Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011....

....2011 brings lots of new hope and new things and this new year brought a sick baby.  Bless her heart (and mine too of course), she woke up in my bed (of course) puking!!  YUK!!



The kids with Santa aka Tanya's dad



Let's rewind though...Christmas was lots of fun but kind of a blur too.  The Thursday before Christmas was my only day off that week and I had a lot to do...first Wilkins had a Christmas party to go to at my friend, Tanya's house.  This ended up being a lot of fun and Wilkins really enjoyed it...




Wilkins making a gingerbread ornament which
she named "my little girl"




Wilkins actually approached Santa without me...
shocking!!





Wilkins ready for caroling!

After tons of shopping on Thursday and work on Friday (also tons and tons of fun...not), we decided to take our kids caroling.  We just went to a few of the people from church that we knew would really appreciate our children's harmony...LOL!

The kids really got into and had a lot of fun with it. 



Then Santa came....



I kept asking Wilkins if she wanted Santa to come see her and her answer always remained the same..."no".

Some of you parents may think I am crazy but I woke Wilkins up at 7am because I was too excited.  This was really the first year that she actually enjoyed what was going on.  I was super excited and if I didn't wake her up then she would have slept til 10am!!

LeAnne and Haley came over (their husbands and kids too) for breakfast and then more presents.  We all enjoyed just doing absolutely nothing all day...(with a little snow too).  We literally laid among wrapping paper, toys, puzzles, etc and didn't give a crap!  We had a lot of fun except for the fact that I had to go to work the next morning (as usual).

Wilkins was too funny...once she opened play dough (thanks yaya) she wouldn't open anything else.  She just kept pushing them away which meant I got to open double the presents...yeaaa!  Here are a few pictures...

The "little ones" as we call them...

all 6 of the grandkids...I love how Wilkins and Logan is

What a dork?!

LeAnne's child...need I say more?!

There are no words...

My "goofy" child with no style....

LeAnne's child again...

Playing Disney Scene It....lots of fun

Laughing at something Addy said...LeAnne's child again!!

Haley's dork...

Wilkins' "friends"...bless her heart!



Will painted this for Wilkins...probably
my favorite present...I think it is super cute.
And I am gonna hang it in a frame in her room.



I think this is enough for now...I know I am tired of posting pictures cause it takes so stinkin' long. One more Christmas to go in Pigeon Forge with the Middlebrooks bunch and I can promise there won't be any dull moments. Just ask the people who sat in the emergency room next to us last Monday night! I am sure we annoyed the snot out of them but we had lots of fun...a group of Middlebrooks' with little or no sleep with nothing to do but laugh!!! Good times!!

'Tis the Season...

So here it is five days from Christmas and there is still so much to do....I was hoping that my shopping list was a little shorter but it's not.  Luckily I don't have to buy for my mom's side of the family until after the new year so that helps.

My list:

DAD
MICHAEL
LEANNE
WILL
LUCAS

And I have to work everyday except Thursday!  I just hating getting out in the cold and fighting the crowds.  I don't like to go shopping at night (although I have almost every night) because after work I just want to be away from "PEOPLE" and I am tired.  I don't like to go shopping on my days off because there is so much to do at home and I like to get some extra sleep!!  I have found myself laying down with Wilkins when she takes a nap...LAZY, right?  Who knows, I might have some kind of health condition that makes me tired all the time?!   I just don't feel like there are enought minutes in the hours, hours in the day, and sure not enough days in the week!!

I know this is a pretty boring post but my brain is also tired so I don't have anything interesting to say!  Hopefully my next post will be a little more interesting with a lot more excitement!  Hope everyone has a

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! 

Sorry but this needs to be said...

Since when did God hand over his duties and make certain people judge and jury of who is or isn't worthy?

I am seriously over these people who are trying to bring my family down.  Back off!  You are judging and deciding a person's fate and you have no right nor authority.  You need to look in the mirror and realize that judging someone is no different than holding a gun up to their head and pulling the trigger. There is no difference as far as I am concerned and I promise you I wouldn't want to be standing in your shoes on judgement day!  I am not an overly religious person and I can't quote ANYTHING from the Bible but I can tell you that there is no human being on this earth that has the right to condemn someone's soul...if anything you should pray for that person instead of brow beat them.

We are a big family and you don't just get one of us, you get us all...and there are a lot more people out there that are true friends, care about us, and do not judge our actions but only pray for our mistakes than there are of "you people" that would rather knock our legs out from under us rather than give a shoulder to lean on...

To end this rant let me say this :

You that have declared yourself the judge and jury, the end all be all, do not be a hypocrite and smile at me in public.  Do not bother to approach me and pretend that we are friends or that you care for me or my family because I might not be as generous as I was the last time.  I probably won't reply back with "hi", a polite smile, and a few words.  More than likely if you catch me on a good day I will not acknowledge you but find me on a bad day and I might just call you out.  This I can promise you, though, I will not be a hypocrite.

Straight from the heart...

I am not normally a very emotionall person (at least not outwardly) but when it comes to my family I get emotional.  I am not talking just about my immediate family....I am talking all 39 of us (about to be 40 in March).  I am talking about the Middlebrooks clan...

It amazes me how far apart we all are but how close we really are.  We don't talk everyday (although I am sure one Middlebrooks talks to another every SINGLE day) but we still know that each of us will be there in a moment's notice if needed. 

I can promise you that we are not a perfect family (which some like to scream from the rooftops!), hello we know that we are human.  I can promise you that we all have pasts just like everyone else some more colorful than others.  The only thing that matters, I PROMISE, is that we are all good-hearted people and we are A FAMILY.  We are not overly a "lovey dovey" family...some of us choke on saying "I love you" (lol...seriously...I am one of them!).  We have a hard time showing our emotions face to face but buddy do we ever know how to text (except Aunt Sheila, even granny can...lol), email (I think Aunt Sheila is getting better at this), and snail mail cards (I love to send cards).  The thing is it isn't necessary in this crazy family because we know we love each other.  Cast one stone towards a Middlebrooks and let's just say you better run....

Some of us are a little more outspoken than others (me...which my mom hates) and some that just everything bottled up.  We all balance each other out pretty nicely...at least we think so. 

What I like to brag about the most is granny and grandaddy had 5 children who are still married to the same person.  All 5 children have children who are all married to the same person (except me of course...kind of the outspoken black sheep lol) and they all have children.  That is rare these days...no divorces, no step children, etc.  The one thing I miss is that we used to all live so close to one another (and the kids all worked for grandaddy which probably wouldn't work well now!!!  to many egos!!  ha! ha!), that we saw each other every day.  The thing I look forward to the most is our weekend getaway in Pigeon Forge once a year for Christmas.

PICTURE THIS:  39.5 Middlebrooks (of all ages: 9 are 5 years or under, 7 are under 20, and well the rest of us we won't mention age but 75 is the oldest) in a three story cabin with 16 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, and a TON of food.  Let me just say not a lot of sleep happens but there are definitely some laughs and looking back on years past:




"the grandkids"



granny and grandaddy



aunt lora



grandkids: Brandon & Emma
great grandkids: Bryson, Will, & Emily



Daniel...who knows what he is doing?!



grandaddy in the 80s

grandaddy with an audience



dumb & dumber



Uncle Chris, Aunt Lora, Alex, & mom

Addy & Lucas
(the year WE ALL went to the
Dixie Stampede)

Uncle Chris & Aunt Lora



Scott & Tyree



Granny with the "only" two great
granddaughters (at the time)

Beth, Aunt Sheila, Aunt Sonya

the FAV grandkid (lol)

LeAnne & Beth
80s



4 more since then...and one more on the way



Aunt Maronica & Uncle Kevin



Me, Alex, and Kyle



Daniel & Sonya

Kels

In response to this comment on my previous post:

Brandy, I'm so sorry you feel that way about seeing me. I love you and all of your family and have for many years. You know who I am.



By Anonymous on Thanksgiving Weekend.... on 11/28/10

By being anonymous could make you a lot of different people because as we all know Pigeon Forge is the happening place to go for all of us southerners so seeing a familiar face isn't unheard of. 

As far as loving my family...what that means to me and to you must mean different things.  When you love someone, especially for years, you support them.  If you disagree with one's actions or opinions you either confront that one person but you do not judge them. Whether this person is wrong or not it is not your place to decide nor your place to openly hurt them.  As far as I am concerned, who has time to fight battles that is of no concern to them...don't we have enough battles of our own to fight?!  Life is hard enough without our "lifelong" friends making it more difficult.  

I am not trying to start a battle with anyone...I am only supporting my family and friends because I love them and will not be the one who judges their actions.  Like my mom always tells me..."Think before you speak or act because your actions and words have consequences."

Not Anonymous....
Brandy 

Thanksgiving Weekend....



<>

Wilkins xmas outfit mom made her...
she literally stopped traffic



...what a fun weekend?!  As soon as I got off work (a wonderfully steady, organized, and completely fun day...NOT) on Thursday mom, Wilkins, and I took off to Pigeon Forge to get busy shopping!

We left Murfreesboro at about 6pm in the pouring rain to make it to Pigeon Forge to hit the Disney Store by 11pm.  Wilkins slept the majority of the trip and then was a trooper while we shopped.  She was in her pjs and had a blast and believe it or not she was up until 4am with us.  We got tons of good deals even though it was a miserable experience because of the steady drizzle of rain.  IHOP was the happening place to go to but it was good and hit the spot then off to bed we went.  Slept until about 11am Friday, ate breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and then off we went shopping again.

This is the outfit that had everyone's head turning everywhere we went all day long. 



Wilkins posing with
Santa and Rudolph



It was kind of odd with just me, mom, and Wilkins running around without LeAnne and Haley but at the same time it was also fun.  We went to the Christmas Shoppe which Wilkins loved.  She was like a kid in a candy store.  It was so funny watching her running around looking at all the different stuff.

Wilkins was all about posing for pictures.  She kept saying "mum mum take a picture".  She has started calling me that for some reason and refers to herself in the third person now all the time.  Who knows?!  She is changing everyday...it is absolutely amazing to me.  Her eyes tell exactly what she is feeling which is something she definitely gets from me.  She counts to 12 and must have learned it from Nick Jr because none of us taught it to her.  She is almost to  smart for her own good. 

 

The closest Wilkins will get to Santa
and this one is fake and I still had
to make her!



 After doing some more shopping and running into someone I had rather not have, (someone who claimed to care about and use to call themself a friend of our family) we went to Aunt Sheila and Uncle Herbie's cabin to eat some leftovers with them along with Aunt Veta, Kyle, Amy, and Debra and let Wilkins play with Ellie (Emily) and Blake.  The kids had a blast and we adults just sat around talked and laughed.

Wilkins and Blake watching the
Wizard of Oz

Wilkins played with play dough for the first time (unless she has at Yaya's house) I think.  And now all she talks about is "play dough".   



Uncle Herbie, Ellie, Blake, and Wilkins
watching Wizard of Oz

  

Who knows what they are talking about?!

Kyle playing with the kids...
I think he was having more fun.

Then on Saturday we met up with the rest of the clan again to let the kids ride race cars and play some games.  Unfortunately we had to drag Wilkins and Blake away crying.

 



Wilkins and I riding her first race car



  

 

     



  

Uncle Herbie with Wilkins and Blake











Playing catch up....

 Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of Halloween weekend was super busy!!  Besides working all three of those days we also went to a Halloween party at the church on Friday night, the Pumpkin Patch on Saturday, and then a birthday party Sunday afternoon, trick or treating that night! It was super eventful to say the least. 

Wilkins had a lot of fun and got tons of candy which of course left her bouncing off the walls.

She wanted to be so many things for Halloween that I just got tired of hearing it all and picked something out myself.  She started with telling everyone she wanted to be a "halloween party"...gotta give her credit it is pretty original!  We laughed at her when she would tell people that because they would just look at me like "did she really just say that".  She then wanted to be Jessie, Mickey (yes Mickey not Minnie), Peter Pan, a princess, Tinker Bell, etc...so we went with Dorothy because it was super cute (pretty inexpensive).

Mom, dad, and I took her to the pumpkin patch by herself which wasn't as much fun as it wouldn't have been if the rest of the kids had of got to gone.  She had fun though and that's all that matters.  Here is the funny thing though...her little pumpkin has been sleeping in the bed with her!  Very uncomfortable I might add!

I know it is uncomfortable because she has been sleeping in my bed for the past couple of months.  When we moved we took down her baby bed and was looking for a "big girl bed".  I took forever finding what I wanted for her but I finally did and it was delivered today!  Yaya and I painted her room last night and of course Wilkins helped....yikes!  Today they delivered her bedroom suite and I got her comforter and all on both beds....she was super excited to have her own bed!  I will post pictures soon when I get everything put together but here is an idea:

Two black twin beds with polka dot comforters, turquoise walls, striped curtains, Minnie and Daisy picture....you got the theme yet?!  Mickey Mouse Clubhouse....it is turning out to be super cute.  Can't wait to take pictures and show you.