December 2009 - Christmas Did Happen:)

I cannnot find any photos from this past Christmas! I know I took some because I can remember one of Mom Long playing on our new Wii. Oh well, if I find them I'll come back and edit this post!!! I certainly hope they haven't been put in the recycling bin by a certain 5 year old boy who admitted to dragging some things around on my desk top:)...........

I'm back, I found them in a mislabeled folder!

Christmas morning begins with Daddy reading the passage from Luke 2 about the birth of Christ.

I made new stockings this year. They look exactly like the ones we had in our family when I was a child. I actually traced one of my Mom's stockings so they could be the exact size. Nostalgia:)

This huge stocking is our advent calendar. Every night we read a Christmas themed story and then the kids get to go and see what candy they get for that day. Candy everyday during December----WOW, they feel lucky:)


Dana got a zum and a Webkinz from Poppy. Top of her list:)


Transformers from Poppy!


American Girl Doll, Emily from Daddy and Mommy.








Grandma Long trying out the Wii Bowling Game



Grandpa Long taking a nap in his new lounge chair from some of his kids.



Our pretty tree before Don decided to hack off each branch individually so he wouldn't get scratched up dragging it out to the curb!


The chopped branches



The hacked tree!

November 2009 - Family Pictures - Finally!

Don set up the tripod and backdrop and we decided to try and get a few family photos, since we have very few. Here are a few of my favorites. There is one of our whole family, but I'm saving it for the top of our blog:)

November 2009 - Visit from Poppy

My Dad came to visit us for Thanksgiving. We always have so much fun when Poppy comes with all his creative ideas and projects. This year we did our 3rd annual gingerbread house and he brought a Martha Stewart Turkey Placecard Project to do with Dana. We can't wait for his visit this next Thanksgiving. What will we do next?!?!

Jordan and Dana were hounding Poppy the whole time they were putting together the gingerbread house! "When can we eat it!" It was hardly together when they started gobbling it up!!!

The Turkey Place Cards that Poppy and Dana made for our Thanksgiving meal.

November 2009 - Homeschool Art Fair

Our Homeschool group Homewood Christian put on an art fair. Dana saved her art projects from the year to display at the fair. We had a very sweet teacher named Miss Bonnie come to our house to teach Dana about art once a week. These are some of the projects they did together.

November 2009 - Grammie Brings Oliver Bennet

In September my Mom called on my birthday to tell us that my gift was a brand new puppy from her recent litter of westie puppies. She flew from California with the puppy in November and then stayed for a visit. We always have fun when Grammie comes to visit. The kids love to be spoiled:) Oh, Dana named the puppy Oliver Bennet Long. As far as puppies go, he has been the best!

Grammie threw a party for Dana's littlest pet shop----complete with miniature cookies:)

November 2009 Camping Trip to Buscher State Park

We love to go camping! With our hot Texas weather we only get to go once in the Spring and once in the Fall, but we have such a great time. We look forward to it and we love to see how we can improve the experience each time we go. The kids are finally old enough that we can relax a little while they run around and explore within our site. I think our favorite part is sitting around the camp fire at night and spending time with our friends and family. We usually make these trips with our friends, The Levees and with Doug's family (Don's older brother). I used our little camera that we bought 7 years ago when Dana was born and that is the last time I'll use it:) So, sorry for the blurry pictures, but you get the idea. So, this is post #1 in this marathon blogging session, now I'm off too get the kids started on their math:)

Our new tent---- our upgrade from the previous trip. I think it is supposed to sleep 12! The nice thing is we can stand up in it and walk around without having to bend over:) It's actually easier to set up than our smaller one. Wanna go camping, come on in there's room for more:)

Dana and her cousin Kiley

For Dad

So, I received an email from my Dad asking if all these things on my blog really just happened. The answer is "NO." ---- and yes it HAS been almost a year since I've updated my blog. So in an effort to please my family I am going to dedicate my day (in between dishes, laundry, ironing and homeschooling ) to updating my blog with pictures taken from Oct 2009 until the present. I can't even remember what we've done in that time, but I will try to make some sense of it:) I love you all, please don't forget about us:)

Fall Festival 2009---Our Photo Booth

We call these 3 "The Musketeers"! They are church buddies---Kiley Long (cousin/princess), Nicole Rawls(babyhood friend/butterfly)and Dana (Dorothy)


We had the opportunity to set up a photo booth and take pictures of all the guests at our church's Fall Festival. We had fun setting it up (and staying up all night getting them developed to hand out at church the next day). I think Don got an hour and half of sleep that night:) We took over 100 photos! Now that we have our photo umbrellas and backgrounds, I am excited to take my own pictures of the kids at home.

September 2009- Visit from my brother/Sea World San Antonio

My brother returned from his tour of duty in Iraq at the end of August and he came to visit us in Texas. We all went to Sea World San Antonio while he was here. The shows were so much better than I remember them as a child. Beautiful!

Hand-me-down Fun!!!

I remember the excitement of getting hand-me-downs from my best friend growing up. She would send me home with black trash bags full of new clothes for my closet. It was so much fun. My sister sent Jordan some hand-me-downs from his cousin, Bailey. He had to try them on right away. Knowing they used to belong to his cousin, Bailey, made them pretty special:)I had to get a picture of this ensemble!

August 2009-Dad Long's 80th Birthday Celebration

Don's Family reunited in Texas to celebrate Dad's 80th Birthday. All of his children were able to be with him on his birthday (along with a few in-laws, 8 grandchildren and their first great grandchild). It had been 15 years since the last time they were all together at once, so it was very special.