Wrapping up 2010

I know it may seem like I've fallen off the earth sometimes, but with a busy family of 6, we have no choice but to maintain a constant state of organized chaos.  Although I have great aspirations to maintain by blog more frequently it is quickly falling down my priority list. Unfortunately.

But I want to do what I can, when I can. 

I find it ironic that my last post was about Cade cutting his own hair which we haven't had any of the kids do.  Now we've had 2 kids join the "self-haircut" club...more on that in a later post.  In the interest of catching up with myself, I'm going to try to wrap up 2010 in one single post.  So grab a cup of coffee and hunker down.  This might take a while...I will do my best to keep it brief.  

In the final weeks of the year, we had Wade's parents visit from Tulsa, JP got his first haircut, Wade had a birthday,we hosted our 1st 'Cousin Camp' sleepover, Cade and Riley had their school Christmas parties, a 5 day visit to Tulsa, and one fabulous Christmas celebration for our little big family.

Here is the last 2 weeks of the year documented in pictures:

JP in desperate need of a haircut. 

This one was hard.  My baby.  I have always had a hard time cutting the kids hair.  At the time of JP's haircut, Brooke still had never had a haircut except for the bangs.  He is (and has often) been mistaken for a girl.  But a man at Walmart called him a princess and I figured we'd better git r' done.  Cade's first haircut was on Wade's birthday when he was 15 months old, so I decided to keep the tradition alive and do it on Wade's birthday - JP was 19 months. 

Side note: it snowed on his birthday and so I went the day after--but close enough. 

 It wasn't pretty

but what a difference...

Wade's folks came to visit. His parents both turned 60 this year and we gave him tickets to see a Rams game here in StL. Rams lost, but they still had a great time at the game.

 

Wade had a birthday...

Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

 

(I just LOVE this photo)

and the boys in it.

  

We hosted our 1st "Cousin Camp" where we had our local nieces over for a sleepover.  It was so much fun.  Everyone got to make their own gingerbread house for our Gingerbread Village. 

We watched movies, played the wii, took the spotlight out to the woods and saw deer. 

This video is great.  The girls were all playing Just Dance on the Wii.  I love it for so many reasons. 

•  Brooke shaking her toosh and not at all on the beat
• Kelsey having a hard time keeping up, but trying her best
• Cade being all big brother-y.  I had this amplified by 3 growing up.  Just being a pest so she'd mess up.  Really reminds me of my childhood. 
• Wade conducting business in the background...he's such a hard working man...always one hand on the pulse, even on his vacation.  He worked 1/2 the days he "supposedly" took off. 

Back to our sleepover..we decorated Christmas cookies, made snowflake candy necklaces and drank hot chocolate. 

Just had a really fun time doing lots of Christmas-y stuff.  Plus it gave their mom and dad a chance to go to dinner and finish Christmas shopping.  Grammy came out to help with the cookies and the gingerbread houses because basically I wanted the kids to learn from the best.  And mom is definitely the best cook I know.   

Along with the good, sometimes comes the bad.  I got my long-awaited kitchen table and chairs...which Brooke promptly autographed.

  

Riley and Cade had their school holiday parties.  The nice thing about our new school is that they split the Christmas parties up between 2 days. We lucked out into different days.  Usually I'm running back and forth from one class to the next which is really difficult, really loved being able to focus on one class at a time with all the crafts we had lined up.  This was the big hit of the kindergarten class...build your own coffee can snowman.

Riley's favorite was making her own reindeer food.  Oats and sprinkles (so that it will glitter in the moonlight).

We Clarks had a fabulous Christmas.  Everyone got the top thing on their list. 

Whoa...that's a lot of stockings.

  So many blessings this year, we're so grateful for all of them.   

 

Left for Tulsa the day after Christmas. 

Always good to spend time with family, but we were able to see a few friends too. 

There's never enough time to see everyone, but we were able to see a few old neighbors and as luck would have it, I was able to join my old book club for their Dec meeting and it was SO good to see all of them for so many different reasons.  Really a remarkable group of ladies, and a great support system for each other as they are all in different stages of life. 

And no trip to Tulsa at Christmas time would be complete without a trip to Rhema.  A favorite holiday tradition.   

So that's it.  2010.  Whew.  Sorry for lengthy entry, but I use this blog to help me remember events when it comes to scrapbooking.  Hoping to be more regular in my updates in 2011.  Realistically I'm aiming for twice a month.  

Had a really eventful year this past year, loved most parts of it, and we're just enjoying the ride. 

Boys are a Mess

Well, it was bound to happen. 
I've heard stories from other moms.
I've never dealt with it. 

Until now. 

Unfortunately...it probably wont be my last. 

Cade's "Self Haircut"

I probably overreacted a bit when I saw him.  But when I first saw him I flipped a little bit...and accused Wade of giving doing it.  Wade looks at me like I'm loony toons and says, "Really?  You think I did THAT?"  After realizing it's not that big a deal.  I grabbed my camera, then promptly gave him a summer haircut. 

So Wade travels.  A LOT.  Many times my kids think this is a good time to get sick.  This particular night JP probably had an hour and a half of sleep.  Total.  That's being generous.  He would not let me hold him.  He didn't want me to put him down. 

After an hour of screaming in my arms, I took him to bed with me.

 Where he screamed another 30 minutes. 

So I took him up to his crib,

 and let him scream for almost another hour. 

Went to get him again,

cause I guess I'd rather him scream with me than without me.  

And repeat that cycle...many times.

Well I get the kids off to school and this is what greets me.  He'd pooped his pants so I changed him in the middle of the night--so he has mismatched pants.  Pulled one sock off.  Crazy Einstein hair, drool stained shirt.  BUT. Happy as a clam...

 No signs of the miserable night before.

Wait.  Here's a glimpse of the little boy I knew that night with his stinker scowl face...

Stinkers that they are, I wouldn't trade them for anything.  They make my heart smile. 
AND..my life is never dull.  Case in point...I'm pretty sure this isn't how I left the bathroom. 

I'm just a LITTLE behind.

So it's December and I'm blogging about October...sheesh. But this was such a fun trip I wanted to capture it so when I get around to scrapbooking it, I will remember it.
First time ever.  Tulsa vs. Notre Dame. 

No question that we'd be going.  Football is Wade's passion and Notre Dame is legendary in football circles. Wade has ALWAYS wanted to see a game there. 
We stayed in Chicago Friday night.  TU hosted an Alumni party at the House of Blues. Lots of fun.  Saw a full moon for a while that night (walking in front of me)...thanks JJ.  Had a blast with some dear friends.  Wade's friends were there, my friends were there, a bit of family....it was a great mix.  Even met up with a few friends from the area that weren't headed to the game.  We rented some vans to take our group to South Bend Saturday ...in our little group we had 19 of us!  Then we met up with some different friends that were tailgating in different areas.  As my friend Jennifer would say...it was EPIC!  Wonderful trip, lots of memories.  Loved hanging out with the old crew...

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Friday afternoon at Navy Pier with some of DDD Sorority sisters. 
(2 of them live in St. Louis, sad that we had to go to Chicago to see each other).

2 peas in a pod.  I'm convinced these 2 are the same person in different bodies. 

   okykpogkjihyotjiwpkequharthrjurgjiyjskirygtkogrokjdyuokrwikjyiojkreiowajrgtkizt0oprgt

(stepped away and 'someone' got a hold of my computer).

Some of Wade's best friends...

Me and the Hubs at House of Blues

Delta Delta Delta, can I help ya, help ya, help ya.

Clarissa.  Levi's wife.  Really an amazing gal.  Neonatal nurse in KC.  No wonder we get along so well...we're married to the same person.

We had family there too (no kids, just adults). Katie and Wesley.

This is who Wade becomes around these guys.

They never have ANY fun at all ;)

 

My girls. We gotta stay friends cause we all know WAY too much about each other. 
Katie, who lives in Chicago, saw me walking down the street, jumped out of her cab and ran to catch up. She met up with us at HOB later.  Ginny who came in from DC for the game.  Love that girl! Wish I got more time with them. 

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA

This is the chapel the players attend Mass.  After, they parade across campus to the stadium.  Everyone lines the trail as they make their journey. Makes me want to watch Rudy just thinking about it.  Notre Dame has a majesty about it.  From the Golden Dome to the Touchdown Jesus.  There's a lot of tradition and history.  Beautiful campus and everyone was so friendly.  A student had been killed there a few days before we arrived.  He was recording practice for the team and high winds knocked down the tower he was on.  They had a moving tribute for him pre-game.
 

 Our good friends...the Gillens

Really an unbelievable finish.  28-27 (Tulsa Wins!)

Final play of the game...we intercept it in the end zone.  Again...epic.

Had to get a picture of the scoreboard next to "Touchdown Jesus"

After: You would have thought we just won the National Championship.  Everyone was jumping up and down high fiving everyone around them.  Going crazy.  It was wild.  So. Fun.

Proud Former Lettermen---pretty sure each of them would give up a limb to have a chance to play down there with the boys.

 Of course got to get the fam in again.  Pec, Wade and Wesley...Joyous after that victory.

 

Had major plans to drive back and party all night in Chicago...however the 2 hour ride from South Bend to Chicago sobered us all up.  Instead we got a table for 19 ate deep dish Chicago pizza, celebrated our victory, and all called it a night.  And what a night it was!

Bucket List, one more check off the list... 

Fall Holiday...

Halloween Festivities.

Wade and I went to Chicago (another entry yet to come...) and we got back to St. Louis the afternoon of Halloween.  We hadn't yet carved our pumpkins so we put off the unpacking and did what needed done.  Pumpkins carved and pumpkin seeds roasted....check.  

This year Riley did hers entirely on her own.  She drew out her design, she gutted, she carved... 

Well, she did get a little help.  JP was very helpful in helping her make a big mess. 

Sampson to the rescue.  God love that dog.  He cleaned up anything he could get to...

 

Costume changes and trick-or-treating...check.

Annual "dressed up" kids picture...not so check.

This is the best I could get...JP was uber cooperative, as you can tell.   

Once again we celebrated the Wilson Christmas early, to ensure all of us could be there.  We took the kids to the Transportation Museum which we was fun for all ages.  The picture I took of the group of kids isn't very good...but I like this one below...love that you can see the boys exploring up ahead of the group. 

This.  This is my favorite picture from the whole darn weekend.  These 2 really got to spend some good bonding time.  The girls usually dominate in these get-togethers so I really loved that everyone had a friend to buddy up with and no one got left out.  These two were like peas and carrots (name that movie...)

Meet my nieces and nephews...

That's Aiden rocking out to the Dora guitar.

Garrett is the elusive picture subject.  He's hard to capture.  He was enthralled with playing here so I did get a sweet picture of him playing.

Kate' and Kelsey opening their Christmas gifts.  Love the excitement on Kate's face!

Miss Violet...the youngest of the group...isn't she just adorable?

Grant. This one might be our performer...he was cracking us up at dinner (video).

This still makes me smile...love how he was so happy to entertain us.

  Love watching the dynamics of different families and the similarities/differences.  For the most part all the kids got along really great.  Sure there were a few disagreements, but all in all, they got along, they respected each other, and they truly enjoyed being together. 

I really have loved watching my brothers turn into fathers and am so happy for the families they've all created.  I know I say this a lot, but I feel so truly blessed!