BRADY AND SANTA

During all of the holiday events, we did manage to have Brady's picture taken with Santa! We chose to take the pictures ourselves because they charge you a fortune! In all of the pics, Brady's little tummy was shining so brightly, so thanks to Jason Faulkner for his editing abilities to pull down the shirt!

FINAL FINGER UPDATE

Emma's nail has finally come off! The finger is officially on the way to being healed! Praise the Lord!!!

FINGER UPDATE

Here are some update pictures of Emma's finger that she shut in the car door about a month ago! It is healing very well and looks so much better. I was a little anxious about how good it would look after it healed, but it is looking really good! She still wears a bandaid on it at all times, and says it still hurts on occasion! Once the nail falls off, I think we can drop the bandaids (hopefully)!

Shell Family Fun

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

DEAR SANTA.....

Here it is, our 1st official letter to Santa! Emma wrote every part of this letter, with my help in spelling the words! It took us a while to accomplish this, but once finished, she was thrilled!!

Just in case you can't read it, it says:

Dear Santa, I have been a good girl this year. Please bring me a little blue baby, and a play cash register, a Wii Video game, and a toy puppy that grows. Thank you very much. I will leave snacks for you and your reindeer. Emma Claire Shell

PTO CHRISTMAS PERFORMANCE

Emma's class participated in the PTO Christmas Special last Tuesday night and they did a FANTASTIC job! The teachers and students put a lot of hard work and practice into this program and it was truely a delight to watch!! They sang some traditional Christmas music and then they sang a couple of songs that they have learned in school! Emma's WONDERFUL teacher, Mrs. Barclift! I can't say enough good things about this lady! She has helped us to have an awesome Kindergarten experience! I highly recommend her to any of you who have children headed to Kindergarten next year! She goes above and beyond the call of duty!!

Emma is so excited about her first performance at school! She is just beaming as she enters the room and spots her group of family who wouldn't have missed this occasion for anything in the world!
"JINGLE BELLS"

"HE SEES YOU WHEN YOU'RE SLEEPING"

TOO CUTE!!!

SANTA MAKES AN APPEARANCE

Santa Claus made an appearance at our dance Christmas party last week! I was a little nervous about how Emma was going to respond to him this year. She has never been a fan of "the strange man who comes in our house while we are sleeping". Of course, she always likes the gifts that he brings, but wants no part of sitting, talking or being near him!

Our little girl is growing up though, and LOVES Santa this year!!! YEAH!!! She has already had 2 opportunities to sit and talk with him and hasn't been the least bit afraid! She can't wait for Brady to get a chance to sit with Santa! I guess we will be venturing out to a mall or some holiday event this weekend! More pictures later!

HIP HOP DANCING

Last Monday night at dance, we were allowed to sit in the class and watch as our "little divas" performed their dances. They are in the process of learning 2 hip hop dances, and the girls are really doing an excellent job!

Emma has just the right attitude and just enough spunk in her to be a great hip hop dancer! We are so proud of her!

LOOK AT THAT FACE!!

These pictures were just so cute that I had to post them! Brady has the biggest, brown eyes, and they look so cute with his ORANGE nose. He will only eat the orange vegetable baby foods, so for now we deal with an orange nose!

He is such a sweet baby boy!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I have so much to be thankful for and these 3 are at the top of my list! God has blessed our family beyond anything that we could have ever asked for! Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on our lives and to give thanks for all that the Lord has done and for what He is going to do!! I thank the Lord daily for good health, good family and friends, and most importantly for His grace and mercy!We hope that you and your families have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

TAKING A BREAK

Emma has certainly enjoyed being out of school this week. We have been busy visiting with family that we haven't seen in a while, and catching up on playdates that we have missed out on since school started. Today, we had a casual morning at home, and Emma chose to get comfy and watch a few cartoons.

EMMA'S CHRISTMAS TREE

One of the many projects that Emma and I wanted to accomplish this week while she was out of school was to get our Christmas decorations up. With all of the hustle and bustle of trying to visit with family and friends, we only managed to get Emma's tree decorated. In her mind, we are now ready for Christmas! She wanted her tree in the bonus room, so now she is a little concerned that Santa might not know where her tree is! I assured her that Santa knew EXACTLY where her tree was! I have enjoyed watching her rearrange the ornaments on her tree each time she looks at it!

This indeed is the MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!!

FALL

I love Fall!!! The changing colors this year seem to be so vibrant! The scenery on the drive to Huntsville right now is just beautiful! I am totally amazed at how anyone could look outside right now and see all of the beauty that surrounds them, and still not believe in the God of this earth!

BEST SHOES IN THE WORLD

SAUCONY ORIGINALS COURAGEOUS

Crazy Post, I know, but I just have to let you all know how I feel about these shoes!!

In my opinion, these are the ABSOLUTE BEST SHOES IN THE WORLD!!!

These are the only tennis shoes that I have worn for about the last 8 - 10 years.

I wore my last pair for 4 years and could not find this shoe at any stores between here and the Florida Coast. Destin even has a Saucony outlet, and they didn't have them. So I had given up hope on getting another pair. My others were completely worn out, with holes in the insoles and no sole left whatsoever.

FINALLY, I found them. I ordered this new pair from www.zappos.com. They are just as comfortable as I wanted them to be!

JASON HAS A NEW JOB!!!!

PRAISE THE LORD! This is such an answered prayer for us!

Jason started his new job with Keystone Foods today! This has been a work in progress for several months now, and the wait is finally over. He will be the Director of Product Development for one of their accounts. We are so excited about this opportunity!

EMERGENCY ROOM TRIP

After a casual and fun morning at The Christmas Village in Birmingham Friday, my afternoon turned into a complete panic!

As we are driving back, I get a phone call from Jason, "Get home as quick as you can. Emma has shut her finger in my car door and it's bad." "How bad?" I asked. "Just Hurry!"

I hear Emma in the background screaming histerically, and I can sense the fear in Jason's voice.

Of course, once I get home, he has calmed her down, and she WILL NOT let me look at her finger or touch it. He tries to tell me what it looks like in his most graphic way and we both feel she needs to have it checked out. After much coaxing and calming reassurance, we take her to MMCN Emergency room. My baby is absolutely scared to death at this point.

The doctor and staff at the ER were WONDERFUL!!! They took such great care of Emma and really helped to calm her anxieties about everything.

The ER doctor really wanted to go ahead and cut out her fingernail and do stitches, but he felt that would be way too traumatic for all of us, so he used steri-strips on the cut. The tip of her bone is also broken.

I didn't see her finger until we were at the hospital. I am so thankful that we went ahead and took her over there. She is very fortunate that she even has the tip of her finger right now.

We will follow up with Dr. Chupp this week to see what else needs to be done.

GO AUBURN!

Yes, I know this may not be the best season that Auburn has ever had, but we are still pulling for them. Brady is ready to root them on to a victory tonight! Jason couldn't let football season go by without his baby boy having something Auburn to wear! I'm just glad it got cool enough for him to wear it before the season was over. Maybe he'll be their good luck charm tonight!!

Ha ha ha!

SUPER STAR STUDENT

Emma received her second STAR STUDENT award this week for filling her card! I'm not sure what all they get stickers for but this is something that is very important to her. She gives us an update quite often by letting us know how many rows she has filled, and how many more stars she needs. Once her card is full she gets this award, and also gets to go to the TREASURE CHEST! How fun! Emma is doing great in school! We are so thankful for Mrs. Barclift. She has been wonderful for Emma and she makes learning so much fun!!!

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Several of my "blogger friends" are posting recipes to their blogs right now, so I thought I would join in the fun!!! I thought it was appropriate to post this recipe today because; 1. it is perfect soup weather outside, and 2. I am cooking it tonight for dinner so I have the recipe out!! Lisa Spence brought this wonderful soup to us when we came home from having Brady! My entire family LOVES it! If you are a soup lover, you should give it a try! Hope you enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

1 Whole Chicken or several chicken breasts

12 oz can pet milk

2 cans broccoli cheese soup

1 stick butter

onion

1 Package wide egg noodles

salt and pepper

Boil chicken with salt and onion.

(I put chicken breasts in crock pot, cover with canned broth or water, onion, salt and pepper, and cook until tender).

Debone the chicken (or shred if using breasts), straining and reserving broth.

Put broth in stock pot, add chicken, 12 oz. pet milk, 2 cans broccoli cheese soup, a stick of butter, salt and pepper.

Add more water.

Bring to a boil, add one package of wide egg noodles and simmer until noodles are done.

6 MONTH UPDATE

Brady is now a little over 6 months old! At his check-up, he weighed 18lbs. and 13 oz. and was 29 in. long! Yes, he is a big boy!!! As a matter of fact, they said he is the size of the average

10 1/2 month old!! He is growing and changing so much! He is just about to master sitting up by himself and he loves to walk in the walker! This little fellow is such a blessing to our family!

Emma absolutely adores him and he delights at the sight of her! Life doesn't get any better than this!!

Jason and I went with our dear friends Jason and Angela Faulkner this past weekend to Huntsville for a night out with no children! We enjoyed a FABULOUS dinner at Micato Japanese Steakhouse and then we watched the movie Fireproof.
This is a WONDERFUL movie! We were all in tears! It is so touching! I highly recommend all married couples see this movie!

PUMPKIN CARVING

After our trip to the pumpkin patch, Emma couldn't wait to get home for her daddy to carve our pumpkins! She had to get them carved that night! So, after dinner, we enjoyed carving pumpkins together! She helped by drawing the faces so Jason could cut them out. She also scooped most of the yucky stuff out of the pumpkins! We have been lighting them up at night for a week now, and I think we will probably be carving pumpkins again before Halloween. These are just about to collapse!

EMMA'S 1ST FIELD TRIP

Emma and I have now been on our first "real school" field trip! Last week, half of the kindergarten classes ventured over to Tate Farms Pumpkin Patch! It was WONDERFUL! It was a cool and rainy day, but we didn't let that stop us from enjoying our trip. The kids (and parents) had a great time!! This place had so much for the kids to do! We were all absolutely exhausted at the end of the day! Emma is in a great class this year! The kids all behaved so well!

HOMECOMING 2008

Even though "mini-me's" have been quite a disappointment to me, Emma is having a blast! They were in the Homecoming parade and Emma was thrilled to get to ride in the back of a truck on the main road. She was concerned about it at first, but once we reassured her that it was ok, and even what they wanted you to do, she was fine with it! The week ended with the ballgame on Friday night! Emma's little corsage was too cute! I didn't even know they made them that small!

PRECIOUS LITTLE ONE!

I love taking pictures, so there are many days that I just play around with Brady and the camera! I think sometimes I get some really good shots. It helps so much that he is happy and cooperative! I love this little man!
The orange nose is because he will only eat the orange vegetable baby foods, so I guess he'll just have to have an orange tint to him for a while!

"UNCLE" KYLE VISITS

Our dear friend, Kyle, stopped by for a visit this week while in town for business! It was so nice to see him. We had not seen him in over 2 years, but Jason keeps in touch with him almost on a daily basis. He was still living here when we had Emma, so she grew up with us calling him "Uncle Kyle". He has recently married so we are looking forward to the day that he has children of his own!!

LITTLE DIVAS HIP HOP

Emma is taking the "Little Divas" Hip Hop Dance Class this year! She LOVES it! We contemplated tap/ballet, but after much discussion we decided to let her take this. She loves to dance and has such a spunky little attitude with it! They are dancing to songs from "Alvin and the Chipmunks". It's really cute!

BITER BISCUIT

Brady has 2 teeth and is trying to cut more now! He will chew on anything that you give him or anything that he can get his hands on. I decided to try some of the biter biscuits to see how he would do with them. He THOROUGHLY enjoyed it, but would get mad at times when he just couldn't get it in the right spot! These things are super messy!

Oh so good!!!

MY MEN

Jason occasionally escapes to the bonus room for what we call "man tv" time, a.k.a anything besides Disney Channel. He will often take Brady so that they can spend quality "man time" together. This has become a big joke in our house! I'm so thankful that I have a husband who is willing to spend time with his children!