Our first Gingerbread House

The boys couldn't believe when I told them we were building my first gingerbread house too. I've always enjoyed the holidays and love the traditions that go with that time of year, I just have never made a gingerbread house before. It was a ton of fun! We will definitely do this again next year.

Here we were assembling the ingredients for our masterpiece.

Voila! The house is standing and the boys are working harmoniously to decorate it. Can't ask for anything better. The finished Rinehart Gingerbread House...personalized.

How cute and sooo much fun! Looks like it is straight from Candy Land.

Highland Park Elementary Christmas Program

This was a fun night for all of us. Jackson had his Christmas program and did lots of singing. He was really excited to use the maracas for their class song. I did some taping and took some photos. Memories!

Jackson with his teacher Mrs.Uhlman

Full view of the stage of Highland Park first graders.

What a Christmas Cutie!

Jackson with his classmate Ethan M.

FIRE ANTS!!

We know about fire ants and have shown the boys what to avoid; however, poor little Jackson was playing hide and seek and thought under the little kid slide would be a great place to hide. What he didn't know is that there were fire ants under the leaves. Let me just say, it was awful. That sweet little guy. Luckily they only stung his arms and I was able to get the rest off before they stung too. Bless his heart, he asked me "why did God make fire ants?" so I gave my best mommy answer and wondered the same thing. We posted this so the grandparents could see. Of course, anything major has to be relayed to Illinois. For Jackson this was "major".

this is the inside of his left arm.
It's kind of hard to see, but there are several red blisters on both of his lower arms.

More from the Rocket City Marathon

So here are more photos from the marathon. Enjoy!

Ok, I know this shot is blurry, but there were so many people I only had the chance for a couple of photos. Even using the sports setting it still wasn't clear. Joe is in the red Tshirt and black shorts.
I just thought this was cool. If you click on the photo you can see closer how the runners were packed in at the beginning. Of course, this isn't everyone, but wow it is a ton of people.
YEAH! Here comes Joe approaching the finish line. He really turned it on at the end...just thrilled to be done, I'm sure. It's something else to watch the runners at the start of the race and then at the end. Kudos to them for incredible effort.
Joe just finished and is getting his medal.

Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, AL

Well, this was exciting for the boys and I because it was the first time we were able to go with Joe for a race. He has a personal goal of running a marathon in each of the 50 states. Very cool if you ask me. Anyway the hotel was energized with all of the participants registering for the marathon the next day. Even though it was December 7th the weather was predicted to be in the upper 60's. The boys were hoping to swim, but he pool was outside and not quite warm enough for that.

Here Joe is registering for the big day.

Dad with his two biggest fans, Jackson and Bayley.

This photo just gives you a glimpse of the number of people at the starting line. The race had over 1500 participants from all over the United States.

Mr. Incredible, well...OK, if you say so. We think Joe is Mr.Incredible, but something tells me he wouldn't wear the costume. Thanks sweetie!

Jackson lost his 1st tooth!

As you can see Jackson lost his first tooth. He did such a good job at getting the tooth loose and even pulled it out all on his own. You can see in his face just how excited he was. The tooth fairy left him $10 for that momentous first tooth. Just a couple weeks later he lost another. Now he wiggles his upper teeth just waiting for them to loosen.

The first baby tooth and the hole in his radiant smile.

Maya Grace Ann is Born!!

October 27th two of my favorite people in the world officially became parents. Their beautiful baby girl is WONDERFUL! It's pretty cool that she has my middle name, Ann. Thanks guys!

The happy "new" family my brother Wes, baby Maya and her momma Katie. Katie has been in our family so long she is in my Bayley's hospital pictures when he was born...at the same hospital.
Aunt Julie (me!) holding beautiful Maya.
Jackson has been sooo excited about getting new baby cousins. He LOVES to hold her. In this photo she is almost one month old. This is her Thanksgiving dress. It is amazing how well he does, so gentle and loving. Warms a mommy's heart!

Happy Halloween!

The boys had a great time at Halloween. Jackson was Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean and Bay was a clone trooper from Star Wars. The weather was perfect! This was one of the best ways to Trick-or-Treat. We live in a neighborhood that has one entrance/exit, so all of the kids and their parents were out walking around enjoying the evening. We had tons of kids stop by. After we had more than our fair share of candy we enjoyed chili at a neighbor's home. The kids played in the yard while we ate and visited. It was a really fun evening for all of us.

Jackson and Bay posing for the yearly Halloween photo.
I can always count on Jackson to pose for me.
The guys got a special treat from Grandma Debbie. They were treat bags that looked like brooms so, of course the boys HAD to pretend to "ride" the brooms. They were so cute! She made them from brown paper bags, twigs and raffia.

Louisville Fall Harvest Fesival 2007

We were in Illinois quite a bit from September to November. Of course, we had to go home for the annual Louisville Fall Harvest Festival and parades. It's crazy to think that 16 years ago I was riding in the parade and competing for the Miss Louisville Fall Festival title. Last year they had to hold the pageant in the high school gym, and that was the first time since I was crowned in 1991 on a cold, drizzly October Saturday. The next year Joe drove me through the parade as the reigning queen and parade marshall. The weather was much better! Now we share the parades and whole Fall Festival experience with our boys. They love to pick up the candy at the parade!

In the above photo Bay and Jackson are wearing their "veteran hats" their Great Grandpa Boose gave them. They had such a good time visiting with him. The boys love to look at his memorabilia from World War II. They are so proud and impressed that he is a soldier!
Jackson is watching the Flora Jr. High Band and waiting for more CANDY!!
Here is Bay waiting for....MORE CANDY!! He is in the brown jacket.
The lovely lady riding the horse is Miss Alexa Harrison. Her Mom is Stephanie G, one of my childhood friends. When we would come home from Oklahoma to visit, she and I would play with her Barbies. AAAhhh, the memories! Anyway Lexi and Bay are 7 months apart in age. We have some really cute photos of them playing together.

Bay's Flag Football Team, Vikings

Bay decided to try a new sport this fall, Flag Football. Since I really didn't know much about football is was a learning year for me too. We were so proud of him!! He learned very quickly with his speed and quick thinking making him an asset to his team, the Vikings.

In the above photo he is a running back headed down the field to score a touchdown. Bay was excited the first time he scored a touchdown! (so were we)

He even had the opportunity to play quarter back in a few games.

Bay also played wide receiver quite a bit, but he really enjoyed playing defense.

Bay is on the far left of the photo. It was time to discuss the play and make sure the boys were ready to go.

Jackson's Soccer Team the Express

Our boys really enjoy sports and so we are excited about all of the sports programs in Muscle Shoals. Jackson loved soccer last year and wanted to play again this year. He was thrilled to get a real soccer jersey with a team name and everything! They never lost a game, Yeah!

Good sportsmanship is one of the most important lessons learned from athletics. They teams always gave each other "5" for a game well played. Jackson is in the middle of the frame.

Here Jackson is giving his Coach, Micah, five after scoring a goal. He made a goal every game and sometimes he even scored 3 times.
Getting pumped up before the game. He is number 6.

Talk about an action shot...he is in the process of kicking the ball with his right foot. Whoa, look at that concentration.

Happy 9th Birthday Bay!!

Bay wanted to have his birthday at Party World. It is a building with a concession area, arcade games and then two very large rooms. Both of the rooms held 3 blow-up bouncing activities. There were slides, moonwalks...mostly things to spend alot of energy on. Good, news because we had a sleepover too. From L to R: Ethan (Jax's classmate), Jackson, Zach, Bay, Joe, Gatlin, and Jake. Yes they have discovered how cool it is to give "bunny ears" to everyone in every photo.
Grandma Debbie made the Birthday cake at Bay's request. She had come down for a visit and had the chance to meet all of his friends. Bay chose Dinosaurs for his party this year.

Bay was so excited to get his new bike. He even went out in the dark and gave a test run. As you can see we still had a box, some paint and drop cloth out. A sure sign of a recent move.

Reunion at Mrs.America

We had an incredible reunion of the Mrs.America Class of 06 in Tucson, AZ at this year's Mrs.America competition. I was soooo blessed to share my Mrs.A experience with these ladies last year, so the opportunity to meet up again...I'M THERE!! Grandpa Rinehart stayed with Joe, transporting the boys to and from school while I was away. I know Bay and Jax loved having him here.

L to R: me, Jill-Kansas, Marney-Colorado(Mrs.A), Holly-Minnesota, and the beautiful pregnant Jennifer-Nebraska. WOW, I mean come on...could Marney be glowing any more!! She was simply radiant and so elegant. Love ya Marney!
Alan Thicke from "Growing Pains" was the host this year. Ok, I'm jealous! I grew up watching him and Kirk Cameron. Ok, Ok, Ok, again showing my age. Anyway, I was just dying to say "Hey Mr.Seaver!", but I'm sure he's never heard that one before.
Prior to Finals we stopped for a photo op in front of a giant cactus. Here I am with my roomies Holly and Jill. Sign me up for next year you guys are the best!
Ok, this is really what we are like...goofy, yes...however we have such fun. I believe we had a total of 13 ladies from 06' attending this year. Everyone said we are a special class to have so many return...but, we already knew that. I just thank God for blessing me with these wonderful people.

Flora Wolves Basketball Camp

A highlight of last summer included the annual Flora Wolves Basketball camp. This was Bay's 3rd year and Jackson's 1st year to participate. We were excited to see Dennis Arnold there as a coach. I can remember cheering at the Louisville Cardinals basketball games while his son Nate played basketball. Whoa, now I'm sounding like my parents...yikes!

Bay and Jackson received their camp T-shirts and Future Champions Certificate. So Proud!!
Jackson workin' on those skills.
What jump shot...look at that form and follow through. AWESOME JOB BAY!!
A photo of the whole group with Coach Leib.

Home Sweet Home

Well, here we are...home sweet home. We arrived at 3:30am on Monday, July 2nd exhausted and ready to find somewhere to sleep. My gift upon arrival, 450 boxes waiting to be unpacked. Wow, lots to do and lots of change. My mission: to make this house our home. We've had lots of questions about our new home, so we thought we would share this photo with you.

This is a view of the street we live on. We are blessed with one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in the town. There are huge oak trees everywhere providing shade from that Alabama sun.