Sitting in the quiet house, eating Doritos, drinking a Captain and Coke, and just chillin'.

Brad is in Arkansas for the weekend. He called me and was sitting in one of the bars on the riverfront. I am so jealous. I want to go to
Arkansas and play too!

He has a business meeting tomorrow with some folks in NLR and then he is going hunting with his buddies. They are going to get up at the butt crack of dawn, wade through some cold ass water up to their armpits and shoot at ducks.

I don't mind him going and hanging out with his friends. Everyone needs a weekend away with their friends now and then...and if he gets a duck...MMMMmmmm Mmmmm yummy! Speaking of ducks.. you know I can't post without putting up some new pictures. Soo...here are some pics from Christmas. All were taken in Stuttgart, Arkansas: The Rice and Duck Capital of the World. Also the town in which I grew up.

Back from Arkansas

Hello everyone! The family and I are back from our holiday trip to Arkansas. It was an extremely nice Christmas vacation down south and I didn't have one panic attack. Now, some in my family may say I am overly protective of my children, but I don't believe it for a second. We flew down to my parents this past Saturday. It was a day early for us because usually we don't make it down there until Christmas Eve. The whole family was there this year. *except my brother, his wife, and their kid.* Let's see.....in all there were 21 of us for Christmas....then the missing ones came in and there were 24 in all.

Brad got me the Totally 80's trivial pursuit game so we played it two nights in a row. The guys against the girls. Wouldn't you know it, the guys beat us both times. We even had all our pie pieces and were in the middle, they just got their last question right before us. Ugh! We'll never hear the end of it now.

Lyanna and Kenzie had a blast. They love being with their cousins. I wish we were closer so they could spend more time together. They all just played and played and played.

Brad went duck hunting with my brother and my dad. They saw the ducks but never got to shoot at any. We made duck gumbo from the ones they shot last year. We also had bar-b-que and catfish. Mmmmm mmmmmm good! I miss that southern food. We brought a pound of b-b-q home with us to eat later. Don't know if any of you are familiar with Craig's in Devall's Bluff, Arkansas...but, in my opinion, they have the best b-b-q ever. It really has to do with their slaw, but that doesn't travel well....

We were planning on staying down there til Sunday but with the crappy weather forecast decided we better get home early. We flew in on Thursday. It is nice to be back home, however much I miss my family. I LOVE my bed!!! I slept so well last night. It was like sleeping on a cloud. The girls were very happy to be home as well. They missed their stuff and their beds.

I hope everyone had as lovely a Christmas as I did. Ho- Ho- Ho!

Arkansas Trip

I spent last week in Arkansas with my family. It was the best trip! We were going to fly down there on the 28th, but the airplane was in the shop. So....we took our first big road trip with the girls. They did so well, I was proud of them. It's not easy for a two year old and a one year old to sit that long in a car seat. We drove from Ohio to just outside Bowling Green, Kentucky on Thursday. Spent the night in a motel somewhere in Kentucky. That was interesting.

We got a double room (could you imagine two adults and two babies in one big bed?) Brad slept in one bed with Kenzie....I attempted to sleep in the other bed with Lyanna. She was so wired it was impossible. She thought the room was the coolest thing ever. All that girl wanted to do was wander around the room and check out everything. It was all I could do to keep her in the bed. She finally went to sleep, but woke us all up around 5 am. We got a nice early start on Friday morning thanks to our little alarm clock.

Drove the rest of the way to Arkansas on Friday. Pulled in my parent's driveway at 2:30 in the afternoon. They were so happy to see us and I was so happy to be there. With my anxiety levels dropping, it seems so ridiculous that I was so freaked out about going home for so long. I'm glad I waited til I was healthier mentally, it made for a much nicer visit Im sure.

Brad went up to Fayetteville for the ballgame *Woooooooo Pig Sooooooie!* then drove back to Ohio on Sunday. Poor thing he was wiped out by the time he got back.

My dad had taken Tuesday and Thursday off from work so we could all go out together and do things. On Tuesday we went to the "Pumpking Patch". We took my 5 year old nephew with us. The he and the girls had a GREAT time. They played in the hay, talked to all the animals, and just ran and ran and ran around in the fresh air outside.

On Thursday we went to Little Rock and went shopping. It was nice to go shopping there again. I just love that mall. I don't know what's so special about it. I've just always loved it since I was a little kid.

We also took all the nieces and nephews to a Halloween Carnival. Lyanna won "Cutest Costume". I'll have pictures of them in their costumes later on.

Brad flew down on Sunday and we all flew home Monday morning. The girls did very well on the flight back too. They are good little travelers! (must be the Arkansan in them)

Overall it was a wonderful trip home. The visit was very calm because it wasn't over a major holiday. There wasn't an overwhelming group of people there and my mom was able to play with girls a lot and get in her "grandma" time.

I am really looking forward to Christmas and seeing everyone again.

*I hate the photo upload thing...I had more pics to put up but they won't load*

Introductions, I suppose, are needed

This is me and my husband, Brad. We are standing at "The Old Mill" in North Little Rock, Arkansas. This is where we were married in April of 2003.

I am a 35 year old mom of two. I grew up in rural Arkansas. My parents were both teachers and I followed in their footsteps. I have two younger brothers (identical twins). We are all very close to each other which is kind of strange these days.

I'll tell more about myself I'm sure as I write.