I can feed pets and people but not WILD PIGS

Generally I enjoy feeding people, hosting, making my home comfortable for others. I have even taken a liking to feeding the cat ( mostly because it's the same thing 3x a day and he still gets excited) but the hostess didn't stay at her mostess when Kirby brought home a wild baby pig.
First I thought it was gonna be pink and tiny. So it isn't either one of those but I will admit it is cute. And it has taken a liking to the turtle which is pretty hilarious.
Nevertheless, it is a PIG and wants to eat ALL THE TIME! I don't like this feeling and I can tell he isn't into a lot of fruit and veggies which is a lot of what I got, so we just kinda stare at each other when I throw the stuff out there. In the pic he is eating Cat food which is the other option for him. I am kinda scared of him to. He likes to charge you when you feed him, so for someone who is even scared of dogs sometimes this freaks me out.
So I know they get Gigantic and the plan wasn't to keep him very long, but............I can tell Kirby loves him. OF course. However my love for Kirb couldn't override my feeling of discontent to see a pig eating my new and very expensive grass. Kirby has agreed to make a hole in the fence so he can leave but also come back if he likes. Hmmmmmm................
Like my girlfriend Mariah said, "Kirby brings adventure to you Sunny, you never even have to leave your house for it!" I did kinda sign up for this when I said I do, I guess.

Later 08' we're off to new adventures in 09'

Spending a piece of New Years day at the beach is imperative for our family. This year the kids sported their new scooters and raced along the seawall. Well Race hardly races at all on his scooter but at least he can scoot it.

Lots of travels over the break. My sis had her baby, (pics to come) and now I am the proud Aunt of baby Gracie Lane Cannon. Gracie decided she wanted out before Christmas so she could cash in on the gifts and give Mommy Whitney a sigh of relief. She came 10 days early! Whitney and Jason on doing great , and adjusting to sleep deprivation. Whit says " I read all the books but nothing prepared me for this!" HA! She is right.
Looking forward to January, not a lot on the schedule which is terrific. My New Years Resolutions are as follows:
1. Read through the bible this year. ( using the Bible in a Year )
2. Write for our local Newspaper regularly ( have been asked to write for the kids school )
3. Routinely practice Spanish as to feel comfortable speaking it on vacation in May
4. Read minimum 12 books
5. Continue and get better about praying 3x a day
6. Lift more weights and keep within my ideal weight range the whole year( key word being RANGE)
7. Keep in better communication with sisters and Mom through out each week
8. Learn a good rhythm for cooking dinner and recipes my family enjoys
9. Submit at least 3 pieces to various Magazines for publishing
10.Be a more romantic wife

I'm only Blogging this so you people will ask me how I'm doing and so I have a reference. I realize 10 resolutions is kinda steep but these are all things I struggled with in 08 and I would at least like to attempt to get better at them. Perfection however is not the goal. Speaking of perfection I will leave you with these 3 perfect faces.
Happy New Year!

So not a baby girl anymore

Gwen wanted an old fashioned Birthday party complete with limbo, 3 legged race and musical chairs.........oh and her rendition of a cake walk. Lots of prep but not too much stress. She had the girls from her class and her smile in this pic made it all worth it!

unbelievable

That this fur ball takes up residence in MY home. The things you say you will NEVER do......
I actually took it upon my self to adopt this fellow for the purpose of killing a gopher in my backyard. Little did I know little kittens cannot become indoor/outdoor cats over night....something about coyotes and living on the island. So he's hanging out inside more than I had expected and he's actually kinda fun. I find I'm attracted to beings I must chase to get their attention.

At Claire's Thanksgiving feast she showed me their thankful wall. This was her spot. I was a proud Mama!

Girl Scout Investature

Gwen had her first ceremony for Girl Scouts. They said the Girl Scout Promise which lasted a total of about 10secs! It was the best ceremony of my life. Then we had cake that they made. The wearing of the vest was quite an ordeal , as you can imagine, but she decided she would live with it and I compromised by letting her wear her favorite outfit under it. Have you ever seen such a hip girl scout?

November

Kirby went on a mission trip to Mexico. He helped repair spring box wells for a community. The trip was with Living Water International ( very cool organization).
He was welcomed home with a banner, balloons and a cake. We felt like he had been gone a month! One night while folding clothes, Claire ran in a snatched one of Kirby's tees. I then found her in her room crying in it. " I smell Daddy!"

That's Right, that's GRASS you see my children sitting on! We are now the proud owners of a backyard which is sticker free!

These are just cool pics I happened upon. Gwen could win a world record in hullahooping and I had to take the one of Race and Claire cuz they were just plain precious.

costumes

This is one of the times I am so grateful for living in a small community. We have an annual Truck or Treat at the school and then an annual party with our friends where all the kids where glow sticks around their necks and we bombard a couple of streets with about 30 trick or treaters at a time.



Claire would have won a costume contest but there was none. She was the hit of her school, since the girl who always acts like a dog, got to actually look like one for a day! Gwen was the only Hannah Montana believe it or not and Race started out a football player but wouldn't wear the costume because it itched. So we made him a baseball player and he still had no idea why we were putting face paint on him. The only person who really appreciated my Kirby costume was Gwen. I thought it was pretty good. We ended the day scrubbing Paint off Claire for an hour and some very tired parents. This morning I have had 3 cups of coffee and am enjoying lounging around while the kids play outside and ask for candy every 3 minutes.

what we've been doing lately

Pumpkin Carving was always something my Mom did with us, so I did the honors of cleaning the guts, but Kirb did the art work.
A week ago the girls were in a beach wedding. Here's Kirby, Race and I, pics of the girls to come.


October always brings in the fog so here's a cool shot of how it looks every morning here on the island.

pumpkin patch kids

Did the pumpkin patch today. Even got my girls to put on semi-fall clothes. Which was a chore! We chose a giganter and even got carted out, kids and all!
( notice Gwen's jeans: she has been wearing these since she was 2!)

Gwen wants a Poll

Gwen is not sure her Hanna Montanna wig looks good. We haven't found a way to slick it down ( if anyone has any hints please tell) She wants to know if she should wear it with her costume or not. Mostly she wants her Mimi's opinion but she wanted me to go ahead and post it. She also doesn't think the bangs look Hannaish, but I did buy the Hanna Montanna Wig, so............. I don't know.
" please comment!", says Gwen

Race is Two

No more babies in the Reed house. Race turned two this weekend and he was so fun to spoil! The girls treated him like a prince , Kirby put a car together for him and I sang Happy Birthday to him at least a hundred times. Here he is on his special day.
Race is so fun and such a little man. He loves his blanket, his spiderman couch and to watch Blue Clues and eat goldfish. Oh and his Spiderman light up shoes ! Everyone who is around him knows he loves to say, "I go Fast!"
Wow, how appropriate.

Better Mariah?

This picture was for you girl. Blonde enough for ya now?

My little sister has a bump!

Last weeknd was my sister's baby shower. It was beautiful. Her sister-in-law hosted it at a gorgeous house in Buda, TX. Tons of wild flowers set amongst green grass and stone water fountains speckling the landscape. My girls had a blast running around and we enjoyed seeing old friends, eating yummy cookies under delicate shade coverings with my Mom and sisters and giggling while Whitney opnened presents and Meggie tried to be grownup sitting beside her recording the gifts. Whitney is the prettiest pregnant lady I have ever seen! She is doing great and we can't wait to meet our new nephew/niece. ( Yeah, of course she is not finding out, she is my sister!)

Also I am upset there are no pics of my Mom here. Somehow she always manages this. Mom, people want to see your pretty face!

Fall

We started Fall off right with a trip to Austin and a pile of leaves in Grandma and Pop's yard. Way too much fun!

Fighter Man

otherwise known as Spider Man. Race is very fond of his new shoes.

A Room to call her Own

When I could stand the fighting no more I resorted to giving up our beloved playroom for Peace in the house. So here is Claire's new room which was makeshifted in one evening thanks to our friends who loaned us a day bed ( aka a crib w/o one rail) and a rug. She loves it. She loves that it is right by the kitchen which means she is always really close to me. All she requested was a Hot Pink bed spread which I thankfully found at Ross for $20! After about a day of her having this room I kept realizing my kitchen utinsils were missing along with many bowls and silver ware, the last straw was the coffee pot. When taking a closer look I found many of these items tucked in Claire's drawers and under her bed. Upon asking her why, she announced "Well Mom this is not just a room, this is my home and you need to get me some of this Real stuff of my own!" So I have I have compromised by allowing her to store some of my stuff in her room but the coffee pot had to get back to it's rightful position.