Rivendell Christmas

Both Oscar and I work at Rivendell so here are some pictures of the Christmas party I helped decorate for. I did all the centerpieces and the the Rivendell kids did the wall art. I think it turned out very well and since Rivendell doesn't give bonuses, it was a pretty nice party.


These 2 below are the finished mountain scene over the colored walls that the kids did.

























These are the centerpieces I made with a very low budget. I wasn't 100% happy with them, but what are ya gonna do?

Big Girl

AdaBelle has finally peepeed in the potty. We decided to potty train her a few months ago, but she apparently wasn't ready. Last month she decided she was a big girl and wanted to pee pee in the potty like Mommy. So she did and was almost completely trained to do the #1 and #2 when we took our mini vacation to Dallas and Austin for Thanksgiving. While there she got sick and had lots of accidents so we put her in pull ups. When we got back, well needless to say it's taken this long to get back on track. She took a picture of her first "real pee pee" as she refers to it and wanted to share it with ya'll.

Season's Greetings!

H O L I D A Y M A G I C

*Some of our gifts*

*our blurry tree topper*

We put our tree up the other day and decorated it for FHE.

FINALLY my pictures are coming through; here's a picture of our kids in front of the tree. :)

Thanksgiving in Dallas

We took a mini vacation for Thanksgiving this year. We decided to go to Texas. We left on Tuesday night at 6:00 and got to Marji and Jim's at 10:30. The next morning we packed up and took a quick trip to Austin to see Grandma B and Grand Dad. It was a good visit but the travel was atrocious! It took us 6 hours to get to Austin where it would normally only take 3. AdaBelle got sick on the way there and threw up all over her carseat. When we got to Austin we put her in the bath and she was very lathargic the rest of the night. I think Grandma B enjoyed the visit though. Unlce Tommy came by to see us as well and he's such a funny guy!!!! The trip back was uneventful but we didn't make it back to Marji and Jim's until 11:30 that night. Needless to say it was a loooooong trip.

We celebrated T-Giving day in Dallas at the Anderson's. We had: Marji, Jim, Thomas, Matthew, & Kaylee; Marcie, Jeff, Landon, & Blake Kump; Kay & Oscar DeVaux Vi; and AdaBelle, Oscar viii, Oscar vii, & Me.

It was fun. We had nutmeg potatoes, smoked turkey, ham, rolls, strawberry jello, stuffing, greenbean casserole, and lots of desserts. The kids ate outside and had fun screaming and running around in Marji and Jim's backyard. They had so much fun with eachother.

Black Friday was uneventful as well. Marji and I had thought about going to the mall near their house that opened at midnight but decided against it. We watched The Hulk and stayed up late. I spent most of Black Friday morning online looking for good deals and found quite a few. We left the Anderson's around 10:30 a.m. and traveled all the way to Texarkana where we stopped to shop at Ross' for clothes for the kids. *they grow really fast. both hit a growth spurt at the same time* We found some really good deals and made it back out to the car to hear the Razorbacks beat LSU!
We had to stop at Wal-Mart in Malvern on the way home and then we got home and bathed the kids and stayed up til Oscar had to go to work at 10:00 that night. All in all it was fun but I'm still recovering from sleep deprivation. AdaBelle apparently gets car sick and is still trying to get back on her schedule from the weeks' events.

Thanks to everyone who helped make the trip a success and for all the love and support ya'll give us!

~Dollie

November Summary

In November we celebrated my youngest brother's 18th birthday. We got him a Sonic and McDonald's giftcard along with some DVDs he wanted. We ate out at Colton's in town and AdaBelle had a blast stomping on all the peanut shells on the floor! She's such a cutie!

AdaBelle has found a new love for doing crafts. She loves to paint and draw and color. She also loves stickers and foam. She's gotten pretty good at pasting and arranging her stickers.

Little O has figured out how to climb and can now get in and out of the bathtub at will. It takes him a little while, but if he wants out, he can do it.

*i guess i'll have to use a different computer to upload my photos, none of them have been able to upload.*

~The DeVaux Clan

One Year Older and Wiser Too

Little O is now 1! Oh, how the time goes by. It feels like just yesterday I was put on bedrest and was unbelievably bored for the next 5 months. How difficult that was... and then again, compaired to having the little one here... Lets just say: Fun days at the DeVaux house.

I cannot believe it's been a full year! It seems like it took little Oscar Arthur Pascal DeVaux viii a wintery molasses to get here and now it's been a year. How he's grown and developed in that year though. He is running around, chasing AdaBelle and hollering. He squeals like a girl and tackles like a linebacker. :)
We had a really fun time. I had 6 paper boxes I brought home from work and all the kids made their own "car" out of them. We had paint and stickers and buttons and lots of fun.

*the invitations I sent out are in ppt format so I'm unable to post pics right now. I'll work on that and see if I can upload them later*

Reflections

I have been reflecting lately on the more simpler times in my life. Marriage and family seem to complicate things. I wouldn't change it for the world, but things that used to be easy, like grocery shopping and going to the library and going to sleep, have become more difficult.

I often think about high school days when YM/YW on wednesday nights were my biggest worry. (if I had only known *_*) The days, and nights, spent crying into my pillow or to my parents about how some click at church or school had been mean to me or that some boy didn't like me or I had to face yet another surgery. How often it seems we become wrapped up in our daily life and forget about the big picture. If I could go back in time, with the knowledge I have now, worrying would be the last thing I would do. School would be my main focus. Living life the the fullest and just having fun.

To all of those who have this opportunity, ENJOY it. Savor it. When you find "the one" spend time with them and not worry about marriage and family. Love eachother (without relations) and become best friends. This way when the years go by and the kids grow up and all your kindergarten friends are gone, you'll still have your friendship to nurture your love.

Not that this blog is my "woe's me" sound board, It just feels better to get it out of my heart and into space.

****Feel free to comment .... .... or not****

Until Next Time,
Peace in your mind, Love in your heart, and Laughter in your eyes