New Year

Wow, it has been a while since I last blogged. Totally messing up my committment already. Ok, so here are some things that are going on in the Morton House.

Jeremy - Has decided he's going to "slay his dragons" before breakfast every morning. So, he gets up, has his quiet time and goes to the gym first thing. I have been really proud of him for sticking to his committment to get in shape this year. He's been eating healthy and is very conscious of his portions. He has committed to spend more time at home, which means that he is only gone from the house one night a week (other than Sunday night and Wednesday night). He started this toward the end of last year and I can really tell a difference in the way our family functions. It's just nice to have daddy home!

Carrie - I too, have been going to the gym at least 3 times a week. Lately, I have been going with Katie and it is so much easier to workout with her. If I'm by myself, I am usually not there very long, but when I go with her, the time just flies by. And we get a great workout as well! I am also reading Kisses From Katie by Katie Davis. So far, it is WONDERFUL!

Zeke - Zeke is growing up so fast. He looks like such a little boy and not my baby anymore. He does not like to sleep by himself, so lately, he has been sleeping on the twin bed in Madie's room. It's very sweet at night because we can hear them from the den just talking and laughing. Zeke is obsessed with anythng "Daddy". Yesterday, for example, Zeke helped Jeremy haul a tree to the farm and pick up pinecones in the backyard. He kept telling Madie that she had to stay inside because they were doing, "men's work".

Madie - Madie is such a little prissy girl. She loves all things girl. If her hairbow falls out, she'll yell, "fix it!" She loves to wear her boots with any outfit. She is definitely a good eater. The girl can put away some food! Yesterday I fed her breakfast and then she ate most of Jeremy's as well. She is too funny. Another thing she does now is take off her PJ's. It doesn't matter what kind she's wearing, every morning when I go to get her up, they are off. Who knows how long they've been that way. As soon as I walk in the door, she'll say, "I took off my pajamas".

Here are a few pictures to catch up:
  
How cute is this little Christmas Outfit!!??

Cousin Love

They do love each other :)

Playing on Daddy's iPad

Laundry Basket Fun!

Gran Jan made these shirts and they love them!

Got Biscuits? and Madies First Haircut

Yesterday, Zeke and Madie wore their Got Biscuits shirt to TOPS. GranJan got it for them several years ago. They looked too cute in it!

Today, I took Madie to get her very first haircut. If you didn't know she got a cut, you couldn't tell. Her hair looks exactly the same (that is what I wanted). Kerry (our hairstylist) just clipped off the very ends to help her hair grow a little thicker and better. Madie didn't like it at first, but then she warmed up to it after Zeke kept telling her, "it's almost all done." Zeke is an old pro at getting his hair cut, so he asked Mrs. Kerry if she would cut his hair too (even though we didn't have an appointment for him). She obliged and cut his hair as well. I didn't get any pictures of that, but it looks good!

First of many trips to get her hair "did"!

Family Pictures and the Fair

Last Friday, we had our family picture taken. We haven't had a family picture done since Madie was 3 1/2 months old. Zeke did a fabulous job of cooperating, but Madie did not want to be there. The pictures definitely do not reflect her attitude. The photographer did a phenomenal job. Our goal was to get at least one picture that we could use as our Christmas Card pic. I definitely think we have some contenders.

This last pic was taken yesterday at the very last day of the fair. Madie and Jeremy were watching a magician perform. I tried to get a good pic but Madie put up her hand like, "no pictures please!" It was too cute.

The Past Month

Well, the past month has been filled with all sorts of wonderful things. I don't have pictures of them all, but here are a few. We finally got a picture of the entire Taco Tuesday group.

I can't believe both kids were looking at the camera!

Several weeks ago, I was getting Zeke ready for church and when I put his shirt on he said, "It looks like Papu!". Papu has a shirt very similar to the one Zeke was wearing that day. So I called Papu and asked if he could wear his shirt that day too :)

I went to a consignment sale recently so Jeremy had the kids by himself for the morning. He decided to venture out on his own (with them) to Waffle House. I think he did a great job getting them dressed and ready to go. They LOVED it. I think he had a good time too :)

The fair is in town right now, so here is a quick picture of Madie playing on the tractors.

Lastly, here is a video of Madie dancing to the Mexican Train jingle Tuesday night.

Fun at Mamu's

It is interesting that even though for the past 3 days we have seen and been around Mamu, she is not in any of these pictures.

Jeremy has been out of town all week having meetings in ATL. So, Monday night, Mamu came over for dinner at our house. Whenever Mamu comes, we always have to have an after dinner treat :)

This is Madie with an Oreo face. Sweetest one I've ever seen!

Tuesday, the kids had TOPS, then we went to Mamu's house for Taco Tuesday. Zeke refused to take a nap, so we went down to visit Great Grandpa and Great Grandma. They have a piano, and every time we go to their house, Zeke asks for a cookie, and he plays their piano. Hope this video turned out alright.

Last night at Taco Tuesday, Aunt Libby brought Zeke and Madie a goldfish she had left over from her Sunday School class. They were both so excited about having a new pet. They named him Fishy. Aunt Libby brought Fishy in a mason jar, so today I went out searching for something else to put him in. I ended up just buying some drops to put in our city water to remove the chlorine and a net scooper to put him in when I changed out his water. Since we were staying at Mamu's house and had not been home, I took him in church so as not to leave him in the car. I checked on him after dinner and he was fine and dandy. After

(he is alive in this pic)

the church service was over, before choir, I checked on him again. He was dead. I ended up flushing him down a bathroom toilet before choir. When we got home, I told Zeke the sad news. He didn't seem to be too upset, but just a minute ago (while writing this blog) he got up from his bed and came in and said, "Where did Fishy go?" "Why did he die?". All great questions to answer at 10:00 p.m. :)

Here is one more pic of Madie playing today. She LOVES this bear and always gives it a big hug.

Zeke and Lunch

Just thought I would quickly update what happened at lunch. So, it is a constant struggle to get Zeke to eat. He is more than capable of using a fork, spoon, whatever, but usually I end up having to feed him like a baby. Usually that's the only way he'll eat. So today at lunch, I told him he could not get up from the table until he finished eating. He played around for a while, said the pledge of allegiance, sang some songs. Madie and I finished our lunch, so we got up from the table. He asked to get up and I told him again, he wasn't getting up until he ate all of his sandwich. I went in our bedroom to fold some laundry, next thing I know, Zeke comes running around the corner like this.

So, I told him to go sit back down until he chewed it up and swallowed it. He finally did and we went on with our day, but he cracks me up sometimes!

Farmer's Market and 9/11

On Saturdays during the summer, Jeremy and I like to take the kids to the local Farmer's Market. It is very small, with just a few local farmers, but their produce is the best. There is a local minister that sets up his harmonica and guitar in the gazebo and plays music while the patrons shop. It's just a nice, little, small town atmosphere. So, Saturday we loaded up the kids and strolled the Farmer's Market. We got tomatoes, okra, squash and peas. All fresh and locally grown. I am so excited to cook these wonderful things for the family!

Here is just a quick shot of half of the Farmer's Market. I told you it wasn't very big :)

Here are my two precious children sitting and listening to the minister play his music. They loved running around and having a good time. The people enjoyed watching them too.

With today being 9/11, I can't help but think of where I was on this day 10 years ago. I was a sophomore at LU and was in an Evangelism class with Danny Lovett. I had just met Jeremy not even 2 months before. I remember sitting in class and Dr. Lovett coming in and telling us that a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers in NY. A few of the students in the 300+ class just up and left class. I later found out that they had family members who worked in those buildings. Dr. Lovett let us out of class at that point and I hurried back to my dorm. On the way, I called Jeremy to see where he was and if he was ok. He was at the gym on the treadmill and was watching the news at that very moment. That's really all I remember about that day, other than we didn't have anymore classes that day. We had a huge prayer service for all the people affected by the attacks. I pray that God will continue to bless those families who are still dealing with such a huge loss.