FORTY!

David hosted a small dinner party for my fortieth birthday with some of my family and a few friends. It was a fun evening with lots of food, drinks, toasts and birthday cake. So far, forty is great! My siblings... Anna and Jess

black was the theme

Ellie's Quilt

During the Happy Hollow February intersession, Ellie took a quilting class to make a quilt out of old t-shirts and dresses that were meaningful to her. Some of the shirts were from Seagrove Beach, the Kentucky Derby, a Razorback, Timothy Team and her initials.

The students who participated in the class showed off their quilts during a Friday morning assembly. Ellie's quilt now rests on the end of her bed.

A snowflake is one of God's most fragile creations, but look what they can do when they stick together! ~Author Unknown

Snow days! We received between 6 & 8 inches of snow this weekend. Our driveway and mountain make a great place to sled; and it sometimes resembles a ski slope with the many people on the hill.

The Farrahs, the Pulliams, and the Davis family made it to our house for a great day of family fun. Sledding, 4-wheelers, 2 fireplaces, roasted marshmallows, homemade salsa and chips, popcorn, chili, hot dogs, boiled shrimp, brownies, Wii games, homemade kahlua, snowballs and lots of laughter!

going downcoming up

Field Trip: Dental Clinic

Georgianna's class visited the Fayetteville Dental Clinic to learn about brushing and flossing teeth. Each child had a chance to sit in a dentist chair, play with the doctor's tools and practice brushing some gigantic teeth!

G giggling about touching the toothbrush

Happy New Year!

Ringing in the New Year at Big Cedar with the Shelhamers

Counting down until midnight & bedtime in pjs
(Ellie and I were the only ones to stay up to watch the fireworks at midnight)

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas ...

Snow on Christmas Day

E & G spent Christmas day and many days after playing in the snow and sledding down our driveway
Christmas Eve dinner was held at our house with family and friends
The happy couple

Georgianna saw Santa Clause; but Ellie decided that she did not have to see him in person this year because she had sent Santa an email

Fall in Review

Some of our favorite pictures from 2009

Happy 5th Birthday Georgianna!
Go Hogs Go! Now that E & G are older, they attended most of the Razorback home football games this season
Halloween Night The black cat and her friendly witch - what a pair they make!

Creative School Halloween Pumkin Patch

playing in a truck bed of corn.... the kids loved it and it was much cleaner than sand

Just Engaged! Congratulations Anna & Austin!

Engaged on 9-24-09 and wedding date is 9-18-10
First Day of 4th grade for Ellie

Summer Time Fun!

Camp Time! Dropping off Ellie, Erin and Brooks at Camp War Eagle

The cousins hanging out at the beach...

Much of the summer was spent at the pool, lake or beach; but it all included water

Miss G is a fish!

Brooks, Ellie, Erin and G

Camels, Hideouts and Ribs

Blue Ribbon Day

Happy Easter 2009

It was a rainy Easter day and the Easter Bunny had to hide eggs in the house this year much to the delight of Ellie and Georgianna. Both girls woke up excited to find the hidden eggs and checked out the treats they received. Once the eggs were found, we headed to church and then had a wonderful Easter meal at Grammy and Papa Jack's house with family members.

Papa Jack took this picture ... so he is missing

Eggs the girls dyed

Easter Bunny & Razorback Hog

The beautiful Saturday morning started off with an Easter Egg hunt at the Elks Lodge with lots of friends and even more eggs. Ellie and Georgianna were placed in different age groups for the egg hunt so David went with E and I stayed with G. As I was telling Georgianna how to strategize and run ahead of the group of kids to get her eggs, she said "Mommy, there are plenty of eggs for everyone to get some." I was so proud of her and she had the correct attitude for the days festivities.

After the Easter Egg hunt and lunch, we attended the AR baseball game. Ellie went with David and me to the game and Georgianna spent the afternoon with Amber planting flowers in Amber's garden.

Georgianna and the Easter Bunny

Georgianna running for eggs
Palmer, Gabrielle and Ellie

Georgianna painted the pot and planted the flowers with Amber. She was so proud that she picked "pink" flowers and added the soil. This beautiful plant and pot now has a home on our front porch.