santa at the gaylord

last night we went to see santa clause at the gaylord in grapevine. it was fun- the hotel is absolutely beautiful. we got there at just the right time, because there was no line. the santa was great, listening to audrey as she told him her list of wanted items. they included barbie the island princess, a snow white dress, and a tinkerbell dress. zach amazingly didn't cry! here she is talking to him. she was so excited to go see him, she forgot that she was going to sing the santa clause is coming to town song... its probably better since he didn't have that much time for each kid.
audrey and zach with molly chakery, the friends that we went with.
family picture! from the looks of this picture, you'd never know that i was mad at brian for buying a dirt bike with out my consent.
there was a large train set, and several small ones all around the lobby. it was very extravagant, and the kids loved watching the trains go all around! they also had a mrs. clause with real reindeer, but the line was too long, so we just peeked at the reindeer through the back.

My Montage 12/12/07

here is a little clip of some fun with zach and audrey. i am still trying to figure out how to just put it on my blog, but this will have to do for now. (audrea, do you have any suggestions?)

also, please check out this video i put on youtube. i got it yesterday morning when brian was watching the kids. it's priceless!!
http://www.youtube.com/user/carleighann

audrey turns four!!

audrey got a barbie "laptop" for her birthday. brian was like, "what are we teaching her?" she loves it even though it is a little advanced. but there are a few games she can play, and she loves just clicking the mouse and controlling the screen! (we got it at costco for only 37$, for those of you in need of a good gift for a little girl, age 5 or above!)

we took audrey to the parks mall for a carousel party. it was perfect. i didn't have to clean the house before and after, and the kids loved the carousel! i think that everyone had a great time! a big thanks to my brother trey for taking a bunch of candids... i didn't have time to do it. (not all of the kids are pictured here...sorry!)

audrey caught in the moment with cousins promise and lauren! zach cried at first, but granny calmed him down by riding a non- up and down sleigh. kenzie took a quick ride, too.
zach loves to play with his cousin logan! they are getting ready for cookie cake.
cousins logan and aubren, with aunt stacy
molly, daniel, zach and audrey riding the sleigh.

aunt karis and granny saved me by holding the baby all night!
everyone is singing happy birthday!
cousins kayla and sarah, with promise in the background.

traditions

hey, guys. this will be a short post, but i'm hoping that you all will leave a comment. now that the kids are getting older, i am wanting to start establishing some traditions for the holidays. i want the kids to remember the fun things that we did every year, but i'm having trouble thinking of creative or fun things. would you mind telling me what some of your favorite traditions were as a kid, and why? you can include food, games, decorations, or just anything that you loved to do each year as a family. thank you so much! and i hope that all of you have a very merry christmas season!

the dallas stars

can i just say how much i love my husband? i am constantly amazed at how perfect we are for each other. he is such a great husband, and a wonderful daddy. i don't think that anyone else could put up with me and my quirks in the patient way that he does. don't get me wrong. we have our differences. big ones sometimes. but in the long run, he is perfect for me and i am perfect for him. that said, we had a really fun date on friday night. brian worked his uncanny ability to find someone that knows someone that can get tickets for a lot cheaper... we got to go see the dallas stars, and we sat on the 7th row up from the ice. even though they got pummelled by the arizona coyotes, 5-0, we had a lot of fun. brian's best friend, marc morrow, and his girlfriend daniella, went with us, and we had a blast. here they are coming through the star as they introduced them. me and brian.... i love you baby!
marc, daniella, brian, carleigh
mike modano was right in front of us several times. you could see the facial expressions of the players as they body checked each other on the wall. it was great sitting so close (we were right by the goal).
us..... again

fall festival and audrey's first piano recital

so we started the night off well. i had to force zach to eat ONE bite of his vegetables so he could have his piece of bread. that battle of wills lasted for about one hour. and i won. barely! then we all hopped into the car to go to the fall festival up the street. audrey was her usual princess self, and zach borrowed a woody costume from his cousin. poor kenzie didn't get to wear anything special. audrey enjoyed the pony rides.
zach got a little freaked out, and i had to go get him off of the horse.
eating his most beloved lollipops
then, audrey was standing in line for one of the games and a little boy about 10 years old comes running as fast as he could and ran smack dab into audrey. it was one of those "funniest home video" moments when you just wince at how hard she got hit (except it wasn't funny). wish i could have had it on camera. anyways. she face planted (thank the Lord her teeth were intact), and got some good bruises and scratches. you can see a little of her left eye, where it may be black tomorrow, but there are scratches above and below her lips, and her elbow and knee were pretty banged up too. so there ended our night out.
audrey had her first recital friday night! she did really well, and didn't seem nervous at all! a couple of other little ones played twinkle twinkle too, but i think audrey did the best at it!! considering she's only been playing for about 2 months! here she is awaiting her turn to play. that's molly murrah on her right. zach sat with me during the recital. he did sooooo well!! i couldn't believe how he sat still and was quiet throughout the performances. i think he really enjoyed it.
i tried to get the video on, but the file was too big i guess and it wouldn't go. i haven't figured it out yet, and my husband hasn't had time to look at it yet. but i'll post the recital as soon as i can.

vacation at home

brian doesn't have to preach this weekend, so he decided to take a few days off to relax, and try to reconnect with me and the kids. (there's not much reconnecting for us when they are around, though!) anyways, we thought about just going to a hotel here in dallas for a couple of days. then we thought, trying to get all 3 kids down at the same time in the same room might be a little more than we can handle right now, so we decided to stay home and go on a few field trips instead. here's what we did:
tuesday we went to the dallas world aquarium. it was a really neat place with a rainforest like atmosphere. the kids always love animals. below is zach looking at a huge manatee. they had a tunnel you walked through with sharks and other large fish swimming above you. it was really neat, although at any time you felt that the tunnel could come crashing down on you!
audrey liked those sharks!
this black jaguar was just pacing back and forth in his cage. everytime he walked away the kids would go up to the glass, then he would come back and they would jump back. he was very intimidating.
audrey loves anything that is pink, especially the pink flamingos!
the next day brian had the brilliant idea of taking the kids to the imax theatre. the showing, he thought, was sea creatures, but when we got there, it was actually called sea monsters. it was a little scary for them, so we ended up leaving early, and they were nice enough to give us a refund! we got lost in dallas on the way home, so that made for one fun day.

thursday we headed on to the state fair (free tickets, thanks mom!). i carried kenzie while brian pushed the other two... we now officially have 2 thumb suckers. she finally found it, and now sucks it often. (the orthodontists are going to love us!)

the petting zoo was fun. audrey stuck her head through that opening that her hand is in now. when one of the baby goats saw her, he came at her. she tried to pull her head out, but forgot that it wouldn't come out unless you turned your head, and she was stuck. i'm not sure if the goat head butted her or not, but it was pretty funny (she was so freaked out).
brian took zach and audrey on the ferris wheel. i am severely afraid of heights so i waited down below. then they got to ride on one kid ride, and they chose a short little boat ride. why do they have to rip you off at the fair? there are enough people coming through to make a lot of money with out being ridiculously expensive!
the girls!
the boys!!

vacation