My friend Missy

HowDoesShe?com
My friend Missy is the most amazing photographer,

and recently started a really cool web site with a few of her

equally amazing friends!

I was on the phone with her while I was making

some wings for Lays and she asked if she

could run over and take some pics for her site.

I was flattered, and a little nervous that my hodge podge

craft would look hodge podgey!

I forgot how she can take anything and make it

look like this! Every pic on my blog that

looks this good was taken by her!

Thanks Missy Darling.

I love these pics.

Now everyone needs to check out

her web site!

(you can find it on the right side of my blog,

just scroll down and click on it)

p.s. It's Toms Birthday today,

but he won't let me blog about him!

I'd do it anyways, but I am trying to

be nice for his birthday.

Kid Stuff!

I have been getting a kick out of my kids!

Layla went nuts with this $ store

jewelry the other day.

She pranced around like Royalty for hours.

I also have a few Layla quotes I just have to

get in print!

1. When she is getting tired at night she will say,

"I'm getting slower!"

Last night she changed it up and said,

"Mom, I can't keep it together!!!!"

2. When she is really excited she will say,

"That's TAMAZING!"

3. On Sunday during the quietest part of church I was

whispering to her about Jesus and she SHOUTED out,

"Mom there are no bums in Heaven!

We don't want bums in heaven!

We won't have bums in heaven!"

(I cant translate that one. I have no idea myself.)

4. After preschool she said,

Layla- "Mom we watched a scary movie!"

Me- "What was it called?"

Layla- "The Krunk!"

Me- "Do you mean the Grinch?"

Layla- "Yep, the Krunk!"

No matter how many times the rest of us say

"Grinch" she will always say,

"Yep the Krunk!"

She also insists that he is orange.

5. This happened 5 seconds ago!

Tom just got home and Lays said,

"Dad we are having TWIRLIES!"

I made rolls for dinner!!!!!

love it!

So most of you know how strange I am.

I do think that I am mellowing in my OLD age,

but when I had Logan I was only 21. Keeping that in mind

would be nice while I explain what I did. When Logan was a baby

I thought it would be funny to write on the back of his head

where he had rubbed his hair off!

AND

.

.

AS

.

.

YOU

.

.

CAN

.

.

SEE

.

.

Logan and Jay decided that

Henry needed to have the same

right of passage!

Tom was not pleased with us, but I

actually, kind of, get a kick out of it still.

What is wrong with me?

We Love Snow!

My kids love to play around in the snow.

I didn't realize it till I got out

the camera but,

Logan and Jay played together,

Layla played by herself,

and Henry was stuck inside with me!

He watched them at the window almost the

entire time they were out there.

Maybe next year he can be

Laylas playmate.

Ugly Sweater party anyone?

We had such a fun night at

Nate & Staci's

"UGLY SWEATER"
Party!

We waited till the last minute to go looking for our outfits

and couldn't find anything, so I souped us up some originals

with help from the $ store and my hot glue gun!

Yes, Toms tinsel tree does light up...

And yes, those are real ornaments in my ears!

We tried our hardest,

but our friend Chris won the prize for,

"THE UGLIEST SWEATER"

(I bet you can guess which one he is)

At least we didn't get suckered into paying

what he did for his e-bay treasure!

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town!

Ho Ho Ho

Santa Came To Town!
Or did he?

We love Santa, but Logan told Jay that sometimes an

"IMPOSTOR"

Santa comes to help Santa out.

It is my fault. I told that to Logan one year when

we were shopping and the "Big Guy" showed up too many times.

As you can see, Jameson and Logan decided

that today it was absolutely the Impostor Santa!

I actually said "Santa's Helper", but Logan remembers

it differently!

This is actually a miracle!

The first picture is "Layla free"

cause she was screaming to get out of it.

She wouldn't even let us hold her next to the boys!

Then after she watched some other kids talking to Santa,

Tom took her over and she sat on his knee no problem.

So I ran and got everyone and threw them in the picture.

They played along better this time don't you think?

Merry Christmas!

p.s. I found last years pic.

Layla never calmed down for this one!

Jameson is 5!

HAPPY GOLDEN

BIRTHDAY

JAMESON

CLINT

PERRY!(you know 5 on the 5th)

We had a lot of fun decorating for this one.

When Jay turned 4 I told him about

Golden Birthdays

and he never forgot. I'm not kidding,

he talked about it all year!

So when I asked him what kind of cake he wanted

he instantly said, "GOLD" of course!

My little man is 5 years old today!!!

I can't believe it. Where does the time go?

It seems like only yesterday I was trying to teach him

how to hold down a few of his fingers to show how old he was,

now he is a whole hand! When I informed him of this he got the

hugest grin on his face. It sure doesn't take much to get my

J-man to smile. On the flip side, it doesn't take

much to make him ticked either.

I have two stories to illustrate my point.

#1. Sweet Jay

Jay- "Mom, you are more Beautifuler than

everyone in the whole world!"

Me- "Thanks Jay that makes me so happy!"

(then Layla comes booking it into the room in a furry)

Layla- (hands on hips) "Hey, I'm beautiful too!!!"

Jay- "No, Mommies prettier!"

Me- "Jay Layla is your prettiest sister right?"

Jay- "O.k., I guess she can be my prettiest sister."

(like he has a choice)

#2. Not so sweet Jay
Tom- "Jameson, Mommy and I decided that you get

to choose whether you want just me and Mommy

to take you out to lunch on your birthday,

or if you want Logan, Layla, and Henry to come too.

Jay- "I want to take Daddy and Logan and Henry...

and Layla, but not Mommy!"

OUCH RIGHT?

Jay was mad at me for sticking him in "time out" when Tom asked him.

Tom- "That wasn't one of the options!"

It took him about 10 minutes to decide,

but I was finally invited.

Jameson is truly an original!

When we were putting him to bed last

night , I was talking to him about when he was born.

He soaked it all in loving every detail,

and when I was done I said,

Me- "I sure love you a lot."

Jay- "So you wouldn't trade me?"

Me- "Nope Jay, I would never,

never, never, never, trade you!"

p.s. When I put Jay to bed he always wants me to sing

two songs to him, the "Shrek" theme song "Somebody

once told me the world is gonna roll me", and

"Adel vice" from "The Sound of Music."

I love my little odd ball!

Girls are cool too!

I love my boys!

They are so wild and fun, but

tonight I had to put Logan in his place!

He was telling us an animated tale of gym class

when the terrible offence occurred.

It went a little something like this.

Logan- "We played this new tag game.

Everyone is "it" and the last person to get tagged wins.

Me- "That sounds fun, do you like it?"

Logan- "Yep, I won once, but today I got tagged.

Jevin got tagged by a girl!!!"

Yep, he really said it, and kept going too!

Me- "Hey, what's wrong with that?"

Logan- "You know, that's like saying you throw like a girl!"

Me- oh no, not my son"Hey Logan did you know when I was in grade 6

I was the fastest kid in the school?"

This is where two things happened at once.

Logan gave me the most disbelieving look I have ever seen, and

Tom burst out laughing so hard that it took on that annoying ha, ha quality.

Logan- "Dad, was she really?"

Tom- still laughing "She says she was."

Logan- "Mom, I'm faster than you are!"

I tell ya, "I don't get no respect!"

Me- "That is because I just had a baby...

lets race in a year!"

Logan- "O.k. but I'm only going to be faster next year!"

So, yada, yada, yada...

Logan and I have a race set for

next summer, winner gets a buck.

While I was telling this story to my friend,

she said that there was a father on "The Biggest Loser"

who let his daughter beat him in a race. To which I replied,

"I know, I saw it last night."

I am still laughing so hard at the whole thing.

I can't believe that I let my 8 year goad me into

racing him for money, but

we females have got to stick together, am I right?

Angels in Blue Jeans!

Last year we went with some friends to chop down our own

Christmas Tree up in the mountains. It was so fun,

and went so well that we decided to make a Tradition out of it.

This year did NOT "go so well!"

We got stuck in a snow bank, on an unplowed narrow mountain road

because a truck came around the corner trying to pass us!

The driver of said truck left us stranded in our kid-filled van,

out of cell phone range because he didn't have a chain!

I'm not going to lie to you, we were worried.

The phrase "up a creek without a paddle"really

started to make sense to me, but barely 5 minutes passed

until these two men showed up!

These guys hooked us up and pulled us out like they had done it

1000 times, and come to find out, they have done it a ton of times.

Thank heaven for good Samaritans!

What would we have done without them?
I wish I had the sense to get their address instead of their picture,

but I didn't so I'm thanking them on my blog,

which they will never even see.

That still counts doesn't it?

So here is the tree we almost slid off a 15 foot ledge for.

-undecorated-

-decorated-

So my thanksgiving note is...

I'm thankful that we didn't fall off the 15 foot ledge,

and I'm thankful for Angels in Blue Jeans!!!

Little Layla.

I can't tell you how much fun she is...

But I'll try!

She is a girlie girl, who obviously

loves to pose for the camera,

But did you know she likes to make up stuff?

Her nursery leader in church tells me cute little stories

about her all the time.
This week she was wearing this black flower

with a great big jewel in the center that I had made for her,

(it's the one that is currently in the Sunday Morning Snapshots)

so her teacher asked,

Teacher- "That is a darling little flower Layla.

Did your Mommy make it for you?"

Layla- "Um... no, she borrowed it from the flower shop!"

Too cute!
Another day when my other friend was taking care of Lays for me,

Layla walked in the house and began to point out everything she

was wearing, saying that a different person had given her

each item. She didn't get one thing right, but she tells her

tales with such conviction it kills me!

You know,

Layla-" Do you like my bracelet? My Auntie Jacklyn

gave it too me!"

She doesn't just make up tales for clothes either.

The other day Lisa my sister in law was taking care of the kids,

and she was asking them what letter their names started with,

Lisa- "Jay, what does your name start with?"

Jay-" uh, uh, a J, J-a-y!"

Layla- " Mine starts with an L, L-a-y!"

Lisa- "Do you guys know what your last name starts with?"

(I have not taught them this one yet, so...)

Layla- "Platypus!"

I think Layla's motto is,

"WHEN IN DOUBT, SHOUT STUFF OUT!"

Speaking of shouting stuff out.

I was fixing one of her little hooks the other day, while

I was talking on the phone to my cousin Jade so I wasn't

paying attention to what Layla was saying,

but when I finally tuned her in I heard...

Layla- "Oh, thank you Mommy! Thank you! I love it!

I'm so lucky!"

Then she gave me a huge hug and kiss!

What a heart melter that kid is.

She wishes she had a SISTER, but when she talks about it

I remind her that we can be, if she wants, and she likes that.

She always calls me her BEST FRIEND, and I like that!

p.s. When we play games she makes me talk

"like a princess," if I forget she'll say,

"Mother you aren't talking like

a princess Mother."

That is the only time she ever says "Mother."

You know cause princesses are all proper,

and speak with a high English accent right?

Actually, I think I can blame Tom

for making her think that.

He always talks with an English accent

when they have Tea Parties!

This weekend!! Good times!

This Friday my friend Marie celebrated her

2_Th Birthday!

So we went out for awesome food with our

husbands. These guys have known each other since

before they were in kindergarten and somehow managed to

marry girls who think and act a lot alike!

Lots of people ask us if we're sisters, so I always say..

"we pretty much are, I'd give her a kidney!"

This Saturday I was asked by my friend Jen to pick her up

at the Airport because she went on an extremely long

day and a half trip.

When I was telling Staci I had to pick Jen

up we got the inspiration to act like she had been gone

forever out of the good Ole U.S.of A!

So we made a big ugly poster, wrangled up a flag, and

got ready to cheer as loud as possible!

We thought she might think we were too nerdy, but...

as you can see she loved it!

There's just something so fun about following through

on lame ideas.

A year ago today

A year ago today Tom and I went to the

ultrasound that changed our lives. When we were told

our little baby has Spina Bifida we were devastated.

No one wants these things to happen.
I'm writing this post today to talk about what I have learned.

I've learned the old adage, "time heals all wounds," is a good one.

When the Doctor told us about Henry she was very negative.

She said the brain didn't form properly,

the skull didn't form properly, the spine didn't form properly,

and that we "had options."

She said it like it would be cruel to keep him!

It was overwhelming to hear,

and see that so many things had gone wrong.

What if we had listened to her?

It isn't easy to face terrifying situations,

when you are terrified!

I don't think people who decide to end their pregnancies

understand what they are giving up.

A year ago today I didn't,

I was crying myself to sleep at 1:00 in

the afternoon feeling like my poor little baby was broken.

A year ago today Tom and I were wishing this hadn't happened.

But we believe that God knows what he is doing.

So we dealt with the news by fasting, praying,

and trying to accept the worst, and hope for the best.

This enabled us to let "Time" do it's thing,

but we still had ups and downs.

One particularily bad day I was worrying about

all the things that could go wrong, and praying for something

happy to focus on. That is the day my ultrasound Tech

asked me if I would be willing to use the 3-d machine because

she needed some practice!

I was speechless when my little guy's face came up on the screen.

It was exactly what I needed. What a blessing!
I was given a glimps of this...

once we held our little one nothing else mattered.

How could it? Look at this adoreable little man!

His body may not be perfect, but he is.

Sometimes God sends you an Angel.

3 months

7months

Henry is doing so well, he truly is a miracle kid

who continues to exceed the Doctors expectations.

A year ago is gone, "TIME" has healed our wounds, and

what was once the reason for our sorrow

is now our joy.

B-Ball not Football!

Logan had his first basketball game on Halloween.

It was a lot of fun watching him. He was so cute.

I am probably going to get in trouble for saying that

because he reads my blog and wasn't thrilled when

I put that video of him singing on, but he was way cute!

I could really see his personality seeping into his

"GAME"

I think people say "game", right?

He made a basket, and was a pretty good

defensive player.

It is so strange to me that some of these kids have

been playing for 3 years already!

What ever happened to playing outside after school?

Logan already has groupies, but I'm pretty sure

they thought they were going to the B.S.U. football game!

What a good sport!

This is actually one of Logan's good friends.

Aren't they cute?

Now don't we know how to pose for a great picture?

I actually had to grab Jay's coat to make him stay in the shot,

and as you can see, Tom and I weren't "shot" worthy!