New Blog

Hello blog followers! I just wanted to redirect you to our new family blog at:

www.thewigginsworldblog.blogspot.com

Hope you visit soon!

Carlee's 6th Birthday

GET READY............... This might be the longest post ever, but this blog is due for a long post since we have not posted in awhile. You will enjoy ever bit!!
This post happened about a month ago on Feb. 27th, 2011. Carlee woke up on this Sunday morning to a birthday present and cinnamon rolls. We decided to give her our present early before the day got away from us.
She received a lot of her "most favorite things" such as: a Rainbow striped shirt (anything rainbow for this girl is the perfect gift), toy story stickers, a journal (she is learning how to write sentences and is ready to practice), the movie "Spirit," face paint (one of the main things she was asking for this birthday), a beautiful cupcake frame (to hold her birthday picture) and more Lisa Frank stickers..... one of the bigger presents was throwing her a Cowgirl party at the park (party's are EXPENSIVE)

Cinnamon rolls for breakfast with a candle and song started this birthday girls day off right.

We spent most of the morning preparing for Carlee's Cowgirl Birthday party. We had it at Borrough's park. We packed up Uncle Peter's truck with all the stuff we needed for the party.

We brought everything, but the kitchen sink..... this truck was full of festivities. As you can tell, Carlee is already in cowgirl mode.

Daddy iced Carlee's cupcake boot cake that morning. Carlee helped plan this party. She had made a picture of her cake prior to her birthday and hung it on her door all of February to remind us. She wanted a brown boot, with a yellow star in the middle and a yellow spur. Daddy is definitely qualified for this task...... don't you remember his mad Gingerbread making skills. More cake photo's to come....

The cake..... and all it's GLORY!! Way to go bebe..... I should have never doubted you. We had lots of food. Nana and Grandpa brought the chicken fingers and pigs and a blanket. Grammy and Pawpaw brought the fruit (thank goodness for those strawberries), we supplied the Cheetos (the only food Zachary ate..... not really), Chex Mix, and veggies..... Thank you grandparents for all your help...... I couldn't have done it without you!!!!

Carlee had so many ideas about her party and actually made the planning fairly easy, she made lots of pictures of her party to help me out. She made one of her standing in front of a barn with a Happy Birthday banner over her head. So I decided to make her a homemade banner to hang across the trees (no barn), but unfortunately we have no pictures of its glory. The wind was pretty strong that day, so the one picture I have does not give it justice.

Before the party began, we had all the cowgirls go and take a picture here at this hay bail display. All of the guest received a note upon arrival, telling them what to complete at the party in order to be a partner of "Carlee's Run Around Round Up Gang" (this helped the guest know what to expect at the party and kept them from running off and playing on the playground equipment).

The pictures were taken by my friend Amy Chapelle, who is one of my close friends and happens to be a professional photographer. After the girls had their picture taken, they made a cowgirl frame. I got the frames at Michael's for $1 and Greg spray painted them cute colors. Then the girls decorated them with sparkle letters, stars and a wooden boot. They turned out really cute! Carlee is such a crafty girl, this activity was a definite to-do.

The girls all had a chance to lasso a Longhorn at the party.... NO, NOT A REAL ONE...... just a wooden sawhorse. My friend Lindsey borrowed this for me from her neighbor. Uh, yeah, that's confusing, but thank goodness to friends that know friends who have things you might need. Here Carlee is sitting on the Longhorn with her friend Sarah.

Aunt Rachel and Uncle John came and enjoyed the craziness.

This little butterfly made it's appearance at Carlee's party. One of the unplanned moments was taking in its beauty. The girls loved watching it flutter by and many of them were wanting to find a safe place for it to stay. Gotta love moments like these..... this butterfly reminds me of Carlee and the way she approaches life by taking notice of the little things and appreciating beauty. It also reminds me of how Carlee floats through this life without a care in the world, and how she graces people with her presence and seems to leave places better off than it was.

Another part of the party was spent doing stick-horse relay races. Here the girls are taking off from the start. It really wasn't a race..... Carlee did not want it to be a competition, so we kept it fun and exciting.

Zachary walked his horse slowly down the line. He was in no hurry to get off. You can tell he enjoyed it a lot. In his mind he is probably going slow, so the girls would have to wait on him (but who knows....)

Carlee and her friend Tiffany not far behind.

Another activity (we did not capture on camera) was dancing in the Barnyard Ho-Down. It was like a square dance. Carlee and I taught the girls the motions and we all danced.

The only drawback to this party was the hard wind gusts that came every so often. It made decorating hard, but fortunately it did not stop us from lighting the candles on Carlee's cake. The last activity the cowgirls did, was sing this Birthday Cowgirl her birthday song. They all received badges for coming and participating in the birhday celebration!

The funnest part about birthday's are the presents (especially to a 6 year old). It was a little chaotic with all the girls huddled around Carlee, but Carlee was unfazed by all the distraction.

Here is the best picture I got of all the guest. I still think some were not in this one.

How is it that this is the only picture I have of me and Carlee on her birthday??? haha.... Thank goodness for my friend Amy. I know she got a good one.

Just us cowgirls with our cowgirl hats....... and a few boy scouts (seen in the background). That's what happens when you don't reserve a pavillon for a party, but hey... it saved money.

I love this shot. It reminds me of how close these two have grown together this past year. I have always told my kids that they are each others best friends and if they can't be friends with each other first, then they will have a hard time being a friend. Thankfully, they took those times of teaching and put them into practice (even at the party). I love the family God gave us!

Grammy and PawPaw dressed all western for the party too. Don't they look so great!!

After the party died down, Carlee opened her presents from Grammy and Pawpaw.

Here she is hugging her new white dress, also know as her "bride" dress.

Another favorite gift was the Fur Real chip muck or "squirrel"

With all the set up and tear down involved, we waited until we got home to open Nana and Grandpa's gifts. Carlee received a butterfly wind chime craft, Hello Kitty rain boats, and Twinkle Toe Sketchers (light up, rainbow glitter shoes) Thanks mom and dad for blessing our daughter!!

Carlee enjoyed a sweet time in Nana's lap laughing GG hand-painted a wooden dress up doll for Carlee. GG is an artist, so this gift is very special!!

Carlee with Grandpa

Oh yes...... we did get a picture with our big 6 year old on her birthday. How the time has flown!

Carlee-

This party was something you desired to have because you love your friends and family and wanted to share your birthday with the people you love. Even though it was hard for mommy to prepare and I ended up getting sick because I got so stressed about the party, I did it because I love you. If it were up to mommy, I would have just celebrated the day with our family. But since there are so many people in your life that love you, and since your heart is bigger than this world.... we had a PARTY. It was such a great party..... full of love, laughter, silliness, and fun. I know you enjoyed it!! What a special day!! You are so loved sweetheart! May each day be a day to celebrate. You bring joy to our lives and make everyday better. May God bless you this year and help you understand just how special you are and how much He loves you!!

Love, Your Mommy

An Explaination

Ok, so I tell you to stay tuned and then you don't hear from me for a month??? One has to be wondering, what is going on..... Please forgive me for the delay. Both of our computers have broken down. Our new laptop got a virus and the other one is very old and died. We are having to reload everything onto our laptop, so I hate to tell you this..... but it might be another couple weeks until I can update the blog again. To tell you the truth, I have really enjoyed not having a computer and having the temptation to check my e-mail, facebook, or blog. I have enjoyed having the extra moments with my family and friends. People have had to call me to talk and contact me, which almost seems like a lost form. I am very behind on blog posts and I have so much I want to share..... like trips to the zoo, Carlee's 6th birthday, a trip to the rodeo, etc. All that will just have to wait for now. In the meantime, we will enjoy the beauty of God's creation and the moments He has given.

Stay Tuned

I love you out there and will be posting soon. Thank you for waiting on me and I hope you continue to read the blog again. Have a Happy Day!

No Tree for Christmas

So if you were wondering why we did not do a Christmas tree this year..... here is the story....
I was asking God this year how He would have us give? In the month of December, I received an e-mail from Living Water, an organization that provides clean water to communities around the world. They were asking people to buy gift cards from them to go towards building water wells. One water well costs $5,000. The Holy Spirit moved in me and I decided not to delete the e-mail (which is very common). I felt the Lord was saying that we needed to give up our tree and give the money we would use for a tree to go to Living Water. I remember doing this one year as a kid and it really impacted my heart. At that time in my life, it was not hard for me to give up a tree. But this year, having a home of my own to decorate, I was really missing not having a tree. It's kind of funny how we can get so caught up in the hussle and bussle of the holidays and do things just because everyone else is doing them or because it's what we have always done. Greg was thinking we could do both, get a tree and give to Living Water, but I felt like the Lord wanted it to be a sacrifice. After all, people around the world do not have clean water and they search all day and travel long distances just to have water for the day. The least we could do is give up a tree and that just sounds so small considering. Well we went through all December without a Christmas tree and we still had not given our money to Living Water. This past weekend, I was at a conference and they had an offering taken up for Living Water. I was thrilled!!! My heart was happy and excited to give (the way God asks us to give). What a blessing it was for me to give out of a sacrifice of praise!! I love how the Lord works and I thank Him for a heart that was sensitive to His Spirit. I pray this year will be filled with more experiences like this one. I want to bless His heart and draw closer to Him.

Today, I am beginning a 21 day fast. This is a city/church wide fast. About 17 churches in the Houston area are involved. God is asking His people to humble themselves, turn from their ways and draw themselves to Him. God is looking for a people who are whole-hearted and willing to sacrifice their own personal wants/needs, for more of Him. I pray the Lord gives me grace as I walk in His love and choose Him each day.
The blog post will probably stop during the duration of this fast. I pray you would seek Him first and draw near to Him. It takes God to love God, so ask Him to reveal His love to you so you can move towards Him. He is so in love with YOU!!! He really does like YOU!!

Christmas at Grammy and PawPaw's

Christmas #2 started with a late breakfast of pancakes, turkey bacon and strawberries at Grammy's house. It was delicious! This year was more challenging to dress alike or in the same colors. I had it all planned out.... but after receiving cowgirl boots for Christmas, Carlee was bound and determined to be a cowgirl. So I let her! Zachary and I wore our new boots too. Carlee made a special box purse for Grammy that she painted with watercolors. She put a handle on it by using pipe cleaner. Inside was a beautiful bracelet that Carlee and I made together.

Here Grammy is with her surprised face.... amazed at the bracelet. Grammy is the one who gave her her first jewelry making tools...... So while all this gift exchange was taking place Zachary had been busy opening up a Toy Story wrapped gift (Carlee's Talking Jessie Doll, the one gift Carlee was really hoping for). No one was watching him, because we were busy watching Grammy and Carlee. That Jessie doll was probably the last gift that was going to be opened (if Grammy had any say so). So it was all a bit anti-climatic.

Carlee handled it so well and was not upset at all. Why would she be?? She just got the Talking Jessie and now she could open all the other presents with a happier heart because in her mind all she needed was Jessie.

And here she is with her Jessie, who has not left her side since Christmas day. She is such a good companion. Carlee has never been into baby dolls, but Jessie gets well taken care of (Carlee feds her sometimes, brushes her teeth, tucks her in bed, talks to her and loves on her).

So I began making ornaments with the kids pictures last year and this year I found another idea and made an angel ornament using the kids footprints, hand prints and picture. It was another hit!

Another great gift from Grammy and PawPaw was the hand bells (since Grammy plays hand bells at church). Carlee has already memorized "Mary Had a Little Lamb." It took her two tries. This girl has a musical ear for sure.

So at Grammy's it was basically a Toy Story Christmas. Since they saw the movie with them it was definitely fresh on their mind. Zachary got a Talking Woody doll, which he is glad to have. He's probably not as excited as Carlee, but he is a boy.

Oh Yes! Now they have the movie to watch with their dolls. Fun Times!

You can't have Christmas without some type of clothing. We all got something special. This shirt, hat and purse makes Carlee look like she is 10. The week following Christmas, Carlee put on every single new piece of clothing she received. It was awesome! I did not have to tell her and did not have to argue about it one bit. I'm loving this phase! Ask me in another week if I like and it and we'll see.....

Daddy got hooked up with some nice shirts as well. This man needs clothes every year!

We were so thankful to get a new Toaster oven. We use it often and love it!!!

Oh Yeah, movie tickets and ginger snaps..... I see a date night in our near future!

I got some adorable shirts from Langford Market. Date night clothes!! Are you getting the hint?

We did an updated photo collage for Grammy's and PawPaw with Nathan, Carlee and Zachary during Thanksgiving. They appreciated it! Pictures are always good!

So the gingerbread house came out once again this year. Greg's favorite part, I'm sure. This man has some mad skills when decorating gingerbread houses. He could have a second job during the holiday season doing this.... Here he is just about to get started. This house was more secure than last years house. Zachary is eyeballing the icing waiting for a lick..... will he get one???

Of course he will and about three more licks....

Carlee and Zachary love to get involved with the process too. Here they are licking the sugar from the gumdrops off the table. I'm sure daddy will need every candy for decorating....

The finished result..... The rooftops are different because Greg's hand was killing him doing the left side of the roof (all straight lines... looks like icicles coming down)... well, I guess if he gets a job selling his creations he might be capable of doing one or two a day. We'll have to sell them for at least $50 in order to make it worth it. hahaha.... I am only kidding.... He made it very similar to the picture.

If you have been keeping up with these new Christmas posts, then you will have to scroll past the first Christmas post to get to the post of Christmas at my mom and dad's. It's titled Christmas on New Year's.

Christmas Morning (three weeks late)

So this is what our house looked like on Christmas morning minus a tree this year. The whole "no tree" thing is a story in itself. Despite the lack of display, we enjoyed the day immensely. Just like every year, we choose to concentrate on celebrating Jesus. This was probably the first Christmas I did not stress out about what to give people, but really asked the Lord what to do and as He moved my heart I gave. It was so nice. I only stood in one long line and got most of my shopping done on-line. This stress-free holiday was a gift in itself. As you can see (hanging on the stocking) it was a Cowboy/Cowgirl Christmas). So Greg and I decided to use our Michael's (craft store) 50% off coupon's on the small plastic animals they have. Carlee and Zachary love these animals and play so well with them. We put them (new and old) around the manger to see if they would notice on Christmas morning. We even put Bullseye (the Toy Story horse) in the mix. We had lost him on our camping trip in November. They were certainly excited to have a new one.

Zachary was so happy to get his Bambi or fawn. He loves that movie and loves acting it out with Carlee and daddy. It is the cutest thing.

And here Carlee is with her Bullseye. Don't you just love the hair in the face. Greg says the messed up hair is a must for Christmas pictures. You will notice that I fixed mine.

Looks like the fun is about to begin and these two are excited!! But first....

But before all the gift unwrapping began, we gave each child a cupcake and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. and Then as they ate their cupcakes (for breakfast... don't you just love Christmas!! :) I read the story of Jesus' birth. The kid's were some what patient and listened the best they could. I know it was hard since they were super excited. (Note to self: maybe next year I should read it after presents.)

Zachary is sitting with all his loot from his stocking. Daddy individually wrapped every Cars car with tissue paper and put it in his stocking.... leaving Lightening McQueen down at the bottom to be opened last. Daddy took video during this time and it took Zachary a very long time to get through the wrapping. (Note to daddy: do not individually wrap presents for the stocking next year. IT TAKES TOO LONG!!) One plus is Zachary had an extra piece of candy in his stocking left from last years Christmas.

One of the most favorite gifts in the stocking, also something Carlee has been asking for.... was BINOCULARS! We got Zachary a pair too and he thought they were a lot of fun! Love this shot!

So if we needed to get Carlee anything this Christmas, it was going to have to revolve around Toy Story's: Jessie (the cowgirl). She has been asking for the Talking Jessie doll since Toy Story 3 came out. and if you know Carlee you know that she likes to dress like any character especially if she is watching the movie. I already knew that she had a cowgirl shirt coming from Nana and Grandpa, so the cowgirl hat and the boots were what we gave her. I know she will be wearing these a lot. This is her making her cowgirl face..... she is just a little into the character I would say..... stance and all...

This Christmas Carlee took it upon herself to make Greg and I a gift. She had prepared it a week in advance and put it in an envelope in our stockings. It was already super special because God moved her heart to bless us, but once we saw her beautiful creations of artwork we were so blessed. She also threw in some of her change from her piggy bank to give us. I think I got a $1.26 in quarters. She put it in my wallet for me and everything. I love this girl!

Me and Carlee with her envelope. She made me a snowflake.... well daddy cut the snowflake out, but she helped color it. It's the thought that counts.

So this Christmas Greg and I decided to go easy on the gifts for our kids and try to limit each kid to three gifts each. One of Carlee's big gifts from us was her clap and laugh microphone. She played with it at Lakeshore (a teachers supply store) a few times and told stories and sang on it while people shopped. It was a hit! She is following in her mommies footsteps. I pray she excepts the responsibility that comes with being on a platform if she ever thinks about being a worship leader. For now she can just warm up her singing on us. She has already played Woodsedge (the church we go to) and New Haven House of Prayer (the place I lead worship) like she is the worship leader. So great! We got Zachary a domino train set that he played with at Lakeshore as well. It was a huge hit with him, but we didn't get any pictures of it.

Oh yes..... I got my first pair of skinny jeans and they are adorable!! It has taken me a long time to think about owning a pair of these jeans just because they remind me of what I wore when I was in junior high with the whole fold over, rolled up cuffs, BUT these jeans do not even compare. They are from my new favorite store: Langford Market (in the Market Street shopping center). I also received two cute dresses from that store as well. My husband knows me and knows that I love clothes, so that is what I got for Christmas. I helped him out by trying these all on and putting them on hold. The sales associates in that store ROCK! They gave my kids coloring books and things to do while I shopped and they also helped pick out my outfits for me. Okay enough about the store and onto Christmas.... one more thing.... I got my own cowgirl boots too... YEEE-HAH!

So I decided to do some homemade cards this year thanks to Kodak Gallery. I did one for Greg, my mom and dad and Ed and Randle and it was a great personalized gift. I loved putting my own photo on my husbands card and he loved it too. I believe this card will be going to work and will be sitting on his desk. I hope he reads it often to remember just how much I love him.

I wish I had some shots of Greg with his gifts, but all the ones of him in his robe are just not blog friendly. He received a few pair of pants from me (something he was in need of), a bike pump, and a digital heart rate monitor/watch for running.......

and to think this was just the beginning of our Christmas celebration. After this eventful morning we headed to Randle and Ed's for Christmas #2. More posts to follow....