hire help to come do the dishes after Thanksgiving dinner- that part takes FOREVER- even with all the cousins in the kitchen in shifts ;)

Thanksgiving 2008 Pictures

Professional Bridal Consultant ;)

Well its official- I passed my class and received my Professional Bridal Consultant Diploma :) Now, whether I do anything with it or not, is unsure ;) But I really wanted to learn more about weddings and have that experience under my belt. It was a good class. I may be helping a girlfriend of mine plan her wedding next year, so that can give me some of the experience I need/want. My girlfriend Randi and I had talked about trying out the wedding planning route, but now is not a good time for either of us. Maybe a few years down the road. I'm also interested in being a planner for children's bday parties. I think that would be a lot of fun, not as stressful, and decent money in a short period of time. So now... what class do I want to take next (since Boeing is paying) ;) I'm thinking about the designing and sewing class- so I can make mine and Kelson's clothes ;) yee haw!

I can't keep up...

OMG- my little Kelson doll has been saying so many words that I can't keep up anymore. She amazes me each day with saying a new word and then remembering a few days later. I think we have a genuis on our hands- she gets that from her Aunt Keri most definitly cause Jason and I are just average ;) or so I think ;) I mean she's only 15 months and already on a 2 year old level- makes a mommy and daddy proud!! :)

Words to date: (that I can remember) up, what's that, whose that, milk, mama, dada, memere, papa, santa, nanny, elliot, eers, grammy (almost- she's got about half), cookie, cracker, down, all done, bath, bob, ming ming, linny, bird, cheese (when taking a picture), Mickey, tigger, pooh, bye bye, hi, alright, bubble, tink tink, and book. I may be missing a few, but that's all I can remember right now.

Holy cow- 32 words and around 30 signs at 15 months!! Way to go Kelson! I see that the average 2 year old knows around 50 words and can say a few sentences, so it looks like we are head of the game.

Signs- same as before but adding in Bear. I can sign to her now (without saying the word) and she will point the item out.

She recognizes/signs/does sounds for so many animals now.
She will sing on command now- its precious!!!!
She's showing lots of affection!!! I love that.

You have to see to believe all the stuff she can do.. its so cool.

Happy Birthday Jason

Today is Jason's 35th Bday! Time sure does fly. I met him when I was 17 and he was just 23. I guess time does fly when you are having fun. We are planning on going to PF Chang's for dinner- Jason's new fav place- and then back to his mom's for cake and presents. I'm sure he is lounging around today with Kelson- wish I was there :( Happy Bday honey. We love you very much!

Another good bill of health...

Kelson had her 15 month checkup and shots :( Jason wasn't going to go, but he decided to go ahead and come along. Both Kelson and Jason did very well. I held Kelson this time during the shots it was NOT fun. She had to get the flu shot too and they said that's the one that hurts the most. Luckily Jason was prepared and as soon as the shots were over he had a sucker in hand ready to give to Kelson- that seemed to ease the pain a little more- way to go daddy ;) Other than the shots Kelson did really well and was showing off her personality. She weighs 22lbs and 9 oz- which isn't much since her last appt. They actually asked if she was eating enough- its not like TOO SKINNY runs in our family ;) But I told her that she was walking like crazy and we are taking a gymnastics class together on Monday nights, so that must be it ;) hehe. Either way they said that she is perfectly fine and in the 45 percentile for weight. She is up to 31 1/2 inches in height- up to 85 percentile in that. She was only in the 70% range last appt too. What a jump. She was asking about her speaking, walking, etc.. She noticed that Kelson was already saying phrases and sometimes sentences, so she said that Kelson's development is already in the 2 yr age group. We knew that she was ahead of her peers in signing/speaking, so that made us very proud to hear just how far ahead she is. Makes a mommy and daddy very proud ;)
After her appt we went to Wal-Mart for a few hours. We bought her a bag full of suckers- she's been getting these after her gym class on Monday nights- so she was excited to get more than one in a day. We went by the toy section- big mistake- she wanted all the toys- and she was not in the mood to walk away without em. It was bad-she kept blowing kisses like the Elmo doll she wants with a tear in her eye- it was the most pitiful thing Jason and I had ever seen. After a few suckers she had forgotten about the toys ;) Also, Jason and I got ourselves the Wii for Christmas, so we wanted to go ahead and get one since they are hard to find these days. SSSSHHH-don't tell Santa.

Albert Christmas Fencing... an additional biz opportunity for Jason

While Jason has been off the road for a while, we've been trying to come up with a good side job for him- besides his music career- and after he built and painted our AWESOME Christmas fence we knew that he was on to something. I did a little research and noticed that NO ONE - online or on ebay has anything like the Christmas fence that Jason made. They have rinky dinky ugly fences that no one would want in their house. Its such a unique christmas item and its wonderful for keeping the little kids out of the tree. He hand painted each and every one of the soldiers with a theme in mind for each. It took him about 40+ hours to create this fence. He also made AU and WV soldiers. That got me thinking about another possible item to sell- collegiate toy soldiers- for either outside or on a stand by your tree. I mean there are SOOOOOO many die hard college football fans that would love to add that to their house for Christmas time. So, Jason is currently working on some new items for us to sell- whether it be a Christmas fence or a collegiate toy soldier- he can do both! He is going to make a snowman christmas fence too and possibly personalized christmas welcome signs. If you are interested and would like to purchase either any of these items, please let me know. It will take a few days to a week- depending on what you want. Our christmas tree fence soldiers were customed made, whereas Jason can do the same soldier for the whole tree for a cheaper price. It would make a wonderful present for anyone.

A "custom painted" toy soldier fence is going to be $30/foot. Ex: Our fence is 12 ft long, so it would be $360 for our fence.
An "all the same painted" toy soldier fence is going to be $20/foot


The collegiate toy soldier (he can do any team) would be $45


This is something that will last forever, made of real wood, and is hand painted. Jason also made the fence with hinges so you can fold it flat for easy storage.

So, who wants one before we start posting them on ebay??? ;) I really think we may be on to something here...

Christmas in Dixie.... ALREADY :)

It's Christmas time at the Albert house- yes already. We try to put up our tree on Nov 1st- whether it be at midnight Oct 31st or early Nov 1st. This year we were unable to do that, due to the fundraiser, so we are a few days behind, but its perfectly ok. As long as we have a good reason. We normally have a race to see who can put up their tree the soonest on Nov 1st, so this year- Theana and Speedo win- only cause they were at his house and didn't attend the fundraiser with us ;) But kudos to them for doing it. We got our tree up on Nov 4th- not too bad :) We love to enjoy our Christmas decor for several months instead of just for a few weeks like most people- its too much work and we have too much cool stuff to resort to waiting.

Nanny update- she had a mild stroke last week and a UTI, so she went to the dr and they are taking great care of her and getting her back to good. She is in physical re-hab and should be back home today!! :) YEA! Please keep her in your prayers. We sure do miss her.

We have a new president- first time ever- a black president- Barack Obama/ VP-Joe Biden he got voted in Nov 4th. The majority of America voted democrate- we didn't- but oh well- let's see what he can do for us!! I'm willing to give him a chance.


Happy 15th Month old KELSON- Our little girl has been saying and doing so many fun things these day. I'm really suprised at how smart she really is. I think Kelson is advanced for her age. You can show you how to do something and she either does it right away or remembers how to do it later on. Her and I were at Wal-Mart the other day looking at the Elmo Live doll and he says he loves you and blows kisses, so now I ask Kelson what Elmo does and she blows kisses like he does. She picked that up on her own. Of course Kelson is asking Santa for Elmo Live for Christmas!! We went to the Christmas Place store this past weekend and Kelson LOVED the decor. I know our awesome christmas tree toy soldier fence will come in handy.

She says "cheese" when I act like I'm gonna take a picture- its precious. She saw a picture of my dad lastnight on the computer and she said Papa- very clearly- it was so cute.

She is saying all kinds of words now and signing like crazy too. I'm glad to see that she is doing both. People are still amazed at her skills :)

New Words: Bye Bye, Papa(very clearly), up, sings when we tell her to sing in french "chanter", cheese, attempting to say Mickey Mouse- almost has it

Sounds: Elephant, Pig, Cow, Duck, Cat, and Car

New signs: plane and tree

More fall pics

Talking up a storm

Lately Kelson has been talking like crazy. She repeats lots of words that we say- now is the time to start watching the language around the little one ;) Which is a good thing. Jason and I are big fans of Family guy and Quagmiere (sp) always says "All Right"- its hilarious- so I told Kelson to say it and she does- its precious. I love that she can say a few words together instead of just one. She is just so freaking smart. She points at santa now when you ask where he is- in french and english. I'm so amazed at the things she can do. We are all so excited about seeing everyone at Thanksgiving and Christmas time. Kelson is at such a fun age!!! I love it!!!

Another trip to G'burg and a fund raiser for a GREAT cause

We left Sat, Nov 1st, to head to Newport, Tn for a fundraiser for Jason's godson, Robbie Mathis. They finally diagnosed with him a pain syndrome/trigeminal neuralgia disorder. He is handling things VERY well. He only has to take 2 meds now instead of 6. He wears a mask to prevent catching any colds or sickness so his symptoms don't get any worse. He is in GREAT spirits and was very thanksful that we came up there for Jason and Mike to play at the benefit. Chuck- Rob's brother- wore his Heartland shirt and taped over the other guys's faces- it was hilarious. He wanted to be in the band - hehe. They had entertainment, bake sale, silent auction, a live auction, and lots of donation- food from Papa Johns, cotton candy, and popcorn. Overall they raised over $5K for their family. This money will go to medical bills- co-pays, expenses on their trips to the children's hospital, etc.. The Mathis' family is the sweetest family you will ever meet. They love eachother so much and you can see that in every way. Robbie's brother Ike and sister Izzy are so careful and loving to their brother. I know that God will heal him and allow him to be the normal 10 year old boy that he wants to be. They are home schooling him right now. Keep him and his family in your prayers. We are hoping for a successful and quick recovery!!!


After the benefit we went to G'burg to spend a few days with the Mathis family. Jason and Rob were best friends in high school and always have remained close. Now that we have Kelson its been an even funnier experience. Robbie, Issabelle, and Issac all LOVE to play with Kelson. They are so sweet with her. They are learning a few signs and french too :) I just wish they lived closer to us. Anyways, we stayed at the Christmas Inn Hotel- it was sooooo neat. It smelled and felt like Christmas in there. Since we were unable to put up our tree at home on Nov 1st, we were bummed, but this place definitly made up for it. The rooms were very nicely decorated. They had White Santa coffee for guests in the morning and hot apple cider in the lobby at nighttime. It was a very welcoming place. They had a place for you to write Santa a letter, so Kelson wrote one (of course I wrote it), but we stuck it in the mailbox for Santa. Santa is supposed to write us back too- I thought that was really cool. There was a HUGE clock in the lobby that rang on the hour and it would play a Christmas tune with giant bells and little elf statues would ring the hour bell. It was very cute. Kelson kept signing "more" after they were done. hehe. We did lots of shopping, eating, and watching Christmas movies. It was such a fun and relaxing time. Only downfall was Kelson caught a cold- I think from trick or treating Hallowen night- so she was a little sick and had a runny nose, that her daddy caught while we were there :( and I got a little wiff of it, but I doubled up on Xango and got rid of it quick :) Now we are all back home and feeling much better. We got to see Santa at the Christmas Place Store and Kelson got two pics with him- one of them looking at eachother and then just the norm Christmas picture. They are both adorable. I may use them for our Christmas cards so I'm not gonna post them here :) Overall we had a GREAT time hanging out with them and hope to do it again next year. We made good friends with the manager, so we are hoping to stay in the Presidental suite next year- and maybe have Jason sing a few Christmas tunes in return ;) We got some great video of our trip so I'm glad that we captured those moments.

The "REAL" Halloween

Kelson was Tinkerbell- and boy did she ever play the part. It was heck getting her dressed, putting the glitter and eye makeup on her--- she was being a little whiny "tinkerbell" ;) once we got the outfit together then she was fine. She saw Tink Tink on her costume so she was excited. She looked soooo adorable. I couldn't find the perfect shoes, so I bought some sparkly green bows from Party City and pinned them on her tennis shoes. Since we are all huge Peter Pan fans, Jason and I decided to dress up with her. I found a blue dress at the thrift store for $2.00 and bought some ribbon for my sash and hair bow, then got some black slippers from Wal-mart- all in all I only spent $15 on my costume- not bad. Jason was John, he made his hat from poster board, borrowed my dad's PJ shirt, and wore his Clark Kent glasses. He was a perfect John :) We put a cute bonnett on EERS and he was Nana. Our family picture turned out SOOOOO cute. I'm so happy that we decided to dress up with Kelson. BTW- I had Kelson's wings on upside down for a few pics, before Jason realized it :) OOPS.
Kelson and I didn't get a chance to carve our pumpkins this year :( But Jason did so that's good that we got one done. We even bought them a few weeks before Halloween.

We went to Aunt Weeza's and Chris's house to trick or treating (Kelson's first time) She LOVED it. She went door to door with Elliott (who was an adorable Thomas the Train) and they both got lots of candy. People were commenting on how cute they looked. We went to 10+ houses and then it was getting cold so we decided to quit. Aunt Jeannette made some DELISHISH food and we had some appetizers and taco soup for dinner. All in all it was a great Halloween!!!! We've decided that Aunt Weeza will take care of having the Halloween get together each year :)

Halloween Pictures

Halloween 2008..

Jason and I decided to be Supergirl and Clark Kent this year for our annual Halloween Party. Normally I try to come up with a cute & unique costume, but I just didn't feel it this year and plus I wanted something easy and already done. We still got lots of compliments on our costumes. It was a lot of fun. The hosts- Alberts, Satterfields, and the Wyttenbachs met up over at Rob and Jeannette's house Sat afternoon to get things ready for the party. Thanks to Jeannette for the OUTSTANDING food and to all our guests for contributing $10/pp, so we could have cool decorations and yummy food. There were so many awesome costumes. Believe it or not- we had a few duplicates- Clark Kents (Jason and Russ), Referee chicks (Michele and Shasta), and The Bounty Hunter and his wife Beth (Mike&Madeline and Phillip&Stacey). Overall there were great costumes. I'm just glad that everyone had a great time and played the part of their costumes. We hope to have another big one next year!!! :)

We are going to dress up with Kelson this Friday night- she is going to be Tinkerbell and I'm going to attempt to be Wendy and Jason little Michael (he just doesn't know it yet- hehe)Halloween Party Pics

Tumblebeez or not to bee ;)

Kelson and I are having a GREAT time at her gymnastics class each Monday night. Kelson's memere bought Kelson some adorable leg warmers, so we threw together some cute outfits for her to wear to class. She got tons of compliments on both outfits. Esp the one with the leotard. The owner even came and paid a compliment and showed her off to other classes ;) Proud momma moment ;)
Kelson has already started attempting a forward roll on her own- it was tough getting her to put her head towards her chest, but after a month she's got it. Just have to work on the pushing her over, but she understands totally what it is. What a smart and talented girl!

G'burg Trip with Friends...

WHEW... what a fun and crazy time we had. This is the first time we- as friends have all gone on a road trip together. We left Friday afternoon- after reassuring we had the MAIN nessessities- Mike's IPOD, the radio to support the IPOD, babysitters were watching our kids, money/purses, overnight bags, etc.. The girls rode in Stacey's car and the guys rode in Jason Miller's van. We had a GREAT time on the way up there gossiping and laughing- like girls do. We didn't too bad - as far as stopping to pee and stuff. We got to g'burg around 6 ish, but with the time change and the CRAZY traffic it took forever for us to get to our cabin. We finally arrived at the cabin around 9:15 - after stopping for some McD's and liquor and grocery shopping. The cabin was great. The rooms were perfect- all of us had our own room and bathroom- poor Stacey and Phillip had to sleep on the pullout couch, but they didn't complain :) Anyways, so we got there and it was like we didn't know what to do- haha. We had a hot tub, so some got in there, we started playing pool and I bought a drinking dice game that lasted about 5 min. Apparently it was too complicated and not very fun for everyone- haha. So anyways, we went downstairs to play pool. That was a lot of fun. We had the ipod turned up and the partying began. (A few years back we stayed in G'burg at some cabins and ended up getting kicked out because of the loud noise- the odd thing was- it was the freaking NEXT night the cops came and we weren't even there) It was BS- but anyways, we won't go there. So we had a great time- we kept the noise level to a minimum and didn't go outside much. Anyways- many drinks, songs played, clothes switched, hours later we went to bed around 4am ish. We went to G'burg the next day to go shopping and eat. We went to an AWESOME Italian restaurant- that I never even knew was there- delish- the pizza and calazones were out of this world and GINORMOUS. Anyways, so after lunch- all the boys, but Mike, went on the cabin to catch some Z's and to watch football. So we shopped some more- and had a blast. Stacey and I went into this kitchen store where they were sampling tons of different styles of dips and the guy would announce if anyone was caught double dipping they would have to wear the hat, so of course I called Stacey out- even though she didn't really do it- she had to convince the man she didn't really do it and turned so red- it was hilarious. So after lots of shopping and laughing it was time to head back to the cabin. We had planned on Sharee cooking dinner and Jason making breakfast for everyone, but NOPE that didn't happen. We just ate on the go. hehe. Sat night I figured would be an easy night since we partied it up Friday night, but boy was I wrong. We started all over again. We even did impersonations of eachother- that was sooooo funny. Went to bed around 4am ish again. Good times- good times. Got up around 9 to get the cabin back in order and showered and get the car packed. It def went by WWWWWAAAAAYYYY to fast, but the time we had together was lots of fun. Some of the memorable things for us- that only we will understand: Chocolate starfish with a side of harvest candy corn, hot pocket, bickem bickem bean and the boots with the fur- FLO RIDA- Song: Low, Fredrick's, Go get my purse Phillip- sorry Stacey- had to remember that one, Someone wanna play Jenga?, Jason trying on Sharee's high heels, Diet sunkist overload, suck n blow shots (thank you Sharee for showing me how to make JELL-O, hehe, and I'm sure there is lots more. Thanks gang- we vowed to try and do this every year- go somewhere different each time!!! :) Had a blast! Thank you Jason and Sharee for inviting all of us to come along.
More cabin pics

Disney on Ice...

Jason, Kelson, Myself, Bob, Lucy, Louise, and Elliott all went to see Disney on Ice this past Thurs night. We had a great time. We went and had dinner at Ruby Tuesday's then made our way to the VBCC. The seats were great, although I think Kelson wished she was on the ice with the characters. She enjoyed the show for the most part, but she really wanted to go hug on the characters- which of course- you can't. Elliott enjoyed the show very much too- he was in awe and didn't speak one word during the whole thing. Grammy and Papa bought Kelson a Peter Pan doll to take home and some cotton candy for me ;) that came with an adorable flounder hat. Good ole' grandparents. We didn't get a chance to get any pics with the characters, but that's ok cause after the show was over both kids were ready for bed. The show featured Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy. The movies that were featured were The Little Mermaid, Lilo and Stitch, The Lion King, and our favorite- Peter Pan. Kelson LOVED the crocodile and did the "tick tock" noise when he came out. It was priceless. Overall it was a great show and I'm so glad that we had that time together with our family.

My little republican...

GO MCCAIN/PALIN!!!!