I've Been TAGGED!

I'm not really sure what the whole "tag" thing is about....but that shouldn't surprise anyone since I am never "in the know" about cyberspace! :) BUT since my sweet, wonderful, wanna be like her someday, sis-n-law tagged me, I am a willing subject!! And here goes my first attempt at being tagged.....

My current 10 favorite things:

1. My husband
2. My kids
3. Sleep
4. HOT, HOT and VERY long showers. Note: Since N.C. is in a drought I have not had a very long shower in a very long time...and a week from today I will be in Ohio, where there is not currently a drought and WILL take a very long shower upon arriving!!
5. Good food...I recently have fallen in LOVE with pita-chips to dip in my hummus and what-not.
6. ALONE TIME! Ha!
7. Gene's massages--he's the best
8. A good excercise workout---without interruptions
9. THE OCEAN, preferrably the East coast
10. Herbal Tea with Ginger-Molasses cookies to go with

This will be my last post for awhile since we are on our way to the land of Ohio...and I'll have mucho boxes calling my name for unpacking! :)

My FIRST (and hopefully last) 911 call....

As if having 2 birthdays and trying to sell our house wasn't enough for me to deal with (and kids with the flu and 24 hr throw-up bug) this month.....my sweet lil' William decided to start throwing temper tantrums.

And last Tuesday while Audrey was home sick, William was mad at me for not letting him go outside and so he went over to the stairs and grabbed the railings while screaming and crying. I told him we could play toys together, then sat down on the couch and waited for hime to "get over it."

He stopped crying, and when I turned to look at him, his head was stuck between the rails and he then started wimpering "Ma-ma, hep".....

I could not for the life of me get his head un-stuck....so I had to call 911! And what do you know....when ALL the rescue vehicles arrived, a big, burly man walked in and smiled and then proceeded to bend back the railings and pull Williams head out like it was NO BIG DEAL!!!

I'm so grateful for 911 and the men and women who come at a moments notice to help!!!

And sooooo, I told Gene on the phone what happened and he said..."Did you get a picture?" NOOOOOOOO I didn't! :) So sorry there is no picture to accompany my first 911 story! lol!

Happy Birthday Audrey! ...the BIG 8!!!

Audrey had her first friend party this year!! And she had it at the skating rink with all of her school friends....even her teacher Miss K. came...lucky! :) She got A LOT of gifts and was kind of overwhelmed by that...but THRILLED...to say the least!








Audrey skating with her teacher and classmates. I have to say that this was Audrey's first time ever skating...and you would have never known! She must have gotten some of Grandmommy Broadhurst's genes!


Austin with his friend from church Brandon Brock


Daddy and William skating....William was a HANDFULL at the skating rink...he wanted to be out on the skating rink floor running around the entire time...he wore us out!

Happy Birthday Austin...the BIG 11!!

Austin's birthday morning....he opened his presents first thing since we were having a family party this year! :)


Austin with his Pokemon cake that Dad made for him....and Isaac, Audrey and he was sweet and invited our neighbors (the twins) Ethan and Elaine over for cake too!




William LOVES "I-keem!" He now just started standing at the fridge demanding it at all different hours of the day! Lucky us!! :)

Christmas Day

It was harder than usual this Christmas to get pics of everyone because as soon as the presents were opened they couldn't wait for them to be assembled/set up...so sorry that we didn't get more... :)








Audrey was just a little excited about getting a karaoke machine....and her favorite song to sing is "Girls Just Want to Have Fun."




Austin loves his remote control helicopter! He and Isaac also got remote control airplanes (that Daddy found for 2 dollars on clearance on Christmas Eve...reg 40!) and they love those too! Although poor Gene has spent a lot of time climbing trees and getting on top of the roof to retrieve them for the boys! :)

Christmas Eve

Simple. Thats how we like it. So our family tradition (adopted from the Ahlborn side) is to go to Chinese on Christmas Eve, and it was so yummy this year. Maybe when our children stop clinging to our legs begging us to "hold-hold" them we can add a Christmas Eve tradition that is a little more complex! :) Kelly and Jax came with us to Chinese and then we went back home to hear the Christmas Story, exchange gifts and eat pie.

The Messiest Boy...

I gave William ONE mini-muffin with only two chocolate chips in it....and this is what we get! :) His FAVORITE thing is rubbing food into his hair...lucky me! lol! I'm sure one day when he is 15 I will wish for days like these. :)

Audrey's NEW-DO

Audrey has been BEGGING me for several months now to cut her hair short. And I just kept telling her she wouldn't like it short because we couldn't do braids, pigtails, etc. etc. So, I finally gave in to her when I realized that it was me that would miss the braids, pigtails, etc. And guess what? She DOES love her new haircut, and so do we! BTW, she decided HOW it would be cut...not me...this is a girl who knows what she wants!

GINGERBREAD HOUSE FUN!

Every year, at the beginning of December Gene goes to each of our children's classrooms and teaches them how to make a gingerbread house....and then the teacher gets to keep it! The kids LOVE this tradition, and I'm grateful for a husband who didn't get overwhelmed at the task of doing 3 this year! :)
ISAAC AND MISS GOLDING NEXT TO THEIR GINGERBREAD HOUSE


ISAAC'S GINGERBREAD HOUSE UP CLOSE


AUDREY AND MISS KOSKOSKI NEXT TO THEIR GINGERBREAD HOUSE


AUDREY AND GENE


AUSTIN WITH MISS WILDAY AND MISS MARSHBURN AND THEIR GINGERBREAD HOUSE


AUSTIN'S GINGERBREAD HOUSE UP CLOSE

Thanksgiving Day

We had a nice Thanksgiving. Kelly and Jax came! Kelly looks like Jesabel in this picture because prior to the picture being taken...our soon to be make-up artist Audrey, gave Kelly a complete makeover! :) AND our Thanksgiving table looks rather Christmasy because when I went to go buy Thanksgiving decor, I couldn't find any....there is always next year, but I love the Christmas decor anyway.




After our Thanksgiving eats the kids went out and played in the leaves...too much fun! Jaxon had fun burying everyone in the leaves, including himself.

Big Boy William

William is growing up! He says LOTS of words....and trys to say everything, but his favorite word is "ba-ball" and "shoot." Today at church he found a basketball under our seats (we were sitting in the back!) and then looked up and saw the basketball hoop....and THEN the entire church building heard his favorite words...."ba-ball!!", "shoot-shoot!!" over and over until Gene decided it was best to take him out to the foyer! :)

PRESENTING....President Austin J. Ahlborn!!!

HOORAYY!!!! Austin ran for President of Student Council at Rand Road Elementary and won. I was outside with William waiting for the kids to come home on the bus on Friday....and when "Miss Cindy" the bus driver pulled up to their stop she was honking and clapping and all the kids had their heads hanging out the window chanting "go Austin!" Then Austin came and told me the good news! He is so excited and so are we! :)

HALLOWEEN

The kids had lots of fun at the church Halloween Party AND trick or treating on Halloween night in our neighborhood. The two children in the middle of these pics are some twins that live in our neighborhood, Ethan and Elaine. Ethan and Isaac are in the SAME class at school and they are such good friends!

SOME RECENT EVENTS...I'll catch up eventually!

Gene and his friend Xin celebrated their birthdays together at our house. Xin, her husband and daughter all came. Xin is from China and brought us a huge tub of authentic Chinese dumplings...YUMMMY! And BTW, our kitchen is no longer an orangy-salmon color...my sweet Gene painted it a beautiful peaceful green for me!


Isaac turns 5! Gene made him a Pokemon cake, by request.


Audrey hangin out in her wedding dress (which she insists she SHOULD be able to wear to church!) trying to pic out a temple from her BIG BOOK of TEMPLES, that she would like to be married in one day! And we WILL get a picutre to Aunt N. soon!!!


First day of school! :)

Gene and Sheri.....The Parents....

...the two responsible for all of this! :)

THE FAMILY

Its been 4 months since this picture was taken, and I still can't believe how good the kids were during the entire session....sorry its taken me so long....life gets crazy with 4! :) But they sure are cute!

My Oldest

Austin is 10 yr. old! We have a child that is a decade old! Time sure does fly... We couldn't ask for a better boy though. He is such a good example to his brothers and sister (not to mention his parents!).

Audrey--7 yr. going on 20 yr.! :)

Audrey is without a doubt a girly-girl! She loved posing for the photographer, and in fact, we have the most pictures of her from this photo session because she was such a willing subject. She is a good girl though, and helps her Mom and Dad a lot, especially with chasing after William when we need to get a job done.

Isaac--soon to be 5 yr. in Sept.

Isaac just started Kindergarten and LOVES it! He wears his backpack all morning long until the bus comes to pick him up. He is my first child to go to Kindergarten without tears or any reservations, but it probably helps that his older brother and sister go to school with him? Whatever the case may be, I'm grateful! Even though I miss him when he is at school!!!