Christmas and Drywall ??!!!

Get ready for a lot of pictures!  We had a wonderful Christmas, and I hope you all did as well! 

We took the kids to see Christmas lights at Bellingrath Gardens in Alabama this year.  It was absolutely beautiful.   We did have quite a wait to get in, but it was well worth it, or at least I think it was.

They make all of their Christmas decorations.  I was amazed at all of the creativity!  Too bad I'm not that great of a photographer.  I intended to have many photos of their lights, but most didn't turn out.  Here are a few though.

We made and decorated sugar cookies to leave out for Santa Clause.   I think I'm still cleaning up flour from that event ;) 

Mallory got right in there and helped out with decorating.  Dillon did a few, but he ended up playing with one of his Christmas presents he had gotten earlier that day from the Newman's (our wonderful neighbors).

This is what he spent most of the night doing.  He flied that helicopter all over the living room, crashing only a few times.  And no, Shane isn't mad in this picture.  He is deep in thought.  We both  laughed when we saw this picture.  I told him he looked like a thug with his hat on.  He's a very nice fella though, don't let the photo mislead you! 

Santa's finished cookies

Dillon the reindeer

Mallory finally got her own Nintendo DS like her big brother Dillon.  She said that was all she wanted from Santa Claus and can you believe he didn't bring it to her?  She looked all over our house Christmas morning for it, thinking he had hid it somewhere.  Later on we went to Shane's mom's house for Christmas, and wouldn't you know, BB had gotten it for her.  That Santa Claus knew it all along :)

This is what we've been up to since Christmas.  Putting up sheet rock in the master bedroom addition to the house.  Shane and I have never done anything like this before, but hey.....why not?

The yellow contraption in the photograph is a jack that Shane rented in Hattiesburg.  It lifts up a sheet of drywall and will hold it in place for you to put the screws in.  It was a lifesaver.  There is no way that we would've gotten all we did accomplished in one day without that lift.  The ceilings were hung that day, thanks to the lift. 

Drywall sheet on jack to be
lifted up

Mallory had to help out and give the wheel a turn.  You just turn that wheel there an it lifts up that sheet right to the ceiling.  You just have to roll it in the right position, and WA LA...... no hands!  I feel very sorry for those who hang up this stuff on a ceiling with no jack.  My arms ache for them!

For the past two days, Shane has had to work by himself hanging the drywall.  Mallory has been sick with fever, but today it came down to a low grade 99 so I'm hoping that she will be better tomorrow.   I will definitely be putting more pictures of the progress. 

Have a great week everyone!

Christmas at Aunt Glo's

Each year, we celebrate Christmas with Shane's side of the family the Saturday before Christmas.  We usually have finger foods and play the game of  dirty Santa.  It can be quite funny when you get a group of adults (usually women) fighting over that one gift everyone wants.  Below is Aunt Cindy "stealing" a gift from Aunt Becky. 

 

The kids get to open up one gift as well since all of the adults go home with a gift from the dirty Santa gift exchange.  In the picture below, notice Dillon's hat.  He found this hat at Dirt Cheap earlier that day.  He put it on as soon as it was paid for, and has worn it ever since.  He even wore it to church, left it in the car during church, then put it back on top of his head after church was over.  One of the ladies said he looked like a 60 year old man.  He loves this hat though, because of the feathers.

Shane's Aunt Glo always decorates her home so festive for Christmas.  I absolutely wish I had her decorating talent and time.  Her house is always so beautiful.  This picture is in her den.

This picture was taken in the dining room.  She has every room in her home decorated.  Even the bathrooms have Christmas cheer :)

 

We all enjoyed a good visit!  It's always so nice to be able to get together with family.  Especially now days, when it seems everyone is always so busy just to sit down and visit with one another.  Aunt Glo also read us a story to remind us all of the true Reason for the Season, Jesus Christ.

Angie, BB, Mallory

Shane, Uncle Charlie, Charles, Grant

Peyton, Mallory, Dillon, Alex

Dillon, Shay, Mallory, Alex

Aunt Stacy with nephew Dillon

Below, Mallory is giving herself rabbit ears which I thought was too funny.  She doesn't quite understand that you are to put them behind someone else's head.  She picked this up from Alex this night.  I think Peyton might be trying to do the same thing, except he has a toy in his hand.

Merry Christmas everyone!

School party

Dillon's class had their Christmas party yesterday.  I have never seen so many cupcakes, brownies, and candy in my life!  There were some class moms that insisted they pass out ALL of the goodies that were brought for the party. They were told that they were going to get a Ziploc bag to put their goodies in to take home, but what happens when you give a child a plate full of sugar filled goodies??? (not to mention pepperoni pizza as well)  They try to eat it all of course, I mean how often will they get and opportunity like that again?  Then the "tummy-aches" set in.  One student started vomiting right there at his desk during the party.  Poor baby...I felt so bad for him.  His mother was there so she was able to take him to the bathroom and then home.  Needless to say, it was an exciting day in the 2nd grade class. 

They had so much that Mallory was able to participate as well.  They let her sit in a "big kid" desk by some of Dillon's classmates.  She felt like such a big girl after that!

With all that went on yesterday, it was also our 9th wedding anniversary.   It was so sweet to hear Dillon telling all of his classmates that it was his mom and dad's anniversary. 

Here's to many more anniversaries!!!  I love you honey! 

Waiting for 30 degrees

I have decided to go ahead and make a post this morning while I wait for the temperature to get at least 30 degrees before I do my morning chores.  I have to go out and get hay out for the calves and goats.  I plan on putting on Shane's insulated coveralls to try to keep warm.  He has been out of town for a couple of days, so I have been giving him report on the farm every night.  He told me to go ahead and get another bale of hay and put some out since the temps are still so cold.  I went out after dark last night with my spotlight and the calves had eaten all of their hay.  We have had a hard freeze for several nights now, which usually isn't very typical for us down south.  This is why we aren't having our goats kidding in December again this year. 

Yesterday Dillon had his last 4 teeth pulled of the 7 that had to be pulled out before we start with orthodontic work.  He was such a trooper.  I told him to let me get a picture with all of those teeth missing so we could remember what he looked like years from now. 

I was amazed that we were referred to an orthodontist at such a young age, but it seems like they are trying to get ahead of any issues that will arise down the road, and could possible prevent getting full braces later on. He will have to have braces on 4 teeth. His top 2 front teeth hit right behind his 2 bottom front teeth. They are going to put the appliances on the pull those teeth forward to prevent him from doing any damage to his permanent teeth. His baby teeth were worn down to the gums by the time he was in Kindergarten. Now, we are finding out that it was because of his "under bite" that his teeth were worn down.   Hopefully all of this will prevent any damage to his permanent teeth.
Of course, Miss Mallory had to have her picture taken too.  We definitely don't want to leave her out!  Little Miss Sassy!

It's beginning to feel like Christmas

Dillon was in a Christmas play at his school last night.  He was one of the wisemen.  The lighting wasn't real great, but this is probably the best shot I could get from across the gymnasium.  He is the wiseman farthest to the left standing by the shepherd. 

The three wisemen after the play

Dillon has taken it upon himself to transform our little burn pile into a "fort".  When the limbs fall out of the oak trees, we usually make a small pile and burn them on a cold night and roast marshmallows.  Dillon has managed to drag more limbs from all over creation to add to it.  He even decorated it for Christmas with the flag from our house. 

front entrance

Notice, it not only has limbs now.....Even a wooden pallet has been added to it.  How fun it is to be a child with such an imagination!


rear view



8 years ago.....

Eight years ago at 7:04PM we welcomed our first child into our family ..........

Dillon Hesterman - 1 day old

Dillon from the very beginning you have been a very head strong child....You refused to go to sleep without a fight many, many, many, many days and nights for about the first 7 months of your life.  It was a challenge for us as new parents, but I feel like this characteristic will help you out later on in life.  You are also such a mature little man!  You think very wise way beyond your years.......At times we have a hard time remembering you are just a child. 

Evil Knievel costume

You enjoy helping out on the farm; that is, when it's your idea.....Other times you'd rather be climbing trees, and annoying your little sis...The typical older brother things.

Feeding Sprocket

You have such a tender heart, and for that I am truly grateful.  God has really blessed our family with you, and I thank Him for it every day!

Yes, he is really cutting the grass and
No we aren't irresponsible parents.  Shane
rode with him and showed him how to maneuver
and let him have it out in a wide open area. 

Happy 8th birthday Dillon!  I love you very much!

Halloween pics,a little late....oops.. And a funny story!

Here are my cuties in their Halloween costumes.  We had such a crazy day that day, I'm just now getting around to put these photos up.  The family reunion pictures did it for me.....with all of the resizing and everything.  We ended up going trick-or-treating and had two of our nephews along with us.  It was funny, because Kohen had not been trick or treating....so we had to teach him that he couldn't just take people's candy out of their basket.....and that we must say thank you after getting your candy.

Mallory was a peacock princess

Mr. Luigi
if he only knew Mallory had sneaked up behind him in the picture......

Fireman Noah

Evil Knievel

Kohen probably had a stomach ache....He didn't care about getting anymore candy after about 4 stops.  He wanted to go to work on it right away.  This is the position we found him in constantly. 

Something else I wanted to put in here to be recorded for memories.....

The other day we had to stop in the middle of the highway to pick up a little bunny that someone had hit.  You know, us being the farm family and all, we can save any animal; or so that's what Dillon and Mallory think.  So here I go picking up this little bunny to take home with us to see if we can nurse him back....and it was obvious he wasn't going to make it.  He probably had some internal injuries.  I told Shane that we needed to put him down, and Dillon happened to see Shane grab his gun and head out the back door.  Dillon went to tears and asked Shane if he was going to kill his pet rabbit ( mind you, we haven't even had this rabbit a whole day).  Shane took pity on Dillon and said that we would see if the rabbit could pull through.  I then took it upon myself to try to explain that it wasn't something that we like to do, but that when we know an animal is going to die and is suffering, it is best to put them out of their suffering.  All the while I'm telling Dillon this, Mallory is sitting there saying not one word.  All of a sudden, she looks at me and asks with a terrified look in her face...." But mom, you're not going to kill us if we get sick are you?"  You want to talk about shocking me speechless.... I of course then had to try to explain it even further so our sweet little 5 year old could understand.  I hate that they have to know these things, but it is part of our lives here at our farm.  We have many animals, and sometimes things happen that are way beyond our control.  I just found it funny later on how serious Mallory was about it....She was truly worried.  Bless her little heart!

Family reunion

We had our first family reunion Saturday at my grandmother's home in Leaf, MS.  We had a great day for it!  The sun was shining and the temperature was in the low 70's.  Some of the family wasn't able to make it this year, but we ended up having around 25 attend.  I'm so glad that we were able to visit with each other and catch up with what's been going on with everyone.

Here are a "few" photos from the day (I had taken 104).

L-R  Mom, Whitney, Tommy

L-R Uncle Paul, Tara and Charles



Joe and his daughter Kiersten



Carlette trying not to have her picture taken

Some of the adults got a game going with the kids in the backyard.  It ended up being called redneck volleyball.  It was a game sort of like volleyball, only the net ended up being fence.  The kids had a blast; I even think the grown ups had a good time too!

Paw Paw showing his skill

Gabriel showed up fashionably late

I managed to get a picture of Daine

Tara and Charles

All of Scooter's grandchildren together
(L-R me, Kristen (my sis), Scooter, Jimmy (my brother), Tara

All of the great-grandkids
( L-R Back: Mallory, Dillon, Noah  Front:  Gabriel and Kohen)

All who attened
Gabriel didn't want to have the picture taken.

My brother ( He's stationed in Hawaii )
So glad he could make it

Catching granddaddy long-legged spiders

I'm looking forward to next year!  I hope we are able to continue doing this every year.  I think some people these days are just too busy to have get togethers, but it's important to me that our kids know their extended families!