Chase's Christmas Tunes

NOTE: Please make sure to turn the volume to about half way on the video volume control.

Chase has gone back to piano lessons and seems to love it. His favorite song is Silent Night and he can play it by memory. He gets to play at the local theatre this weekend and might have a chance to play at church for the kid's program. It's been a couple of years since he has taken lessons but jumped right in and has moved on up to the more difficult books.

He is very proud of his achievements so far. If you take a listen to his music, make sure and leave him a comment. Yes, we know the piano needs to be tuned. Enjoy the holidays.

Christmas Pics 2008

If you look really close, you can see Carson riding around on the train behind Julia and I. Tim timed that photo perfectly.

Group pictures for our annual Christmas card do not exist this year. I have not been able to have everyone at home at the same time so far. I figured I would just use two pics on one card..one of Carson and Chase together - check - and then one of Matthew and Julia together - check - wait... what's on the side of Julia's mouth? meatball sauce. I don't seem to possess the photo software that allows you to paint away blemishes. We might not get those cards out this year.

On a side note, Julia went right up and sat on Santa's lap with Carson, WOW! Tim and I about fell out and yes, we did buy the picture. I think I would have paid a hundred dollars for that photo and the Santa was absolutely awesome.

Look Who Showed up at Mother's Day Out

Meet Julia's new companion, Snowball's sister.. whose name is no other than Snowball. Thank you Ms. Kim for finding his sister.

1st Class Health Care @ UAB!

Six hours after surgery the nurse suggested we get her out of the room and take a stroll to see the Christmas trees in the lobby. She decided to give Julia a little codeine before our little trip. Can you say WOOZY?

Top Notch entertainment for our little princess. They had a clowns come around after dinner to see each child. Julia was still floating on the meds so she mainly just stared at them like they were out of their minds.

Note Snowball continued to stay with Julia up until our departure the next day. You know when they ask you to check the room and make sure you packed everything up but leave your cell number just in case you forget something. We got about 10 miles from home and it hit me that Julia wasn't holding Snowball. Oops! We got home and called our precious nurse. Snowball obviously is now living in the laundry area of UAB. He was swallowed up by the sheets.

Julia asked for him every day and wanted to know when he was coming home from the hospital. Uggh.

Hospitals,doctors,needles....uggh!

We decided since Julia's surgery was so early on Monday morning that we would just get a hotel two exits up and spend the night before relaxing, sleep until 5:00 a.m. versus 3:00 a.m. and have to travel. We were looking for two things - Get a good night sleep & receive a wake-up call. It was the worst night sleep and they forgot to give us the wake-up call. Needless to say, I was not a nice customer to the front desk as we walked out the door.

Julia's surgery went just like clock work. She was the first on the schedule for the day. Julia received a nice gift from the best Mother's Day Out teacher on this planet prior to her surgery. She named her new horse Snowball. Julia refused to put on the nice little hiney showing gown until Snowball put one on as well - Tim's brilliant idea. Snowball actually got to go to surgery with Julia. I requested that they give her a little giggle juice prior to taking her back and that seemed to work well. We asked her what her name was just to check the med level and she replied, "My name is Julia Suling Yufen..Fun Fun.. Thomas." Juice is working - check!

Hanna Tanna Party-- I'm 4!!!!

























Julia needs no practice in the gift opening category.
























Olivia was her bestiest friend for her party.

Let's not forget her favorite, Uncle Tony.

Carson stood beside her Hanna Tanna cake all day wanting to just touch it a little bit.

We had Julia's party a little early this year due to her surgery the Monday before her actual birthday, Thanksgiving Day. We didn't invite friends again this year because I don't think she is still quite ready for that. She loved her small group party. It didn't turn out exactly as we planned though. Matthew decided to join the wrestling team this year. Tim and Matthew were intiated the day of her party with what all wrestling consists of. They arrived at his meet at around 6:30 a.m. and didn't get home until 8:30 p.m. that evening. They did miss Julia blowing out her candles but she was okay with that.

We cannot believe she is growing up so fast and has turned into the sweetiest, prettiest little girl. Lovin that she's ours!!!!

Can You Say "ORANGE"?

"Yes, it's my birthday", yelled Olivia to the neighborhood.
























This is what happens when you are the only 5th grader that shows up to an 8th grader party. Poor Chase!

Pre-party goofy pics!

Gifts for me? I think Olivia is set for the holiday season.

We loved the DJ. I think he has dealt with a few teen parties before. He did a great job.

Happy Birthday, Olivia. We Luv U!

Still Young at Heart

Guess who had ANOTHER birthday? That's right, Tim has aged a little more. Although, with two three year olds, we both feel like we are aging a little quicker. OR wait? Aren't they supposed to keep you young at heart?

As you can see, Julia likes to be funny and cross the same eyes that we paid to have straightened during photo sessions.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Tim! We love you sooooo much. You are the best father, husband and provider for us.

Luvin some visits w/Meme & Granddaddy

Meme getting her "thank you" hugs after delving out some more sugar in the form of candy to the double trouble crew.

This is such a cute picture of Gdaddy with the dumplings but the sun made Julia's face look a little bright.

This is what it looks like on Meme's porch when the little ones come to visit... lots & lots of noise and quick movement. We keep our visits down to a 30-minute maximum.


Julia has found a new funny. She loves for Gdaddy to sing.

NOTE: He does have to remove his hearing aide when we show up or turn it off.

Thank you for the priceless entertainment, Gdaddy!

No Wheelchair or Walker Needed Yet?

What I do need is a good hair color job quite often. Thank you Sandra for lunch and coffee @ no other than Starbucks. And no bday is complete without pizza and a cake from Publix. Thanks Mom for the great evening!

The kids were so sweet with their gifts and singing.

You can quit counting the candles because they are not quite accurate.. shucks!

Road Trip w/out Momma???

Julia decided she no longer wanted to sport the ears, so Noonie had to take over.
Julia w/Poppy in GA

Noonie and Julia ready to party!

Mom called about a month ago and requested that Julia and Carson escort her to a annual Halloween Party that is held at Noonie's nieces house in Georgia. That's right, I said Georgia. Let's see, last time I checked that's about four hours from here. Yikes! Well, Carson crouped a couple of nights before their departure...nope - that's an automatic stay at home with Momma, so that left Julia leaving me. She was too excited and had a blast. She left me for 2 DAYS but was just fine. She did start to ask to come home on the last day. She wanted her Momma..awwh. Thank you Noonie and Poppy for spoiling her once AGAIN.

Halloween 2008

The Crew ready for Fall Festival

In a group of 1200 people, how hard could it be to track down Minnie Mouse, a Lion and Indiana Jones? After walking the entire campus, they were seated behind the booth I was helping with eating.

If only Julia would have been Dorothy or the Tin Man.

Carson was a nice Lion and refused to be ferocious.

Prissy little Minnie.

This paint job didn't last an hour.

We attended our church's fall festival on Wednesday night and then went to a close neighborhood to a friend's house to trick-or-treat. The kids had a blast. The older ones were able to run around with radios by themselves and the babies were escorted around via a hayride to each street. We had a blast. Living in the country makes it hard to do the old fashioned trick-or-treating so this made it feel like the old days.

Happy 14th, Matthew!

Matthew blowing out the candles on his chocolate, chocolate, very chocolate cake
Matthew took a couple of friends to the Ntl Fair. They got to see Trace Adkins in concert.

C and Olivia trying to pose for a pic.
I think this group had a great time spending the day together. I cannot believe my little boy is going to be driving next year- scary!

It's Official!

Chase is now officially 11 yrs old. Carson thought he'd be a good little brother and help blow out his candle.
Yes, Julia actually dressed up in a princess outfit to attend a friends bday party. Carson went as a Chinese dragonslayer..way too cool. I ended up borrowing an outfit from a friend at the last minute for Julia. She has not welcomed dress up in the past but did great at the party. Happy day, Kaleigh!
Halloween town made it the the table. Julia and Carson have had the best time decorating this year. Carson says, I wuv Hatoween.
Hippy Carson playing around with some of the costumes I had saved up.

Chase's 11th Birthday Bash!

There's a story behind this cake (the second attempt)..Self-rising flour
Chase blowing out his candles for the 1st set of guests
Chase's opening his loot! Aunt Cindy went ahead and informed his guests of when her birthday would be. Let's just say kids are very generous these days.
Matthew & Olivia convincing a guest to come on over to the big skating rink
Weird, some of the boys wanted to hang around and see the gifts being opened. The girls went back out to skate. I always thought it was the other way around?

Stewart found him a party member just his size. He and Grayson decided to play pool...much safer
Stewart doing his "dance" with the pool cue

Daddy doing Carson duty during the party. Kane decided video games were more his thing as well.
"J" getting a good feel for his feet with skates before taking a lap. No, he did not land on his hiney.
Chase taking his Birthday lap by himself. He was so worried that we would fall in front of everyone and have to crawl around the rink. He did great.

Room #1..This is where most of the guys took up residence.
Room #2 Mix of guys and girls...sweet, sweet group of kids

A, A & O group photo
Yes, can you believe a 3 year old can skate. I guess I'm a little sheltered. Carson had the best time falling. He actually got pretty good before leaving.
This is the position Carson stayed in the majority of the time but with the help of some of the girls, he didn't mind.

Austin and Matthew checking out the party room.
Yes, this is Olivia on her rump! hee hee
Aunt Cindy decided to take a before picture of me putting on skates. No, I did not fall and have to leave the party. The batteries on my camera died before we could get an after shot at the end of the party. NOTE: Marsha, the one in the skirt beside me got her a pair as well and did great. I had to triple dog dare her before she would give in.

Boy, am I tired today. What do you do when 40 kids come to a party? You outsource!!! Chase has never had his bday party by himself since he was born. Chase and Matthew's bdays are a week apart so we have always had them together. Well, since Matthew is getting past the big party stage, Chase asked if he could have his by himself this year and invite a "few more" friends. This group of kids was wonderful. They had such good manners and everyone seemed to have a great time. Chase had been working really hard saving money over the past month for a nice TV for his room. Well, after his party, he was able to come home and order his TV online. He was so excited. Thank you to all the family and friends that helped in the party room.

Julia was saved by Poppy during the party. You will find her in one picture eating cake in the party room. She had basically just gotten there an hour and a half after the party started and left to go eat Mexican with Poppy after her cake. Then she decided Poppy should take her back to her house so she didn't have to stay at this "too many people" /"high anxiety" affair. I give her kudos for at least joining us in the crowded party room.

Chase's actual birthday is not for another couple of weeks but Happy Birthday, Chase!

We Love You!