Debt Free!

Personal finance stuff is not something I talk about much because, um, it's personal. That being said, I'm excited to announce that as of January 10, 2013, this little Nichols family is debt free!

We've been following Dave Ramsey's plan for a little over 2 years and paid off $43,200.48 to be exact. If you have debt that you'd like to get rid of or just want to learn how to manage your money, Dave Ramsey is your man. Check out his book for a quick read. He also has a 9-week class that churches offer. Darren and I got by with just reading his book. I also listen to his podcasts on a daily basis.

That's all really - just wanted to make it official! I'm so excited about things to come for our family. We are so very blessed.

Peace out,
L-Dogg

Family Christmas Pics!

My mom asked me the other day why I hadn't done a blog post in months. Good question, momma, why haven't I? I have no good excuse really - just have been distracted with life. Too distracted to document the life at least.

So now it resumes...

The week before Thanksgiving, we had some photos taken by my amazingly talented co-worker. She does photography on the side and is slowly working to make her photography business her full-time gig. I am so proud of her and her amazing talent. Check out her website or FB page for more information!

Now for the photos!

 

 

 

Sometimes, when you have five people you're trying to photograph at the same time, they don't all cooperate.

 

Look at this gorgeous girl. Have you ever seen a more beautiful four-year-old?

 

Here's the other most beautiful four-year-old. Sweet, sweet blue eyed baby.

 

 

Don't you just want to squish those cheeks!?

 

Merry Christmas!

 

 

Vacation Time!

So our sweet, not-so-little family of 5 drove south for a few days last week and had a blast! Let me tell ya all about it!

First, I'll start off with the low-point of the trip...LegoLand. If you pay attention to nothing else, pay attention to this: don't take your kids to LegoLand. It's lame and a total waste of money. The only cool part was a little "ride" at the beginning where we shot lasers at some little targets. Not sure what it had to do with Legos but it was entertaining nonetheless.

Either way, my girls looked super cute despite their (parents') disappointment.

This was in a room made for princesses. It had tables with germ-covered Legos and a karaoke machine. The karaoke machine was a total curveball...never expected that at LegoLand.

Claire-bear started feeling a little under the weather the day we left for vacation. She was a trouper though...looking awfully cute.

As you can see, Natalee is not impressed with LegoLand.



Ok, enough with the negative...on with the positive!

Next up, we ate at one of my absolute most favorite place to eat, ever...Pappasito's! I know, it's not all that fancy but it is so delicious. I'm still dreaming about the guacamole.

Because eating at exciting and different restaurants is part of the fun of going out of town, we spent some time trying to scope out places we cannot find in Oklahoma. That is where Peace Out Burger came in. I found it on UrbanSpoon with tons of great reviews so that's where we went the following day for lunch.

It did not disappoint, although it was more of a bar and less of a burger place. It was perfectly legal for us to bring our babies in there (and there were other young kiddos in there) but we sure did receive some stares. It has to be because of how precious our three babies are, right?

As I am adding these pics of us eating out, I'm realizing it's more about the faces and less about the food. Oh well! Here is me and my baby at Fogo de Chao. Yummy delicious meats and the world's best Sangria. Seriously - I've had my fair share of Sangria and this was by far the BEST.

Now, for the highlight of our trip...we were at Great Wolf Lodge! It was so much fun - a definite destination for parents of kiddos, especially younger than 12. My babies thoroughly enjoyed it!

Did I mention that my baby was under the weather? Poor baby.

Poor baby turned into a happy baby by early evening as we were headed to a Texas Rangers game!

By our last day of vacation, Claire was feeling much better.

She had so much fun, she needed a nap.



As you can see, we had an extremely fun-filled vacation. We will totally be going back next year. Hopefully, by that time, Lyla will be as tall as Natalee and able to slide down the "big kid" slides.

Happy Labor Day Y'all!

Lindsey Loo