Photo Shoot

We had a few minutes to spare before church this morning (Imagine that!?!), so I had the girls pose for a few pics. They thought they looked like rock stars...I just thought they were pretty darn cute - even if they are mine!

Karsyn thinks that if she's "modeling" she has to have a serious face -- she's just a mess!

Great Idea

This was such a great idea - I had to share!

Email for Kids

I just set up accounts for my girls. I think I will print them every year and add them to the back of our family scrapbook. I know how much they love to hear stories about themselves now and I can only imagine how special it will be to them to have letters from their family to look back on.

New Years Day

We had a low-key, but fun New Years Eve at our house. We had 5 girls (8 and under) and 1 boy over. They were all super sweet and had so much fun!

This was the best attempt we had at a group picture!

The girls slept in until 10 AM on New Years Day (a record for us!) and we just laid low the rest of the day. It was super cold! We ordered pizza for dinner and then put Lamar's new fire pit to work. We roasted marshmellows and then came in for hot chocolate. The girls were way more interested in lighting the marshmellows on fire than eating them!

Both of the girls have an interesting fashion sense when we're at home. They know what matches and always match when we're out in public, but when we're home...all bets are off!! You'll notice in the pictures that Karsyn is wearing a princess gown with piggy pj bottoms--it's usually worse!

I have no intentional resolutions for 2011. I've never been good at following through and like most people, I give them up quickly. I have done a few things so far though that I'm happy to be doing so well with. No matter how tired I am, the girls lunches are packed the night before and I try to pick out their clothes the night before too. Our mornings have gone so much better because of those 2 little things! It's lasted 2+ weeks so far and I'm hoping to keep it up.

I'm looking forward to seeing what 2011 holds for our family!

96 Years YOUNG!

After Christmas, we celebrated December/January birthdays with Lamar's family. Most significant is Grandmommy Jane - she is turning 96 years YOUNG on January 8th!!! We took family pictures with her to celebrate this milestone. 5 grandchildren were missing and 4 great-grandchildren were missing, but it was still a great turnout! I'm so thankful for the memories that we made over the break!!!

Christmas Morning

We often travel before or after Christmas Day, but we decided a few years ago that we would always be home for Christmas morning. We have a few neat traditions with the girls...Santa's "Magic Snow" (baking powder and Lamar's giant shoes) and PJs from Santa are just a few.

I had a BIG surprise on Christmas morning. Lamar got me a new fancy camera - a Nikon D3000!!! I was shocked to get it! These are just a few of the 300ish pictures I took over our Christmas celebrations.

Santa brought Landrie a art studio (easel) and Karsyn a digital camera which suited them both perfectly!

We also let the girls shop for each other and for us this year. Lamar took Karsyn to pick out a gift for me and Landrie. And I took Landrie to do the same for Lamar and Karsyn. Karsyn picked out a dress and a bracelet for me and a game for Landrie. Landrie gave Karsyn a Barbie and Ken doll and sunglasses and picked out Ghostbusters 1 & 2 for Lamar. I think that will be a new tradition for us too! Next year we'll switch kids though.

We had such a fun Christmas this year and I hope you did too! I can't believe our break is over! Before too long it will be Spring Break!

Christmas Round #1 ~ Christmas Eve Eve

We are blessed to have a large family and extended family, but that does make coordinating holidays a little crazy! Playing football until the week before Christmas makes things challenging, but fun too!

On the 23rd, Gigi, Grandpa, John and David came up for the day so we could all open presents together. The girls were spoiled and loved every minute of it!!

Opening the Barbie Party Cruise

Uncle John

The girls helping Grandpa open new family pictures for him and Gigi


Daddy & Uncle Dave

The hit of the day - Karsyn's Rapunzel Dress. She even slept in it that night!

Family Photos

The Original Kirk Krew cooperated for some pictures before Christmas. Whitney took our pictures, and I think she has new talent to add to her list! We are all so happy with these pictures. I especially love the last one of the girls with Gigi and Grandpa.

Now the rest of my family needs to cooperate! I want pictures of the girls with Pops and Lolly too!

The Stockings Were Hung...

Just for me...our 2010 Christmas Decorations:

The cutest little elves I know with out Charlie Brown tree. Our big tree won't fit in our living room any more, so I moved our little tree in here. The girls handmade ornaments and the ones from our Christmas events (Ice, Polar Express, etc) go on this tree. I also added the presents that we were giving on that day under the tree.

Not a Christmas decoration, but this is my new window treatment in my living room. I am IN LOVE with it! It is exactly what I've wanted and waited 4 1/2 years for!

My "Joy to the World" banner - a Shanty 2 Chic tutorial found here.

Landrie's Tree

Karsyn's Christmas tree - another Shanty 2 Chic tutorial!

Our big tree is in the formal living room. I love that I actually have presents under the tree right now! I'm usually still shopping and not finished wrapping on Christmas Eve. I can't believe I'm finished this early! I love that you can see the tree lit from the front yard.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas surrounded by family and friends! I am so thankful for all of my family that we get to spend our holidays with.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

State Game

Last Saturday, we made it to the much anticipated State Championship game at Cowboys Stadium! The stands were packed - 43,000+! While we didn't get the result we hoped for, it was still great to be there with our families. We had 25 people there to cheer on Coach Kirk!

One of the coolest traditions is for the Euless Fire and Police to escort the Trojans back to school. Even though we didn't get the W, they still greeted the buses with a police escort and the fire ladders raised.

We had a great run this season 15-1! I know Coach K definitely wanted 16-0, but they are very proud of what they accomplished! The whole playoff run was close and competitive...we were lucky to make it as far as we did. And, there's always next year!

I'm excited to have my husband home and working a more normal 40-50 hours a week, as opposed to 80+. But - that's the life of a coach's family and we love it!

Merry Christmas from the Kirk Krew!!

Just the Way You Are

When I see your face there's not a thing that I would change

'Cause you're amazing just the way your are

And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while


'Cause you're amazing, just the way you are

**Song lyrics by Bruno Mars "Just the Way You Are