Dillon's 30th birthday present

This is Abe! Dillon and Brandye's new puppy! Dillon got him for his birthday from Brandye. They brought him to mom and dad's house on Sunday. We had a birthday lunch for Dillon's birthday. The kids really liked playing with Abe!

Christmas with the Staggs

Nan and Pa got a special Christmas present! Pictures of the grandkids!

I think they liked it! Jarrod and Terry even got them hung tonight!

Then the kids opened presents.

Arden got her very own PB chair!

And a baby!

Sweet cousins!

Arden the entertainer

The boys putting on a show singing frosty and rudolph for everyone

Stratton writing everyone (fake) checks

Typically situation, he wants to love in her but she's not having it!

Arden 15 Months!

I’m a proud mommy. . .

At 15 months Arden is. . .

Funny.

Charming.

Spirited.

Good Natured.

Bubbly.

Tenacious.

Unpredictable.

Energetic.

Sweet.

And always sassy!

Branson Trip 2013

This past week/weekend was our annual Armor Seed MAP conference in Branson. You wanna hear something real crazy??? This was my 10th year to plan this meeting! And the 9th year to have it at the Chateau on the Lake. Wow. The first time I planned it I wasn’t even married yet! How things have changed. . . .

We left after work on Wednesday night. We decided to take the truck since there was a possibility the weather might get bad.  Jarrod ran to Walmart and bought a dvd player set for his truck to keep the kids occupied! What did people do before!! He also took Sadey to the kennel to stay the weekend! We had a sandwich and then hit the road! I think we got there around 11:30pm. Of course both the kids slept almost the whole way there so they weren’t tired once we got there! Whew! I had to get up and be in the meeting room to set up around 9am, the meeting didn’t start till after lunch but we like to make sure everything is set up and working correctly! We grabbed lunch at the hotel and then Mom and Dad took the kids up to the rooms to take a nap. I’m not sure what Jarrod did. . .come to think of it. I guess he enjoyed some alone time! Ha! Thursday night after the meeting we went to Branson Landing for dinner and did a little (very little- it was freezing!) shopping. Stopped to see Santa, Stratton had no fear this year! He wanted to go talk to him. And we were surprised when he told Santa he wanted a soccer goal set and a chocolate bear and a chocolate BUNNY!! I think he’s confused about what holiday it is!! I guess in his mind the Easter Bunny and Santa are probably friends and what would be the problem?! Arden didn’t want anything to do with Santa! So I didn’t force her. Santa remembered us! He asked where we were from and then asked if we come to Branson every year. I said Yes, and he said he thought he recognized us! Haha! After we left the mall we had to stop by Target and buy a new Stroller. We got a Sit and Stand one. I have been eyeing them since Arden was born, and I think we will get some good use out of it, especially at the zoo!

Thursday

Telling Santa all about it. . .

Friday the meeting lasted until noon. So we had an interesting afternoon. We had lunch at Mel’s, which Stratton always likes. Except this time he didn’t hardly eat anything. Then Jarrod’s back starting really hurting again and then Stratton got his hand shut in the truck door (luckily a doctor was standing right beside us and he looked at it and said it wasn’t broken! And Stratton cried a while and then never mentioned it again!) And it was nasty cold and rainy. We headed to the outlet mall for some shopping, both kids passed out so Jarrod took them to the truck while I shopped for a little while. Then we met my mom and dad for dinner and headed back to the hotel.

Friday

Little Ham!!

Whew! Long day!!

Saturday morning Jarrod couldn’t hardly get out of bed his back was hurting so bad. We had already bought tickets for a Saturday morning show and Stratton was excited to see it (Amazing Pets!) so I had to call and wake my parents up and ask them to take the kids to see it while I took Jarrod to an urgent care clinic! At the clinic they did an x-ray and since this is the 3rd time in about 3 months, the doctor suggested he start doing some physical therapy.  They gave him a steroid shot and a script for some muscle relaxers and pain pills. We found the kids and my parents and they were already done with their lunch so they went back to the hotel to take naps and Jarrod and I had lunch and went to get his meds and hit a couple of places before heading back ourselves. He was feeling much better but thought some rest would help. We got tickets to see the Haygoods on Saturday night, so after everyone rested we headed back to town to eat at Landry’s and then go to the show. Arden fell asleep and slept through the entire show! Stratton loved it of course! We got back to the hotel and my mom gave them a bath and occupied them for a little while so I could pack all of our stuff up. Thank goodness they came too! Especially since Jarrod was down on his back and not able to help me much! They were lifesavers!!

Saturday

Sunday we got up and were out of the hotel by around 9:45am. We stopped at Bob Evans for brunch before getting on the road. Arden took a good nap and was great. . .Stratton didn’t sleep AT ALL!! And was whiney and fussy the whole time. I thought I was going to have to put him in the back with the luggage! We got home just in time to unload the truck, clean up a little and then it was time for church! After church we came home and I started laundry (the joys of being away for 4 days) and got busy putting stuff away. The kids were so tired I didn’t even make them take a bath! I think we were all just happy to be home and sleeping in our own beds! We took a toddler size blow-up mattress that has sides on it for Arden. It was Stratton’s, but he hasn’t used it much. She did pretty good with it. Except our first night, she made it almost all night on it every night. I was actually pleasantly surprised! Stratton does so good on a pull-out bed. Most of the time anyway. We had a couple of nights that he wanted one of us to lay down with him, but I think that had more to do with us having separate rooms. His bed was in the living room part, and even though there was an open door, I think he was a little scared.

Waking up Sunday in their matching Jammies

We had a good trip, despite all the issues! I think this year is the last year for the meeting (but then again, I think I’ve said that for the last 2 years) but I have a feeling that even if we don’t have the meeting we will probably try to keep this a tradition. It will just be better since I won’t have to work any!

Iced In!

The freezing rain and sleet started to fall Thursday night and of course there was no school on Friday. We had a pretty relaxed day. Both the kids even took a nap at the same time! I was exhausted by the end of the day!

Here is the text I sent Jarrod at about 9am. . .

“Hey! Hope your morning is going good. I’m tried already! We’ve had breakfast, played with play-doh, pulled the play kitchen into the LR and played restaurant, built a tent, baked biscuits, ate breakfast again, and are now watching a movie and it’s only 9am! Also, I have fished a necklace out of the toilet (while in use by your son- #2 btw) and had to clean and wash the highchair, Arden, and both of our clothes after a blowout diaper. I feel like I need a shower. Have a good day. I love you.”

 

 

Saturday Jarrod took Stratton for a ride on the 4wheeler. But it was too cold for them to go very far!

Saturday after naps, we headed to Hickory Ridge. It took us about an hour and a half (usually takes 45 minutes max) but that includes the time it took for Jarrod to pull two goofy girls out of a ditch!

We had bbq and ribs for dinner. Arden liked the ribs, a lot!

 

Everybody loves Gigi!

Showing Pops how to play his game on the ipad.

Ready to go to church in her big girl boots!

Sunday we went to church and then had my grandma’s birthday party. We had lunch at my Aunt Kay’s with the family and had a good time eating and visiting! We left around 3pm to get back before it got dark and slick again! The kids were out of school again on Monday and Tuesday. I stayed home with them again on Monday, but Tuesday they went to my mom and dad’s house so I could go to work.

Arden is climbing or trying to climb on everything! But so far she isn’t bothering the tree too much! We haven’t wrapped any presents yet to see how she reacts to that!

Whew we were are all ready to get out today! I feel sorry for all the teachers! Stratton is spoiled rotten, and I’m sure most of the other kids are too.

We are headed to Branson tonight for my meeting then some quality family time!