Last day of 2011

Well folks its here! The last day of 2011! I must say this year went by WAY to fast for me. But I am excited for 2012:) My new years resolution? I will write exactly what happens each and every day in a diary so that next new years I can go back and see what happened every day of 2012! I can't wait to get started!! Here are the top 6 highlights of my year-
1.Going to CA with my grandparents (I will never forget the memories we made "we love you Sam!" lol:)
2. Going to Florida! It was the most amazing trip ever!!! I hope we will get to go back soon!
3. Getting some new babysitting jobs!
4. GETTING MY BRACES OFF!!!!!!
5.  Turning 15!! (one of my favorite numbers btw!)
6. and of course GETTING A NEW BABY BROTHER!! Baby James:) <3<3<3<3
Have a great new years eve!
~Lena

5th day of Christmas

Happy 5th day of Christmas!
  "On the Fifth day of Christams my true love gave to me-
                     FFFIIIVVEE GOLDEN RINGS! (du-dump-da-dum),
                                             4 calling birds,
                                             3 french hens,
                                             2 turtle doves,
                                And a partrage in a pear tree!!!"
Hope your day went well! Mind did! slept in late, lounged around, talked to a dear friend, cleaned up my *future* room, babysat for a wonderful family with adorable kids, came home, and watched a movie (while eating ice cream of course!). Have a great night!
~Lena
P.s what are you doing for new years?

3rd day of Christmas

*ehem* so I have not yet gotten a strait answer as to what day of Christmas it is (although thank you to all who commented:) so i have decided to go with what my family is celebrating which means today is the 3rd day of Christmas!!!!
    "On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me; 3 french hens
                                       2 turtle doves
                             And a partridge in a pear tree!!!"
 So there you go folks! Happy/Merry 3rd day of Christmas!!!
~Lena
P.S oh so i forgot to tell you we are doing something for the each of the days of Christmas! like the 1st day we had pears, the 2nd day we had doves (the chocolates not the birds!), and today we had chicken for lunch (imported DIrectly from France!......well not really:)

2nd or 3rd day of christmas???

ahhh so you may recall my last post of "the second day of Christmas"? Well I am quite confused as to what day of Christmas it is! I THOUGHT that Christmas DAY would be the fist day of Christmas but apparently some people (including our family) celebrate the fist day of Christmas the day AFTER Christmas day....? SO if any of you could enlighten me on the subject I would be eternally grateful! But if all I have done is confuse you the stick to whatever you were doing and happy (or is it merry??) whateverdayofchrismasyouthinkitis!! Good day!
 ~Lena

2nd day of Christmas

        On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me; 2 turtle doves.
                                                  and
                                  A partridge in a pear tree!!!!!!

Happy 2nd day of Christmas!!!! Hope you Christmas was as Amazing as mine was!! Spot a turtle dove today and give yourself a cookie:)
~Lena
P.s Does anyone actually Know what a turtle dove looks like???

Merry Christmas Eve!

Well no time to post! SOO many things going on this weekend!!! (ok well just 2 but still!) Tonight we are going to our annual Christmas eve party at my Great Grampas and it is going to be AMAZING as usual! ahhh I just love our family gatherings! And then on CHRISTMAS we are going to my Aunt and Uncles for the day!!! YEY! This will also be AMAZING!!! So you see how busy I am going to be!??!! Oh and we (meaning my parents and sibs) are not opening presents until the Epiphany (you know "The 12th day of Christmas" when the Wise men came to baby Jesus?) So yeah...... Well I gotta fly time is of the essence right now:) You all have a very lovely Christmas if I don't post before then. Smile and be happy:) (as if its hard to do that on Christmas Eve/day!!!)
~Lena<3

An early christmas

 Well, we went to our lake house this weekend to celebrate an early Christmas with my mom's side of the family and had a blast! Jake took us up Friday while mom, dad, and baby James (of course) went to a Christmas party. On our way up we promptly got lost (yeah going to the same lake house we've been going to our whole lives! but hey, it was dark) its a long story but we had a perfectly good reason to get lost. Anyway, here we are playing a new game Gramma got (yes we did finally get there).

Joe, Mary Clair, and Annalise:)



AWWW! Isn't that just adorable?!?! Big cuzin Jakey with Al and Emily:)




What a good Papa huh?
Well, unfortunately my computer is being mean and won't let me upload more than like 4 photos at a time..? But I will try to get some more up soon! I got so many cute ones!! I will be VERY busy this week so don't expect a lot of posts:(
 BAL! (Blog About it Later!)
 ~Lena ((hugs to everyone!))



shopping (continued)

ahhh so yesterday mom, James, and I went Christmas shopping in St. Louis! It was sooo exhausting, but fun! And we found some great gifts! So we left the house at 8 yesterday morning (which means i got up at 6!) and then mom and James went to a funeral while I had a class on the computer. After that we went out to eat at Duffy's, which was sooo YUMMY!! And then (drum roll please).........WE WENT SHOPPING!!!!!!!! We shopped approximately 8 hours, and didn't get home till 1 this morning!!! But it was an AWESOME experience and I'm glad i went!!! Wish i could show some pics but i was so busy shopping i didn't have time to take any:( sorry.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 On a different note we are going to our lake house this weekend to celebrate Christmas with my mom's side of the family! It is going to be awesome fun but i won't be able to post until Monday probably but I promise I will take pics and post some:) Have a great weekend everyone!
 ~Lena
p.s. yeah in case you were wondering those are my feet:)

Christmas shopping!!!

We are in St. Louis getting ready to go Christmas shopping!!!! YEY!!! Sorry about the short post:) I'll post pics later!
~Lena

Happy Sunday:)

Hey folks, just stoppin in to say happy sunday:) I tried out a new cookie recipe today and it was DELISH!! Also been working on Christmas prodjects all day! We are getting ready to have company for dinner and yes this picture has absolutly nothing to do with this post. Have a nice day!
             ~Lena

Christmas is comming!!!

Well folks it that time of year again!!! One of my FAVS too!!! Full of family, cookies, caroling, hot cocoa, Sleding!!!,gift exchanges (cant wait for the dice game!!!), yummy food, and of course we cant forget about the TRUE meaning of Christmas...Jesus!!!!
                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of my favorite things to do is put up the decorations!!! Mom doesn't like to put up the tree until its closer to Christmas but last night we decided to go all out and put up tons of lights outside!!! Ok so maybe we didn't put up a TON of lights, considering we didn't put up ANY last year, this was a big deal!!! Dad was out of town on a business trip and was getting home that night so we decided to surprise him:) and Jake when all out! Of course then we heard that his flight was delayed and he wouldn't be home until like 2:00am. It does look awesome and the pics don't do it justice. If you want to see it in its full splendor, well then i guess you will just have to come over then now won't ya? :) Have a great Christmas!!!

This one is soooo cool! Isn't it?

Sooo what do you think?
 ~Lena

Just another School day in the Howdy House

ahhh yes sooo a couple weeks ago at the dinner table we decide we needed something exciting to do in school the next day. So we decied to all draw a name of a nother kid in our family (not telling anyone else who we got) and then the next day we had to DRESS like that person for the whole day! well this is how it turned out:

Katie was Jake and wore his coat that mom HATES, her cowboy boots and his spirs!

Madeleine was Joe and wore his leather jaket he is obsessed about!

hahaha Jake was Madeleine wearing NOTHING that matched (notice the plaid,camo,and stripes!)

Joe was me......yeah i am ALWAYS cold (hence the blanket) and i always have to blow my nose:)

Ehem, i am somewhat embarrised to post this picture of me but i got Annalise and well she Always want to wear really fancy dresses,always has her shoes on the wrong feet, and loves suckers....

AL got Katie.....but she didn't want to get her clothes on so thats why she was crying.

So Yep thats just another day in the howdy house:) Have a great day!
             ~Lena

Thanksgiving!

Well we had thanksgiving again this year and it was a success! Dad and I made all the food except the stuff that our guests brought (which Btw was AMAZING!)! We were full to bursting with food by the end of the day! We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends, food to eat, clothes to wear, a house to live in, as well as many other things to numerous to count! I hope you all's thanksgiving was a wonderful as ours was and in dads words "the only thing I hate about thanksgiving is that it has to end." :) Here are some pics to share with you guys.
~Lena<3 ((hugs))
p.s. i would have loaded more pics up but my computer is taking forever so i'll just do these. Sorry:(

update...

Ahh ok so a quick update on what has been happening lately;
I got my braces off!!!!!!!
I turned 15!!!!
I got my drivers permit!!!!!
I got an AWESOME new camera!!!!
I've been oggleing over baby James<3
I've been trying to get caught up in school:(
I got to spend the night at a great friends house:)
and
I got to go to a Latin Mass (very interesting!)

Well that is pretty much all the interesting stuff....sorry for dissapearing:) I'll try to post some long needed picturs later......

BIG NEWS!!!

Just 4 words- I.GOT.MY.PERMIT. *pause for dramatic affect*
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.........................


So yeah I took the test today and I PASSED!!! I cant tell you how nervous I was but i was actually surprised at how easy it was! yes i know that's what everyone says and no i didn't get EVERY question right, i did miss a few, but i remembered studying all of the questions so i was well prepared! Anywho, sorry for the no posts in a while been busy what with baby James and all:) SUCH a cutie! If i don't post so before Thursday....hAPpY tHaNKsGivIng!!!!!!!!!!!

~Lena-who-can-drive-now:)~
P.s Just so you know i really don't look like that:P Just thought it would make you laugh:)

Halloween!

So this year we DID do halloween and my lovely friends the Campbells took me with them to the a really nice neighbourhood in union to go trick-or-treating. So as you can see in the picture above i was........A GYPSY! pretty cool huh? lol!

At my friends house before we went... 

umm yeah don't ask i was already on sugar-high!

My friend was "the spirit of HaLLoWeEn!!" Pretty scary right? hehe



OK so this is the best dog costume ever right?!?! In case you cant tell what it is its a mop! Awesome right?!?!? humm maybe i shouldn't have eaten that bag of candy today................
 ~lEn@

Funny things....

Ahhh I love my little sister<3 She cracks everyone up with the funny things she says and does. Here are some of my favorites;
When I ask her how much she loves me she says, "Big Much!"
If she breaks something accidentally she get this scared look on her face and says hurriedly, "I tan fix it!"  (Can)                                                         
She CAN NOT say lasagna! She tries really hard though!                                                 
If she wants something and you won't give it to her she says, "Pweese Nina?" (she calls me nina:) "I'll be your best friend ever!"                                   
                She is REALLY picky! If she doesn't like something she will pucker her lips up, point her finger and say "I don't wike does" (like those) 
If you think those are funny you should see the expressions she makes! Ahh gotta lover her:)           
                                                 

TTYL!
~Lena

World Series

We aren't a sports crazy family but we do get excited about the big stuff like the world series and the super bowl! We all watched the World series and were rooting hard for the Cardinals! We were so happy when they won too!! (25 cent slushies! Oh YEAH!) Here are some pics i got........

Me and Baby James<3

She makes me laugh so hard!

Like our hats? ^

I did manage to get at least ONE good family photo!
Well there you have it folks! The 2011 world series at the Howdy's! Hope your days going great!
Lena:)
P.s Is anyone going trick-or-treating this year? (leave a comment please!) I am going to be a ---- well you'll just have to find out won't you?! I'll try and get a few pics on here.... we'll see.....

IT'S A BOY!!!!

Ok,ok! I'm very sorry this post is soooo overdue!!!! (no pun intended!) I am just behind on everything! So to get down to business, James Lawrence Gene Howdeshell was born on October 19th (congrats to those who guessed it would be a boy!) at 11:04 am. He weighed 8 pounds 15 oz! and was 14 in. around the head and chest! I got to be their for the birth too! (yes the entire thing:) Mom, Dad, and I drove up to St.Louis at about 1:40 AM!!! And she was in labor until 11:04! Trust me i am not complaining about lack of sleep!!! He is a beautiful little miracle and he is SO mellow! Lets hope he stays that way! haha!

Mommy at the Hospital with baby James!

Aren't his little hands adorable?!!?

AL loves him!

Haha! Some dear friends of ours got him this hat and booties! Aren't they sooo cute?!?!? I just love them! Thanks Melbys!!! ((hugs))

Jake is so proud of his li'll brother:)

Well, that's all for now I'll get more pics up soon.
p.s. I was *SUPPOSED* to get my braces off the day James was born but obviously i didn't! One of the nurses said "Man, your little brother is already trying to ruin your life! Haha!

Lena<3
P.s. Leave a comment and remind me how beautiful handsome he is:) lol!

sickness and such...

sooo.. yeah We've been sick. Last week everyone EXCEPT Joe and Katie got sick:(
Madeleine and AL got sick first then me and mom then jake then dad. It was pretty bad so thats why i havn't been posting. I got behinde in school so i have trying to catch up with that too. And on top of all that MOM IS DUE TO HAVE HER BABY TODAY!!! Well that doesn't mean she WILL have it today but any day now..... so here is our schule for this week;
Moday- Catching up on school
Tuesday-Voluntiring at the food pantry and Mass
Wednesday-I GET MY BRACES OFF AND I GET TO SEE THE HAMACHERS!!!!!!
Thursday- ummmm well nothing but i think thats when mom will have the baby.
Friday- Nothing
Saturday-MABEY the ball.... MABEY St.Louis... MABEY nowhere.... It all depends when the baby comes....
Sunday- Not sure, thats too far into the future for me!

So all of this can change depending on when the baby comes but when i have time i will post the picturs from when we went to the art musium in St. Louis..... Sorry this is such a boring post but i have to get back to school! Ya'll have a great day!
           Len@

 Hello Dear readers! Yes I Know I have disappeared but I'm back now! YEAH (or maybe it's NOOO! for you guys!) Anyway I have more posts coming but for now I thought I would show you some pics of hair! Mom was gone the other night so Annalise and I had a good time fixing her hair in cute styles. She was pretty good the whole time except towards the end, then she got tired of posing and wanted to take pics of ME!



She looks so... so... I cant think of a word to describe it...



This was one I did, She look sooo cute with little buns on her head so I added a ribbon and bow.




The ribbon wasn't quite long enough to tie in the back so I just clipped it for the pics.





This is when I finally gave her the camera:)



I did Madeleine's hair a different night.

It turned out pretty cute on her (the picture doesn't do it justice)

Oh yeah and these are my awesome knee socks I got from my cousin. Aren't they awesome? Yeah I know the picture makes my legs look weird (or maybe it isn't the picture...), do you know how hard it is to take a picture of your legs?
         ~Lena