Christmas at LuLu's

We went to LuLu's for their big Christmas festivities. They had Billy Claus (Santa's brother) who flew in on a seaplane right in front of us. The kids were so amazed. Before he got there Miss LuLu read all the kids the Billy Claus book, that she personally wrote. Then all the kids got to go up and see Billy and tell him want they want for Christmas. They had all kinds of crafts projects for the kids to do at picnic tables. They love doing crafts, so they loved it. Abigail calls crafts "crack" for some reason, so of course she loved doing crack that day. hehehe  There was a boat parade that evening too. So it was a fun fun day. We will definitely be going to this event annually. 

 Everyone got multiple glitter tattoos!

We love the LuLuBelles!!

Thanksgiving and Santa!!

 Things have been busy around here with the holidays approaching. We are enjoying living in South Alabama even more than before. There are tons of fun holiday things to do every weekend! Hayden was out of school for the whole week of Thanksgiving, so we decided to stay at my parents house in Gulf Shores. (so we could go to the beach everyday! which we did!) Unfortunately my parents weren't there to enjoy the week with us. They went to Gatlinburg for the week, along with my brother and his family. My sister and her daughters did come down midweek to stay with us though. It was a blast! A much needed cousin and sister bonding time. Thanksgiving Day was awesome. We took the boat out in the morning, and the water was like glass. We saw tons of dolphins that day, and the kids loved it! Then my sister took all the kids to the beach, and Sean and I prepared Thanksgiving dinner. (Sean mostly, I was just there for moral support!) Dinner was amazing of course, and Sean even added a little Gulf Coast flair, with blue crabs, stone crabs, and gumbo! Delish!! After dinner, my sister, my niece, and myself went Black Friday shopping!!! Sean was an amazing husband once again and stayed with the rest of the kiddos so we could go. We left at about 7:30pm and shopped until about 3am. We wore my niece out FOR SURE!! We all decided that we have definitely started our new Thanksgiving tradition.

We always get our live Christmas tree on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. So thats just what we did! The place we went too was really nice. They had train rides, camel rides, live nativity scene, tons of different kind of trees, and SANTA!! The girls were surprisingly great with Santa. Everyone hugged him and jumped right in his lap. Hayden told us in line that he wanted to tell Santa that he wanted a scooter. So when Santa asked Abigail first "what do you want for Christmas?" Guess what she said?.....SCOOTER! So then it was Emmaline's turn, and take a wild guess....SCOOTER!!! Poor Hayden, he doesn't have a chance with these girls, but he was very polite about it. He just waited his turn and said he wanted a scooter too. My sweet boy! We are looking forward to the rest of December and all the holiday festivities to come!

Turkey Trot 5k

My brother volunteers at the Prodisee Pantry here in Spanish Fort. They had a 5k last weekend that his family was participating in, so we decided join them. They have done many 5k's, even my 5 year-old nephew, Landon. He has even come in 1st a couple times for his age group. This particular race was having a 5k followed by a 1 mile fun run. So I asked Hayden which one he would rather do... He said "let me think about it." He decided on the fun run. I explained to him that Landon was doing the 5k, so he was not going to be able to hang out and play with Landon. Then later he changed his mind all together and said he just wanted to "watch" from the sidelines. WHAT?!!! So with the advice from Sean, I just signed us both up for the 5k. So early early Saturday morning I load up my double jogging stroller and all three kids. We started in the back of the race to keep our strollers out of the way of all the hardcore runners (Brian). I for one was WALKING, no way I could run and push 2 little girls through all the hills that were on the race course. (Kristy and I did run a few times though) Landon and Hayden were infront of us for a little while, then Hayden was GOOOOOOOONE. He ran the whole rest of the way and finished at 38 minutes, a full 10 minutes before me. I was so proud of him. Here he was, 2 days earlier, not even wanting to do it, and then finished before me! He finished 6th in his age group, but all the kids before him were 8 or 9, so he did pretty good considering his age and size. There are so many 5k's around here all the time, so we have decided to do 1 a month. Next time Sean will do it with us and run with Hayden. I bet he will do even better next time. Love my little man!

Thank Uncle Brian for taking this pic (since I was far behind him!)

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was fun like always! There were so many festivities here and around Spanish Fort. So the kids got good use out of their costumes for sure. Hayden and Abigail were superheroes! Emmaline was an owl, but she thought she was a SUPEROWL, thanks to Hayden and Abigail. It was so precious though to hear her say "I am a superowl!" We did do one thing different this year though. We only carved one pumpkin instead of the normal 5! Sean and I end up doing all the work every year, and it takes forever. So maybe in a couple years we can go back to our family tradition of everyone carving pumpkins. Hope you and your family had a Great Halloween!!

Open House!

Wheel of Fortune

I have watched WOF for as long as I can remember. I think pretty much my entire life! I remember sitting in my Dad's lap as a child watching it with him...then in the chair next to him as a teenager...then as an adult going to visit him and solving puzzles while just visiting! I have always wanted to be on the show, and that dream came true on October 5th when I got to fly out to California and record a real show!!

 It was a looooong journey to get there though.....my sister, Lisa and I went to a Wheel Mobile audition at the casinos right after we had Abigail and Savana, so about 4 years ago. We didn't even get called on stage! We were bummed, but oh well. Then we went to another Wheel Mobile audition the spring of 2011. We went 2 days in a row and still not called on stage....then the last group of 5 people on the last day, they called me on stage!! Then a few months later I got my letter for the 2nd audition at The Peabody in Memphis. BUT I got the letter after the audition already happened!! So Sean persauded me to still call the number on the letter and tell them I missed it because I never got the letter. So I did and they said they would write my name down and if there was a 2nd audition near me in the future, I could automatically go to it. I really never thought anything else about it. A year later I got an email for an audition in Knoxville. So I persauded Lisa to go with me AGAIN, and we even picked up her best friend Jennifer in Nashville so she could go too. Everything was going great we were about an hour and a 1/2 from Knoxville, starving and ready to eat lunch. Then we realized that the DAMN time changed, and we almost missed the audition. Audition went great, I made it through every cut that day and was told that I would receive a letter within 2 weeks if I made it on the show. Two weeks came and went and no letter. So I accepted it and even told my close friends and family that it wasn't going to happen for me. Then week 3 the letter came! Sean and I decided to make a life change and move to AL.Weeks before our move, I got a call saying it was time to record my show. So during our move to AL, we stopped unpacking, unloaded the kids to the nearest family, and flew to Cali on a Thursday and back on Saturday. It was an awesome short trip for Sean and I. We have never been by ourselves for more than an evening out since the birth of Hayden, so about 6 1/2 years ago!! We enjoyed our time together. We went to see the Santa Monica Pier on Thursday. On Friday my childhood friends, Jodie and Sarah (who live in Cali now) came to watch the show. Then they took us sightseeing in Hollywood. It was so fun, and we really appreciated them taking us around!

Now for my show...I can't say how I did, But I will say that it was an awesome experience. The set was really cool, and Pat and Vanna are super nice. I did well but I didn't do as good as I wanted to. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Lots of bright lights and information and sensory overload!!!  It airs January 14th, so make sure you watch!

Thanks to everyone that made this possible and contributed to the many steps for me to be on the show---Mom, Dad, Lisa, Jennifer, Brian, Sarah, Jodie, and SEAN!!!! 

It's been a while...

Well I haven't blogged in a long while, but it is time to start again for many reasons! The main reason is that we have moved AGAIN! We are not by my brother and sisters' and friends' families anymore, so I would like for them to be able to read my blog and keep up with us. Also all of Sean's family lives away, and I want them to be able to see pics and stories of the kids too! We made the move about 2 weeks ago to Spanish Fort, AL. Sean got a new job at a Toyota dealership just a mile from our apartment. We love having him so close. He can come home everyday for lunch or just to say hi! My parents and sister are in Gulf Shores, so we have enjoyed being able to go see them whenever we want. My brother and his family are in the next town over, Daphne. The cousins love to play together and us adults have enjoyed our time together too!. There are endless things to do here and the surrounding cities, so we are very excited about living her and raising our kids here. I have already started house looking, so hopefully we will move next spring into our forever home! We have taken our boat out in the Gulf every time Sean has been off work (I think this is Sean's favorite thing about being here, no more dirty lakes!), so I will leave you with a beautiful pic of Orange Beach, AL.