Staff Christmas Party

We had a Christmas themed dress up party for our staff Christmas party this year. It was a lot of fun and super laid back. I think we might do this every year.
Santa and his reindeer!! Gray was totally scared of Jeremy. He kept saying "that's not Santa, that's my Daddy."
Santa and Rudolph

The whole crew!

Buddy the Elf and a Sugar Plum Fairy!

Mary, The Holy Ghost, and two little Reindeer.

A Family pic!

Advent

Two years ago I was on a rampage to find an Advent calendar. I found one that I fell in love with and we started Advent with the boys last year. I like it because it is big and it hangs on my wall. It was good and the boys had fun, but I wanted this year to be a bit more meaningful. A friend of mine has a website called Impress Your Kids. Check it out. It is great and I am stealing all of their ideas. Peace and Joy!!

Feels like Christmas!!!

The whole family got together yesterday to watch the ever so stressful Alabama vs. Auburn game. We all brought the kids Christmas pajamas so we could get our annual picture of them. Usually we do it on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but we aren't going to be all together until after that, so we wanted to go ahead and do it. Also, it gives the kids a chance to wear their pj's all month!
Gray, Tyler, Harley, Jax, Sam, Micah, Parker, Blake, Lawson Harley was done!! I love the Tutu!!

Gray needs a hair cut B.A.D!!

Blaker and Lawdog!!

The boys. Gray was not about to look at the camera. Sam's hair is so long that it is brushed to the side (this was right after baths) and Tyler and Blake are old pros at the picture taking!!

Sweet!

Jeremy brought me these the other day for no occasion whatsoever!! I like that I still get flowers randomly after almost 11 years!!!

A Rare Sighting

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We did a couple of "thankful" projects around the Self household in November. We sometimes struggle with being thankful for all the amazing things that we have, so I thought doing projects and looking at them for a month might help. It was fun also.
This one we did last last year and this year! (Last years pic) It was funny because Gray was thankful for whatever his brothers told him to be thankful for. This was fun also. The boys helped me color the letters and put them in the glasses.

Before Church

This was before church on Sunday morning. All the boys wanted to look "nice" they told me. I have no idea why. We do not dress up at Free Chapel. It is very come as you are

Yes, I have four boys. What you do not see is a little to the left Sam is pitching the biggest fit ever on the floor because he wanted to change clothes...again!!

Talent

Tyler and Blake were both in their schools Talent Show this year. Tyler had a drum solo. He did really good. His monitor wasn't working great, so he couldn't hear his music that well. It was a great experience as far as being on stage in front of lots of people. Jax went with us. The boys were so wired!!! Before the talent show!!

Blake's class performed the opening song and cheer! He is on the end with the black/white backpack.

Tyler jammin out!!

Arrrrr!!!

We had a great time trick or treating this Halloween. All the boys were pirates. I loved it because I only spent 8 bucks on all my boys costumes. I just pieced together stuff from the "dress up bin". I was a little nervous they might look like a homeless person, but it turned out fine. We got so much candy that I think I might have to throw it away while they are sleeping. I am trying to think of some creative way not to waste it, so if you have any ideas let me know.

We sort of thought Gray looked like a pirate, but maybe a waiter at an Italian restaurant.

Blake had a peg leg and he played it up like crazy!!

Always the actor!

Jax looks amazing!!

Lawson cracked me up. He had puffy sleeves that were hilarious on his little body. He also ate candy the whole time we were out. A boy after my own heart!

It took all of 2.5 seconds for Sam to smear his make-up!!

A Story

I have a friend who just started a new blog that I highly recommend. She is sharing her story in hopes to help someone else. Her story is deep and moving, but completely has God's redeeming love sewn throughout the whole thing. She has a huge heart for hurting women. I love how God uses our personal stories either bad, broken, bored, or even good to help others. If you know of any one, especially women, who might be blessed or encouraged by following my friends story please pass it along. Beauty For Ashes (Link Repaired)

30th, Kobe, and Baby Dedication

Sunday night we crammed two big things in one while my Mom was still in town. We celebrated Kimberly's 30th birthday and we had Harley's baby dedication. It was great. Wade decided we should go to Kobe Japanese Steak House, which was hilarious with all the kids. As you can see Parker was not a fan. He cried pretty much the whole time. My mom says it is payback because when Lindsey was little she did the same thing at a Japanese steak house we went to.
I have no idea why Sam is plugging his ears. He and Jax screamed every time to fire was big.

Tyler and Blake loved it. Their favorite part was catching egg in their mouths and the fire of course.

Gray also covering his ears. Probably because Jax and Sam were screaming. I felt bad for other people who went to have a peaceful dinner.

Kimberly turns 30. All the boys helped her blow out her candles.

Harley Jane was dedicated by Jeremy. It was sweet and special and all on video tape, even the commotion in the back ground. It is extremely hard to keep everyone quite. Jeremy and Harley acted like nothing was going on.

Birthday Date

My Mom missed both Jax and Sam's birthdays due to work in Birmingham. She will be in Austin for about a week and then headed back to Birmingham to pack. They finally got a contract on their house and they close Nov. 10th.
Jax and Sam are big buds and do great together. The plan was to take them to Chuck E. Cheese, McDonald's, and Target to pick out a toy. They had the best time. Mom did say it took both of them forever to pick out a toy. Thank you Mama Don.
Sam called Jax that morning to tell him to wear his blue Monkey shirt. We thought that was so funny.

Austin Children's Musuem

My sister-n-law Kimberly had a few free passes to the Austin Children's Museum. I had heard about and seen it, but we have never been. It was great. The boys had so much fun. It was sort of dreary outside, so it was a perfect outing. Sam (4), Jax (3), Gray (2), and Lawson (1) ran around and played for almost three hours.Sam being a Vet.

You are supposed to put the balls in the top of the fish and then pull the latch on the bottom. Gray wanted to do it a little differently.
Lawson loved the drums.

We spent a lot of time here making pretend tamales.
This is pretty much what sweet Harley Jane did. She didn't make a peep the whole time.

Picture Day

WARNING: A little bit of a vent session!

Yes it is picture day today which brings all kinds of guilt on me. Are you confused? The deal is I don't buy school pictures. *gasp* I know. Call me cheap. Call me a horrible Mom. I think I might be alone in my view on school pictures, extra things to buy at school, extra OPTIONAL projects (which feels like it means if you are a good Mom and want your child to be ahead you should do them). School stresses me out to some degree. This has nothing to do with my boys teachers. I am truly thankful for my boys teachers and know they have hard job and if it was left up to me my boys wouldn't make it pass 5th grade. But I am constantly juggling what we should agree to do or buy and what we shouldn't. The pressure.! And I thought having 4 kids 6yo and under was stressful.

Anyway, I always have to circle back to what our (the Self Family) priorities are. Just to be frank, most of the time they have nothing to do with all the extra work and money that we have the "option" to buy or do.

*I don't think that their is anything wrong with buying school pictures or doing the extra stuff. These are just thoughts about decisions that hit me on a weekly basis.