The Harry Potter room underneath the stairs

It has been forever since I posted anything. I wish I could say that I have just been too busy to post like everybody else. (Though, I do get busy) That really isn't it at all. Just nothing has really happened worth posting. So, I found these pictures in my camera today that I took when my dad was here for Christmas. Now something about my dad, he can't just sit around....he has to have some sort of project to keep him going. One day as he was sitting on the couch, he kept looking at the wall where our stairs go up and decided that nothing could possibly be under there and thought what a bunch of wasted space. He wanted to build a closet there if that is what we wanted. Well, after speaking with Jeremy we decided, sure....that would be awesome!! Now, Jeremy was at work for the week, so since Megan was out of school, she became the designated assistant, and you know, she did pretty well for most of it. The first thing they had to do was make a small hole to see if for sure it was a bunch of wasted space. Sure enough, it was hollow so the next day, they took the saw and started sawing down the wall. I guess there was no turning back after that. If I remember right, Megan did a fantastic job.

Saw, saw, saw away Megan.......So, now they are inside. One of the hardest things was the electrical, It was driving my dad crazy, because he couldn't find the right wiring or something. All I know is that part took all day and it wasn't suppose to. Now for the most part, my dad is pretty patient, but after that day, I think he might have felt like, "What have I gotten myself into." He did it of course, he always does. Doesn't Megan make a great assistant. She looks so professional with her hard hat and tool belt. Gotta love her.

Well, here it is, the wall is up inside, the door is on, the electrical is done, I believe all that needs to be finished here is to put the floor down, which Jeremy did. The first items stored in the closet were the Christmas decorations. Today I put all of our board games in there which freed up a lot of space on the bookshelf. Thanks dad....You're the best.

Megan often tells us that she wants her very own room. I can't blame her, I mean she is the oldest, but of course this cannot be. After we were done, we told her she could move her bed and things in and have her very own Harry Potter room underneath the stairs. She looked at us and said, " No Way", she liked her room just fine, but maybe we could put grandma down there.

Christmas 2009

Christmas has come and gone. Oh how time passes quickly when you are having so much fun. It really is a fun time of year. It is a time for traditions old and new, a time for family, a time for fun and imagination, and of course it is a time to reflect on the most precious gift of all, our Savior. It has been a most wonderful year full of exciting adventures and much celebration and how we love to end it with the fun activities of Christmas. Most years, I really don't stress about the happenings of Christmas, but this year I was definitely much more busy in preparations, whether it was from substituting daily, family, or church. With all that going on though, we made it through, and I do believe the kids had a blast, and of course, can't wait for next year's festivities to begin. Every year on Christmas Eve, we make cookies for Santa. When I first started doing this with the kids years before, it always was a huge mess and I would end up doing most of it. Now my kids are older and they get along quite well. I only have to make the dough and they do the rest. They always pick out two of their favorites for Santa, which is a total of six cookies for him and then the rest are for us to eat. I think that might be their favorite part.

Christmas day!! I really thought I might be able to sleep in longer, but no why would I even think that. 6 AM comes and the kids jump on us and tell us all about Santa and how much he left us. Now I remember trying this on my parents, but somehow they seemed to make us wait 'til about 9 or 10 while they slept. That doesn't seem to work for our family. The kids definitely have rule on Christmas Day.

This year Megan had asked a lot of questions about Santa. You know, at age 9, she hears a lot at school. I told her, it is up to her if she is ready to grow up, or if she still wants to believe in magic. She said, " I'm not ready to grow up." I have to say, that is OK by me. We just left it at that. I do believe, she had a very magical day.

Emilee is my child that every year lately, it seems she wants Santa to bring her the most expensive toys he might have. I always try and tell her that Santa can't bring everything, and he knows what parents can handle in their homes. She finally settled on one of the newer webkinz that is out. She opened the box and screamed a loud scream and showed us that Santa brought her the caterpillar webkinz that she desired. That Santa, how does he always know?

Hunter is a smart fellow. We have been trying to get him to stop sucking his thumb. I have tried to bribe him with this Bumblebee Transformer helmet and do you know what he said? "Mommy, I don't need to stop sucking my thumb, Santa will get me the helmet". That Santa couldn't resist and gave him the helmet. I guess I can bribe him with the Optimus Prime helmet instead.

It was a great Christmas, with lots of fun. The most important part was teaching my children about their Savior, and how they need to remember him always, and be very thankful for the gift that he gave us. How grateful I am for that and that I know he knows me and my family very well.

A Visit to Santa

Today we went to go visit Santa. Usually we go sooner, but things have been crazy this year. The kids have been waiting and waiting to tell Santa what they want. Megan wants a Bat Cave made from Imaginex (I know a nine year old girl, who would have guessed) Emilee wants a DS, but I think I convinced her that Santa ran out and so she asked for a Webbkin.(Like she doesn't have enough already) Hunter asked for a Bumblebee Transformer electronic helmet. This was the first time in awhile that Hunter didn't cry. You know, he is a big boy now. Nice and brave, though I think he was a little nervous sitting on his lap, but he did great. Now I guess we have to wait and see what Santa brings. Merry Christmas all! We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It's the little things....

When we lived in Virginia and had moved into our house, everything was almost perfect except for the fact that on our kitchen sink, we didn't have a water sprayer to help clean the dishes. Now some of you might be thinking, big deal. Well, when you don't have it, let me tell you, you miss it. Of course I survived without, but I sure did miss having it. When we got our house here in Alabama, funny I know, but that is one of the things I looked at in the kitchen. Sure enough, it was there, but as we moved in, no garbage disposal. Again, what's the big deal, just scrape the food in the garbage, which you are suppose to do anyway even if you have a garbage disposal. Well, we have been scraping food into the garbage as clean as we can for the past 2 years and let me tell you....It's the little things that you miss. My dad is visiting for Christmas and we insisted on his help, not only to help install the garbage disposal, but find the electricity line, plumbing line, and fixing the right side of the sink, which has been broken since September. Today is a historic day for the Lamps family. After four years we now have both the water sprayer on the sink and the garbage disposal. Life is good. The new garbage disposal, ready to be installed in the sink. Woo-Hoo!, Say it with me, Woo-Hoo!

This was just the beginning of the messy counter for two days. As long as the garbage disposal got in.

Jeremy is now making sure that everything fits OK as he gets it all in.

Isn't it beautiful. A real work of art.

I wasn't there at the end, but I hear the kids gladly helped in cleaning up. I am not sure if I believe that and if they really did, it must be because Santa is on his way.

Daughtry Concert

12 years ago on Dec. 20, Jeremy and I were married. Can you believe it? It really doesn't seem like that long, but it is true. Well, Daughtry was coming to Birmingham, I felt like going to a concert, so we decided to celebrate early. (I mean we tried to get Daughtry to reschedule his performance, but for some reason it couldn't be done, hahaha) Since the concert was an hour in a half away and the concert would get out late, we decided to stay the night down in Birmingham. Well, of course I also made Jeremy take me to Cheesecake Factory. It was a very awesome concert. It had been so long since I have been to a concert. He definitely put on a great show, and I will have to say there were people of all ages that came. Now I might be hooked. I am ready for another great concert, O.A.R., Train, Cold Play, and the list can go on and on. It was a very fun night and most needed.

Thanksgiving Day

So, I know this is late, but I thought I would share some pictures from our Thanksgiving. Because we are so far from home, usually it is just us. Also, since it is just us, sometimes it seems pointless to make a big dinner, especially since our kids are not the greatest eaters. Last year we went up to Nashville, took the kids to play at some big park, and ate at Golden Corral. This year Megan was against that idea. She wanted me to make Thanksgiving dinner and so I decided to go ahead and make it for her. I tried to keep preparations small, but with all the favorite Thanksgiving foods, we still had plenty of Leftovers (which I guess is very normal for the day of the feast). I have to admit, it was nice to sit and rest after dinner. I think on a whole, Megan had a great idea.

Halloween Night

Another year has gone by, and we find ourselves dressing up for Halloween again. I think this celebration holiday is probably the kids favorite. They start planning for it while trick or treating the previous year. My kids talk about it all year long and change their minds about 100 times of what they will be. What great fun it is to be a kid. Megan is always changing her mind and is probably my most indecisive child. This year she finally made the decision to be a vampiress. The fangs were the most important part of the whole costume. Do you know that they really don't make good looking fangs for someone her size. Her little mouth was just too small. We finally decided on the cheap ones and of course, she chose purple. I don't think I have ever seen a vampire with purple fangs. Of course, I guess I have never seen a vampire at all. All I have to say is, watch out Cullen Family, Megan is coming to get you.

This is the third year that Emilee is wearing a wig. They all seem to be blond of some sort. This year, she decided she wanted to be Rapunzel. I thought for sure she was going to stick with her choice from last year. She talked about it most of the year which was Velma from Scooby Doo, but after watching some Rapunzel movie she quickly changed her mind. I must say, she makes a most beautiful Rapunzel.

Hunter was convinced he was going to be Buzz Light year again. He doesn't like that the old costume has gotten a bit small and wanted a new one. Well, one Saturday a few weeks ago, we were at the store and he looked at the Buzz costumes until he saw Bumblebee. Well he quickly changed his mind and for sure that is what he was going to be. As we were getting ready to check out, he saw Optimise Prime and decided he was going to be the leader of the Transformers.

The kids definitely got their use out of their costumes. It started last week with the Fall Festival at school, Trunk or Treat a few nights ago, and then of course Halloween Night. I must say, I am all Halloweened out and we have candy everywhere. The kids have had fun though and can you believe it, of course they are already talking about what they will be for Halloween next year.

Happy Halloween !!

Choo, Choo

We are always trying to find fun and different things to do with the kids. Last year, we learned about this train that you can go on at different times of the year. It changes it themes according to the holidays. Easter, Mother's Day, Fall Colors, Halloween, and Christmas. We seem to always think about it, after the fact. Today, we remembered. It was the Goblin Express for us. The kids were excited to ride on a real train. Well, I have to say that sometimes when you look forward to something, it is not always what you hoped for. It was definitely not the experience I thought it would be. Jeremy and I were a little disappointed in it. The kids on the other hand, seemed OK with it. I guess that is whats important. As long as they were happy, then I am happy. They liked the train, they liked the experience, and of course, they liked the goodie bag they got, when they got off the train.