where do i start..

so i have succumbed to the HONEST fact that i will not be blogging but once a month, well in my book that will be ok and it will be enough im sure. you people dont really care about long drawn out updates, so we will have short concise monthly ramblings ;). we have been super busy as we all are with two kids and two jobs....we have had mucho fun playing outside the last week and are hopefully saying HELLO to spring and goooood buyyyy winter. we had a fun weekend at the Johnstons for the NCAA tourney and my bracket may as well be torn into a billion pieces and thrown to the wind. turn outs the only person below me didnt even fill out a bracket.

over the last month we had a fun weekend in oxford for a friends wedding festivities {she was such a beautiful bride}, not to mention i love her taste and the reception flowers, food and band were A-mazing. Rog and i enjoyed spending the weekend hanging out,shopping,eating and sleeping in{thanks in all to Gigi}. in February i had a deviated septum and turbinate surgery which was a lot harder to recover from than we expected..i wont go into all the gory details but it was pretty terrible. i think i am finally about to get back to normal but that took up about two weeks of our lives we will never get back! ughhhh....enough about that. By the way, thank God SO VERY MUCH that i have such amazing friends that brought food, snacks and literally fed us and the boys for 8 days strait! we felt so loved to be taken care of not only by Gigi and Mimi(We coudnt have made it through with you!) but our neighbors and friends.

the boys have been up to their usual shinanigans with fights and monkey see, monkey do. Airey and Campbell had a slumber party for spring break with aunt katie and uncle ed and their boys and partied like rock stars{Literally until 11pm}. They still haven't quit talking about it! Airey got to have Gigi come to his class and read for his show and tell and that was super special for me and him. I loved seeing MY grandmother reading to MY sons 3k class. Well Airey was student of the week this past month and brought Tony Romo for show and tell and had Gigi read Hello Bully...hehe ....we must represent both the Cowboys and Bulldogs :) He is so roger! he runs around playing sports non stop, even asking for a dish towel the other day and i didnt ask questions...next thing you know he tucked it in his football pants! I mean come on, everyone knows the quarterback has to keep their hands dry. Campbell is a completely copy of me and a complete copy cat all together. He is so full of a quick fuse and drama like me. He knows how to turn on the charm though.....he knows how to work a crowd. aka. anyone. Well we are excited about summer: We have swim lessons, bible school, soccer camp and a fun summer school at Holy Spirit planned with the cousins. Hope you all are doing well! See you soon! Love, the coles

our mess....too cute

found this pic from Pops when trying to transfer photo's and i JUST cant believe he is 4 (this was taken on his 2nd birthday...campbell is older than that now....surreal..

playing the gator this week with the neighbor Mia

we took the boys to the Grizzlies vs. Knicks game...Melo killed us :(

Gigi reading Hello Bully

Airey's 3K class

Making his poster for Student of the Week

where have we been?

oh gosh, i cant believe its been so long since my last post...we have been swamped with fun! i turned the big 33 in mid December and had the most amazing birthday with friends down in the Delta at the Big Pink Guest House. Three couples dined at Madidi and finished the celebration at Groud Zero. im a lucky gal to have such fun friends and create hilarious memories ( too many to post!).

christmas was absolutly great. we kicked off the week with airey's 1st christmas program in which he covered his face the entire time and would NOT sing a note, it really was priceless, he is so shy and it was too funny to have the one kid that literally wanted off the stage every second. it created a memory to last forever! we stayed here and enjoyed christmas day with just the four of us. we didnt get out of our p.j's all day. i started a roast early in the day with a yummy beef tenderloin and about 6p.m. we got ready to eat only to discover i NEVER turned it on..sigh...so we did what any family on Christmas would do for dinner at 7pm..ate Chinese take out. well it definitely created a memory we will never forget. Christmas morning airey waited around for campbell to wake up for about 20 min and decided lets WAKE him up...i cant take it any longer..so we got the most precious video that i'll treasure forever... in the dark we said "morning campbell" and he replied with a huge smile "wake up....meeee???" to- die- for- cuteness! as for new years, roger and i got a nice surprise from Gigi when she decided to come up and spend the night with the boys and told us to head out and celebrate..well....so WE DID...we decided to hit up Tunica and then down to ground Zero for a little Super Chikin (thanks gigi!). New Years day we had a little get together over here for friends, family and football. the kids had a blast running around together and the adults enjoyed "self entertaining kids". You forget how much fun play dates are ;). well we also had a first over the holidays...Airey has his first slumber party with cousin Lewis. He came over to spend the night and it amazed up how well they both did (actually slept all night...that is of course after they stayed up taking until 11pm). * Spend the night conditions by Lewis Cole: Aunt Sarella, do you make french toast at your house?...answer, YES... lewis....reply: ok ill come spend the night!....lol....So needless to say i cooked bacon and french toast the next day for my sweet nephew and he ate every bite! what a sweetheart ;) other cole breaking news is Campbell is in a BIG BOY bed, he transitioned about 3 weeks ago and has done great ever since, sleeps well, naps well...he really is a big boy. Mom didn't do so well, as roger took down the crib i started bawling like a baby...because of course this realization i don't have a baby anymore. well after shed tears and realizing that really 2 is my favorite age and he is so precious and cute and just steals my heart with every little new thing, i knew it was going to be OK.

as for the new year's resolutions around here, its all about prioritizing. the frame business and rogers career are booming and we both got a little overwhelmed at the end of 10' so we are trying to learn to say "no" and im trying to not Overcommit. I have a hard time saying no, but im doing better and setting better boundaries so i can keep my priorities in order : God, Husband, Children, house keeper, cook, room mother, frame business owner in check (with God's help!) We are SO truly blessed with the amazing marriage and family and careers. we do try to remember to pinch ourselves and not curse ourselves these days and remember to take it all one day at a time. Airey and Campbell have been doing so great in school and are learning new things everyday. Campbell of course is just a monkey see; monkey do little boy with big brother, and airey had been testing the waters as most 3 year olds do...that leads me the the next big milestone around here, AIREY is 4! I can even wrap my brain around it, it seems he was born yesterday and i can just remember every little thing about the day he was born, and now its been 4 years...unbelievable. He is so smart, he recognizes his letters, starting to learn to write his name, and got a great 1st semester report card (his very 1st!) He is counting bigger and bigger and has amazing conversation skills and enunciation. He upgraded to an even bigger bike for his birthday and is getting soo tall! He had a fire truck birthday party at the Fire Museum of memphis and boy oh boy, these kids had a blast! he enjoyed every second and even cracked us up as 14 kids are all calling "mommy" at the same time as cake is being served, airey decides to yell "miss sarah ella" to get my attention, lol. too funny. Then over the weekend family came by to celebrate. Gigi,mimi, grandaddy, uncle terry and aunt whitney. Airey picked Buffalo Wild Wings for his bday lunch and watched sports the entire 2 hours. He is OBSESSED. He sleeps in underarmour (courtesy of pops and kitty) and wears jerseys of all kinds non stop! We also gained a new family member recently as Kevin and Kim got married a couple weeks ago, wow..what a fun wedding!!! Congrats to them and we wish many happy years of marriage! We have had an amazing start to 2011 and hope the fun keeps rolling along, until next time...the coles

Enjoying the new Christmas Ride!

3 and 4K Pre school Program! Our little shy guy :)

New Years Eve Family pic

Christmas Morning!

Slumber Party!

Sledding 5" of Snow, whooooo

Campbell's Big Boy Room

my monthly rambling

...well the stockings are hung by the chimney with care and reports from our elf Leo...be bad?.... "dont you dare!".... we have had a fire in the chimney and the fresh wreaths on the door...then 65 degrees came and killed them...ill have to buy more...we have written our list to the old jolly man..hoping for wii and of course, iron man..... the coles are ready for the excitement christmas day...when the little ones scamper down the stairway.....too see all the gifts from Santa himself and know that Leo was a good ole' elf....merry christmas to you all....hope your holidays are bright...we will know all's right with world if only for one night..

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

homemade ornaments with my boys

we had a super turkey day and were SO blessed to spend it with my family in chattanooga at my brother and sis in law's. they completely rolled out the red carpet with shrimp that looked like lobster and steak the first night. of course thanksgiving dinner we all pitched in with a few dishes and seth and roger went to my brother restaurant Champy's to fry us a turkey...boy oh boy...it was all yummy yummy...and 3 lbs later im still trying to get that off before christmas...ughhh. seth had the cousins a 4 wheeler hay ride when we got there and a bonfire! i just absorbed it all and counted my many many blessings! we couldn't be a luckier family and what a day to remember all we have and are thankful far..God is so good! the last day we hit up the smokey mountains christmas tree farm to pick out our real tree (not suppose to have one for allergy purposes...but i would just rather suffer than have a fake one). well we really went for the height of the living room ceiling as pics will show..we quoted about 15 lines form christmas vacation the whole process...hilarious..the hubby and i chuckled the whole 6 hour ride back...a great start to the holidays! well its up and lit and HUGE...im so proud of my enormous tree...i ran out of lights and ribbon, but i still love it. we have made a couple visits to santa's lap and both boys did great! we are looking forward to the weeks to come and remembering all that is fun and festive and of course the true meaning of christmas.

the coles have been having a fantabulous month. we tailgated with friends at the msu vs. ark game and much to our overtime chagrin...we lost, but anytime we get a chance to go starkville, it never disappoints. airey got to pose with the egg bowl trophy and Bully no less and have his face painted. mom and dad got to enjoy friends and great tailgate food and adult beverages. gotta love the SEC and the atmosphere anytime they play. i just cant imagine a better time.

a whole lotta fun...

well over the last few weeks the coles have celebrated halloween, mom had a girls trip, a family outing or two , a baby shower, a wedding shower {or two}and added a new family member...dont get to excited its not what you think....

i will try and be brief, but you know how i am... i'll do my best...the boys had such a super halloween weekend. i hosted airey's 3K preschool party the wednesday before halloween and came as tony romo and boy did airey just light up. he is completely obsessed with him and talks about him non-stop, oh you think im exaggerating....NON STOP....by the way we have officially entered the 20 questions portion of airey's life and it is daunting....we have 100 questions to every single observation or task...our patience has officially been tested and we are trying our best to answer each and every question with a long responsive answer...but gheeesh. well anyway where was i...oh yes...so airey loved his school party! we then celebrated saturday at aunt katie and uncle ed's with lots of friends. the boys bounced in the bouncer in their costumes, which campbell was oozing fluff by the second. as for their costumes airey was batman at school, tomospider at pops and kitty's and finally spiderman at the actual trick or treat in the neighbor hood. campbell i decided was going as a deviled egg...we had thought piglet or something, but it just wasn't campbell, so i remembered this costume a guy wore to a party years back and he was a deviled egg. how perfect for cjc! as you can tell from his face when i put it on him....he was...well ...."devilish". i knew it was the perfect costume, hehe. all in all we enjoyed just being a family for the weekend. we carved pumpkins, toasted pumpkin seeds, made popcorn balls and trick or treated until 8:30. boy what a holiday! such a fun one for all of us. mom and dad got in on the halloween action at Kim and Kevin's costume shower hosted by the wedding party. Rog and I love Mad Men, so decided to go as Don Draper and Megan. I think we nailed it! Rog was such a good sport as i told him i was going to dye his hair for authenticity...well "just for men" doesn't wash out as i had hoped....so he has a little skunk do , but i think we are one haircut away from ditching the black.

mommy got away for my annual girl's alluvian trip and all of us ladies had a fabulous time. we did the spa all day including having our make up done. we felt like princesses...or sheba's as roger calls me ;). we had a great time laughing and catching up and feasting on yummy food and drinks at Gardenia's. that trip is such a perfect girlfriends getaway and i treasure those girls and the time and memories we get to make together {even the jason shelby odds}.

this past weekend we celebrated again with kim and kevin at a Las Vegas party hosted by the families. they had bartenders,craps and a roulette wheel...mastered by the "man in white" aka Terry the mayor cole. we are so excited for kev and kim and are looking forward to the january nuptials! another fun celebration was Saturday afternoon as me and the girls hosted a baby boy shower for my dear friend kim. the beauty shop was the perfect place for our chic mama. im so excited for her and nate and know she will be an amazing momma! sunday we had a laid back family day that started with church and then three little pigs for lunch {yum} and then rog suggested we take the boys bowling. OH what fun....it was great to have something that we all could do together and take turns :) the boys cant wait to go again. we got home and watch the cowboys resurrect themselves {thanks goodness jerry finally fired wade} and my sweet hubs grilled me a steak and we had a date night in...perfect end to a perfect weekend

our bowling baby

OUR NEWEST MEMBER OF THE FAMILY....baby jaguar..gigi and i went to goodwill in oxford and campbell fell in love with the bargain .25 cent jaguar, he sleeps with him, feeds him, and carries him around non stop...so now he is Linus with the blanket and now a jaguar

megan draper...

spiderman

we had have some sick days lately too....we all got it about 2 weeks ago..ughhhh

don draper with his classic lowball

the deviled egg....

airey's 1st school day picture....im a terrible mother...i know he needed a haircut

campbell being all boy

me and mommy to be at the beauty shop

airey and campbells pumpkins

the girls trip

cute costumes