Criswell Family Update!

I know it has been a while since you have heard from the Criswell Family. Yes, we are all still alive and yes we are still loving the new house in Silverhill!! We had a wonderful Christmas. Mr. and Mrs. Criswell spent the Christmas Eve night with us and we had a very relaxing Christmas day at home. Even thought Sam and Anna were both running a small fever (which is the reason we were inside all day). It was great. We left the Wednesday after Christmas to go on a small vacation to Tuscaloosa and Tennessee. It was cold but fun! After a two day baseball camp for Sam we all went to Ruby Falls and Rock City. We spent New Years Eve in a hotel and let the kids stay up till midnight and drink sparkling apple cider! It was a great way to start the new year!
Then, we came home and Mr. Criswell broke Jordan!! haha He took the kids skating and Jordan took a bad fall and broke both bones in her right wrist. No softball for her this year! The cast is off and all is good now! She just called me and said she is no longer allowed to check out 4th grade books. She has to read 6th grade and up due to the fact she is reading on an 8th grade reading level!! Can you imagine, in the 4th grade and reading on an 8th grade level!!

Sam is getting ready to start baseball. He is still making all A's and he won 2nd prize in the 5th grade Sceince Fair. His experiment was called "Cold Fish". We had fun working on it. He was also excepted into the gifted program at school. He loves it. They do alot of fun projects and field trips. (Plus I think the girls are cuter)

Then there is baby Anna. She is only in Kindergarten but we just found out Friday she is almost on a 3rd grade reading level!! She can read Cat in the Hat with little to no help. My kids were blessed with brains and looks!! (and one of them with freakles hehehe)
Well, just thought I would give a small update into my world.
Oh, yeah.......
For Valentines Day Rodney gave me a Mustang Convertible!! It is fine fine fine!!!!!
Love to all
Roni

Happy Birthday Anna!!!!

Our little one turned 6!! She wore her crown all day long. (to church also) It was a perfect day for a party at the park. Alot of her class mate were able to come! Step-Mom needed a nap after this party!!

Happy Birthday Anna!!!!

Look at all the happy faces!!!!

Happy Birthday Jordan!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, my baby is 10!! Double digits!! She had an action packed birthday weekend. She had a slumber party and we all went to the movies and to CiCi Pizza. Then a family party on Sunday.

Happy Birthday Jordan!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had 7 children at my house Friday night!!

It was CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY!!! They all had a great time. It was Jordans first Slumber Party.

Happy Birthday Jordan!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jordan loved her Cookie Cake!!

*****WE ARE NOW HOMEOWNERS******

Just wanted to let everyone know we finally moved this weekend! What a good birthday present for me huh?? We are still trying to get everything where it belongs, but so far it
looks great! The kids and I had to laugh out loud Tuesday morning when it only took us four minutes to get to school (we are used to a 20-25 minute drive)!!!! When they handed us the keys it was like a "funk" was lifted off our family. (Can you tell my hapiness level is thru the roof?) I promise I will get some pictures posted soon. I am going to wait a little while so there will be no boxes in the shots hahaha.. Thanks for all the prayers and thanks to Brandy, Audra and Pam for listening to me complain about how slow Dukes home builders are everyday.....well only Thursdays for Pam. Love to all, Roni

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Everything went well this morning. Sam and Anna were very nervous. Anna would not let go of Donnas hand for anything but I know she will love Kindergarten!! Jordan was Jordan! She walked in the door and said "Bye Mom, Bye Rodney." and that was pretty much it! Sam tried to act cool, but you could tell he was a little worried. Cant wait to pick them up at 3:00 to hear all the gossip!

I am still not sure who had the hardest time this morning... Rodney or Anna???

She was a little nervous, but NO TEARS!!!

A little progress.

Well, as you can see, there has been some progress to the new house. We layed 15 pallets of sod. You want to talk about hard work!! The dirt patch in front of the door is where we are putting the steps. We are also going to paint the front door a different collor. It is hard to tell from the pic, but the porch is 24X10 so we will have a nice big place to entertain. They put in the carpet last week but we are still waiting on the tile. The cabinet maker is really backed up so we still do not have a "move in" date. I added some pictures of the inside of the house also. Hope you enjoy.

This is a shot from the living room into the kitchen/dining room area. The door to the left of the french doors is the laundry room.

Jordan in the master bedroom.

Jordan in her room.

Why is my child so shy?? I wish she liked to have her picture made...hahaha

Will we ever have a house?

Sorry, no picture on this one. The brick is complete and the carpet should be in any day now. Mr. Criswell and Rodney have been working their backsides off getting our yard and road in check. From 7 am this morning until noon, 11 loads of dirt have been dumped and we are expecting at least 2 more. Mr. Criswell will surely need a back rub after being on a "bobcat" loader for over 5 hours straight. I don't know what we would do with out him. We are trying to find a Sod company right now, so by next week I should have a yard. Keep praying for us.
Roni

Almost there!!

Look what I have!! The brick is almost complete. We are finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel! They still have not given us a final date, but they are running out of things to do. The walls are painted and the doors are all hung. We still need cabinets, carpet, sinks etc... Very close though!! Keep praying for us!

Look what a messy yard!

View of the back door and Sams bedroom window.

Almost there!!

Sam... Look at his happy face! He can not wait to get into his new room!

Weekend at the Beach

Rodney and I took the kids to the beach for a long weekend. They had a blast feeding the fish and playing at the beach. We had to make Anna put the fish food down long enough to shoot a picture. That is why she does not look too happy. We were with our friends Mike and Tina and their children. Once again my camera took a blurry picture! Needless to say, we were not ready to come home!
By the way, Rodney called on the way to work this morning.... They are bricking our house today. I will drive out in a day or two and get some pictures of the progress.