my 2008 book list

I have always been curious how many books I read in a year. Most of the time, I put books on hold at the library then read them as they come in. And sometimes I just find a good book when I'm there.

So I kept a list this year of all the books I finished. Of course, there have been some that I started and didn't like (they don't count). But before I delete them off the sidebar, I wanted to put them here to remember.

The Lucky One (Nicholas Sparks)
The Longing (Beverly Lewis)
Unplug the Christmas Machine (Jo Robinson & Jean Staeheli)
Sam's Letters to Jennifer (James Patterson)
Gap Creek (Robert Morgan)
Queen of Babble Gets Hitched (Meg Cabot)
Good Dog. Stay. (Anna Quindlen)
Secrets of a Shoe Addict (Beth Harbison)
Killing Bridezilla (Laura Levine)
The Secret Between Us (Barbara Delinsky)
Sail (James Patterson)
My Sister's Keeper (Jodi Picoult)
The Forbidden (Beverly Lewis)
Love the One You're With (Emily Griffin)
Sunday's At Tiffany's (James Patterson)
7th Heaven (James Patterson)
Remember Me (Sophie Kinsella)
You've Been Warned (James Patterson)
Deep Dish (Mary Kay Andrews)
The Parting (Beverly Lewis)
The Quickie (James Patterson)
Change of Heart (Jodi Picoult)
Queen of Babble in the Big City (Meg Cabot)
Even Now (Karen Kingsbury)

On the road...

Today we headed to Emporia to visit Kevin's grandma's. They live about 2 1/2 hours away so we pulled out the trusty dvd player for the car. That makes the ride a little more entertaining for Sydney and Carter. :)

We left about 8:30 this morning and got home about 8:30 tonight so it was a long day. It was good to see everyone again and the weather was nice so Sydney and Carter got to play outside with their cousins. They were exhausted by the time we headed home.

Their new ride...

Mom and Dad brought Sydney and Carter's present over today. First they each got a stocking filled with little goodies. Their other present was outside...they walked down the sidewalk together and squealed when they saw it!! A gator!

It was a race for the drivers seat!

Carter got there first...off they go!

Carter is not a very good driver yet...he would head towards the bushes and Sydney would cover her eyes and scream! No wrecks though!


Thanks Grandaddy and Grandma!

Merry Christmas!

Kevin and I got up this morning about 7:30 and wondered who would be the first to wake up! Around 8, Carter came in the kitchen and announced that he slept good! We let him go see his stuff first since Sydney was still asleep! He wandered in slowly and took it all in for a minute!

He took a quick look at his John Deere book...

and started playing with his trains!


After a few minutes I asked Carter if he wanted to go wake Sydney up. He kept on playing and said, "No, you do it!"

So we got Sydney up and she was all excited to see what was waiting for her! She gave her Barbie's a quick tour of their new house!



They were happy playing with the new stuff for awhile!


Then we opened our other presents...Emma really gets into it! She loves ripping into the paper! We finally let her open her present...some dog treats!


It was a very relaxed and laid back Christmas. Nowhere to hurry off too, no schedules! They played with their new toys all day! It was nice :)

We ate dinner at Mamaw's, exchanged presents and had some good laughs! It was a great ending to the day!

Christmas Eve...

We spent this morning at home which was nice! Kevin went to work but was home by 12!
We ate dinner at Kevin's parents and then exchanged presents with all the nieces and nephews. They are getting older (9-15) so it's not quite the frenzy it was a few years ago! Back then ALL the presents were opened in about 1 minute flat and then it was over! It was like a wrapping paper hurricane! Things are a bit calmer now but it's still fun! They always have fun playing with Sydney and Carter too!
We made it home before Santa arrived and got the milk and cookies ready. Sydney and Carter helped make some chocolate chip cookies yesterday for Santa. We got the stockings hung and everything ready!

As everyone headed to their rooms I kept an eye on Miss Emma...she's been known to steal the cookies from Santa!!

And then Santa came!

Christmas is coming!!

Sydney and Carter are getting excited about this week! I can't believe how quickly it's gotten here! I should know this by now...time goes too fast!!


Emma wanted to be included :)

Sydney and Carter left us!

Now she's singing!

A rare moment

This morning, Sydney and Carter actually sat together for about 30 minutes and watched tv. That NEVER happens. Well, ok, Sydney would sit for 30 hours and watch tv if I let her. But Carter hardly ever stops to watch anything. And for them to sit together...wow! It was really cute!

Health code violation...

Carter LOVES to help in the kitchen these days. It seems like everytime I start doing something, Carter runs in the dining room and scoots a chair in the kitchen so he can help.
He and Kevin made a cake the other day...I don't know where his pants went but I'm pretty sure this would be a health code violation! The cake was just for us though...come to think of it, a cake only lasts about 2 or 3 days max around here! With the hogs in this house, it's unlikely anyone else will even get a piece!

Santa bag...

Sydney helped me pick out a present for her preschool teacher...she was excited to finally take it to her today!


Today at school they did a small gift exchange. Everyone made a Santa bag earlier in the week. Then each child took a turn putting one of their presents in everyone's Santa bag. Sydney was so excited to get home and dump out all her little toys! Now she has a 2 week break from school...with everything else going on, I doubt she'll miss it ;)

Snoopy tree

I started collecting Snoopy ornaments about 8 years ago when I worked at Hallmark. After a couple years, I started decorating a small tree with them. And just last year, I started using a full sized tree. Sydney and Carter had fun decorating it!



I love taking pictures of the trees at night...the lights sparkle!


I love all the colors!

Tree of the day...

Here's another tree in our house! This has all our family ornaments on it. The picture ornaments are my favorite...we have a family picture from every year since we've been married, along with baby and dog pictures!

For the past few years, I've put a bow on the top but I decided to do something different this year. I stuck some poinsettias and berries at the top which I really like! The snowflake changes color...I like it but am not crazy about it. I tried to take it down but it's hooked into the tree lights and was not cooperating. I didn't feel like fighing it, so it stays for this year...next year, we'll see ;)



Some ornaments...


When Sydney was 2, her favorite song to sing was Jingle Bells. I got this ornament as a little reminder of that (I even wrote it on the back). Now that Carter is 2, he sings it along with her (it's still Sydney's favorite!)

Santa countdown...

Sydney made a Santa countdown at school earlier this month which turned out really cute! Every day we glue a cotton ball to Santa's beard and when his beard is full Santa will come that night! On Christmas day we'll glue the last cotton ball to his hat. We're halfway there!!

Riding the Train! (again!)

Grandma and Grandaddy took Sydney and Carter to the mall today to eat lunch and ride the train. I don't know what we're going to do with ourselves once that train is gone!! We seem to go there every week!




And a quick stop at the singing bears...

Christmas trees of the day...

Sydney and Carter have a Christmas tree in their room every year. This year we put them up a week or so before Thanksgiving so they could enjoy them longer!

Sydney's tree has a few fairies on it and some Disney ornaments since she is such a movie fanatic!



Carter started his John Deere tree last year and has added a few more ornaments to his collection this year! It looks pretty cool at night since the lights are green!


I plan on taking pictures of the other trees around our house too!

More Santa!

After the Christmas program at church tonight, Santa came to visit!! As soon as he walked in the door Sydney started trotting over in his direction! And by the time I got over there she was already in his lap talking to him...she ended up being first in line! Someone told me as soon as Santa sat down, Sydney hopped up in his lap!



After everyone else had a turn, Sydney came back later to chat with him again! She is into the Santa thing this year!! Carter wandered over...

and he ended up sitting with him too!

Bedhead

I always look forward to seeing Carter when he wakes up in the morning. Since he's been sleeping in his new bed with a pillow he has some awesome bedhead in the morning!



Sydney has some crazy hair in the morning too...I'll have to get one of her too!!

Carter's turn

Here's a few pictures of Carter in his Christmas sweater :) We've been calling it a moose but I think it's actually a reindeer!





Let's see those muscles!!

Sittin' with Santa!

Here's the photo with Santa. They actually had a picture where both of them were smiling but Sydney blinked!! oops!


Kevin and I ate dinner at the Craddock Terry Hotel tonight. It was for work but anyway the food was goooooood! We had filet mignon, roasted potatoes, broccoli and NY style cheesecake for dessert which was probably the best I've ever had! I'm going to bed full and happy tonight :)

A fun afternoon!

Today after preschool I decided to take Sydney & Carter to the mall to ride the train and see Santa. It was a last minute decision and they were pretty excited about it!

We had to wait in line for a minute to get on the train. I asked Sydney if she wanted me to ride with them or if they wanted to ride by themselves. She promptly answered, "Ride by ourselves!" Then she asked Carter, "would you rather ride with mama or by ourselves?" and he replied "by ourselves!" So they hopped on one of the train cars just grinning and laughing and clapping! They poked their little heads out the window and waved every time they went by me! That was the first time they've ever ridden by themselves :)

Then we ventured over to see Santa Clause. I reminded Carter that he needed to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. Sydney piped in, "Carter wants John Deere books...do you want me to tell him for your Carter?"

Anyway, Carter was a little skeptical at first but he and Sydney sat with Santa together and told him what they wanted. Sydney asked for a Barbie doll house and Carter said he liked John Deere. Santa reminded them that they needed to be good boys and girls and help clean up their things. (Go Santa!) They got their picture taken and a candy cane for the road!

Here's a couple Christmas pictures of Sydney...hopefully I'll get Carter's soon!