Belated post from the holidays

Here are a few pics from the holidays in West Monroe.

Our first day home! With Abbie and Savannah

Uncle Markie brought Bently over for a visit.

Tag and Savannah doing some chores! ;)

Abbie and Bell opted to do their nails and makeup instead!

Me with my parents on my mom's birthday.

With my sisters Cherie and Jaime.

Bella and Kate

Tag and Zak

Eating cake for my mom's bday

Mom in her new apron

An adorable little present under the tree!

Christmas morning!

Opening presents Christmas morning

Tag was so surprised when he got a DSi

Bella loving on her new baby

My parents' beautiful tree

Bella and her new pram

Bella and Poppy Christmas day

Our new holiday tradition...playing games! I absolutely love it!

Christmas at the Banks!

WOW!

I cannot believe it's been so long since I've blogged! It's like once you get behind, and you think of all you haven't posted, it just gets too overwhelming to get started back! I really wanted to have some of our Christmas pics up for my own journaling purposes, but I'll have to figure out what I'm going to do.

Our family is doing well. We've been having snowstorms, so that's been exciting. And messy! Tommy is still in his surgery rotation and liking it. I have started a little side business of sewing (called Bella and Beaux) and I've stayed pretty busy with orders! I have so many ideas of things I want to make. Unfortunately, it's just finding the time to create it all! I have been subbing alot so that only leaves my evenings for everything else....and that rarely includes sewing new things, just fulfilling orders. My friend is creating a logo for me that I'm excited about and I really hope to figure out how to balance it all better so I can get some new things for Spring made! And hopefully soon I'll have a seperate blog for this, also.

Tag is signed up to play baseball and we should hear from his team soon to get started practicing. He's excited! After Christmas, the teachers have stepped up their reading and he is doing so well! She sends home new books in his "book bag" and he returns them the next day for a new one once he's reading it well!

Bella is no longer in dancing. For the money we were spending, we just weren't happy with what she was being taught...or not being taught. As I've said before, she was wanting to do some real ballerina dancing, not that petty little girl dancing! ;) LOL! We'll start it next year....hopefully in West Monroe!! (fingers crossed!)

We still aren't certain about where Tommy will be going for rotations. Currently he is still scheduled for Virginia in late March. I am praying so hard that our family will not have to be split up. But, of course, we'll come through it with flying colors and tons stronger if we do have to. Tommy is just a hard person to be without, that's for sure!

Well, hopefully I'll have time soon to add a few pictures to cover the time from last post up until now!

=)

Catching up...

We've not had too much going on lately. It's just cold and we've been stuck inside most of the time. Tag has 2 more basketball games left and their little team is looking better and better...they're starting to get the idea of the game. He still goes to wrestling practice and really enjoys it, but we aren't doing any of the matches. As his daddy says, it's a weekly outlet for him to get out some of that wrestling energy that he has so much of! ;) Bella Rose is doing great and growing like a weed...they both are growing too fast. She has gotten into her baby dolls again and loves being a mommy to them. In fact, when we went to see Santa and he asked her what she wanted to be when she grows up, she said "a mommy"! Awwwweee! I don't know if this started after being with Bently or what, but I love it...especially since I'm sure it won't be long and she won't want a thing to do with baby dolls.

Not much going on with me. I am trying to sub as much as possible...but those jobs are hard to get in this system! I do have 2 jobs already for later this week and next week. I am looking into doing the alternative certification program to become a teacher when we get back in LA. I would love to be able to start teaching next Fall....so I'm about to be studying for that dreaded PRAXIS. :( I honestly can't imagine taking any kind of test and I'm really anxious about it!

Tommy finished his Internal Medicine rotation a week ago. To brag on him a bit...he once again got a near perfect evaluation from his attending, as he has with each of his rotations so far. He has patients telling his doctors what a great bedside manner he has and how thorough he is and good at explaining their diagnosis. I'm just really proud of him. He does have this magnetic personality and has this really caring side to him that comes out when he's with a patient. I was always certain he would have a great bedside manner. He started his 12 week surgery rotation yesterday and although he had heard negative things about this doctor from other students, he hit it off well with him. The dr. had on an Alabama hat so it helped to break the ice by bringing up Alabama's Coach Saban that Tommy played under at LSU. :) We are still uncertain about how long we will be able to stay in Tulsa...or how long Tommy will. As of now, Tommy is scheduled to go to Virginia for a 6 week rotation at the end of March. We have said that we will not do such a long distance apart thing again, but looks like it'll be happening soon. And it wouldn't be so bad if we were closer to family... There is a possibility they will allow the Tulsa site to stay open and some students are drafting a letter in hopes of persuading them. So this is what I'm praying for and would love your prayers also! We have been through so much (that many of you prayed us through!) since he got in medical school that has grown us in so many ways...so I'm not going to let this worry me! Ultimately, we will survive whatever we have to and it will all be worth it in the end once he's finished and he has a satisfying and fulfilling career!! Weeeeell, I guess I had alot on my mind this morning! ;)

Here are some random pics from the last week or 2...

Here's our precious Santa pic! This was the best Santa we've seen through the years. It's funny because last year Tag wasn't in our Santa pic....he was too scared to go near him! ha! He couldn't believe he was that scared when we told him that the other day!

I went in to check on the kids before bed the other night and found Bella laying like this. =)

These next pics are blackmail pics! Tag put on my Uggs and stuffed his sleeves with paper. hahaha!

Rosie all bundled up for school...she looks like little Cindy Lou Who!

Hope you have a great week!

Thanksgiving in Tulsa!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We actually spent our first ever Thanksgiving with just our own little family. We've always had friends or family to spend our holidays with...even when we were in Grand Cayman we spent Thanksgiving with our friends the Clarks...so this was a first! I must say we did miss seeing all our family, but I'm not going to lie...this Thanksgiving was one of my favorites! We cooked together and just spent good time together. We went around the dinner table saying what we were thankful for this year...just a sweet, special time and I wouldn't have traded it for anything! Here are pics from Thanksgiving week!


Tag the cute little indian!

Bella Rose's class party

Ready to sing! And below are 2 videos of songs they sang. :)

Cute lil indian ready to eat!

Here are pics from Thanksgiving Day!

Ready to help mommy make the dressing!

They are getting good at cracking eggs...no eggshell made it into the bowl this time!

Mixing it all up! (please ignore the "catch-all" bookcase in the background! Space is quite limited in a little apt!)

Our Thanksgiving dinner! Dressing, Ham, broccoli and rice casserole, mac n cheese, devilled eggs, delish rolls, pecan pie and 4 layer delight! Heaven!!!! Yes it was alot of food for 4 people (really just 2 since the kids just picked at the food!) but it was all the things we wanted to make sure we had, since we only do it 2 times a year! This was my first time to make my grandmother's dressing recipe and I must say it was pretty close to being as good as when she and my mom make it!

The kids were out to play and came in and were so excited to see all the food! They acted like they loved it, but didn't eat much of it. Crazy kids!

Thanksgiving night we went to the Utica Square lighting! It was alot of fun and I'm glad we went!





The carolers

Bell on daddy's shoulders trying to get a good view of Santa!

There he is! Santa did the countdown to the lighting.

Pretty clock in the square! It is a fun area and has lots of high end stores, that I'd love to go walk thru sometime and window shop!

The rest of the kids' break was pretty low-key. Tommy worked and finished up his Internal Medicine rotation and the kids and I stayed home because I wasn't interested in fighting the crowds!

The kids out on the balcony painting plaster molds and making pictures one day during the break.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We each have so much to be thankful for every day!