Mommy is the big boss...

"Mommy, daddy won't let me watch that dinosaur movie. Can you spank his butt?"
~Reid, 3 1/2 yrs.

Elf on the Shelf: Day 24

Even Chippy knows the reason for the season!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 23

It's for the birds...

Lil's First (Bad) Boo Boo.

We went to Branson last weekend for a little pre-Christmas, mini vacation (post and pics coming soon). We decided to leave a day early, and arrived in Branson late Friday night/early Saturday morning around 1 a.m. On Saturday morning we did a little shopping at the Landing and then met my parents that afternoon to see the show, The Miracle of Christmas. It was an amazing show about the birth of Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas...an outstanding production! After the show we headed to the hotel to check in to our suite and that's when IT happened...
.....
Jeb was unloading luggage, I was helping mom check in at the front desk, and the kids were running around...being kids...in the lobby. LilliAnn kind of lost her balance and reached for the velvet rope (you know, the two metal stands with a velvet rope between them that you see outside/and in the lobby of hotels, restaurants, and clubs when you're standing in line?), and the huge, heavy metal stand pulled her down and crushed her little fingers! It was only inches from hitting her head!! I immediately knew that it was fractured because of the instant severe swelling and the bruise that circled around the base of her finger. We hurried to the ER, which, thankfully, was just down the street.
.....
The doctor told me that it was probably fine because "little ones have mushy bones and she most likely just smashed it and bursted a blood vessel to cause the severe bruising." I hadn't told him I was a nurse practitioner yet, and just stated that I'm sure it's fractured and could he go ahead and take a look at the x-rays. Sure enough...fracture of her right 4th proximal phalanx!


.....


.....
Here's my sweet baby girl, worn out in the ER after she got her hand wrapped and splinted. For such a bad boo boo she was a very brave girl!


.....
It has been difficult to keep the splint on. We've had to rewrap it several times, and the ortho doc has re-splinted it twice already!


.....
She kept telling us, "my boo is hurtin'" and "my tinger is hurtin' weally bad, mommy." It looked horrible! Her entire finger and even her palm were bruised!


.....
We went and saw ortho yesterday. We had more x-rays done and the good news...it's already healing, the bad news...it has angulated just a bit so it's really important to keep it splinted. We follow-up next week and hopefully, after about a month, the splint will come off. Despite LilliAnn's injury, we had a wonderful family trip to Branson and a great ER experience at Skaggs Medical Center! Stay tuned for updates on Lil's progress...

Elf on the Shelf: Day 22

K.D.?! No...it's Chipp. E.!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 21

So technologically advanced!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 20

Just hangin' around...

Elf on the Shelf: Day 19

"There's a ...ELF... in my boot!"

Elf on the Shelf: Day 18

Sneaky...sneaky...

Elf on the Shelf: Day 17

Chippy was buckled up and ready for Branson!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 16

Elf in the Box?!

Elf in the Shelf: Day 15

Prettiest little package ever!

Reid's words...

"Mom, if I was a gwirl, I would be so mad."

Elf on the Shelf: Day 14

Someone is trying to sneak his way to Branson!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 13

Elves are always having a ball!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 12

Who needs a reindeer?

Elf on the Shelf: Day 11

Tree Hugger?

Elf on the Shelf: Day 10

"It's ok, Chippy. Some people think we were never real either."

Elf on the Shelf: Day 9

Elf on the Shelf: Day 8

Good job, Chippy! See, LilliAnn, Chippy goes in the potty!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 7

Yee haw! Chippy's enjoying a little reindeer ride!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 6

Chippy loves to just "hang" around...

Thankful {Thanksgiving 2011}

A little Thanksgiving post...

We went to Melvin and Missy's for lunch on Thursday. It was their first Thanksgiving since being married and all of Melvin's family was coming over for a Thanksgiving lunch. Missy had worked really hard getting everything ready and was excited to show off her grand babies! The kids always have a blast a Missy's house. They live out in the country, on top of a hill with a beautiful view overlooking Seminole. The little boys love to run wild, ride the horses, and play outside. We had the traditional Thanksgiving meal...turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and giblet gravy...I brought my baked potato casserole, Lacee brought a store-bought key lime pie (her absolute favorite dessert and "birthday cake") and Aunt Sheila brought her pea salad. Everyone had filled their plates and Shelia's pea salad was still untouched. She kept walking around saying, "I made the pea salad. Nobody is eating the pea salad." I thought that was really funny. We didn't stay long...the kids were getting really wild. I wanted Melvin's family to be able to enjoy themselves and be able to visit with Missy, plus we needed to to see my mom's side of the family before that Thanksgiving was over, so we headed to the lake for more family fun!

.....

Jeb and "the girls"

.....

 Jeb looks so thrilled that I'm sitting on his lap!

.....

 How cute is my baby girl in her Matilda Jane? This dress is called "Millie" and is a Platinum piece. I'm thinking now that the cream colored shirt would have looked much better under it, but the blue gives it some character.

.....

A kissy from Missy!

.....

 After a quick hello to the McKenzie girls and my mom's family, but changed clothes and got ready for family pictures with the Cook side of the family. My Grandma Lucy has been wanting a new family photo since LilliAnn and Josslynn were born and since Tara was recently married. Trying to get twenty-three people all smiling at the same time, especially with lots of little kiddos, was a nightmare! It was cold outside, we were in a time crunch because of the lighting, and Reid was NOT cooperating! He cried the entire time and I couldn't even bribe him into smiling for the pictures. We took several shots on our lake house stairs and some down by the water, so hopefully we'll have a winner!

.....

After pictures, we headed up the hill to Grandma Lucy and Papa Glenn's cabin for more delicious food. Papa fried a turkey especially for me and grandma cooked me a special pan of dressing, without the onions and celery. The turkey was absolutely AMAZING and I love grandma's dressing! I'm going to have to learn how to make it next year! And of course, the meal wouldn't be complete without Grandma Lucy's famous noodles. Dinner was delicious, the kids ate great and got their bellies full, then we headed down the road to Aunt Glenda's house for our yearly Thanksgiving family tradition...the making of the cheese apple. I did a post last year all about this "Family Tradition." If you're interested, click HERE!

.....

Reid helped a little last year, but was really into helping this year! Reid's a great little helper...he would always rather be "helping" than playing. Whether it's cooking, cleaning, "wiping," wrapping, sweeping, raking, weeding, mowing...he loves it all!

.....

 The six of us grandkids were all this age when we started helping with cheese apples at grandma and papa's old house of Dove Tree! It's really neat seeing our own children enjoying this tradition. 

.....

 Garrett and Tara just got married last month. It's only his second year to make cheese apples, but he's already a pro!

.....

 Reid's getting a lesson on how we "cute the cheese" from Nana Karen.

.....

 "the thinker" - my cousin William

.....

 It's all smiles for the Fun Master - Aunt Tammy

.....

 Jett Taylor 

.....

 Reid was showing everyone that his hands were "all clean!"

.....

taking it all in...

.....

 Nana getting some hugs from sissy baby

.....

 Josh - the garlic chopper

.....

 Isn't she gorgeous? She looks like she should be on Food Network or something.

.....

 Lacee had been full of expressions all day! She was cracking me up! This just really shows how much fun we have when we're all together...there's always something to laugh about! I love my family!

.....

 Garrett was digging the juice boxes :)

.....

 Tyler - taking a break and supervising (this is usually Papa Glenn's job!)

.....

 Can you say garlic? Aunt Glenda taught the guys that if they would run their hands on the faucet when they were washing their hands the smell would come off their hands. They couldn't believe it, but it really worked!

.....

We REALLY do have so much to be THANKFUL for!

.....

Praise the Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Psalm 106:1

Elf on the Shelf: Day 5

Chippy! You better stay away from the girls!

Elf on the Shelf: Day 4

Who doesn't love M&Ms?

It's off to Neverland! {Halloween 2011}

Halloween was so enjoyable this year! We didn't have our usual "Rollins Family Halloween Blast," but it was still a great time! After chairing the Junior Service League pumpkin project, I was sooooo exhausted that I decided against the annual Halloween party. We spent the weekend before Halloween out at the lake. My dad picked up some pumpkins on the way out for the kids to carve, and of course, Reid couldn't wait!

.....

LilliAnn in her Halloween jammies

.....

I LOVE this picture of her!

.....

She was much more interested in cleaning the pumpkin, rather than carving the pumpkin!

.....

Pumpkins with Papa!

.....

.....

Pumpkin guts! Eeeewwwww!

.....

.....

"But I wanna help too!!"

.....

"You're too little, sissy!"

.....

Our finished product...this is the face that Reid picked out. My dad cleaned out the pumpkin and I carved this lovely face!

.....

Our Jack-O-Lantern!

.....

They were so proud!

.....

.....

.....

Monday was Halloween and Trick-or-Treat night in Shawnee. Since we weren't having the Halloween party, I invited our family and a few friends over for chili, chicken and dumplings, and hot apple cider. The kids did a little bit of trick-or-treating, but they didn't really see the point when I had a huge basket of candy by our front door. Reid thought it was more fun to help pass out the candy!

.....

Kari got me this adorable front door sign for my birthday!

.....

We're off to Neverland! This year our family costume was Peter Pan. Reid insisted on being Captain Hood (he's really into pirates right now), so that left Jeb wearing the green tights. He seemed okay with it up until it was actually time to put them on, then I saw him sneak into the bathroom and pour himself an alcoholic beverage. Lol! I was Wendy Darling. I had ordered a auburn/red ringlet wig, but it was back ordered so I just did the best I could. I thought our costumes turned out great!

....

.....

And what's Peter Pan without his little Tinkerbell?!

.....

Captain Hook was ready to take on Peter Pan!

.....

Cutest Captain Hook that I have EVER seen!

.....

Priceless!

.....

Gam-Ma Missy came over and brought her yummy sausage balls!

.....

Peter Pan & Wendy

.....

"Oh, Peter!"

.....

Tons of people were walking around trick-or-treating...and our neighborhood is one of the busiest ones in town on Halloween! We were out in the front yard and all of our neighbors kept waving and talking to Jeb. It was hilarious! I know in this picture he's thinking, "Yep, I'm a grown man...standing out in my yard in green panty hose....took one for the team...dad of the year." 

.....

The Cadenheads - A.K.A. Super Mario Brothers 

.....

The Rollins - A.K.A. Little Red Riding Hood & Gang

.....

How cute was Grayson?

.....

Tinkerbell was over this whole costume thing! She just wanted some chocolate!!

....

Best husband & dad EVER! LOVE him!

.....

Mica came as Flo, the Progressive lady, and Travis was Mayhem

.....

My bestie, Kari, lookin' cute in her Halloween colors

.....

It was a fun, relaxing Halloween spent with wonderful friends and family! I absolutely LOVE dressing up and I already have an idea for next year! I can't wait to share :)