More on Russ' "Collection"

Well I am having a party at my house next Saturday so I told Russ that he HAD to work on his office. I told him that the boxes all over the place would have to be unpacked. He was a great sport and jumped right into it today. Here are a few pictures of what I am having to endure while he is unpacking. I hope you all notice ALL of the mannequins! My mom told me tonight that he told her that he has 20 more on the way so that he can display all of his military jackets. Once again ladies, I know all of you are so jealous that I am going to have all these lovely mannequins in my house!!!
I am posting a few pictures as he "cleans and organizes." Notice how it all flows out of his office and into the halls. These pictures really don't do it justice!


This last picture totally shows Russ' personality and humor. He knows I was kind of freaked out by the mannequins so he decided to play a joke on me. Well...it worked!!! It scared me to death! How would you feel if this is what you saw on your way to the bathroom?

Snow Days

Well we have been REALLY bored the last two days! Here are just a few pictures of what we have been doing.
The kids got sick of their toys so we had to get creative!

MeMe and Ashton "cooking cookies"

This is our backyard. I know we didn't get near what you all in NW Arkansas got but Mom said we got a lot more than she did.

My sweet babies!!! I love the jogging suits but they are a little big.

Ashton's tiny snowman. What can you say...we didn't get much snow!

The twins watching Maggie Rae and Rachel play outside.

Maggie Rae VERY proud of her tiny snowman that she added springles to. Every snowman must be fancy!!

Ashton decided to get inside of Landy's toy, and then he couldn't get out. Of course, I had to take a picture before helping him out!!

Last but not least, sweet Harper drawing so carefully! Oh how I love him!!!

Hope everyone else had fun today!!! Tomorrow...we are back to normal and can get out of the house!! Thank goodness!!!!

Russ' ebay UK obsession!!

If you know Russ, you know that he is an ebay UK addict! It was a BIG problem in our old house because there just wasn't enough room in his office for all of his swords and military uniforms. Now he has a nice big office so he has brought all of his "stuff" back from his mom's house (where he was keeping it all during the move.) Last night he couldn't have been more excited to show off his newest purchase. I almost DIED!!! He has really gone too far now!
Here is a picture of his office and all of the boxes of "stuff." Can you see all of the swords along the fireplace? How about the gross tiger over the mantle? Well if you think that is bad, just scroll down to see his big (HUGE) new addition to his collection.




Yes this lion WAS real at one time (about 50 years ago.) It is stuffed and looks SOOOO alive! Very very very scary!

Ashton was scared to death when he saw it! The twins didn't seem too scared but I wouldn't let any of them near it. I told them it might have the mange. I know all of you girls are so jealous that your husbands don't have a cool hobby like this!

Rachel said that we should name it so the kids wouldn't be as scared of it. Not sure what I am going to do so that I am not so scared of it! Talk about some nightmares! Can you imagine sleeping in the room next to that!!

So sorry but I must brag

I have to brag on this beautiful little boy! How pretty is he?



My mother-in-law is very talented and painted this fabulous portrait of Ashton. He looks so sweet and innocent. I just LOVE it!!! Thanks so much Cindy!

I have also been doing some "fluffing" at my house and I wanted to take some pictures and show how much better it looks. I wish I would have taken before pictures because then you would get the full impact. My house is my new favorite project. It is so much fun to decorate and I am learning as I go. We are taking small steps and doing just a little bit at a time but here is a small taste. This is my formal living living room. The shelves looked terrible before! So much better!





This is a picture of my powder room. I LOVE this floral!!



These are all pictures that my friend Shannon (A Moment Captured by Shannon Walker) took of the kids. So is so good!!!!



These are just a couple of random pictures of my precious twins from this week. I just love it that Henry closes his eyes when he smiles really big. He is such a ham!

Sick Kids

Well we are all sick at the Alder house. Surprise, Surprise!

I had to take Harper to the doctor yesterday and he was diagnosed with a double ear infection, strep throat, and mild pneumonia.

Last night Ashton woke me up crying and very sick. I took him to the doctor this afternoon. Guess what, he also has a double ear infection and either a bad cause of bronchitis or a mild pneumonia. The doctor didn't do the chest x-ray because he said it wouldn't change the type of antibiotics that he prescribed.

Well as if things weren't bad enough...when I came home from the doctor's office little Henry was looking very rough. He has a very runny nose and is really fussy. I have a feeling that I am going to get to go back to Dr. Beene's office tomorrow for the third day in a row!! I think I should just get a job there. It is really sad that they all know me by name. I guess that is what happens when you have three little ones!

Fun idea I stole from another blog

RANDOM PICTURE CHALLENGE!
Ok I totally stole this fun idea from another blog but I thought it was really fun and we should all try it.

This picture is from my April folder and was the 5th picture down. It is of Maggie being silly with the twins. (Don't they look so small?)
Now for the fun part, go to your April picture folder pick the 5th picture and post it on your blog! Leave a comment here to let me {and others} know you've joined in!

If....God gave me a girl....

This is what her life would be like! I can't even imagine all that the poor little thing would have to go through having 3 big brothers. Today I am baby-sitting my sweet niece. Henry and Harper love pestering her. She is a pretty good sport about it for a minute and then she gets really mad. I guess I can't blame her. I wouldn't want someone taking my pacifer away, pulling my hair, and stopping my swing either! God love you sweet Landy Lou!
And the fun begins!

Can you tell he is proud of himself?



Now Harper comes over the back to get in on the fun. I will point out that this is a portable swing and Harper figured out how to close it up. Only problem was that Landy was still in it!

Nothing like throwing toys at her and then coming over the back of the swing to get it back!
Thanks goodness Landy Lou is such a good baby and tolerates them (for now!)

Our Unexpected House Guest

This morning while I was upstairs getting the twins ready for the day I heard Russ yelling at me to look over the railing. I looked down and saw a HUGE German shepard trotting through the foyer! For those of you who don't know our pets, we have a pug and min pin so I was REALLY surprised! The best part of the story...the dog let its self in! Turns out it is a really smart German shepard and can open doors. When we called the number on her tags, the owners said that she got out last night and had been running the neighborhood.

Russ was obviously very surprised to turn around and see this big, strange dog walking through the house but I think it brought on some sad feelings. He has several German shepards at the plant as guard dogs but his favorite, Mavrick, had to be put to sleep just a few months ago. I know some day I am going to be outnumbered and he and the boys will want a big dog but that is going to be a LONG time from now!

I have to say that one of the best parts of this story was Ashton's reaction. He just kept say, "I not scared Mommy! I not scared! Hold you Mommy! Hold you!" He really didn't want to be afraid but he is not used to seeing big dogs. Especially walking around our house!

Bowling with the Kids!

I don't know if any of you have taken your kids bowling but we had so much fun and I would highly recommend it. I thought Ash might be a little young but they have a wonderful piece of equipment (it looks like my Grandma's old walker) that helps them bowl really good. Actually, Russ only beat Maggie Rae by 3 points! Pretty sad considering she is 6!!!!!! Ashton decided he was finished by the 8th frame but I thought that was good. He had so much fun and was really proud of himself. I will have to admit that the ball coral (not sure the technical name) was his favorite part. Oh and I do not allow my child to climb on furniture and I promise I got him off...as soon as I took a picture first! Haha. We were just having too much fun!


This is a picture of the ball that Ashton threw as soon as we got there. The lane was not open yet and needless to say, he didn't throw it very hard and it got stuck in the middle.

This is Ashton carrying his ball to the walker!


Ashton and Maggie using their grandma walkers!

Ashton on the score computer just hanging out watching Daddy.

Russ tried really hard to get a picture of Ashton and I together. This is the best we could get. I know, terrible, but something is better than nothing!