Happenings

So TJ's 12th birthday was this past Sunday, the 19th. Ed and I decided to do an overhaul on his room to make it a little more "middle-schooler-ish" as a gift to him. We created an organized closet, got him a new desk and bookshelf, moved his bed and added decor to the walls.

(I made the wall hangings out of Ed's old t shirts that are too big for him now that he's the Hulk and in the gym everyday. I have since added a big "T" and "J" in the space above and below the middle picture.)

We asked his mom to keep him Saturday night so that we could clean his room (it was seriously disturbingly disgusting) and pull it all together. Well Nana was out of town so I didn't think too much about having Deuce at the house as a major distraction. He was such a good helper, throwing away trash and moving stuff where we asked. However there were a few times when he would disappear and I would realize that he had been gone for awhile. I found him at one point in the bathroom using the Vaseline that Santa brought in his stocking to make sure he was keeping his lips from getting chapped. I mean how can you be mad at that?

I think that half of the container was gone after this one use. Then on Sunday I found him in the bathroom yet again and when I saw him I scared him. Ed has not seen this picture yet. He almost started to cry when i gasped so loud and said "What are you doing???" As soon as I saw his face I immediately felt bad as he choked out "I just want to have paint like you, mommy." So then I laughed and told him he had done a great job and when he was done could he put the dry-erase marker back on the easel. (He had only done his nails at this point.) I walked back out of the bathroom for a few minutes when he hollered, "mommy I am putting make-up on too!" So I just shouted back, "Ok, come show me when you're done." The below is the end result. I died laughing. He did too. Then he took a shower and it came right off. Whew.

We took some of TJ's friends out to Kick Back Jack's Sunday night for his birthday, since the NFL playoffs were on. We had a great time watching Deuce and Chase run throughout the restaurant cheering with random people.

Check out my little guy's basketball pictures. He looks so grown!

And since it's so cold outside he is thoroughly enjoying his time riding his new bike from Pop around the garage!

(photo heavy post...)

So I had off a pretty decent amount of time from work for the holidays (December 13 - January 6th) and I was super busy, as usual. First we went to Knoxville for my cousin's graduation from UT. We had a blast. My family is amazing. One of the best time's I've ever had with my dad. Then the following Wednesday, me and Laura took Deuce to Virginia for our annual holiday trip before Christmas. It was nice and relaxing although Deuce brought the 24 hour rota-virus with him from school, that we all managed to get. Gross. We came back that Sunday night, I did last minute shopping on Monday and we took Deuce to a kids Christmas party with a bunch of friends in Chapel Hill. Tuesday was Christmas Eve and we had our annual party with the Smith family. My dad came in to town and we had a nice Christmas day at our house, then my parents and then Ed's parents. Deuce was back to school on Thursday and Ed was back to work so I was lazy. Friday me, mom and Laura took a trip to IKEA in Charlotte. Ahhhhhh. It was the first trip for me and mom and it was awesome. I came back ready to remodel and redecorate our entire house. The next day we all headed back to Charlotte for the Belk Bowl where we had a blast. We had awesome seats, saw Blake Shelton & Miranda up close and watched the Heels play great. Then I had a whole-nother week off. (That is totally not a word but that's how I say it and a whole another week just ain't right.) I did some shopping and cleaning around the house and organizing and napping for sure. I hung out with mom a couple of days and we had some great conversations about life and parenting and love that I will hold on to forever. So I used my new camera some but not as much as I wanted to because I have to remember that I have it. Especially since it's so small it just hides in my purse! I took all of these pictures after we had Christmas morning at my house because I opened my camera as one of my last gifts...

 Seriously, he loves this thing. It is one of those light things that shines stars on the ceiling but it's a Rameses like the big was he's holding above. He now has 2 of those AND a panther's one.

 Mom is going to kill me for this but I love her expression. She was beyond excited to get her kindle from my bro.

 The best in-laws ever.

 Our buddy Jabari Price (#4). He's such an awesome kid.

 Sorry, I had too. There was no light in the porta-potty (obviously) and it was super dark in the parking lot. I was using my phone so he could see while saying "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!"

 He dressed himself and said "I match!"

 Val & Davis are expecting baby boy #2 in April so we had a surprise shower for her.

 Lia Foster Lewis, the best baby ever.

 Love these girls.

 Warming up before his game.

 You can see him and Carter are obviously not 5-6 like the rest of the kids but they still play along just fine.

 Weston turned 4 so we headed to Wake Forest in the tornado's for his party.

 I got my baby Bowen time in. After he spit up all over Laura, lol!