Spike

He has gas.

Horrible gas.

It would not even be humanly possible for me to describe for you how bad he smells.

Christmas 2009

I normally limit the number of pictures I post to 10, but I was feeling a little crazy today. Below is a recap of our Christmas week. It started with two crazy children as shown below. Note this photo was taken while they were under the supervision of their Daddy - no idea what goes on when I'm at work!


On Sunday, we went to Brad's mom's house for the annual James Family Gathering.


On Wednesday, the kids spent about an hour trying on my and Brad's shoes... this one was while under my supervision...


On Christmas Eve, Henry got a little tired waiting for the rest of us to get ready for church - and I mean really tired!


Spike's first Christmas...


Kyra's gingerbread house made at school and our gingerbread tree made at home.


On our way to Christmas Eve service at Church.


And then, Christmas Morning! Henry came into our room at 6am and said, "He was here! I went downstairs and I didn't open anything, but he was here!"


Unloading stockings...


Henry was less than pleased with the Star Wars underwear that Santa brought and proceeded to spend the day telling people that he got underwear for Christmas!


Kyra's two prized gifts - her Barbie Jeep...


... and Princess Scooter!


On our way to Aunt Cyndi's...


... the kids decide to dole out the presents as soon as possible!



Brad's mom with Henry & Kyra.



So Brad was up until 1:30am and got a little sleepy after brunch. The antlers were my idea...


The day after Christmas, Kyra convinced my dad to play with her new dollhouse.


And on Sunday, while Brad was taking down decorations? This is what he found Kyra doing!

Lots o'Pictures From Last 2 Weeks

Kyra started at her new school last week. She was so excited on her first day - she wanted me to take a picture of her, holding up her first finger, just like I did on Henry's first day. I didn't have the heart to tell her that in Henry's picture, the one finger was for first grade! She seems to really like her new school - it is much smaller and church based, so we are learning a lot of new Christmas songs!


Everyone was excited for Saturday night's Appalachian football game (especially Brad).


On Sunday, we went to Henry's final flag football game. It was FREEZING outside & I was so happy that basketball starts this week... what with it being an indoor sport and all!




Henry is insanely proud of that trophy!!


Our Christmas Tree - we finally got it up and decorated this past Sunday.


What you can't see are all of the naked spots on some parts of the tree and the lovely cluster of ornaments on other parts of the tree... my children hung all the ornaments!


She loves this dog... he's free to a good home though!


To think he only weighed 8lbs 4 months ago!!!

Night in the Life of the James Gang

9:15pm I let the children fall asleep in my bed - it's late... I don't want to deal with the normal bedtime production. This way, they are asleep in 5 minutes.

10:45pm After doing some online shopping, I retire to bed and move Kyra to her own room. Henry's bed is like a bunk bed and I'm not interested in heaving him up, so I decide to let him sleep with me.

11:30pm I've been kicked about 5 times while watching TVLand... I debate getting out of bed & moving the Boy, but I am too lazy to do so. I decide it wont be that bad.

Every Hour on the Hour I am kicked by the Boy.

3:30am I am awoken by the Girl - tapping repeatedly on my arm... she would like to sleep with me. I put her between the Boy and I.

4:30am Boy has been kicking Girl and I have attempted to stop him... I lose what's left of my patience and move the Boy to his own bed. He is not happy and attempts to throw a hissy fit, but luckily is still half asleep. He falls back to sleep in his own bed. I rejoice on my way back to my own bed.

5;15am I lie awake for 45 minutes and decide I am mad at Brad... who is asleep on the couch downstairs because our dog slipped a disc in his back & neck. Brad opted to sleep downstairs with the Dog so he wouldn't be alone.... I envy both the Dog & Brad.

7:05am The Puppy wakes up... I take him downstairs & pass Brad asleep on the couch... as I step outside in 40 degrees to let the dogs out, I think about kicking Brad...

Thanksgiving & Snow? No...

We had another great Thanksgiving hosting the Drum family at our house - 35 or so family members came to our house for dinner (I think we were missing 3 people from the entire family). It was a very nice time.

Kyra wanted to show off her new outfit, which if I do say so myself, is friggin ADORABLE!!!


We normally have better luck at a family photo on Thanksgiving, but not so much this year...


This morning, we headed out for more Christmas decorations and at 8am, it was rather chilly so the kids wanted to wear their new hats/gloves...



But by noon? It was rather warm out!!! Brad was assembling outdoor Christmas decorations in a t-shirt! Oh well - maybe it will snow some day!

Ode to School Four

Two weeks ago I wrote a very difficult letter. After much deliberation, Brad and I decided to remove Kyra from her current daycare. School 4 has been an important part of our lives for the last 3 years. Kyra was only 6 months old when we moved her there. The daycare however, is changing. A lot. Come January 1, 2010, her teachers will change, her classroom will change, heck even her school building will change. Half the kids in her class have already left. It was a hard letter to write - one I couldn't even deliver myself.

Then today, Brad sent the director and her manager an email and it made me even more sad. We informed them that, despite the requirement to give 30 day notice for withdrawal (so ours was up December 4), tomorrow would be Kyra's last day at School Four. Ever.

You see, in the last 2 weeks, the school has received 2 bomb threats.... they've received a total of 3 bomb threats over the last 4 months. What kind of psycho nut job would threaten to bomb a daycare?? I can't imagine. In my head, I know it couldn't be possible - that a parent is upset about losing their subsidy or a teacher is upset about losing their job (over half of them did)... but after the 3rd threat, we just weren't willing to take that risk anymore.

This just makes me so sad. I wont even get to say goodbye to some of Kyra's friends or the teachers she once spoke about daily. I'm sure she'll probably never even remember Ms. Michelle, Ms. Crystal, Ms. Kristen, Ms. Katie, Ms. Kim, Ms. Candi, Ms. Tamara or Ms. Jenna... but these woman loved my daughter every day and took care of her as if she were their own... teaching her so many new things. I'll remember them... I'll always remember them.

Henry has been gone from School 4 for 2 years now and when we told him that we were moving Kyra, he said, "But when will I get to see Ms. Tamara again?"

I'll remember her the most. I'll remember how excited she was when she called to tell me that at age 4, Henry was reading books to her class. I'll remember how excited she was when Kyra moved in to her class... how thankful she was when we recognized her birthday... and I'll remember that awful time in May 2007 - when she set aside her personal pain and tremendous grief and put a smile on her face and came to work every day so that my son and his classmates wouldn't worry... so that they would have stability.

Yes, I'll remember them all.

The Leaf Pile

Today's Blog has been written by Henry & Kyra James:



Henry: There was a LOT of leaves in the front yard but not in the back. It was the best time of our whole lives. We raked, jumped, cleaned up after we were done. We used our hands, to put the leaves in the bags and made a pile so we could jump in them.


Kyra: We love you because we put our things away and our dad said that we are good and we get to have some money. And then we jumped in it. Now we are in the house and that is it!


Henry: It was very fun. We got COVERED in leaves! I even covered Kyra! She covered me too! After that, then we started to clean up. It was still very fun but there was lots of leaves. And that is the end of the story that happened to us this afternoon.

Sunny Days Chasing the Clouds Away!

So since it has been raining for the last 24+ hours straight, I thought I'd post a few pics taken just 3 days ago - when it was bright Carolina blue sunshine and temps over 70 degrees!

Here the kids are helping Brad find dog poo in the yard - oddly, they rather enjoy this chore!


Come on - admit it - this child is too cute for words!


Have I mentioned that Kyra knows how to swing? She needs a push to start off, but she has mastered the mechanics of swinging!


This child was beyond excited to wear shorts & a tshirt, let me tell you... they have been put away once again though...

Trick or Treat

Another Halloween - one we've been waiting for... if Kyra were to ask me one more time when she could go trick or treating, I might have lost my mind! And this from a child who I thought had the flu - turned out to be a virus which she in turn gave to me and I basically lost the majority of my voice yesterday. Honestly, I think the family liked that. Anyway, here are some pictures from our fun time.

My favorite Cheerleader & Indiana Jones...


Yes, sadly, the 80s rocker? Is my husband, who I might add, WANTED to dress up and CHOSE this!


No costume for Mommy!



Did I mention he purchased a heinous tattoo for his bicep??


And we are off...


Trick or Treating with the Neighbors...


Getting candy from a Witch Doctor - Henry actually 'got' her costume too!


Speaking of Henry, I had my first parent/teacher conference for 1st grade on Friday. His teacher told me I should start researching "Gifted Children" and that he was like a teacher's assistant because she could put him into small groups with children who weren't as smart as him, and he helped them without making them feel less smart. She was like "Um, not really sure what else to talk about?" I remain totally proud of that Boy!