Napie Time

I went in to check on Levi after he laid down for a nap and here's what I found:

Brigette gave Levi a picture of Katie (her dog) on Christmas day. Levi fell asleep with Katie on his pillow! How sweet!!!

It's a Date!

So, I realized I haven't updated about the house situation in a while. I'll try to make a long, dramatic story short. :)
We closed on our current house last week. We were hoping to already have closed on the new house but because of some bank issues on the seller's end, it won't be until Monday. So, we are in limbo right now! All of our belongings are packed up and loaded on a moving truck and waiting for the day we can unload. We can stay in our house until this coming Tuesday and then we will be homeless! We are sleeping on a mattress on the floor and only have some necessities here with us. Brigette gave us a small 3 foot Christmas tree so Levi would at least experience a few lights!

It's kind of fun living a simple life with no "stuff" to bog us down! LOL Here's a pic of Levi and Eric chilling on the mattress tonight. Levi is very excited about the new house and we keep telling him how exciting it will be to sleep in his new big boy bed!! We'll see if he will end up in the bed or on blankets on the floor!

A special thanks to everyone who helped us load the truck on Christmas Eve! You know you have a true friend when they help you move boxes and furniture on the day before Christmas when it is pouring rain!! Paul, Matt, Matt, Josh, Andrew and Brigette - you guys rock!!


Keep on going to see some fun pics from Christmas day!! :)

Levi's special Christmas train

If you've met Levi for any amount of time, you'll know that he loves trains. He adores them. This year, he got a very special treat for Christmas. Paul and Pierce won the grand prize at Bass Pro - a Bachmann train. When he got it home, it had a small glitch, so he called to see if they could fix it. They told him they would ship him a new one and not to worry with returning the one he had. So, Paul asked Eric if Levi would like to have it. OMG - would he ever!!!!! So, Christmas night, he got to open his gift from Paul & Gretchen...

Levi helping Daddy put the train together

Look at this face of wonder and amazement as he watched it go "round and round" for the first time

Paul & Gretchen, you guys are special people! I'm so glad we have you in our lives. Thank you for making Levi's Christmas even more special with something he will be able to treasure for many years to come! We love you. ;)

Christmas Day

Christmas day holds many traditions for our family. First thing in the morning, we head to my mom and dad's for Christmas breakfast.

Presents piled up at my parents house
Here is Dad cooking his wonderful breakfast!!

We had sausage, bacon, biscuits & gravy, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and even pancakes for the kids

Emmy & Casey playing horsey on Aunt Tricia's lap, patiently waiting for breakfast!

The kids were so wound up! They were in the living room inspecting all the presents while the adults finished eating!

Griffin got a very cool remote control dinosaur - it was the hit of this Christmas.

Levi on his new big boy bike!!

All the kids excitedly opening their gifts...Papa can't keep up with all of them!

Mom kept telling all the girls she got us a "special gift". She was so excited about it. Here it is! She bought cook books by "Robin Miller" (mom's name) and taped a picture of her face on them. Very cute, Mom! I'll display it proudly. ;) The funny thing is that my mom doesn't cook!

Eric opening his gift that Dad picked out for all the guys: a Garmin GPS. Thanks Dad!!

The kids playing with musical instruments - my present for mom and dad's new toy room! hee hee hee

After time at my parent's house, we headed to my aunt's house for lunch. More gifts! Levi got some cool bath toys that he LOVES and a hoodie sweatshirt and a new CD player. Lunch, as usual, was awesome. Turkey, ham, potatoes, mac n cheese, corn, green beans and way too many goodies! Aunt Frances always does great meals!! We headed home to take naps and then went to B's house for dinner. I think we seriously ate all day!! B made a wonderful meal for us (Eric loved the croissants!) and we watched a little Indiana Jones. Here is B opening her gifts!

Levi doting over Katie

We had a wonderful day and hope you did, too! Thank you to everyone who made this day so special! May God bless you and your family and here's to an even better 2009!!

Our Weekend...

Our weekend flew by! It's already Sunday night and tomorrow is work - again! But, it is Christmas week and I only have to work Monday and Tuesday this week!! I'm just posting a few pictures from our weekend. If I have time, I'll go back and post some more at a later date. Friday night was our ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship) class Christmas party. It was fun! We took Levi with us and he played with a train ALL night! He was in heaven! We did a gift exchange and had some awesome food. Yum-o! Saturday night was our Christmas with Eric's side of the family. His brother & sister-in-law hosted it this year. Thanks, Alan & Amanda!! We had a blast. We had chili and cracker & dumplings. I made a strawberry spinach salad to take. The kids had so much fun together. Enjoy the pictures!!

Levi getting ready for the party Friday night...he put deodorant on like Daddy and then ran to the mirror in the bathroom to see it. He doesn't understand "invisible solid" yet! LOL
The train that Levi got to play with! Very cool!!

Saturday night - all the cousins...Emilee, Peyton, Megan, Tanner, Levi and Tyler

Tanner, Megan and Peyton (Levi's cousins)

These are just SOME of Levi's gifts! OMG, do you think he's a little spoiled??

Papa got Levi some new Thomas trains!! He's played with them non-stop!

Emilee got a new IPod touch. She was showing me all the ins and outs! (Man, I'm old!!) If you look closely you can see that her name is engraved on it...Emilee Elizabeth. Very cool!! I want one just so my name can be on it and I can be cool!

Me & Megan =)

Levi and Sadie having a deep conversation. I wonder what they are talking about!?!

The black phone...

For all you football fans out there.....
I love professional football. The Colts (when the defense and offense both show up at the same game) are amazing to watch. I have always enjoyed football but really became fascinated with the game when my friend, Bucky, got Eric and me tickets to a Colts/Steelers game for Christmas one year. I was pregnant with Levi. Sitting there in the RCA dome watching "Peyton & Company" LIVE in action was pretty much amazing. I think that was one of my favorite nights ever! Thanks, Bucky!!
Back to football: Do you ever wonder what the QB is really talking about on the little black phone? I mean, sure, they say he is talking to the guys upstairs about the other team's defense, but here's what I think happens...
Ring Ring
Upstairs: "Yeah, Peyton?"
Peyton: "Seriously, it's hot in here. Can you guys do something about that?"
Upstairs: "Sure Peyton...get right on that."
Peyton: "Also, the water pressure in the showers seemed a little off today."
Upstairs: "Water pressure...check...got it."
Peyton: "Thanks, guys, you all are great."
Upstairs: "No, Peyton, thank you. Anything else?"
Peyton: "Yeah, after the game, I'd like a steak...medium well. And maybe a nice cold diet coke."
Upstairs: "You got it!"
Any other thoughts out there??

Kids make a bad day good!

You know your day isn't going to go so smoothly when you get to work and they make an announcement like this: "Excuse me, staff, but there has been a water main break and our building is out of water. Please do not use the restrooms until further notice." All of a sudden, you realize you really have to potty! Then, everyone around you is talking about how they have to potty, too and your urge becomes stronger and stronger. You sit there crossing your legs and try to ignore the thoughts of the bottled water you drank on the way to work and the hot chocolate you are almost done with. Another announcement: "Excuse me again, staff, there is bottled water available in the break room for anyone who would like some." Bottled water - that's wonderful WHEN YOU HAVE A TOILET TO USE!! It seems like days have gone by, but it has only been 30 minutes. Another announcement: "Excuse me, staff. Maintenance has brought us buckets of water. You may use the restrooms on the first floor and flush with a bucket of water afterwards." Gross. Luckily the water main break was fixed quickly and the toilets were restored. Hallelujah.
Several days ago, I started having some pretty severe tooth pain. My mother-in-law came over to look at it on Saturday. (She worked at a dental office for years.) She said I had chipped my tooth. Ouch! She called the dental office for me on Monday and got me an appointment at 1:00 today. Dr. Todd told me I had indeed chipped my tooth AND the one next to it had a cavity starting. Great! So, he could fix both of them in one sitting. He numbed the left side of my mouth and got to work. A short time later, I was on my way back to the office and felt like I was drunk. I tried calling making several calls en route and had to promise people that I hadn't been drinking! As I sit here tonight, my mouth feels great. :)
I'll leave you with a cute little thought. Tonight, Levi was "helping" me fold laundry. While I was folding, he would jump up and down on the bed singing "Deep and Wide" at the top of his lungs. How cute is that?

Our Weekend

This weekend was packed full of holiday activities. Friday night was the Annual Murphy Christmas Party (see my next post) which is always such a great time!! Sunday, our church had their Christmas program where the choir and orchestra performed pieces from the Messiah. There was some great feed back on the service. I sang in the choir in both services and Eric played the timpani. There was also some drama to go along with the service and the kids choir sang. Sunday night, Mom's church had their Cantata, "Sing Noel". It was so good! The choir and orchestra did a fantastic job! Eric played drums and percussion for them, too. I've posted a few pictures of their performance.


Mom is the one to the right of the "big guitar" (that's what Levi calls the harp). Good job Mom!

Eric playing percussion - isn't he cute in a tux?

After the performance, we all went to Pizza King for pizza. Here's a cute shot of Levi, Bailey and Griffin!

Annual Christmas Party

This weekend, the Murphy's had their annual Christmas party. Once again, Melanie outdid herself! The food was amazing, fellowship was fantastic and the decorations were beautiful. Each year, I look forward to seeing how Melanie will outdo herself from the previous year. Melanie - it was wonderful. You did such a great job!! Thank you for all the hard work that you do to make your party the best of the season! You are better than Martha Stewart! ;)

Here is the hostess with the mostest! Thanks again, Melanie for your hard work!! (Love the belly!!)

The tables were all so pretty and there was Christmas spirit all around!

Each person had a decorated glass filled with homemade goodies to take home.

The table in the dining room...

1st course...Appetizers...crab dip, small ham and croissant rolls

2nd course...salad (so yummy!)

3rd course...creamy tomato basil soup (very, very good!)

4th course...fillet Mignon filled with blue cheese dressing, glazed carrots, smashed potatoes and rolls (wonderful!!)

Our table (thanks Steve for showing us your food!) Very cozy sitting by the Christmas tree and fireplace. Paul, Gretchen, Jami, Steve, me and Eric

The third table consisted of the hosts, Matt and Melanie (Melanie is MIA), Janna and Josh and Matt

The grown up table (tee hee) in the dining room: Jenny, Bucky, JR, Kim, Aaron, Michelle, Crystal, Chris, Donnie and Amanda

The girls at the cool table...Gretchen, Jami and me ;)

Me and my honey!

After dinner, we headed downstairs for dessert. OMG - such wonderful stuff! Cookies, truffles, tarts, and the list goes on...

The annual gift exchange - everyone brings a $5-10 gift and we get busy! It is so fun to see what everyone brought and each gift can be "stolen" up to 3 times. A few of the highlight gifts were a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, tools, adorable glass coasters (that I got!), a "hot guys" calendar (LOL) and more!

And for after dinner entertainment, there was a little ROCK BAND! SO MUCH FUN!! Thanks, Josh & Janna for bringing it. :) Eric rocking the guitar...

Matt getting wicked on vocals...

Matt Mc on the mic and Matt kickin' it on the drums...

Josh getting wild on the drums...