Christmas memories

Well, Christmas has come and gone and we are in the process of trying to put the house back together and prepare for the birth of our new addition! A few memories of out 2009 Christmas for now:

We went to Aunt Gabrielle's house and made homemade cookies for Santa Chrismas Eve day and opened presents. The kids had a wonderful time!

Papa & Mama Jo came and we opened their presents and read the night before Chrismas and then tried to settle down for our own long winters nap...The children would not go to sleep until almost 11:00 Christmas Eve and this pregnant little mama was super tired! We heard Santa's bells 2 different times...The kids were so excited they couldn't hardly stand it!

Caleb slept in the room with Marcus and I and just to be "safe" we locked the door so we would be sure he couldn't sneak out and see the loot before we woke up! Good thing too! He tried to sneak out but luckily I heard him and we were able to enjoy his excitement! He tried to wake up SE but to no avail! She was pooped! She slept in Christmas morning! When she did wake up she wanted nothing to do with checking out what Santa had left! Too funny...that will all change in time! She wasn't even interested in opening presents on Christmas Eve from Marcus' parents! We opened them for her mostly while she looked on!

After enjoying presents from Santa we had pancakes, eggs and sausage. (Caleb's request)

Uncle Paul, Aunt Dawn, Brandon and Bethany came in and we had supper and a wonderful visit and waited on Pappy & Nanny to come in the next day. When all the Barnes family was together we had Christmas again!

Needless to say we have all eaten enough to last us for a while, opened enough presents that we shouldn't need anything for at least another year! But never enough family time!

We have been so blessed with amazing families and tremendous amounts of love! We all love Christmas and LOVE the reason we celebrate every year! Jesus Christ was born and has offered us all his love and redemption! Thank you God for sending us your precious Son and loving us all beyond measure! I pray that your family knows the amazing love of Christ!

Merry Christmas!

This year I have been debating on doing Christmas cards. I still haven't decided for sure so just in case the final answer is no...I decided to update the blog with a makeshift Christmas card!

From the Parten household to yours: We wish you a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! We pray that the upcoming year will be filled with love, laughter and the comfort of Christ!

pictures

I tried to add this picture on the last post but it wouldn't take it for some reason but it HAD to be on the blog!! I love it!

Update

Caleb & Sarah Elizabeth after the childrens parade they both got 2nd place in their divisions


Showing how much fun they had after playing in a mudhole at the park


Easter picture


Reading a book at the beach


The girls enjoying the beach together


Caleb's 1st lost tooth


Caleb's 6th birthday party


Sarah Elizabeth and Daddy at the rodeo


Caleb, Daddy & Sarah Elizabeth at the rodeo


Sarah Elizabeth on the train at VBS


Caleb going down the slide at VBS after party


Caleb's graduation


Caleb's Kindergarten Graduation


Yes it has been a LONG time since I posted anything! Sorry about that, I actually dread trying to upload pictures so I just put it off! I guess this will just be an update on what has been happening in the Parten household...

Caleb:
Caleb turned 6! WOW! My baby boy is growing up so fast! We had a water party for him and I think it turned out well. The dads had a great time as well, they enjoyed throwing water balloons at the kiddos! He has graduated from Kindergarten,lost his 1st tooth and started the 1st grade at West Alabama Christian this August and is doing great! His lowest grade so far has been a B+. We are so proud of him! He was given 4 weeks to memorize John 3:14-19 and mastered it within a week and a half!

Sarah Elizabeth:
This girl is a mess! It is so much fun to have a little girl in the house! She is learning to read! (Your Baby Can Read really does work!) She is also in the process of memorizing her brothers bible passage for school! She has heard it so many times that she started repeating it too! Makes me realize that kids are capable of so much more than we give them credit for! She has also mastered the potty!! YEAH!!

Marcus:
Marcus is still working for Dixie Pipeline, always trying to balance all his responsibilities! I think he is turning into my dad, on every non-paying board there is! haha

Brandi:
I am still working hard at being a stay at home mom. I really enjoy it and have recently started watching a neighbors child for a few hours a week.

Family News:
We found out that our family will have a new addition in January! We were all taken back by the news but are thrilled now! We are going to have another little girl running around the house! Wow!

So much for spring break!

Caleb was out of school this past week for spring break, unfortunately it wasn't the greatest! Caleb was sick on Monday, got better and then daddy and SE got sick Tuesday evening! Daddy even had to stay home from work on Wednesday! We finally got better Thursday and me and the kids went to Enterprise to see Nanny and Pappy. Caleb got to go to school with Nanny on Friday and help "teach" the 4 year olds at Small Steps. They came home at lunch time and Caleb started complaining about a sour stomach! We attempted the park later in the afternoon and played a little while then decided it was time for supper! We went to eat at the chinese buffet, and Caleb had 2 bowls of sherbert ice cream. It stayed with him until we got to the parking lot! All that said to tell you that on the way home Caleb told us that he didn't want to be sick anymore, especially with an ear confusion! We all laughed so hard we were about to cry! He of course meant an ear infection! Thankfully, that was the last time for sickness with the exception of SE and her allergies! We went to Dothan on Saturday to watch Brandon (my nephew) play baseball. It was nice to see Paul, Dawn, Brandon and Bethany! I hope that their spring break this week is better than poor Caleb's! I wish I could post pictures of the good parts of the break, but my camera has met it's end. Maybe soon I will get a new camera!!

Sarah Elizabeth's Birthday Party Pictures

Caleb lost his first tooth!

About 5 months ago we took Caleb to the dentist and were told that his bottom 2 teeth were loose, we were finally able to pull one last night! His tooth has been quite loose for a week or so and we would wiggle it and tug on it but it wouldn't budge until last night. We were at Aunt Mary & Uncle Earl's house visiting and Caleb walked up to me showing me his loose tooth, so I pulled up his shirt and used it to tug on his tooth. Much to both our surprise, it came right out! I was shocked, and Caleb didn't even realize it had come out until he saw the expression on my face! We put it in a ziploc bag and came home to put it in the tooth fairy pillow. When he woke up (at 6:15!!!!) this morning he ran in to tell me that the tooth fairy had been and left him some money! Later that morning when we were making up his bed we saw where the tooth fairy had sprinkled some of it's fairy dust on his pillow and the special tooth fairy pillow!!!!! He was so excited!!! Our little man is growing up so fast!

Birthday Girl

We had Sarah Elizabeth's birthday party on Saturday. It was great, I didn't get stressed out! We had our family here, and it is always wonderful when everyone is together. Sarah Elizabeth was very pleased with all of the attention! She loved the cake, she would go up to it and say "Me Happy Day Cake!" She got lots of cute clothes and toys...The princess got her "big girl bed" for her birthday from Pappy & Nanny and the mattresses from Lulu & Papa. Her bedding will be in this week and we are excited! Most of all we are so thankful for the 2 years we have had to get to know this vibrant, happy, beautiful little girl. She has truly been a blessing to our family! With all the festivities over, we will now begin focusing on Caleb and his upcoming baseball season and school activities. His birthday will be here before we blink! Our family isn't nearly as busy as we will be in a few years, but for now we are really kicking into high gear. I will post pictures of the party soon, thanks to "memanda", as she is called by Sarah Elizabeth, for taking pictures for us!

Birthday Time!

Sarah Elizabeth turned 2 today, and Marcus turned 30 something yesterday! Marcus had a cheesecake birthday cake and princess had a cookie cake! We are very happy to be blessed with these wonderful birthdays! I am posting pictures that we took today...Enjoy

kids

I didn't mention something in my previous post, my kids! It is amazing to me, I never mentioned one thing to my kids, I tried to treat it as a normal day. However, my kids seemed to sense something. Caleb who is a major daddy's boy, kind of clung to me yesterday. It was really nice, even when he would be sitting with his daddy he would reach over and hold my hand. I love my kids...

11 years

Today has been 11 years since my mom passed away. It is a VERY hard day for me. I always remember that this was the day that I last heard my mom tell me that she loved me. It is hard to think that I have been without her for so long or even harder that I still have the rest of my life to go without her. She was a wonderful, loyal, beautiful person. I have so many wonderful memories of her, and I am so thankful for each of them. In our last conversation, she told me that she was ready to go home. I know that she was talking about going home to Enterprise, but God saw it fit for her to go to her eternal home. I know that she is healthy, happy, and wouldn't come back even if God gave her the chance. I know that when we get to heaven there will be no comparing life on this earth to spending eternity with Christ. I don't begrudge that for her, not one minute, but for my own selfish reason I really wish we had just one more day together. I wish that I could ask her questions, like parenting advice, marriage advice, etc. I wish that I could hug her one more time and tell her that I love her. I know that she knew I loved her, I just wish I could tell her again. I wish she could see my children and my husband. I wish that she could see that all her prayers for me were not in vain. She had the most amazing laugh, I can hear it now. In church today we sang Amazing Grace and I could hear her singing, she had a beautiful voice! In this life she was very musically inclined and loved to sing/play the piano to God. I wish I had some of that talent!! I have a lot of "I wish" in this post. Sorry about that. I am not angry at God for taking her, I am glad that she is not in pain anymore. I still miss her though. However, above all else, I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will see her again! I am looking forward to the day when we can praise our Savior together, until then...I love you mom!

My little "big" girl!

It is so hard to believe that our little girl is going to be 2 in just a few days! It has been so amazing having her in our lives! We really love having all the pink toys, purses, phones, dresses, etc... Today I was reading recipes (one of my favorite past times!) and she came bopping in the kitchen with her sunglasses on and her "keys" in her hands! She looked up at me and without missing a beat said "bye bye mama! Loves you"! She walked to the back door and attempted to open it! I got tickled at her and she turned around and walked back to me and said "door stuck mama!" It is unreal that 2 years ago, we were waiting to see our little miracle. Now she is here, healthy, happy and beautiful! We can't wait to see both of our kids grow up and develop, but as slowly as the Lord will allow.

Protective

I have been known for being very protective of my family, even though I was the baby I always was willing to "fight" for my family. Well, it seems as though Sarah Elizabeth is also taking on this role. Marcus "tussels" with Caleb very often and Caleb will "scream" while he is of course laughing. The screams seem to greatly disturb Sarah Elizabeth. She will go into a full fit of screaming at whoever is "hurting" her bubbie! She is heard yelling "NO! NO!" I think it is precious, Caleb is of course protective to an extent of his little sister and there is NO doubt that they love each other very much. They play so well together, so long as Caleb doesn't mess with Sarah Elizabeth when she first wakes up! I will try to get one her "fits" of protection on film and post it soon!

christmas and racoons!

We had a great christmas this year! Sarah Elizabeth was great about not messing with the decorations, except for the one tree she knocked over! Caleb got a drum set, cowboy sheets and a dry erase board from Santa. Sarah Elizabeth got a kitchen, elmo doll and dress up stuff...

While at Pappy & Nanny's for our christmas visit, we got to meet the racoon family. Nanny feeds the racoons bread and butter cookies, and Sarah Elizabeth could often be heard saying "I do it, I do it!" when she wanted to feed them! Caleb on the other hand, was more interested in eating the cookies and bread!

(sorry about the video, turn your head to the side and it will look right! Also, the video is dark, we had to leave the light off, or else they would run away!)