CHRISTmas In Our New House

This is the fire place in the living room. We retiled the surround and I love how it turned out. I don't have any thing hung on walls yet ( have to unpack some tools first), so the wall above is a little bare still.


We made it a point to put up the CHRISTmas tree so that it feels like CHRISTmas for the kids. We still have a great deal of unpacking left to do(note the boxes in the conner) :-{. I put the tree in the dinning room because i always wanted to have my tree next to a window that show to the street. I love driving by and seeing trees lite up in other peoples houses.








These are some pictures from Saturday night. The Woodlands puts up an iceskating rink ever year for the holidays and the kids love to go. Hailey is a good skater and it is hard for me to keep up with her. Tyler had more trouble this year then he did last year. I think his skates might have been too loose, making it hard for him to balance. We all had a really fun time. I hope everyone is have a great and stress-free holiday season!

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Happy Halloween!

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Happy 4th Birthday Tyler!!

"Tyler's 4th Birthday"

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!

My sweet baby boy Tyler turned 4 years old last month.

What Tyler is like at four years old?

Tyler is a super sweet little man that brings us joy everyday. He is the star of his soccer team, loves everything to do with cars, points out every airplane in the sky, and is often described as a pistol. Tyler loves to play rough with his Daddy, says he wants to marry his Mommy when he grows up <3, and keeps his big sister Hailey on her toes. His best friends are Sam and our neighbor Paul. Tyler loves to spend time at Goo Goo's house, thinks Papa Jerry has the coolest truck, and cherishes Nana's hugs. He runs really fast in his "fast shoes", and loves being Daddy's helper. We are so blessed to have our special boy. We love you Tyler.

Tyler had a spiderman laser tag birthday party. It was so much fun. We all played two games of laser tag. After each game they handed out the stats and let's just say that Goo Goo showed no mercy to her grandkids:-). She had the best scores from our group. Tyler would shoot people and say things like "Oh Yeah" and "I Got Ya". He had a great time. Goo Goo made his spiderman cake, cupcakes, and spiderman cookies. We didn't get any pictures of the cookies but they looked really cute. Thank you Goo Goo for your help with the party.

Tyler received some really fun gifts. He has really enjoyed playing with them all, especially his costumes. All of his Aunts and Uncles sent him sweet cards and gifts that he was very excited to receive. Thank you to everyone who attended the party, gave gifts, or sent birthday wishes to Tyler.

It's Moving Day!

Well, the day is here to pack up our stuff and leave our home here in San Antonio. We are sad to be selling this house and moving away from our family. We have enjoyed this beautiful house and being near people we love. Todd and I had planned to raise our kids in this house, but I guess God has different plans for us. I'm not sure why His plans are so different then my own, but I have submitted myself to His will. I know things will turn out how they should.

For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, `plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11 NASB)

We will close on the sell of this house on the 17th of this month. After looking at about a ZILLION houses in The Woodlands and the surrounding areas we have made an offer on a house there. It is a little older then this house but it was priced to accommodate some updates to the decor. It is in the same part of The Woodlands as our apartment so Hailey will be able to remain a Ride Elementary Challenger, and a Girl Scout of Troop 11872! She is so excited about that. This house is not what I expected to buy, but it has the most of the things we are looking for in a home. I am also excited about getting to remodel a kitchen to fit our needs and desires. We will not have to completely rearrange our lives again, since we are not moving to far from our apartment. If we moved out of The Woodlands we would be changing school, soccer teams, girl scouts, Church, doctors , dentist, friends, and Todd's short commute to work. We didn't think buying a newer house was worth changing all of that. I am really looking forward to spend the Holidays in a HOUSE. I can't wait to be moved in. It has been a long wait.

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Location:San Antonio,United States

Grandparents Day

Since we live so far from our family Tyler and I went to have lunch with Hailey on Grandparents Day at school. I had almost forgotten about it, so Hailey didn't know that we were coming. She was so excited when she saw us. I didn't want her to be sad about not having someone there for her. I'm glad that she was happy with Tyler and I being team Hailey for the day. I think she knows that even though her grandparents could not be there that day, that they all love and support her.

She and Tyler are very excited to see them all next weekend for Tyler's Birthday Party. Tyler told me the other day, "Goo Goo leaves the light on for me when I sleep in her bed and that makes me love her.". It was so cute because his face was full of love as he said it. I could tell that he really feel strongly about what he was saying.
They talk about Papa and Nana the same way. Everytime Tyler sees a dodge truck he gets really excited and says "Hey, Papa has a truck like that". When Hailey is in trouble she tells Todd and I that she wants to go live with Nana or Goo Goo.

So Happy Grandparent Day to Papa and Nana, and Goo Goo and Papa Ranney in heaven! Hailey and Tyler are so very blessed to have you all to love them.

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Tyler's Ambulance Ride

Well, here we are in the E.R. with Tyler for the first time. He was playing in my bedroom and I called for him to come clean up some toys he left on the floor in the living-room. He didn't come to me so I went to look for him. He came out of the bathroom crying. He had washed his hands so I didn't see any blood but he asked for a band-aid. I asked Tyler where he was hurt and he showed me his thumb. I asked him how he did that and he show me blood all over the floor. Then I looked closer and saw Todd EpiPen under the bed. Tyler had shot it into his thumb nail and it went all the way through his finger!! I freaked out because I didn't know what that medicine would do to a little boy. I called 911 because I would have taken to long to hear back from his doctor. I told them what had happen and they say they were sending an ambulance right away. The paramedics arrived in about two minute. They asked me to bring him down to the ambulance so I did. They started monitoring him right away. They told me he need to go to the ER because it could restrict the blood vassals in his finger he could lose his thumb if it wasn't treated quickly. Well, from the lack of any abnormal vital the doctor and nurses think that Tyler didn't get much of the medicine in his finger. They think it sprayed out once it had passed through his finger. They had an x-ray done just to make sure the needle didn't break off, or that he didn't break any bone. That EpiPen is huge and the needle is spring load because it is made to be able to go through clothing! Tyler is doing great now, but it was a little scary when it happened. God was looking out for our little guy today and even got him a ride in an ambulance:-). Tyler alway points them out to me when we are driving and has a toy one that he LOVES.


This is a picture of him in the ER with all of the toys they brought him to play with and watching the little TV. It is on an arm and he could move it where ever he wanted it. At lease we were already close to our deductible from Hailey's ER trip earlier this year. Way to be on the same page kids:-).
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Fast shoes!!

Tyler just got a new pair of shoes and boy do they make him run fast and jump high!! I love it when kids get new shoes and they think the shoe make them run faster:-). That was the first thing Tyler told me when he slipped on his new "running shoes."


Don't you just love those spiderman socks. Hailey has been at My Mom's house this week so I have had so good quality time with my little man. He has been a delight:-). Todd and I have taken him to Chuck E. Cheese, to ride his bike in the park, to his "little girlfriends" birthday party, and out to eat a couple of times.


It has been a fun week, however, I am ready to see Hailey tomorrow. <3 I've had a great time with you my sweet Tyler <3 - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Party Invitations

These are the invitations for Hailey's Birthday party that Todd made. I was bad about mailing them out. I meant to send them to all the family, but most of you did not get one. Sorry about that:(. Todd sent a great deal of time getting them to look just like I envisioned them(thank you honey). Hailey loved them!

And the matching Thank you card. We thought is would be better for Hailey to have some involvement in saying Thank you instead of me writing them for her. So this is what we did and all she had to do was fill in the names and gifts. She had fun filling them in. I think that they were super cute.

Hailey's 6th Birthday Party

Hailey had a great Birthday party this year. Everything went great. She had lots of her family come to town to celebrate it with her, and many of her girl scout friends at her party. The party was a Pump It Up, so it was a pretty stress-free event. I usually like having their parties at home, however, we are still living in a small apartment. So Hailey decided on Pump It Up, which is really fun. Even Liz, Todd, and I enjoyed the inflatables, but I will not be post pictures of that. Hailey really eats up all of the special attention she receives on her Birthday. She has already started claiming the "Townsend Birthday Weekend." For the entire weekend she wants to pick where we eat, and have the restaurant staff sing Happy Birthday to her. She is a ham!! Here are some pictures from her party.

This is Hailey, Morgan, Audrey, & Hannah

Todd and I with our little princess

Sam

The cake table

The Birthday Girl

Tyler loved the inflatables

All the girls received fairy tutus when they arrived. After they had practice flying, by jumping for 90 mintues, they earned their fairy wings and wand.

I loved the pink and yellow color scheme. I was so excited when the tutu and wings arrived. I could believe they were as cute as the pictures for such a great price. Anyone needing dress-up cloths for a girls party check out Halo Heaven. Just do a google search for it. And Todd made the invitations for me on photoshop. They were adorable and he was able to make them exactly like I asked him to. What a sweet and talented Dad Hailey has. He even made me cupcake toppers and fairy stickers to put on the lolly pops for the lolly pop tree. Hailey changed my plans for cupcakes, but some pink and yellow frosted cupcakes would have been perfect. I guess we had to give in the the birthday girls wishes. All in all it was a great party. Hailey told me the best one ever!!! My goal is that she tells me that every year. So far so good on that. Next to tackles is a super hero party for my little man.

Happy Birthday 6th Hailey!

Love that smile;-)

Well, I can't believe it but my baby girl is turning SIX YEARS old!!!!!! Hailey's had a big year. She has learned so much in the past year.

Hailey has almost completed her first year of school. She started Kindergarten at Sally K. Ride Elementary. Hailey has done well with her school work and has made lots of new friends. She has learned to add, subtract, spell and write her full name(and Townsend is a hard one), and READ. She is still in the beginning stages of reading but getting better everyday.

Look at my little cowgirl

Hailey has also learned to ride a bike without training wheels. She told us she wanted to learn so we took the training wheels off. 30 minutes later she was riding around on two wheels. I couldn't believe she learn so quickly. She was even able to tell her cousin Ryan what to do and he learned how to ride. She told him to "have faith, trust, and believe." Those words gave Ryan the confidence to try it out and then we had two bike riders.

Now that smile is toothless

My sweet little baby is growing up way to fast:(. Hailey has also lost TWO TEETH this year. When we went to her classroom for Kindergarten orientation they had a poster on the wall for the kids when they lose a tooth. When I saw it I thought, wow, Hailey might lose a tooth this year. I can't believe she has changed so much in one year. Happy Birthday my precious baby girl.

Wordless Wednesday

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More Sock Hop Fun

Sock Hop

Hailey school is having a sock hop tonight for their spring fundraiser. I'm glad they picked this theme because it gives me an excuse to dress up my little doll in a poodle skirt. I think one of the funnest things about being a Mom is getting to dress up your little girls, and Hailey is usually equally as thrilled to be dressed up.

This is the cupcakes I made for the cake walk. They had turned out really good except the icing started melting because the kitchen in this apartment is so small and gets really hot. I think that some little girl who wins a cake will love to get these pink rock-n-roll sweets.

Pants On The Ground

I have been trying to do some fun activities with Tyler because I think he has been bored lately. So last week I took him to Chick-fil-a for lunch and to play for a while. He had a good time playing with another little boy that was there. I was watching him and enjoying my lunch when Tyler came and told me, "Mommy I have to go potty". I said "OK, go put your shoes on real quick and I will take you". Then I turned around to get my purse. When I turned back to look at Tyler he had PULLED HIS PANTS DOWN in the middle of the restaurant. I started trying to chase after him to pull them up, but he was in a hurry to get his shoes. Even walking with his pants around his ankles he moves fast. I finally caught up with him and pulled them up, but not before all the Moms in Chil-fil-a had a glimpse of Tyler's little basketball undies and a good laugh.


And yesterday he start in a My Gym class. There is not very many options for kids under four when it comes to activities. At my gym he get to run around, jump, and play with kids his own age.


He is the only boy in the class, but he didn't seem to mind. He did really well in his first class. Tyler was a little shy at the start of the class, however, it didn't take him long to feel right at home. He followed the instruction well and was good at all the exercises. Oh, my little man. You are so much fun!

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Wordless Wednesday

Getting Ready for the Tooth Fairy

It's Official

Hailey is now a girl scout daisy! She has wanted to be a girl for a long time now. Hannah and Morgan made it look really fun I guess. She has really enjoyed all of her events so far, and is very excited to be the leader at her meeting tonight;-). Here are some pictures from her last meeting.

Here she is getting her daisy pin.

This is Hailey's troop. (I don't know why it is underlining this & I can't get it to stop:-/.

Here is Hailey saying the girl scout oath.

Up To No Good

I walked into my room yesterday looking for Tyler. When I didn't see him I called his name. He popped up from behind the bad and said, "I'm not doing nosing(nothing)." So do you thing he was telling the truth or do you think he was up to no good? Well, he was into some of my stuff, but nothing that was a big deal. I just thought it was so funny that he was trying to keep me from walking over to look and see what he was doing :-). Later that day I found him asleep in my bed. He looked so cute I had to take a picture.

Crafty Kids

Here are some pictures of Hailey and Tyler hard at work on some Valentines Day cards.

Hailey Can Read!!

We bought Hooked On Phonics for Hailey a little less then a week ago. She has loved doing it! She has asked to work on it everyday since we've had it. Hailey and Tyler have really enjoyed having Mommy and Daddy read to them lately so we thought it would be a good time to teach Hailey to read for herself. She has known her letter sounds for a long time now, but didn't seem to know how to turn the sounds into words and words into sentences. Well not anymore. She read her first book for us and has been sounding out all kinds of words. We are so proud of you Hailey!!! Here is a video of her reading her first book.

Yummy

One of our favorite things to do since we have moved here is to get frozen yogurt ! There is a really fun frozen yogurt shop that we found named Orang leaf. They have about 14 flavors at a time. My absolute favorite is the coconut. They also have about 40 different topping. From nuts and fruit to candy and cereal they have it all. The kids love that it is self-serve.


Hailey has one of her favorite topping in her mouth in this pic, a gummy worm.


Tyler usually chooses the most colorful yogurt, such as raspberry and lemon.


Hailey having a little sample of a topping.



Thank you Orange leaf for being such a fun place to go and get a tasty treat. I can't wait to take some of my nieces and nephews to try it out.

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