Life with the Shirley Family

Life with the Shirley Family

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Christmas morning 2012

This was the best Christmas ever!!!  This is how both the boys described our day!  After the boys were admitted to the living room, they were full of great excitement over their presents.  Nathan had asked for either a bow or a computer...he got the bow!



Camden had asked for one thing mainly...the League of Incredible Vegetable set.  As he is sitting here with me looking at this picture, he said he loves them, but he loves me more.  Too sweet!

And the biggest excitement of the day for Nathan was a total surprise of a present...tickets to the Chick-fil-a bowl; Clemson vs. LSU.  He was jumping up and down because he totally did not expect this gift :)

Camden with his new play figures.

New hats for the boys!

Amy got jewelry from the boys that Nathan picked out on his own.

Dave got duck calls from the boys...one of which is made by the Duck Dynasty men!
 



Champ got a Kong bone which he loved playing with.  But for it being indestructible, well they haven't met Champ!
 
 
 
After opening up our gifts, we packed the car quickly and made our way to Columbia for lunch with my parents.  Presents and good food and getting ready to drive to Memphis.  Should we leave on Christmas day or wait until the 26th?  We shall see!


Monday, December 17, 2012

The boys are decorating!!


I had finished decorating the house for Christmas, but the boys were not satisfied!  They had fun stringing lights and garland all over Camden's room.  Even Woody got in the act!!  What fun!



 
How can you sleep with all those lights on, Camden?!?!

Saturday, December 8, 2012

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!


This is what Camden has been saying a lot these days...between the coughing and the nose blowing that is!  Flu hit our house this week, but on the positive side, it gave me more time to decorate the house :)  Although we haven't felt the greatest, we pulled together and got all the decorations up.  Even a few new ones! 
A new arrangement for the porch with twinkling red lights...my favorite addition this year!
I got Dave to hang a big wreath on the fireplace!  He did a good job.
Got to have our snowmen on the front table!
My new village...it was supposed to replace the old one for this year, but....
 
...the boys insisted.  And then I was going to not use the snow due to Champ's tail, but they also overrode that decision!  Nathan and Camden put the village together.
 
 
 
 
So, our house is decked for Christmas!  I can sit on my couch, look at the beautiful lights, relax, read Christmas stories to the boys, work on projects, and oh yeah, blow my nose.  The boys' week of the flu left me with a yucky cold.  But at least I have pretty things to look at while my head is in a fog.  And when my cold is over, I will enjoy it even more!

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Camden can ride his bike!!


Well without training wheels would be more accurate!  He has been trying to learn, or at least we have been trying to get him to learn to do this for a LONG time!  He was not too interested in bike riding once we took the training wheels off and he didn't automatically know how to ride his bike.  But he is finally riding on his own.  His goal now is to be able to ride the bike to Sonic and get ice cream...I like that goal :)

Sunday, November 11, 2012

A beautiful Charleston Day!

I have the good fortune to live in Charleston where if you don't like the weather, wait a day and it will be good again!  Seriously, this weekend had the most gorgeous weather of any November day I have seen in a long time!  A day that begs to go outdoors.  So to make sure we did that without having to fight with the lure of the Wii and Legos, we headed to Charlestowne landing.  It was one of those days where they have people out there in period dress pretending to live during that time.  We got to see women baking pie in an open hearth; watch cranberry beans cook over an open flame; and hear cannons being shot.  To be accurate, I should say hear and feel cannons being shot!  And we got to learn that indigo had to ferment in urine in order to turn into dye.  Makes me want to go out and buy some indigo dyed jeans!!
 
 
 
What we like to do to our boys on nice Charleston days!!


 
Sailing the Adventure ship
 
So we had a fun day outdoors!  Can't think of a better way to spend a nice day in Charleston.  And to end the evening, we had a building night.  Well, at least Dave and Camden built things.  Dave built Nathan's Kinex set and Camden built his new big Lego set.  They both have to spend more time finishing them...but that will make for more fun nights!!


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Happy Birthday Camden!!


 
 
Today is not only election day, but also Camden's birthday.  After coming home from voting, Camden runs to me from his room yelling "I'm 6 today!!"  He was so excited.  His birthday party was Sunday; we went to Frankie's fun park on Monday; saw Wreck it Ralph today; and ended Camden's birthday day with dinner at O'Charley's.  And this Friday night his birthday present will be seeing Disney on Ice.  Whew!   
 

But his birthday started with a Lego Birthday Party!!  This was a fun party to plan.  There were so many fun ideas I found online and it was hard to narrow down what I wanted to do.  But here are the rest of the Lego things that were at the party.
 


 

Juice boxes transformed into a stack of Legos!!
The "6" Cupcakes.  Candy Lego men and Lego blocks

Lego block cakes!  The first birthday cake I have ever made for either of the boys!  Don't look too close!



Lego Jello jigglers...the big hit of the day!!
 
 
 
Camden and Nathan playing a Lego relay game.
 
 
Pin the head on the Lego man!
 

 
Blowing out the candles!

 
Of course the presents!!
 
The finished Lego heads were the goodie bag...they were filled with a Lego crayon and a Lego man. 

Friday, November 2, 2012

Lego Prep

 
 
 Camden's birthday party is this Sunday and it is a Lego party!  There are so many cute ideas online that it is hard to not do them all!  So I am up to my eyeballs in Lego stuff!  Baby food jars painted yellow become.....
 
 
Lego heads to hold party favors!


 
Candy melts in Lego forms become Lego brick and Lego man candies...the second batch with PAM in the forms turned out better. 
 
 

 
Bags for Pinata candy turned into Legos easily with circle stencils.


 
And these will hopefully be turned into Lego brick cakes.  We will see how these turn out. 
 
 
 
And my favorite, Lego shaped crayons!!!

 
An LSU crayon just for Nathan!
 
 
Nothing in this party is original with me, but it has been fun making all sorts of Lego stuff.  One more day...who knows what else we can come up with!!!


Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!


This year was a different year for us for Halloween because it fell on a Wednesday night.  Since we had AWANA, we decided to have a "normal" night with trunk or treating.  The attendance was low, but the trunks were awesome...especially the Deer Antler truck!


We were asked to dress like something from a Bible verse.  The criteria was VERY flexible.  So Camden was "light of the world" as a stoplight and I was the farmer that spread the seed on the good ground.  Nathan was going to go as himself because he is fearfully and wonderfully made; but then changed to a bum because God looks on the outward appearance and God looks on the heart.  Then he made his final decision to hang with Dave at the Deer Antler trunk and be a hunter because there were also hunters in the Bible.   




                                               The Cookie Monster Truck
 
 
The taste of heaven truck!

 
Three of my 6 Cubbies who came tonight.  God made ladybugs; we will one day fly to heaven in the rapture like fairies can fly; and Super Girl has to be the Proverbs 31 woman!!