Mother's Night at SLP

ME...(mommy)

As I was hanging mommy next to daddy on his bulletin boards he said...Awww I wish I could have painted daddy giving you a kiss. (TOOOOOOO sweet!!!!!!)

This past week was Mother's Night at SLP. One of my very favorite evenings of the year. I couldn't resist sharing Parker's perspective on ........Mommy.

"Her first name is Mommy but her next name is Kimberly."

"I call her Mommy."

"My mommy is about as tall as When you stand on your tippy toes or on a bucket."

"Her favorite color is pink, I guess."

"She works at school and she works for the kids at here."

"She likes to watch adult shows with daddy" (Once again ...telling everyone our dirty secrets. LOL)

"Her favorite dessert is some stuff that looks like candy but it's not candy."

"I think she likes the purple restaurant by my new house."

"I like to play Spiderman games with her like Spiderman games with webs!"

"She likes to eat a sandwich the best."

I love her because she is pretty."

We Fight Bad Guys...

Paxson getting ready to "get to business"...

Parker sliding in to be sneaky...

I really think the title of this post explains everything. We stay pretty busy around here fighting bad guys. So beware any bad guys the Allen house is not the place to be!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad...

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

My brother, sister and I owe a generous thank you to our parents for teaching us what marriage really means. They have continuously modeled what it takes to make a successful marriage. When I say successful I don't mean just staying in a marriage "getting by" I mean truly making it work! In this earthly world it is all to easy for marriages to fail. My parents have given an us amazing gift by showing us what it means to say I Do. There is absolutely nothing more that we could ask for from our parents. I can truly honestly say that I have the the BEST parents in the entire world.



Thank you Mom for teaching me ...

Wives can be a "handy man"...

To be creative on a budget when necessary...

It's okay to leave the laundry piled up so you can play...

To always put your children and husband first...

How crucial a mom and wife are to a happy successful family...

To place little importance on money and more importance on time ...

To be a take charge mother and wife...

To listen, support, encourage, love, forgive, and remember what really matters...




Thank you Dad for teaching me ...

You can always start over...

A husband should always protect his family...

I should never be afraid of a little hard work...

That nobody is perfect but love is...

That a wife's place is not solely in the kitchen...

What type of husband to look for... (Because I certainly found the greatest!!!!!!)

The importance of leaving little sweet notes...

To paint, lay tile, lay grout, put up a tile back splash, put up a fence, put up sheet rock, remove and reassemble car doors, the great uses of phone books, sand things , roof a house and so much more...

A kindhearted woman gains respect, but ruthless men gain only wealth.

Proverbs 11:16

A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered.

Proverbs 17:27

Lucky to be where I am...

I was recently reminded what an amazing gift it is to be teaching preschool at School for Little People. The clear cut reasons being....I am with my boys, I am only teaching 3 hours a day, and I have the opportunity to reach children at such young ages. The un-obvious reason being the ladies I work with. It is easy to take for granted the people you work with and overlook how fortunate you are. (Don't get me wrong when I was teaching Kindergarten I LOVED the people I worked with and I realize that I will probably never ever have that again in the public school system. They were awesome!) But God knows what our heart desires and he provides. Thank you God because you have surely provided for us some months since I quit teaching full time.

Back to the point.....when I made the transition to teaching part time it was simple to see the reasons and how great it was going to be. What I didn't predict was how lucky I was to become one of "them". The teachers at SLP are a very close group of ladies that have been teaching together for many many years. Each with strong personalities and beliefs. I was a little apprehensive about entering the click. After the annual shopping trip I immediately realized another reason God supported this change for our family. I am surrounded by supportive, caring, funny, real, Godly, dedicated ladies that have a passion for their job. They teach because they want to and they love seeing children thrive and achieve. They all exhibit such amazing qualities. I love how truly honest I can be with them. It's a challenge to feel that way with the people you work with. It is easy to keep a small shield up. Yet with these women it is different. Thank you God for surrounding me with such supportive non judgemental women. They understand life and LOVE GOD!

Well, every Friday the teachers try to meet in the morning for breakfast and prayer. It is a great time to catch up and share stories. Many Fridays are very busy and breakfast is pushed to the side. This past Friday one teacher said she wanted to have a party since we have missed several lately. She also requested that each teacher bring a list...the list was to include something about each teacher. We all prepared our lists (or as some said our progress reports) and copies were made to share with each individual. As we read them together we laughed, smiled, nodded, and yes a few cried(me). It was such a nice reminder of how special each of us are to one another. It was great confidence booster. I told Casey about our breakfast party and told him he should try it at work. LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL (Can't you just see that happening.)

My challenge to you is to try and appreciate the people you work with and let them know how much you enjoy them. (Even if you really don't ...pretend and maybe eventually you will)

Ecclesiastes 9:10

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Dinner Time with the Allen's

(Click on the triangle to play)

Dinner Time Conversations at the Allen House

(Click on the tirangle to play)

Valentines Pizza

The boys made a heart pizza for Valentines day dinner.

It was very yummy with cheese globbes and all.. :)

they made it all by themselves

The Royal Treatment

I realize I just finished bragging in my last post however.... Apologetically I am doing the same in this post as well. I would like to take a little time to express my gratitude for my husband. He is a wonderful husband he just isn't....... well the greatest at surprises. If he ever gets a gift early it is an extremely rare occasion that he can wait until the occasion to give me the gift. He knows that surprises are one of my favorite things but he gets so excited to give me my gifts he just can't wait. Actually it is pretty cute.

Well for Valentines Day this year he surprised me. For the past two years for Valentines day I have made surprise arrangements for us. Last year I surprised him with a trip to OKC and a stay at the Colcord with dinner at the Melting Pot. Then this year he was surprised with dinner at Pasquals and a evening out. Well on Valentines morning Parker and Paxson brought me my gift and I was surprised. It was a gift certificate for a day at the spa. The Royal Treatment...A Pink Valentine pedicure, Almond manicure, 30 minutes of foot reflexology, 1hour Rose Petal facial and more...

I suppose this gift meant so much to me because it was so thoughtful. Since the move things have been a little busy and I have been tackling a few projects around the house. And it has been over two 1/2 years since I have had a pedicure. Partially due to being so busy with two little ones and the other part is due to me not wanting to spend the money on a "purely me thing". I know it's important for all moms to take care of themselves. But come on moms honestly how many of us do that??? Isn't it so much easier to do things for others or spend money on them rather than ourselves. So I am very excited to take advantage of this "Me Day". I owe a big thoughtful thank you to my precious husband. You came through big time this Valentines. Thank you for knowing me so well and knowing that if you had given me just about anything else I would have somehow put it back into the house or used it for the boys. Thank you for loving me so much and being so supportive, patient, and understanding!!!

All Grown up....

So I have to do a little bragging........My little brother is graduating.....

Perkins Tryon Senior 2010

Check out her blog http://www.photoemotionphotography.com/

My mom and brother came for a visit and to have my brothers senior pictures taken. DeEdra Folmer from photoEmotion. (She recently took our fall family pictures) was offering an amazingly spectacular February special for Seniors. So I quickly took her up on her offer and made Jesse an apt. Saturday afternoon Jesse and I met DeEdra and she took us all around downtown for a photo session. I am in aw of her dedication and passion for capturing the "right" image. She is so very talented and it is evident that she truly loves what she does. My mom stayed home with the boys for naps and a little Gigi spoiling. Later in the evening I surprised Casey with dinner reservations at our favorite restaurant. It was yet another wonderful Valentines.

More to come...

Snow Day...

So....We decided it was best to miss school today. I attempted to leave and Casey called and said he really really thought it was better for me to come home. We turned around and he met us at the Henrietta WalMart (Dollar General) and we picked up a few things for the day. (We also have grocery store, Dairy Queen, Sonic, Subway, and Leals :)


I can't believe we have had two good snows here in Texas. I wonder what summer will bring? The boys and I started the day finishing Valentine cards for their friends. As most of you know I can't be simple with things. I made little valentines for their friends that were mostly parent made but I also let the boys select several boxes of valentines to make for their friends. Instances like this remind me of a good friend of my moms. Her son once asked her if he could just take store bought cookies to school rather than fancy cookies. LOL So far Parker and Paxson are impressed with my ideas. That may change but I sure hope it doesn't.
(My bananas turned a little quickly they aren't as pretty as I wanted them to be.)



They spent the morning drawing and putting stickers on their cards. I have always hated how little the cards are. It's hard for little hands to fit their entire name on the cards.
P.S. I also found some great Chucky Cheese Valentine token cards online. We printed several for friends and ourselves. :)

After lunch we went outside for a snowball fight and of course building a snowman. Paxson actually enjoyed being out for a bit. He brought a bowl and filled it with snow and tasted the "cold cold no mommy". Parker and I threw a few snowballs. It's hard not to really get into it. Our neighbor stopped by and asked Parker if he needed any help. Parker's reply " no my mommy is a good ninja but I am much better." :) Our snowman wasn't as large as before but we still couldn't pass up the opportunity. Plus the snow was PERFECT for packing and rolling.. and throwing.

A perfectly nice snow day! (Parker still asked if he could swim today...so far it's been once a day. :)

Fathers Night at SLP

Parker's portraits of Daddy.

We recently had Fathers night at school and this was so sweet I wanted to share. Every year the children share their thoughts abouts Daddy's through pictures, questions, and art work. These are a few of Parker's responses this year. I just love these!

"His favorite color is orange."

"I call him my best buddy."

"I like to play games with him."

"I like to go to the Y and work out with him."

"At home he likes to play games with me."

"He likes to drink pop."

"His favorite food is chicken strips."

"He is tall like a daddy."

"He likes to watch football and basketball on tv."

"He likes to watch adult shows with mommy."

(This really made me laugh... I asked Casey if the other daddy's laughed when they read it. When shows like CSI or Law & Order are on we explain they are adult shows so we can't watch them. We refer to "those" shows as adult shows. to funny)

"He likes to eat where there is no playgrounds." LOL

At work his boss just tells him what to do and he does it.

A heart filled day...

We started the morning with heart pancakes and continued the theme through the afternoon.

We baked and frosted Valentines cookies.

Three bottles of sprinkles and 2 batches of frosting. All for only 13 cookies. Oh so yummy!!

As usual rolling them out was quite fun.

We finished the day with a dinner party with our old neighbors. Randy and Debra came over to see the house and visit. It was a great evening with fun company.