Christmas, Tate & lipgloss

Where to start? Christmas was really fun this year. The kids were so excited. We had Christmas in Woodbine the weekend before Christmas. We do not get to see see Patty & Marvin very often so it is great getting together with them. It was below zero for the high that day so the kids were not able to explore the farm but hopefully this summer sometime.

We headed over to Bill & Lana's for Christmas eve after church. The picture with the kids dressed up with Will looking mad is the picture I made them take before we left for church. Will had just had a large meltdown because his change kept falling out of his wallet. I tried to explain to him that there is no place for coins in a wallet but he continued to scream. We ate dinner at Lana's, opened gifts and headed home to put cookies out for Santa.

I really thought Jack would never fall asleep. He kept coming downstairs to tell me that I needed to get to bed or Santa would not come. I assured him I was on my way to bed each time. It was about 11pm before he was fast asleep. The kids did not wake up until 7am and surprisingly, Hannah was the 1st one up. They opened their presents from Santa and the Wii that mom and dad gotten them.Who would have known that all Hannah would really have needed to be happy was more lip gloss. She sat with her lip gloss that Santa and Grandma Lana got her for over an hour just applying it over and over again. She did not even ask us to assemble any of her gifts! We then went over to my moms house and had Christmas with Jeff, Brandy, Laurie, Livvy, Claire and Grandma. We told the kids that they couldn't open any gifts until they smiled for one picture together (Claire was sleeping). It was nice having everyone together. The kids enjoy playing together more as they get older and love baby Claire. The big hit of the day though was new puppy Tate that Jeff picked up a few days earlier. He is 7 weeks old and is adorable. Jack spent most of the day holding him. He loves animals so much. The day after Christmas he made me take him over to Jeff's house for the day so he could spend time with Tate again.

We look at the kids and feel so lucky that they are running around healthy. We could not ask for a better gift each year than that. We have so much to be thankful for in a world where so many people are not as lucky.

Basketball, Gingerbread houses and a Christmas Concert

Jack has been playing basketball since October for the 1st time. He really likes it and does really well. He starts up again in January. They practice for the first 30 minutes and then play their game for the next 30 minutes. Jack has caught on really fast and is great at defense.

I put the Gingerbread houses together while Jack was at school one day this week and so they were dried and ready to be decorated for that evening. Jack had his own and Will and Hannah were happy to share. I knew that this would be a messy event and it did not disappoint. It looks like the best part was piling all of the frosting on the ground to make snow. Hannah knew what to do and enjoyed piling the candy on her side of the house.

Jack had his 1st grade Christmas concert on Tuesday night. It was really cute and he did a good job. I didn't get many good pictures since he was not being very cooperative before the concert. I did video tape it and it will be fun for Jack to watch it in a couple of years.

Santa

We took the kids to my work for a family Christmas party and it was really nice. They made Christmas ornaments, snow globes and reindeer food. When it came to seeing Santa, Jack was the only one that was a definite! Will was at about 80% on the way there but you could tell it was dropping as we got closer to the front of the line. Hannah was always at 0% and that never changed. Jack walked right up and sat on his lap and Darren and to take Will over. He stood there willingly but was not about to climb up on his lap. Hannah was holding my hand for dear life telling me that she wanted me to hold her. The kids have watched Polar Express about 4 times now and love the part where they show the millions of little elves. The boys cannot get over how many elves are busy making toys. It is so fun listening to them talk about it. Jack has his Christmas program tonight and Will's is on Friday so hopefully they will be feeling photogenic before we leave so I can get a couple of good pictures. I have a sweater for Jack to wear but the protest started before I even unfolded it so we will see how it goes. Most of the time I let Jack pick his clothes, but I told him that there are certain occasions that I get to have input. This is one of those occasions!

Hannah's 3rd Birthday

We celebrated Hannah's 3rd Birthday over the weekend and she had so much fun. Her theme was of course Cinderella and she was so excited that she couldn't take a nap. When we went to pick up her cake, she was jumping up and down quietly screaming Cinderella, Cinderella, Cinderella! She wanted to hold it in her lap on the ride home but I talked her into thinking that it wasn't such a good idea.

She reminded me all day that we need to get her Cinderella dress and shoes laid out, her hair curled, and her nails painted. She chose red and would not put tights or socks on because she wanted everyone to see her beautiful toes as she put it. It was so fun seeing her so happy and excited. She was really embarrassed when everyone sung happy birthday to her. She announced all evening that she was not eating dinner until she was able to eat her cake. It was a really nice evening with our families here.

Many times I ask the kids after we go somewhere or do something special "what was your favorite part?" They go around and announce what their favorite part of the event was. After her party at about 10pm, I put Hannah to bed and she sat up, put her arms around me to hug and without being prompted said "my favorite part was being Cinderella". It really is the little things that kids remember. It was not the gifts or the cake, it was the fact that she was able to dress up and dance around all evening purely enjoying herself. Sometimes we are in such a hurry we forget to sit back and just watch. She daily reminds me that it is the little dance or the 10 shades of lip gloss on her little lips that we should remember and treasure.

It is so hard to believe that my baby has turned 3. She has so many mannerisms of Darren and looks a lot like Jack. She is strong-willed and very opinionated. We thank God every day that she is healthy and happy. We love you Hannah B!

sledding...not quite!

Last week we had a small dusting of snow and the kids went crazy wanting to go sledding. I dug out the snow pants and boots, spent 15 minutes bundling them up and off they went. Hannah even stayed our for quite a while which is a huge change from last year. They were able to sled a few feet on the mostly grass with a touch of snow!

Jack had a friend over at the time and did not want me to embarrass him with the camera so there are no pictures of him!

Thanksgiving 2

Steve & Kristi were in town from Colorado this past week so we celebrated Thanksgiving with them on Saturday. It is always great to see Braxton and how much he has grown. The kids just love him so much and still try to hold him like a baby. We really wish they loved closer so they could grow up knowing each other but hopefully we can start traveling to Colorado to see them once a year. The most exciting part of the evening though was their announcement of a new baby on the way! It took me a few minutes to process Braxton's t-shirt. Darren said that he saw it right away but didn't want to say anything! We are so excited for them! I can't wait to hold that little baby! If they only lived closer, I could babysit! The food was great and everybody went to bed tired!

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving twice and both were really nice. My mom's side of the family came into town for the day like they do each year and it was great to see everyone. Evan and Abby came so the kids were excited to have other kids to play with. All of my mom's siblings came except Rita from Minnesota. I forgot to ask where she was celebrating this year. Each year everyone takes a group picture under the large tree in my mom's front yard and this year was no different. The 1st picture is of all of the kids and the other is of my mom and her sisters/brother. My dad was in town from Arizona and met Claire for the 1st time. She was really connected to her mom so no one really was able to hold her!