A little hiking with the boys.

I was able to talk Melissa and Kerry into letting all three boys spend the night with us last night. I think the boys were more excited about getting to see Blu than me and Phillip. Auntie M came by for a few minutes. She said that she could hear us before she pulled into the driveway. At that time Jayden, Kyler, Evan and Blu were all running around the sofa - all howling at the top of their lungs :) I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to calm them all down, but they settled in and we watched "Mr. Poppers Pinguins" which was so cute.

These boys LOVE leggos...they played with them every minute that they were in the house! They played so good together...no arguing, no meltdowns....perfect!

Before taking them home, we headed up to Bella Vista to do a little hiking. We've been here before and the boys like the waterfall and creek.

Jayden is taking a picture with a 3D camera!:

Notice in the picture below....Evan is sitting in the water!  Yes, it is January and both Evan and Kyler managed to get wet...I seem to remember that their Mom was the same way!  Good thing that I anticipated this and packed some dry clothes for the drive home. :)

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Bathtime for Blu!

Blu hiked around the property with me and Phillip today and then he got to spend the afternoon hanging out in Phillip's shop while he worked on his motorcycle.  Phillip said that he was the perfect shop dog!  He was a little dirty after his exciting day......

Crystal Bridges Art Museum

Great!  I really enjoyed our outing to Crystal Bridges.  I could not believe that there is no admission fee! Of course pictures from my phone cannot do it justice, but this will give you an idea of some of the different exhibits.




This artist self-sculpture was amazing...so realistic, but larger than life.  It even had real hair (wiskers and on his head).

The picture below is by Jackson Pollock...remember the scene in "All I want for Christmas" when they are in the gallery?  So funny that I remember the artist's name:




This painting was a BUNCH of dots:

The exhibit included an original  Norman Rockwell - the Rosie the Riviter painting.  I have seen that picture a hundred times, but it was different seeing the original!

This is a picture down one of the hallways:

The building is very modern and beautiful.  We will definitely go back!  The grounds are not totally finished yet and I know they will be beautiful.  The building includes a restaurant and Phillip and I both enjoyed our meal.  Wear good walking shoes and enjoy all the trails (or bring a bike).

Blu

Isn't he cute?

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Mt. Magazine

Phillip and I left early this morning for Mt. Magazine. The weather is perfect for hiking...or whatever. This is my first time to visit the lodge. It is beautiful! I felt like I was in Colorado or Montana...the views were outstanding. We had lunch at the lodge and then went for a hike with Blu....

Christmas 2011

I have been a little off this year....didn't get my decorations up as early as I usually do....just wasn't as well prepared....maybe next year...

I had to work until December 16th.  We left LR around 11:30 am going to NWA.  I had picked up my car from the dealership (I thought a fairly minor warranty repair) on Thursday afternoon.  Phillip and I kept smelling something as we got in the car, but couldn't figure out what is was.  We stopped in Ozark to get a Dr. Pepper and found out.  I had oil all over the side of my car!  Calls to Onstar and the Dealership and a tow to a GMC dealer in Ft. Smith and we found out that they had not replaced a gasket correctly on  Thursday.  The car had lost 4 quarts of its 5.5 quarts! It took a little over an hour to complete the repairs.  This could have been a very aggravating afternoon, but thank goodness for smartphones and books on CD.  I sat calmly in the dealership listening to my book. :)

The rest of the weekend was spend enjoying time with the family...basketball game with Jayden, birthday party with Kyler, lunch with Miranda, Christmas shopping, dinner and the Nutcracker Ballet with my girls:

 relaxing at the lakehouse, and more Christmas shopping.  Jayden spent the night with us on Saturday night and spent the day with us on Sunday.  We headed back to Arkadelphia on Monday afternoon.  On Wednesday I went to visit Mim and Mike in Shreveport and Mim decided to come back with me.

Miranda arrived on Saturday, so we had a little quiet time with her before it got wild [meaning when the Pitts arrived :)].  It was very quiet Christmas morning without the Pitts around.  BUT...we had a new puppy to play with that Santa brought Phillip!  The Pitts arrived around 1:30 on Christmas day.  I did not get as many pictures as I usually do, but it was still a great holiday with my family!

Visiting NWA

Phillip and I love visiting NWA....we get to spend time with Miranda and the Pitts crew!  I took a vacation day so that I could attend grandparent's day with Kyler this year.  Since Jayden has moved up to another school, he  didn't have a grandparent's day :(

Notice that Kyler has on cowboy clothes (it was the theme for the day) including some really cool new cowboy boots!

 Look at the writing assignment completed by my little sweetie:

 And there was a gift:

 Kyler's Birthday is not until the 28th, but he had his party before the Christmas

break.  Blue is his favorite color and so I made his cupcakes blue: